SoxFan562004

ESPN will try and spin it to favor the NYK because they are dumping a bunch of salary soon, however, they'll ignore that Stern and owners are going to play hardball, and new CBA will likely include some sort of "franchise tag" so FAs can't move as easily

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Feb 21, 2011 -> 08:20 PM) So apparently Melo deal is imminent to Knicks. Here's hoping they gut that team for him. I never really understood Knicks giving up too much for him, but apparently they are. I say that because the East maybe not as tough as the West, it's still young outside of the Celtics. I do expect Wade to have a sharp decline at some point, but not before he gets a few more excellent seasons, so the Big 3 aren't going anywhere, the Bulls are young and good, Dwight Howard will be around for awhile, and to top it off, I'm not sure how long A'mare's knees are going to stick around. Oh well, get ready for ESPN to act like the rest of the country cares about the Knicks

QUOTE (Melissa1334 @ Feb 21, 2011 -> 02:52 PM) i thought the cards drew a lot of people? meaning why is their payroll 95-100 mil? with a team that usually contends every year and a marketable player like pujols, you would think they would have a payroll around 120mil or so so much has to do with the size of media market a team is in. Even being the 2nd team in the 3rd largest market as the Sox are, is better than being the 21st market overall. The Rangers, in the 7th largest has their financials listed in the documents deadspin obtained, a lot of "hidden" income, including their new large TV deal.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 21, 2011 -> 02:15 PM) People have been talking 10/300 for Pujols since ARoid signed his last deal. Y'all really are surprised at Pujols pushing for something on that order? I'm not surprised, I'm just not 100% a team is going to give it to him, and if they do, if it's not the NYY, how damaging the deal will be to the team that gives it to them. He will be 32 the first year of that deal. I'm just not sure how that deal can be justified unless a team is in a great position to maximize the first 4-5 years of it. I guess I can see the LAA making the best of that deal or something similar.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Feb 21, 2011 -> 07:26 AM) Then that contract they gave to Holliday was the height of idiocy. this is pure speculation, but I have a feeling Pujols and his people made it clear to the Cards that if they wanted a shot at keeping him they had to keep Holliday or get another big bat in. FWIW he said he would be willing to defer some of his money to try and keep Albert... http://stlouis.sbnation.com/st-louis-cardi...nsion-cardinals

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Feb 18, 2011 -> 02:57 PM) I'm sure the MLBPA would think of something, but how could they argue that in good taste? they really don't have to, their job is to advocate for their players, like any defense situation, it's not really a matter of "good taste" it comes down to ensure the person you are defending is getting due process.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Feb 18, 2011 -> 12:24 PM) My bad. Read it out of context. if someone did kill somebody in a DUI, I wouldn't be shocked if Bud used "best interest" to suspend him, the real question is whether it would hold up.

QUOTE (G&T @ Feb 18, 2011 -> 07:49 AM) Ahhhh....Hawk is on the Score and mentioned Catfish within 45 seconds. It's that time of year and it feels good. If I ever really want to get drunk watching a Sox game this year, I'll just take a drink every time Hawk says Dunn reminds him of Frank Howard

QUOTE (Rowand44 @ Feb 17, 2011 -> 06:08 PM) Dante Stallworth, milkman has his sports mixed up. and stallworth paid a civil, criminal and professional penalty for it. Only argument for Stallworth would be was it enough?

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Feb 17, 2011 -> 05:04 PM) So you can murder someone behind the wheel of a car while drunk and they won't suspend you for a game, but don't make racist remarks! who did this?

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Feb 17, 2011 -> 03:22 PM) Hamilton didn't suffer any police charges for his one night of problems. He didn't get behind the wheel, etc. Not to downplay it. Also, Hamilton was kicked out of baseball for > 1 year. I do mention that is a difference, but just saying if some people want Bud to apply an NFL standard to these types of things, the Hamilton case would have been a good example of where to do it with.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 17, 2011 -> 02:41 PM) How many get two, plus all of the stuff with the officers in the second case? At the end of the day I doubt Selig does anything about, just because that is his style, but there is no doubt in my mind that he should. when was his first one? The reports of the wife incident do not report it was a DUI.

QUOTE (maggsmaggs @ Feb 17, 2011 -> 11:42 AM) These aren't just problems like he got drunk and had funny pictures posted. He beat up his wife and got a DUI. Those are serious issues that warrant action from baseball, at the very least the Tigers. The Tigers can easily suspend him, but will they is the question? And the the league should as well. You can't have players doing this s*** without consequence. The wife incident was determined mutual combat and police couldn't determine who the aggressor was, I am the last person to take beating women in anything but the utmost serious manner, but I am also really careful when those allegations are thrown around. 2nd, he got a DUI, this isn't a debate about how serious they are, but if you get 1 DUI and all the circumstances keep it in a misdemeanor court, then the precedent is you get a chance to prove you screwed up and make good. I sat for years in a courtroom as a public defender that handled mostly DUIs. Most jobs will give you an opportunity if you have a position to work through it, be it my indigent clients or attorney's clients that had higher profile jobs. The problem often comes in for people with jobs because in IL if you don't get your statutory summary suspension thrown out you lose your license for 3 months with a blow greater than .08 or 6 months if you don't blow and that includes a hard 30 days of no driving before a limited driving permit came into effect and now the breath device on a car. Obviously there are exceptions to people getting punished for their 1st DUI due to certain companies policies or the type of position they hold... but in sports and even in society as a whole, people get 1 chance to prove it was a horribly bad mistake they made. Let's go beyond that, Josh Hamilton, who, not to minimize Cabrera's obvious issues with alcohol, had a far worse substance abuse history, god knows what he did when he was at or near his bottom. This guy has a relapse in a bar, and "funny pics" were taken... nothing happened to him from the baseball standpoint and in the media many defended him and he just explained it away by saying he was set-up. Obvious difference here is Hamilton did nothing criminal in the known relapse, but in an NFL scenario like many seem to be calling for here, it wouldn't have mattered. As far as the Tigers go, sure they can do something, but the union will likely fight it. What will probably happen is he'll go into some sort of program within the next week, it will last 30 days, he'll get the last week of ST to get ready and the press will trumpet his triumph when he starts raking in the regular season.

QUOTE (The Ginger Kid @ Feb 17, 2011 -> 12:02 PM) I may be wrong, but unless he's a U.S. citizen, not just a resident, I think he can be deported for DUI. Which I endorse, at least until October. a conviction of one, possibly, but highly unlikely

QUOTE (djcollie03 @ Feb 17, 2011 -> 11:34 AM) I think it's funny that the Cubs actually have a billboard on I-94 that has Pujols on it. It's got to be bad when you're using other team's stars to sell your tickets. I can't imagine a Sox advertisement with Joe Mauer in it. As for Twitter-gate, etc., it's a distraction the team didn't/doesn't need. they also have the one with Castro and Jeter on it

QUOTE (fathom @ Feb 17, 2011 -> 11:29 AM) No, it doesn't lead to more revenue for Jerry. From people close to JR, he couldn't have been more pissed off about Ozzie/KW drama last year. And don't worry, the Cubs 2011 season might as well be known as "The Pujols Recruitment Year" How'd that similar thing work out for the New York Knicks? I don't think it hurts or helps. It got a decent amount of coverage because winter months after Monday wrap up of football games are kind of a dead-zone for sports. Basketball and hockey are in the middle of the seasons, kind of scrambling to look for things to talk about. Sox added payroll and a solid FA in Dunn and reportedly ticket sales were up, and if the Sox win they'll sell more tickets, that's kind of the pattern.

are you guys calling for a long suspension based on the fact this is the 2nd alcohol related problem he's had? I don't see any lengthy suspension, MLB has way too strong of a union and there's been no precedent to support something like that.

QUOTE (chisoxfan09 @ Feb 17, 2011 -> 01:15 AM) For the Cubs to offer him 10/20 it would mean about 25% or less of their payroll if they continue to hover at 120-130 million. I don't know how this will pan out but I am not sure Ricketts will go after Pujols. It seems he is trying to cut payroll and develop the farm, where they have been making some progress. Garza trade is exactly the opposite of that. It wasn't any of their name guys, but there were a few guys in their top 10.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Feb 16, 2011 -> 10:50 PM) Branyan's deal was a MLC. That doesn't mean Allen's gone. Probably just insurance in case Allen doesn't do well to start the year. FWIW, Heyman doesn't even have Allen in competition for 1b job, he has Nady, Owens and Miranda competing with Branyan for it. Again, name could have just slipped his mind, but it definitely seems like there's an open competition there.

Jays and Bautista near 5 year 65m extension, they postponed their arb hearing trying to finalize it per Heyman

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Feb 16, 2011 -> 04:41 PM) Wow, that's a bargain if he can replicate his '10 over the duration of the 4 years. He obviously has to stay healthy. That's been his only problem. there's an option that can make it 5/50 which kicks in with PAs, so Brewers covering themselves a little with health

QUOTE (dpd9189 @ Feb 16, 2011 -> 02:50 PM) I'm not going to play Cubs gm all day but Castro, Soto and Colvin are all young so I assume they have them under control for a while. Not sure if that Vitters kid is ready but they'll have to replace A-Ram. Regardless the Cubs might be in a good spot because if Stl does pony up and give Pujols $30 mil a year, that will cripple Stl because they'd have almost $50 mil to two players for a team who is around $95 mil for their team budget. If Pujols signs with the Cubs, he greatly improves their team and if he signs in the AL or elsewhere he leaves the division. Cards are in a bad spot unless Pujols accepts a $200 mil deal or less. nobodies asking you to.... Anyway, Castro, Soto and Colvin and Vitters... Outside of Soto, all potential at this point, if Pujols wants to win I don't see him going to a team that's relying on prospects... Say what you want about A-Ram, he can be injury prone, but to expect Vitters to just replace what the Cubs were getting out of A-Ram in his prime is lofty expectations, that guy flat out raked. also, Rovell was on with B & B, short article and a link to interview follows. Cubs sold 92% of all their tickets last year, granted no shows cost them cash flow, but as Wrigley stand right now they are near the ceiling with the revenues they can get out of it... http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/02/16/wha...th-to-the-cubs/

again, outside of Bos and NYY I imagine every team's fan can have a similar complaint. Like somebody said above, the Cubs got little coverage on MLBN last year near the end, people didn't even falsely pump up the good record Quade had on the national level. I watch a decent amount of MLBN, they tend to cover the Sox well. Even though some of it is mocking him, they always go crazy when they're going to cut to a Sox highlight and Hawk is saying one of his tag lines or even if he's silent when something bad happens to the Sox. Plesac alone gives them a ton of coverage on nights he's in the studio. Imagine what Brewers fans must be thinking, to add Greinke and Marcum in an off-season and you get some decent coverage on it... those are two MAJOR additions to a pitching staff, ESPN would have made the series 31 for 30 and added a documentary about the process of acquiring those two if NYY did it. If you're talking national attention than the NYY belong with those 3, if you're talking this year, I highly disagree. The NYY have some major flaws, beginning with that rotation and I think Jeter is going to continue to age and hurt them, not to mention 18 or so games just got tougher for their pitching staff because the O's did a nice job of improving their offense. I know I may get flamed, but everything being equal and the divisions they are in, I like the Sox chances of winning their division better than the NYY. Outside of the NL East and slightly Boston in the AL East, I don't see any team that is just head and shoulders above the rest of their division, I think it's going to be an excellent year for the division races and many teams are going to be involved, the White Sox certainly amongst those teams.

QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 16, 2011 -> 01:56 PM) That is a lot less than I would have expected them to offer. If that was there thinking, they should have traded him already. at least listen to offers, and if that's what they are offering he will easily blow that out of the water in the off-season. Although, I can see that type of offer from the Cards perspective, as long as they feel that their relationship is strong enough with him and that type of offer won't "insult" him. Right now they're purely bidding against themselves. Let's say they're convinced they can go 10/280 or 8/230, something in that neighborhood, and with all things being equal he'll re-up with them instead of leaving. Why bid against yourself which is all they can do with the current situation. There will obviously be interest in him in FA, but maybe that's the ceiling of it and they want to make sure they don't overpay. Obviously you take the gamble of LAA blowing him out of the water or LAD and NYM ownership stuff is quickly cleared up and you have multiple big time rivals in it, but this whole thing is a gamble for the Cards, it's not like giving him 8/240 or 10/300 today is the easy way out or low risk.

QUOTE (dpd9189 @ Feb 16, 2011 -> 11:40 AM) If he leaves Stl, I think it's the Cubs or LAA that get him. Cubs lose 50 plus mil after this season and Zambrano/Dempster contracts in 2012. They have more than enough money to give Pujols what he wants. Remember even though they cut some money this year, they still carry a heavy payroll. LAA would make sense because Moreno would spend the money and it would help the Angels in the LA market where they always play 2nd fiddle to the Dodgers. Plus Pujols stands to make more money in endorsements in major markets like Chicago and LA then a small-mid market like Stl. With the Cubs though they have to replace people. Soriano has 4 more years, so if they sign Albert for 28m a year you are at 46m for 2 players, one of which is not going to give you a whole bunch for the 1st 3 years of Albert's deal. OK, they lose Z and Dempster, these are players who have to be replaced and while the Cubs prospects are considered good, I've seen nowhere saying they have some uber system that can just put out young low salary guys to go with Pujols and compete for a WS. If Garza continues to be good, he's only going to go up and up in salary. Then even if Cashner (sp?) pans out, you still need at least 2 other really good starters, who aren't free. Then Pujols has said the last few years he wants protection in the line-up, it's why the Cards bent over to trade and re-up Holliday. Right now the Cubs have a bunch of prospects that could potentially be good players, but they're prospects, and 100% of them don't pan out. Say A-Ram has a resurgent year, well, he's a FA or a 16m team option, either way he's not going to play there for free or neither is someone who is going to replace him. The Cubs have an expensive stadium to maintain or upgrade to get more revenue and the owners are underwater with a huge debt service due on the team every year, signing Pujols to that type of contract for the Cubs as things stand now could easily cripple that team for the next decade. QUOTE (RockRaines @ Feb 16, 2011 -> 11:26 AM) My short list for 8/200 would be Cubs Yanks Boston LAA LAD STL TEX HOU ATL TOR DET SEA Probably more. I think some teams have been waiting for him to come available, he's one of the best hitters to ever play. he won't be strictly rewarded on that criteria for this deal, especially since he's looking to go longer than 5-6 years on it. No doubt he's put up insane numbers, but he'll be 32 opening day of 2012. There's testing now and if anything it will get stricter and the media is constantly on the look-out for circumstantial evidence to tie superstars to PEDs not tested for. So, if he's never touched one drop of PED in his entire life and doesn't plan to, he will age like players did in prior to the late 90s. Like I said above, for any team, a deal in the neighborhood he's seeking has the real potential to cripple a franchise for a decade unless it's NYY. Even Bos and LAA would have to be extremely careful in how they allocate funds for it.