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i saw rj. he was cleanshaven in a pinstriped suit and pretty much unrecognizable.

― John (jdahlem), Thursday, 13 January 2005 03:19 (nineteen years ago) link

Mike Cameron reportedly grumpy over moving to RF. Excellent opportunity for the Mets to engineer space for Magglio...

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 13 January 2005 14:16 (nineteen years ago) link

I like this headline for Daerest Sidney:
Ponson fed up with being celebrity in Aruba

― bnw (bnw), Thursday, 13 January 2005 14:25 (nineteen years ago) link

So the J's got Hillenbrand and all it cost was minor league pitcher Adam Peterson (who I never heard of).

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 13 January 2005 18:14 (nineteen years ago) link

I predict that the Jays will be one of the bottom three teams in walks this season.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 13 January 2005 18:50 (nineteen years ago) link

I think the people who are saying that the Yankees were foolish for going after RJ over Beltran or that they overpaid for him or that he's too old are underrating Steinbrenner's business savvy. Yes, he needs to buy wins - but he also needs to sell tickets. And acquiring RJ is a great story for the Yanks. The hiding that RJ gave the Bombers in the 2001 World Series made him a larger-than-life figure to Yankee fans. Acquiring him is like if the Rebel Alliance recruited Darth Vader or something. It's guaranteed to sell tickets.

― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 13 January 2005 21:06 (nineteen years ago) link

(Though to the Yankee-haterz out there I'm sure that a more apt analogy would be the Evil Empire recruiting Luke Skywalker or something.)

― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 13 January 2005 21:18 (nineteen years ago) link

omg nate that's such bullshit! firstoff the best way to sell tickets is to win games, but aside from that how much difference could johnson vs. beltran possibly make? that yankees were number one with a bullet in ticket sales last year, and barring a collapse they will be again this year. occam's razor man, this was a dumb move and they're just fucking morons up there. or down there i guess.

― John (jdahlem), Thursday, 13 January 2005 21:39 (nineteen years ago) link

Well, Beltran never contributed to a spectacular Yankees World Series defeat - so the narrative arc there is less compelling. But yes, I will grant that they are also counting on RJ to help them win - mainly because the conventional wisdom remains that starting pitching was their Achilles' heel last season.

― o. nate (onate), Thursday, 13 January 2005 23:12 (nineteen years ago) link

I predict that the Jays will be one of the bottom three teams in walks this season
Assuming you're not talking about the pitching, I agree.

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 13 January 2005 23:39 (nineteen years ago) link

I dunno - if Steinbrenner was really looking to up the dramatic ante of this upcoming season, he should've signed Pedro. RJ is Luke in the first movie. Pedro is sooo Lando.

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 13 January 2005 23:48 (nineteen years ago) link

Yeah, I was talking about the hitting. The Jays were unlucky last year -- all their best players were on the DL at some point -- but I can't see the offense being any better, and the pitching will probably be what we expected from it last year. I'm way less optimistic about the team this year than I was last year at this time.

xpost

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 13 January 2005 23:54 (nineteen years ago) link

At least this way it won't end in tears.

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Friday, 14 January 2005 01:35 (nineteen years ago) link

The RJ deal is one thing -- it was inevitable But I remain mystified that the Yankees didn't keep Lieber around, who has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than ten to one, and instead went out and got Jaret Wright, who was nothing short of a disaster in his last tour of the American League (save for one memorable turn in the playoffs eight years ago). Plus, they go and trade for the rapidly declining Mike Stanton instead of signing the best lefty reliever available, Steve Kline. Bronx 80s revival!

― rasheed wallace (rasheed wallace), Friday, 14 January 2005 17:11 (nineteen years ago) link

I guess the D-backs don't know about Shawn Estes' 2004 luck chart.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Friday, 14 January 2005 20:05 (nineteen years ago) link

Old tyme Yanks still available: Ken Phelps, Ed Whitson, Steve Howe, Oscar Azocar.

― David R. (popshots75`), Saturday, 15 January 2005 02:37 (nineteen years ago) link

TWENTY TWO MILLION DOLLARS for one more year of Roger Clemens? Lay off the greenies, Grampa! Maybe if they dress up Brandon Duckworth in a Michael Meyers mask & Clemens' jersey, they can fool hitters into swinging late.

Geez.

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 00:36 (nineteen years ago) link

what a fucking douche that man is.

― John (jdahlem), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 01:47 (nineteen years ago) link

How much did he get last year, $10.5M? I don't know if he can do what he did AGAIN, but @ a $3M bump, he might be worth it ...? Not TWENTY TWO MILLION DOLLARS, though.

― David R. (popshots75`), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 02:45 (nineteen years ago) link

The Cubs have not done squat to improve upon last years team. Alou may have been a pain, but the guy also put up some numbers last year. The bullpen is still weak and they have one less good young starter than last year. Good to see the Tribune is back to the old ways now that the TV ratings and attendance are back up again.

― Earl Nash (earlnash), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 14:28 (nineteen years ago) link

Clemens wants $17.5 in arb.

Kinda discouraging: Delgado will "stand for" whatever nationalist hooey his new team wants him to...

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-spmets154116223jan15,0,7166561.story

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 17:22 (nineteen years ago) link

Ah that's too bad. I always respected Delgado for being so principled about these things.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 17:26 (nineteen years ago) link

I think his point has been made. His feelings on the matter clearly haven't changed, he was only able to get away with it in the first place because he played in Toronto, and now he doesn't want to ruffle feathers right off the bat with a new team in a new country. I haven't lost any respect for him.

(I might lose some respect if he accepts 3y/37M without a fight, FFS, JD Drew got 4y/40M!)

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 18:21 (nineteen years ago) link

yeah, he's a team guy, he made his point, leave him alone

― Haibun (Begs2Differ), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 19:13 (nineteen years ago) link

"I haven't lost any respect for him."

Neither have I, I guess.. I'm just a little sad that he'd feel like he couldn't continue to stand behind those positions playing for a US team. Which is really our culture's problem more than it is his.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Wednesday, 19 January 2005 21:07 (nineteen years ago) link

(I might lose some respect if he accepts 3y/37M without a fight, FFS, JD Drew got 4y/40M!)

MIR, if it wasn't for the fact that:

- Delgado's a first baseman
- Delgado's 3 years older than Drew (but only 3! that's surprised me!)

I'd agree w/ you.

Would someone PLEASE slap the Rangers upside the head and make the GM eat Mark Texeira's stat sheet from last year? If they're bitching about $$$$ issues, then they should not even think of signing Delgado when they have TWO (yes, TWO) 1B that can play full-time! Like, duh! And I'm going to keep on saying it because this just makes me so OFIOAU!

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 20 January 2005 02:21 (nineteen years ago) link

Delgado and Tex would split DH/1B duties, they went through five or six DHs last year and want some consistency.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Thursday, 20 January 2005 03:21 (nineteen years ago) link

I can see why! Look who Buck gave PT to @ the DH spot! Those top 4 were godawful DHes (though EY had a good year w/ the bat, if you don't mind his 387 SLG).

Brad Fullmer (65)
Eric Young (23)
Herbert Perry (21)
Brian Jordan (17)
Kevin Mench (14)
David Dellucci (9)
Chad Allen (5)
Alfonso Soriano (3)
Michael Young (2)
Mark Teixeira (2)
Andy Fox (1)
Adrian Gonzalez (1)

(See what I did there?)

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 20 January 2005 03:34 (nineteen years ago) link

I assume they don't think Gonzalez is ready or they're moving one of them to the OF.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Thursday, 20 January 2005 03:47 (nineteen years ago) link

Boo hiss to that noise.

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 20 January 2005 04:16 (nineteen years ago) link

MIR, if it wasn't for the fact that:

- Delgado's a first baseman
- Delgado's 3 years older than Drew (but only 3! that's surprised me!)

Drew has had one good season (if you call 31 HR, 93 RBI good for a guy making 10M/yr). Delgado has had seven straight 900+ OPS seasons, including at least two MVP-quality years. Drew is injury-prone. Delgado is not -- last year was the only one in which he missed significant time due to injury, and he put up monster numbers once he came back healthy (so he's not showing any signs of slowing down at 32).

AFAIC, Drew is a monsterously larger risk at that salary, with a four year contract, compared to Delgado.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 20 January 2005 07:50 (nineteen years ago) link

Times reports that Mets are prepared to offer Delgado about $45/4.

I guess for progressive athletes, I'll have to settle for my NBA boyfriend, Steve Nash, sweetly profiled in yesterday's NYT (he's reading Che's book and the Communist Manifesto)... who's Canadian, natch.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 20 January 2005 14:36 (nineteen years ago) link

o's & nats seem to be fighting for who can have the most underwhelming offseason, but at leat the nats kind of have an excuse.

the orioles have now added blockbuster signing bionic tony saunders. way to go. actually, i think osuna is a solid signing for the nats pen, though...kind of cancelled out by the signing of esteban loaiza. ack.

― jonathan quayle higgins (j.q. higgins), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:04 (nineteen years ago) link

that times profile was so offensive! there were some very clear racial undercurrents to it: "see, not all nba players are dumb. some, like this white guy with great hair, are OUR kind of people!"

― Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:12 (nineteen years ago) link

Y'know, I was looking for stuff like that in such an article, Jams, but didn't especially find it. "Steve has a fondness for unambiguously consensual sex..."

Seattle addresses their pitching holes with ... Aaron Sele.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1970632

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:49 (nineteen years ago) link

Communist Manifesto? Is he actually trying to be a vulgar Marxist?

― Leeeter van den Hoogenband (Leee), Thursday, 20 January 2005 15:50 (nineteen years ago) link

o's & nats seem to be fighting for who can have the most underwhelming offseason
Is underwhelming the same as awful? Because if it is I'd like to nominate the Diamond Backs.

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Thursday, 20 January 2005 16:42 (nineteen years ago) link

Eric Byrnes (OAK) for Mike Cameron (NYM)

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 20 January 2005 17:46 (nineteen years ago) link

steve nash is the second of two great white hopes produced by my alma mater, santa clara university. god bless him and his socialist tendencies and rediculous haircuts.

― Juan, the Magic Don (jingleberries), Thursday, 20 January 2005 17:59 (nineteen years ago) link

underwhelming is not the same as awful. at this point, striving to be merely whelmed seems an impossibility, though.

― jonathan quayle higgins (j.q. higgins), Thursday, 20 January 2005 18:33 (nineteen years ago) link

byrnes + bradford for cameron is an AWFUL trade. i dunno what billy is thinking.

― Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Thursday, 20 January 2005 20:32 (nineteen years ago) link

I can tell you what he is thinking: Defense - the new Moneyball.

And supposedly Mulder and Hudson were the worst defensive pitchers so there you go.

But seriously, Mike Cameron can hit and is an excellent centerfielder (Ichiro STILL misses MC). Discounting the upside, I think Byrnes' and Cameron's career OPS are both around .800.

And Bradford's supposedly not part of the trade.

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 20 January 2005 20:40 (nineteen years ago) link

if bradford were not part of the trade then it's not too bad, but pointing out one teeball game hardly makes cameron a hitter! is byrnes a defensive liability? i thought kotsay was also rated one of the best defensive centerfielders in baseball. and furthermore, doesn't cameron have a big contract?

― Jams Murphy (ystrickler), Thursday, 20 January 2005 20:45 (nineteen years ago) link

Maybe it has something to do w/ Kotsay's chronic back troubles? Also, for pure fly-shagging potential, Kotsay + Cameron >= Byrnes + Kotsay. Byrnes had a bit of a rep for being a wanderlustin' butcher boy. (Who the heck is playing RF?)

From my understanding, Cam has only 1 year left, is a decent enough hitter (what's his line the last few years - .260 / .350 / .450?) whose value is boosted overall because of his defensive prowess (hey, look, received knowledge!) (though he looked VERY BAD @ times last year - dunno if it was injuries or what). Also, there's the very real possibility that Byrnes' year (or last two years) = fluke.

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 20 January 2005 20:56 (nineteen years ago) link

(Who the heck is playing RF?)

2005 ALROY Nick Swisher

― gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 20 January 2005 21:09 (nineteen years ago) link

I hope all the announcers have their "FROM WAY DOWNTOWN" calls ready.

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 20 January 2005 21:39 (nineteen years ago) link

Cameron gets about 6M a year.

I don't trust that Beane...

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 20 January 2005 22:13 (nineteen years ago) link

At least his trade record (cf. Keith Foulke, Octavio Dotel, J-Dye, J-Damon, Mr. Durazo) is better than his free agent record (cf. T-Long, Arthur Rhodes, your momma). I have undying faith that the A's will do what they've been doing for the past 4 years. (Said faith might shrivel up @ a moment's notice, though.)

― David R. (popshots75`), Thursday, 20 January 2005 22:30 (nineteen years ago) link

Haha yeah somehow I am convinced that however this trade works out it will be bad for the Mets (I am amazed they even take Beane's phone calls anymore.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Thursday, 20 January 2005 22:31 (nineteen years ago) link

I can see Eric Byrnes appealing to Lenny Dykstra's fanbase (perhaps without the gambling addiction and CroMagnon vocabulary).

Still gax, this is not a done deal!

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Thursday, 20 January 2005 22:48 (nineteen years ago) link

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