EVIL~! alkeiper

Actually, that spelling is correct. One of my favorites too. A bit of a character.

Watching SportsCenter, and all I have to say is Jesus Klapsitch, give up the damned wig. No one buys it. Dodgers re-sign Wilson Alvarez for a year.

I know your a big A-Rod fan but you can't defend him on this. He is openly campaigning to steal a man's job and forcing his way there. Its not like he's a free agent and no one forced him to sign with the Rangers. Ya I believe for two seconds he signed with the Rangers to win...sure he did. Maybe he didn't think they'd be this bad but winning was secondary to the money. Hey most people wouldn't reject an offer like that but now he has to reap consequences of his decision instead of trying to turn himself into some sort of victim. Please. Its not like Nomar's gonna walk to the umemployment office if the deal goes through. He'll go to another good team and have a starting job. After this year, he's a free agent and he can go wherever the hell he pleases.

So what a second. He took money instead of playing for a winner, so he's damned there. But now he does the opposite, and he's damned as well?

Because it's a trade that benefits both teams, that both team's fanbases would like to happen that is getting held up over... ... money. Can anyone explain to me how this trade benefits the Rangers?

ESPNnews reports that the A's have indeed signed Arthur Rhodes to a three year contract.

Well, by that measure at least Edge didn't "Billy Gunn" the title.

Ozzie Smith. Quite simply an amazing player and a top class person.

I just wish it would go away at this point. Its been all over the news for a month now, and NOTHING has changed.

If I Remember Correctly

Color me unimpressed with the Mercker signing. His ERA was MUCH lower than his peripherals would suggest, and it was six years removed from his last good season. Well, how can you measure that mentality? How can you tell if a middle reliever doesn't have that mentality? I still don't buy it. Teams pay guys like Antonio Alfonseca and Jose Mesa millions of dollars because they're "proven" closers, and then they're SHOCKED when they blow up. I find it very cute, and almost charming when management accuses the players union of not acting in good faith.

The closer mentality is nonsense anyway. There's no reason a middle reliever can't close, if he's just as effective as the guys closing. Rhodes has pitched extremely well the last few years.

Wilson Alvarez actually had a good year last year, posting a 2.37 ERA with the Dodgers, and a good BB/K to back it up. Of course, it was his first good year since 1997, but there's evidence to say he can keep it up. Surhoff will likely accept as he's always seemed to want to stay in Baltimore. As long as he can keep up his OBP, he can contribute in a bench role.

Tomorrow is the deadline for free agents to accept or reject offers of salary arbitration. Kevin Millwood is the only major free agent under consideration here. The complete list..... American League Baltimore: B.J. Surhoff, dh. Cleveland: Terry Mulholland, lhp. New York: Gabe White, lhp. Seattle: Pat Borders, c. National League Atlanta: Julio Franco, 1b. Colorado: Greg Norton, 3b; Mark Sweeney, of. Los Angeles: Wilson Alvarez, lhp; Milwaukee: Eduardo Perez, c; John Vander Wal, of. Philadelphia: Kevin Millwood, rhp; St. Louis: Orlando Palmeiro, of.

Well, it might've been more exciting if we didn't have a commercial break DURING the free throws at the end.

This Mavs/Celtics game is going right down to the wire. Good game.

My once mighty team is now embarassing themselves at this point.

To me, its simple. If Contreras isn't one of the five best starters, than he shouldn't start. And if he's not one of the 11-12 best pitchers overall, he shouldn't be on the staff. Salary should never force your team to play a guy who isn't good enough. Doesn't matter in Contreras' case, as he is good. The case in point is the Tigers dropping Damion Easley and eating his contract.

Contreras should be a starter, but not because of the money. If a team is playing a guy solely because of his paycheck, then its a lost cause. And by that logic, Mark Henry should be WWE champion. I'd point instead to his 72 Ks in 71 innings.

How so? His K rate has been in the top 3 in his league the last three years. Ah the old clutch argument. Let me just say that A-Rod has a .340 career playoff batting average, along with a .566 career slugging percentage. And for HarleyQuinn, he was in three postseasons with Seattle.

I can't wait to see Cactus/Mikey again. It was a hell of a lot of fun.

Maybe he figures its easier to find offense than pitching.

I don't get it. Oakland has the big 3, Rich Harden, and Justin Duchscherer. I wouldn't have thought they needed another starter. Still, they didn't give up much, so bravo.

To quote Ian Gomez from the Drew Carey Show, "you can pee with the door open and its like there's 50,000 people all cheering for you.

I will. I'm just waiting for AI and Curry to officially go on the IL so I can pick up some players.