Mizzou

Georgetown? Why would anyone pick Georgetown to go to the title game?

I've got Davidson in the Elite Eight, so I was obviously pretty happy to see them win earlier.

Wrong Why don't you think so? Even DeRosa admits it. It's not a position Neither is cleanup hitter, what's your point?

Man up and do what? Hold MacPhail's family hostage until he agrees to deal Roberts? No, man up and and walk away if MacPhail is jerking him around. You realize that we don't HAVE to get Roberts, right? You realize that the Earth will still exist if we walk away, right? What self respecting GM goes after a player for 3 months and a week before opening day still is being jerked around? Now look at what we have, a distraction and still no Roberts. For this to still be going on is pathetic. There is absolutely no reason for this to still be going on. Good GM's don't get dicked around like this. They give a final offer and walk away. Did the Red Sox humor the Twins for 3 months when they asked for Ellsbury and Lester? No, they told them they could have one or the other and walked away. Did the Yankees get jerked around for 3 months when the Twins asked for Hughes and Kennedy? No, they told the Twins to eat it and pulled the original offer off the table while they were at is. As badnews has said, that's how sane organizations handle things. Not to mention those teams were even bidding against other teams. We're not even competing with another team for Roberts services anymore, we're just getting jerked around. It reminds me of a dude getting cheated on by his girl, still wanting to be with her, and then waiting anxiously for his cell phone to ring so he can find out if she still loves him or if she wants to be with the new guy she's banging. Grow a sack and act like a man. You're right, it's stupid for me to expect a negotiation to not go 3 months and create a distraction right before the season starts. I'm completely unrealistic for expecting that. You're right, better to just stop listening: "No, Andy, I am not listening anymore. Piss off - you had your chance. I don't care how good a deal you offer me. You are testing my manhood and I won't have it! Mine is bigger than yours is!!!!" The sensible approach. Whether or not this is a "distraction" is a dumb consideration at this point. You're a pro making millions - if it is going to make the team better, then it is going to make the team better. Play through it for a while. Its not like we are in a pennant race right now. Its freaking ST, when half of every team is fighting for a job. Half of every team? Now that's an exaggeration if I've ever heard of one. I'm with dexter on this one, to a degree. I don't think Hendry is a girl because a deal hasn't gotten done yet but for this to still be dragging on is silly. At some point (you would think early on), one of the sides has to say "here's my offer, take it or don't call me about this again." Three months, or however long it's been, is an insanely long time to be talking about the same player.

I had Duke in the Final Four. My bracket is officially screwed.

I haven't seen much lately, but is Dempster still guaranteed a spot in the rotation, with Lieber and Marquis battling for the last spot?

It takes 2 parties, both of whom think they are getting a good deal, to make a trade. I'm not sure how guts enters into that. This negotiation is now 3 months also and Hendry is still getting jerked around. It's pretty clear that Hendry wants to make the deal and that Baltimore is the side holding it up. That fact that Hendry has let it drag on while not saying "this is my final offer, take it or leave it" is gutless, plain and simple. Not to mention it's now created a distraction with opening day just over a week away. That's great, everyone knows how key distractions are when avoiding getting off to a slow start. I don't know if gutless is the word I'd use, but I do agree that it's pretty ridiculous that this has been going on for so long. Hendry should have given Baltimore an ultimatum a long time ago.

192. Dontrelle Willis 193. Ramon Hernandez Sorry for the delay, I was never PMed to notify me of my turn.

Screw you, Temple.

I've got UNC beating Texas in the finals. Duke and kU as my other Final Four Teams. I've also got Davidson making it to the Elite Eight.

I'm really struggling with UNLV-Kent State. Can someone persuade me one way or the other so that I can make this pick and move on?

According to the article below, Lou is leaning toward Kerry for the closer job. To me, this is the ideal setup. Have Marmol be the guy that comes in a tight situation, and maybe pitch the following inning, followed by Howry or Eyre setting up in the 8th, with Kerry fanning the side in the 9th. Sorta like the Nasty Boys Part II. link

Did anyone else have visions of this when the F-bomb ran into the Sox second baseman?

Wow, are they seriously still interviewing Kenny williams? How long has this interview been going on?

Are you gonna complain about the announcers the whole time?

168. Dustin Pedroia 169. Phil Hughes

Miach Hoffpauir reminds me a lot of Mark Grace. Thank God that interview is over.

Lou has messed with the lineup all of ST, I don't see what the uproar is all about. And yes, Theriot is a more patient hitter than Soriano. He shouldn't leadoff though.

And what have those three done since the trade though? Pinto has been somewhat decent, the other two, not so much. That's not the point. Even if all 3 of those guys were out of baseball by 2011, it still would have been a bad trade. When they were traded, they all had value. Value that should have been used accordingly. Actual value or perceived value? Unless you've been talking to a major league GM, then you have absolutely no idea what value they really had, other than what the Florida GM valued them at. Pierre sucked, no doubt about it. The trade wasn't near as bad as people like to make it out to be though.

And what have those three done since the trade though? Pinto has been somewhat decent, the other two, not so much.

You're right. This should be the correct list: 1. Alex Rodriguez 2. Albert Pujols 3. Hanley Ramirez 4. Jose Reyes 5. Ryan Braun 6. David Wright 7. Chase Utley 8. Jimmy Rollins 9. Miguel Cabrera 10. Johan Santana 11. Matt Holliday 12. Ryan Howard 13. Grady Sizemore 14. Prince Fielder 15. Jake Peavy 16. Troy Tulowitzki 17. Victor Martinez 18. Carl Crawford 19. Alfonso Soriano 20. David Ortiz 21. Carlos Beltran 22. Brandon Webb 23. Vlad Guerrero 24. Ichiro 25. Derrek Lee 26. Russell Martin 27. Joe Mauer 28. Brandon Phillips 29. Brian Roberts 30. BJ Upton 31. Derek Jeter 32. Corey Hart 33. Josh Beckett 34. Manny Ramirez 35. Dan Haren 36. Robinson Cano 37. Justin Verlander 38. Erik Bedard 39. Aramis Ramirez 40. Cole Hamels 41. Larry Wayne "Chipper" Jones 42. Adam Dunn 43. Mark Teixeira 44. CC Sabathia 45. Carlos Lee 46. Lance Berkman 47. Roy Halladay 48. Carlos Zambrano 49. Scott Kazmir 50. Francisco Liriano 51. John Smoltz 52. John Lackey 53. Chris Young (the outfielder) 54. Curtis Granderson 55. Brian McCann 56. Ian Kinsler 57. Magglio Ordonez 58. Jorge Posad 59. Khalil Greene 60. Carlos Guillen 61. Garrett Atkins 62. Felix Hernandez 63. Aaron Rowand 64. Geovany Soto 65. Chris Young (the weirdly proportioned pitcher) 66. Roy Oswalt 67. Aaron Harang 68. Ryan Zimmerman 69. Carlos Pena 70. Joe Nathan 71. Matt Kemp 72. Francisco Rodriguez 73. Dan Uggla 74. Gary Sheffield 75. Jonathan Paplebon 76. Daisuke Matsuzaka 77. Hunter Pence 78. Tim Lincecum 79. Rich Hill 80. Nick Markakis 81. Rickie Weeks 82. Kosuke Fukudome 83. Kenji Johjima 84. Fausto Carmona 85. JJ Putz 86. Takashi Saito 87. Jose Valverde 88. Todd Helton 89. Javier Vazquez 90. Nick Swisher 91. James Shields 92. Miguel Tejada 93. Brad Hawpe 94. Hideki Matsui 95. Travis Hafner 96. Edgar Renteria 97. Alex Rios 98. JJ Hardy 99. Chone Figgins 100. Billy Wagner 101. Joba Chamberlain 102. A.J. Burnett- picking for IMB 103. Bobby Abreu 104. Shane Victorino 105. Mariano Rivera 106. Placido Polanco 107. Kevin Kouzmanoff 108. Jason Bay 109. Josh Hamilton 110. Brad Penny 111. Michael Young 112. Torii Hunter 113. Adrian Gonzalez 114. Matt Cain 115. Eric Byrnes (IMB) 116. Huston Street 117. Adrian Beltre 118. Howie Kendrick 119. Brett Myers 120. Andruw Jones 121. Justin Morneau 122. Bobby Jenks 123. Ben Sheets 124. John Maine 125. Matt Capps 126. Delmon Young 127. Pedro Martinez 128. Francisco Cordero 129. Rich Harden 130. JI....JIM THOME 131. Tim Hudson 132. Adam Wainwright 133. Paul Konerko 134. Kelly Johnson 135. Ted Lilly 136. Yovani Gallardo 137. Joakim Soria 138. Rafael Soriano 139. Yunel Escobar 140. BJ Ryan 141. Trevor Hoffman 142. Pat Burrell 143. Josh Fields 144. Chad Billingsley 145. Kerry Wood

Best OPS among pinch hitters for the last two years, I believe.

Man, Ward has got it going

Have you spoken with Marshall at all about this? I'm sure he's not happy with what's likely to happen, but how's his attitude in general about it? Hopefully he's not taking an "I'm just an employee" attitude like Prior did.