Cheech Tremendous

It's a good deal, but remember he was arbitration eligible for (I think) two more seasons. I don't know what Pena might have made in arbitration, but this also guarantees him considerable money for a couple seasons, not just one. I want to say he was going to get about $7 mil this year and $10 next in arbitration (then again, I can't find a link to suppor this now). So essentially they bought out one year of free agency for peanuts. It was probably smart for Pena to take this kind of security though. He bounced around everywhere before finally sticking with TB. Not that I ever saw this breakout coming, but I wish the Sox would have given him more of a look in late 2006. They were already out of the race and Mark Loretta certainly wasn't a long term answer, especially at first. Pena was a slick fielder who got on base... it seemed that he fit their mantra. Then again, Tito's never been one to displease his veterans.

Yeah, I had to quadruple take when I saw that score. He only averages what, 10 a game? I was just as surprised to see that he average that many points. I thought he was already out of the league.

- The Devil Rays made a couple of stout moves in the last 24 hours. They acquired Willy Aybar and Chase Fontaine from the Atlanta Braves for Jeff Ridgeway. Aybar has had some drug problems, but was formerly considered an elite talent. He'll start at third or work as a utility guy this year. Fontaine has a little upside, and Ridgeway is a 27-year-old southpaw. They also signed Carlos Pena to a three year, $24 million deal. That's an absolute steal for a guy who just mashed 40+ homers. There is some risk that he reverts back to his pre-2007 form, but if he can even replicate 80% of last year's production, they took Boras to the cleaners. - The White Sox signed Octavio Dotel. Apparently they are going to the method of buying every over-priced reliever on the market with hopes of turning around their bullpen. Maybe they should call down to Baltimore and asked how that worked out for them.

Linas Kleiza scored 41 points? Are we sure this isn't a mistake?

By the way, is the Al's first reveal? I can't recall seeing him before.

Al Czech Regardless of my various voting patterns throughout this tourney, these two are my favorite posters on the board. Al, for his content, insight and ability to stay above the nonsense here at TSM. Czech, for his sardonic quips and ability to create nonsense at TSM.

It's going to be a non-roster invite. They won't actually sign him to any sort of contract.

Yeah he passed through there for half a season between Philly and Milwaukee. Funny thing about Van Horn. In Chris Sheridan's column today, he mentioned that Shaquille O'Neal could be headed to Dallas, who would use Van Horn in a sign and trade. This got a serious WTF from me. I thought he basically retired two years ago. Why the hell would Miami want him?

I'm pretty sure it wasn't actually the colors as it was just an Alliance shirt: WCW or ECW. Wasn't Tazz just wearing one of his own shirts? No, I seem to remember Austin spefically saying "the colors of the Alliance." It stuck with me b/c right after Austin said it, I immediately thought, "Wait, the Alliance doesn't have colors!" I don't think that they meant colors in the literal sense. It's being used as a figurative emblem. Think of the phrase "Showing your true colors" as an example.

What exactly has Jason Garrett done to warrant consideration as the hottest commodity in coaching? He has exactly one year of experience as an offensive coordinator, and while the Cowboys were good this year, I don't know how much of that can be attributed to Garrett. Romo was a surprise this year, but that team mostly fell apart in the last month. Now he's pursued heavily by Baltimore and Atlanta before Jerry Jones steps in and gives him $3 million and the title of Assistant Head Coach? It seems like quite a leap.

This may work for you, Ripper, but I wouldn't advise anyone else to apply this method. The hot water/shower is essential to softening the hairs and opening the pores. Without this step, you are asking for razor burn and ingrown hairs.

So much for Bud guaranteeing that he would step down in 2009. This new extension will bring him to the tender age of 78. I'm not really sure how I feel about this. On one hand, the game has never been in better financial shape. The sport has grown by leaps and bounds under Bud's watch, with revenues now topping the NFL. That's no small feat. However, the public's perception of the sport is awful. The strike and steroid scandal are two of the game's biggest scars and they both happened as a result of his laissez faire attitude. Many of his creations, such as interleague and the Wild Card, have watered down the game for long-time fans. It's definitely a mixed bag. How do you feel about Bud?

Can you imagine being a seven year old girl, knowing there's a crazy 90 year old woman who wants to fight you in ten years? No. Hell, I can barely even imagine being in a weird time warp where the year 2022 is in just ten years. Mae will be 90 in 2012 and Aurora will be 7. That is ten years from 2022.

You have a very loose definition of celebrity.

In other news, the Texas Rangers signed Jason Jennings to a one year, $4 million deal (plus an $4 mil in incentives). Jennings is recovering from injury and expects to be throwing off a mound by March 1st. Seems like a good buy low candidate to me. Jennings was acquired by the Houston Astros last offseason to be their #2 starter of the future. However, they were unable to ink him to a long-term deal before the season started. Jennings struggled early and then went down with a season ending injury and both sides decided to part ways at the conclusion of the season.

Well that I can agree with. It's a similar situation to Shaquille O'Neal, who has detailed in the past how difficult it is to remain in shape at such a large size.

Ricciardi, being either extremely accurate or somehat confused:

Didn't they book Flair to win at both the Clash and Halloween Havoc, but Hogan used his creative control clause to get the finish changed?

Big Show doesn't have the same condition as Andre either. He had corrective surgery to alleviate the condition many years ago.

*elephant noise* Better question: if Chinese Democracy ever does come out, how many of you will purchase it? If it ever did come out, I'd buy it the first day, partly for the novelty of the whole thing, but mostly because the songs are really good.

Seeing that no one takes the WWE HOF seriously, I don't think it has any impact on his legacy.

It's only fitting that a thread dedicated to TSM's best would veer off topic and end up nowhere productive.

Since we all love to flaunt our importance with ridiculous exercises like this, how long is it before we institute the TSM Hall of Fame?

Ken Rosenthal reporting that the Cubs have signed Jon Lieber to a one-year deal. No financials available.

I recently read Chuck Klosterman's Fargo Rock City. It reportedly took him some degree of time to complete, and in it he has a running joke that his book will be released before Chinese Democracy comes out. This book came out over seven years ago... Chinese Democracy will never be released.