EVIL~! alkeiper

The Rockies would show interest in Dave Dravecky if he wanted to come back.

Nen was a free agent regardless this season. I'm guessing no team bit.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05051/460297.stm House could miss the entire season.

Josh Smith's dunk was absolutely SICK. I gotta say, this was the most fun I've had watching a dunk contest in years.

Mik, you'll find this tidbit amusing. Carlos Delgado gets a $50,000 bonus if he finishes second in the MVP balloting, but only if it is to Barry Bonds.

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/sports/10944820.htm (Registration Required) Greer was a good player for a few years, but surprisingly didn't last long enough even to make the HOF ballot.

Magic works with the TNT crew, I believe, so it is a little friendly banter.

Man, Phoenix laid down the law there.

...Caron Butler, Brian Grant, and Brian Cook for Allen Iverson? Yeah, I'd be laughing my ass off if that happened, too. I don't see who the Lakers could trade right now that could bring a "big name" star to LA. Philly would riot.

Well he should. The Boston media are a bunch of assholes.

Kendall's overpaid, but will he contribute less than Mark Redman and Matt Lawton? And that's not even considering their catching situation. Let me throw out a few ZipS projections... Kendall: .306/.385/.381 Benito Santiago: .238/.279/.357 Humberto Cota: .239/.302/.374 J.R. House: .267/.320/.458 House's projection looks nice, but its been three years since he played 100 games in a season. Kendall's played 145+ games every year for the last five years. And that stat line IS very good. Kendall can not hit for power anymore. But his OBP is truly excellent, particularly for a catcher. As long as he doesn't make outs, he'll be a valuable piece of the Oakland offense.

That's a nice way of looking at it. Another way of looking at it is that they handed Billy Beane a bottle of lube and bent over. Considering how insane his contract was and how much of a dick he was, it was the best assfucking the Pirates could hope for. Kendall's worth as a player pretty much circled the bowl after his gruesome ankle injury (which I saw live on TV when it happened, yikes). There has been much debate if he's mentally afraid to get injured again or if he physically lost a step but the difference after the injury is quite noticable. He's not as agressive on the bases as he used to be. His insistance on staying behind the plate when he had an injured thumb all but sealed the deal in the eyes of most Pirate fans. There was no reason he couldn't have at least played the outfield like the team wanted if he wasn't going to get his thumb repaired. All I can say is karma's a bitch. Jack Wilson's one of the more popular guys on the team now and Kendall's a bitter has-been (or never was?) who's probably going to finish just as out of contention with the A's as he would here. Let me present two stat lines... A: .327/.411/.473, 12 HR, 75 RBI, 26 Steals B: .320/.412/.470, 14 HR, 58 RBI, 22 Steals They look similar, right? Those stat lines are Kendall 1998, and Kendall 2000. The year before the injury, and the year after. I wish I could type more but I'm in a rush. In the meantime, here are a list of catchers who posted OBPs higher than Kendall's last season... Jorge Posada

Let's make it a friendly, ten dollar bet. With college expenses and such, I can't afford to toss out $100 if the Reds do beat the Pirates and Brewers. We're not predicting they beat the Cubs or Cardinals, just that they finish best in the second division. They replaced Chad Moeller (208/265/303) with Damian Miller, Scott Podsednik (244/313/364), and Craig Counsell (241/330/315) with well, anything else. ZipS predicts a 252/347/397 line for SS J.J. Hardy. Not only are they bringing in productive players, but they are clearing several unproductive players from their lineup. That is important. In fairness, the Reds' pitching staff is also underrated because people forget Eric Milton and Ramon Ortiz are replacing starters such as Jose Acevedo and Todd Van Poppel. Vizquel was overpriced, but he is replacing Deivi Cruz at shortstop, and the Giants somehow gave over 300 at bats to Neifi Perez as well. Plus, Armando Benitez replaces Matt Herges as closer, and the Giants have several good young pitchers on the staff. The Giants finished second in runs scored, and 12th in runs allowed. An improvement in the pitching staff goes a long way.

Arthur Rhodes and Mark Redman. As for Byrnes, I'm not sure he was ever on the trading block. Sportswriters speculated that they were interested in Mike Cameron, but that doesn't make sense since Mark Kotsay is a better center fielder anyway.

That's a nice way of looking at it. Another way of looking at it is that they handed Billy Beane a bottle of lube and bent over.

Well, the bet is that the Reds beat both. If they can't beat the Brewers, it doesn't matter if they can't beat the Pirates. That's the bet. Personally, I take the bet. The Brewers will finish fourth, and maybe third.

I certainly can find fault with the rankings, but there's no individual comment that I can bitch at, surprisingly.

I've got a photo of an Andre/Flair match, but I've never seen it. I can't imagine it being anything other than an Andre squash.

Check it out on my blog... cultofabreu.blogspot.com

Lightning Flik and Dr. Tom's leagues are officially sponsered by the TSM Staff (re: myself). A few others will likely run leagues, but I am not sure who. I will not run a TSM league myself.

No, this one was a ridiculously low IP limit for H2H matchups, allowing a certain user to use middle relievers to win the pitching matchups. It worked until the playoffs, when a certain other user used the Big Unit and Johan Santana to kick his ass.

The Dead Milkmen - I Dream of Jesus

Here's the situation so far. CBS Sportsline is entirely pay-for-play. Yahoo has a free service, as long as you don't mind mid-afternoon drafts. ESPN has not posted their fantasy leagues yet, but assume they are also pay-for-play. MLB.com promises a free service in the future.

You misunderstand. The idea is not that teams are equal in talent. Its that the random process of 16 games gives more variance, and that allows teams to sneak into the playoffs. This argument does not really prove anything. Even in a fair system, some teams will dominate, and its easy to stay on top over a span of three seasons. If you want to prove this argument, you need to use a span of at least a decade. TIcket prices are set (or should be set) at the level where teams derive the most revenue. If they aren't, then that is part of their problem. But let's say player salaries were cut in half. Do you think owners would magnanimously slash prices and concessions? I have my doubts. Heck, the NFL, with the most stringent salary cap, also has by far the highest ticket prices.

Good point. Let's not bemoan the loss of personal responsibility until someone actually wins one of these cases. You cared enough to post, apparently.