moorecg

Yeah...if the Yanks aren't bluffing about not negotiating if he goes to free agency, I just dont' see any other team matching that....30mil a year on average for 8 years is just not going to happen. I'd love for him to play here...but at that kind of money I dont' see how.

I'm only a little suprised they didn't try to sell it....I think it would have been cool to buy some wrigley grass for my yard.

He was incredible this year. He's as untouchable right now as Prior was after 2003.

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/25392 This amuses me.

If we didn't have DeRosa, I wouldn't mind his .368 career OBP in the 1/2 spots. But we do have DeRosa and I wouldn't be willing to give up what it would take to get Castillo anyway. But "sucks" is a little harsh for a 2B with a near .370 career OBP. He's not worth the player cost, and his career OBP is nice, but he's old, declining, has a bad hip, has no power, and has lost at least a step. Isn't he a free agent? He is a free agent...that's why I brought him up...outside of Abeu and A-Rod (maybe Rowand?) there isn't a lot out there in the free agent market...I was just seeing what pieces might be worth looking at.

Yeah, we've kinda got a backlog at that position, but he's an excellent defender and a very solid offensive guy at the top of the line up (2 hole)...It allows you to keep DeRosa in the Jack of all trades role which he excelled at.

I don't know why...but it cracks me up that they've got bulldozers all over and the entire field has been plowed, yet they still have the mound and home plate covered with tarp... It looks like they may be dealing with the fact that the new field will be lower than the ivy/outfield wall by doing a very slight angle up to the wall.... Very cool pics though...I'm looking fwd to the new field, it should be nice...now, if they could work on the club house.

So what you're saying is that assuming we have 135 million payroll next year we'll be just fine. :D

I'm ready for Hot Stove to start..... :D

Not to pimp LaRussa at all...but in every scenario there it says Z should bat 8th. This is the same Zambrano who's OPS exceeds only those of 4 backup catchers ???? 04/02 - 09/30 AB R H 2B 3B HR TB RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS BABIP Soto 54 12 21 6 0 3 36 8 5 14 0.389 0.433 0.667 1.100 0.486 Ward 110 16 36 13 0 3 58 19 22 23 0.327 0.436 0.527 0.963 0.393 Ramirez 506 72 158 35 4 26 279 101 45 65 0.312 0.369 0.551 0.920 0.318 Lee 567 91 180 43 1 22 291 81 70 112 0.317 0.399 0.513 0.912 0.365 Soriano 579 97 173 42 5 32 321 72 31 130 0.299 0.337 0.554 0.892 0.338 Floyd 283 40 80 10 1 9 119 45 35 47 0.283 0.370 0.420 0.790 0.313 DeRosa 502 65 147 27 3 10 210 73 58 93 0.293 0.370 0.418 0.789 0.343 Murton 235 35 66 12 0 8 102 22 26 37 0.281 0.352 0.434 0.787 0.305 Barrett 211 23 54 9 0 9 90 28 19 36 0.256 0.313 0.427 0.740 0.271 Pagan 148 21 39 10 2 4 65 20 8 33 0.264 0.297 0.439 0.737 0.315 Fontenot 234 30 65 12 4 3 94 29 21 43 0.278 0.333 0.402 0.735 0.330 Jones 452 52 129 32 2 5 180 66 33 66 0.285 0.333 0.398 0.732 0.325 Kendall 174 21 47 10 1 1 62 19 19 15 0.270 0.359 0.356 0.715 0.291 Theriot 533 80 142 30 2 3 185 44 48 50 0.266 0.325 0.347 0.672 0.290 Monroe 49 6 10 4 0 1 17 4 6 13 0.204 0.291 0.347 0.638 0.257 Cedeno 74 6 15 2 0 4 29 13 3 18 0.203 0.234 0.392 0.626 0.212 Patterson 8 0 2 1 0 0 3 0 0 3 0.250 0.250 0.375 0.625 0.400 Izturis 191 15 47 12 0 0 59 8 13 16 0.246 0.298 0.309 0.606 0.269 Pie 177 26 38 9 3 2 59 20 14 43 0.215 0.271 0.333 0.604 0.273 Zambrano 81 8 20 2 0 2 28 5 1 27 0.247 0.256 0.346 0.602 0.346 K Hill 97 7 16 4 0 2 26 12 8 18 0.165 0.231 0.268 0.500 0.182 Fox 14 3 2 2 0 0 4 1 1 2 0.143 0.200 0.286 0.486 0.167 Blanco 54 3 9 3 0 0 12 4 2 11 0.167 0.193 0.222 0.415 0.209 Bowen 31 3 2 1 0 0 3 2 4 13 0.065 0.167 0.097 0.263 0.111 I think that's kind of the point...maybe putting the pitcher 8th to have a "2nd' lead off guy at the bottom isn't as horrible as we thought....I'm not adovating either way...just thought it was interesting that the Lineup Analyzer he had listed Z as the 8th hitter in each of the "best case" scenarios.

Not to pimp LaRussa at all...but in every scenario there it says Z should bat 8th.

Is a 31 year old OF with "pretty good" stats worth substantially more than 9 million? I guess he's thinking he'll get a 2-3-4 year deal...but would he really get more than teh 9 mill his option is for?

if they don't pick it up he becomes the biggest free agent out there right? I think they will pick it up... (barring A-rod of course)

I'm a technical supervisor not a supervising technician! assistant to the regional manager. Assistant to the traveling secretary

where is the proof and why isn't everyone convinced? I'm not trying to be antagonistic, and am honestly just curious as to the answer to this question... When was the last time what was considered a "bad" defensive team (however that is officially measured) won the World Series?

It's a big deal because it shows up on the organization's balance sheet as debt. This will directly affect the sale price of the team. If they are bad and immovable contracts which will necessitate even more spending to field a competitive team then that's yet another negative in the eyes of a potential buyer. As fans we should be concerned because it's going to take a new owner with very deep pockets to field a good team after 2008. Lucky for us, it seems very realistic that anyone willing to shell out over 1 billion for the team really isn't going to have to worry too much about having money to put a competitive team on the field....and heck, with Jo-L Pinerio getting almost 14 mill for 2 years, some of those deals look like bargins. :D

When can free agent signings officially begin?

We had a winning record against STL last year too....

ESPN reporting...that seems very strange....

He doesn't seem to fit DeWitt's profile. Honestly, I think he does. Great player development, good at mixing vets with young players. But I do think this means that he is just done as a GM in the league. Yeah, I'd hate to see him go to St.Louis...he's almost been as successful as Jockety...you guys need somebody bad...really, really bad.

I'm in Phoenix for work from tomorrow morning till Saturday afternoon...I have my evenings basically off...when in new cities I always try to take in new ballparks and I've never been to the BOB/Chase.... There are tickets available...should I go to one of these games after what they did to the Cubs?

I hope to get in on the ground floor with this case after passing the bar. :D Me 2! I passed it and I wouldn't want anything to do with this case on any side. Talk about one that will drain the life from you. Holy Christ...how many lawyers we got on this site? I thought I was one of the only ones killing billable hours! I'll be in law school next fall, hopefully. Be careful what you wish for! Its better than digging ditches...but I'll be paying off student loans till my kids are 30....

I hope to get in on the ground floor with this case after passing the bar. :D Me 2! I passed it and I wouldn't want anything to do with this case on any side. Talk about one that will drain the life from you. Holy Christ...how many lawyers we got on this site? I thought I was one of the only ones killing billable hours!

He says he'll shop the market. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3055382

I know there is a faction that hates spending money on a "closer" and odds are, he'll end up back in NY...but if you'd put him at the end of the pen, trade Dempster, and You've got a 5 inning game for the starters...Howry, Wood, Marmol, Rivera... yeah, we've got bigger needs...just looking at what's out there to be had this off season.