Jon

I believe they're all thinking of how much they all wished they had been on the FA market this offseason instead of being under contract. Lee would be worth what, $25 million a season relative to Soriano's deal?

These refs are terrible...

Nice to see that the officials have made it their priority to keep Hinrich out of the game. This is ridiculous.

Nocioni is on fire!!

And the fact his numbers are even in the same ballpark as Soriano's while he'd be lucky to get a contract at all doesn't scare you? Selectivity of numbers used again. He has no real position, doesn't produce runs, can't run but whatever. I think people have hired him because of potential and dumped him because he doesn't really produce. When can we expect you to stop bringing up Walker for no reason? 2008? 2009? Let me know so I can circle the date on my calendar. Or maybe we can just fully establish the Todd Walker scale and compare every potential target for years to come against your questionable impressions of Walker's production. Tim may have some room on the front page for it. In fairness, Rob's the one who started by using Walker as the mystery player in his comparison. Oh, I'm aware. He certainly has in other threads, though, and apparently can only justify Soriano's deal/reputation by putting down Walker. And that's been going on for a good year now.

And the fact his numbers are even in the same ballpark as Soriano's while he'd be lucky to get a contract at all doesn't scare you? Selectivity of numbers used again. He has no real position, doesn't produce runs, can't run but whatever. I think people have hired him because of potential and dumped him because he doesn't really produce. When can we expect you to stop bringing up Walker for no reason? 2008? 2009? Let me know so I can circle the date on my calendar. Or maybe we can just fully establish the Todd Walker scale and compare every potential target for years to come against your questionable impressions of Walker's production. Tim may have some room on the front page for it.

And we know that Hendry was close to losing Aramis how?About three or four more hours and Ramirez would have either signed for at least $20 million more than what Hendry offered or would be considering multiple offers for even more money. Ramirez and his agent knew that Hendry was significantly low-balling Aramis in terms of market value. Even at the very end Jim didn't bump up his price that much. I'd give more credit to Ramirez for staying than for Hendry keeping him. Of course, because Lord knows some people around here would rather walk on a bed of hot nails than give Hendry any credit. Hendry got lucky. Big time. All he had to do was throw in some more cash, probably as little as $1 million a year, and Ramirez doesn't wait until Sunday to sign. Yet he decided to take a huge gamble. It was not a good strategy. again, the armchair GM'ing. we have no idea what happened during the course of those negotiations. for all we know, the deal was in place for days and only took until Sunday due to logistical reasons. Even the post-deal quotes point to the exact opposite. And Jim bumped up his offer a few million dollars in the final 24 hours of negotiation, so there was no deal in place. Every single quote I've seen indicates that both parties moved some towards the end. Is it really fair to say that "Jim bumped his offer a few million in the final 24 hours" with NO mention of Aramis coming down off of his demands when you don't really know what each party gave at the end? Answer: No, you don't. Aramis' choice was down to signing with the Cubs or going elsewhere for $20-$30 million more. Hendry knew that. Jim raised his final offer roughly $3 million at the end but easily could have done much more, avoiding looking like he was low-balling Aramis and wasn't that set on keeping him. It wasn't a case of meeting in the middle. It was Aramis' decision to turn down a lot of money to stay in Chicago.

And we know that Hendry was close to losing Aramis how?About three or four more hours and Ramirez would have either signed for at least $20 million more than what Hendry offered or would be considering multiple offers for even more money. Ramirez and his agent knew that Hendry was significantly low-balling Aramis in terms of market value. Even at the very end Jim didn't bump up his price that much. I'd give more credit to Ramirez for staying than for Hendry keeping him. Of course, because Lord knows some people around here would rather walk on a bed of hot nails than give Hendry any credit. Hendry got lucky. Big time. All he had to do was throw in some more cash, probably as little as $1 million a year, and Ramirez doesn't wait until Sunday to sign. Yet he decided to take a huge gamble. It was not a good strategy. again, the armchair GM'ing. we have no idea what happened during the course of those negotiations. for all we know, the deal was in place for days and only took until Sunday due to logistical reasons. Even the post-deal quotes point to the exact opposite. And Jim bumped up his offer a few million dollars in the final 24 hours of negotiation, so there was no deal in place.

The only way to prove that is to show that Walker's playing time is differently distributed(i.e. to favor his platoon splits) than a "starter" like Soriano. And even if he did get put in more favorable matchups, it speaks that 1-2 marginal to decent players in the right situation can nearly replicate Soriano's production. That truly is funny. Todd Walker can't hit 40 HR's, 40 doubles, and steal any bases. You may not value those numbers, but realty baseball does. Not just selective percentages. last year, someone tried to claim Todd was better offensively than Tejada. What a joke. Realty is greater than fantasy baseball. It's really unfortunate that you have no desire to even attempt to understand what people who argue opposite you are saying. I mean, the Tejada thing has been explained to you in crystal clear terms at least a half dozen times(no exaggeration) and you still keep spouting off that mischaracterized point over and over again. I guess it's easier to just call it "fantasy baseball" instead of realty (sic). I always thought HRs, doubles, and stolen bases were three of the big fantasy baseball stats. Live and learn.

And we know that Hendry was close to losing Aramis how?About three or four more hours and Ramirez would have either signed for at least $20 million more than what Hendry offered or would be considering multiple offers for even more money. Ramirez and his agent knew that Hendry was significantly low-balling Aramis in terms of market value. Even at the very end Jim didn't bump up his price that much. I'd give more credit to Ramirez for staying than for Hendry keeping him. Of course, because Lord knows some people around here would rather walk on a bed of hot nails than give Hendry any credit. Hendry got lucky. Big time. All he had to do was throw in some more cash, probably as little as $1 million a year, and Ramirez doesn't wait until Sunday to sign. Yet he decided to take a huge gamble. It was not a good strategy.

And we know that Hendry was close to losing Aramis how?About three or four more hours and Ramirez would have either signed for at least $20 million more than what Hendry offered or would be considering multiple offers for even more money. Ramirez and his agent knew that Hendry was significantly low-balling Aramis in terms of market value. Even at the very end Jim didn't bump up his price that much. I'd give more credit to Ramirez for staying than for Hendry keeping him.

What does it matter? We signed Ramirez anyways, and got him for near dirt cheap. Because it points to three things: 1) Hendry still grossly undervalues OBP, 2) Hendry still grossly overvalues speed, and 3) He is still quite prone to letting media hype influence his decisions.

If Hendry is so willing to ridiculously overspend for a player worse than Ramirez, why did he take a huge gamble in risking losing Aramis and not offer him more money?

Were not at $150m. We're more close to about $100mil so far. Where do you get $150m? Man, some of you guys are making things up just to be negative. I don't get it? soriano's 136 million + derosa's 13 million = 149 million. i think that's what kctigers was saying Having one of those two players being above average isn't bad. Soriano is not a great player. Two great months and one absurd month doesn't out-weigh a career line of .280/.325/.510. Spending well over $100 million on a player who isn't great is going to bring with it some criticism.

Some highlights: http://youtube.com/watch?v=p4n5gYOtfV0

I thought it best to lay low during the Baker Fallout Tour. Way to wuss out of the fun. Probably one of my better uses of discretion. I did miss you at the last Wusses Anonymous meeting, though, Raisin. He wussed out. If they're looking at him for the corner outfield, they would have been better off giving a ridiculous contract to Carlos Lee.

I pity the Jets fans who stayed. Not only did the Jets lose, but they're now blasting that John Mellencamp song over the loudspeakers.

BEARS WIN!!

Oh crap...

And now the refs are trying to get Grossman killed.

Bradley!

Apparently Grossman was having major problems hearing earlier with the crowd noise and is now wearing a new helmet. But obviously it isn't that loud now.

Nice throw and a beautiful move after the catch by Bradley!

But he makes up for it! Nice run.

Gotta stay in bounds. He'd had the opportunity to.