XZero771679666304

All boys?

If they foolishly allow Paterno and the staff to stick around yeah, it absolutely will be that way for a long time. If they finally made the right decision and moved forward with new people who are not incompetent rape enablers and apologists, it could probably go away sooner. It'll go away sooner if they clean house, sure. But it will linger for a while after even if they do.

seriously? PSU fans better brace for years and years of this sort of thing. Not advocating it, just saying.

So if Sandusky offs himself tomorrow, the NCAA can never act on this? You're conflating both what the NCAA can do versus a school, and the repercussions for NCAA violations versus legal/moral violations. This isn't Jim O' Brien at Ohio State. I'm wondering if the NCAA, in good faith, sanction a school for crimes that haven't been proven. Seems like a slippery slope if you're going to start doing that Sure they've been proven. The grand jury report is right there. And it contains not only accusations but eyewitness accounts. The did it happen/not happen ship sailed a long time ago. And I'm not sure any sanctions that the NCAA would likely lay down would be half as damaging to the Penn State football program than the scandal it self will prove to be. Even if everyone even loosely associated with this thing were to be cleared out, right or wrong, the first thing people will think of when they hear "Penn State football" will be boys being raped. It's going to be that way for a long time.

Send Z and $14MM for Brett Eibner and Jeremy Jeffress.

I disagree, I actually think it was an awful trade by the Giants. Sanchez likely didn't have much value, but he still has some upside and if he can get his control together he could be pretty useful. I have no problem shopping him around and trying to deal him, but if Melky was the best they could do, I'd have kept him. Melky had a bit of a breakout year last year, but prior to that had amassed 3.5 WAR in 6 MLB seasons (5 full). His highest slugging was .416 and his highest OBP was .336. Defensively, he's posted UZR/150s (career) of .5 in LF, -7.3 in CF, and 1.5 in RF. He did break out a bit this year, but that only amounted to an .809 OPS with a still poor .339 OBP. During this breakout year, his BABIP was 40 points higher than his career average and his HR/FB ratio was the second highest of his career (9.8%). It could be a breakout year as he enters his prime, or it could be a normal season fueled by luck. It appears to me to be the latter and, if so, the Giants just gave up a lefty with some potential left for a hitter who's been bad in the minors and majors and then was overhyped by the Yankees. You have to imagine his numbers are going to take a significant, possibly huge hit going from Kauffman to AT&T Park. And I'd imagine his defense will be a bit more exposed. I really like this deal for the Royals, and it looks like another ill-advised move by Brian Sabean. I think they could have gotten more for Sanchez.

If Maddux snubs the Red Sox and ends up with the Cubs, I wonder if Red Sox fans will feel they deserve significant compensation.

Sorry, I just don't see him in the future plans. Castros already a part of them, probably Barney. I'm assuming that we'll have a full time 1B of some kind, and after that, we have LeMahieu, Flaherty, Vitters, and Lake, possible Watkins. All of these guys should be major league ready within the next 2-3 years and some already are. I fully understand why Baker is useful and wouldn't be at all upset if he stayed around, but on the other hand, I also understand why he could be viewed as expendable. There's a big difference between viewing a player as expendable and trying to unload him. If someone wants to offer the Cubs something of value for him, that's great. But no way should we be out actively trying to give him away.

I just don't think Pujols will get huge AAV if the contract is long. Personally, I'd offer him 30-32MM over 5-6 years, but I wouldn't feel comfortable at 30MM per over 9-10 years. I suspect that after this year, most teams will feel that way as well. But yeah, the Howard contract will definitely be the starting point. No way he can settle for as much or less. FTR, Albert's agent is Dan Lozano.

Depending on the competition for him. If it's primarily the Cubs and maybe a couple other teams, I doubt the bidding gets close to that. If, however, the Cubs go against many of the possible teams - Blue Jays, Orioles, Nationals, Yankees, Red Sox, Angels - then I could see the bidding possibly getting into that area. I wouldn't call it very likely at all, especially since all signs point to the Yankees and Red Sox not having interest and Pujols preferring to avoid the DH. I think that prior to this season, a deal of 10/300 or more was a real possibility. But after the "down" year Albert had, I'm not so sure. Given that the only teams likely to bid will be the Cardinals, Angels, Nats and hopefully Cubs and given that his 2011 could easily be construed as the beginning of a decline, I'd be surprised if Pujols gets more than 7-8 years at 25-27MM AAV.

Like I said, it's probably just because I eat and breathe baseball from April-October, not because I'm an idiot savant. I'm kinda surprised most people can't, given that most of us play fantasy baseball and at least glance over all these names more than a few times a year. What kind of fantasy leagues do you play in? 60 team leagues? Fantasy pool isnt that deep. Besides looking over the roster hardly means committing every name to memory. Taking the bear minimum of the 25 men on a roster at any given time, you will fail to name 8 off the top of your head. I guess I'm just a freak.

Like I said, it's probably just because I eat and breathe baseball from April-October, not because I'm an idiot savant. I'm kinda surprised most people can't, given that most of us play fantasy baseball and at least glance over all these names more than a few times a year.

Ramon Ortiz. Miguel Batista I think this speaks more to the fact I need to get a life more than anything, but I could probably name 99%+ of the rosters of each MLB team off the top of my head. Therefore, I am not surprised to see anyone's name. That said, I always feel like Darren Oliver should be retired when I see his name, though he's still fairly good (but not when he really needs to be... :x ).

Yeah, Martinez has been my top choice for awhile.

Strongest since Jordan, yes. As strong as during the "Jordan era"? Not nearly.

The really marketable players LeBron, Kobe, etc. are tarnished/disliked to a significant degree. The poll indicates (and I anecdotally feel) that the NBA's popularity peaked in the mid-late 90's. It has taken a significant popularity hit over the last decade plus, I don't think that is really debatable. I used to be a big NBA fan, but my interest has waned dramatically in that time, to the point where my interest is lukewarm at best (I did watch the last game of the Finals for the first time in years, but only to see the big three fail). Harris Poll results

I question the validity of this poll. 8.5 million people watched Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals in N America. 23.5 million watched Game 6 of the NBA finals. Your poll invalidates casual fans. I'm guessing the latest poll is pretty recent, and since there isn't an NBA right now it's popularity is pretty damn low. Casual fan, yes. People were more interested in the Finals this last year because of LeBron fiasco/schadenfreude, I'd bet. Most people I know (and this has been born out in several other polls regarding the lockout) don't care much about it and really wouldn't miss it if the season were canceled. The bottom line is that the NBA isn't the NFL or even MLB. There are die hard NBA fans, but it's simply a league that most sports fans could live without.

I wonder what all parties are thinking. If they think the NBA is so popular that it can withstand a prolonged work stoppage without taking a big hit, they're clueless. The latest Harris poll had the NBA well behind the NFL, MLB and NCAA football and just behind NASCAR and barely ahead of the NHL in popularity among Americans. Lose the season and they're probably looking up at NCAA basketball. That would be something.

A few thoughts: 1. I don't know why anyone is really surprised by this. 2. I don't think this really hurts the Cardinals that much. 3. While he and Albert were/are close, I don't think one staying/leaving was contingent on the other. That said, LaRussa retiring might make a difference if competing offers are close. There was definitely a comfort zone for Al with Tony that won't be there. It's not a huge deal, but it's not completely insignificant, either. But if one of the big market teams get involved (especially if multiple teams do), the Cardinals offer likely won't be competitive and the issue will be moot.

Throw up a Jumbotron in left and establish a Cubs network and the Cubs become Evil Empire Midwest. And I'd be fine with that.

Yeah, it was a really stupid comparison to make. Now if they tore down the monster and built something new in its place, then it might have been a decent analogy.

I know the possibility has been touched on before, but what about a deal the sends Soriano + cash to SF for Barry Zito? It would open a spot in the OF for taking a flier on a guy like Sizemore and could offset some of the lost innings if Zambrano is indeed banished. The Giants don't need Zito and Soriano might actually be better than some of the dreck SF has had in their lineup recently.

Then why do you want him so much? Because it would be nostalgic.

Both the AL East monsters need starting pitching in a bad way (though if Wilson was serious about the gun laws he won't be going to Boston), so getting Wilson could cost more than it would be worth. Though having said that, his poor performance this postseason will lower his price somewhat.

It's from Pearl Jam's Do the Evolution video.