Jehrico

They couldn't pay him more than some percentage less than what he made last year, which meant we couldn't pay him any less than something around 3 million this year. They knew he wouldn't be able to pitch effectively, if at all, this year. They also knew he was a FA after this last year, and he hadn't conveyed that he had any interest in staying around after that. So the option was offer him arbitration, and pay him nearly $3 million to rehab and likely go somewhere else next year, or cut your losses early. Hendry made the right move.

I think the scariest team would be the team with the 2nd best record in the NL. Should the Rays be more afraid of the Blue Jays than the Yankees? The Sox more afraid of the Twins than the Indians and Tigers? The Phillies more afraid of the Marlins than the Mets? The only thing that I'm afraid of with regards to the Cardinals is that they're not completely out of it by the deadline and wind up getting a Matt Holliday into their lineup for his prime years. The Cardinals team as currently constructed is nothing to fear unless you're crossing at a stoplight. I don't think anybody is really afraid of the Yankees right now. The Rays should be more afraid of the Red Sox, forget about the Blue Jays. But the difference is that teams like the Yankees, Detroit and the Mets should be playing better, but are underperforming. So yes, you do still worry about teams like that. The Reds however are probably performing like they should, which is still under .500 and 8 games out. The Blue Jays are getting some incredibly good pitching this year. That's a team to look out for if they can swing a deal and get a Holliday type hitter at the deadline. Their offense is the only thing holding them back right now, and I think there will be a plethora of hitters available at the deadline.

Don't forget Cruz. Closer. His 140 pound frame can't handle starting.

I don't think anyone doubts DLee will rebound from his slump. I hope he can stop hitting into so many DPs until then... I'd rather have Aramis hitting third right now.

I won't say he was talking out of his ass, I think Joey was just being a kid. I think he was just playing on the early "rumors" that Rose would be a Bull, and he thought he was some fun with the media, and pick the opposite. I see no harm, I just see a kid having a little fun. That's not just kid stuff. I still get a kick out of starting rumors at work just so I can see how long it takes before I hear the rumor from someone else and how much the rumor changes within a couple of days. It's really fun when you're in the Army to start rumors like "Battalion just got a tasking to send 5 people on to Iraq/Afganistan to support 12 month taskers, and they will be leaving in 90 days." Two days later, someone tries to tell you that 12 people are going to be gone within a month and everyone is freaking out because we're already short handed as it is.

Jocketty is the GM for the Reds now. Dusty won't last through 2009 (assuming he makes it through this season and offseason). Jocketty is a competent GM who will replace Dusty with a competent manager.

How about Mike Harkey?

See: Baker, Dusty

Shawn Estes

1) Most people don't come out and say, "I subscribe to hateful stereotypes." 2) I did not accuse him. I made a comment based on the fact that he is one of many people who assert that Reinsdorf is cheap in spite of incontrovertable facts. That was a clear accusation and way out of line. There was no hint of anything of the sort. People whine about cheap owners, they always do. Is misguided as it may be, to call it anti-semitism is asinine. I disagree. Its a definite possibility in this case. It's also a possibility that the hatred is due to the fact that he's old. Or a man. Or caucasian. Or rich. Or that he's the owner of the Sox. Or that he comes off as extremely arrogant and stupid when he's appeared on the radio or the TV. Or, get this one...it's also a possibility that people love to play armchair GM/owner while knowing nothing that goes on behind closed doors and come to judgements that their owners/GMs suck and are cheap every time they fail to keep a superstar or bring in a big time free agent, or something like that. You'll find similar complaints against probably every owner of every franchise in every sport.

Is it too early to jump on the Bruce bandwagon?

Of course. At the end of the year, Dusty will attribute Bruce's great year to the fact that Dusty only put him in situations where he could succeed, after putting Corey out there the other half of the time. Gotta build the kid's confidence while he learns the league, dude.

This is never, ever, ever, ever happening. I wish people would stop talking about it. I wasn't aware that you had a say. I obviously won't go and bet that it will happen, but it's not the sure thing to not happen you keep making it out to be, especially if the Heat aren't interested in taking Beasley at #2.

I think it's still an open question whether this roster is going to be blown up, and Hollinger's entire article is based on everything staying pretty much the same. I've heard some others speculating that the Collins hire means major roster changes are to come, as well. It's still a good read, though. But I think it's also important to point out that he mentions Collins is one of the best coaches in the league at getting immediate improvement when he is brought in. The fact that he levels off after 3 years is somewhat of a red herring. Most NBA coaches do. Actually, most NBA coaches don't last that long regardless of what they try to do, unless they've got that superstar to carry the team to a championship. I don't understand the negative sentiment about Collins either. He was always a good coach. Are there better options? Maybe, but that doesn't make this a horrible move. I'm quite interested in how this offseason will go if this does mean major changes are coming, there's a ton of potential major moves Paxson can make. This smacks a little of wanting to recreate the Jordan-era though. Collins was the coach when Jordan came into the league and shot towards stardom. I'd be willing to bet this is a strong indicator that they're going to take Rose over Beasley. I'm still holding out hope though that they can put together a package and snag that #2 pick as well...

I mean, thats a lot of pitches for a young guy, but what's the manager going to do? If your starting pitcher can't get through 5 innings, your bullpen is going to be overused as well. Obviously, Cueto is more valuable to their long term success than some middle reliever, but the kid has to cut down on his pitches. It's not like when he left Volquez in against us when they were up 9-0 in the 7th, which was completely moronic. Dusty's whole pitching/use philosophy obviously sucks and that probably has a lot to do with why Cueto is throwing so many pitches, but not pulling a guy before the end of the 5th inning in those situations isn't really the worst thing. If they have no hope of contending this year, and Cueto is part of your future, then you take him out at 100 pitches and overwork your bullpen. If Dusty overworks his pen, holes in the pen can be patched from FAs, trades, or call ups much easier than holes in the rotation.

That plate discipline will be fleeting under Dusty. Enjoy it while it lasts, because Dusty doesn't like base cloggers. The Dusty-Corey love is inexplicably frustrating. Corey couldn't get the time of day from Dusty and had his career derailed during his key developmental years, and now that he's a never-was vet, Dusty is suddenly showing him the support he wouldn't when he was younger, even though there's no reason to expect anything more from him than when he made his debut at 21.

Out of curiosity, what way is better defensively, Sori at 2B and DeRosa in LF or the way it is now? DeRo at 2b. Soriano was absolutely embarrassing at 2nd base. I don't think I've ever seen a worse 2b in the last 20 years. He was a SS, was he really that bad there? I thought Washington moved him because they already had Vidro there but I do remember not being the best 2B in MLB. Vidro was no longer a good 2bman at that time, and they let him have the slot over Soriano. Soriano was the worst defensive 2b while in Texas that I ever recall seeing. He was nothing less than an absolute butcher. He was bad, but I disagree with you thinking that he was the worst defender in baseball at second. He was bad, but he wasn't as bad as you're making him out to be. I'd be completely for moving him to second. Soriano's zone rating numbers during his peak years are comparable to Jeff Kent's numbers at 2nd the last five years, occasionally managing to score under .800. That's awfuly bad.

=D>

If you think a pitchers defense can't hurt the team, then you weren't watching in 2005 or 2006 when our pitchers couldn't do simple things like cover first. Or, like many of the rest of us, you were watching but you chose to block those years out of your memory.

Out of curiosity, what way is better defensively, Sori at 2B and DeRosa in LF or the way it is now? DeRo at 2b. Soriano was absolutely embarrassing at 2nd base. I don't think I've ever seen a worse 2b in the last 20 years. He was a SS, was he really that bad there? I thought Washington moved him because they already had Vidro there but I do remember not being the best 2B in MLB. Vidro was no longer a good 2bman at that time, and they let him have the slot over Soriano. Soriano was the worst defensive 2b while in Texas that I ever recall seeing. He was nothing less than an absolute butcher.

Considering Wood's injury history, he needs to have a specific role. I like the idea that he isn't pitching more than one inning, isn't getting up and down during games like a middle reliever might, or anything like that. Keep the wear on his arm down to a minimum during his first full year as a reliever. But roles for everyone else? I agree, I think they're overblown (other than Marmol's role needs to be to come in and get out of jams during tight games, regardless of whether it's the 6th, 7th, or 8th).

Out of curiosity, what way is better defensively, Sori at 2B and DeRosa in LF or the way it is now? DeRo at 2b. Soriano was absolutely embarrassing at 2nd base. I don't think I've ever seen a worse 2b in the last 20 years.

He can't play second. Even if you assume there's no rust from not having played it in two years, he'd be about as good at second as Jose Canseco was as a pitcher.

Wow. Is he beginning to see the error of Dusty's ways? I'm impressed. It took most of us a year or so to see them. You gotta remember that Jocketty is running the show now and Krivsky is gone. Jocketty would never have hired Dusty, and will probably fire him as soon as he feasibly can. As far as the Edmonds/Patterson thing goes, I'd rather have Pie back up playing regularly. But if I were forced to choose between Edmonds and CPatt, I would be more than a little interested in seeing if Perry could undo some of the damage Dusty did to him and teach him a little patience. It's a long shot, but Perry might be able to turn him into a serviceable, league average hitter. Corey at least still can provide outstanding defense out there in center too.