EVIL~! alkeiper

Sometime in May I believe, he stated that Washburn was the front runner after Washburn ran off a hot month.

You coach in the NFL to win games. Andy Reid had bad luck, losing the conference championships the last three years. For argument's sake, we can not assume either team will win the Super Bowl next week. So its two championships for Belicheck at the moment. Belicheck has the better postseason record with those two Super Bowl wins. However, the Patriots missed the playoffs in 2002. That has to be considered a black mark on his record. Reid does not have a championship, as of yet. But in the last four years, the Eagles have been strong every single year. It may well come down to this weekend's matchup, but Andy Reid has taken the Eagles further than they have ever gone before, and I honestly think he is the best coach in the NFL.

Not yet. I think the Red Sox will consider Hanley Ramirez as their best second base option if and when Mark Bellhorn departs, and depending how he hits Triple A pitching this season.

Some actual MLB players... Dusty Rhodes Jigger Statz Rusty Kuntz Mike Tyson

Kruk was an excellent hitter in his heyday. .300 career batting average, along with a .397 career OBP. He was a fun player to watch as well. He retired at 34, and I'm not exactly sure why. It was probably injuries, as he still hit .308 his last year. The fun part about Kruk's career totals is that along with hitting precisely .300, he hit exactly 100 home runs, and played in exactly 1,200 games. That's why its sad to see him turn into such a driviling moron, because he was one of Philly's most beloved players.

I stopped watching Baseball Tonight when they stopped running intelligent commentary and just kept bashing Moneyball all year.

Correct. I knew one of the Blue Jays was a strong candidate, and I think its Russ Adams.

The question as I recall is who had the most PPV shots, and NEVER won the title. That disqualifies guys like Sid, Benoit and Jericho. Also Lex Luger, who seemingly had a million shots at Flair in his day.

It'll be a few weeks, but I will likely make it a part of my regular column this season. Its been well received. Nothing. There are five free agent starters left. Andy Ashby is 38, and pitched two innings last year. Pedro Astacio (36) pitched 27 innings, 9 for the Red Sox, and compiled a gaudy 10.38 ERA in the process. Omar Daal I'm sure you're familiar with. He missed all of last season. Darren Oliver is available. He does not have good numbers, but he seems to survive. Todd Van Poppel boasts a 5.58 ERA. None of these guys are worth more than a minor league contract and Spring Training invite. The Orioles are better off promoting pitchers from AAA. Angelos can compete with the Yankees and Red Sox, and his payrolls matched theirs until five years ago. There is real concern that MLB will hand Angelos a guaranteed revenue clause as settlement for the Nationals moving to D.C. If that happens, Angelos would not need to field a competitive team to turn a profit, and that could prove disasterous. Angelos knows Camden Yards is a draw, and that alone makes his team profitable, regardless of win/loss records. The problem is the team is not good enough to sustain attendance on its own. I do think the Orioles are making an effort, but they had extremely bad luck last year, and they just missed out on free agents this year. Adam Laroche hit 278/333/488 as a rookie, and looks good enough to play full time and collect around 25 home runs a season. If for some reason Laroche is not good enough, Andy Marte is a top 3B prospect on his way to AAA Richmond. He could force Chipper Jones to 1B, or play first himself. Also, OF prospect Jeff Francoeur has superstar potential.

Bulldog also challenged Vader for the WCW World Title at Slamboree '93.

Well, besides the Sosa trade is there really anything else happening in baseball right now?

For this coulmn, but if you guys have questions, I'll be glad to answer them. I'd have a mailbag feature if I had mail.

The first one ran into bug problems. I've got a new one going. IM me (alkeiper) for an invite.

I'm giving the chat a run. Invite yourself to TSMBaseballChat

By the way, would anyone be interested in a baseball chat tonight?

That'll cover it for this column. Thanks guys.

I'm working on a new MLB column, and I thought I'd ask you guys to give some leads. Post a question here, and I'll answer it in the column. It can be anything regarding player moves, your favorite team, or even something historical.

I can't move posts, but I have no problem letting this stand here. Dates for NBA threads don't have to be specific or exclusive. As for the post, too bad Anglesault's no longer here to demand a forfeit.

Yes, because signing a player 115 years ago voids all complaints on the current unbalanced financial state of baseball. As a Pirates fan, it has been annoying to see the team get turned into a de-facto AAA team for the upper level teams, but eventually baseball as a whole will end up in a situation like hockey where half the teams are in danger of going broke due to trying to keep a competitive team. Seems that's what it's going to take to get things fixed. That is the fault of your team's piss-poor management, not the system at large. Several teams contend despite low payrolls. That the Pirates can not even top 75 wins should tell you something. I find it hard to pity a team that thinks using Jose Mesa for a closer is a good idea. And the team does not have the big bad Red Sox and Yankees to blame like teams in the American League. With a new stadium, there's no reason the Pirates should do as bad as they do. McClatchy's just trying to divert attention from himself for failing to run a successful ballclub.

I can't really do a full analysis until I see what the Cubs turn around and do in right field. From the Orioles' perspective, I like it. They get Sosa for just $7 million this season, and only give up a couple of B prospects, and Jerry Hairston, who was at a positional logjam anyway.

Even Ruben Sierra on his own isn't a bad player. He packs a powerful bat, despite the lack of OBP. The problem is, the Yankees fail to keep players around to cover for that dificiency, and it excaberbates the problem.

www.baseball-reference.com Select any player, and scroll down to the bottom.

I never understood why NBA teams draft high schoolers, considering they only hold the player's rights for three years. By the time Sebastian Telfour gets good, he could leave. High schoolers aren't necessarily bad investments, but there's an advantage in college players in that you have a better idea of their level of skill. The problem NBA teams have is that they decide the college guys aren't good enough, and draft a high school player who MIGHT become better.

I don't mean to fault Rivera (even game four was a close one). It just illustrates how close the Yankees came to closing the series. It is not like they were blown out of the water.

First off, Julio's not part of the trade. Second, let's not kid ourselves here about Julio's closing ability. He's had ERAs of 4.38, and 4.57 the last two seasons. He gave up 21 home runs in 130 innings over that span. Just because he was the only good reliever in an awful bullpen* does not make him any more suited for a job than LaTroy Hawkins. *Except B.J. Ryan, of course.