EVIL~! alkeiper

It used to be, but over the last three years it has actually been the best pitchers' park in the American League.

It looks much like the old Busch Stadium, except without the upper deck in the outfield. The outfield is symmetrical, but not perfectly curved like the old park. I think it'll play more towards pitchers, about the level of Jacobs Field. Given the arch beyond the outfield, it looks really, really good.

It's going to take some sorting out. They get anything from the second-fourth round picks of the Cubs, depending where Bob Howry and Scott Eyre. The Cubs' first round pick is protected.

1. NLDS Game 4, Astros defeat Braves in 18 innings. 2. Phillies 11, Reds 10. (Sept. 23). Phillies' 5 run ninth inning keeps them in the playoff chase. 3. World Series game 2. Podsednik wins with walk-off home run. 4. Phillies 5, Dodgers 4 (July 19). Ryan Howard wins with walk-off home run. 5. Red Barons 11, Indianapolis 8 (June 10). Gavin Floyd surrenders seven runs in two innings. Pirates' prospect Ian Snell proceeds to perform his own amazing act of implosion, giving up the lead in the fourth. Ryan Howard hits the go-ahead home run in the fifth.

Somewhere there's a pedophile board with the topic, "I work with an internet nerd."

"How many Vietnam veterans does it take to screw in a lightbulb?" "I don't know." "Of course you wouldn't know because you weren't THERE."

That's true, but they didn't win many championships in the process. Only the '86 club won without speed. Subsequent division winners had Ellis Burks, who could run in his heyday.

why wouldn't Winn be the full-time CF for San-Fran? Didn't he kill the ball after the trade? He hit better than Finley last year, that's for damn sure. JT Snow is gone, right? Could they be thinking about moving someone to first? Lance Niekro's been penciled in at first base. He has power but poor plate discipline, and he's 27, not quite a budding star. They could move an outfielder to first base, but Finley didn't even outhit Niekro. For the Angels, Alfonzo could become a corner sub at first and third. Erstad would move to center, and Kotchman comes up from AAA to play first base. I don't think Alfonzo's good enough to play everyday. Honestly, this trade could make sense if both are used as reserves.

He's right in a way though. There are other benefits of team speed besides stolen bases. Besides Damon, the Sox also traded Edgar Renteria. Right now there is no one on that team who can run at all.

Good enough. What's sad is that this makes Moises Alou, at 39, the youngest regular outfielder (we're leaving out Randy Winn because it's fun to pile on). If the Giants lose Bonds again, they're going to be an awful team.

Does anyone have a source on the Finley trade?

Ainsworth's arm is toast. Byrnes is an average player but with his statistics would earn more than he's worth in arbitration. Byrnes' best OPS+ was 113, in 2003. Conine's career OPS+ is 110, and he matched that last year. I don't think it's a stretch to suggest Conine is a better player than Byrnes. Or Larry Bigbie for that matter.

Yeah, but I think he's worth more than Torii Hunter. Still, it's a reasonable trade.

That's something of a styles clash. The Sox don't have much to deal in terms of infielders, which is the Twins' greatest need.

They shouldn't. Griffey's perceived value exceeds his real value. He's fragile and not a particularly adept center fielder. He's certainly not fit to deal with the angles at Fenway Park. And him and Ramirez side by side could be a disaster.

I don't get why the Mariners would seek Corey Patterson. The reason they can trade Reed is because they have Shin-Soo Choo, who posted a .382 OBP at AAA Tacoma, with 20 steals, and is just 23.

2006 RED SOX C- Jason Varitek/Kelly Shoppach 1B- Kevin Youkilis/Roberto Petagine (platoon) 2B- Mark Loretta SS- Alex Cora or Dustin Pedroia 3B- Mike Lowell LF- Manny Ramirez CF- Adam Stern RF- Trot Nixon DH- David Ortiz SP- Josh Beckett SP- Curt Schilling SP- Matt Clement SP- David Wells SP- Tim Wakefield If I were to list the starters in the order of their projected ERAs, it would come up Schilling, Beckett, Arroyo, Wells, Papelbon, Lester, Dinardo, Clement, Abe Alvarez and Wakefield. If you're carrying Wakefield he needs to start, because most knuckleballers lose effectiveness in a relief role. Looking at the lineup, center field is the big question. They should be able to easily flip an extra starter for a player there. Dustin Pedroia projects as a league average shortstop already. He's the reason the Sox dealt Hanley Ramirez. Pedroia's only 22, and all he's done is produce in the minors. Before this season, John Sickels compared Pedroia to David Eckstein. In the year since then, Pedroia zoomed past Ramirez in AA and posted an above average OBP in the International League. If the Sox make a move at SS, it should only be a one year stopgap. First base is fine with the Youkilis/Petagine platoon. This team is certainly a playoff contender.

As for the non-tenders, a few thoughts. -The Florida Marlins continued dumping good players by non-tendering Joe Dillon. -The Phillies cut loose Endy Chavez, ending the vestige of a trade that causes me to shake my fist in rage to this very day. Still, thanks to Chavez's 10 RBIs, 23 hits and three triples, he was singlehandedly responsible for 1/267th of the team's success this season! -Junior Spivey and Eric Byrnes are now available, and have Cardinal-bait written all over them. -The Orioles cut loose Eddy Rodriguez. Rodriguez is still 24 and has a live arm. He could put it together. -Other notables include Willie Harris, Bo Hart, Ken Harvey, Dan Kolb, Chad Bradford, and Wade Miller.

If the Yankees win a WS in 06 and/or 07, I doubt Yankee fans will care that much hes the next Bernie Williams in 08. They won World Series in 1996, '98, '99 and 2000, and yet they still seemed to care about the first Bernie Williams. Signing members of a championship Red Sox team is a bad omen? Tell that to the '23 Yankees, who won the Bombers' first World title with TWELVE former Red Sox on their roster.

Here's an ugly stat. Johnny Damon has hit .252/.301/.346 in 66 career games at Yankee Stadium. I'm not sure how much stock to put in that, since a lot of the equation comes from good Yankee pitching.

They lose one draft pick. The other is a supplemental pick that occurs between rounds one and two. In any case, it is only harmful if that draft pick would've become better than Johnny Damon.

I'd be surprised if the Red Sox don't turn around now and flip an excess pitcher for a center fielder.

And just to give people an idea of what this league would entail, you'd have a setup where you play half league games, half exhibitions. Many doubleheaders. Your roster would be closer to 14-16 players than 25, so many of your players would both pitch and play the field on their non-pitching days. If you really wanted to get realistic, Satchel Paige could come in and pitch for your team for three innings in a game to boost attendance.

The term "Negro League" itself never actually existed as a trademarked entity, if I am not mistaken. There were leagues such as the Negro American League, and the Eastern Colored League, and these were commonly refered to as the negro leagues. Now, I think MLB may own the trademarks of some of the teams themselves, and that could create a problem. The leagues were loosely organized, and I highly doubt one person could own ALL of the teams. And if there are copyright problems, that could be averted by creating a Bingo Long type of world. The real challenge would be getting the players. Many are obscure, and there are a few affiliated with MLB. MVP Baseball already utilized Buck Leonard and Satchel Paige.

Jacque Jones is definately an upgrade. He's got seven seasons of league average production under his belt. For a team that had the league's worst outfield, that's a tremendous benefit. The only question is whether Jones was the best option at right field. He's not the worst. As for park factors, Wrigley and the Metrodome come out about even for lefties. Oddly, the Cubs tendered Corey Patterson. If they don't trade him, he might make a reasonable fifth outfielder, since he's still a decent glove man.