EVIL~! alkeiper

There is no curse. The only event remotely curse-worthy was 1986, and even that wasn't too astounding. Its amazing though. The Sox have gone from down 0-3, to winning seven straight games, and coming within one win of a world championship.

Win Shares gives him more credit than range factors, and in fact considers him the best defensive 3Bman in the AL. Its not an exact science.

Except for Tony Clark, the Yankees didn't have any defenders who ranked above average in Range Factor. Range factor has many faults, but I think that's telling. Cairo is just an average defender. I think Bernie Williams is the main issue with the group.

True. I think the Yankees problem was their defense. It's one thing when one pitcher struggles. But their entire staff struggled despite posting the third best K:BB ratio in the league. They allowed more hits than you'd expect. That indicates a problem with the defense.

Just out of curiosity, do gutless pussies usually pitch with badly broken hands?

Join us for live chat tonight... aim:gochat?roomname=tsmbaseballchat

If you think Odalis Perez, Wilson Alvarez, and Gregg Zaun are undesireable players to have on your team, that is your opinion, and you are welcome to it. But given that this is a discussion forum, you should be prepared to defend that opinion, possibly with statistics and evidence. You should also recognize that the Yankees must make some roster decisions. If not Perez and Alvarez, who SHOULD they sign? As Man In Blak said, they certainly need an upgrade over Felix Heredia. Will Scarlet and Czech Republic, thank you for your kind comments.

Translation: "I want the Yankees to win another championship, but I don't want them to sign talented players. They should keep their talentless backup catcher. He's productive, and I am going to stick my head in the sand and ignore this stuff called evidence." I wish the Yankees would put this guy in charge of the team, actually.

If they want to make a judgement based on two starts, all the better. With his pitiful run support, he's tremendously undervalued. He sounds like a pitcher the Blue Jays might make a run for, quite honestly.

This is the entire postseason we're talking about. Rocker pitched for the Braves in 98-00, and oddly enough, with the Indians in 2001.

Hmm. He's also got a 1.000 OBP in two plate appearances.

Since everyone is referencing him, I'll reveal it. It's John Rocker.

Nope.

Here's an unbelieveable trivia question. Who has pitched the most career postseason innings without giving up a single earned run?

Yes. Gordon's ERA was half a run lower, his walk rate was down, his hit rate was down, his strikeout rate was up, he pitched more innings, and pitched more games.

First off, Ben Sheets is NOT a free agent to be. I don't think he's eligible until after the 2007 season. Same deal with Joe Kennedy. Mota's not eligible until after next season. Boone's option kicked in, and he's owed $8 Million in Seattle. Marquis has until 2006 before he reaches free agency. Ray King also has until after next season to reach eligibility. Here's a list of potential free agents... http://kmbumb.people.wm.edu/05agency.html

Besides, the Red Sox and Cardinals play completely different schedules.

ERA+ Gordon 204 K-Rod 252 Ryan 210 Gordon already had a better year than anything he's done in the majors so far. A decline was inevitable.

Tom Gordon over K-Rod? I don't see it. I'd put Gordon third behind Rodriguez and Ryan.

Its very early to judge, especially since the Cardinals have been very good at home. Flailing away like morons isn't city specific. They have a day off to work on what's going wrong. They're not bad hitters by nature.

Its very early to judge, especially since the Cardinals have been very good at home.

The Cards are entirely built on their big three hitters. If those guys don't come through, the Cards have no chance. For the life of me, I don't know why LaRussa isn't doing his usual RLR split in the lineup.

That kind of thing usually amounts to just a few plays per year. I wouldn't be too concerned about it.

True. But they don't need Don Mattingly. They just need average defense to succeed there.

Has there ever been consideration of playing Bernie at 1B? I think the general line of thinking is that if the 1st Basemen isn't going to be a Giambi type hitter, they want someone who can field the position. Sometimes a player losing his skills at one position benefits defensively from a move to another position. Just because Bernie is bad at a tough position doesn't mean he'll be bad at an easier position. Probably the opposite. And if it doesn't work, they can always try someone else.