EVIL~! alkeiper

Slayer you're from Kansas. Is there anything interesting in Lawrence? Bill James is from Lawrence, for what it is worth.

The big problem with Vidro is that he's missed 50+ games the last two years now. He's somewhat useful, but I can't help think that Milledge could garner more in a trade.

Gonzalez has a .291 OBP. Bad, but consider he played his home games in Dolphins Stadium his entire career. He's moving to the American League, to a park that favors left handed hitters. Suddenly his OBP hangs around the .320 range, and it's not a glaring problem. Gonzalez essentially provides stability, and when it's a one year deal that's a good thing.

It's hard to tell what kind of opportunities Piazza had. The Yankees rumors were probably just attempts to drive up his asking price. I'm not sure how big an effect Petco will have on Piazza's numbers. He's an upgrade as far as offense goes. I don't think the defense is a huge problem. Piazza will hit somewhere in the .220-.230 range. He'll draw enough walks and have enough power to be productive, but fans can get stuck on a low batting average.

ESPNNews reports the deal was for $2 Million. Quite frankly, I'm stunned the Padres got him this cheap.

None of the above. The Twins should have Jason Kubel back in uniform this season, and Justin Morneau will rebound as well. None of those guys are good enough to justify cutting into Kubel's or Rondell White's playing time.

I'm surprised this has gone almost completely unnoticed. A's reliever Jairo Garcia was caught up in age-gate. His real name is Santiago Casilla, and he's 25 years old, not 22. Garcia's still a prospect, but this puts a serious dent in his upside.

Who deserves a spot on the Phillies roster, based SOLELY on the basis of talent? For example, if David Bell isn't one of the six best infielders we cut him regardless of salary. I am using Dan Symboski's ZipS projections. Catching: Mike Lieberthal is still the best hitting catcher on the staff. The best projected backups are Dusty Wathan (.254/.339/.367) and Chris Coste (.263/.315/.400). We'll take Wathan based on his defensive reputation and OBP and we'll come back to Coste. Infield: Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins are no brainers for first, second and shortstop. What do we do about third base? The candidates are Coste, Bobby Scales, David Bell, Matt Kata, Abraham Nunez and Tomas Perez. All except Scales and Perez are just about even in quality. Chris Coste has the most pop, while Nunez has the best projected OBP. Bell is probably still the best third baseman on the team. Abraham Nunez would fit in nicely as the utility infielder, spelling Bell against right handed pitchers. Chris Coste should make the team as the other backup. He can play third, play first base against tough lefties, and act as the third catcher. His versitility combined with his pop would make him an ideal fill-in. Outfield: Pat Burrell, Aaron Rowand, Bobby Abreu across the field. Shane Victorino makes the team as the fourth outfielder, providing excellent defense and switch-hitting capabilities. That leaves us with a choice of Peter Bergeron, Shawn Garrett, Chris Roberson or Josh Kroeger. Michael Bourn is clearly not MLB ready just yet. Josh Kroeger is the most powerful, while Bergeron has the best projected OBP. Chris Roberson lags behind, and his skills are a carbon copy of Victorino's anyway. I'd take Bergeron based on his defense. He's an ideal fifth outfielder, and a better version of Endy Chavez. Starters: The top four in projected ERA are Jon Lieber, Brett Myers, Cory Lidle, and Robinson Tejeda. Ryan Madson's numbers are projected as a reliever, so his performance as a starter is unknown. If he posts a sub-5.00 ERA, he's in. Cole Hamels is next on the list, but he's a big injury question. After Hamels we have Ricardo Rodriguez and Ryan Franklin. I'd take Lieber, Myers, Lidle, Madson and Robinson Tejeda. Once Randy Wolf returns, Tejeda is the odd man out. Relievers: Tom Gordon, Geoff Geary, Aaron Fultz, Arthur Rhodes, Rheal Cormier, Julio Santana, and Aquilino Lopez. Cormier was bad last year, but should rebound. In practice, Chris Booker is a Rule V pick and needs to be returned if not taken on the roster. He's probably worth keeping in exchange for moving one of the back end relievers to AAA.

I've got both on order, actually. Let me also plug John Sickels' prospect book. His is self-published and has been an excellent resource the last two seasons. www.johnsickels.com

I hear what you are saying, but I don't know how it applies in this case. In Branyan's situation he could be had for a song, so there isn't really a need to protect negotiating leverage. I would think he would jump on 400-500 ABs in Philly at whatever price, as opposed to a minor league deal with Tampa. Plus, if the rumblings are anywhere near accurate, Gillick has been begging for a pitcher (starter or back end of the pen) all offseason. I'm just talking in generalizations. It's safe to beg for pitching. Everyone thinks they need it. I really do think the Phils missed the boat on Russell Branyan. But then again, the Phils gave guaranteed money already to Abraham Nunez, and I think Gillick's also worried about crowding out players he just acquired. I don't know how patient the Philly media would be if Branyan started out hitting .210-.220, no matter how many walks and home runs he collects. Branyan hit .257 last season, and that was a career high. It's not a make or break deal for the Phillies, and while I would've pulled the trigger, I can see the opposite argument.

Not a bad chat altogether. The thing with GM comments is you have to remember that in addition to Public Relations, they're also positioning themselves in regards to dealing with the other 29 teams. If a GM comes out and says, "we're desperate for this type of player," it puts him in a poor negotiating position. I was pleased to hear Carlos Ruiz has a shot to win a backup job, as well as Matt Kata. I'm also glad to hear that Dan Haigwood will likely begin the year in Scranton.

Just to play devil's advocate here, if Kobe's a superior defender and an opposing player is ripping apart the defense, why isn't Kobe guarding him?

Keep an eye on Fernando Cabrera. He dominated AAA, got promoted and didn't miss a beat. He's 24 and he's got 35 Ks in 34 innings under his belt, with 12 walks and one home run. 1.75 ERA. That's better than he can maintain, but it's a hell of a start.

How many Rob Johnstone's come from Bushkill, attend East Stroudsburg University, and have insanely conservative ideologies? I'm not just going by a name. I've heard him participate in class discussions.

Many of the long time TSMers might remember a certain ultra-conservative poster, who happened to live in Bushkill, PA. That's not far from my place. One of my political science professors takes attendance by passing around the sheet and having us write down our names. The sheet comes to me, I look down, and what do I see? 1. Rob Johnstone Ever get the feeling you're in for a long semester?

The disc is working better now that I've played it a few times. As for creating a catcher, I could probably do that, but it seems like a cheat of sort. Can you add a player by redshirting a freshman? I'm not entirely familiar with that system. My first-string catcher only missed two weeks though, so it's not a big deal.

The hell?! Are they worried Gibbons will leave via free agency and they won't be able to find another corner outfielder who can post a .315 OBP? No wonder this team sucks.

What argument is there for Bryant being better at 19? Kobe scored more points per game and per 40 minutes than James, and edges him in a healthy number of advanced statistical metrics. The one edge Lebron had at that edge is playing time.

404 Error. No matter though. I don't have a drive or adaptor to input the rosters to my game anyway. I'm happy enough editing the best/familiar players. Once you get to the netherlands of the talent pool, what does it matter to change the name of a player when you won't recognize the new name anyway? Especially when it all becomes a moot point four years into your dynasty. It's ok for others, but it won't enhance my gameplay any. I am enjoying this game. The NCAA license gives a new dimension to gameplay and really changes up the game from the same old routine of the MLB games. I kicked off a dynasty with Lehigh University, lost the first two games to Georgia Tech, but rebounded with two wins at Tennessee. My only problem is that my first-string catcher is injured, and I don't see a way to acquire a new backup. Create-a-school is disappointing, but EA has done a great job with create-a-ballpark. The outfield walls are fully adjustable, which is what most players want mostly. You can also use any of the outfield dimensions of the existing MLB parks. The big issue is that it takes the PS2 some convincing to read the game disc at start-up. I have a first generation PS2, but it has not been trashed or anything. Is this a common problem?

I don't think Delcarmen's such a player that he's a dealbreaker. If Delcarmen pans out, you have a player roughly the caliber of David Riske. Many fans get paranoid about dealing minor league prospects, but sometimes you're better off dealing your less than elite prospects for established major leaguers. It isn't like Boston will sweat the added salary.

909 hit it on the head, I can't say it any better...when LeBron gets all those accolades, regardless or whether Kobe had Shaq or not, then we can talk. We're talking career, not better player, and I still think even that is highly highly debatable. The problem is that this isn't an argument over who had the better career. It's speculation on who will be the greatest when their respective careers are over. It'd be like comparing Julius Erving to Michael Jordan in 1984. One player accomplished more at that point, but the other player was ultimately better in his time. It's almost a toss-up. James was better at 20, but Bryant was arguably a better player at the age of 19. Ultimately, I think James will be a better player in the long run as long as he maintains a work ethic.

The Sox would not be able to trade Seanez until mid-season without Seanez's approval, since he's a new acquisition.

The Phillies expressed interest in Mike Piazza. This would be a great fit. Piazza could spell Lieberthal for a time and also platoon with Ryan Howard against tough lefties. He would also provide a credible right handed bat to slide between Abreu, Utley and Howard. Yeah, Piazza struggled at first base in 2004, but he tried to make the move inseason. He would likely improve with some practice in Spring Training.

We do, but it really has to be done verbatim for the joke to work.

35 is far, far beyond the prime years of an athlete. For most players it's downhill after 30. I've never read about NBA players as a group but I would assume they peak slightly earlier.