DBAHO

More updates;

QUOTE (Palehosefan @ Jul 13, 2009 -> 01:42 AM) Scouting reports like this from BA are hard to take about Phegley... "Scouts aren't sold on his future production or his defense, however. Some think his bat is a little slow, and he didn't look impressive with wood bats during Team USA tryouts last summer or Indiana's scout day last fall. He bats out of an exaggerated crouch, which makes it difficult for him to catch up to velocity at the top of the strike zone. Phegley bulked up after batting .232 without a homer as a freshman, and his thicker build has cost him defensively. He has plus arm strength but a slow release, leading to average results in shutting down the running game. He has caught 31 percent of basestealers over the last two years. He is a below-average receiver who has been exposed this spring by Eric Arnett's explosive fastball and Matt Bashore's breaking pitches." Hopefully he can adjust to the wood bats like fathom mentioned. I at least look at the progress that Flowers' has made behind the plate this season, and I think there's certainly room for hope with Phegley down the line. And that's a big benefit about having a good minor league system in place in terms of coaching etc. which the Sox have certainly improved on over the past couple of years.

QUOTE (rangercal @ Jul 13, 2009 -> 03:11 AM) Of course you won't put the bulls in there, you never do. Hater. Ha, I actually thought the Bulls wouldn't have the cap room to offer him a max deal if the cap drops to 50M before I looked at this; http://hoopshype.com/salaries/chicago.htm If they could somehow trade for Boozer's expiring contract also, they'd be in an even better position.

QUOTE (Milkman delivers @ Jul 13, 2009 -> 03:22 AM) Dbaho, it's Pyrenees. Heh, close enough. I just read this article as well, which I found quite interesting;

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Jul 13, 2009 -> 02:52 AM) Contador deserves better than Astana. They hired him to be team leader and have treated him pretty poorly from what I've read. Every mistake hyperanalyzed. Then they go hire Lance this year? Contador belongs on a team he can dominate - something he's rightly earned. It's gotten to the stage now where the other teams are going to try and help each other and gang up on Astana if they can. Couple of decent climbs in today's stage also.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Jul 12, 2009 -> 02:03 PM) Well this great pitcher has sucked on the road this year. He is not worth 6 million clams a year, he just isn't. I don't care if he isn't a closer and the standard is lower for set up guys. Why does he get a pass for all these bad outings, especially ones on the road. Would you guys really be upset if we dealt Dotel? Are you related to him? Why all the love for Octavio Dotel? Nobody is on here saying that Dotel is the greatest set-up reliever of all time. But what do you trade him for? Who replaces Dotel in the bullpen? Do you offer Dotel arbitration in the off-season if you keep him, and hope he either accepts for a 20% or so pay-cut or declines so you can get the draft picks? These are the questions that need to be answered.

Hey they've owned us at their park, but we've done a very good job against them so far this season, especially at our home ground, and that should be a positive, especially considering the Twinkies aren't going to be playing in that dome for much longer.

At this point there's no point in rushing Hudson to the majors as we did with B-Mac even though someone like Richard is certainly struggling ATM. The stats are very good on Hudson though obviously. 21BB's in 97.1IP, and a 50% GB% even though that number in B-Ham is 0.62 GO/AO. Little cause for conern though, he has a 10.38 ERA with runners on base, but he also has a 0.00 ERA in 21.2IP for B-Ham with the bases empty. I wonder how many runners have stolen bases off him this season, and what Dan's pick-off move is like also.

QUOTE (G&T @ Jul 12, 2009 -> 12:06 PM) The Sox were outbid for Viciedo but he wanted to come to the Sox because of the success of other Cubans. Who he picks as his agent will likely have an effect where he ends up. Hence why we're all hoping it's Jaime Torres.

I had 5 friends today saying they were making cupcakes. That's a bit much.

Today's a big day in the overall stock of things as they head back into the Pyroneise. Really looking forward to it. Somehow hoping Evans can get back into the hunt but I think his chances are gone now being just under 3 mins behind.

QUOTE (knightni @ Jul 12, 2009 -> 05:38 PM) Bosh would rather play in the USA. Toronto pays everyone in their country's national currency: livestock. Bosh has enough goats to open an Indian restaurant. What's the tax difference though b/w the US and Canada (well the max tax bracket anyways). Bosh to Dallas won't happen come 2010 because of them re-signing Kidd, signing Marion and probably Gortat so they won't have the cap space for him. Depending on how the Raps do this season (and i think they'll come 7th or 8th in the East as things stand ATM), Bosh could maybe stay with them, because otherwise there's only really Miami or New York to go to.

At least the Magic will be a better rebounding team next season even if they lose Turk's pick and roll and passing ability. I think Ryan Anderson is going to surprise a lot of people next season also (perfect system for him). We're after Matt Barnes now supposedly, and there's a chance that the Magic could match the Gortat offer still and then trade him to a team like Houston (but I doubt it).

I don't expect anything less from the Twins. When it's all said and done, they're usually right there in the AL Central and I expect no less from them this season either, especially if Mauer can keep hitting the way he has. And some of their starters such as Baker can certainy pitch better than what they've shown so far.

Couple of more FA moves. Grant Hill staying with PHX. Brandon Bass signs 4/18M deal with the Magic. Whether he will start and push Lewis to SF remains to be seen, but Bass is another guy who's around 25 who the Magic have signed as FA's over the years (Hedo and Pietrus) with upside still and his best basketball ahead of him.

When I left New York to come home, I talked to an American guy at the Check In terminal for Qantas for bout 20 mins, and he was in the Air Force from the mid 90's til the end of the decade. He basically told me that he got out just before they started doing lots of missions in the Middle East / Iran / Iraq etc. and he was very lucky to get out because once they started doing that they weren't letting people basically quit. Now he was living in Brisbane with a wife and two kids and he said it was the best decision he's ever made in his life. The military just doesn't appeal to me, although with high school leavers, the Army has become quite popular actually down here.

I'm a biter, and I also like to suck on them for some reason (which I know people are going to find that weird).

We had a $90M lottery last week, man that would have been nice to win.

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Jul 11, 2009 -> 02:01 AM) Dang. You really have a thing for female sportscasters and reporters. He's got his priorities in life in order then.

QUOTE (T R U @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 09:07 PM) So for the past year I have been living at home, WHILE paying $500 a month for an apartment that I was not living in (Couldn't get financial aid anymore, town where school is was a s*** hole had to move home).. That lease has finally ended and I am no longer on the hook for payments.. man, it feels so good. That's why I love living at home, no board or rent to pay ATM. Setting me up nicely for financial security, plsu my folks go away most w/e's anyways so I have the place to myself.

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Jul 11, 2009 -> 12:41 AM) Don't know if this has been mentioned, but on ESPN Insider, they said that anyone that wants Halladay has to take Wells. Now, I don't want Wells, but that just dropped the price of getting Doc. If the B-Jays want my team to take on that albatross of a contract, I'm not giving you any of my top 5 in the system. That's just ridiculous. I'm not surprised Riccardi is going down that line. Toronto's got payroll / attendance issues ATM so if he's going to sell his best asset, he may as well try to dump a bad contract on another team also. Whether or not it works, well that's the question. Not a lot of teams would be interested in taking on Wells' contract I would think.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 10:30 AM) Colon has only given up 1 hit through 4 innings tonight although he hasn't struck anyone out. Maybe he can do the job. He had his moments earlier this year. I think that's what KW is hoping for right now. It'll be interesting to see if Richard gets 1 more shot in the rotation.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jul 11, 2009 -> 02:47 AM) Can the Knicks resign Lee beyond next season and still have 2010 cap space? They're not screwing up their chances at Lebron for David Lee. That's the big question. It ultimately depends on what they'd pay Lee. But they're also trying to get Eddy Curry in shape again to deal him (good luck). ATM they are down as paying $19.23M in salaries for 10/11. And that's without the rookie contract for Jordan Hill (about 3M for 10/11) which bumps that up to 22.23M. So say they re-sign Lee for 45/5 and he makes 8.5M in 10/11, that bumps that up to about 31M. If they could deal either Jared Jeffries or Curry for an expiring contract, well they'd be made, but who's gonna trade for either of them. Houston would be my best bet, using Curry as a replacement for Yao possibly and dealing T-Mac for him, but that's a long shot at best. And the Knicks would have to add something to that also to get the salaries to match.

QUOTE (Rex Kicka** @ Jul 11, 2009 -> 01:49 AM) The hate is an American dominating the Tour. It's one thing if another European does it - because cycling is big there... American dominance is pretty deflating in the sport. The worst thing is that I think Floyd Landis got the shaft with his doping charge which I don't believe for a second. Armstrong is in third after today's stage behind Nocentini and Contador, Armstrong's teammate. Armstrong will assume a supporting role for Astana by the end of next week, I think this race is Contador's. Yep big stage for Contador today in the Pyroneise. I think the team is still behind a Contador win, but that could still change going forward. As for my boy Cadel Evans, he needs to leave the Silence Lotto team pronto if he ever wants to win the Tour. Think he's back in bout 25th ATM.

QUOTE (ZoomSlowik @ Jul 10, 2009 -> 02:40 PM) I would say his scoring goes down, his rebounding is legitimately good. No way he'd be getting 12 shots and that high number of easy looks in a normal system. He averaged about 11 and 9.5 over the two years pre-D'Antoni ball, that seems like a safe guess for his true value. If Noah plays 30 MPG, Lee probably gets you one more bucket inside per game with less help defense. I'd say right now the smart money is on Lee re-signing with the Knicks because; 1 - His GF is from there and is desperate for him to stay there (former WPT host Sabina Gadecki) 2 - D'Antoni's system is perfect for his game even if D'Antoni doesn't like the fact he doesn't have a jump shot from outside 15FT. I'd say Nate Robinson's chances of staying are much less though. If he does, it'll only be for the 1 year qualifying offer. But here's a scenario. The Magic got a $8M trade exception in the Hedo deal. They could conceivably go after Milsap or Lee if they want to on a sign and trade deal, but they're more likely to use it during the season (Udonis Haslem?) according to Otis Smith.