baggio202

i believe after the '00 ...with a few key additions...(for example - instead of making the wells trade - wells made 9 million a year..siro 2.2 - if we dont make that trade we have 6.8 million to spend in the FA market) we should have enjoyed a run kind of like oakland has had...now i dont know if you consider that a dynasty or not...i wouldnt have said if we were in the east or west..but in our division i dont think its unreasonable to believe we should have won the division the last three years..at least 2 out of the last 3... i understand we got hit with injuries in '01 and that hurts us..i gave KW a pass on that season att but one thing to think about....the injuries didnt really start to hit until may( i believe wells , parque , thomas didnt go down until around the middle of may??)..seemd like after all the injuries were through the team started playing better...had that team played just .500 ball through the first 6 weeks or so they probably make the playoffs inspite of the injuries..cause wernt we something like 17 -34 at one point???...while injuries were key they were not the only reason imo...

why do you insist that i keep bringing it up???... according to you if someone starts a post that talks about KW and i respond in a way that you dont agree with im beating a dead horse...im bringing up the same things over and over again...if thats the case just you responding to the thread makes you guilty of the same thing..i didnt add them up but im guessing you have more responses on this thread than i do you keep saying you refuted my arguements..thats in your mind..perhaps i dont agree with your refutting (is that even a word )... quit trying to be the board police...if you dont like what i post , attack it on merit or dont respond...but you have no right to tell me or anyone else what they can or can not post...taking personal shots at me is not gonna stop me from posting my opinions..so if it bothers you this much then just dont read them.... and again..yeah i screwed up at soxfest..wish i could go back in time and fix it but i cant ...and im sure you will remind me of that for years to come.. anyways..im gonna drop this arguement here...go ahead and respond if you feel like it and ill leave it at that...peace

from memory..here my thoughts on KW's trades as they happened siro - wells..hated it...i really like siro ritchie..hated it..i was a huge supporter of kip wells..and since sean lowe once left tickets for me at sox park he was definately a favorit of mine...that was his worst trade baldwin trade..hated it..i was a huge fan of james after he pitched injured in the '00 playoffs..in '01 , right before he was traded he won like 4 starts in a row and i was championing we sign him long term..in hindsight, if i was GM i guess that would have been a huge blunder on my part...but i like the idea of rewarding guys with heart like james has.. clayton trade..surprisingly..this was the first trade KW made that i agreed with..i thought bringing in clayton would give us more flexibility...my only grip with KW on this one was he waited way too long to rectify the situation...clayton was a clubhouse disaster..he should have been either traded or released after gthe first season..or before canseco move..this was probably KW's classiest move...canseco imo got a raw deal by MLB.. colon..was a good deal... 3 replaceable players for an all star that can eat up 240 IP... uribe deal...i like uribe but from day one my beef was we should have kept miles and traded harris to colorado for uribe...im sure they would have taken either guy since neither one did anything at the mlb level...but KW says he was looking for grinders and miles is the prototypical grinder..then he trades him.. alomar , garcia , everett..these are deals that were made to help the team win at the time..cant fault those type of deals..i thought we should have been buying in '01...we were like 7 or 8 back at the trade deadline..similiar to st louis...they got woody williams..he went undefeated and they crawled their way back into the playoffs... you know my view on olivo and botch there are others but ill stop at these... williams said just a few weeks ago on radio that he would never apoligize for making a mistake..that says alot about the man imo..a man that cant admit a mistake is bound to keep repeating them...

i came on this after sox fest and admitted i messed up at soxfest and apoligized about it...my profession does not lend to public speaking and i was nervous and what i wanted to say didnt come out right...now you can keep bringing it up and personally attacking me about it all you want ..i dont care..i did something kenny williams said he would never do just a few weeks ago..and thats apoligize for a mistake.. and i dont hate KW as a person since i dont know him but i think he is incompetent as a GM...very incompetent...you think he is the greatest thing since sliced bread..thats great... you have your opinion and i have mine..you share your opinion on KW just as much as i share mine...but i never attacked you personally for your opinions and wont..or anyone else that disagrees with me... i didnt start this topic..just added to it...and how long am i gonna play this one trick pony??...how long are gonna play your one trick pony about how good he is???...i didnt know i needed your permission to post here.. if you dont like what i post here is an idea..put me ignore..or dont

he's cheap

not to mention , but i will anyways kw gave botch , what was it 7 million a year (?) before he threw pitch one for us

problem is billy botxh was never in the same class as kieth foulke... foulke's stats just blow botch out of the water... anyone who thinks that botch was a better closer than foulke just didnt so their homework...foulke's era , whip , strike outs per ip , walks per ip , just blew away botch.. remember KW said we traded for botch because we wanted a classic strike out pitcher...but kieth foulke averages more k's per ip than botch..obviously KW didnt do his homework on that trade either..foulke's the better strike out pitcher too

here are some facts on the great kenny williams fact... took over a 95 win team with a payroll not much over 30 million dollars fact...our owner..mr. cheapskate , let williams double the payroll to 60 plus million the very next season..making it the largest payroll in the division.. fact...we play and have played in the weakest division in baseball..basically because the other teams in the division are not major market teams...no other division has it this easy.. fact..the last two years minnesota has kicked our butts..with a lessor payroll.. fact...kenny williams teams have won NOTHING..NADA ..ZIPPO.. fact..we have not had a lefty power hitter that has 30 homers since williams took the team over..3 and 1/2 years later unless valentin , who was here when williams got here , continues his career year in homers we still wont have one...opinion..thats the biggest achilles heel on this team..never been addressed... two trades i want to discuss cause i saw some stuff that has me shaking my head the olivo trade ..imo , anyone who thinks we won that trade is in serious denial...bradford has spent the last 3 plus years as the A's set up man helping them to the playoffs in all three years..he's still there...just think to last year...we had marte and gordon in the pen doing a good job and wunsch for half the year...everyone else stunk...billy botch , rick white..omg..you guys dont think chad bradford wouldnt have helped more than miguel olivo??... the billy botch trade..because we got neil botch in that trade it makes a winner for us???... :headshake ...with kieth foulke last year we win the division..probably by 4 or 5 games...but im sure in three years when botch is maybe a halfway decent pitcher and we are at 90 years and counting since winning a world series you can all say i told you so :headshake there couldnt have been a better situation for a GM to walk into (except of course the skanks) then the one KW took over...3 plus years later in the weakest division in baseball we no titles to show for it and the largest lead we ever had in the division was 2 1/2 games...but its all ok..just listen to the hawkaroo...it was all jerry manuel's fault

hmmm..not a bad idea

would carlos lee have seen that same pitch again...you say no way...now we cant say that for sure..i mean the pitcher was struggling with his control...but you are probably right...there was a good chance that was the best pitch carlos was gonna see..but thats not my point...next week when we lose a game 3-2 or something and carlos is up with runners on the corners (or bases loaded) and carlos again swings at the first pitch thats at the knees just off the corner and hits into a 6-4-3 dp...what conversation are we gonna have then??? there is a reason why carlos has in the past hit his share of grannies but also is what 1 of 9 this year with the bases juiced???...he has one idea in mind..swing for the fences...i just dont think thats a good mindset to have... carlos isnt the only guy i see this with..and it hurts out team imo..i really think that the thought processes of a lot of our hitters is a big reason why we underachieve so much... but i made my arguement now and im in the minority so ill defer to you guys...for now

offensively this team is not much different than the '00 team...and pinella showed the world how to beat a power hitting right handed dominated team...all right handed pitching started the three games..after the 6th he turned valentin durham around with a lefty pitcher and then thomas on down faced right handed pitching..i dont believe 3 through 9 faced anything but right handed pitching in that series.. basically what pinella said was your top two , valentin and durham will have to beat us before the 6th inning..after that every match up will be in my team's favor.. unless we pick up a lefty handed power hitter that could hit 30 homers any playoff team will throw every right handed pitcher they have against us and say valentin better beat us by the 6th inning cause every other pitching match up will favor us

knee jerk reactions??? this team has underachieved since the end of the '00 season...how is that knee jerk???..and anyone who thinks that everything was manuel's fault and now that ozzie is here everything will be okay is living in a fantasy world.. there is a phenominon where when you replace the boss in any work place enviorment , not just sports , there is a short period of time where production improves...all the problems that were there with the old manager/boss are gone and there is no baggage with new guy...but after the honeymoon period all the old bad habits will start to come back if they havent been properly addressed and sometimes even new stuff starts to happen with the new guy in charge.. i believe we are at that point with ozzie right now...lately all the bad crap that has plague this team for 3 years now is creeping back into our play...watching "homers" bounce off the wall and getting thrown out at second...unable to to score runners from 2nd with no one out...less and less ozzie ball...stolen bases are down..failed executions...everything that has frustrated us in the past is starting to surface.. so now we get to see if ozzieball is for real and if he is a better manager than manuel...how is he gonna handle these little things that are hurting us???...hows he gonna handle all the "posing" on home runs???..i think we are a very key stretch with this team we could bounce back and win 15 of the next 20...but there is an equal chance we could drop 15 of the next 20...the rest of july is so huge for this team ....cause if its the latter KW will dump this team bigtime

i understand what you are saying..but how many times this year has carlos been in similiar situations and swung at the first pitch and it wasnt center cut???...if carlos had a better track record at situational hitting and doing the little things it takes to win i would agree with you..but im watching the game i just knew carlos was gonna be cutting and hacking from the first pitch.. you can say anahiem's scouting in that situation was horrible because the first thing that should have been on rodriguez mind was a fastball about 6 inches off the plate..strike one..or maybe that was his thought pattern and he missed over the plate and got lucky... but any team that scouts us has to know you can get carlos out in RBI situations w/o throwing a strike

thanks cheat..you put it better than i did.. carlos got a good pitch to hit..hit it hard..maybe some bad luck and got out...he could have even cleared the bases but thats not my point...if rodiguez threw a pitch in the dirt carlos was swinging...if he through it at the knees 3 inches off the plate , carlos was swinging...basically carlos' mindset seems to be (from this and similar situations ive seen from him throughout the years - im not claiming to be a mindreader ) if i got a chance for some rbbies and the pitch is anwhere in the park im swinging.. maybe the next time carlos comes up with the bases juiced or 2 men in scoring position and he swings at the first pitch and its a pitcher's pitch we can revisit the issue... everyone keeps asking why this team constantly underachieves..well ???

im reminded of frank thomas last year..a situation that happened against oakland with val on 2nd and no one out in the 8th of a one run game...it set off a huge debate...thomas off chad bradford swung at the first pitch and hit a rocket to 3rd.. it was snagged by chavez and val ended up be stranded and we lost 3 to 2...i made pretty much the same comment about frank , who is my favorite player..got ripped but still believe im right on that one too.. im a big proponent of situational hitting..and part of that is making a pitcher who walks the bases loaded really work to get out of it..that to me means in this situation that you try and work the count in your favor...putting the pressure on the pitcher , who obviously is struggling with his control to find it in a hurry... imo , when you add all these little things up throughout the season...you find out why the sox, who for the last 2 years have been on paper a much better team than the twins (twins players even admit this) end up losing the division by a few games...

remember though the twins had 4 or 5 guys on the DL..isnt shannon stewart due back soon??..or maybe he uis already back..last year he was huge for them down the stretch...for whatever reason , that team knows how to overachieve...they wont just go away and die..we are gonna have to beat them

so you think its a good thing to let a pitcher off the hook with one pitch after he just walked the bases loaded???...

this is so typical of our front office...when they decide they want to trade a popular player they have a great way of getting under the guy's skin so he says something in the press that turns the fans against him..then when they trade him the fans arnt all that upset.. ozzie b****ing IN THE PAPERS that he is pissed at maggs because supposedly the coaches were working with maggs..throwing BP and stuff while he was here trying to get him ready and now ozzie makes it sound like maggs is blowing them all off while he was in miami working on a visa problem (if that even happened)... so maggs comes back..probably teed off at ozzie and management because he is being ripped in the press by his manager (subtlely of course)and isnt here to defend himself and then some reporter asks him about his contract talks and stuff comes out that shouldnt and all hell breaks loose...fans are already saying well im now getting tired of maggs ..when that happens the KW feels alot better about trading our superstar... i dont want to see maggs go but understand if we make that deal thats being talked about to atlanta...but i hate how management feels they have to slight a guy before they trade him...its not the stand up thing to do imo...

sorry guys...just cant help myself..this guys stupidity and selfishness just drives me crazy...so instead of bashing just consider this therapy for me two guys walk in front of him in a 2 run game and what does carlos do???...swing at the first pitch...and i know the defense already...the pitcher was awesome....that was gonna be the best pitch carlos saw...but i gaurentee that carlos wasnt thinking zone him in - reel him in...he was up there like he always is with the bases loaded doing what he always does...starting his swing in indiana and finishing in wisconsin...expanded his strike zone to pretty much anything in the park.. i dont know...he has him sucessful moments..i cant deny him that...but the watching his homer at home plate (btw - should anyone having only 8 homers halfway through the season ever even think about posing???)...complete lack of situational hitting or even trying to attempt it..cant bunt..weak in the field.. his fans can rip me all they want..but i really believe that his type of play is so symptimatic of why this team underachieves year in and year out

ive met colin powell before and he is anything but an ass hole...the guy is an awesome leader...a bush / powell ticket would be unbeatable...it would also set powell up for '08 to run against hillary...any white guy thrown in against hillary is '08 would be a loser..

hey , how did yoy get qwerty 's quote in your post thats before the post where he wrote that

another game where we score 2 runs..at least we are consistant :puke

oops, sorry..but it is a good one

they are from oregon..rogue river runs through a town called roseburg..i think thats where they are from