bighurt574

If he could, I think Ozzie would even admit that the "public" lashing of Tracey was a mistake. It's never been his style to show up one of his own players like that. Is Ozzie at risk for a suspension here even though no one was hit? Seems pretty clear to anyone that he brought in a pitcher with instructions to hit a guy. Stories like this also worry me: ESPN, quoting Suntimes Having "leaks" like this can't be good either.

Luckily for the Cubs, they sold most of their tickets before the season started. If the Sox can make another deep playoff run while the Cubs continue to flounder, next year you might see the attendence numbers get pretty close.

The fact that any Cub fan or player (Rich Hill, cough, cough) would call out AJ is a perfect statement of what is wrong with the Cubs. If the Cubs had more players that played the game the way AJ does, maybe they wouldn't be in the situation they are in now. Anyone that thinks AJ was out of line has been lulled to sleep by watching poorly-played, lackluster, lackadaisical baseball for a while. Welcome to the big leagues.

I would love Hunter (if nothing else, the rest of the Sox lineup would have about 5 more HR's a year), but the Twins aren't going to trade him to the Sox.

The video is not good, it was a lot more than a "flip," as soon as the ump ejected him, Young purposefully turned around and threw the bat at a pretty good speed from about 10-15 feet away. Luckily the bat appeared to just bounce off the ump's chest protector. He should be out for the year.

I'm guessing the May 6 game is some promotional day involving group sales - weren't there a couple random sellouts like that last year?

Since the Orioles asked for Contreras, I would think they wouldn't be asking for McCarthy as the pitching prospect. It's a little risky to make yet another drastic trade coming of a WS, but I like it, Tejada is an elite player in his prime and at about $12M per is worth the contract.

With Vasquez, I think another trade has to be in the works. KW will put the push on for Garland and Contreras to sign an extension (as he's already started to with some pretty strong words), and whoever won't sign will get dealt. If they can trade Garland for some big offense (Tejada, Abreu, Crawford), it makes sense. BMac proved last year that he deserves another shot at starting right now. It doesn't make sense to have him buried as a long reliever (how often did the Sox use a long reliever in 2005?) when Garland could land them an elite offensive player.

It's going to take a lot more than a few mid-tier prospects to get Crawford. The Sox had to give up Carlos Lee to get Podsednik, and Crawford, IMO, is a step above Podsednik. I'm sure the Yankees or Cubs would bid pretty high to get him in CF. Still, if KW somehow pulls it off, this would be the move of a very impressive offseason. His contract at $5-$6 million per for a player of his calibre entering his prime is a steal.

I'd love to have him back still but there's no way. Whereever he signs, it's going to have to be an incentive-based deal. It doesn't make much sense to agree to such a deal if you're going in knowing you're a backup. With only a game or two a week available even if he remains healthy, that just wouldn't work.

AJ and Hunter are on Best Damn Sports Show, AJ told Hunter that Rowand should have won it...

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Oct 31, 2005 -> 01:17 PM) So, what we're saying is we'll have the highest payroll in baseball history next year? The franchise is worth $300 million, that's a far cry from having $300 million in annual revenue.

You can order framed covers directly from SI.com, might come out a little nicer with a higher quality print.

There were some bad calls tonight, but those didn't cost the Angels the game, the Sox outplayed them in every aspect of the game. Finley has no excuse for not running that play out, in any circumstance.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=cnns...cnnsi&type=lgns

I don't think anyone can say with 100% certainty that the ball did or did not hit the ground (I think he probably caught it). It did appear to change direction, but whether that was from the ground or the webbing of the glove between the ball and the ground, who knows. If instant replay was in place similar to the NFL, there was no conclusive evidence to change the call, regardless of what it was on the field. In any event, had Paul simply tagged out AJ as a precaution, this never would have been an issue. And I'd like to think that the Sox would have won the game eventually given that the Angels had already used 3 of their better relievers up just to get to extra innings.

I'll take the Yankees. Rivera pitched 2 innings last night, hopefully he will do the same tonight if they win.

He wasn't throwing any for strikes, but I was suprised none of the Boston hitters chased any, they all started right down the middle and sharply dropped off. I wonder if he was tipping his pitches a little.

It's not a matter of bandwagon fans. Every fan in the stadium could have easily gone to 5-10 games each of the past few years. Now, that's not enough to sell out the season, but when you have all of those fans trying to get tickets for playoff games, that still is more than enough to sell out the park. Does it make them bandwagon fans for not having season tickets each year? I don't think so.

It's a steal. Had Podsednik stolen second, and Ozuna broke for home on the throw to second, I don't think there'd be any debate. This is the same thing. Maybe not as cool as a flat-out break for home, but still a steal.

QUOTE(ChiSox_Sonix @ Jul 29, 2005 -> 08:48 PM) Anyone think a package of Rowand, Marte and BMac/Anderson/Gio/Sweeney would get it done? Wouldn't get it done, Boston could care less about the prospects, they're playing for this year. If I'm Boston, and looking at the White Sox, I'd be asking for Dye, Marte, and O. Hernandez.

QUOTE(nitetrain8601 @ Jul 29, 2005 -> 08:23 PM) First off, it wouldn't cost as much as you guys think considering we'd be taking on his contract. I don't know why people don't grasp that concept. Um, no. That logic is true in the off-season, where Boston could then go out and spend the $20M/yr they'd be saving on other free agents. That option is not available now. Boston is defending their title and trying to make and advance in the playoffs. If they trade Manny, they would need enough MLB-level talent back to not kill their chances. Giving up Manny cheap might be good for Boston long-term, but would destroy any postseason hopes this year.