Cheech Tremendous

It's been a tough couple of weeks for JN News. First Pizza Hut loses its game face, then Chris Masters dies and finally, he finds out his MSN contact was playing him for a fool. If you can't trust your MSN contact, who can you trust?

Juan Pierre hasn't taught any team that he's played for anything, apparently. No one who got rid of him ever did it because he sucks at baseball. Until that happens, the answer is always no. Juan Pierre would be a great 4th outfielder. He could be a late inning, defensive replacement in left or center. His speed would work well as a pinch runner and his high contact rate would be good for pinch hitting situations. Unfortunately, the Dodgers are paying him $11 million a year to be their starting CFer.

My MSN contact just informed me that this thread is gay.

The odd thing is that they keep saying they want a "fast second baseman." I know of one guy. I don't think he's available though. His name is Alfonso Soriano. I bet whatever team he's on won't want to move him though. Soriano was a wretched second baseman. He was just sort of there because he demanded it. No sane team would put him back. Besides, his bat is good enough to stick as a corner outfielder and his speed makes him an asset. He's good defensively instead of a liability. Maybe the Brewers will get the hint with Ryan Braun and try something similar.

We should just get rid of the other Douchebag. He sucks. Sobaka at least offers something. According to reports, JP has now offered Rios straight up for Lincecum (no need to take the Glaus contract) and is waiting for a response from Sabean. It also mentions that Sabean turned down an offer of Delmon Young for Lincecum before he was dealt for Matt Garza. What an idiot.

I agree. Don't take it personally. Hey douchebags, keep it down.

I don't get that one either. Apparently there's a rumor that Detroit took Willis in the deal with idea of flipping him to New York after Florida balked at trading him within the division. Unless the Mets were going to send back a player of the caliber of Maybin or Miller, that doesn't make much sense. The Tigers just made a go-for-it-all trade. Why move a SP for prospies (or worse)?

The only "training" involved is remembering AP style/etc, for anal-retentive editors trying to justify their jobs. I defend Smith on a number of things, but he's flat-out wrong with this one. I hope you did that on purpose.

I move that we keep all Santana rumors out of here until there is an actual trade in place. Sportswriters are going to be throwing around all sorts of non-leads in the interest of creating copy when there is nothing substantial going on. EDIT: Not trying to kill discussion here, but the meetings end tomorrow after the Rule V draft and the likelihood something gets done before then is essentially zero. We don't need another night of "it's done, no it's not" crap clogging up the thread for non-Sox/Yanks fans.

First of all, I don't know what narcastic means, so checking the intelligence level I'm dealing with here, I should probably just stop. Oh well. I know that Hughes was the best player being discussed in these negotiations, but the Yankees couldn't put anything together after him that could satisfy the Twins needs. They weren't interested in Melky because he's not any good defensively. You can't put a guy with no range between Delmon Young and Cuddyer/Kubel. It won't work. I don't care if you think Coco sucks, he can play defense and that's important to people who understand that baseball is as much about run prevention as run production. Second, Lowrie is a major league ready shortstop with good power upside and Masterson could be #3 or #4 starter with a little more seasoning or he can be a good bullpen guy immediately. The Yankees don't have any other major league ready talent. That's why the Twins were asking for Kennedy. They needed somebody that they could flip for talent that could fill the actual holes that they have. I understand why the Twins didn't do the deal. I wouldn't have done the deal. But do a little research before running your mouth and not realizing what's coming out of the other end. You just contracticted yourself by saying that the Red Sox had the players that the Twins wanted and then you said the offer wasn't good enough and you dont blame the Twins for not wanting someone who could possible relapse in the next 5 years and a crappy overrated, overpaid and shitty cf. MAKE UP YOUR FUCKING MIND. I didn't contradict anything. There are two different issues here. The Red Sox package was better than Yankees' because it had players that fit the Twins needs. There's not much of a debate there, as it echoes the Twins actions over the past week. However, I, Cheech, of no connection to any front office, didn't think that it was enough of a package to part with Santana, partly because I feel that the PR hit would be too great but mostly because with the right roster moves the Twins could compete next year with Santana. Second, what do you have against Lester other than the fact that he beat cancer? He was a better prospect than Hughes before the cancer. Yeah, things have changed since then, but he didn't become some shitty, no talent, near death and no hope for any future pitching reclamation project. He's being underrated by the media because of the perception that he's a weak thrower with no control (it's not really true). As for Crisp, what exactly makes him crappy, overrated and overpaid? He can't hit for shit, but he's shown more offensive talent than a guy like Melky has. His defense may be in the best in major league baseball and he's locked up at a below market rate for a couple of more seasons. He is what he is and that's an average hitter with above average defense.

First of all, I don't know what narcastic means, so checking the intelligence level I'm dealing with here, I should probably just stop. Oh well. I know that Hughes was the best player being discussed in these negotiations, but the Yankees couldn't put anything together after him that could satisfy the Twins needs. They weren't interested in Melky because he's not any good defensively. You can't put a guy with no range between Delmon Young and Cuddyer/Kubel. It won't work. I don't care if you think Coco sucks, he can play defense and that's important to people who understand that baseball is as much about run prevention as run production. Second, Lowrie is a major league ready shortstop with good power upside and Masterson could be #3 or #4 starter with a little more seasoning or he can be a good bullpen guy immediately. The Yankees don't have any other major league ready talent. That's why the Twins were asking for Kennedy. They needed somebody that they could flip for talent that could fill the actual holes that they have. I understand why the Twins didn't do the deal. I wouldn't have done the deal. But do a little research before running your mouth and not realizing what's coming out of the other end.

I think a lot of people were quick to jump the gun after the Yankees pulled out. From what I've cobbled together from the various reports out there, a couple of things happened over the past 48 hours. The Twins realized that they lost any leverage they had when the Red Sox had the only offer on the table (which didn't include any superstars) and the Red Sox got cold feet about parting with multiple commodities for a pitcher they didn't necessarily need. The trade's not so much dead or alive as it is dormant. Second of all, just because you are a Yankees fan doesn't mean you have to sound like an idiot. The Red Sox were close to having a deal because they had the players that Minnesota wanted, namely a top pitching prospect, a great defensive outfielder, a power-hitting middle infielder and a couple of high upside prospects. Lester was over cancer nearly a year ago and Coco Crisp is one of the only available CFers that they can afford who addresses their needs. Quit crying... the Yankees could have had him for a comparable package.

I don't think it's insane to want Cain over Lincecum. Matt Cain is younger and has more of a proven major league track record. Given some of the anecdotal stuff about mechanics and abuse in college, it's not a stretch to say that Cain is better. Can't go wrong with either guy though. As for the HR/FB stuff, I think you are looking too much into it. HR are actually prone to fluctuation from one year to the next. Seeing as how we are working with a half-year sample size from Lincecum, I don't know how you can draw any good conclusions from that. Secondly, I'd suspect that groundballs are more likely to turn into hits on Rogers' fast infield than damp ass, sea level San Francisco. Rios is 26, hardly an old man. I didn't mean to imply that Rios was old. I was saying that trading young, cost-controlled pitching was kind of a back asswards way of trying to move away from the older teams they had been fielding over the past five or so years.

#335. The Rock owes it to WWE to make an appearance at the 15th Anniversary of Raw.

I'd say they were the unquestioned team to beat in both the '03 and '04 Super Bowl runs. That 2003 team ran off 15 straight wins to end the year after starting 2-2 and did it soundly. After the Chiefs flamed out by mid-season, New England cake-walked to the title. The 2004 team was a monster and put up the longest winning streak in league history. They lost a game at Pittsburgh and a fluke one to Miami but ripped up everyone else along the way. I know the offense wasn't as explosive, but this was the team that got the buzz word "dynasty" attached to it. How could you discount that? The McNair/Manning, Parcells and Chiefs stuff were just interesting stories. The Patriots were still the top dogs at the time.

I can't believe that the Giants would give up Cain or Lincecum for Alex Rios. Look, I really like Alex Rios. Great defensively and has some pop in his bat. However, Cain and Lincecum are young, cost-controlled front line starters. Even if you think Rios has similar value, why would you give up one of the only two homegrown players with upside that you have? Aren't they trying to rid themselves of the Barry Bonds/geriatric team of the mid-'00s and build from within?

Over the past three years: HR: 11, 21, 29 BB: 55, 83, 87 SO: 170, 160, 146 HBP: 8, 19, 14 INNINGS: 236, 223, 205 The biggest problem with Willis is that he has lost his control. The ERA has gone up because of the defense, but that doesn't explain the poor K/BB numbers. Maybe he can regain his focus with a good pitching coach, but the underlying peripheral numbers suggest that he's lost whateve made him special early in his career. I think it's the abuse he took as a young pitcher. It might be a stretch to call Miller better now, but the evidence shows them going in opposite directions. Given their respective competition, I expect Miller to put up better numbers this year.

I don't think they are being greedy. The best offer out there is Lester, Crisp, Lowrie and Masterson (or some variation close in terms of talent). Given their organizational needs, it slightly beats the Yankees offer and as far as we know, anything put up by the LA teams. However, they don't have to trade Santana. If next year turns out poorly, they could still get a decent package at the deadline (probably not as anything out there now), but if they are competitive and make the playoffs, the added revenue might be enough to offset whatever they lost in terms of trade commodities. Santana is the best pitcher in baseball. Unless they think that they absolutely must trade Santana, there is no need to take a deal just because it is the best one out there.

Even though this makes the Marlins look like more of a joke than they already are, they cleaned house on this deal. Cameron Maybin is a legit superstar in the making. He has the ceiling of an All-Star outfielder. He needs to work on his pitch selection and defense, but the tools are there to be something special in the future. Andrew Miller isn't just a good prospect, he's better than Dontrelle right now. Control issues may still be a problem, but the stuff is undeniable and he's moving from the AL Central to NL East and Dolphin Stadium. He's going to put up some nice numbers (well, if Florida ever improves their defense). As for the other four guys, none of them look like much, but it's give the team some depth in the minors. If one of those guys hits big, the deal just gets that much better. That being said, this was also an amazing deal for the Detroit Tigers. That offense is deadly, best in baseball by a long shot, and while the rotation doesn't scare anyone, there are some decent arms there and definitely enough to win in October. Cabrera is this generation's Hank Aaron. The weight is a problem, but he is a transcendent superstar. Dontrelle has been terrible for the past year and a half, but a good pitching coach might be able to get him back on track because the talent is still there. A 4th starter making $8 million isn't the worst thing in the world. They still need to fix the bullpen, but there's plenty of time to do that.

I like that. Maybe I should become Cheech Tremendous.

Latest word is that the Twins aren't crazy about the Red Sox deal and have reached out to the Mets, Angels and Dodgers to see what they might offer. According to Peter Gammons, it's starting to look like he might not be moved at all. Oh, and according to several sources, the Yankees aren't completely out of the race either, despite Hank's media buffoonery.

We need more of Ryechnaia Sobaka and less of everyone else. Best new poster in years.

Don't forget that the Yankees won't negotiate with A-Rod if he opts out and Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy are untouchable in trade talks. Big Hank should just shut his big fat mouth.

But this is so much fun, right? Aren't we all having fun?

No, it's not fun. I like watching teams battle each other to determine a champion. I could care less about coaches politicking to be voted the best team by their peers. "Oh my god, my two losses are way better than your two losses! Vote for me!"