EVIL~! alkeiper

Gary Sheffield is actually younger than Bernie Williams by two months. No, but there is a luxury tax.

I'd make the trade. Olowokandi is a better bet for playing time.

Bad news. The "later" bridge is closer than you think. Realistically, no team, even the Yankees, can build a dynasty on free agents. At some point, the Yankees are going to have to rebuild their farm system, possibly at the expense of some wins now. Otherwise, they're going to set themselves up for alot of losses later.

Yanks Eye Trade For Kevin Brown Brown is an injury risk, but when he's healthy he's a downright scary pitcher. Except for 2002, he's had a 3.00 ERA or lower the last eight years. And he started 32 games last year.

Re: Yankees and Boone Realistically, this was the action the Yankees had to take. There's nothing on the market as far as reliable third basemen are concerned. Boone serves as a one year stopgap, and hopefully for the Yankees someone better will become available next offseason.

In addition, a few sources are reporting a four year deal for Mike Lowell. Interesting moves overall for the Florida Marlins. Its good to see the team show some faith by re-signing their players long term.

The Tino trade doesn't count as earth shattering. Travis Lee is available for a song and will give you similar production. And the Jays haven't done much besides the Kielty trade.

Actually, from the spreadsheets I'm working on, the average HOF First baseman has 269 home runs. However, they also have a .504 slugging percentage, well above Garvey's .446 career mark.

He's also turning 37, and Corey Patterson had a .500+ slugging percentage before the injury. The Cubs need to worry about improving their middle infield before anything else. Lets not get too ahead of ourselves. The Yankees won 101 games last year. That's outstanding, but its lost because they lost one series. The Yankees are making a MAJOR upgrade in right field with the Sheffield signing. They've still got Mussina, and they're the front runners to sign Pettitte. I'm not ready to write off this team. And I thought Philly fans were pessemistic. Sheffield's a consistant .400+ OBP guy. Can't you get excited about that?

2004 Rotation Mussina Contreras Weaver Lieber Mel Stottlemyre

Isn't Albert Belle eligible in 2006? Also, for those of you who pick Lee Smith or Bruce Sutter, why not Rich Gossage? For an entire decade, he was baseball's most dominant reliever.

I think this deserves its own thread. The Diamondbacks send Curt Schilling to the Red Sox in exchange for Casey Fossum, Brandon Lyon, Jorge De La Rosa, and (probably) Michael Goss. The Red Sox get a top notch starter, which they need if they're going to win a championship. They now have a 1-2 punch they haven't had since the days of Ruth and Mays. This gives them an excellent chance to challenge for a World Series title. The D'backs get two good pitching prospects in Jorge De La Rosa and Casey Fossum. Both could end up in the rotation within a year. Michael Goss is a few years away. He has plate disipline and speed, but no power. Brandon Lyon is a decent starter from time to time. I really like this trade for the Sox. They needed to make a run this year, and they now have just the pitchers to do it.

One indication of Weaver's struggles are his horrific H/IP ratio. Recent research has shown that pitchers have less to do with balls in play than previously though, so his struggles might not be all his doing. The Yankees have poor defense, so its POSSIBLE that the defense is causing Weaver's problems. They're certainly not helping. A change of scenery might benefit Weaver. To answer the question, yes. Yankee fans would embrace a successful Weaver. He's one of baseball's nicer guys, and fans love a winner of any color.

Perhaps they're using a games played cutoff. And I thought I had it figured out.

I'm still working on my HOF picks, but I'd like to point out the (unofficial) HOF criteria, which seems to be.... 1. Meet the requirements for eligibility 2. Have been selected to an all-star game So if you're wondering what Danny Darwin is doing on a HOF ballot, that's why.

I am. Not for Selig and Co., but for the players and fans, who deserve better.

50 pts. for Allen Iverson. Nobody fucks with the Poison.

They dominated because they still have Payton, Malone, and Bryant. The Lakers bench is the shits, but it will take two injuries before that becomes a serious problem.

The D'backs are in a good position heading into this offseason. Their lineup is solid, with Sexson now leading the way along with Luis Gonzalez. Alex Cintron hit .317 last year. Scott Hairston is a much heralded prospect. Meanwhile, their pitching staff claims Randy Johnson as the anchor, along with Brandon Webb, Casey Fossum, Elmer Dessens, and a handful of prospects. As for the Brewers, a bold prediction. The Brewers will lose more games than the Detroit Tigers this season. They've got no bench strength, and beyond Ben Sheets there's not a single reliable pitcher on the staff. A new stadium brought nothing but a huge cut in payroll.

I don't think anyone knows at this point. They seem to play by ear, get the best guy available, and move pieces as needed.

Sheffield has a .473 postseason OBP. Besides, we're talking the second bast hitter on the market. A HOF quality hitter. It might be too much money, but the Yankees won't regret it.

I recall being the only poster who thought Bill Mueller was better than Shea Hillenbrand.

Bulls trade Jalen Rose, Lonny Baxter, and Donyell Marshall to the Toronto Raptors for Antonio Davis, Jerome Williams, and Chris Jeffries. Good trade for the Raptors. Jalen Rose is vastly overrated, but Donyell Marshall will improve the team. Don't know what the Bulls are thinking here, besides taking the veteran route, which almost never works.

To heck with this nonsense. The 1938-42 Phillies lost 100 games every year. That's futility for you.

The whole clubhouse nonsense is bullshit. The reason they won is that they found a GM who works with facts and rejects the tools of ignorance. Note hiring Bill Mueller, David Ortiz, and Kevin Millar as examples. As far as Schilling goes, its a risk/reward scenario. Sure he could decline, but some teams have to take some risks to win the big one.