Zenny

Irony: Nomar is the guy who makes the first out. See? He was even dragging the team down in '03.

None taken. I agree with you.

I knew HE was Steve from the moment the Ali G references came up.

Easily. That vaunted Colts offense scored three points. THREE.

So you're going to judge Garcia on less than 10 innings as opposed to the nearly 100 innings of pure dominance in the minors (all with very good peripherals, which are extremely important in judging future success)? Also, Huston Street was brilliant at every stop last year, again with excellent peripherals. You also forgot Kiko Calero and Juan Cruz, who both posted very good seasons last year. Playing in the spacious NAC should keep their number transfers from NL to AL intact. Dotel isn't an ideal closer, but he did pitch much better after the initial struggles he had after the trade. I should know, he was on my fantasy team. Granted, I should've taken Lidge over Dotel, but I didn't see that trade coming. When did I say they were going to win it all this year? I said within the next five and they would not finish in last this year. I don't know if they have what it takes to beat the Angels (as overrated as I believe they are), but Seattle's pitching staff is still bottom-tier and Texas made no real improvements. The A's are going to finish first or second, depending upon the rotations of both teams.

Network Associates Coliseum is a nice place to see a game? Maybe if you like concrete. The place is a dump. I'm through arguing with you about this. The A's have put a quality team on the field with an above average offense, the best bullpen in baseball and a rotation with tremendous amounts of upside. It's clear that you have something against the A's. Why that is, I don't know or care. Just don't be ignorant.

I'm with you here, Crespo. Despite the age, Papelbon has a lot of upside.

Bad comparison. Manny's already passed him in homers (he has 8 more) and should have well over 500 when his career is done. Plus, his OBP is much better anyway and he hasn't been a full-time DH or spent nearly as much time there as Rice has. Add to that a World Championship and WS MVP (which I know voters put a lot of weight into, deservingly or not).

Rice doesn't have the longevity or OBP to be Hall worthy. He was dominant in spurts. Add to that mediocre defense and the poor media relations and you get a guy who gets just under 60% of the vote every year. I don't think he's Hall worthy (blasphemy from a Sox fan, I know), but those are just the facts. Red Sox Hall of Fame? No question. But he is undeserving of a Cooperstown plaque.

He shouldn't really be considered a prospect. He's getting up there in years and has mediocre stuff. Could make it for a weak team as a #5, but he'd never sniff our rotation unless the team plane crashed.

Things I'm not known for. Oh, and Seattle's finishing last in the division... AGAIN!

BSR, not surprisingly, is the only one who is correct about Moneyball. It is about finding undervalued players on a short budget. It's not purely OBP. It's not purely leaving runners where they are and waiting for the 3-run homer. Sure, OBP is a big part of it because teams with guys on base more often are more likely to get a run in. Duh. It's not about sitting there with your bat up your ass hoping the pitcher is wild enough to walk you. Also, OBP isn't just for hitters. Pitchers who throw strikes are also a key component because, again, the less hitters on base, the less likely the opposition is going to score. I don't understand why everyone hates Beane and his ideas so much. You try building a perennial contendor on $30 million bucks. Oh yeah, Crespo, great strategy. Let's judge a draft two and a half years after it. You can't properly judge a draft until 25 years after the fact when all players have retired. Also for your, "where does this leave Jeremy Brown?" question in regards to the A's acquiring Daric Barton. It's called depth. That's what makes teams strong. Then, they can later judge who's the better player and trade the other for what they need. In regard to Dan Meyer, so these two innings never existed, huh: http://oakland.athletics.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/stats/mlb_individual_player_gamebygamelog.jsp?playerID=434159&statType=2 The A's are winning a World Series within the next 5 years. That future rotation is just too good and too scary and all of those ridiculously good young hitters they have that play very good defense as well. Have fun crying yourself to sleep when Billy Beane makes you look like an *******.

Ugly motherf***er...

Oh crap, I thought you were talking about Al Jefferson because I didn't see the thread originator and it only said "Jefferson." Nice, I don't like RJ and Big Al needs the floor time. As far as the Celtics' playoff run, don't expect it to be a deep one. They'll get massacred by anyone with even a semblance of an idea of what's going on in the East. Miami looks like the real deal from this conference.

No, we'll get a real, live first rounder from the Dodgers. It'll be somewhere between 20 and 25. I don't have the real order in front of me, just the changes.

Um... no, not at all. From Baseball America's "Ask BA" by Jim Callis Due to losing free agents and adding different ones, we essentially replace the picks we lost to other teams and add an additional supplemental first round pick and lose a third rounder. EDIT: This doesn't factor in the D-Lowe picks yet, which should upgrade us some more.

This post is pretty "unenglish" too.

DePo is f***ing up. Bringing back Perez was good, but Lowe for that money and length and then the crap quality he is getting in return for Green (not to mention the 5/8 of his salary he'll be paying) just isn't smart. Also, signing Drew could be great or could come back to bite him in the ass. Plus, if Brad Penny gets hurt, they're royally f***ed. Looks like an 85-win division with either the Padres or Giants coming out on top unless every possible if for the Dodgers goes right (not likely).

Yes, but this is infinitely more fun.

Maybe not, but you're still the f***ing homo. David Ortiz was a castoff from the Twins because of his injury-prone past and the large raise he would've gotten in salary arbitration. You probably don't even know what salary arbitration is, you mentally retarded ass-pirate. Jesus Christ, you are worse than empire was.

Who the hell is pointing that out? Who gives a flying f*** what they look like?

He's assembling a fantastic collection of young arms. Harden is an ace in training. Haren, Meyer and Blanton were the three top pitching prospects from three different organizations (St. Louis, Atlanta and Oakland respectively). Barry Zito is still around, but that's only because he's cheap. This is definitely his last season with the A's. Besides, both Hudson's and Mulder's peripheral stats are plummeting faster than a fat woman out of a helicopter (same goes with Zito, but again, he was the youngest and cheapest). That is not a normal indicator of continued success. Beane pulled the old "trade 'em one year too early instead of one year to late". The NL will give Mulder and Hudson a value boost this year, but their continued and prolonged success should be in question. Their bullpen, however, is going to be simply amazing. Likely, the best in MLB. Dotel, Cruz, Calero, Garcia and Street are all fantastic power arms. Garcia and Street both have future closer written all over them.

That new guy was retarded. He didn't even have half of the years in his name right. Moron. By the way, I've got a year for him: 2004. That's all that matters, motherf***er.

Hillenbrand wouldn't know what a walk was if it hit him in the jock strap. Bad player, bad guy. Never liked him.

Safety teams? No, after Theo and the Red Sox, I just root for Beane disciples that aren't in the AL East (sorry, J.P.).