ORS

Sad, sad news. Condolences to the Lidle family.

Well, when the truth hurts, you need to split hairs in righteous indignation, or something like that. Doesn't change the fact that the Yankees have spent $1.1B (salary + gluttony tax) over the last 6 years with nary a ring to shine.

That's a bit much. When I started this thread last year, I envisioned getting a bit more than an undeveloped OF stud, but I don't think WMP has been as dissappointing as some other recent trades. A 10-win rookie pitcher and stud SS for Nuke LaLoosh? I'd say that one was a bit worse. Suppan et al for the '06 NL batting champ? That one too.

I grew up in the DC area, and the "home" team was the O's. Dad and grandpa were Sox fans, so the region didn't matter to me. The Sox were the team I grew up rooting for. A lot of people are like this. If you do leave the area, and your kids grow up supporting your teams, would you fault them for not sticking with the local team?

NFL Point Spreads For Week 6 - NFL Game Dates 10/15 - 10/16, 2006 Spread Category : Date & Time Favorite................... Spread.................. Underdog 10/15 1:00 ET Cincinnati..................... -6...................... At Tampa Bay 10/15 1:00 ET At Washington............. -10......................... Tennessee 10/15 1:00 ET At Dallas..................... -13............................. Houston 10/15 1:00 ET Buffalo......................... -1........................... At Detroit 10/15 1:00 ET Seattle......................... -3......................... At St. Louis 10/15 1:00 ET At Atlanta..................... -3............................ NY Giants 10/15 1:00 ET Philadelphia.................. -3.................... At New Orleans 10/15 1:00 ET At Baltimore.................. -3.............................. Carolina 10/15 4:15 ET At NY Jets................... -2.5................................ Miami 10/15 4:15 ET San Diego.................... -10................. At San Francisco 10/15 4:15 ET At Pittsburgh................. -7.......................... Kansas City 10/15 8:15 ET At Denver.................... -15.............................. Oakland Monday Night Football Point Spread 10/16 8:30 ET Chicago...................... -10.5 .........................At Arizona Straight Category : Date & Time Favorite................................................. Underdog 10/15 1:00 ET Cincinnati............................................... At Tampa Bay 10/15 1:00 ET At Washington............................................ Tennessee 10/15 1:00 ET At Dallas........................................................ Houston 10/15 1:00 ET Buffalo......................................................... At Detroit 10/15 1:00 ET Seattle...................................................... At St. Louis 10/15 1:00 ET At Atlanta..................................................... NY Giants 10/15 1:00 ET Philadelphia......................................... At New Orleans 10/15 1:00 ET At Baltimore................................................... Carolina 10/15 4:15 ET At NY Jets......................................................... Miami 10/15 4:15 ET San Diego.......................................... At San Francisco 10/15 4:15 ET At Pittsburgh.............................................. Kansas City 10/15 8:15 ET At Denver....................................................... Oakland Monday Night Football 10/16 8:30 ET Chicago........................................................At Arizona Monday Night Football Total Points :............................ ___37____

Wonderful. Fabulous. So what? Let's keep in mind that those hitters he was shutting down weren't MLB hitters. Kaz Matsui was an MVP in Japan. Hideki Matsui was hitting 50 bombs. Yeah, Matsuzaka looked good in the WBC. Two ER in 13 IP. Impressive. But, because of pitch counts, he didn't go deep in games, so we didn't see how he performed with fatigue. Also, spring baseball is the time when hitters don't quite have their timing and rythm down, and none of the hitters had seen him before. And, this is while facing Chinese-Tapei, Mexico, and Cuba. Mexico had Cantu and a bunch of MLB bench players. Cuba had a couple of guys that would be MLB regulars, but it was no killer lineup. I'm not saying this guy is destined to be a bust, but I'm not sure he's worth the hype right now. Missing out on him could be a mistake, but I think the risk of being stuck with a big/long contract is much stronger than the possibility of this guy becoming an MLB ace. I'm no huge Zito or Schmidt fan, but I think you know what you are getting more with these guys.

Lovely. I'm wrong, and the facts prove it, but I think I'm right, so I'll say I'm right. Tool.

You are right. It's pretty ridiculous that a grown man might let something like this affect his ability to do his job. That said, Jeter keeping ARod at arms length isn't helping the team. A leader does what it takes to make those he is with comfortable. It appears DJ's intangibles aren't all they were hyped up to be. Great ball player? No doubt. Great teammate? Depends on who you are asking.

I think the Beckett trade was one that gets done ten times out of ten. Beckett has tremendous raw talent and is still young. Yeah, they gave up a stud SS and some quality arms, but that deal only looks bad in hindsight, IMO. The Bard/Meredith deal was a pure panic move, and a costly one.

ARod on Ebay Excerpts

It looks like Jeter is the Teflon SS no more. The NY media is starting to question his leadership. Yanks' captain abandons ship - Refusal to help Alex hurt club

I'm tanking in the spread category. With the NFL changing so much from year to year, I hate spread picks in the first half. Oh well, on to next week.

The similarity is irrelevant, the fact the we gave up quality talent for utter crap in both cases is.

So you have Manny playing CF? I'd rethink that one.

I hope you are right. Abreu produced 3x as many VORP runs for the Yankees as Melky-McGamer in less than 1/2 the PAs.

I like Gonzo, but let's face it, his value is all in his glove. As he gets older, his range decreases and his value wanes. Lugo's value is at the plate, and that is less likely to go away with age. They are the same age, so for the next 3-4 years, I like Lugo better. A shorter timeframe and I can see the argument for Gonzo.

If the team is going to go that long on a SS, I'd rather it be Lugo. He's a more dynamic player who can do a lot with his bat and on the basepaths.

Do you really think the difference between Ortiz and Youk at 1B is significant enough to outweigh the difference between Bonds and Youk at the plate? I'll bet the offensive difference is something like 10 times greater than the defensive one.

http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f8/kembry/funnyman.jpg

I'm betting you drool a lot.

Great matchup. Four solid SP and an excellent BP on both teams. Two very good defenses. Both offenses are aggressive, and while they don't scare when looking at them on paper, they seem to have the knack of stringing hits together in bunches to score. I doubt we see any 4 hours games in this series (unless they go to extra frames). This is the series I was hoping for when the ALDS was being played - I would have wanted to see the Twins with Liriano, but they just didn't have enough SP without him.

Sure. Nice try.

Freddy Gonzalez @ TheBaseballCube.com