R.J.

Can't tell a damn thing about that hat but can confirm they were at Univ. of Miami's stadium. SO I guess that means... nothing.

The jersey thing is nothing, from the office of Miami based artist Vic Garcia. Was posted 12/26 on his studio page. Appears he is paying homage to his Miami based pals/sponsors. Not a secret message.

I like this premise, if Manny signs with any other team he de facto admits he is cheating on his wife. CHICAGO LOOKING PRETTY GOOD NOW EH MANNY?

That @SeanBradleyPHI account is 100% fake. The picture is of a guy named Dennis Ferrier who was fired from his last gig and now works in Tennessee. https://fox17.com/station/people/dennis-ferrier https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/01/29/dennis-ferrier-channel-4-wsmv-lawsuit-court/1074082001/

Hey I'd be interested. Sending PM.

Ryan Cordell is the return, per Dan Hayes. #17 on MLB.com's top 30 Brewers prospects.

@JonHeyman 3m3 minutes ago sources: anthony swarzak is going to the brewers in a trade

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 08:17 PM) I was kidding, I love MLBTR. It's my 7th most visited site ever according to Chrome. I've made a huge mistake!

QUOTE (Jordan4life @ Jan 21, 2011 -> 02:37 PM) Doubt it. The A's are not exactly lacking in the SP department. Just more B.S. from that pathetic site. The info actually came from Jon Heyman of SI.com. Don't get the MLBTR bashing. It was garbage a long while back, but since making some changes a few years ago has been one of the most valuable resources on the web for compiling and analyzing anything related to roster moves in a fast and comprehensive manner.

Yeah we love taking on bad contracts.

Ahem, Rafael Soriano for a moment. With the news that the Rangers are out as suitors for him (http://twitter.com/#!/jonmorosi/status/23042952779538432), and word that the Yankees are (so far) not exploring the option, who exactly is after him? Too much tells me the Sox aren't a viable option (Boras client, we have no money) but I think that whatever team steps up and offers Sori a "pillow" contract could get a huge bargain.

Even if Jake is ready by mid-April, this team needs an insurance policy/6th starter. It can be someone cheap, but if he experiences a huge dip in velocity (and effectiveness) or if one of our starters is hurt this season, I'd like to have someone to cover those innings. In no way is a 6th starter a priority for this team, but we should definitely look to snap up someone who's being undervalued.

So outside of Sale (who I think is being counted on for the back end of the bullpen) our options A & B are Lucas Harrell and Carlos Torres? I agree in that assuming Peavy will be out until May or later, we need a 6th starter type option who can be had on the cheap to eat innings and back up our other arms. Looking at who's out there, who among these names could be had on the "Freddy Garcia" type contract we could offer them? What about minor league deals? Courtesy of MLBtraderumors.com: Brian Bannister (30) Jeremy Bonderman (28) Brian Burres (30) Dave Bush (31) Bruce Chen (34) Doug Davis (35) Justin Duchscherer (33) Jeff Francis (29) Freddy Garcia (35) Braden Looper (36) Rodrigo Lopez (35) John Maine (30) Pedro Martinez (39) Kevin Millwood (36) Brian Moehler (39) Carl Pavano (35) Brad Penny (33) Andy Pettitte (39) Nate Robertson (33) Ben Sheets (32) Ian Snell (29) Jeff Suppan (36) Jarrod Washburn (36) Todd Wellemeyer (32) Chris Young (32) Now a lot of these guys are/were god awful, and those who weren't will be signed up by teams with more pressing needs than a temporary 5th starter, but if you were looking for a lottery ticket or an insurance policy, is there one in there?

Not a chance.

It's ok to be a fan and have some optimism about the future of some of our prospects. But, objectively, there's no way this farm system can be ranked higher than 29th. And that's just based on the depth of our system and the ceiling of our prospects (measured against the likelihood they reach their potential.) And there's no reason to doubt it, because it's this organizations philosophy that the farm system is important in acquiring veteran talent, rather than relying on it to shore up the MLB team. This, actually, has never really hurt us. We also haven't been in a position to move any veteran players for high-upside young talents. It's also this organization's philosophy that the MLB draft is too risky to make any real meaningful investment in. And nobody here should deny that - there have been a couple of players we've paid for but the overall numbers put us firmly in the bottom of draft spending on a year-by-year and cumulative basis. So yeah, this year our farm system is about as weak as it has ever been. And we don't have a first round pick, either. And nothing has changed as far as not spending money on boom-or-bust draft picks. But I agree that all that matters is the success of the MLB team. And we aren't likely to have to go in a younger direction for a couple more years. Maybe by then we can hit on a few more draft picks.

The timing of all this information is fuzzy, so this means one of two things: 1. The Sox had some money earmarked for the bullpen, went after Wood, and after not getting the response they wanted, moved to sign Crain. 2. The Sox are still looking for a second reliever and could see who else is on the market.

Looks like this is a done deal: http://trsullivan.mlblogs.com/archives/201...o_philadel.html http://twitter.com/Joelsherman1/status/14544236716236800

I'd love to get in on this but can't make the auction time.

They're going to have to expand All-Star rosters this year to fit all these guys on there!!

I feel like this is just about over.

This has been alluded to, but I think we need to consider the real possibility that we're being used to increase the top bid on the table from Detroit. It's nothing personal, but Damon has shown that even as a 36 year old with two world series rings, he's still looking to take the top dollar on the market. Let's face it, if he were willing to play at a discount for any team, it would have been the Yankees. Same thing for playing at a discount to try and win another championship. He's overplayed his market, but he's clearly looking to get paid as much money as possible. As such, we're not going to get him unless we outbid all other teams, and if the Tigers are offering 2y/14M+ (like the last report said), I don't see us topping that.* So when we read that Damon is considering another offer from us, or that he might prefer a 1 year deal in Chicago, I don't see it. He'll go where the money is. I think it's valiant that we're trying to sign him because he probably won't be outrageously overpriced and he'd help us out a lot. But we've been used by Boras in negotiations before. Boras has planted stories with Atlanta and Detroit media outlets. Now he's planting another one in hopes of spurring on an interdivisional bidding war. I'll furiously update twitter hoping we make the deal, but when Scott Boras is involved, let's guard out expectations. * - (but here's a Devil's Advocate argument... weren't the tigers in a budgetary crunch a month ago? Didn't they have to unload an affordable young superstar outfielder? Now they're signing an expensive old outfielder? What was the point of the Granderson move then? Is it possible, in any way at all, that it's reversed, and the Tigers interest is being overplayed to drive up the price from us or Atlanta? Doubt it, but the INTRIGUE!)

No, he was having arm problems too. His velocity disappeared. He used to be a big guy who threw hard with no control. If he cant get it up to 97 anymore then it probably doesn't matter if Coop "fixes" him. But what the hell, right? It's a lottery ticket. Gives you something interesting to look at during the 7th inning of a spring training game.

They can work as hard as they want but he's not going anywhere unless they eat about $15 million. There are guys that will do what he does for the major league minimum. Maybe see just how desperate the Cubs are to ditch Bradley. My guess is: not enough.

Echoing that Alexei is a more valuable player than Uggla. Uggla will be moved and probably won't have a huge price tag, but if we're going to make a package for a hitter I'd rather have an outfielder.