ORS

Niner.

Don't you mean since he "doesn't" have a NTC. The way you word it makes it sound like Wells has one.

As I mentioned before, the fact that MLB owns the club means that they aren't held accountable to any particular team-construction philosophy. Giving up Wilkerson and filler for a one-year rental of Soriano shows that they are willing to give up talent where they have depth for an immediate improvement to the team. I think MLB is more interested in fielding a good product this year than it is in building for the future. Those factors make Wells a likely trade candidate for them now that Lawrence is out for a while.

When considering the trade values of Wells and Clement, I think the team that would be trading for him needs to be considered. Wells will hold more appeal to contenders since his level of production is both good and consistent. Clement will hold more appeal to teams that are still building and need starting pitching. The Nats have already traded away good young talent, Wilkerson, for a one year rental, Soriano. I think this means they consider themselves contenders, meaning Wells is likely to get more interest from them. I'd look at getting Larry Broadway for him. According to BA he's the #2 prospect in their system and the best power bat. He's got a good ~.200 IsoP in the minors, with next to no triples meaning it is true power and not dependent on speed, and a good .370 OBP. And, Nick Johnson is blocking him at 1B. Plus, he's still got options. I say they try and take advantage of Lawrence's injury and the fact that the Nats aren't under true ownership yet. With MLB owning the team, they have traded good talent to try and put the best product on the field each year. That scenario isn't likely to continue once the team is bought. Here's a link to Broadway's stats. Larry Broadway @ TheBaseballCube.com

He spent his first three years in the minors, the next three shuttling between Cleveland and AAA, so that means he's out of options. espn.com That means he can refuse an assignment and go through the waiver process. I doubt he makes it through waivers.

Yeah, I think Real Sports is the one Bryant Gumbel hosts, and it was on his show. Several MLB players had to change their listed age after 9-11 because the government did a better job of checking up on foreign nationals with work Visas.

I forgot Moss was a HS draft pick from 2002, but it is irrelevant to my point. Look at the 2002 draft class and the 2003 draft class, and you will notice a marked shift in the number of college vs. HS players taken in the first few rounds. Conor Jackson is better than Murphy (even their college numbers show that). Sometimes scouts are wrong.

FWIW, when Theo inherited the farm, it was pretty depleted, so he passed up on all those high-ceiling high school guys in favor or more polished college players. The idea was to fill up the higher levels as quick as possible. Moss and Murphy, while it's very unlikely that they'll become stars, are very likely to become solid MLB regulars. Prior to 2003, there was very little prospective talent that fit that category in AA and AAA for the Sox. As the higher levels fill up, the Sox can take more shots on Bowden and Egan types.

I don't know about you, buy I'd say those two quotes are a tad condescending. You didn't make either of them, so that part of my post doesn't pertain to you. For the record, I'm not trying to call anyone out, just supporting my thoughts once they were challenged.

That time sounds fine to me.

Personally, I'm not a merchandise buyer, so the card holds no appeal for me. That said, those of you looking down your snoot at people who support the card are being entirely too condescending. If they card makes them feel good, then it has served its purpose and all is well. I see no need to question their fandom over it. Hell, we all root for the same team, why let something so trivial cause a rift, even if it is a minor one. Lighten up.

Maybe the Canada should just let the curling team compete in hockey too. They just had a 6-point end in the Gold Medal match against Finland.

I know what a lot of his old jerseys will look like after what this girl displayed at Spring Training. http://i44.photobucket.com/albums/f8/kembry/Demon.jpg

"Grazing the forearm" is only a couple of inches away from "fracturing the wrist". The article takes a jovial tone, but that could be considered a close call. Just look at Nomar's numbers post-wrist injury after getting hit with a pitch.

Yeah, did you see the HBO sports special about that? It was pretty enlightening.

How do you not notice a post that you quoted?

Math challenged? My post makes it fairly evident that when Chacon's BABIP numbers are normal his ERA will be right around the team's ERA. I'll be very surprised if his ERA is under 4.00 this year. That's not bad, but it's nothing close to what he did last year. That said, with the run support he'll likely get, it wouldn't shock me to see him win 15 games either.

There is a thing in statistics call an outlier. This is something that doesn't agree with the normal range of statistics, and when using statistics to predict future performance, outliers are commonly thrown out since they aren't representative of what is likely to happen. Shawn Chacon's half-season with the Yankees falls into this category. Normal fluctuation in pitcher's BABIP is around +/- .020 from season to season. Chacon's career average BABIP away from Coors' Field is .280 (I looked at his numbers on the road because the drier/thinner air can affect his curve, his best pitch). BABIP is the batting average on balls in play against Chacon, Team is the team average without Chacon pitching, DifC is the difference from his career average, DifT is the difference from the team average without him. Split BABIP Team DifC DifT COL-Road .280 .300 .000 -.020 w/ NY .239 .302 -.041 -.063 Chacon has demonstrated a consistent ability to limit batters to less hits on balls in play than the team he plays for, but his 2005 numbers from NY are completely ridiculous. When his DifT comes back to reasonable numbers, even despite his ability to outperform the rest of the team, his ERA is very close to the team ERA without him. Split ERA Team DifT COL-Road 4.84 4.91 -.07 w/ NY 2.85 4.62 -1.77 Now, this is baseball, not pure statisitics so throwing out his performance after coming to NY wouldn't necessarily be the right thing to do, but it certainly isn't wise to base expectations on it. My prediction, Chacon falls back to earth this year, hard.

If I had to guess I'd say they wanted the players to have the same amount of time off during the offseason. If they play the games in November, then that extends the amount of time they play for the year. With the games in March, they are sustituting time in ST with competitive games, but it is during a time of year that they'd be playing ball anyway.

They are playing the games in FL and AZ, the same places where ST is. It is not cold down here in Nov.

I think you are on to something there. He needs a fall guy, and his ego won't allow him to consider that some of his acquisitions weren't the best moves.

You would. The numbers speak for themselves..... Name SLG IsoP Jeter .418 .110 Cano .424 .147 Sardinha .400 .130 Thompson .437 .160 Cabrera .409 .124 Those are Jeter's and Cano's MiLB stats through ages 21-22. Sardinha and Cabrera are about the same age and they hit like middle infielders, not corner outfielders. I'll admit, the MIFs I compared them to have above average power at their positions, but it is well below average for COFs. Thompson is the only one to demonstrate a little power, of course he was 26 playing AA last year, which is about 2-3 years too old for that level.

MIF compared to COF? That isn't apples and oranges. That's f***ing apples and lug nuts. You inanities crack me up to no end. Keep 'em coming.

I'm not saying that it can't be done, but I am saying that it won't be done on the Yankees. Let me be more clear, monkeys will fly out of my asscrack before the Yankees start an unproven power-lacking COF straight out of the minors.

This brings a question to my mind. Are there rules about player agreement for trips to the DL? Obviously, it is in the Yankee's interest to send Wright to the DL as often as possible in order to take advantage of their void option. Is it possible for the team doctor to say he needs to go on the DL while he says he feels fine to pitch? I'm sure there is something in the CBA about this, but I don't know the answer.