EVIL~! alkeiper

Yeah, anyone who has ever watched "Best In SHow," knows the comedic flair Fred Willard can bring to television commentating.

That I saw coming, and since Howard barely played at AAA and Thome's blocking him, that's not too upsetting. The worst part about this is that Marlon Byrd is at AAA so the Phillies can carry Jose F'n Offerman. Please Ed, if you don't want Byrd, at least send him somewhere like Milwaukee or Baltimore, where he can get a fair shot.

I just caught it on ESPNNews. That was sick.

What did Lebron do?

Yes.

Ok gang. You can start making your Round 27 picks.

I remember the WWF advertised Andre the Giant's return for the 1991 Royal Rumble for a long time, including in the WWF Magazine. The Toronto Sun even mentioned Andre's return a week or two before the event. So what happened? Was Andre in no condition to wrestle, or did something else come up? And were there plans for Andre after the Rumble?

The Phillies sent Marlon Byrd to AAA in an attempt to piss me off, apparently. It's amusing that I'm upset because I get to watch a player live. It's just that when I saw Byrd in 2002, I knew he wouldn't be there for long. I was wrong.

Just out of curosity, why couldn't the Astros beat the Cubs? They have a better closer, their 1-2 punch at the rotation is just as good, and they have the same issues in the outfield. If the Cubs suffered a couple rotation injuries, I could easily see the Astros beating the Cubs. Not that they will, but they could.

I don't know how I did that.

Done.

Ellis actually played a substantial amount of games at shortstop in the minor leagues. He was only moved to second base when he reached the majors, due to the presence of Miguel Tejada. Ellis played well with the glove at short, so it shouldn't be a problem.

I figured I'd do these more often, so perhaps we can finish them not long after opening day. No guarantees due to schoolwork, but I enjoy doing them. The Houston Astros experienced perhaps their most successful season in franchise history. One can make an argument for 1980, but the fact is that the Astros finally broke through and won a playoff series. This season however, the Astros have been written off. The team lost Jeff Kent and Carlos Beltran to free agency, and Lance Berkman will miss a month or two due to an offseason injury. The opening day outfield consists of Jason Lane, Willy Taveras, and Mike Lamb. Lamb hit extremely well in limited time, but he will likely regress to his career average. That will not look nearly as good in left field. Taveras is a fine prospect, but he has barely played above AA, save for a 10 game trial where he was used almost entirely as a defensive substitute. Jason Lane is a fine player, deserving to start, and will easily replace production lost by the mid-season departure of Richard Hidalgo, or better than that of Chris Biggio. Speaking of Biggio, he moves back to second base, blocking Chris Burke. Biggio might outhit Burke this season yet, but Burke is a legit prospect, and should be given the opportunity. I would think that Biggio is better used in a utility role, given his ability to play the outfield. Jeff Bagwell is still a reasonable hitter, although age is quickly catching up to him. Morgan Ensberg will hit better than he did last year. The Astros' real problem is at catcher. Brad Ausmus might have super-human abilities to handle a pitching staff. If that is true, it makes one wonder why the heck Peter Munro, Carlos Hernandez, Brandon Duckworth, and Tim Redding all stunk up the joint last season. The Astros were hurt by their inability to find back-end starters, and their pitching staff remains shallow. In reality, Ausmus is a liability. Many catchers could provide better production that Ausmus's poor batting lines. In addition, Ausmus turns 36 this year, meaning further decline is in the future. The Astros do boast a strong starting three, with Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Roy Oswalt. The issue will be finding a fifth starter behind those three and Brandon Backe. If they do, the Astros should remain in the wild card hunt. Getting Berkman back before it is too late is a key as well.

I would expect the A's would move Mark Ellis to shortstop in Crosby's absence, clearing second base for Keith Ginter.

The Devil Rays acquired Michael Restovich off waivers from the Twins. Restovich deserves to start until Baldelli returns, in my opinion. The Cubs received Luke Hagerty back from the Florida Marlins.

For you Al. So? Juan Gonzalez was a waiver wire pickup to hold a spot until Lance Berkman got back. So I find another outfielder. Big deal.

Erstad still missed 37 games last year, so moving him to first base hardly cures all injuries. And I'm sorry, but when your first baseman is posting hitting numbers below the league average, he does not belong in the lineup. The Angels have two players on their team that can outproduce Erstad. The problem is that if he is not in center, he does not deserve to be in the lineup in the first place. As for center field, there was not much out there, but that does not mean it is good to overpay for a player who is a 50/50 shot at being a liability in 2006. The Angels could have used Jeff Davanon or Chone Figgins if they needed. Absolutely. He pitched extremely well after the All-Star break. He was kind of the anti-Mulder in that regard. Still, I think Escobar had a better season, even after the All-Star break.

Yes he is. The remaining people have until 11pm to make picks, and then we commence the next round.

The Angels won 92 games and the AL West last season, taking two of three from the Athletics on the last weekend. They were quickly bounced from the playoffs, but they look to return. Looking to improve their team, they made some questionable moves. They needed a center fielder. Instead of moving their superior defender (Darin Erstad) to center where he belongs, they kept him at first so Casey Kotchman could stay at AAA, and signed Steve Finley to a two year, $15 Million contract. Many point to Finley's great defense and 36 home runs at the age of 39. However, the previous three years Finley hit 14, 25 and 22 home runs. Only five players in baseball history hit 30 or more home runs at the age of 39. Of those, Hank Aaron hit 20 the next season, Willie Stargell hit 11, and Cy Williams hit 12. The other is Barry Bonds, who also looks to suffer a drop in home runs this season. Darrell Evans is the ONLY player in baseball history to hit more than 30 home runs after 40. Now, with that information in mind, also noting that Finley is moving from a hitters' park to a neutral park, and that his home run rate fell to his established career level when he moved to Dodger Stadium, how likely is it that Steve Finley will repeat his 2004 season? Next, the Angels ditched their established shortstop to sign Orlando Cabrera to a four year, $32 Million contract. Cabrera is a very nice defensive shortstop, but I don't see any level of defense makes a player with a .316 career OBP worth $8 Million a season. Especially since the Angels acquired Maicer Izturis over the offseason. Not that the Angels did not make some good moves. They let Troy Glaus go in favor of Dallas McPherson, and they cut Jose Guillen for a cheaper, less-problematic player in Juan Rivera. The thing is, this team is not a great club, like many think. They finished just seventh in runs last year, and since Finley is replacing Jose Guillen in the lineup, they haven't upgraded significantly. Garret Anderson's days of great hitting are likely over. The Angels' pitching is their biggest strength. Kelvim Escobar emerged as the team's best pitcher, and John Lackey is an underrated pitcher. Paul Byrd is a very good pitcher as long as he remains healthy. Bartolo Colon is a question mark, as he allowed 38 home runsin 208.3 IP. 26 of those came in the first half, and we'll see if Colon can right the ship. On the bullpen, Francisco Rodriguez is one of the great relievers in the game today. Watch him pitch if you can. Scot Shields and Brendan Donnelly provide depth, and no team in baseball is more adept at finding quality relief pitchers out of nowhere. The Angels are one of the top contenders in the AL West. I have an irrational love of the Athletics, and I think the A's are favorites. But the Angels are more than capable of taking the title.

SP Deacon Phillippe.

Figured I would start a new thread for this to keep things clean. From here on out we are ditching the draft order. You will simply select a player each round as you come on the board. This is round 26, and it will begin at 11:15 ET. Consult the picks thread for taken players, and to check the autopicks on your own team. Full rosters will consist of 30 players.

I set up the chat room at "TSMBaseball"

I would encourage that strategy actually. Why put inferior pitchers in the bullpen? If you had six great pitchers on your team, would you trade one for a mediocre reliever?

Absolutely. You can fill your bullpen with starters if you want.

Ok. Now Richmond and Portland are the only teams that I havent decided on stadiums for.