EVIL~! alkeiper

The two in bold shock me the most since I just didn't think they had good farm systems, for whatever fucktard reasons. With that said, I think the Indians will probably end up winning the World Series, like *soon*, in the next two to three seasons tops. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Milwaukee included Prince Fielder, J.J. Hardy and Rickie Weeks. They've developed practically an entire infield in one shot. The White Sox had Tadahito Iguchi count as a prospect. Looking at the list, six of the Dodgers' seven prospects are still eligible. The Angels saw Casey Kotchman and Dallas McPherson lose prospect eligibility, but Brandon Wood hit 51 doubles and 43 homers in class A. The Dodgers probably have the depth advantage, but it is very close overall. The Indians' five prospects are still eligible.

That distinction, by many scout reports, would belong to the Dodgers. I'm hoping the Dodgers will sign Pat Gillick as GM but I can see Frank McCourt going out and over paying for someone like Theo while missing the boat on the Paul Konerko FA sweepstakes or anyone other FA who's a slugger, which is something the Dodgers need, badly. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The Dodgers and Angels are both top 5. Minnesota's probably up there, along with Atlanta. I'm not sure just now who rounds out the field.

Hall of Famer Al Lopez passed away at the age of 97. Lopez was the oldest living member of the Hall, an honor that now passes to Phil Rizzuto. Lopez managed the '54 Indians and the '59 White Sox to American League pennants, and his career .584 winning percentage is outstanding for a non-Yankees manager of his era. In addition, Lopez played as a catcher from 1928-47, and played in two All-Star games.

What upsets me is that the Phillies STILL haven't given me a call.

It's the first time I've heard that name, so I really don't have an opinion.

Indeed.

And let me state for the Dodger fans on this board, they have so much talent waiting in the farm system that it would take a true idiot to screw this up.

This is a bush league move by the Dodgers. DePodesta got a great deal of flack for letting certain players go during and after the 2004 season. Adrian Beltre, Jose Lima and Steve Finley went on to have terrible seasons. Paul Lo Duca failed to slug .400 this year (Dioner Navarro had a better year than Lo Duca for what it's worth). And then there's the injury bug. Yes, we might have expected an injury to JD Drew. But who would've thought Eric Gagne, Cesar Izturis, Milton Bradley, Jose Valentin and Odalis Perez would ALL miss significant time? And then after ONE injury plauged losing season, he's gone. Just for fun, let's take a look at the good moves Depodesta made... -Traded Shawn Green to the Diamondbacks for Dioner Navarro, saving several million in the process. Navarro went on to outproduce Paul Lo Duca in limited time. Green was replaced by Hee Seop Choi, who produced a 110 ERA+ compared to Green's 113, while being paid $15.7 Million less. -Signed Derek Lowe, who had his best season since 2002. -Found Oscar Robles in the Mexican League, who provided adequate production at third base. -Signed Jeff Kent, who continued to be the best hitting second baseman in recent memory, also having his best year since 2002. -Acquired Antonio Perez for Jason Romano. Perez also filled in admireably at third base. -Plucked Jose Cruz Jr. off the scrap heap. Cruz went on to hit .301/.391/.532 with the Dodgers this year. The Dodgers currently have a loaded farm system and some nice talent in place. Their last division winner was a good team but not a championship squad. DePodesta tried to build a good team, hit a roadbump, and his owner caved to media pressure.

DePodesta left for the Dodgers after the book was published. Essentially DePo was offered a higher job and he took it.

I get it. It's not funny. This is not the CE folder where we can just throw around random stereotypes or bash France or whatever is "in" this week and call it a discussion.

Any connections between race and ability are nonsense, and I almost want to say between race and marketing. Someone on a different board pointed out that there are complaints that Neilsen under-samples latino viewers. Given baseball's demographics, that may be an issue with the low ratings. Actual viewership may be higher.

I would like to think ratings would be higher if watching games on the East Coast did not require a massive change in sleep patterns.

Good lord, even I missed that. The man had six games and five at bats with the Sox all season, and it was his first MLB exposure since 2002. Talk about Art Jorgensing your way to a ring.

Porter, one more of those in this folder and I'm dropping the ban.

I'm guessing mostly through motor vehicle accidents.

Octavio Dotel will be out for most if not all of next season. Here's a better free agent site... http://www.mlb4u.com/freeagent.html

Since the advent of divisional play in 1969, only the 1976 Reds (7-0) have swept the postseason, and they only had two rounds then.

-Baseball Prospectus 2005

If only that shirt was funny.

They still are. It's an unusual phenomenon, and the only reasonable explanation I can draw is Mariano Rivera.

I'm suspicious if the White Sox can keep it up, for two reasons. One, their pythagorean record was 91-71, eight games below their real record. The Indians actually had a better run differential, and they will pose a significant challenge. Second and more importantly, quite a few Sox pitchers enjoyed career years. Jose Contreras, Mark Buehrle, Jon Garland, Neal Cotts, Dustin Hermanson, Cliff Politte and Bobby Jenks all enjoyed the best years of their careers. How much of that is real, how much is a fluke, and how much is defense? The Sox remind me a great deal of the 1939-40 Cincinnati Reds, who won two NL pennants and a World Championship almost entirely on pitching and defense. It worked for a time, but Bill McKechnie remained obsessive far beyond its usefulness.

Heck of a game, but unfortunately I had to turn it off after the ninth inning. I went to sleep at 12:30 and I'm tired NOW. There is no way on earth I could have stayed up until 2:20 to watch the end of the game. There is no reason to take nearly six hours to play 14 innings, and there is no reason for a game to start at 8:38 on the East Coast. I've been to night games where we were DONE at 9. I love baseball, but it should not come to the point where I begin jeopardizing my personal sanity just so I can see the World Series. And for what it's worth, the only other 14 inning game in World Series history (game 2, 1916) lasted two hours and 32 minutes.

3 1/2 hour mark. This is why 8:38 start times suck. If this game goes extra innings there's no way I can stay up and watch the end.

Basically a "tools" prospect is a player who is liked because of his athleticism rather than his production.

They do, but as of now he's strictly a "tools" prospect. Bourn's two levels ahead and productive.