Cheech Tremendous

I feel so sorry for people that get banned and then try to come back under different names. When this little hellhole of a place provides so much joy to someone's life I don't want to take it away from them.

Word is Steve Trachsel was traded to the Chicago Cubs. I have visions of Jim Hendy and Ned Colletti spending the majority of their days watching the waiver wire, hoping that a name they know comes across so that they can try to acquire him.

At first, I thought that he was a 100% goner at the end of the season, but now I'm not so sure. Williams went out and resigned Buehrle and Dye and didn't trade any of his older players while they still had some value. From the comments I've seen, I think he sees this season as a fluke instead of the disaster that it is. He is going to go out with the same team next year rather than making wholesale changes.

I don't hate Eckstein the player, I hate the myth surrounding him. He hits and fields well enough for the position. That being said, it's not like he's the answer to the White Sox' problem. He's a 32 year old shortstop with an 80 OPS+. I am almost certain that if they pursue him it's because he fits into that Ozzie mold of a "grinder." It's just totally missing the reason why this team failed miserably this year and contributes to their bleak outlook as a franchise.

The Chicago Sun Times is reporting that the White Sox' number one targer this offseason is David Eckstein. Aaron Rowand is another possibility, but they might not have the money to pursue him. Essentially, next year's lineup could include Erstad, Rowand, Owens, and Eckstein. They just don't get it, do they?

You're not serious, are you? She was such an annoying cunt. What exactly did she offer to the board other than her little mini-feuds and flamebaiting posts?

She misses this place so much that she had to create a fake name just to come back and post? What a loser.

He bought The Patriot gimmick from Del Wilkes and used it on the indy circuit.

Not really. I wouldn't even say that going right into college (especially a major university) out of high school is even the majority of the case anymore; most people I know went to JuCo or took some time off afterwards for various reasons. I know I went to JuCo first, then a private art school, and now a public state university. I've seen pledges for fraternities at many schools range from 18-24. 25 is a bit older on the scale, but it's not entirely unrealistic. You're more mature in regards to your education when you're older, anyways, and you're more likely to know what you want to do with it rather than just spend time and waste money in school entirely directionless. My pledge class had like 40 people and I don't think any of them were over the age of 18. Your mileage may vary, depending on the school you're attending.

Actually, Baseball Prospectus has three types of postseason odds reports, including PECOTA and ELO adjusted odds. They absolutely do adjust for current hot streaks, slumps and the upcoming strength of schedule.

According to the BP Playoff Odds, the Mets still have between an 83 and 89% chance of making the playoffs. The sky is not falling.

If I had to guess, they probably had these suspensions lined up before Summerslam and didn't do anything to rock that boat. I thought that too, but then wouldn't they have jobbed out Morrison?

Billy Wagner 2007 stats: 2.05 ERA (ERA+ of 205!) 1.07 WHIP 69/18 K/BB in 57 innings 87.9 % Save rate He's unbelievably awesome. You are totally overreacting, Mets swoon aside.

Wagner went two innings. He gave up three hits in the ninth, all singles. It's not like they teed off. Al, the closer's job is to make sure he gets the save. That is his job. If he does not get the save -- rather, if he blows the save -- then he is not doing his job. It does not matter the way he does it. It does not matter if he gave up a homerun or he issued five walks in a row or he gave up three singles. If he does not close the game, then he did not do what he was paid to do. Period. And besides that, I would think giving up three hits in the ninth would actually be worse than giving up only one homerun for a loss. At least with the homerun, you could argue he made one sloppy pitch and that single mistake cost him the game. With the three singles, there is no defense. He had his worst stuff, he wasn't tricking any of them out there, and as the season gets closer to an end, he is becoming increasingly more unreliable. Is he going to blame this on his "dead arm"? Perhaps. Well then, he shouldn't be out there closing until he's healthy, because it's becoming a detriment to the team. No, the other three games the Mets lost to the Phillies doesn't come down to Wagner. But this one does. Giving up three earned runs after how many days of rest is not acceptable for a Major League Baseball closer. Any of them. That's his fourth blown save on the year. Quit overreacting.

It's on the front page of espn.com under the news headlines.

I thought it was very good, especially if you like the style of the BP guys and understand their metrics. If Moneyball was an introduction to sabermetrics, think of BBTN as intermediate coursework. Each chapter is self-contained, which hurts the flow of the book, but it's great as a reference tool.

I joined one and was booted out within six months. It's not an experience that I have fond memories of, but I did meet some great guys who I'm still good friends with nearly 7 years later when we've all moved on to our own lives. It's a good place to meet people, but at the same time there is a lot of bullshit that goes along with it.

That's seems like an awfully low percentage. I'm not tyring to being racist either.

Burnett was on the DL most of that season, wasn't he? Yep.

Have they ever gotten a chance to use this feature?

Did anyone catch Steve Phillips' multi-inning rant against the "Joba Rules"? He mentioned the 2003 Marlins as a team that didn't need rules for young pitchers, specifically citing Beckett, Pavano and Burnett. I know they won the series and all, but does he not realize that those three guys have been among the most injury-ridden pitchers of the past few years? Maybe they could have used some "Joba Rules" or their own.

The idea is that a pitching prospect, no matter how elite, is subject to the risks of injury. Pitching prospects as a whole reach the Majors at a lower percentage than position players. I think one way to illustrate the point is by looking at the pitchers drafted first overall. Bryan Bullington, Matt Anderson, Kris Benson, Paul Wilson, Brien Taylor, Ben McDonald, etc. Andy Benes was the best of the lot. Another place to look is Baseball America's top 100 prospect lists. They have done the list since 1990. In that time, the top pitching prospects in baseball have included Todd Van Poppel, Brien Taylor (twice), James Baldwin, Paul Wilson, Kris Benson, Rick Ankiel (twice), Jesse Foppert and Edwin Jackson. Hardly a group that has racked up multiple All-Star appearances. Generally, pitchers are unpredictable in nature, and what looks like a sure hit isn't as sure as the best position prospect. I have just a slightly different interpretation/understanding on TINSTAAP. Basically, I break into two component parts: 1. Young pitchers get injured/flameout at such at a high rate that they can't really be projected as actual prospects 2. Pitchers who have progressed and had success in the high minors are capable of having an equal amount of success in the majors. They are no longer prospects.

You were 7 years old when I started coming here (well, sort of here, but that's another story). Holy shit. Which iteration of the board would that have been? That would have been the original Rantsylvania days with Scott Keith (c. 1999). I honestly have no recollection of what the site looked like in those days or what the status of the message board was (Delphi maybe?).

Edgar Renteria is in his age 31 season and closing in on 2,000 hits. How do you rate his chances of getting to 3,000? What are his chances of making the Hall if he reaches that milestone?

Honestly, other than a little lost muscle tone, he looks the exact same as I remember him. Hell, he's in much better shape than I thought he would be. I take back what I said earlier. He looks good in that video. The other piece I saw was from a couple months ago and he was wearing a loose shirt (which made him look out of shape) and his hair looked far more grey. My bad.