Cheech Tremendous

To summarize the feelings on Mark Mulder, he didn't just have a hip injury. He has a degenerative hip condition that will just continue to get worse. He's had to alter his mechanics to compensate and not only has ruined his skillset, it's going to thrash his arm. It's not clear that he will ever be an effecitve pitcher again. He'll get a shot somewhere, but it will likely be after the dust settles on the rest of the free agents out there. Most likely a one-year deal heavy on performance incentives.

Steve Phillips, ESPN's resident idiot now that Olney seems to have found some sources, thinks that the Red Sox will sign Barry Bonds after Manny is traded. I bet the chances of that happening are roughly one hundred million to one. I know these guys are paid to stir things up, but isn't there any journalistic credibility at all?

There's absolutely going to be a rebellion. For anyone who's not in their mid-20s or younger, the idea that DVDs have replaced tapes is just starting to set in. In fact, I was in Target the other day listening to a couple argue with the sales person over their lack of VCRs for sale. Now to try and explain that DVDs are obsolete and the next format is here and it will really piss a lot of people off.

As much as I usually hate bowl season, I can live with those games.

I haven't been watching Raw, but this sounds frustrating. Eugene, moreso than any other character on the roster, had a ready made heel turn from the moment he debuted. All he had to do was reveal that the whole "retard" thing was a sham to get sympathy and find a way onto the Raw roster. People would hate him.

Damon's career best OBP was .382. His career high in slugging was .495. JD Drew's career averages are .393 and .512. Even if you took the best individual years of Damon in every category he doesn't match up to what Drew does routinely. As far as baserunning, I concede that point, but not by much. Drew steals at a 74% clip on his career compared to Damon at 78%. He doesn't run much anymore, but Damon shouldn't be either at this point. Coco Crisp, as a player, is not much of a downgrade from Damon. The guy broke his wrist the first month of the season and wasn't able to properly swing a bat for the rest of the year. He was miscast as a leadoff hitter and he was learning to play a brand new position that he wasn't comfortable with. He needs one more full year in Boston before he can be evaluated. With that said, the FO probably wishes they would have kept Damon, but I don't have time to rehash the reasons they didn't (re: Feeding the Monster by Seth Mnookin). The team did not fall apart because they were missing character guys. They fell apart because nearly every position player and pitcher on the team missed significant time with injuries. Being a team guy is overrated because it doesn't mean much to professional baseball players. Guys get along when they are winning. Most of the people we hear about being great team guys are just the ones that kiss ass to the media. For example, Boston supposedly loved Kevin Millar because of "Cowboy Up" attitude and his hard nosed play. Fact is the rest of the team and management despised him because he was a pompous asshole who barely put up replacement player numbers. He refused to come out of the lineup even though it was in the best interest of the team. JD Drew will always get bad press because of the Philly thing. It was in bad taste and it upset the good old boys network. He doesn't care for the media and he doesn't show much emotion to the fans. It doesn't degrade the fact that he was one of the best RFers in the game last year. I have no idea if he will work out in Boston, but I'm sure willing to make room for a guy with a career OPS of .900, attitude or not.

JD Drew is younger, gets on a base at a higher clip, hits for more power, runs the bases better and plays much better defense. But oh yeah, Damon is a great team guy who gives handjobs in the lockerroom or something and Drew never gets his dirty jersey. I'd much rather have Damon. Two other points I need to make since you bring up the Damon thing all the time. The Red Sox couldn't have signed Damon last year. Boras tried playing hard ball and the Red Sox called his bluff. They never got the opportunity to match the Yankees' or anyone else's offer. Second, $56 million is $4 million more than Damon's contract, not 20-30. Check your math.

A multi-year deal between the Phillies and Joe Borowski broke down (what the Orioles couldn't find another $15 million for a mediocre bullpen guy) after a physical showed problems in his shoulder. His agent said they will still be looking for a one-year deal. I'd say he's worth a flyer if you need bullpen help.

If this somehow leads to Bill Hall becoming available, I'd be willing to give Melvin whatever prospects he desired.

Directly stolen from SOSH, but here's a scouting report on Kei Igawa for Yanks fans and anyone else who's interested:

True, but when it takes 6 and 8 years to lock up Carlos Lee and Alfonso Soriano, respectively, it becomes short term. If Drew bites the dust, I'm glad he will be gone by 2009 instead of 2013. Even Gary Matthews got 5 years and he's 32 years old. It's all relative.

Eh, I get the same uges when I watch WWE programming these days.

I'd say about 90-95% of people don't even know or understand what HD is, even after explaining it to them. Everyone seems to think widescreen tv automatically equals HD.

Boston Herald is reporting that the JD Drew deal is done (4 years/$56 million with a 5th year option). They won't finalize the deal until Sunday or Monday because of the arbitration deadline. I really like this deal. It's short term and the money is about what Damon got after adjusting for inflation. It will be interesting to see how the cards fall now. One of Crisp, Pena or Manny needs to go, and given the financial territory they are in, I'm going to assume it's Manny. If the Padres really are dangling Jake Peavy (and I would assume that's an unfounded rumor) they should go for it immediately.

Ben Wallace is an asshole. It doesn't matter if it's a stupid rule. When you have an employer paying you $60 million, you do what you are told.

Blasphemy!

I haven't thought in depth about an alternative. I've seen it suggested that they should essentially be FAs, but the posting team would receive 10% of the total contract value. Once again, that favors the rich teams, but it might alleviate some of the corruption. It's been speculated that in the end the Red Sox should break even on the $51 million posting, after deductions are applied to revenue sharing and state taxes and whatever new revenue streams are opened up (including any kickbacks from Seibu). They've found a way to use flaws in the system to lock up what could be one of the greatest pitchers of our time at a below market rate. Like I said, whether I'm a fan or not, it's not fair. On a separate note, sounds like the JD Drew deal is done or almost done. Four years with a vesting option for the 5th. Total contract value is about $70 million. Given the market, I can live with that. Durability is still an issue, but he was the best hitter in this market and is an outstanding defensive player. He fits the Sox' needs perfectly.

Actually, Perez Hilton was on the Adam Carolla show this morning and said that Kid Rock was extremely upset about the way Pam was portrayed in the movie and the joking matter in which the sex tape was addressed. Sounds ridiculous to me, but you never know with these types.

Being a Red Sox fan, I am happy that we got Matsuzaka, but I still despise the posting system. It favors the rich teams and the system is wrought with corruption. There will absolutely be some sort of kick back to the Sox, be it some "working relationship" or otherwise. It happened with Suzuki, it sort of happened with Matsui (althought he was a FA, so it was different) and it will happen again in the future. MLB needs to look into the flaws of the system, not the ones exposing it.

Can Ben Wallace just shut up already about his stupid headband? You were wrong. Now be quiet and try to earn some of that $60 million contract you just received.

The Hotlist is still good. It was fantastic when Brian Kenny was the lead anchor, but has slipped somewhat in the last year. At least they still go outside the box when bringing in people to talk about certain subjects. You won't see Baseball Prospectus guys anywhere else besides ESPNEWS.

The idea of lineup protection is one of the most overstated in baseball. One baseball writer noted that the Red Sox would be toast without Manny because Ortiz would walk 200 times. Great, I'll take .500 OBP over a few clutch hits any day. If the Dodgers traded Broxton and Loney to the Red Sox and assumed the remainder of the contract, the Sox would use the savings to sign Drew and Lugo and have all of their holes filled in one fell swoop. On paper, that's a better team than the one they are projecting to put out now. It's inherently more risky than just keeping Manny, but I think both sides are really ready to move on.

I loved Woody Paige when Around the Horn first started. Since then, I've discovered two important things about him: 1. He's not funny 2. He knows nothing about sports

Scheurholz can't be this stupid He's not stupid. Glavine is a better pitcher and Hudson still has enough name value to bring back something good in a trade. Hudson's a steal at 7 mil I believe. He was inconsistent the first half of last season but finished strong down the stretch. The only reason his record isn't better is because of the horrible bullpen. Unless he's willing to take a severe paycut so they don't need to trade anyone, I do not want Glavine back in a Braves uniform Tim Hudson has had three straight years of declining peripherals and posted an ERA+ of 91 last year. His WHIP has been through the roof since he left the spacious confines of Oakland-Alameda. The fact that he is a steal at $7 million is precisely why they would look into trading him. He could bring a lot back in a trade. Glavine may be 40, but he hasn't lost anything off his game recently.

Okay, I'm sorry that I implied that GB fans should be ready to throw Favre on the trash heap. That wasn't what I was trying to say. I just thought that the two sides could work something out that's good for Favre and the team, because the current situation doesn't really benefit anyone. But I'll rest my case for now.