Cheech Tremendous

I vote A. It's much closer to what happens in real life. If a player gets designated someone else can pick him up for nothing and reap the rewards.

The Red Sox are going to pay the rest of the contract. Florida gets a HOF bat for the stretch run (and two draft picks) and all they have to do is give up a few prospects. It's a no-brainer for them if they can match up on players going the other way.

I haven't seen anyone saying that. How is trading Manny Ramirez waving a "white flag"? The heavily pushed rumor is sending him to Florida for Jeremy Hermida or Josh Willingham. Who knows if that's a possibility or not, but if so, that's not giving up on the season. The Sox, I believe, still have the best run differential in the American League and they went two months without David Ortiz. If they can get a serviceable bat in left and then move prospies for bullpen help they are probably in the same place they are today with Manny. It's not like he's THAT good anymore. He's basically a .900 OPS guy who gives back half of his value with his shitty defense and boneheaded running. For all we know, Manny might sit out the rest of the year with an "injury" (a la 2006) or blow a game we need to win to prove a point (like he did last month against the Yankees). Is it really worth it?

Theo Epstein is working on a remake of No, No, Nanette? EDIT: For future purposes, I do understand that funding the play was a myth.

The answer, in the short term, is obviously no (assuming they can do no better than the rumored trade packages). You can't replace that bat on the open market. But with two world championships in the past four years, I can live with that. This year's team is flawed in many ways and keeping Manny will not be the difference in winning the WS. He's not going to learn how to play SS or pitch in the 8th inning. The difference between Manny and Hermida or Kemp is minimal over a two month period. Going forward, I absolutely think it brings us closer to a championship. I'd like to have more than two draft picks for Manny Ramirez. The Sox are a competitor every year and the immediate goal in any Manny trade should be the arrangement of next year's team (the first w/o Manny in eight years). Clearing salary and getting a capable left fielder is the easiest way to keep us in contention. It beats the hell out of giving up 3 or 4 prospects for Matt Holliday or paying $200 million for Mark Teixeira.

To get draft picks you have to offer arbitration. There's no way the Yankees consider doing something that stupid. You can't risk paying $13 million plus for a back-up catcher with no on-base skills or power. That's an easy point to make hanging out in your Cubs world, but as someone who follows the Sox every day, let me just say that Manny can go fuck himself. I know he's an all-world hitter, but he also plays abysmal defense, doesn't hustle for shit, pushes down sixty-year old travelling secretaries and fakes "knee injuries" to get out of facing good pitchers. I've had enough of it. For $20 million a year he's not worth these headaches. Manny is gone at the end of the year anyways. Trade him now for whatever you can get. Pay his salary or whatever. Just move on from this mess.

Mark Teixeira traded to the Angels for Casey Kotchman and minor-leaguer Stephen Marek.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Or something like that.

You get a multiple time All-Star confused with a 10 minute a game bench guy?

Two things: 1 - The Clippers had to renounce their rights to Livingston to have enough money to pay Baron and make an offer to another free agent (originally Brand, but now Smith or Okafor). Davis had to know that long before he signed on. 2 - Livingston would have been on the hook for something like $5 or $6 million dollars this year and he still hasn't received a medical clearance to play. He is still working with the team and will likely sign a one-year deal at a discount while he trys to rehab his knee. The likelihood of him coming back to contribute is very slim though. I don't think there are many people who think he'll ever make it back.

Well, it's not quite as cut and dry as you make it sound. Elton Brand did hold the option to opt out, but he told the team when he opted out that he'd accept less than a max deal if they were able to get another star player. They were able to do that after he seemingly convinced Baron Davis to bolt from a playoff team to come to town. Then he bailed on both Davis and LA at the last possible moment. According to an article from Yahoo Sports today, he didn't give the Clippers a chance to match the deal offered by Philly (which Sterling would have done). But hey, at least he didn't fuck over a blind guy on the way out of town. That Coach K sure pumps out some respectable kids, no?

I think you are right about Monta Ellis and the second round pick rule, but even after the Maggette and Turiaf signings the Warriors should be under the cap. The Clippers are going to blow their wad on an offer sheet to Smith or Okafor. That leaves Memphis as the only team who could steal Ellis away, and I think we all know that's not happening. Anyways, I'm not ready to make one of those statements declaring a shift in the balance of power, but the bottom of the Western Conference is going to be putrid next year. The Clippers, Sonics/Barons, Grizzlies, Wolves, Kings and Warriors are going to be terrible. Those are probably the six worst teams in the league heading into next year.

B

Favre considering comeback

April 12, 1992 - Cleveland beats Boston 2-1 without recording any hits. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CL...199204121.shtml Pitcher's name was Matt Young

I know! I totally miss that guy. One of the few people left in the Pacific NW who I'd hang out with from this board. The only other one is maybe Jorge/IK Cool Jew, but he's in L.A. most of the time. Thanks a lot, asshole.

Same old predictable NY/Boston/Chicago show.

I am in favor of B.

Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.

With the dissolution of the General Discussion topic, it has come to my attention that there are certain comments that just don't warrant a thread. I can buy that. After all, there are no bad posts, just bad posters. Think of this as a catch-all for inane comments and posts that lack any insight. This is not a news thread. REPEAT: This is not a news thread. No signings, no firings, no house show reports, nada. Think of it like this. If you thought it looked like Shawn Michaels was stuffing his crotch on Raw, post it here. If you thought Shawn's match sucked, discuss it elsewhere. If you feel like your comment might generate thought and discussion, make a thread! Do not abuse this topic. It is not intended to be a mega-thread. Screw up and I'll throw you in the Gulag with Leena.

From wwe.com

As of right now, it appears that this Sunday will mark the end of the career of Ric Flair. Love him or hate him, his career has been one of remarkable durability and unbelievable accomplishments. Use this thread to reflect on Ric Flair, his career and his future. Has WWE handled his impending retirement properly? What do you expect out of this Sunday's match and what will be Flair's role in the future? Has this WWE run hurt his overall legacy or improved it? Can he really stay retired or this just another Terry Funk retirement? Other possible topics to discuss: -What's your favorite Flair match? -Is he overrated/underrated relative to his 80s and 90s peers? -Do the 21 (16?) world title wins mean anything to you? -Did he hang on too long?

SK hasn't answered the questions yet. If he does, I'll forward the answers to another mod.

Can we get the topic title changed? I'm no longer in charge of the folder.

Dandy and I are going to be taking turns with the Town Hall topic. The idea behind this thread is to have an active discussion topic mid-week between Raw/ECW and Smackdown. FORMAT First, discuss the topic and your general thoughts about the item. After discussing the topic, check the additional questions located at the bottom of the post. Remember, the idea is to discuss the topic; the questions only serve as a guideline for what you might want to cover. TOPIC The months after Wrestlemania are genereally used to reshuffle the deck and prepare the fed for the next year. Six years ago, WWE made a drastic alteration to the strucutre of the company when it split into two brands: Raw and Smackdown. We are now approaching the six year mark of this brand extension. Originally created to fill the void created by WCW shutting down and keep the brand from buring out, the brand split has evolved to the point where it is just two separate iterations of the same WWE product. So let's use this thread to reflect on the successes and failures of the brand extension thus far. Additional Questions 1. On a scale of 1 to 10, how successful has the brand extension been? Why? 2. Has the extension helped to create new stars that wouldn't have had a chance to shine in the old set-up? Is it more effective than having one brand? 3. What has been the biggest success of the split? The biggest failure? 4. Have fans come to accept Raw and Smackdown as two separate brands with their own characteristics, or just tv shows with different wrestlers doing the same thing? 5. How much longer do you see the brand extension lasting? Do you still think it's a good idea?