caulfield12

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jan 5, 2009 -> 10:01 PM) Didn't Burnett already sign with the Yankees? Yeah, I was thinking of Burnett and Sheets interchangeably to make a point. Thanks for catching that.

That's the ONE thing Uribe and Iguchi have in common...they almost always pick up those RBI's when they're out, somehow. As much as Uribe gets bagged on, he does have some positive traits.

Sheet is the most intriguing of the guys still out there, but KW would have to pay $12-14 million to get him for just one year I think...not sure if he will be relegated to an incentives-laden deal like Crede perhaps. The only thread of logic is some of these guys signing just one year contracts with the hopes of going back into the market off healthy years...on the other hand, they could get hurt, the economy could further tumble and they would be SOL. Perez is represented by Boras, is he not? Wolf is MEH for the money he's going to make, just like Garland. I like the idea of a guy like Pedro just as a "bridge" for one year. Take him out of the AL/NL East and he might have a chance for half a season. Maybe he would be a good presence to mentor/tutor Danks/Floyd and the younger pitchers, as well as having him around to look after Viciedo and increase his professionalism. Lyon would be good insurance for Linebrink and Dotel...and he's not costing us Type A compensation, that's big. You know with the bullpen, those guys can rebound and have lights-out years after crappy ones, especially in a new league where most hitters haven't seen him (like Linebrink in 2008) for a long time. Lowe will probably end up with $13-14 million per season over 4, Garland around $9-11 over 3. Since Burnett, Lowe, Wolf, Garland and Perez are the last five legitimate starters on the market standing, and there's still a huge need within many organizations, that will keep the prices inflated compared to the LF/DH market, where there are too many players fighting it out for fewer and fewer positions. Hudson remains intriguing too, if his price falls far enough...but will it ever be far enough for KW to turn around and lose the first rounder he'll get for Cabrera (hopefully)?

Not close at all. KW hasn't spoken to Balt. Since November. per Mark Gonzales today

Okay...well, most feel he would/will be an "average" major league shortstop from a defensively standpoint. Also, it seems that 2B is more likely to be his eventual destination than 3B. I guess I'll leave it up for Birmingham fans to give firsthand accounts of his play on a consistent, day-to-day basis. Arm Strength: His arm grades out as average to a tick above and plays fine from shortstop. Fielding: He's a very natural defender, but he's fighting his size a bit at short and might profile better as a second baseman. Range: He has above-average range. from mlb.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/opinion/...=2&emc=eta1 Very good article by Michael Lewis (Liar's Poker) about the current Wall Street disaster...worth reading. Lost amid all these buyouts is the fact that almost nothing at all has been done to help anyone this would be considered below "investor class" Americans. The SEC and FED are more concerned with propping up the stock market than addressing the real endemic problems in the first place. Paulson, in particular, will end up looking very foolish when all this is over and he's called to account for what he's done.

I guess, in a backwards way, I'm saying how is it that the Twins can corner the market on starters and we only have 3 (maybe 4) of them? We're acting like a true small market club this offseason, hopefully something changes in the next month.

Miami of Ohio or Hurricanes?

But those guys were brought on for positions where there are/were obvious holes. The Twins' rotation already has five starters, sixth if you count Bonser, and I'm sure he'll get another opportunity to start somewhere (like Lohse did) before all is said and done. Why would they need another starter if they already have Liriano, Baker, Slowey, Blackburn and Perkins? It doesn't make much sense. Maybe they're looking for some veteran leadership in the rotation w/ Hernandez, Santana and Radke gone, but their pen is loaded with lefties, and Blackburn doesn't profile as an 8th inning set-up guy for Nathan, so the only thing that would make sense would be trading Perkins as part of a deal for Beltre/Atkins/Kouzmanoff...someone like that.

QUOTE (Jimbo's Drinker @ Jan 5, 2009 -> 03:47 AM) I am super excited about KU football for next year, it is going to be a great year. We just signed Fred McGriff's kid out of Florida, interesting. Too bad he's prohibited by NCAA rules from participating in the Tom Emanski Football Video with one of those funny "all-blue" hats without a logo.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 4, 2009 -> 01:51 PM) You were joking right? http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/6249333/ I think one Iowa coaching stuff under Fry had both Bobby and Mike Stoops, Jim Leavitt (USF), Patterson (Western Illinois), KSU's miracle worker Bill Snyder, along with Kirk Ferentz. Pretty impressive staff. Then you have some other connections, like Mark Stoops, Bo Pelini (grad assistant), Brett Bielema, Chuch Long, etc.

How about Bobby Jenks/Billy Koch 93-94 MPH straight as an arrow fastball night....? Just kidding. Bobby's an important member of our team still, I think.

starters (if you still count Boof Bonser)? Meanwhile, the Chunichi Sports paper says the pool of MLB teams wanting this year's other Japan prize, former Dragons ace pitcher Kenshin Kawakami, is down to three clubs: the Baltimore Orioles, St. Louis Cardinals and Minnesota Twins. japantimes I guess the Braves are the fourth team that's interested. Seems strange that so many teams are shying away from Ben Sheets, and yet the Braves and Yankees were willing to sign AJ Burnett for $80 million, and he's just as big an injury risk. Or this just the precursor for a deal sending Blackburn or Perkins to Seattle for Beltre?

QUOTE (Brian @ Jan 4, 2009 -> 04:06 PM) My favorite movie poster in quite some time. I guess the girl in the poster is Odette Yustman. How did an actress get that far in Hollywood with such a name, lol? Maybe a sign of progress.

The problem is that Beckham is iffy at best projected as a major league shortstop in terms of arm, range and overall ability...most think his skill set profiles best as a 2B, but we'll find out soon enough with a full season of play at that position in Birmingham.

From Kyodo News: The Lotte Marines will begin talks with Tadahito Iguchi on Wednesday in Okinawa.

QUOTE (Maury @ Jan 4, 2009 -> 12:49 AM) Because KW wanted him 5 years ago. Seems to be the trend. KW talks about a guy in his prime and cant get him, then gets him when he's worth s***. Griffey jr. Alomar bros, Dotel, Canseco, Lofton, ect. I remember KW talking about all these guys a few years before they got here or more. I'm not bashing KW as much as it seems. He's a good GM . I doubt this is true. I think it's pushing it to include Dotel in that group (he was available more due to injury than age), and Canseco was simply a band-aid on an atrocious 2001 season that got off to a 14-29 start without Frank Thomas. It was just trying to put together a respectable offense, and lacking a minor league replacement for the The Big Hurt. Another example here would be Alex Cintron, KW coveted him for quite awhile. Mackowiak, too. Brian Daubach, way too late. D'Angelo Jimenez. Julio Ramirez. McKay Christenson. Carl Everett, twice. Charles Johnson, although he was okay for us in 2000, the bottom really fell out from underneath him after that strong/productive offensive season.

Josh Brolin was very good too, he's coming into his own as an actor and getting away from being just his father's son. Haven't seen "W" yet so no comment on that particular performance. Michael Clayton is one of those solid, sometimes boring, but pretty good movies that are driven more by the performances than by the storyline itself, which was okay. Some reviewers just love Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, maybe because red hair and albino-esque skin is so rare in Hollywood today. It also reminds me of the line from Tropic Thunder (about Wilkinson), you can't play "full retard" or "crazy person" to win an Oscar, it has to be like Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man or A Beautiful Mind (which was really a stretch of the truth).

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseb...0,1584724.story Does anyone/everyone buy what KW's selling?

I'm off for a while, but here's what I can tell you: I think Roberts would sign an extension if there is a tentative deal in place. The Sox would have 48 hours to strike a deal under this scenario. No surprise that Baltimore finally has warmed to the idea of moving him, this could have happened sooner had talks with Vazquez and Atlanta fallen apart. I still think Dye will be moved, although the glut of corner outfielders on the market limits KW's options. With one year left on Thome's deal and two on Konerko's contract, it's possible Viciedo could be a DH if he's limited on defense. But I'm hearing he's got a solid arm. response back from Trib's M. Gonzales on the deal....hope this helps

Is that related to Snow Dogs or Eight Below? Just kidding. Actually, the best movie I've seen with Snow in the title might be Snow Falling on Cedars...although I'm probably forgetting one. Snows of Kilimanjaro?

I'm voting for James Franco from Pineapple Express and Wall-E for best actor, lol. FWIW, EW (Dave Karger) did an Academy Awards prediction article in the last couple of days....I think Clint Eastwood will get a lot of buzz for Gran Torino, too...looks like DiCaprio's chances with Revolutionary Road are going downhill, opening up a place for the kid from Slumdog Millionaire.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Jan 3, 2009 -> 03:03 PM) When has KW traded a proven young first round major league arm for an older 2B, and when has he gone out and signed a notoriously lazy, overpaid, possible PED user? That has never happened to my knowledge...the closest he has come to taking young starters out of the rotation was Kip Wells and Josh Fogg for Ritchie, but that wasn't for a position player. And he hasn't repeated the same mistake twice. He traded Aaron Myette for Royce Clayton, but Myette was overhyped and far from a sure thing, even though many were quite high on him at the time. Maybe including Josh Rupe for Carl Everett once, but, again, Rupe was a "fringe" prospect and definitely not a sure thing. Other than that, there's only the Cortes/Lumsden for MacDougal deal, but again, not a position player in return. McCarthy for Danks, but a pitcher in return.

Nope, just saw a really long reactionary piece in the Wall Street Journal defending the idealized "life in the suburbs" that the author claimed is always under assault by Hollywood.

QUOTE (whitesoxfan101 @ Jan 3, 2009 -> 01:28 AM) The BCS isn't going anywhere unless you kill off some of the conference commissioners. As for tonight, Andre Smith being out absolutely killed Alabama, much more than I thought it would. But Utah was just WAY WAY better than Alabama tonight, and they exposed Alabama the way that SEC teams usually expose their opponents, with defensive line speed. Andre Smith in my opinion should be the #1 pick in the NFL Draft, but Utah had 8 sacks and only allowed about 200 yards of total offense, while throwing for about 350 yards and 31 points. I think Utah is just better than Alabama, even had Andre Smith played. The final score tonight really was deceptively close, plus both of Alabama's touchdowns were set up by stupid ass Utah mistakes. The SEC has been very strange this bowl season. I still think the league was definitely way down by it's lofty standards, but I am baffled by Alabama losing (let alone being dominated) and just as baffled by LSU and Ole Miss winning (and both winning in dominating fashion to boot). Delany, when he wasn't hiding from the PSU embarassment, is and has always been one of the 2-3 biggest reasons the BCS doesn't change to the 8 or 16 team playoff format that works so well for I-AA (I went to grad school at Georgia Southern, a perennial power in the 80's and 90's)...with the higher seeded teams having home or regionally-affiliated games and the final game at a neutral site. It appears that Smith, Sam Bradford or UGA's Stafford would be the first player drafted by the Lions. It has been ages since Billy Sims and Barry Sanders, seemingly. The last really good player the Lions had was Herman Moore in his prime.