EVIL~! alkeiper

Actually, I've managed to merge the two together. Have at it kids.

So did Leon take up basketball when I wasn't paying attention?

And somewhere, John Kruk is crying.

I hate it. More ESPN "holier than thou" crap, who would have us believe that the athletes they lower themselves to deal with are a bunch of pricks, and we should be thankful that they (ESPN) are willing to expose the truth. I put it in the same group as Hustle.

Believe me, I get annoyed at the continuous use of lefties for the same reason. Your lefty should be able to pitch full innings, and retire right handers as well. But you've stated that Torre used Quantrill, Gordon, and Rivera too much, and relied too heavily on Felix Heredia. Who does that leave in the bullpen? Bret Prinz, Scott Proctor, Gabe White (until the trade), Tanyon Sturtze and C.J. Nitkowski. None of those guys really inspire any sort of confidence (Prinz's 5.08 ERA was the best of the group). At some point as a manager, you are handcuffed by the talent you have available. It is possible Torre misused his bullpen, but that bullpen was a sorry bunch to begin with.

Have you ever seen the Young Ones?

How can you vote a Beatles song as the worst and not have it be "Revolution #9"?

I think the overuse talk is ridiculous. I've touted pitch counts and carful usage as much as the next guy, but there is no reason a pitcher shouldn't be able to pitch 100 innings. For Heredia, Torre didn't have any other lefties in the pen. Moreover, its easy to say he sucked after the fact, but he had a 2.69 ERA last season. The umpire arguing and headhunting are subjective arguments. Personally, I didn't see it. Kenny Lofton I'll give you. Torre's non use of him was maddening at times, especially when Giambi missed most of the season. The fact remains though that the Yankees won 101 games, and far exceeded their pythagorean record (again).

Just for fun. Win Shares separates shares between offense and defense... Jason Bay, offense: 15.5, defense: 1.9 Khalil Greene, offense: 15.1, defense: 5.6 Greene was the advantage of playing time. If we look at Win Shares percentage.... Bay: .675 Greene: .670 Overall, this is really close, and I don't think you can go wrong with either player.

It was probably Torre's worst year. The award ballots are sent in before the Playoffs, so his managerial moves in the ALCS have no effect here.

Offensively, no. But it is more than fair to give Greene credit for his defense.

In fairness, we have a tremendous contingent of players playing right now in exhibition play in Japan.

I wouldn't pay them. Like a poster stated, they get scholarships. I would LOVE to get a scholarship and live on campus, but instead I work for my education. I would much rather the former option. As for athletes staying to finish their education, let's face it. Many of these guys are just humoring us by attending classes in the first place. The collegiate football/basketball programs have little to do with academia, and it sickens me that they get a free ride while the rest of us need to work our way through.

Clemens over Johnson, I don't agree with, but I can see it. Although it is worth noting that Clemens only won two more games than Johnson. It's also worth noting that 11 of Johnson's 14 losses came when Johnson threw a quality start (6+ IP, 3 earned runs or less). Ben Sheets really gets the shaft here. ONE VOTE?!

They lose May's contract, so the money works out about even.

All I can tell you is that May has much better BB/K stats than Valdez. Valdez didn't even have good peripherals at home.

We've got our first trade, as the Royals send Darrell May and Ryan Bukvich to the Padres for Terrance Long and Dennis Tankersley. I like the aquisition of May for the Padres. He had decent peripherals, his problem was that he gave up too many home runs. Take a homer prone pitcher and move him into the spacious confines of Petco Park. He'll be much improved next season.

I agree completely. Greene's offensive stats were hurt by Petco Park. Alot of writers take Coors into effect, but they fail to adjust for the opposite effect.

Villone's selection came from looking at Adjusted ERAs over the last three years. He's been above average the last two years, while the others were below average. What it comes down to is that those four all have their downsides. Kris Benson has not been the same pitcher since the arm injury, Paul Wilson is 8% below average, and Morris and Milton had horrendous home run rates. But in reality, you could make a case for any of the four over Villone. It's not an exact science.

I think quite a few will the first time, it being a novel concept. The tough part will be getting pitchers on board, since they are still warming up for the regular season in March.

Yes and no, depending on how they replace Carlos Beltran in center.

Probably not. Lane is a league average hitter, and more than capable of contributing. Now if they play Orlando Palmeiro instead, that's a different story.

Looking at that group, I'd probably play Bay at center, and start Stairs. Guiel would be the primary bench hitter.

Here's the Canadian National Team I've come up with so far. C McKay 1B Morneau 2B Clapp SS 3B Koskie LF Bay CF RF Walker SP Bedard SP Francis SP Harden SP Hill SP Myette CL Gagne RP Cormier RP Crain RP Dempster RP Mears RP Quantrill Pond A. Guiel Stairs LaForest

They even had a Greek or two on the team.