brinoch

His arm certainly does.

Not necessarily. After all, it's pretty late in ST to be picked up with another team after being released. He can make the case that it was the only opportunity he had. Which is going to hurt his case. There are 29 teams out there he offered his services to and the only opportunity he had was to sign a deal that doesn't even guarantee him a 40 man roster spot, let alone a 25 man. Seems like a cut and dry win for the Padres. I think you have to take into account that it's now the eve of the season, most teams have their rosters all but set and their money all but spent. Indeed. Most, if not all, teams are going to have their rosters set -- and I believe they've all left town for their respective home cities.

Not necessarily. After all, it's pretty late in ST to be picked up with another team after being released. He can make the case that it was the only opportunity he had.

Group A: Howard Group B: Berkman and Dunn Group C: C. Lee, D. Lee -> P. Fielder, Utley Group D: McCann, Tracy, A Gonzalez, Hawpe, Kearns -> J. Rollins WC: PMed to Laura National League rules. WC: Kahlil Greene First Half Transactions:

That's a terrible example. Everyone knows that head inflation is tremendously expensive. :wink:

I'd buy that for a dollar!! [/obscure Robocop reference]

It doesn't at all. Briggs totally went about this the wrong way, so we should return in kind. Who cares? I want to what is best for the Bears and having a vendetta with Briggs doesn't seem like that would be the best way. The point was, the Skins did this and wound up rewarded with 2 1st rounders. If we wait, it *could* result in a better deal than swapping 1st round picks, which is what some have suggested isn't good enough. True-in fairness though, that is the only time in the history of the league that it is ever happened, and it set back the franchise that did it a couple years (in fact its labeled as the worst move in the short Panthers history)-I doubt anyone is going to be trying that anytime soon, although if anybody would be silly enough to try something like that, Washington would. I was hearing though when it Peyton was franchised for a couple weeks 3-4 years back that it was unlikely that anybody would even sign him and give up 2 first rounders. I do think that if people want the extra pick rather than the top pick, that the Bears probably could get a pick in the 20's or maybe a little later for Briggs. That's not worth quite as much as moving up to 6, but it does pick up an extra pick that may fill a need. Hopefully Angelo can exchange the 1st picks and steal their 2nd rounder. Probably a lot to ask for but hey if they get that you can't complain. Briggs, a 1st round pick swap and the Redskins' 2nd? Sign me up.

Johnson was simply awful. I mean, awful. Can we bring Clint Mathis back?

because they have no scoring/passing talent. it's the best way for a mediocre team to limit their chances against and not overexpose themselves. That and clogging the midfield. Gotta love Wynalda bitching about the Mexican ref continuously That ref sucked donkey vomit. By the way, if I was in that game, I would have found a reason to either knock #8 in the nuts or I'd have elbowed him in the solar plexus. Hard. Possibly both. I'm generally a clean player. In fact, I've never gotten a card in my life. Granted, that's because I've played keeper and forward since I was 15, but still, that's ridiculous. Even though I play clean, I get pretty hopping mad on occasion -- like throwing the ball in a player's face. That would have been one of those times.

It pisses me off that we have to play crappy, cheap shotting Latin American countries all the time because it doesn't help the progression of the US team all that much when the opponent plays that way. No doubt. I don't mind bad countries loading the back up and playing for a tie if thats what they want. I just hate the fouling and the dives. Still with that said the US does not play a style of offense that really allows them to control the ball on their opponents 1/3rd move the ball around and create great chances. They still need that midfielder that is able to open up things from outside the box. Euro 2008 standings are getting very interesting. What in the hell has gotten into Northern Ireland? Paisley and Adams.

Congrats on the new addition to the family!

This man is insane. Trade excess OF talent for bullpen help? That's just dumb. It's Nate Silver in his updated NL Central PECOTA report. I know. I think it's relatively crazy, too. I don't know if you have a BP subscription, but they make some assumptions on playing time and positions that are pretty incorrect. For example, they have Murton and Floyd both playing 45% of the time in LF (Murton received 15% of the time in RF, however). For the 'pen, they have Dempster, Wood, Eyre, Wuertz, Howry, Cotts, and Ohman as the first tier of BP pitchers -- all with about 55-60 innings -- and Novoa, Mateo, and Marmol following after. Guzman is mentioned as a spot starter. Obviously, Wood is out of the picture. But they project them to all be pretty crappy. The bullpen could use some shoring up, for sure, but I think its serviceable and all in all, pretty sufficient. I'd look to upgrade SS, RF and 2B before the bullpen. I'd love to find a way to trade Jones and some pitching in a package for an impact SS (pipedream). Boy, how I'd love to have Mitre, Nolasco, and Pinto back. (What a horrid deal that was.)

As I recall, Derrek Lee said much the same thing -- he didn't want to negotiate during the season, etc. -- and then they finished the negotiations during the season. I'm not worried. I fully expect Zambrano to be resigned some time this week. Much of the last couple of weeks has been spent, I'm sure, on roster decisions.

No real surprise here.

This man is insane. Trade excess OF talent for bullpen help? That's just dumb. It's Nate Silver in his updated NL Central PECOTA report.

What makes Walker more valuable than Ward? Ward had the better year last year by far. Before that, Walker had the better years-but if Ward regresses back to his usual year and Walker keeps declining, then Ward will likely be slightly better. Both can play 3 positions-Walker the 3 in the infield, Ward the two in the OF and 1B. What is there to justify eating a million by dropping Ward and signing Walker? Please read what I wrote. I said, pretty clearly, that it was worth considering. I did not say that Walker was better than Ward. You should always look to improve your team, and if Walker is an upgrade, then it might be worth it.

It's great that we can get an impact DL player. But who do we get to replace Briggs? One fact that's been more or less swept under the rug is that by trading Briggs and the 31st pick for the 6th pick, the Bears create a need. They are not solely upgrading their draft opportunity -- the Bears are simultaneously creating a hole that must be filled. And they aren't gaining any picks with which to do it. One of the criticisms of the Thomas Jones deal was that the Bears didn't receive any new picks -- they merely traded Jones to upgrade their current pick. I would contend that Peterson is probably good enough to replace Jones, but if there weren't someone like Peterson standing by, this isn't a great deal. (And I still think the Bears would be wise to draft a running back.) With regard to Briggs and this deal as proposed, I would rather re-sign Briggs. If I can't resign Briggs, I'd much rather trade Briggs for a pick straight up.

For me, this isn't a question of Walker vs. Cedeno. It's a question of Walker vs. Ward. Who's more valuable? I think picking Walker up and releasing Ward is worth considering.

Ummm... in games, too.

So, in other words, the Cubs won, but we still want to cover the Astros. So we'll have a run-off.

You're new here, but this kind of commentary is out of line. I suggest reading (and following) the posting guidelines by following the link in my sig. Consider this a warning.

Not much else. I made my post on their site. If I ever meet Nick, I may say something to him personally. I'm sure I'll run into him at some point. My guess is there won't be a vote next year. Come on man, fight the good fight! Don't take this lying down! Do it for the little man! Other cliche stuff! LETS GO!!! Eckstein would fight.

Looks like Todd Walker might be available. Not that I necessarily think that he'd be the best option, but I'd think about signing him for the bench and releasing Ward.

Calling pitchers babies or pansies for taking care of their arm is silly. Baseball history is loaded with pitchers who blew their elbow and/or shoulder out. Pitching is incredibly hard on one's arm, and throwing more and more and more isn't going to magically make it better by building endurance. When a pitcher's mechanics begin to deteriorate, it's time to relieve them. Furthermore, over time, there can be structural degradation from too much use. In all seriousness, Mark Prior is a perfect example of the impact of overwork and degraded mechanics.

That was pretty good.