Kenny Hates Prospects

Uribe is one of those players who is easy to love when you're winning and easy to loathe when you're losing. When he's there for his defense and his bat is more or less irrelevant then it's great. As a bench player I'd definitely welcome him back if we don't have to give him much more than the minimum. He brings defense, versatility, and some right-handed pop from the bench, and he was apparently a favorite in the clubhouse.

QUOTE (jasonxctf @ Aug 21, 2009 -> 11:57 AM) hard to believe that no one would want a guy hitting .294 with a .368OBP in AAA. If he keeps this up then someone should pick him up over the offseason. He still has the chance to be another Mark Reynolds. The Pirates could be an option as they're probably not far from pulling the plug on Andy LaRoche and even if they don't they could find time for a change-of-scenery project with potential who can play the IF corners.

QUOTE (MHizzle85 @ Aug 20, 2009 -> 11:41 PM) It was a fight that made absolutely no sense business wise. Why have your 2 best heavyweight prospects go against each other & have one risk being pushed back this early in their UFC careers? The better move would to be build them up at the same time, with Carwin he's already got his shot coming. I believe some of this is from the UFC hype machine. Some of their fighters aren't built up correctly anymore. From what I can remember, Jon Fitch would be the only fighter that earned his dues and made a name for himself until he got his title shot. You could say the same for Demian Maia currently. The hype on Cain is coming from all the AKA guys and really just high-profile MMA fighters in general. Bob Cook, the head honcho at AKA, went on record well before people knew who Cain was and said something to the effect of Cain being the best fighter he's ever been around with the most potential he's ever seen. This is from a guy who also manages Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, and Mike Swick among others. If it was just hype from Dana and Rogan it would be one thing because they always hype their fighters, but it's the hype coming from other areas of the business that is so crazy. Cain is a great wrestler who can grind out decisions and has an improving stand-up game, but he's small next to the other huge heavies and he lacks their power, and he hasn't shown to be much of a finisher. Lesnar, Carwin, and Couture are stylistic nightmares for him, and it would be hard to imagine a guy like him laying on top of Nog for 3 rounds without getting subbed. I agree with the top part about not making sense to sacrifice Cain to Carwin and instead build up Cain for a title shot.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Aug 21, 2009 -> 07:03 AM) To me this is one of those "3 sides to every story" situation... UFC doesn't like Big John and Big John doesn't like UFC. Do they have absolute control? No, the AC has some power, do they have some say? I'm sure they do, but one of the refs who regurally still does UFC matches (can't remember which one, whoever did Lesnar/Mir I) Dana White hates and has said so multiple times in the media Yeah, that article doesn't do anything but again confirm the lack of power the UFC has over the athletic commissions. The only times the UFC is going to have power is if 1) they're bringing an event to an area where no athletic commission exists and therefore have to enforce the unified rules themselves (which is Marc Ratner's department as I believe he is a former head of NSAC and was involved in everything from the first UFC shows under Zuffa to the Tyson ear-biting incident in boxing), or 2) if there is some bargaining or persuading that needs to go on as far as getting an athletic commission to sanction a fighter, or approve an event, etc. The UFC does not have any say when it comes to things like referees and drug tests. Dana has torn Mazzagatti to shreds publicly before, and he went after Yves Lavigne and Dan Miragliotta before too I believe, yet those three guys are still all over UFC events. Dana has even gone so far as to say Mazzagatti shouldn't have a job as a ref, and yet Mazzagatti gets to ref in high-profile UFC fights. At the same time, although Dana has admitted to being on shaky ground with BJM, Dana has also praised him for his abilities as a ref. So it makes no sense why Dana would use his "powers" to keep Mazzagatti in, who in his mind is pissing him off and ruining his fights, and to keep out a guy in BJM who Dana actually thinks is a great referee. This is all Sherdog-style conspiracy Dana-owns-the-world stuff. If you read that article, it states four important things: -John McCarthy is not licensed in Nevada where the UFC runs the bulk of their shows -the commissions are the ones that decide upon the referees and are the ones who would either assign him to a UFC card or prevent him from officiating on it -the commissions will recognize a possible conflict of interest and take that into consideration -it doesn't sound like BJM's comments in other publications and websites have done him any favors when it comes to NSAC and Keith Kizer, and if a rift exists, this would be the biggest one

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Aug 20, 2009 -> 09:15 PM) He'll clear. He's owed $2.7 million the rest of this year and a $1 million buyout. I don't think many teams want to pony up almost $4 million for a closer for 45 games. Especially one that has not pitched in the big leagues for a year. I agree and would be surprised to see him claimed. Edit: And for those who say "it's only money, no big deal," well, we could have signed at least 3 of our big 4 unsigned prospects with that much money. And had we signed 3 of those guys, no one would have said "trade all three of those guys for Wagner!" So I really doubt anyone is taking on that kind of salary. If the guy had a reasonable option for 2010 then he might get claimed, but he doesn't, so he probably won't.

QUOTE (Tex @ Aug 20, 2009 -> 11:03 AM) Isn't there also a case that any player's contract sets the table for other contracts. So if some untested draft picks makes X then the union boys could argue that is the new market price and push for X+5 or what not. Rookie contracts push the prices up for everyone. Not really because more and more, teams are valuing prospects more than they are valuing proven veterans. The more money the smaller market teams lose, the less money they're willing to risk. Think about it this way: why would a small-market team spend $10M on one above-average bat with a poor glove when they could take that money and sign about 7 or 8 prospects that all have the chance to be superstars? If just one of these guys becomes a star then you end up controlling him for 6 years at far below market value. Then, if the other prospects start to hit a wall and appear like they're not going to make it, you can still turn around and trade those non-roster players with potential for proven players and salary relief. Ultimately there's a window that every well-run team will reach where they can contend, and then at that point a shift will be made to try to acquire proven talent with unproven talent. But right now with all these small market teams losing money, it doesn't make sense to invest a large amount of money in one player that won't put them over the top when they can spread that money around to several players and shoot for contention in a few years. Because there are so many teams doing this right now (Pirates, Pads, Red, Astros and Jays will be soon, Baltimore, the Royals, Indians, Mariners, Rangers - although they are very close to constant contention, A's, etc.) there are no longer teams willing to bid on short-term investments and overpay average to above-average players. Demand is at an extremely low point right now, so the teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and Angels will make their frivolous signings, and then the remaining teams are left to pick over the free agent pool at bargain prices. The reason baseball is like this right now is in part due to the overall national economy, but a big reason - and probably THE biggest reason - is due to gross mismanagement of multiple franchises. Teams that couldn't spend money like water DID spend money like water, and they've saddled themselves with contracts they can't move. Teams that should have spent on their farm systems and worked to develop their farm systems instead took that aspect for granted and neglected it. Now everyone is rushing to rebuild their farm systems and dump bad contracts. As far as the union, they have a right to b**** about what is going on now with the splurging on prospects and the underpayment of productive players. BUT - they are also very much to blame, because maybe the major reason everyone is in this s*** is because they were making ridiculous contract demands and stupid GM's and owners happily obliged. Edit: I also expect to hear more about collusion over the offseason too. It is unfortunate that organizations like the Sox for example will be accused of this as the collusion umbrella descends upon the league as a whole. Organizations like the Sox and Braves for instance have been fiscally responsible during times of craziness, and now, because of their good position and smart salary management in the past, they will be able to take advantage of the depressed market. When the union b****es about collusion, or at least we hear "whispers" about it from them, they should remember that this never would have happened if the league had been run the way the Sox and Braves have run things over the years.

The power of The Claw!

Wagner probably hit waivers well before the story got out, so maybe be clears today or tomorrow. If he does, which I image he will, then it's time to start the bidding. We're going to have to give up something of value to get him, but probably not much and certainly nothing all that significant. I have to imagine Kenny will throw his hat in the ring ASAP if he gets through. I'd like to know how it was that Micah Owings cleared waivers in the Dunn deal last year when he was with the DBacks, because he was a guy on the 40-man roster. Maybe he was DLed? Whatever that loophole is, maybe we could exploit it with Fields.

Have to add I'm still a bit disappointed that we're not going to see Velasquez-Carwin because I was really excited about seeing Carwin steamroll him and crash the hype train. Ben Rothwell is a solid fighter who definitely deserves to be in the UFC, but I don't think he's going to be able to do much with Cain. Cain is going to take this one and then everybody is going to say the same old s*** again, that Cain is the future and yadda yadda yadda. f***ing Miguel Torres called Velasquez the next great Mexican fighter. I love Miguel, but f***ing come on. Miguel has about 10000X the ability of Velasquez and Miguel isn't small in his own weight class.

Carwin is Lesnar's toughest challenge yet and aside from Fedor, IMO Carwin is the toughest challenge Lesnar can have in MMA right now. If Carwin can force Lesnar to stand and trade then Carwin has to be the favorite. I suspect Lesnar is going to try to take a page out of Randy's book and make it strictly a clinch game, trying to keep Carwin pressed up against the fence and sap Carwin's cardio. Lesnar has a pretty nasty clinch game, and by keeping Carwin close in the clinch, Lesnar will be able to take away the majority of Carwin's power by preventing him from loading up. This also would give Lesnar the advantage when they separate, because he's the better athlete and will be able to get out quicker than Carwin would be able to, especially when you consider how slow and telegraphed Carwin's punches are. On the other side of the page though, Carwin isn't going to be easily bullied, although Lesnar should still have the advantage in grappling by being a much better wrestler, a much better athlete, and by being probably a little bit bigger come fight time than Carwin is. Carwin I believe doesn't have to cut much if any weight to make 265 while Lesnar does. This is a really exciting fight and I don't know who to pick, but definitely rooting for Lesnar here and I think he has the advantage if he makes every effort to avoid a slugfest. Whoever wins this fight should have a pretty clear path in the UFC HW division for quite a while, and the winner's toughest opponent will probably be the loser of this fight in a rematch.

QUOTE (SoxFan562004 @ Aug 19, 2009 -> 10:17 AM) That's the first I've heard of Yvel in the UFC, so I'm not sure what the story is. He's a tough guy so I think he would be a great test for some of the younger UFC heavies. It was in the MMA Weekly story you quoted above, at the bottom. That was the first I'd heard of it too, but it's not surprising. As long as Yvel is sanctioned in California he should get sanctioned in Nevada as the CSAC usually seems like the tougher of the two when it comes to deciding who can fight and who can't. And as long as he can get sanctioned in Nevada he should receive lots of interest from the UFC, especially after his last fight.

This is a must read IMO I'd love to see all of this, including the rights to players who are not planning on going straight to the MILB system. This would mostly mean players who are going to college, but this could also apply to players 18 years or older who are playing as pros overseas. Those players would then be eligible to sign when they are declared FA in the league they are playing in, and this would get around the posting system in Japan. MLB should forbid the entire posting process, and the teams that acquire rights to these players through the draft can then trade those rights. If all these changes went into effect you'd see even greater parity in MLB and fairer contracts for veteran free agents even in bad economic climates. You'd also see a s***load more trades and therefore more exciting playoff races as teams will be able to acquire productive veterans at say the cost of two future draft picks and the rights to a player who may not sign for another couple of years. The only addition I can think of that I'd like to make would be an overhaul of the MLB free agent compensation process. This would be my idea: IMO, a new round should be created with say 30-50 spots, but a set number of slots. Each year the Elias Bureau ranks all MLB players and the top 30-50 or whatever players who end up signing with another team net their former team a draft pick in order of their ranking, and no pick is forfeited by the team which signs an arb-offered player as a FA. Aside from player ranking, let the Elias Bureau also calculate a recommended, player-specific salary that would fit the production of the player's last two seasons - kind of like FanGraphs does, but do it in a way that fits current market value by comparing a player's performance over the last two seasons to other players' free agent contracts over the last two seasons. So for example, Jim Thome would be compared to both the free agent crop over the last offseason (Bobby Abreu/Adam Dunn/Raul Ibanez/Milton Bradley/Griffey/Burrell/etc.) with the amount they had guaranteed in their contracts considered. They would also consider the crop of the 2007-2008 offseason FA hitters and their contracts. Then, an average salary representing market value between the two free agent years would be worked out and adjusted for production. Then the Elias Bureau supplies this team with a number wholly independent of figures in the previous expired contract, and a team then offers or declines arbitration on THAT figure only. So for instance, instead of the Sox having to offer arb on a $13M contract, they might be forced to offer arb on a $7M contract, which is of course fitting. As the system stands, it actually PENALIZES the Sox for Philly signing him to his current contract, which is totally unfair because Thome is a productive player worth compensation should he want to test the market, but he is not worth the type of salary the Sox would be required to offer him. This whole set up also screws the players by removing one bidder, which is especially devasting for someone like Thome who can only DH and thus NEEDS to stay in the AL where there are only 14 teams. Edit: Had to un-clusterf*** this post.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 11:36 PM) It’s not an assumption, it’s a fact. Once ballplayers reach a certain point in their development, they simply don’t pick up plate discipline. They can learn to take more pitches, but ultimately, you can’t radically change a players approach at the plate when it’s been ingrained within them for years. It's hard to say they can't improve their discipline, but it probably is unlikely for most players to upgrade it significantly. But a few points: -A hitter with a sight problem can get laser eye surgery to improve his recognition of a pitch. -A hitter can improve his reaction timing by getting into better physical shape and training himself specifically to react quicker. Players (even AJ IIRC) have used video games to make improvements in this area and have spoken of their success. -A hitter with a long swing can shorten it enough to raise his batting average which then improves his OBP as a result and forces pitchers to work the corners more and thereby increases the chances of deeper counts and walks. -A young line drive hitter can develop power which makes him more dangerous and forces pitchers to work around him more and increases the likelihood of him walking. -A player who typically stands back further from the plate in the batters box can move closer to the plate during a season to cover the outside corner and end up racking up HBP. How much of CQ OBP is attributed to HBP? -A player can learn to lay off of certain pitches and learn to work with a smaller strikezone. I imagine this occurs a lot more with young non-Latin players early in their careers as Latin players generally can't lay off of bad pitches without sapping the aggressiveness that got them to the Majors. Those are just a few things off the top of my head, but plate discipline can be improved on. It's just that it's generally not going to be an increase of major significance (like going from a .320 OBP to a .380+ OBP) unless the player either develops big power, fixes a major hole in his swing to make a lot more contact, or unless that player is a high contact guy, especially one with speed, who hits .300 or well above that mark during a season, which for most players would be an abnormality.

I've defended Alexei all year, but when I saw that play where he got thrown out after the error I immediately said he should be benched. If I had been Ozzie I'd have taken Alexei out right at that point and put Lillibridge in there, and I wouldn't have cared if Lilli struck out in every AB from that point on through the rest of the night. I hope Ozzie talks to him and then benches him tomorrow.

QUOTE (southsideirish71 @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 11:47 PM) Tonight I saw a pitcher with erratic control of his stuff through the strikezone that got tired and started to hang breaking pitches in the zone. Freddy is younger than the count, however has been on the shelf for the last two years due to arm issues. His velocity is a pleasant surprise. But his control and ability to pound the zone with strikes is not there. Will it come back, maybe. And it better. He goes from facing one of the AL's worst offenses to one of the better ones. If he pitches like he did tonight, he will get a snowman put up on him. Freddy needs to have command and velocity to be successful. He did not have command tonight. Command is something that takes a while to gain, and usually is one of the last things that a player gets in ST. We dont have a lot of time left. So he better get better quickly. One thing is for sure. Peavy needs to come back soon. We have to break up the Conteras/Garcia back to back combo soon or we will burn our pen. Freddy is an unknown quantity due to his recent injuries. We need to see how he bounces back every 5 days. Is he better than Contreras yeah. Is he a good pitcher yet, no. I agree 100% and this is basically exactly what I'm trying to say. The main thing with Freddy is velocity because he NEEDS that in order for his offspeed stuff to work for him. Now that he has the velocity back, we can hope he regains command of his offspeed stuff because he has shown in the past that he can pitch well off an 88-91mph fastball. I'm not saying Freddy is definitely going to light the world on fire, but if he finds that command he will be a great find for this team. If he didn't have the fastball velocity there would be nothing to hope for this year whatsoever. If he keeps struggling with command like tonight he's going to get lit up by every team in MLB. But IMO he has cleared the greatest hurdle with flying colors by maintaining good FB velocity 90 or so pitches into a game.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 11:39 PM) Kenny, I like you and I think we’re getting testy here. I’m sorry that my tone in my previous post was condescending, but I’m in a foul mood. My core argument is that the Red Sox are less likely to swing at some of Garcia’s bad pitches then the Royals were. Their numbers stand testament to it. Ok, sorry to get s***ty there. I like you too Thunderbolt . I do understand your argument, but I'm not talking about tonight's Freddy Garcia here. I'll explain in nicer terms: Freddy couldn't get it done earlier on because his fastball velocity wasn't there. This made his offspeed stuff much less effective because it put Freddy in a bad position. Freddy had to either throw his batting practice fastball over the plate and get it by hitters, or throw offspeed stuff with movement but without much of a variation in terms of velocity. Because of this, hitters could either feast on Freddy's fastball or they could feast on his offspeed stuff because, by having to throw so many breaking balls, he would end up throwing a lot more hangers. Even when a guy is in great rhythm it is still hard to throw enough good breaking balls to one hitter to get him out. Freddy basically was in a position where he had to try to change speeds and had to use his put-away pitches as go-ahead pitches. That's why he was really bad. Now, Freddy has the fastball that makes his offspeed stuff effective. Now, if he can locate his fastball to a point, he can get ahead of hitters with that. Now Freddy can turn to his breaking stuff in pitchers' counts instead of having to constantly rely on them in hitters' counts, which makes 1) makes Freddy's breaking stuff more effective, and 2) makes him less likely to throw a hanger because he won't have to throw so many of them. He can now pitch off of his fastball instead of pitching off of his offspeed stuff. So what I'm saying is, Freddy is just getting back to where he needs to be. Yes he pitched for the Mets and has logged innings in the minors, but right now is basically the starting point for him. Right now is his Spring Training so to speak. He needs to find command of the breaking stuff and if he does, his breaking stuff is good enough to get hitters out. Think about this: Freddy's fastball now is where it was in 2006, and that Freddy got us Gavin Floyd and Gio Gonzalez in a trade, and probably 90% of Sox fans thought Kenny should have gotten more at the time of the deal. That 2006 Freddy won 17 games for us and would be an excellent #5 in any rotation. Freddy is never going to have the velocity he had with us in 2005 and prior, but during the 2006 season he matured a lot as a pitcher and showed that he has the offspeed repertoire to get out hitters on a regular basis. Freddy can get back to that 2006 type of performance if he can find his breaking stuff, it is not in any way a fantasy. His breaking stuff is good enough. I know what you're saying about aggressive Royals hitters swinging at more bad pitches than Red Sox hitters will, and I agree with you there. However, Freddy threw some pretty effective breaking balls up there tonight and those are going to get out Red Sox hitters if he can throw them consistently when ahead in the count. Also, keep this in mind too: both of Butler's hits tonight were off very bad pitches which the Royals swung at. The homer was a hanger off the inside corner and above the belt. And thinking of it, most and maybe all of the big hits the Royals got tonight were on pitches that would have been called a ball had they been laid off on. A good hitter will expand his strikezone on a favorable pitch, and that is not a sign of a hitter with poor discipline. Red Sox hitters would have done the exact same. Hang Jason Bay the same pitch Freddy hung Butler and Bay hits it a mile too.

So Yvel is in the UFC now too? They either need to announce some more events or start putting like 15 bouts on every card because they're really stocking up on fighters. Maybe some of the 155ers can head to the WEC, but the WEC is also getting deeper and deeper.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 11:10 PM) I’m not sure you really understand what plate discipline is. I’m not really in the mood to explain the nuances to you so I’ll put it like this. The Red Sox have it. The Royals don’t. The Royals have a team OBP of .313 The Red Sox have one of .348. The Red Sox rank 1st in the league in team walks. The Royals are 13th. See the difference? Oh, please explain. What is plate discipline? Recognizing what a guy is throwing early enough to decide whether or not to swing? Ok, so does this mean a batter with great plate discipline can routinely recognize the difference between a fastball and a GOOD change-up or splitter or a curveball AND THEN decide to hold up his swing, or lay off of it, or time it well enough to square it up and pick up a hit? If that's the case, then Boston's OBP should be a lot higher than .348. Please think in terms of baseball, not calculations. If Freddy can find what he was doing for us in 2006 then he's capable of getting anyone out. Now that his fastball is where it was then, let's see if he can find that splitter and better control his curve. If Freddy can do that, then Boston, or any other team for that matter, is much better served to sit on his fastball and be aggressive early in the count when he's throwing it rather than sit back and try to hit the offspeed stuff that is dropping out of the zone. Now if Freddy can't locate the offspeed stuff well then it does *not* matter what the OBP is of any Major League team because he's still going to get hit.

QUOTE (Thunderbolt @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 10:45 PM) Especially, because Boston takes pitches. The Royals swung at a lot of crap tonight, Boston will be a lot more patient then that. Since when does being patient mean you can lay off of an offspeed pitch that looks like a strike coming towards home plate, or that you can't be tricked by a pitcher who takes something off of a pitch and get caught out in front? In fact, if anything, being overly patient is a BAD idea against Freddy because if his breaking stuff is working, the best way to get him is on his fastball which he'll use to get ahead of hitters early in the count. My god you guys make it sound like Freddy is Jose's age and has Andy Sonnanstine's stuff. If Freddy throws a quality start against Boston, which he is definitely capable of doing, watch this board freak out like it did when Jose had a few very nice outings after coming back. Freddy is 34, not 37, and he has more to offer in a tight situation than a totally erratic forkball and a drop-down garbage truck. The Freddy we have is not the same 85mph fastball Freddy that pitched for the Tigers last year or the Mets earlier this year. Through about 90 pitches or wherever he was at tongiht, the gun had his fastball consistently at 88-91. Give the guy a couple more starts to get up to speed and improve the command of his offspeed stuff and then we'll see where he is at.

QUOTE (Princess Dye @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 10:38 PM) I'm gonna start with aging DHs being all over our lineup and then i'm gonna get back to you with more. Paulie is 33 and is still a productive 1B who saves a lot of runs for our pitching staff by picking dogs*** throws from our IF. I'd hardly call him an aging DH. CQ is looking better as time goes by and is more than capable as a LF, plus he's still young. Pods and Dye, I agree. AJ, nope. So tonight we had two players that would fit that criteria in the lineup and one of them DH'd. The other was in RF which is an admitted defensive weak spot, but it's not like he doesn't have a bat. I'd hardly call us a lineup full of aging DH's after the Rios acquisition.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 06:07 PM) The thing is, he's healthy. He just needs to get some confidence in his off-speed stuff to keep hitters honest. He's throwing 94-95 consistently of late but guys are just sitting on it. Command and a secondary pitch is the key. Linebrink finds that and the Sox are golden. Agree. The walks last night were the problem, not really the home run. You do NOT throw first pitch fastball to Mike f***ing Jacobs in that situation - or probably in any situation for that matter. Even if you hang him a curveball inside right there he probably pulls it foul. That homer was nothing but terrible pitch selection.

If we can't trust Linebrink with a 3 run lead it's going to be pretty tough to find work for him. Might as well let him get his confidence back in Charlotte and call up Nunez again.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Aug 18, 2009 -> 05:08 PM) These last several predictions are too optimistic for my liking. 4IP, 6ER, 6H, 1BB, 4K Watch clips of Bannister yesterday if you want to see what Garcia will likely give us stuff wise. It wont be pretty. You've got to be joking. Freddy's velocity tonight was where it was for us in 2006 when he went 17-9, 4.53 ERA, 1.28 WHIP in 216.1 IP, and that Freddy can pitch for me ANY time. Freddy lost velocity on his fastball, he didnt lose his ability to throw his curve and splitter for strikes. I'm sure if you saw Peavy give up runs tonight you'd think he sucks too. Give the guy a break. He's working his way back and isn't going to look sharp this early. His FB is back where it needs to be in order for him to be effective and some of those curveballs he was throwing up there were nasty. Brian Bannister, yeah right...

Screw all the haters, I'm very encouraged by Freddy's start tonight. His fastball is up where it needs to be for him to be effective with his offspeed stuff which is his bread and butter anyway. He threw some pretty nice curveballs up there too. A couple pitches got up and he had to work, but I'm very happy with his outing overall. I hope Contreras is gone soon and Freddy takes over for the rest of the year.

That all sounded good to me when I read it. Sounded like a guy who kept the clubhouse loose. Maybe the broken bat part I misread or misinterpreted. I thought what you were saying was that when his teammates want him to pitch inside and send a message he does so. And I took the autograph story as light-hearted. Clevelan Santeliz, I gave you a smiley in the game thread, but now you get one of these: Take that, smiley!