HOT STOVE LEAGUE 2K4/2K5

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1975414

Maybe they'll put the Bosox WS ball on display at Shea! Or he'll hafta platoon with a reborn Galarraga and/or flukish Jason Phillips.

As in, "With Minky, the Mets' infield defense will be vastly improved."

Or as in, "Dr. Morbius will get defensive if folks razz about the Mets acquiring a no-hit tarp."

gee. what do you think the chances are he plays all 4 years in florida?

2004: $4M
2005: $17M (cum: $21M)
2006: $18M (cum: $39M)
2007: $13M (cum: $52M) - i'm assuming it's a team option?

Mets gave up their #4 prospect for Mink. Still, I didn't realize DM's career OBP is still .363.

http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/primer/blogpen_discussion/25915/

PUDGE SIGNED A ONE-YEAR DEAL! They backloaded a one-year contract? OMG WTF ROFFLE

maybe arthur anderson doe stheir acocunting?

...thanks, i'll be here all night folks.

"Manny Ramirez was on our flight from Santiago, DR, to Miami. I didn't go up to him in the airport, but he seemed totally accessible and was really friendly to everyone who came up to him.

Didn't catch any games while I was there, but I saw parts on TV. Tejada was killing everyone. Eric Byrnes looked gimpy and uncoordinated."

The Pirates owner seems to think there is some shady accounting going down.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-pirates-mcclatchy-salarycap&prov=ap&type=lgns

just getting this now, but man, potato-head gedman is homegrown man! he's from worcester! so, y'know, he was probably in the area, working for the boylston dpw or something.

Haha, shades of "Why re-sign Maddux when we can get Jose Guzman and a carload of assholes?" with this "Beltran's too expensive" business.

intriguing talk from Brewers insiders: Carlos Lee played 3b in the minors and is apparently really good there

problem, once again: pitching. Sheets, then whoever else shows up; concern about lack of Kolb, but we think we got it covered with Mikey Adams

If Lee played 3rd, who'd play LF? Or would they flip Mr. Favre from RF to LF to (hopefully) keep him from getting hurt? (Not that such
a move would automatically keep the guy safe.)

Also, the way Kolb was throwing (& not K-ing guys when throwing), it's better the Brewers cut bait when they did. Do they still have Luis Vizcaino? - he was 10 types of buttass last year (was he hurt?), but I imagine he could do just fine as a late-inning guy (presuming his case of the suckage isn't chronic).

& who is this Brady Clark character?

Brady Clark is an enigma wrapped in a riddle wrapped in a velvet glove. He's an underrated outfielder, but his bat is STREAKY; he hits a fair amount of game-winners though. He platooned much of last year -- hell, his whole career, so we'll see. He can run a little, too; he's not as speedy as Podsednik, but who is?

*This according to Rob Neyer AND Bill James.**

**I may have made this up.

*HI DERE

or maybe "harmacy," not sure, must consult Robo-Uecker

EWWWW.

The Blue Jays are changing the name of Skydome to the "Rogers Centre"

(Rogers = Ted Rogers, whose conglomerate owns the team and, as of a few months ago, the stadium as well)

The Trigger Cafe would ROCK!

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1985108

Fare ye well, my sliding-catching friend...

How bizarre. Never heard of anything like that. And Boras accepted it?? I guess it's great for Maggs if he does in fact stay healthy. We shall see.

WTF indeed! I'm not gonna call it that. It's a dome, not a centre. Fuck you Rogers, either put more money into the team or lower the price of cable!

It was almost a point of pride for me, that our stadium hadn't succumb to the corporate branding of anything you could fit a logo onto. Worst offseason ever.

Vernon Wells
Alexis Rios (though he's still unproven)
Josh Phelps (jury's still out, of course)
Kelvim Escobar (?)

... and a lot more semi-notable folks than what I'm coming up with. Granted, none of those guys are Junior Felix, but who the hell is?

It's Bo b/c he plays both baseball and football, I take it. He's a Bermanism waiting to happen.

Also, if you REALLY want to push things, there's that would-be phenom SS currently on the Reds that's supposedly "washed up" at the ripe old age of 25. (Is his name Felipe Lopez?)

Rich Aurilia?