Balta1701

My real worry about Boras isn't as much the FA Market, I think the Yankees screw that up more than anyone, including Boras. My concern is the draft. Over the last few years, the only way to really build a successful team without being the Yankees and buying everyone you could dream of has been to draft well. Once you do that, you can move drafted pieces to fill holes, or to further build your farm system. But, the last few years, we've seen more and more young guys signing with Boras before they're even drafted, and when a guy signs with Boras, he tends to drop precipitously in the draft until you get to one of the 4-5 teams who can afford Boras's signing bonus. In other words, just because of Boras, the richer teams are able to afford better drafts - they get top 10 pick talent in the 30's, for example. Yeah, there's always going to be standouts, like our starting pitchers from the 17th and 38th rounds, but at some level you can't build a team entirely off of lightning striking, and that's my real worry. If teams like K.C., Oakland, Minny, etc., can't build through the draft because they can't afford a player's signing bonus, then the only teams building through the draft on a regular basis will be the ones with big money, and then we might as well just toss the league out the window.

Sweet Jesus that class is loaded. Aikman, White, Thomas, Monk, D. Thomas, and Moon.

QUOTE(GreatScott82 @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 02:42 PM) If you don't like the Angels out of the west than who do you like? Its a weaker division, but I think the Angels are still the favorite. The A's on the other hand could be a surprise. If they pick up a 'healthy' Frank and with there solid young pitching to go along with Zito they might take the west. I think right now the A's have to be viewed as the prohibitive favorite out there...they've improved their offense (Albiet in a risky fashion) by adding Bradley, their young guys who made a run at the division last year are a year older, and some people have had time to recover from injuries. That could change rapidly though, depending on whether or not Beane holds onto Zito and whether or not Crosby can stay healthy. I honestly put Texas a close 2nd right now, because Thanks to Texas's offense, they only needed to add a little bit of pitching to stand a real good chance, and they've added a little bit of pitching. May not be enough, but they didn't need all that much anyway. Seattle might have an outside shot, but they need the Adrian Beltre from 2 years ago to kill the Beltre from last year, among other things. The Angels should still be better than them.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 02:20 PM) They do have an assload of talent in their system however. But if they wait to let that develop, then some of the older players will be used up. Vlad, Colon, Lackey, Erstad, cant all play forever. Vlad will only turn 30 this year and he's under contract with them for 3 more years. Lackey will only be 28 this year. Erstadt...well...several people would say the Angels would be better without him anyway, since he's not really an asset with the bat and he gets paid a ton.

QUOTE(WCSox @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 02:13 PM) When you're a freaking 15-year-old, it is. In our society, given how it has developed, it's probably considered inappropriate, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Other societies may not judge it to be nearly as inappropriate.

According to today's LA Times, the LA Angels, having missed out on PK, seem to have decided that their best move for this year is to start going with a youth movement and bringing up some of that massive talent they have sitting in their minor leagues. Given that it seems Ramirez and Tejada are off the market, and that team needs bats, they're going to take a shot by moving Erstadt back to Center Field and giving 22 year old Casey Kotchman chance to play at 1b. Kotchman put up good power numbers last year (7 home runs in 126 at bats), so they do have some hope. There will be more youth in their lineup too, with rookie Jeff Mathis getting playing time behind the plate along with Jose Molina, and Dallas McPherson splitting time between DH and 3rd base as his injury recovery allows. The Angels biggest problem, and I think this is obvious to everyone right now, is their starting pitching, where they have Colon, Lackey, and Ervin Santana as their top 3 guys, and potentially 2 former bullpen guys in Kelvin Escobar and possibly either another rookie or Hector Carrasco (who has started 7 games in his career, 5 last year with the nats) in their 4-5 starter spots, to say nothing about the fact that Colon's "David Wells workout tapes" seemed to start taking their toll on him last year. Overall, to me this seems like a good plan for the Angels in the long-term, because they start working in some of their highly talented minor league guys at a low price, and wind up keeping their costs down next year. However, it sure looks right now like the Angels are probably going to be taking a step backwards next year, and that division may now officially be open for Texas and Oakland to make runs at it next year. That could change with big years from Kotchman and McPherson, but they have a lot of losses to overcome.

Man, someone has to calculate the ratio of Sammy-Hops to Sosa Home Runs if he goes to a place like that. I bet it would approach like 7-1. If he's smart and really wants those numbers, he goes to Colorado and asks "What will you pay me"?

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 01:24 PM) Until Drew Rosenhaus comes to the MLB. "What do you have to say about the allegations of your client using steroids?" "No comment." Dude, the phrase is "NEXT QUESTION."

QUOTE(GreatScott82 @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 11:25 AM) Contract year or not I expect Jose to have a dominant season! IMO he truly figured it all out. Crede on the other hand- I expect the same: .250-.260 avg ~20 hrs, 60 rbis, solid defense and clutch hitting. Personally, I am going to continue to hope for the season Crede keeps teasing us with in 1-month versions. He'd have been a damn good hitter last year if somehow he could have eliminated his months of May and August. I'm not going to expect or plan for it, but I'm sure going to hope for it. A little consistency from that guy and suddenly he's one of the best 3rd basemen in the AL.

Toyota placed a factory in Canada instead of the U.S. because the health care costs in Canada were dramatically less and the workers are vastly better trained.

QUOTE(kapkomet @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 09:34 AM) Why does this all have to be about "bait and switch"? And I mean that both of the questioners and the answerer... I think that comes about because of this stupid rule where the nominee is allowed to claim that he won't talk about business that might come before the court while he's on it. If you could just come out and ask a guy how he would rule on a hypothetical, that would make this vastly easier, but instead, we're left with all these little word games which try to get answers to exactly those sorts of questions without really asking them.

QUOTE(AnthraxFan93 @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 09:14 AM) Carlos? He is also a FA Next year, and I believe that the Yankees will need to fill Sheffield's spot, as his contract is also up and he'll probably retire.

Joe Crede is not in the last year of his contract this year any more than he was last year. He has several more years of arbitration eligibility before he can become a FA.

QUOTE(AnthraxFan93 @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 09:11 AM) Though He will soon be a Yankee in the next couple of years. 1 year. He's a FA next offseason. The Yankees may very well wind up with a 3-4-5 of Lee, ARod, Lee.

Dick Durbin asked Alito this morning if he considered Roe to be the "Settled law" of the land. Justice Roberts used that phrase to describe Roe. Alito called it an important precedent, but did not agree that it was "Settled Law." I'd like to read that full exchange when the full quote becomes available somewhere just so I can read his full response on that one.

QUOTE(AnthraxFan93 @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 09:05 AM) I agree with you 100%, and most cubs fans are pissed about this.. there are some that fit our sterotype but I have some that are pissed.. Though they think Hendry is a great GM because of Lee and Rameriz... It doesn't matter how pissed off they are if they still buy tickets and merchandise. You do have to admit that some of his deals worked out all right though, like those 2. Problem is that their whole organization hasn't been smart in how they've worked with those pieces.

QUOTE(Cknolls @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 08:46 AM) You are kidding, right? The guy wrote speeches for Carter. Chris Matthews is so far to the left that he somehow unseated Bill O'Reilly for Media Matters's "Serial Misinformer of the year" award. Such gems as: Certainly helped.

QUOTE(Cknolls @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 08:37 AM) Nobody watches MSNBC. How about the Today show. They had Begala and Carville ( DNC hacks) on this morning. Does that count? The day before that, the only guest Today featured talking about Alito was Fred Thompson (Retired Republican Senator.)

So those 2 are having Hernia surgery, but Crede and Hermanson aren't?

QUOTE(BHAMBARONS @ Jan 11, 2006 -> 08:22 AM) Yes there is talk of Josh playing 1st and he played one game at 1st last year when Rogo went down with an injury. I also agree his footwork is still a big problem and I hope he improves this season because the guy can hit and did show some flashes of brilliance at the hot corner this season Didn't Crede take a while for his defense to develop also? Anywho, I still think we should pencil in Fields in 08 at 3rd right now...don't expect him to be ready after 1 year in AAA, expect him to take 2, and be somewhat happy that we at least have Crede under our control for 3 more years. There's nothing stopping us from going to arbitration with Crede, giving up just a little bit in arbitration each year, and then trading Crede the year before he becomes a FA. Incidentally, since Crede's back is still an issue, and Crede's still shown flashes of brilliance inbetween the inconsistency, letting him play here for another season or two would still give him the chance to massively raise his trade value, if he proves he is healthy enough to keep playing and finds a way to cut down on the slumps.

QUOTE(hi8is @ Jan 10, 2006 -> 10:06 PM) from the white sox perspective = crede's a health risk.... boras will not be tollerated.... crede wont be back after 2006. It could also be possible that they'll come to some sort of 2-3 year agreement in these negotiations with Crede, motivated in part by Fields's development, and they'll wait and make their decision on Crede once time passes. They're going to have to negotiate this year, and we know our team hates the arbitration process, so once they get past this stage, they won't have to deal with Boras's people for another couple years.

QUOTE(NorthSideSox72 @ Jan 10, 2006 -> 12:40 PM) Specific issues aside for the moment, am I the only one who looks at the total historical package of Alito, and sees a flag waving in the wind? Honestly, the guy seems sort of spineless to me. His opinions appear to be greatly influenced by the suitability of response. Seems like he wants really badly to be a politician. Roberts, on the other hand, seemed rock solid and reliable. And far less politically-minded. From what I've read (which is admittedly not exactly volumes), and what I've seen of Alito, I'm not impressed. "Actually I voted against Roe v. Wade before I voted for it." "Samuel Alito. Whichever way the wind blows"

QUOTE(knightni @ Jan 10, 2006 -> 09:43 AM) They shouldn't have even lost game #1. :headshake We can't win more than 8 in a row. The computer must have taken that into account when thinking about game 1.

QUOTE(hammerhead johnson @ Jan 10, 2006 -> 04:13 PM) This is why I asked you if you were an NBA fan as opposed to a Bulls fan. Do you know Big Ben's history? He bounced around from team to team before he landed in Detroit. HE WASN'T BEING UTILIZED PROPERLY. Ain't that a strange concept? Read between the lines. Chandler is playing out of position. He ain't getting minutes. Last year, as a member of the "closing squad" that went on defensive runs in the 4th quarter, Tyson was really starting to take off. We didn't hold teams to the lowest FG% against in the NBA on the strength of our good looks, now did we? Chandler was a huge part of that. I think I agree with you on the "Chandler isn't being used properly and we need another big guy" angle, but I think there are more issues with Tyson right now, in particular his health and conditioning last summer. He's come out and admitted he didn't work as hard last summer as the year before because I believe he was getting married and didn't want to get hurt before signing a contract, and I think that has shown through this season too. The 1 thing I keep telling myself about Chandler though, is that he's still only 23. He's got a full contract to play through before he would really reach his "Prime years". He's younger than me. He may still very well have his best years ahead of him...especially if the team builds with him in mind by adding size/power in the middle. I still can't help but remember that Jermaine O'Neal really didn't start breaking out as a quality player until his 6th year. This is what happens when you draft a high schooler...it takes a while for them to grow into the part. I'm just going to hope Tyson does grow into something.

And he won't be the last.