Rex Hudler

No, he is a year away. The dreaded lame duck/sign me now or I'll become a free agent year.

Are you saying they were high? No, that's only the A's. Atleast they weren't gettinh haircuts like their fellow New York team. Somebody help me out here, but haven't the BoSox been doing that? Isn't it some kind of luck thing or superstition with them?

Although a low payroll is almost always a guarantee. True, but the Sox don't have a low payroll..... they are in the middle. If they will spend $60-$65 mil, that is enough to put a good product out on the field, one that should draw fans and be in contention so that if they need to make additional moves they can. That is assuming the things they do on the field and in the clubhouse work.

Are you saying they were high?

LOL Unfortunately, he should have been keeping grounds and keeping his mouth shut and minding his own business.

Ask Baltimore....... or Texas..... or the Dodgers..... A high payroll does not mean instant success. It can give you more margin for error in who you pick up, but in and of iteself, a high payroll is no guarantee.

Way too early to even speculate, really.

I don't understand where you are coming from... Type slower this time and maybe I will get it.

They're not going to suspend anybody in the playoffs, especially for that incident. all you have is a bunch of "He Said, She Said". The Boston police can do what they want, but MLB isn't going to suspend two Yankees players.

Yes, when the benches emptied, Zimmer sought out Pedro and went after him. It was a sad sight. You'd catch all of this if you read all of the posts, rather than skim.

OK, here is my question......... Why did Pedro hit Garcia?? I came in late and I guess missed part of it. what motivation would Pedro have to go "head hunting"?

I challenge that you woudl have reacted the same way Pedro did. Think about it...... the benches are clearing, guys are screaming at you and everyone else, guys are running at you and you look up and some guy (regardless of who it is) is about two feet from you coming at you with his arm up as if to be about to throw a punch. Your natural reaction would be to avoid contact or worse, fight back. I am not happy that it happened at all, but Zimmer was in the wrong and Pedro reacted naturally. He sidestepped him and pushed him away. It was very much a non-agressive defense by Pedro.

I missed one thing......... McCarver was crowing loudly about how "terrible" it was that Pedro clocked Zim. Buck half-heartedly questioned that and asked to see the replay. After they ran the replay twice, McCarver shut up and didn't say another word for like 3 minutes. Personally, I'd prefer for him to have the balls and admit he overreacted as well and was wrong. Instead, he just sat silently.

By slashing payroll, it was meant to rid of large contracts the club could do without. Trading Maggs for solid young (cheap) players would be slashing payroll. Not necessarily in the overall number, but in losing large contracts and getting more, cheaper players. Theoretically, you could have two $7 million pitchers for Maggs, definitely not Navarro and Osuna.

Here's the play by play from a completely objective point of view...... 1. Garcia goes in hard and late to take out Walker. Could be considered cheap, I did not get that great a veiw of it on the replay. 2. Pedro plunks Garcia for doing the above. No big deal, that is part of baseball and it should have ended things. Granted, Pedro could have plunked him lower and not gone in so high, but whether you think it is or not, it is not that easy to be so precise with a pitch you aren't used to throwing, let alone a strike at the catcher. 3. Garcia, who should have shut and ran to 1B after getting hit, pops off. He continues to do so after he scores on the double play ball. Once again, all of this is over if Garcia understand why he got hit and gets over it. If the Yankees didn't feel it was deserved, then Roger would have retaliated. Nontheless, he should have shut the f*** up. 4. Garcia and Pedro's spat gets out of hand when benches start to empty and Posada starts going crazy, yelling at Pedro. From my viewpoint, I thought Pedro was telling Posada he would hit him in the head. Although somewhat understandable in the heat of an argument, this was way out of line. Pedro showed his ass here. 5. Ramirez leads off the next inning and Clemens buzzes a 0-2 (or 1-2) pitch about head high over the middle of the plate. Was Clemens trying to hit Manny? Hell No.... Was he likely trying to send a message?? Probably so.... 6. Manny overreacts and starts jawing at Clemens as he walks toward the mound. Of course, benches clear and there is a lot of hugging and kissing going on between the teams. Manny was wrong here big time. Later in the inning Clemens buzzes even closer to Millar's head (yet still not that close) and Millar acts like it doesn't bother him at all, which is generally the most effective way to handle these situations. 7. In the bench clearing lovefest, 72-year old Don Zimmer charges Pedro, which may have been the dumbest part of this whole mess. Zimmer was going after Pedro and looks as if he is taking a swing at him. Pedro reacts naturally and steps back and pushes Zim aside. Being 72, Zim goes down like a rag doll. I don't fault Pedro here at all. He did what most anyone would do, considering everything going on, benches emptying, yelling, etc. He defended himself in a non-aggressive way. There was obviously wrongdoings on both sides here. This situation escalated to the level it did for many reasons and could have been avoided several times. But it wasn't because no one knows how to handle these situations anymore. There are too many hotheads who want to fight when there is no reason to these days. I'll leave it at that. This happens because of the stakes, the teams, the pitchers and a couple of idiots.

I missed the beginning of the game....... didn't all of this start with a takeout slide at 2B by Karim Garcia? Isn't that why Pedro hit him?

So is the concensus no on Sexson?? LOL

Dammiut Rex You tha man. It's true He knows s***! Lyons :fyou :fyou :fyou I wasn't so sure about Leiter at first, but I have grown to like him in a short time. I think he has been insightful and needed to balance Lyons, who most of the time is just spewing hot air. You can just hear it in their voices. Leiter thinks Lyons is a moron, and Lyons is extremely jealous of Leiter. I already like Leiter MUCH better than Lyons........... I got the same exact feeling....... Bmr, are we starting to agree on things again? If so, I gotta do some thinkin ;-)

Ummmm, no. This is not a democracy.

Who is Read? Did we get a new player?

It would likely have to include a prospect or two coming from the Sox as well, but I agree with you in that I don't see it happening.

Dammiut Rex You tha man. It's true He knows s***! Lyons :fyou :fyou :fyou I wasn't so sure about Leiter at first, but I have grown to like him in a short time. I think he has been insightful and needed to balance Lyons, who most of the time is just spewing hot air.

None of those stats either prove the point made about Maggs right or wrong... They're irrelevant.

I made the same comment on another board. Seemed weird. They must not have had a picture of Reed to use.

I am not saying it is true about Maggs, because I have no idea. But guys do lots of things in the clubhouse, in BP and even in games that normal fans never have any clue about them happening. He also said Maggs is "getting" that way, meaning he may have just seen hints at times he didn't like. I shouldn't speculate, but anything is possible because we don't see near everything.