Balta1701

Bobby Howry signs with the Giants, 1 year, $2.75 million. Edgar Renteria is closing in on a 2 year deal with the Giants. Trever Miller (Formerly of the Rays) signed a 1 year deal with the Cardinals. Former Brewer Russel Branyan signed a 1 year deal with the Mariners.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 01:44 PM) That's what I thought - as long as we can somehow keep him completely off the mound I don't care about the $10 million. Sunk cost and all that. If he's healthy enough to pitch, give him a rehab assignment and see where his fastball is. There's zero harm in that. If nothing else he could be a monster out of the pen if he can come in and catch people off guard with that forkball.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 01:38 PM) Maybe. I really wonder if a team wants to pay him $11-12 million for one year. I read where Abreu may have to settle for 2 years at $8 million per, hence the Yankees didn't offer him arb. For a 1 year deal, where there's still the possibility of getting 2 draft picks back at the end of the year if he signs a longer term deal somewhere else, yeah I think some team would make that move.

QUOTE (Greg Hibbard @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 01:18 PM) really dumb question - what's going on with jose contreras? is he still under contract for next year? Yes, next year is the last year on his contract. Beyond that, it's all a question of rehab/healing from that injury. It's plausible that he might be able to pitch at some point mid season, but that depends on his recovery rate (which of course depends on his actual age) and his physical conditioning afterwards. It's possible he could see some action from the bullpen also. We really don't know. He may just not pitch at all next year as well.

The person above me knows lyrics by Pat Benatar

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 12:55 PM) That is completely incorrect. The assault weapons ban did not affect automatic weapons in any way, shape, or form. It was, primarily, a cosmetic ban (limiting things like folding stocks and bayonet mounts) and a limit on the size of magazines. It did not regulate cartridge size or style. Older weapons were grandfathered in, anyway. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Assault_Weapons_Ban Automatic weapons have been under strict control since 1934, and no new ones can be manufactured for private ownership after 1986. The "AK-47's" or "AR-15's" you see people owning are not automatic rifles, but just another rifle no different than any hunting rifle aside from the fact that it looks like a military weapon. I'm sorry, but there's usually a large amount of ignorance behind the support of the AWB. I will fire back from Wikipedia on the "Gun Show loophole" which allows people to purchase weapons from anything that can be classified as a private collection at a gun show without a background check and without informing the local governments. Here is an example from last year stating how weapons purchased at gun shows in the U.S. were reportedly a major contributor to the raging violence that is currently tearing Mexico apart.

QUOTE (mr_genius @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 12:52 PM) when did that expire anyways? i really don't care if assault rifles are banned, just wondering. even with these guns available we haven't seen an a big increase in assault rifle crimes (if you have a source that says otherwise, a reputable source, i would be interested in reading it). The ban expired September 13, 2004. Unfortunately, the original ban was so weak that actually trying to gather data on the use of legit assault weapons in crimes has always been difficult, because the gun manufacturers rapidly created weapons that were slight variants on true assault weapons to get around the ban, and because assault weapons that were already in circulation continued to be sold in various legal ways. (I can still recall a 60 minutes bit a few years back about how the Kosovar rebels managed to arm themselves with heavy, .50 machine guns by simply buying them at gun shows and shops across the western U.S. and exporting them to that region, for example).

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 12:18 PM) It would also be very difficult for them to legally purchase any sort of automatic firearms. You have to go through an awful lot of red tape for that. They could buy semi-automatic versions and modify them using a few machined parts, though. Not in this country. Especially not after the assault weapons ban expired.

QUOTE (lostfan @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 11:45 AM) I mean, I really wonder if the Pakistani government even COULD stop the problem if they wanted to. Not without likely bringing down the government itself, which is of course the catch 22. The government might do that and then fall apart pretty rapidly and you might get lucky and have another government reestablish control, or things could suddenly get dramatically worse to the point that you start getting really scared about those nukes.

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 11:31 AM) I would think that there would be more people in those buildings during the early work hours on average. Well, not to be too morbid, but honestly, the 2 buildings they hit, they hit too early in the day. Probably they were about 1/2 filled or so at the time. If those impacts had happened an hour or so later in the day, there would have been a lot more people at each level and a lot more people trying to get out.

QUOTE (DBAHO @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 11:39 AM) Unless you got Pelfrey, Murphy and Martinez for those 2, I don't think any trade with the Mets is worth it, to be frank. And Minaya can just go out sign Abreu and K-Rod, and not have to give up any of those 3. Which is probably what the Braves would prefer they do, because that pretty much forces them to overspend at a time when the economy is tanking and their new ballpark is about to be renamed "Seized by the U.S. government field"

Red Sox extend Pedroia through 2014, $40.5 million contract, $10 mil option for 2015.

An interesting part of the Atlanta deal is that by jumping the gun with a good offer for us, they may well have prevented the Mets from getting better via the trade route. There's always talk of those teams in the NL east trying to make sure they don't let the other teams build up an advantage. Wonder if that played a role in getting the Vazquez deal done; now the Mets and Sox are much worse matches.

Franken camp believes they may have the lead by their current method of gaining info about the challenged ballots. Could just be spin.

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 11:19 AM) But against a target that was much easier and softer than doing the same thing in the US. Let's assume you're correct, that this attack took months of planning. That doesn't necessarily mean that it requires months of planning to successfully pull off this level of attack. That could mean that they spent a lot of time working and training, and decided that with the resources they had, the simplest option, running through streets and hotels with guns, was the best. Just because highly trained people pulled off this attack doesn't mean a bunch of lowly trained people couldn't do so if they had the will.

QUOTE (R.J. @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 11:00 AM) Sorry if this has been answered - but what are the restrictions on taking a team's first round pick? I know a team can't lose their first round pick if it's in like the top 10 or 15, what's the official rule? I saw the Giants were interested - but I know we wouldn't get their #6 pick through arbitration. What's the line? What I mean is, who are we rooting for when it comes to signing Cabrera? You do not lose your #1 pick if it is within the top 15. If you're sitting at #16 and you sign a type A FA, you lose your pick. Basically, go Diamondbacks, you know you want Cabrera. That Drew guy you have at SS isn't worth anything. One question...the Mariners have an extra pick at #22 next year because they didn't sign their #1 guy last year. Anyone know what happens if they sign a type A guy?

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 10:33 AM) But that's really his last full, healthy season...but you're right, I did also "cherry pick" that because people who don't know much about him are comparing him to Darin Erstad, Rob Mackowiak, Joe McEwing, Aaron Miles, David Eckstein, etc. That's just ridiculous. He's a much more gifted player than that label signifies. But the point remains, both were around 30, had major injury concerns hanging over them and signed for less than many other available players on the market (Dunn, Ibanez, Griffey maybe, Burrell, Abreu). The problem with saying that's his last healthy season is...that's his last healthy season. At some point, it's worth while to consider how big of an injury risk he is.

QUOTE (KevinM @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 08:41 AM) Getz. Getz/Lillibridge, depending on who shows up in ST? It's not Grady Sizemore good, but I'm not sure it's worse than giving up anything of value for Taveras. Both of them have decent speed, can steal a couple tens of bases, and at least in the minors have put up solid OBP totals (except for BL last year, where he hit .220 in a horrid year)

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 08:57 AM) You dont think there is an arm on the FA market that is going to go for 3 years with an option? KW just got rid of bad attitudes in the clubhouse and you think he's going to bring one more back in? There's always a difference between "bad" attitudes and "Poor fit" attitudes. AJ Pierzynski had a horrible attitude before he came to Chicago. Manny was believed to be an excellent teammate in L.A. The question with him though is how much of that was him trying to work towards a contract and how much of that was the way Torre ran his clubhouse.

QUOTE (bmags @ Dec 3, 2008 -> 08:27 AM) true, and all though this may be piped up by India police to appear they stemmed off something worse, the Mumbai terrorists had aspirations of 5,000 deaths. I don't think this type of terrorism is too beneath Al Qaida. Think of the theatre in Russia overtaken by Chechnyan rebels. About 200 killed. Imagine a coordinated attack on 10 high populated areas with lax security. As David Foster Wallace said, (this is kind of out of context and you see his point in the whole scheme of things more) what if we chose to accept the fact that every few years, despite all reasonable precautions, some hundreds or thousands of us may die in the sort of ghastly terrorist attack that a democratic republic cannot 100-percent protect itself from without subverting the very principles that make it worth protecting? I think it's a little overblown but thought provoking. Here's the thing that sort of undersells me on that concept...why exactly wouldn't it have been done already if the group was willing to do that? All you need is the manpower and maybe $50,000 and a couple of weeks to go to U.S. gun shows. You could arm an army with that kind of money, without having any ID checks, with the equipment available regularly for sale in the U.S. It could have been done a dozen times by now if the manpower was there. The fact that it hasn't been done I think is an argument that the groups after us just aren't yet that interested in this sort of attack.

QUOTE (Kenny Hates Prospects @ Dec 2, 2008 -> 07:24 PM) Abreu wants three years. I for one don't want to pay him $15M for his Age 35-Age 37 seasons, not when Dunn (29 next year) is available. I can't imagine anyone signing Abreu for even close to that much.

QUOTE (fathom @ Dec 2, 2008 -> 06:37 PM) I like Flowers a lot, and have heard nothing but terrible things about how Lillibridge looked this season. It will be nice if the other two players involved are top 10-15 prospects in our system. KW better use this freed up money though. Hopefully KW wouldn't have made this move if they thought Lillibridge was unsalvageable.

QUOTE (joeynach @ Dec 2, 2008 -> 06:33 PM) but its worth noting that Thome and Dye both come off books after 09. See the trend here. JD still has an option year in 2010, it's affordable ($12 million for the option vs. $1 million buyout), the only reason we wouldn't pick that up is if he got hurt or was way down next year.

QUOTE (DukeNukeEm @ Dec 2, 2008 -> 05:44 PM) 1. Beckham 2. Viciedo 3. Lillibridge 4. Flowers 5. Poreda is that where it is now? After their respective seasons last year, I thinkyou have lillibridge way too high, and Poreda's probably still 2-3.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ Dec 2, 2008 -> 03:59 PM) Got any names to throw out there? Furcal? Sabbathia? Im stretching on that last one, but we do need some pitching. Maybe Burnett? Thankfully, I don't even have to flip out and panic at the suggestion, because this team is simply too smart to throw 4+ year deals at pitchers, let alone pitchers with horrid injury histories.