BrandoFan

Whitesox61382, pretend you're a Dodgers GM. You have a 115 Mill payroll ceiling. What do YOU do in this situation to give your team the BEST chance at upsetting the Giants? Humor me.

I personally admire the Beattles more than I enjoy their music/songs, few outstanding efforts notwithstanding. Song-writing wise, they are up there I guess.. But I was never wild about the vocals and instrument-playing aspects. Not my style, not my aesthetic really. Thematically, too come to think of it. The herald as well as agent of change (progress?) comment was hilarious AND probably true. As far as M-Jeff....the man would have won 9 or 10 titles in 12 years if it wasn't for his father's death and the foolish retirement, in the era of free agency no less. Set the modern standard for excellence, ambition, determination, game IQ as well as for physical ability that athletes 100 years from now will judged by......Perhaps I should have used Ali or Ruth or Pele instead. Beattles = Shakespeare of rock-n-roll? Darwin of rock-n-roll? What?

Paying Maddux anything over 16-18 Mill over 2 would not be wise. But if he is available at 6-7 M per, why the hell not. Rumors of Maddux the Pitcher's demise have been greatly exaggerated. Factor in the weak-hitting ALC...I can see 3.50-3.75 ERA type season, and unlike Ponson and Colon, Maddux's CEILING (or best-case scenario) is higher, even at 38.

Depending on how you define steroids, I figure anywhere from 15 to 30% use them.

Why do people keep saying that? Once the emotional problems/existential angst jeanie is out, it's tough to put him back in. I expect Paulie to be his schtzophrenic (ok, bipolar) self in 2004, only without the depressing lows of 2003: 800 OPS/85 RBI is what we're looking at. Of course 20+ GIDP. Base-clogging. "Doubles" down the line off his glove. The works. We're paying him 8.5 Mill per until 2006. Frankly, I liked him more when he was making 2.5 Mill and could actually hit a slider. 4.80 ERA is a step up from 5.60 one. A 94mph straight-as-arrow fastball is better than a 92mph one. Sure. Does it make it worthwhile paying him 6.30 Mill? Griffey won't happen, so don't worry about him.

He didn't fix Wright, who regressed badly. He didn't fix Garland, who stayed the same. Billy Koch and Rick White had by far their worst years under him. Mark Burhle had his worst year under Coop. Colon couldn't throw a curve or a slider for s*** under Coop and despite pitching in a weak-hitting division, barely broke the 4.00 ERA barrier. Cotts, Porzio totally blew. What his instruction/encouragement was, it didn't work. Outside of helping Loaiza (though I remember E-Lo was excellent fom his first start as a ST invitee, so how much did it have to do with Coop and how much with Loaiza working his ass off during off-season as a FA?), the guy has been unspectacular. Where's the greatness? Hell, I'll settle for excellence. In a division as tight as ALC, a pitching coach (like manager, GM, etc) can decide everything-- the diffence between making the playoffs by a game or 3....and going home.

Beattles = Orson Welles of rock'n'roll? Beattles = Marlon Brando of rock'n'roll? Beattles = Michael Jordan of rock'n'roll? Elaborate please.

Define greatness. He's been an All-Star, but not even close to a HOF'er. 30 HR (not that I give a crap about homers) these days is what 20 used to be 30 years go, so don't even go there. He doesn't run or field quite as he used to and is coming off a disappointing seasons offensively. He is not a leader. He's not a franchise-seller. Frank is making 6 Mill this year and if he has a s***ty season, he's G-O-N-E. Even at his payday-est, Frank was making 6.5 Mill a year (the rest deferred). I don't doubt that Maggs is a 10-12 Mill a year player, but White Sox can barely afford THAT. 5 years, 70-75 Mill??? Have a 1100 OPS/140 RBI season in '04, bring us to ALCS and then we'll talk. Otherwise? Good-bye Magglio. Send us a postcard from SD or something.

Incidentally, that's also what being PA is.

Maggs isn't worth 12-13 Mill to the Sox let alone 15-16. Let's drop this Griffey business because it's not gonna happen.

Dude... I agree re: his post-2005 contract situ being a huge burden. Relax. But I also realize that: --In his prime Griffey was a significantly better than Maggs. --His name brings a few extra Mill in the bigger market compared to nameless Maggs, not by a lot but enough to FURTHER reduce his "cost". (quick math: if Sammy cost 10 Mill in 1998 but "brought in" 15 Mill just because he is Sammy....was he a strain on the Cubs payroll?). --We get rid of 14.8 Mill worth of Konerko and Koch in 2004 and 9 Mill worth of Konerko in 2005. If Reds can do something about 2006-2008 and beyond, then I am listening.

I know. We save about 2.5 Mill this year. We lose only 4 Mill in 2005. That means we only lose 1.5 over 2 years....and of course Griff makes it up for being a much better player than Konerko. And with his name-recognition. But from 2006 on, that's when it becomes dicey. So I agree with you to an extent.

1-2 Mill isn't tha high of a figure, Dick. It's not like I am expecting Sosa-ian boom circa 1998 when he made the Cubs uncounted millions just with his name/presence. And I disagree about him getting hurt in spring training. It's not as if he is the second coming of Samuel L Jackson from Unbreakable. Again, were his contract just a few years shorter, I would do the deal. Now? Might be too high a risk as Rex mentioned.

Of course it isn't. Reds aren't THAT desperate. But I disagree with you with regard to Griff's intangibles: Chicago is a lot different than Cincy and the first year impact would be greater anyway. Who knows how many "extra" fans would come out/tune in/buy merchanse/consume if healthy Griffey was introduced. Not enough to cover his entire contract, sure, but at least a mill or two worth more compared to what Aaron Rowand or Willie Harris "draw". IMO.

The difference between Joey and Junior is that: 1. Griff can actually play defense and play it well at a tougher position. 2. Joey was signed. If he was traded for, say, Navarro, Parque and Clayton, then his 11 Mill a year would have been tolerable. Plus, back then 11 Mill bought you more than 12 Mill buy you today.

Winn is a Gold Glover-caliber LF. As a CF, he is about average, not much improvement over Rowand if any. Meanwhile, Aaron cannot produce enough to be a RF. And Winn isn't exactly cheap, making more than 10 times what AR does.. I say....give us Pineiro and Soriano and M's can have Maggs and a couple of prospects.

It was self-defense.

The knock on this trade is that Griff is signed for 5 more years. Were his contract to run out after, say, 2005 or even 2006, then it would a compltely different story. BUT.....Konerko is one of the most overrated, overpaid players in the game. See next to last page of the "AM1000" thread for reasons why. Koch? You don't just lose 5-8mph of your fastball. He was overrated even when he threw 100, but at least he was legitimately above-average. In 2004, he may post a 5.50 ERA very easily. Griffey? HOF ceiling. 1000 OPS and GG defense. His recent injuries have robbed him of 20SB speed, but so what? I could live with that if he gives me very good defense and 900+ OPS. He makes, what, 12 Mill a year? He gives back a couple just because of attendance, ratings, media coverage and merchandise boost he brings. So you're takling about a 9-10 Mill a year player. Konerko and Koch make 14.8 Mill. I am not sure about Reitsma, though. Again, I believe he can stay healthy. But because of the LENGHT of the contract, it will be a big gamble to take him on.

I remember the surreal FIGHT sequence in the first season that just kept, going and going and going..... OT: Seth M. was funny in Radio Days, esp when he calls his Rabbi his "faithful companion" ala John Wayne and he just flips.. OT: OT: Voice of Marge Simpsons played Seth's mother in RD.

. No, but I did. Yeah...ok.

Simpsons are in the category of their own. I get bored with cartoon comedies anyway. MASH, Seinfeld, Larry Sanders, Fraiser...that's quality.

One-liners and stand-alone pop references were the weaker element of Simpsons even when in its prime (89-97). And yet I bet Simpsons can out-quote/out-reference Family Guy with ease....last 3 years notwithstanding. You run into same arguements when comparing SNL in its various primes and MadTV in its. The latter was always more irreverent and edgier, but the former made me laugh more and harder. I guess, it's a matter of which type of comedy you go for.

Dude, look up "jumped the shark"..... Simpsons blowing for years still doesn't make Family Guy good. You don't like singing and sentimental stuff? That's too bad. Classic Simpsons songs are great. Homer is a funny character, true.....But Willie, Monty, Moe, Wiggum, Carl, Hurtz, CBG, Krusty, Agnes Skinner, Sideshow, black officer and a ton of others, including countless guests were hilarious, too. Scorpio.... Of course one needs an attention span to watch great simpsons eps of yore. Out-of-nowhere-leading-to-nothing onelines are boring. IMO.

Wait, I thought he was only signed through '06. I figured sooner or later he's bound to stay healthy for the entire years. What makes you think he will have a knee injury? Did Bonds or Sosa ever have those?

Koch and Konerko make more than Griffey. One is an overrated mental case with a genetic hip condition and the other saw his 100mph go down to 92 in 1 year. Talk about injuries... Griff is not in his prime and is no longer a GG, but he is still a good slugger and better defensively than Aaron or Willie.....when not on DL. Plus the instant name recognition. Lee-Thomas-Maggs-Griffey as 2-3-4-6? You gotta be kidding me! I'd do the deal in a HEARTBEAT.