Jim Fainter

Joe Blanton is the pitcher that Beane drafted after we took Royce Ring, which was a shock to Beane, because he thought we would take Blanton for sure. Now Ring is gone, Blanton is having a good year in A ball, and we have Alomar. Beane has several underlying philosophies, two of which I agree with. One, draft college pitchers instead of high school pitchers; and, when evaluating hitters, OBP is very important (which goes with taking a lot of pitches).

The irony of the Pacheco situation blows my mind. The Alomar/Pacheco trade with the Rockies a year ago was one of Kenny's few good ones. We gave an old catcher that we really didn't need then for a promising young pitcher with a great arm. Pacheco turns out to be better than Kenny thought, so he includes him in the package with the Rangers. Someone did a good job of scouting Pacheco last year. What pitching prospects do we have who are ahead of Pacheco? Honel, Cotts, Wing, maybe. If you pull back Pacheco, do you blow the deal? It sounds like the Rangers knew more about Pacheco than we did when the deal went down.

Jason, Kim coaches for the Cubs.

I just finished the book, and I really enjoyed it. I thought that the author would be taking some shots at KW, but he really didn't. Of course, the book was written just before the Koch/Foulke disaster. The author, Michael Lewis, did cover the Bradford and Durham trades and the Royce Ring draft, but there were no other shots at Kenny. There is no doubt that Beane will let Tejada go, but that's another story. Just wanted to plug the book.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but we can't trade Frank Thomas because of the 10 and 5 rule. We would have to get his permission, which means renegotiating his contract. He won't do it for Baltimore. LA, probably.

Of course he's passed Borchard. Not a doubt.

Perfect example. Had a great April, now hitting .207.

He will play down to his real level of skill, eventually, just as he did for us. Sorry for the lousy metaphor.

Would you believe Carlos Maldonado? Candy was an ex outfielder for the Giants, Cubs, and others.

Jason, I'll agree with you IF we get the two first rounders, but it might result in us eating a big contract next year through arbitration or whatever.

Water seeks its own level.

Sure there is. This lineup of ours is VERY slow. Then they will swing for the fences to hide the fact they are so slow.

Next year we'll have a whole s***potful of candidates for Comeback Player of the Year. At least at the beginning of the 2004 season. Of course, if they duplicate their 2003 season(s) next year, they wouldn't really qualify for the Comeback award. And, Jason, I wasn't aware that Everett had such a bad year last year. If that is the case, then please tell me why we gave up so much for him.

The two trades actually hurt our team speed, because Harris and Rowand are arguably the fastest players on the team, and they have been relegated to the bench.

Koch's disease must be contagious, because Colon caught it.

Speaking of trading Everett, he waived his no trade clause to come here. I bet that clause is still in effect. Jason, is that what they taught you at GM school?

Jason, I will never understand your fascination for Jiminez. He is the prototypical non-winner.

I wonder if Brian Anderson is still alive.

Grif was only 19 when he hit the show, so naturally the power came later. He has a tremendous home run swing that generates power and sacrifices average. That swing has been copied by others, most notably Jim Edmonds. I don't think his power was steroid induced. I feel sorry for the Reds. They still have to pay him.

To those who want to get rid of Everett, you aren't thinking that we could get anywhere near as much for him as we are giving up to the Rangers, do you?

Anybody know if Ryan Sweeney showed up at Bristol today?

Jason, since the trades didn't work, do we still have to give up Pacheco, Rupe, Webster?

How come no one is talkimg about how "talented" we are?

All he has to do is confess, do a few mea culpas, cry, ask for forgiveness, and a path would be cleared for his admission. Might take a few years, but it would happen.

I agree on Rowand. Put him out there. Defense is worse with Ev in center.