EVIL~! alkeiper

Yes. The fact that absolutely despicable scum such as Jeffrey Loria and Jerry Reinsdorf are walking around with World Series rings are living proof that even the worst owned teams can win titles (this is not an attack on the White Sox's management). The 2003 SF Giants managed to win 100 games despite giving Neifi Perez over 300 at bats. The Cubs can compete and win if they fill some holes in their lineup. Anything Dusty did to derail the team pales in comparison to the black hole of center field, where Corey Patterson compiled a nifty .215/.254/.348 line. The rest of the outfield was fairly poor as well. Replacing Todd Hollandsworth with Brian Giles could easily be worth five wins on its own. And getting a center fielder with a minimum of ability would help as well. Talent is much more a factor than management.

Don't throw my name in on it.

Perhaps, but the days of dealing premium prospects for names has faded. Teams are more aware of the issues of dealing prospects, especially since their fans are more aware. Besides, the Mets don't need pitching depth.

Since we've had some hate towards Steve Phillips faux press conferences, let's do something better. Instead of listening to espn for information on your team's offseason moves, ask your question here! Please ask one question at a time, and remember I'm not a crystal ball. If you ask, "where will Rafael Furcal go?", or "will the Marlins trade Carlos Delgado?", I can't be of much help. You're better off reading Ken Rosenthal for the rumor mill.

He'd get a C level prospect at best. Miller's missed half the season the last two years and had poor numbers this year. He needs to prove he can pitch effectively again before he gains any value.

Otsuka's too good of a reliever to throw in that deal. Wells for Roberts makes perfect sense though. The Sox need a center fielder, and Roberts would be a popular addition. The Padres add rotation depth and could possibly slot Freddy Guzman into center.

Sounds good but you need to think about five years behind. Gifted young athletes can earn athletic scholarships to major universities playing football or basketball. Professional boxing does not offer that kind of side benefit, and does not pay off tremendously except for maybe the top 20 or so.

The real problem is that the nature of sports has changed over the last 30 years. Football and Basketball especially have become dominant in terms of recruiting young athletes, and virtually any youth in the country has the opportunity to play some kind of youth sport. When it comes to a choice between those sports or fighting, they are more attractive alternatives. The lighter weights are more immune because no 130 pound kid is going to make the NFL or NBA, so there is less competition for talented athletes.

Come playoff time, they'll be discussing the NFL Draft.

The birthday stuff is easy. You guys can check out your own birthdays at baseball-reference.com... http://www.baseball-reference.com/friv/birthdays.shtml

Of course, for all the talk of Terrell Owens being a cancer, his teams have made the postseason six times. Owens' teams have a career 93-58 mark. If Owens' presence hurts his teams, you wouldn't know it from the wins and losses. Quite honestly, I don't see what the hell Owens said that's bad at all. The Eagles would be better with Favre? Wow, adding great players add wins. What a far out concept. Donovan McNabb's having a down season? Yeah, he's injured. So what if Owens and McNabb don't like each other? They're professionals. When it comes time to play football Owens produces. I think the same can be said of McNabb. I agree with Agent here. I'm sick of the Eagles and ESPN constantly whining about what a pain in the ass Terrell Owens is. Grow a thicker skin. When Owens says something, come out and say, "that's fascinating, see you on Sunday Terrell." Then suit him up and throw him the damned ball. Jesus, you think a sport where grown men run into each other for three hours a week wouldn't involve so many whiners.

Only if you can accept my first move being to offer Manny Ramirez to the Phillies for Bobby Abreu.

Jacoby Ellsbury's plate discipline looks very good so far. My chief concern, again, is his relative lack of power. Most of his slugging percentage comes from five triples, and those are more speed than anything. The stolen base percentage is good, but that's iffy as an indicator until the player indicates he can steal at a high percentage at AA or higher. And at 21, he was older than most players at that level. He's a wait-and-see type more than anything right now. As for the starting rotation. All four of those guys have great minor league pedigrees. The problem is if they all make it. We've all seen highly regarding pitching prospects bite the dust. I would hesitate to pin my hopes on a young pitching staff. After all, this year's Phillies squad should've included Gavin Floyd and Cole Hamels.

Re: The Red Sox First off, the Mets are suckers if they trade Petit AND Milledge for Ramirez. It's that kind of boneheaded move that lost so much good will of their fans. This team has already traded away Scott Kazmir, Melvin Mora, Jason Bay, and Justin Huber. I just can't see them falling for the same trick again, particularly when they don't lack outfielders. Second, if David Murphy is any kind of prospect, this is the first I've heard of it. Jacoby Ellsbury's resume consists of 35 games in the NY-Penn League. He's displayed more speed than power, and if he is a prospect we're looking at 2009, and that optimistic. Not every prospect pans out. And even if those guys all come up, that's frankly not a very impressive team.

He has his drawbacks. But first base is not so much a place where he would be exposed as opposed to playing elsewhere. He's cheap and he's hit wherever he's played. He's not the future, but as a guy who can fill a gap he could be tremendous. It depends who they get in return really. If the Sox were to shed his salary somehow, they could grab Brian Giles off the free agent market. I do agree though that they probably shouldn't trade Manny, unless they get the right deal.

The Red Sox have Roberto Petagine, but good luck convincing the brass that he exists.

In honor of UseTheSledgehammerUh, I present the ultimate baseball birthday greetings... First, from the Texas slugger, Adam Dunn! The best current player to share your birthday! Second, the only HOFer in baseball who shares your birthday, the legendary Bob Gibson! Next, no self-respecting baseball birthday thread could exist without a man named Cox!! And since we've resorted to Cox jokes, how about greetings from David Bush! The great manager born this day! And finally, the greatest player never to register an at bat!! Considering the best player born on my birthday was Steve F'n Renko, consider yourself blessed.

Yeah. It's fun, but very time-consuming to tally those votes by hand.

No.

I'd trim that list a little. It's nice to be comprehensive, but that's prohibitively time consuming to respond to.

Then the Mets best be ready to pay all of Manny's remaining salary. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> If thats the case, The Red Sox best be ready to ship him off for Glaus. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I don't see how that deal would make sense for either team. The D'backs have Carlos Quinten and Conor Jackson on the way up, and the Sox have Kevin Youkilis.

Because of the win/loss records again. Lee compiled an 18-5 record, for the best winning percentage in the league. Mark Buehrle lost out because his type, inning eaters without dominant stuff, are always overlooked in these votes (see Wilbur Wood, 1971). I'm not going to gripe however, because Colon was a legitimate candidate.

Let's take a moment to reflect... Athlete "A" allegedly attacks his employees with a machette and attempts to set them on fire. Athlete "B" makes vaugely disparaging remarks about his team in a sit-down interview. Now, which of these malicious athletes is currently the subject of ESPNnews?

Voting is done before the postseason, so Iguchi's postseason performance doesn't matter. It's not like the White Sox lost, it's a small sample, and a good portion of Iguchi's value lies in his defense. That the White Sox were such a good defensive team is a big point in Iguchi's favor. I hope the voters didn't penalize him due to his status as a Japanese veteran. Regardless of what you think the eligibility rules are, Iguchi was eligible this year. I can't really argue with Huston Street though.

This has been out for two weeks, but now we have a formal charge. Regardless of the outcome, I think teams will be quite wary of courting Urbina's services.