sfaJack

Not really. Saarloos wasn't in the Astros' plans. Duckworth, Taylor Buckholz, or Carlos Hernandez (once he regains all the zip on his pitches) would be ahead of him. As would Jeriome Robertson, if he were still with them.

Tim Redding better get his shit together or else he's a candidate to be out of the Astros' rotation, once Pettitte gets back. Tonight: 3 2/3, 9 H, 8 R, 8 ER, and a whopping 4 HR's. His ERA is a nice, fat 10.22. On the plus side, he didn't walk anybody. 8-0 Cards, bottom 4.

No. They've already got Flutie; what good would Warner do them? Might as well just draft Eli and play him from Day 1. You'd get a similar (or better) result.

The Cowboys should stay the hell away from Warner, period. As much as I hate Quincy, the last thing they need is a broken-down Kurt Warner who hasn't produced in 2 years. This would be almost as disastrous as the rumor that was running around about the Cowboys bringing in Vinny Testaverde. Besides, they DID trade for Drew Henson. Focus your energy on trying to turn him into something, instead of wasting it on an old guy like Warner.

Uh, I and many others are probably going to disagree with you on this. The Jays were in the top 5 in the league in attendance from 1984 until 1997, and it took all the way until 2000 for them to dip back below the 2,000,000 mark. To say that baseball is a bad idea in Canada is just wrong. Montreal is the obvious exception, but that has as much or more to do with poor ownership and baseball's screwing with the franchise now as it does a poor fanbase.

If the Red Sox had 11 consecutive losing seasons and traded away all their best players at the drop of a hat (Kendall excepted), would you go? The amazing thing is that they got PNC Park to begin with. I'm curious as to how they managed to get the public to go for THAT.

Getting that extension doesn't mean anything, unless he got a huge signing bonus or other "bonus" money to go with it. The non-guaranteed contracts in the NFL are just that: non-guaranteed. Not being privy to the details of his contract, I can't say whether they'd cut him or not, but just his having contract run through '05 means nothing. Anyway, the Bungles should stick with Kitna, I think, unless Palmer has really shown something that makes him the obvious favorite (and if he has, I don't know about it...Bengals info isn't all that common down here). Kitna was surprisingly solid last year, and the Bengals actually had a positive season for once. That's somethign they can build on, and I'm not sure I see the logic in dumping a guy that helped get you there just because you "have to" play the #1 pick.

The job Hubie Brown did this year was amazing, no doubt. But Jerry Sloan is the real Coach of the Year. Terry Porter is probably third, behind Brown. Sloan wins because he has shit for talent in Utah AND lost two of his best players to injuries (Clark and Harping). Taking that team to a 42-40 record in the Western Conference and only missing the playoffs by one game is quite the achievement. Brown, while very solid, has lots of talented players on his roster...what is it, 6 or 7 lottery picks (more? I can't think off the top of my head.)? All of that and they still only won 8 more games than the Jazz. Great job...but not good enough. Porter is third because, despite not having much to work with, he still took his team to only .500 in the freakin' Eastern conferece. Not to mention choking away the final three games of the year to fall to 6th place in the weak-ass East. Good, but not nearly enough to beat Sloan or Brown.

Damn Sammy. Huge missed opportunity there. Not that the Cubs should need any more runs up 8-1 in the 7th, but weirder things have happened.

Holy hell...Ryan Wagner can't get anyone out. Wow. EDIT: and that shoddy defense isn't going to help him, either.

I would. His max contract makes him tough to move because not only do you have to find a team willing to take that money, but you also have to find a way to make balance the trade money-wise, thanks to the NBA's "equal money exchanged in trades" rule. Plus, I just don't see it happening. He's a talented player, even if he is erratic (and I wonder about his basketball IQ). Unless Jeff Van Gundy just hates Steve as much as it seems given some of the comments he's made about him all this season, I figure Steve will be a Rocket next year. I don't know what the Rockets would want, but I know that they better go for a forward. They'll never win anything with what they currently have up front.

Ok, did I miss something? What's your beef with Maddux, AS?

Beating the shit out of the Brewers isn't all that impressive. And the Cardinals aren't going to be very good this year, either. In fact, after watching the Reds this weekend, they look like they could finish third in the division.

Yes, it is. If they're still .500 or below in a month, then I might start to worry. It isn't as if the Cubs are looking lifeless or anything. For instance, the wind was the big factor today, and shoddy umpiring cost them severely yesterday. There isn't much you can do about either of those things. Getting beat 11-10 is as much bad luck as it is shoddy play...hell it makes up for the improbable back-to-back homers they hit to win on Friday. The good news is that they're at least hitting the ball now, which was a big problem a week ago. Let's not abandon ship just yet - remember, they were right around .500 at the beginning of August last year before they turned it on and stormed to the division title. Let's wait another month or two and/or until Prior gets back after the ASB (my prediction, if he comes back) and see what happens, okay?

$37 for a tank of gas this morning.

And Roger Clemens gets an RBI single. Whoa. Second of his career, and he's now 2/6 as an Astro at the plate. Hmmm...better batting average than A-Rod...look out.

You aren't just now finding this out, are you? That was one trade I was ecstatic to see happen because it got Wags the hell out of the Central.

5" off the plate? Are you fucking blind or something? BOTH of those pitches should have been called strikes. The overhead replay clearly proved that.

I'm starting to fear for that umpiring crew's safety. One more bad call tomorrow, and they'll be lucky to escape Chicago with all their bones intact. Good god Wood got screwed. At least they got the safe call on Barrett's grounder in the ninth right. Not that it matters now.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2512505 Astros deal Saarloos to A's for hard-throwing Harville By BRIAN McTAGGART Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle The Astros made a move they hope will bolster their bullpen by acquiring righthander Chad Harville from the Oakland Athletics for righthander Kirk Saarloos late Friday. The trade, announced after the Astros beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 at Minute Maid Park, gives the club another power arm to add to the bullpen. Harville will join the major-league club and will be in uniform for tonight's game against the Brewers. The Astros will have to make room for Harville on the 25-man roster, and general manager Gerry Hunsicker said a move would be announced today. "He is somebody that hasn't pitched a lot at the major-league level," Hunsicker said of Harville. "He's been a closer at the minor-league level. Certainly, he has closer's stuff. He throws 94, 96 mph with a low to mid-80s slider. He's got Brad Lidge kind of stuff. "It's just that he has not had the opportunity at the major-league level to demonstrate what he can do." Harville, 27, was 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA in three relief appearances for Oakland this season but was designated for assignment Thursday. He was out of options and said he wouldn't accept his minor-league assignment, which prompted Oakland to trade him. Saarloos, 24, made his big-league debut in just his professional season but struggled. He failed to make the team out of spring training and was 0-2 with a 15.43 ERA in two starts at Class AAA New Orleans. Harville has a 1-2 record in the majors with a 5.62 ERA in 42 games in parts of four seasons. ---------------- Anyone know anything about this Harville guy? Anybody that might potentially help the Astros is a concern to me.

Oh I don't hold it against him either. I just hear that as one of the popular arguments that folks try to use to devalue the Babe's accomplishments, but have never really bothered to check it out. The man was simply a great player, period.

Why cover up? You're completely correct.

Wasn't Yankee Stadium only like 295 down the right field line in Ruth's day as well?

Astros/Brewers for me. NY/Boston means nothing to me.

It wouldn't matter. As long as Marty Shottenheimer is coaching that team, the Chargers are going to win exactly two things: jack and shit.