The Man in Blak

You've got to go with Green - whereas Jacksonville has an actual defense, the Colts might as well prop up life-sized cardboard cutouts in the secondary. You can't count on the running backs to steal eight touchdowns ever again.

Awesome rebuttal.

Plus, I wouldn't want to roll the dice two years in a row that Drew would be healthy.

Quoted for emphasis. This thread is truly hilarious, BTW.

As far as the Cardinals are concerned, here's what's leaving: x-Chris Carpenter, rhp ($500,000) Cal Eldred, rhp ($900,000) Steve Kline, lhp ($1.7 million) Ray Lankford, of ($300,000 - minor league contract) John Mabry, of ($300,000 - minor league contract) Mike Matheny, c ($2.75 million) Matt Morris, rhp ($12.75 million) Edgar Renteria, ss ($7.55 million) x-Woody Williams, rhp ($4.75 million) Tony Womack, 2b. ($300,000 - minor league contract) (not listed) Marlon Anderson, 2b. ($600,000) Money gained: $32.4 million Approximate money for existing contract raises: $4 million (give or take, with increased playoff revenue) Total money gained: $28.4 million GUYS TO CUT LOOSE MATT MORRIS - He dramatically underachived his contract (and his prior reputation) this year and, with his "creaky shoulder" and awful mechanics, there's really no good future on the horizon for Morris. As I've said before, the Mets will probably burn $9 million on him and see if Rick Peterson can fix him up. WOODY WILLIAMS - Woody was part of the one of the all-time Jocketty steals, but it's probably time to hang 'em up. His arm was gelatin throughout the whole year (he considered retirement because of it) and, while he didn't get the happy ending that he wanted (the Backe duel in the NLCS), he still had a fine finish in St. Louis. STEVE KLINE - Earlier in the year, I mentioned Kline as a must-sign, just because reliable left-handed relievers are hard to find. That was before he ran into injury problems (again) and before I realized he was making $1.7 million a year. Kline's been a great Cardinal (he's my mom's favorite player), but he's probably on his way out unless we can coax a deal in the $800,000-$1M range: The "postseason snub" issue only makes this easier. CAL ELDRED - He was a nice comeback story and he certainly fits into LaRussa's mold of a "veteran retread starter out of the pen", but there's a truckload of right-handed relievers out there who will provide comparable, if not better, stats for less than the $1M+ that Eldred would likely be asking for. Or we could always be reasonable and promote Josh Pearce to the big league club - that'd be my choice. RAY LANKFORD - Same story as Eldred. The comeback was a nice story, but he'll likely be asking for more than he's worth, if he's asking at all - his temporary refusal to accept a minor league assignment late in the year foretells that he'll be making his way out of town again. He'll get on as a NRI somewhere, I'm sure. TONY WOMACK - Only because he won't resign a minor league contract if he comes back next year. Womack was a tremendous bargain, but investing anything more than what we gave him this year would probably be a mistake, especially with his health problems re-emerging during the playoffs. It was a fun year, though. MARLON ANDERSON - .269 OBP and one of the worst bunts ever in the World Series. Next. MIKE MATHENY - I know that CERA is somewhat of a flaky stat but Matheny wasn't that much better than the backup catcher (3.88 to Molina's 3.64) and his inability to use a baseball bat properly kind of takes him out of the $2.75 million range, methinks. Thanks for the service, but it's time to move on. JOHN MABRY - Sample size, sample size, sample size. I openly campaigned for him to be the DH in the World Series, but that's only because the other Cardinal options included Marlon Anderson and Roger Cedeno. He was an awesome bargain (did we roll big on minor league signings or what?), but those 13 home runs and a fluky .363 OBP are going to goad some other team into overpaying him. Hopefully. QUICK RESIGNS EDGAR RENTERIA - Renteria did the Cardinals a huge favor by stumbling a bit in his contract year. The fact that the market will be saturated by shortstops makes me think that we can ink Renteria with a minor raise (4 years, $10.5 million a year, perhaps?) CHRIS CARPENTER - The nerve irritation is a little frightening, but Carpenter more than earned a second opportunity with a career year last year. Plus, his team option ($2 million) is super cheap. Remaining Money: $17.9 million CALLUPS JOSH PEARCE (RHP) - He's done well in his past cup of coffees and, as a control specialist, he could probably fit in the pen or even in long relief. We've got to give him a shot, as he's at the stage in his career (age: 27) where it's becomes a "now or never" situation. RICK ANKIEL (LHP) - The Krynzel incident was a bad experience but it was his only wild pitch and he seemed to make a nice bounceback otherwise (9.00 K/BB). FREE AGENT PRIORITIES MATT CLEMENT (Starter - RHP) - The Cardinals sorely need a power pitcher who can strike guys out and Clement (9.45 K/9) definitely fills the need. The fact that he's very familiar with the Central Division (and the Cubs) is a considerable bonus. * Approximate Price: $9.2 million Second Choice: Odalis Perez, who wouldn't have to worry about pitching against the Cardinals in the playoffs if he signed with us. TODD WALKER (2B) - With Womack out, we need a 2B who can get on base (.352 OBP) for the big bats and Walker fits the bill. * Approximate Price: $4 million Alternate Choice: Placido Polanco, though I doubt he'd be willing to come back home for $4 million after the year that he had. GREG COLBRUNN (1B) - You didn't hear a peep out of him on the Diamondbacks, but Colbrunn is a thick righty bat with home run pop, making him perfect for pinch-hit duty or - heaven forbid - a DH spot in the world series. His limited season makes him all the more cheaper and his old contract ($2.75 million) precludes the Diamondbacks chasing after him, especially in the middle of a youth movement. * Approximate Price: $1 million Alternate Choice: Travis Lee, who could basically do the same (and more) from the left side of the plate, if the Yankees don't take their $3 million team option on him (which seems likely, given the potential logjam at 1B next year). GREGG ZAUN (Catcher) - Oh no! Not Gregg Zaun! I can't help it that the Yankees and the Cardinals have similar roster builds and similar needs. I already extolled the "virtues" of the Anti-Flaherty in the Beltran thread, but there's one thing I forgot - he's a switch hitter, meaning extra bench flexibility (a Tony LaRussa necessity). * Approximate Price: $700,000 Alternate Choice: Ultimately, any backup catcher will do. Doug Mirabelli might be a stretch, but ultra-defensive Henry Blanco or Kelly Stinnett probably would work here as well. RON VILLONE (Reliever - LHP) - And a collective gasp. Here's the story with Villone - he's drifted between franchises, each of them thinking that he was capable of being a No. 5 starter. Obviously, all of them were wrong and even the Mariners found that out when they tried to move him into the rotation in August (8.07 ERA, 1.90 WHIP in August). However, as a reliever, he did remarkably well in 2004, having an ERA in the low-to-mid 2.00 area for most of his time in the bullpen (four out of six months). He held lefties to a .598 OPS, SAFECO didn't really help his ERA much (4.05 ERA), and his strikeout rate (6.62 K/9) isn't too bad. Sign him for as your backup LOOGY to the Burger King, with the potential for long relief. One possible red flag - a K/BB ratio of 1.34. * Approximate Price: $1 million Second Choice: Overall, having two lefties out of the pen would be a real luxury, so if Villone somehow didn't come on board, you could probably pick up another bat (Travis Lee) or have another callup (John Gall, perhaps). If you were really feeling lucky, you could pick up Damian Moss on a minor league deal and see how he does in the bullpen *wince*. FINAL ROSTER Lineup: L - T. Walker, 2B L - L. Walker, RF R - Pujols, 1B L - Edmonds, CF R - Rolen, 3B R - Renteria, SS (you could switch him for leadoff with T. Walker as well) R - Sanders, LF R - Molina, C Bench: S - Gregg Zaun, C R - Greg Colbrunn, 1B R - Hector Luna, 2B/SS/3B R - So Taguchi, CF S - Roger Cedeno, OF Starters: - Carpenter, Clement/Perez, Marquis, Suppan, Ankiel Bullpen: - Closer: Isringhausen - Long Relief: Haren - LOOGY: King, Villone - Righties: Tavarez, Calero, Pearce

You know, as phenomenal as Beltran is, I'm still perplexed as to why the Cubs think they need him in the first place. You've got Corey Patterson eligible for arbitration and he gave you a 20 HR/30 SB season while barely being 25 years old. I know his streakiness is legendary, but he seemed to come into his own in the leadoff spot (Baker's insane hitting philosophy be damned) and it's only going to get better from here on out. Beltre, on the other hand, is going to Seattle, methinks. Their 3B situation is atrocious and they need the power (and gold glove-caliber defense).

Damon, Ortiz, and Foulke didn't have embarrassing antics in the field, though.

*drumroll* And, the final results...

Congratulations to the Sox and the Sox fans for a World Series win and the wild ride that took them there.

GAWWD BLURSE AMURRRICAAAH

It's only the second inning.

With the guy who has a .417 average in the series, no less.

...I thought you were just trying to be funny.

From a Page 2 article (I must be a glutton for punishment): http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...buckheit/041027 I...I just don't know what to say.

Congrats, Flik. The video game business is a hard business to get into, but knowing somebody "on the inside" goes a long way. Hope it works out.

Well, if the series goes only four games, then that kind of throws the "two games" rule out the window. Personally, I'd give it to Pedro. Games 1 and 2 were great victories, but Pedro dominated in a crippling Game 3 win on the road. He slammed the door shut last night.

Oh no you didn't. Look, I like reading Bill Simmons. The man is funny and his insights on stuff like the Ewing Theory and the Vengeance Scale are tremendous. I read and enjoy everything he does... ...everything except articles dealing with the Red Sox or Patriots. Many Red Sox fans say that Simmons captures the "essence" of the Red Sox fan, so I guess I just don't have sympathy for the Red Sox Nation. And I certainly don't have sympathy for Simmons, who was mercilessly smarmy and charmless when it came to both Patriots Super Bowl wins or, more recently, giving the Cardinal fans (smirk intact) a "D-" for dying out during the Suppan Surprise, which probably would have sent ten or fifteen Sox fans (and, if we were so blessed, one or two of the new breed, wearing newly-purchased Red Sox caps with the pricetag still on them) to an early afterlife, were he wearing a Boston uniform during his misadventures at third base last night. I'm sorry if I can't help but roll my eyes when Simmons writes that the Red Sox winning the pennant is a "matter of life and death" when they're playing a team that had a twenty-game winner die in the middle of the season two years ago.

I can't decide what's worse: watching us give away last night's game through nearly every single play in the game - or reading idiots like Jim Caple and Bill Simmons take limp-wristed jabs at the Cardinals and their fans, now that the Sox are up 3-0. Whenever we lose the deciding game, be it tomorrow with Marquis on the mound or in Game 7 with Jeff Suppan on the mound, I just hope that we redux the handshake thing from the NLDS and give the Red Sox their due. They've had a hell of a run.

Did I mention that Gregg Zaun is three years younger than Flaherty?

Which is kind of ironic (or disgusting, in my opinion) because they're not really the underdog in this series.

From the Daily Quickie at ESPN.com:

Alvarez had two relief appearances in the Cardinals series, so he wasn't injured. Plus, he wasn't in the regular rotation anyway, so I doubt they would have spot-started him in the playoffs, even with Penny out and Nomo pitching BP.

I know that a lot of Yankee fans would prefer bringing back Boomer to be the lefty in the rotation, but here's a couple of reasons why Odalis Perez is a better option: - No injury concerns. It's true that David Wells had a great deal of success while wearing the Yankee pinstripes, but he also took his team out of Game 5 of the 2003 World Series with an early exit due to back problems. Wells is 41 years old and, while his age and "conditioning" make him a cheap option, it doesn't necessarily make him a good bargain. Perez, on the other hand - Odalis Perez is 27 years old. Numerous analyses have shown that the breakout period for players lies in the 27-28 age realm and that peak performance usually carries on until around 30-32. Wells and Perez are going to come at comparable prices but, while the risks for Wells are considerably higher (injury, completely falling off due to age), the rewards for Perez could be higher, as a three year deal would position the Yankees into getting the three best years of Odaliz Perez's career. - Postseason sample size isn't necessarily reliable. In his first postseason as a starter (1995), David Wells went 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA. You isolate those stats by themselves and conclude that Wells was merely average in the postseason, being unable to predict - from those two starts - that Wells is one of the most reliable playoff pitchers of the last couple of years (25-15, 3.18 ERA). This was Perez's first postseason as a starter and he got the "privilege" of facing one of the top offenses in the league and, in two starts, he got rocked. Two starts are no real indication of future performance - if anything, you could argue that the Cardinals' onslaught provided Perez with a valuable learning experience. When you consider those three points, I dont really think there's an argument. As far as Wilson Alvarez was concerned, he had a great year out of the pen for the Dodgers: a 1.16 WHIP in 40 games (15 starts), all while providing nearly a strikeout an inning. The ERA (4.03) is deceptive; he hovered around the threes until two straight disastrous outings at the end of August raised his ERA a full point. Plus, like or not, he's the best left-handed reliever on the market and - in case you haven't noticed - that's something you really could use with Felix Heredia being the only lefty in the bullpen. Chris Hammond's had prior success with the Yankees, but he's older. Steve Kline was very efficient as a LOOGY this year, but he's got an injury history and a ton of work in recent years. Terry Mulholland is ancient and, while gutsy and "crafty", ultimately not that good anymore. Regarding Gregg Zaun, he's better than Flaherty in terms of defense, with a better CS% (.277 vs. .233) and a better CERA (4.76 to 4.93). On top of that, Zaun showed that he could hit this year - he had a higher OPS than John Flaherty (.761 to .750), primarily due to an OBP that was 81 points that Flaherty's (.365 OBP for Zaun). Zaun's not going to win the MVP anytime soon, but he is a better option than Flaherty, clutch performances or not.

Okay, so nine players for the Yankees, within quasi-realistic budget constraints: Carlos Beltran (OF) Matt Clement (Starter - RHP) Odalis Perez (Starter - LHP) Placido Polando (2B/SS/3B) Wilson Alvarez (Long Relief/Spot Starter - LHP) Tino Martinez (Backup 1B/Left-Handed Bat) Gregg Zaun (Backup C) Todd Walker (Backup 2B/Left-Handed Bat) Danny Bautista (Backup Corner OF/Right-Handed Bat)

Well, fuck. Now I'm going to have to re-do the whole list again.