Tarver

What a brilliant argument. Everyone knows baseball players are impervious to the effects of age.

Amongst CF, Jones, Pierre, Damon, and Crisp all figure to be available by just assuming their salaries. Not the most attractive options, but they're there.

They've shown interest in him before.

Don't know about son-in-law, but he's the CF and leadoff man with Griffey gone. CP's already set a few Red's Records for futility, let's see if he can give Mendoza a run for his money with a few hundred more ABs.

Wow, the rare trade that makes both teams worse. Griffey can hardly play the OF, let alone center. Chi's DH situation is jammed with Konerko and Thome splitting time there. Swisher is having an off year, but he's the future in CF. And the Reds just assured themselves of two months of Corey Patterson starting and leading off. Terrible all around.

Talk about pissing away the opportunity cost. The Tribe wanted Reyes in ST. Mozeliak kind of sucks.

More than enough to get Hendry laughed off the phone.

dumbest organization in pro sports? The way they're declawing Delmon Young is just as absurd. An organizational philosophy that insists contact is superior to power? Minnesota's going to keep pissing around and find themselves looking up at KC.

I disagree. He loves playing for the Cubs, so I think he'd accept a reasonable contract. If Hendry wants him back he'll be back; Hendry always succeeds in re-signing the players he wants back. That's a little too presumptuous. If he keeps this up and makes it to FA, he's going to love playing for whomever gives him the most money. That said, all this talk seems a bit premature. This guy's racking up more miles on his arm than he has in half a decade; if he succumbs to fatigue/injury, he won't be in a position to dictate terms.

Turnbow has been suspended for ped usage before. It's part of the reason he was bounced from the Angel's org.

Not as classless as hanging a tag like that on your kid. Why didn't he just have a cleft palate installed while he was at it?

You'd think at least one of the grandparents would have intervened.

I think the overall economy needs to be taken into consideration here. '03 & '04 were down years as far as contracts doled out, and this recession looks to be much, much, more serious. Yeah, attendance isn't down (yet), but concessions and peripheral spending certainly are. IMO, the days of these absurd contracts are over for awhile. Unless the Yanks are involved, it's hard to see this guy getting more $13/14 million per.

This guy is the best proof available that Saves are an absolute worthless stat.

Pretty positive Wolf was being facetious.

Their motivations? Payroll flexibility. Plain and simple. Toronto is not a team (at least in baseball) that can afford having 6 players making atleast $10 mill per (Halladay/Ryan/Burnett/Rolen/Rios/Wells), and a couple other players making atleast $7 mill or more (Overbay, Hill with club options). Toronto isn't Oakland or Tampa in terms of payroll, but they can't sustain a $90 million dollar team salary (it's closer to $100 mill), if the team isn't going to win. There looking to cut payroll, by trading guys like Burnett/Ryan and reinvesting into guys like Halladay, McGowan/Litsch, etc, etc. Now there not going to want crappy minor leaguers for Burnett, but they won't ask for the package Cleveland got for CC. Not to mention, Toronto is also looking to move Eckstein, and don't have a suitable replacement in their system (other then John McDonald) to play SS. Enter Ronny Cedeno. Cedeno has shown he can be a major league caliber SS, and thus he has good trade value. Now the question is...is Riccardi desparate enough to get Burnett's contract off the books, that he is willing to only accept Cedeno and a decent arm like Veal, or is he going to push his luck, and ask for Gallagher/Marshall? Personally, I think a deal of Cedeno/Veal and a PTBNL is more then enough to get Burnett. You can't really believe this. Unless that PTBNL is Soto, that package wouldn't net Mark Hendrickson.

If it's a confidence issue, why not have him visit a team-friendly physician and "invent" an injury? Even it's BS, it gives him time off and a plausible (to Hill) excuse for his struggles. Way too early to Ankielize him.

Erardi and others in the Queen City media have been questioning his decision making alot more recently, yes?

Back to the topic. Corey Patterson since April 14: .169 .196 .250 .446. Oh, and he's stealing bases at a 50% success rate. I'm thinking Long Island Ducks next year, if he's lucky.

Figures. Usually player contracts have a section stating "[He] may be terminated if he shall fail, refuse, or neglect to conform his personal conduct to the standards of good citizenship and good sportsmanship." I'd say choke slamming your General Manager falls under that. Three years on and the Ponson/Orioles grievance has yet to be resolved, so I hope Chacon hasn't already spent that million.

no.

The player was Chris Brown, a 3B who had some good years with the Giants. He missed over 250 games in four seasons, and once missed time because of a "bruised tooth". In 1989, while with the Tigers, he told Sparky Anderson he couldn't play because he "slept on his eye wrong". He was soon released and never played again. He died from burns sustained in a house fire two years ago. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Brown_%28baseball%29

Don't really understand SF's motivation for unloading Lewis. He's no cornerstone, but he's cheap, serviceable, and not an impediment to someone else in their system. But it's Sabean, so who the hell knows.

FWIW, Olney stated on Baseball Tonight that several sources in the clubhouse are stating this was a symptom of a larger problem, and that many on the team are dissatisfied with "some of the choices being made". Wade called it an isolated incident.