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I'm not convinced he's going to be the full-time second baseman either. He could be the platoon partner, he could be a utility guy, he could get some time at second. It's possible he is the full-time starter at second, but there are several other possibilites as well. I expect Hendry to come out and say that he will be given a chance at second regardless though-no reason to shut that down at this point, and plus if he really is a platoon partner for Jacque this will slide by the radar and not cause a PR problem with him right now.

Now, that's an idea I would like. If Derosa played second against right handers with Jacque in right, then Derosa could play right against left handers with Theriot at second-that would give better production out of the two positions.

Spending millions for such a lack of production can very well impact other positions, negatively. I agree, but I think Derosa is good enough to not be a drag on the offense either-he's just going to be an average to a little below average second baseman. If he repeats last year, he'll be a little above average, but I doubt he does that.

Probably a bit over-paid, but not dramatically so. If he's only ok, we can turn him into an extemely expensive utility player (where he'll definitely be too expensive, but other then that he is very valuable in that respect). If he can continue to play pretty well like last year, then he is worth it. It's certainly not an impact signing, but if the impact comes at other positions, then this will turn into a fine signing.

The difference is that ARod costs more than the money-he also costs the players that it would take, and then the extra money that it would take to replace those players. Even if we got a good deal (Hill+Erye+ good prospect), we'd still have to replace Hill with one of the pitchers on the FA market, say Padilla for 9 per. Would you want ARod+Padilla for 25 mil or Soriano+Hill for 18 mil, not to mention that Erye and the good prospect are gone also? That's also one of the best case scenarios-if Arod costs more then that, then it becomes harder and harder to replace the talent we'd have to give up.

How does that help Philly's salary situation other then taking on an extra guy? Wouldn't they be receiving about as much salary as they would be giving away in that scenario?

All I know is that if that officiating crew ever officiated a Big 10 game, they would have fouled everybody out by halftime. I've never seen a game called tighter then that-every time somebody went to post up, it was immediate offensive foul. I knew Wilmont was going to be like that (although he is not going to shoot that well every night), Calloway was what I hoped for, Stemler and M. White looked good. Overall, a solid game-tomorrow's game is very important, because IU could really use the extra 2 games that going to New York gets.

Does Izturis have a degenerative knee condition? I had heard that his elbow problems were degenerative, but I hadn't heard about his knee. Egads. I think the elbow is degenerative, and not the knee. The only thing I've heard with his leg is his hamstring issues (a little bit in 2005, and of course it flared up with the Cubs). I don't think he actually has an actual condition in his legs though. Yeah, you're right. I had a minor brain fart. I knew he had a degenerative condition, and all I could remember were the leg injuries from the last 2 years. But yeah, it's his elbow. Either way, it adversely affects his fielding, so my point stands. From the small amount we got to see, that elbow was fine with the Cubs-he was showing great range and a strong arm from deep in the hole. If he is healthy, his defense will be fine-it will be the offense that is the huge question mark at best.

Does Izturis have a degenerative knee condition? I had heard that his elbow problems were degenerative, but I hadn't heard about his knee. Egads. I think the elbow is degenerative, and not the knee. The only thing I've heard with his leg is his hamstring issues (a little bit in 2005, and of course it flared up with the Cubs). I don't think he actually has an actual condition in his legs though.

He's one of those anti-Sorianos though-he absolutely hates leading off. He is willing to do it for the good of the team, but he has said multiple times how much he hates it, and his bad numbers at the leadoff spot might be at least partially the effect of that. Ok...still get him and bat him 2nd. I'd be fine with that.

I'd try for both. Drew at 3/37.5, Soriano at 3/46.5. Sign 1 pitcher, trade for another. IMO, I see no way that both of those guys will take that short of a deal-that would put them in free agency at the wrong time, and I think at least Soriano is looking to get a long-term deal. Drew might also, but we haven't heard much about his demands-but I doubt 3/37.5 will do it, considering he just opted out of 3/33, and many teams would love to have his bat.

He's one of those anti-Sorianos though-he absolutely hates leading off. He is willing to do it for the good of the team, but he has said multiple times how much he hates it, and his bad numbers at the leadoff spot might be at least partially the effect of that.

So IU is likely to play Butler tomorrow night? That should be an interesting game-did Butler do like usual and throw up 3's all game long? They have had some great shooters over the year. Indiana playing Butler is a lose-lose though-either Indiana loses (which helps Butler immensely but obviously doesn't help Indiana) or IU beats Butler, which means Butler can't get a statement win to help their resume and they are seen as terrible. Oh well-if IU can win the next two nights they'll get a chance or two to make a statement in the Garden next week-work hard, and get it done Hoosiers!

except that O$U didn't get a gift victory over a bad team. Yeah ND won that game, but they wouldn't have without the help of Moo. You can say that of any big comeback. If the victimized team played perfectly every time they took a big lead, there would of course never be a comeback to begin with. I'd like to thank MSU, by the way, for once again playing, BY FAR, their best game of the season against ND, and then crapping the bed against everyone else. I'm rooting for whoever comes in to coach that team to do well because I'm sick and tired of MSU making ND's games with them look worse than they already were by playing miles below their talent level afterwards. I can't stand that either-Michigan State always gets their good games out of the way before the ND game, plays well against ND, and then collapses. Either be good Michigan State or be bad-I don't really care. Please just be one or the other though! Don't be one team for the first 4-5 games (including ND every year) and then a completely different team in the second half of the season. It's like if the NFL were rated like the BCS, and somebody had to play the Dolphins in the past 10-12 years (minus the last couple). You knew if you played them in September or October you'd look terrible as they'd get out to a 9-2 start, and then they'd lose their last 4-5 games every single year and nobody can understand how they played you tough.

Link. The first thing that jumps out at me? That contract looks awfully familiar. I'd be happy if the Cubs matched that, but that's starting to get close to the limit for Soriano IMO.

Notre Dame possibilites for the National Title game (nothing about what should happen, just what will happen) Notre Dame needs: An Ohio State loss-I thought I would be saying for weeks that a big Michigan loss would be the key. I say the other way though because of the computer rankings. Michigan is #1 in the computer rankings, and it's not even close. If they lose to Ohio State, they will only drop to #2 in those rankings. Ohio State is #3 in most of those rankings, and a loss to Michigan will drop them behind ND in most to all of these rankings. I have ran through some projections in one of the computer rankings, and it confirms this. If Notre Dame can stay ahead of Ohio State in the computer rankings, they will be close enough in the polls to stay ahead of them overall. #2-Florida losing to Arkansas in the SEC title game-Florida is going to be hard to catch in either the polls or the computer rankings-they have to lose a game somewhere. Things that would be nice, but not always necessary: 1)Arkansas losing to LSU-it is not certain whatsoever that Arkansas will pass ND if they win out. They will likely not pass them in the computer rankings, and I doubt if both teams win out that they will pass ND enough in the polls to make the difference-ND should squeak past Arkansas if both win out. 2)USC beating Cal-obviously, ND needs the national exposure about beating a 1 loss USC team and the SOS rating in the computers-this would be a nice boost. 3)Rutgers losing to WV-it's possible that Rutgers will drop between ND and Arkansas in the computer rankings if they lose, which would be a nice buffer. Of course, ND has to win their last two games, which is definitely not assured (is probably closer to 50/50)-but this is all meaningless if they lose, so I'll remain optimistic for now. It's certainly a much greater chance then it was a few weeks ago. I do hope the team gets to the national title game, but in one way I don't because I think the team only has a 25-30 percent chance of winning the title, while they would have a greater chance of winning one of the other BCS bowls. Since the objective is the title though, I still would like to see them get in any way they can.

The only problem with the Petco theory is that his splits aren't that different this year: OBP and slugging .378/.384 at home .369/.410 on the road I'd attribute it to just more of a down year (as his splits were pretty large last year) but I have no idea if he would rebound from that.

I don't have any interest. He had a down year last year, and would have to return to one of his normal years to have the contract be a bargain, and that is a risk with his age. Plus, the Padres are not desperate to get rid of him, so the offer would have to be decent. Basically, signing him I'd think about it, but absolutely not on trading for him.

That's exactly what I was thinking-his performance this year, his winter performance, and the fact that the Cubs have an infielder in front of him if a second baseman is signed (Theriot) means that I think Cedeno has lost his spot even on the bench for 2007.

I would agree so far, and I think that extends to about mid-August. Since that time, Hendry traded Neifi and Nevin for at least decent prospects. He came out in the media and basically forced Dusty to play the young guys more (I don't know if Dusty came willingly on that or not, but I do know I heard Hendry being very insistent about a few players, especially as September rolled around). He now has the three re-signings in his pocket. If that's all he does, then it will be an awful offseason-but I usually give a GM the latitude to make 1 mistake in an offseason (if that be not picking up enough pitchers, picking up a wrong one, etc.). Hendry has a little wiggle room now. That could change quickly, but there could also be given some more slack on the rope if some more good moves start coming.

It was actually the Colts that Elway refused to play for. Yup, and the Colts certainly didn't make it before Denver did a few times :( Hopefully they can at least make it soon :D Good luck in the second half to all the Bears fans.

I don't think the doctors are going to let him pitch, at least not at the beginning of the year. We might not get the insurance because he might be ready near the end of the year, but I heard it was potentially life-threatening if he came back that early.

All of which would likely beat all the top three Big East teams pretty easily (maybe Auburn wouldn't since they're so inconsistent). Seriously, man, I like the Big East too, but you're getting a tad carried away. That's funny because I look at the polls and don't see any teams that ND beat that even got a vote. Maybe it's you that's getting carried away because I seem to be using facts and your using assumptions. Georgia Tech is in the polls. Opps, you're right. I still think any of the 3 BE teams could beat any SEC team or ND. I think they definitely could. I'm not sure that they would, but the difference between those teams is not very much if there is one. Rutgers I think is actually the team who would struggle against the most teams because they are the most one dimensional, although their defense would keep them in any game they played.

All of which would likely beat all the top three Big East teams pretty easily (maybe Auburn wouldn't since they're so inconsistent). Seriously, man, I like the Big East too, but you're getting a tad carried away. That's funny because I look at the polls and don't see any teams that ND beat that even got a vote. Maybe it's you that's getting carried away because I seem to be using facts and your using assumptions. Georgia Tech is in the polls.

That could be true. I'm guessing Wisconsin will pass Cal, but the other 3 could very well stay ahead, even if it is not fair.