EVIL~! alkeiper

37 points from Iverson and 34 from Vince Carter. As far as scoring goes I've got the goods.

Also from Gammons column, he indicates that the Devil Rays are interested in Tino Martinez. I don't get it. Tino is about an average hitter these days, and for $7.5 Million that just doesn't cut it.

Wells' surgery is on his back. I don't know how serious it is, but it doesn't seem to effect his ability to pitch next season. Gammons seems sure he's going to the Padres, but I don't think its that clear.

The MLB free agency market opens Monday, and inevitably someone will open the "One and Only" free agent thread. IMHO, we really shouldn't have it. I think that the major signings deserve their own threads, and there isn't enough of them to clutter the board and create a problem. I do suggest that perhaps a OaO MINOR transactions thread be created, in order to discuss your favorite team picking up their favorite bench player without creating a new thread. Also, a OaO rumours thread might work good. But lets not create a blanket OaO thread unless we have to.

Even so, how long do most teams have a big three like that around? Six years of Zito, Mulder and Hudson is alot by any team's standards.

Personally, I wouldn't trade Zito a day before free agency, and he's not free agent eligible anyway until 2006. Rich Hardin's a damn fine prospect, but lets not forget that he's only 22 next year, and 22 year olds tend to be somewhat unpredictable. Besides, Billy Beane knows that its easier to find good hitting for cheap than good pitching.

Wait a second. If he were still playing in junior college, he wouldn't have been drafted yet. So you pegged him to replace Barry Zito BEFORE the A's drafted him? I'm impressed.

Just a third base coach. They named Luis Sojo as their first base coach last week.

Unless Cornejo starts K'ing batters, he's a time bomb waiting to go off.

Lieber's big weapon is control. He's only walked 311 batters in 1510 1/3 big league innings. Home runs are his weakness, but its not a glaring problem. I don't think Lieber will have trouble adjusting leagues, beyond facing the DH.

Well, worst case in reality is a re-injury, but you have a good point. A healthy Lieber is undoutably in the rotation.

There was actually a white supremicist rally somewhere around that area the same time. I'm not sure where Cave Creek is in relation to where Stenson was killed, but its worth mentioning. http://eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=12608

And yet,not one word about Grady Little. For shame. That's iffy. I-Rod would demand $7 Million+, but teams aren't as willing to offer catchers three year contracts as they were before. From espn.com..... There you have it. Go Pirates!

Like plugging Rich Harden as a future star is a major accomplishment.

That was likely due to his arm injury. It's hard to say what his true level of ability is. He could recover nicely considering that he's entering his prime years. So its not good that he won't pitch at all, but when he pitched it wasn't good either. Which one is it?

Well, there's a part of me that says guys that this happens to usually aren't minding their own business, and are stuck in something deeper. We'll see what comes out of all this.

I think Jon Lieber had the surgery recently. He's attempting to break in with the Yankees rotation next season.

Recovery from Tommy John surgery and success afterward is dependant on three things in my view. 1. Past performance/ability 2. Age 3. Percerverance Dempster has 1 & 2 going for him, and no one can really judge #3. Hitchcock was never really that good before surgery, while Wood was lights out. As for other pitchers who've had the surgery recently, Matt Morris comes to mind.

Its nonsense that qualifying berths are decided in a single elimination tournament, particularly in baseball. Oh well.

Yes he did. August 4 according to mlb's article.

The Cincinnati Reds went ahead and released Ryan Dempster a couple days ago, after he post a 6.54 ERA. Dempster's had three straight bad seasons, and it doesn't look like he'll live up to his promise. It's possible that he could turn it around, but right now he looks like the second coming of Jamey Wright. Or he could have an injury that's hurting his performance. I think some team will give him a minor league contract and take a chance on him. If he doesn't succeed, its a few thousand bucks in the hole, and little harm done.

I think the Tigers are still paying Damion Easley's contract. In any case, I don't see Vlad or Tejada going to Detroit, and quite honestly a big name free agent is not what Detroit needs right now. They need to build from the farm system before they can take the next step.

And murder him in his sleep?

Better than the old mustard yellow unis at least.

Looks like Kobe's a rapist AND a traveller.