Punch and Judy Garland

I can live with Willie even if I'd rather not. Also, I wouldn't classify his 04 season as limited playing time, he played enough to pretty much call it a full season. I think he'll probably play better this year but he better start stealing bases or I want nothing to do with him.

Didn't Borders have an awful defensive game in the ALDS? He was wuite a player at one time though. Would have fit on a grinder team perfectly (him and Dutch Daulton)

Yeah maybe next time they'll talk about our thread when we're right and not wrong

That's pretty unprofessional to say pathetic. My jaw dropped when he said that. Must be trying to soften the perception tha they are being outbid.

well GWERTY (i think I finally got that down), it's somewhere in the middle. His numbers don't necessarily say he will be a star this year, but up and coming star is a pretty loose label. I think he probably is their best pitcher already because Johnson and Maroth aren't head and shoulders above him really. Percival will not set-up according to an Angel fan I know. I anticipate them dealing Urbina unless they intend to not just moderatley increase payroll but increase it by a lot. Their farm system leaves a lot to be desired but I'd be optimistic about hte future if I were a Tiger fan.

Ahh gerty, we have reached a scouting vs. saber impass. Count me on the scouting side who believs he's going to be a top-rotation starter in the very near future.

They need more starting pitching but I have read reports suggesting that they will upgrade over Ro-White.

They have a pretty good offense and they aren't done yet. I bet they land a corner outfielder.

The only flaw with comparing our offseason tothe Yanks/Sawx, and Cardinals is that their targets are all still on the board where as the guys we were targeting are now gone (for the most part). That's the fundamental difference, our lowered expectation-free agent targets are coming off the board already. I do actually think that Odalis Perez is a splash because he's a good pitcher. I don't think that they need to sign a major draw, but if you get a good pitcher then people will feel a lot better about the team overall-thus selling more tickets and generating buzz at Soxfest.

Sox need to make one splashy move. They can't afford to have another Soxfest like 04's and they do need to do SOMETHING to sell some tickets and create a buzz.I don't suggest doing anything stupid but they do need to try to make something happen, and I have no doubt that they will try at least. BTW, is it possible that they hesitate to gush over Uribe because he is a Boras client? Just something that came across my mind. Maybe they just don't think he'll be here very long.

He made a fortune in AZ so if he's available via trade, they will be eating a lot, or if he's a FA he will be taking a large paycut. I like the idea of getting Mantei because he will probablt be a nice quiet pickup with a lot of upside. He has had DL time in multiple seasons so the price would have to be reasonable.

Urbina was dominant against us, save for that Crede walk-off. Defintely a curious signing by Detroit, but I also think it was a good deal for both sides. I think Detroit would need 2 starters, unless Bondo is ready to make that leap into a frontline starter.

Yeah I said four years in illinois meaning siu. Even I can't mess that one up, I go to siu. Intersetingly, they celebrate Troy Hudson and Dennis Franz and Jerry Hairston, but you barely hear about Finley down here. Funny for a guy with nearly 2500 hits

We may as well just accept Jurassic in RF. Stop and think if you ran the team (I know we wouldn;t have traded back for him-but i digress) you know that you'd have to play him. He makes $4 mil and he was a pretty good offensive player just one year ago. I think he can get back to an acceptable level.

I would like to have Eldred back on the cheap due to arm troubles in the past. I picked Jeff nelson because he's always been so tough on righties that he'd be another good bridge guy. I wouldn't bring in Percival under pretty much any circumstance because Shingo doesn't deserve to have his job threatened. He proved he could pitch well in the bigs, let's grab a set-up guy and use more money on our starter.

He has gone on record that he is interested in playing for a contender and has not limited his search for a team to the West coast. He has said this on ESPNews. www.baseball-reference.com has him listed as being born in paducah, Ky while most other sites have him from Tenn. so I guess you guys are probably right about his brithplace.

Well I believe he was born in Paducah, KY which is nearly Illinois and he played four years in Illinois, but its semantics we're arguing really. He is reportedly willing to play in Philly this season so I don;t know if its just the West coast thing as it was in July. He sold his AZ home so I think he'd be willing to play elsewhere as long as we're a contender. Were we to trade for the Unit, we'd be in a great position to nab Finley.

I wouldn't mind either one. givne the money, I'd take PP. I feel he has peaked as a player, that said, I don't think he will level off either. I think you get steady. I'm not sure if teh Cards want to sign Tony Womack back, but if they don't I'd bet a hundred fantasy bucks that he'd rejoin TLR and MR. Pujols. At this point, I wish they would leave the infield as is and go after a big FA pitcher (Perez) and try to lure Steve Finley on a two-year deal. Finley and Rowand would cover a ton of range in the outfield. I know someone will bring up the est coast thing but he's an area boy and worht sending feelers out for.

I don't think you can judge Jeromy's character based on losing season (unless you know soemthing specific). Look at what a guy like Orlando cabrera, a career loser, does in a playoff chase. Sometimes it brings out the best in people. Now, he was traded to a contender in LA in 03 and was horrible, but that offense had NOTHING going for it.

I'm so f***IN tired of hearing about the Hairston Hard-On. We get it, you like him. Must we include him in every possible trade scenario?

if we take Mulder we can't have one of those great buehrle-mulder 90 minute games......

Most every Kendall deal you hear about has had the Pirates taking on anywhere between 1/4 and 1/2 of his salary, EXCEPT when the Dodgers tried to take on Kendall's whole salary but would hav eneeded Oliver Perez to entice them. I don't think they will be willing to go in that direction. I definitely could see Jurassic being sent back in the deal along with cash coming our way. I love the idea of him playing here. He can even leadoff. As for Jose to Boston, I buy it. His OBP stinks but he slugs and these money-ball statheads feel he is very underrated defensively. I don't really buy that, but his range and zone, etc are usually in the top 5.

That's not to mention that in order to get Colon in the first place, they dealt away Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee and Grady Sizemore. Minaya also acquired Cliff Floyd the same month he got Colon by trading away Carl Pavano. Not to worry, they go seung song in the eventual trade of Floyd deal.

Dennis Tankersley was w/ the Pads and Taylor Tankersley is a 04 #1 for the Marlins in case that's who you were thinking of.

8 innings with 2 er for a W on 8/11, that must be why we thought he was better. I think that was right around the time when Greinke mowed us down too.