Balta1701

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 08:06 PM) Um, Kevin McHale is the GM of the Timberwolves. Unless he's secretly trying to help the Celtics? There are some who believe Kevin McHale should win Executive of the Year for turning the Celtics into a championship contender again.

QUOTE(The Ginger Kid @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 07:14 PM) I just read the caption on the trib site: White Sox third baseman Josh Fields practices with an undersized glove after showing up early for spring training on Sunday. Maybe he should try picking up the one sitting on the base?

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 07:13 PM) Although also, I could see Kevin McHale maybe trying a Walker + Theo Ratliff deal or something (only because McHale is the worst GM in the NBA today). How does this deal make the Celtics better?

Anyone know what the green wristband means?

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 07:06 PM) Shows what I know. I think if you put him on a team that can contend he could turn into a valuable piece. I'm not saying he's the player he once was and you may be right, cause 3 more years is pretty rough, but I would deal Ben Wallace for him (than again that isn't really value, haha). If I were a team with some ugly contracts that were closer to expiring I'd think that would be a valuable enough deal (I should note that I consider value, the Nets getting back some bad contracts which can clear there cap room). If I was a contending team, I'd give up roughly what the Lakers gave up for Gasol or what the Hawks gave up for Bibby to get Carter at this point. Nothing more.

QUOTE(jackie hayes @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 06:59 PM) Something tells me you're going to go all Richard Jefferson in a club on me, aren't you?

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 06:52 PM) That is a great deal for the Nets. The Nets now are going to have to try to move Carter and Richard Jefferson and I think they should get solid value for each of them. They'll also be able to get some good contracts and they already have a solid center (defensively speaking) and a heck of a young PG (I'm a huge Devin Harris fan). My word, I wouldn't take Vince Carter if you held a gun to my head unless it was for Ben Wallace straight up. I don't know where you get the idea that they should get solid value for him. He just signed a brand new contract last offseason for a hell of a lot of money, he's 31, his numbers are trending downwards, he's had notable attitude problems his whole career, and on and on. I don't know where you get the idea that they could get solid value for him. Jefferson's expensive but he's younger, cheaper than Carter, and putting up better numbers. Although it seems he choked someone at a club in Minnesota, so...I could see him having some value, but the contract limits where they could send him to teams that are in the mood to win in the near future.

QUOTE(CanOfCorn @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 06:39 PM) I think it's a robot. That's why he messes up on grammar every now and again... Robots can usually add though...

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 06:28 PM) I think the loss of Garland will be the worse decline, but that should be offset by the bullpen. IMO, the Loss of Garland only hurts if the Jose Contreras of 2007 reappears. If he's that bad again, then being without Garland hurts because that leaves the 2 kids @ the back of the rotation with little support. A reasonable recovery by Jose would offset Garland's loss...as would some additional development by Danks and Floyd.

So many ways I could go with this one...which one to choose...ah, I think i've got it... Yup, that's him. The guy who stands in for the President every time a decision needs to be made...ba-zing!

Seems the Mavs and Nets may have worked out a deal that might fly, with the Mavs holding on to George and Stackhouse but putting Keith Van Horne in as an expiring contract after resigning him. It'll cost Cuban a little more in luxury tax to do it, but it might well be a better deal for them, esp. since Stackhouse made a mess by implying that there was already an agreement for him to come back to the Mavs. I still wouldn't give up Harris if I was Dallas.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 04:12 PM) You've to keep in mind that Boras fully intends to take Joe into free agency. And despite all Joe's kind words after 2005, the White Sox knew this all the way back in Crede's initial years. Which is why they drafted Fields in the first place, because they circled 2008 on the Calendar and saw that Joe was walking at the end of this year no matter what, so it made sense to have someone ready so that he could be dealt. Yes, it'll really suck if we let Joe go for Nothing. But think about this...The Phillies had 2 very good 1b men. They traded the older one for vastly less than he should have been worth due to injuries, and are still paying part of his contract. But they seem pretty happy with the results. And it mainly has to do with the fact that they had a very good player taking his place.

That meeting that Obama/Edwards called off on Monday to avoid the press frenzy seems to be happening as I write this post (and thus, happening as I expand the press frenzy)

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 03:04 PM) So our run margin is going to increase by 104 runs, yet we are only going to win 5 more games? The disappointing part is that we will probably have to win somewhere in the mid-90's to have a shot at the playoffs, and that would be a 20 win improvement. Key the Jim Mora press conference. Just getting rid of the chaff like Andy Gonzalez, Erstad, Pods, and hopefully Juan Uribe and the injured version of Joe Crede that we suffered through last year could well be enough to bring this team back to .500, if you toss in the fact that the guys we brought up to replace them (Owens, Fields, etc.) took a while to actually learn the game at all. It's really hard for me to fathom how bad some of these guys were last year, and just a marginal player at those positions would have been worth several games.

QUOTE(RockRaines @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 02:15 PM) Its only a couple of weeks recovery. 4 weeks > a couple...but either way, If I'm the brewers I'd rather have him getting hurt now than in the actual season. For reference...this sort of thing was actually somewhat predicted for Gallardo a week or so ago by Verducci, who noted that Gallardo's workload increased by 45+ innings between 2006 and 2007, and it seems to be a trend that if you push a pitcher's workload up by more than 30 innings in 1 season they have a habit of getting hurt in the next one.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 02:52 PM) In Gammons column on espn.com today, he said the first draft of Canseco's new book had Clemens at the party Jose says now he wasn't at, and discussing implants. Isn't that was McNamee said? I wonder how long before Jose spends all the money the Rocket gave him. Implants? Huh? Is this his wife being brought in to this again somehow?

QUOTE(RME JICO @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 02:44 PM) 77-85 seems like the low end. The median is probably about 83 wins +/- 5. They have the Rays in 4th in the East at 82-80. We are 9th in the AL. They say we'll have a .261 BA, .332 OBP, .433 SLG, 780 Runs Scored, 822 Runs Allowed For reference...last year we scored 693 runs, put up a .318 OBP, ,246 BA, and .404 Slug. 780 runs scored would have been 8th in the AL last year, right behind Seattle. We gave up 839 runs last year, 4th most in the AL. 822 would still have us giving up the 4th most runs in the AL last year. So they have us improving marginally on both the pitching and the hitting, but not nearly enough to be competitive. Which means that we're going to have to outperform on either one or both of those estimated numbers if we really want to have a shot.

QUOTE(Pants Rowland @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 12:59 PM) Am I mistaken or is that where the anti-Boras stance of the Sox brass originates? That's part of it. The Ordonez negotiation was another part. And you can't honestly tell me that stuff has gone over well with Crede. And I think there's a few more that will get recalled by other folks here momentarily.

QUOTE(bigred3535 @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 12:41 PM) I don't think Weaver ever played for the Sox did he? Drafted but never signed.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 12:25 PM) My friends and I have mentioned him; with how young he is, I think he follows whoever the next coach is--assuming that the next coach is here for a while. I thought of that too...but here's the counterpoint. Let's say the Hoosiers wind up looking at a postseason play suspension for Sampson's dealings. What type of coach is going to want to be put in that situation? You're certainly not going to pilfer any big name coach from another program if they are losing a scholarship or two or are put out of the tourney for a couple years. If that's the situation, someone like Fife, someone who honestly shouldn't be at the big time yet but who could be there a few years down the road, might be the ideal choice, and he'd be the kind of pick who might soothe some of the alums who are fairly angry at how this has turned out and how the U picked someone as a coach that it turned out they couldn't trust.

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 12:09 PM) But isn't this the kind of year the Big Ten usually sneaks up on everybody and gets two teams into the Elite Eight and one getting to the Final Four? Seems to me and only going through memory, that often when the Big Ten seems down, they find a way to get a team or two fairly deep into the tourney. My memory says the same thing. The Big ten may not have an absolutely stacked team, but they tend to have a lot of pretty good teams that beat up on each other throughout the big ten season...and when you take 4-5 pretty good teams who have spent their whole season getting experience playing hard games against pretty good teams, you've got a good shot to push 1 or 2 deep into the Tourney.

QUOTE(Rex Hudler @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 12:07 PM) Right now there are no rumors about who will the next IU head coach, there is only speculation. Let's be clear on that. Just because a name gets tossed out doesn't mean it has ANY legs at all. OR, it could me that person may be considered. I still expect Dan Dakich to be the interim coach the rest of the year. Hell, It's probably too soon, but I'll just throw it out there....Dane Fife.

QUOTE(witesoxfan @ Feb 17, 2008 -> 03:34 AM) Does Sisco have an option left or not? jc Everything I've read says that for whatever reason, the 2 guys who we care about that are out of options are: Masset and Floyd. Sisco should have 1 year left.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Feb 16, 2008 -> 06:54 PM) Before I jump to any conclusions here, what is your point? Quite simply, that the cost of those U.N. Dues people make a big deal about is the equivalent of about 2 F-22's a year.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Feb 16, 2008 -> 04:48 PM) f***....the Bulls are not going to make a trade, i just know it and they need to move Wallace and Gordon. Do you think that Bibby would either have made the Bulls a legit contender this year or would have been worth what we'd have had to give up to get him?