Cheech Tremendous

Are you serious? Gabbard is nothing more than filler. He has no future in the Red Sox rotation at all. They just sold high on a guy with a couple of fluke outings. It appears now that Engel Beltre, a 17-year-old phenom in the Sox organization is included in the deal as well. He has as much upside as anyone but he's probably five years away. There's no way to know what the chances are that he'll develop into a star major leaguer. The Yankees have no one to blame but themselves for not getting Gagne. Olney says this could have had him for Melky Cabrera.

Jayson Stark says its Gabbard and Murphy. A fourth outfielder and 6th starter for the best reliever on the market? Theo, I could kiss you. The onyl hold-up now is getting Gagne to waive his no-trade clause. He has special incentives in his deal that only vest with a certain number of games finished. The Red Sox probably have to pay him that money outright and let him get some saves if they hope to bring him on board. Also, the Dye deal died at the eleventh hour. Whether it was over prospects or Dye's NTC, the two sides just couldn't finalize anything after it appeared that the deal was done.

For who? I'm reading about a dozen different things. Some combination of Craig Hansen, WMP, David Murphy, Kason Gabbard, and MDC. It's a complete mess trying to sort out the dozen different reports coming in.

I don't think that Betemit is bench fodder. He's the A-Rod replacement for next year. EDIT: Dye and Gagne trades are done. Both need to waive their NTC to finalize.

As I said in the Comments thread, I'm blaming durgz.

I would guess that he plays RF against lefties and then rotates between LF, DH and 1B as needed.

I've been hearing David Murphy and Kason Gabbard for Gagne. If that's all their asking, the Rangers should just close up shop. Ken Rosenthal is saying that the Gagne deal is done as well, pending physicals and Gagne waiving his no-trade clause. Haven't seen it anywhere else yet. I'm going to wait for AP confirmation on both of these.

-Chicago Sun Times is reporting that the Jermaine Dye to Boston deal is basically done but Dye needs to waive his no-trade clause. Deal is reportedly for Wily Mo Pena and either Manny Delcarmen or Craig Hansen

OMG durgz!

You're willing to go through YET ANOTHER "rebuilding" phase should this not work out? Being the best team in the East is like being the sweetest smelling turd in the toilet. I'm willing to go through anything. I'm not a Celtics fan. Two months ago the Celtics were the worst team in the NBA. Today, they have a legit shot of competing for a title. And if it doesn't work out, they will have cap space and a chance to rebuild in a couple of years. These contracts won't handicap them into eternity. Danny Ainge waved a wand and turned a pile of shit into gold. This team wasn't going anywhere and have managed to add two Hall of Famers by giving up the no. 5 pick and one future All-Star (maybe). I can't believe there is anyone even arguing that this this isn't the best thing to happen to the franchise in the past twenty years. If you want to see how the whole rebuilding process would have worked out, just watch the T'wolves. They essentially have Boston's old roster now.

I have a hard time believing David Hustlehoff is going to be Type A free agent. His numbers are very pedestrian. Stranger things have happened though (like Gagne being a Type A after pitching like 15 innings over a two year period).

Coaching won't be much of a problem with the team they are putting together. Cleveland made the finals last year with one of the worst coaches in the league. The big three don't really need any coaching and whatever players they put on the floor with them will just follow their lead. There will be few instances where bad coaching will come into play.

-Joel Piniero to the St. Louis Cardinals for a PTBNL -Dodgers have acquires Scott Proctor from Yankees for Wilson Betemit (pending physicals) -Dotel will be traded to Braves for Kyle Davies after Teixeira deal finalizes -Olney says that Gagne and Dye will probably end up with Red Sox when the right combo of players comes together. Met, Yanks and Brewers are on the periphery for Gagne if a deal can't be reached

Do you live in a cave? Until the Vick stuff came up, it was the NFL story of the offseason.

I'm suprised there are so many old school fans around here. I thought I was one of the few raised on classics '80s wrestling.

I haven't decided yet. I have a whole book of formulas to try. I am traditionally an IPA drinker, but that seems like a recipe for disaster for my first go round.

And what point is that exactly? The point when they make the Finals?

Has anyone here done any brewing of their own? I'm going to be attempting my first batch this week and was hoping some pointers. Seems like everyone messes up the first time.

In the late eighties, I used to watch WWF, NWA, AWA and WCCW. Nothing will ever top that. It was a wrestling fan's dream. Fans who came along in the nineties really missed out on the golden age to be a fan.

Kevin Garnett to the Celtics. Oh, you mean baseball? I think we need to wait until tomorrow evening to have any sort of perspective. If Teixeira and Dotel end up in Atlanta, that's your winner. They go from competitive team to NL favorites, at least in my opinion.

In a little over a month, Danny Ainge turned the no. 5 pick, Al Jefferson and a bunch of filler into Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. In the process, they probably went from the worst team in the league to one of the favorites in the East. Got to give him a lot of credit for pulling this off. The rumored extension is 3 years, $60 million. That is not confirmed, though.

I honestly can't remember my first exposure that well. I have a very vague memory of Hogan-Bundy at Wrestlemania II but I can't remember if I saw it live or on tape later on. I know I started watching around then because I also remember the announcement of the Savage IC title change (from Santana). I have a few PWIs from late '86 and early '87 as well, which confirms the time period. I don't think I watched much NWA until late 1988 or early 89. I remember skipping Mania IV to watch the Clash of the Champions with the 2/3 falls match so I must have been hooked by that point.

It appears that someone jumped the gun on the Gagne deal, so I don't think that one's going to happen. The Red Sox could use another righty in the pen though. MDC has played nice but he's a total unknown commodity down the stretch. As far as Dye, they told him he'd play 5 days a week. To me, that indicates that Papi's going to the DL or at least needs multiple days off. He'd go to LF and Manny to DH while Ortiz sits, then spell Drew in right against lefties. The Red Sox, on the surface, appear to be going for it this year. They are willing to part with a few pieces to make that happen.

On a different not, guys who seem like good people despite their reputations: HHH Goldberg Brock Lesnar Foley And even though they appear to be dicks, I think I'd like to hang out with them: Randy Orton Batista Kevin Nash

Done deal according to the AP And as far as a bench goes, there are enough veterans out there to round out a roster. You have guys like Olowokandi, Sweetney, Webber, Brevin Knight, Varejao, Jarvis Hayes, Dererk Anderson, etc. Sure, none of them are particularly good but you just need to be able to get some minutes out of them.