a700hitter

I guess this will eliminate their consideration for Manny.

Is this the same as traction?

Haven't the A's signed a bunch of OFers in the off season?

This off season continues to baffle me. If Oswalt is damaged goods and that's why no one wants him, then I don't want him either. If he is just going to be an expensive dumpster dive acquisition, that is not what we need. I wouldn't want him at any price. What this team needed going into the off season was a consistent starter who could take the ball 30+ times. If Oswalt is not the guy, why didn't they get someone else? They passed or missed out on Kuroda, Jackson, and even Saunders. What about a trade for a starter? Getting a starter should have been their primary goal. If it was, they have not executed their plan. If it wasn't their plan, I have to question their strategy. Bard could pitch like Roger Clemens or fail miserably or anything in between. We just don't know. It's a gamble. We will also be rolling the dice every 5th day on an assortment of garbage and hoping that 1 of them gets some traction. I don't get how this can be thought to be a sound plan. What happens if there are any injuries? If we weren't going to siign or acquire a starter, why dump Scutaro? Did they do that. to pay for Ortiz's raise? We keep hearing and reading that they are happy with their rotation, but how could that be? It seems like a big roll of the dice for a $170 million team. Then everyday their are reports about their interest in one starter or another. I don't know what to believe. The whole scenario makes very little sense.

Whoever signs him needs to give him a thorough physical.

No, I think he'll play hard to get another contract next season.

So, he'll only be overpaid by $4-5 million.

Edit: Right over my head there for a moment. LOL! Rumor has it that the kid is on the juice and he is playing like he is only 14.

Stupid Dan didn't realize that people in other countries are not free to make their own decisions. Idiot. Personally, I would not have apologized to them.

Nothing is wrong with Youks except that he has a big ol' Oooogly head.

Yup. Our first depth option would be insurance against an injury to the top 3 or a bust by Bard. If Bard were to bust, we could move Aceves to the rotation and put Bard back in the Pen without missing a beat or weakening the pen. If Aceves can't gut it, we could use Doubront/Padilla etc and move Aceves back to the pen with Bard making for a very strong pen. Yes, getting or not getting a 5th starter potentially could have cascading consequences for the entire staff.

After the arbitration hearing, how long does it take for the decision to be rendered.?

We really haven't added anything to the roster that will help prevent what happened last season, namely a reliable 30+ start pitcher. If the results are the same as 2011, we shouldn't be shocked.

This is an excellent point. We take it as a given that we couldn't do worse than the 5th slot last year, but that is not true. I think I have told the story about the Jets fna who bought a Jets jacket right after they finished 3-13. I asked him why he would pick that time to finally buy a Jets jacket. He told me that they had nowhere to go but up. The next season they went 1-15. That was a life lesson for me. If you don't take steps to improve, history can repeat itself and get worse.

Your talents are lost on accounting. You should be a public relations/marketing executive. I too think this team has a ton of talent, but the #5 spot in the rotation is a vacant black hole. Even if the stats in the 5th slot improve over 2011, it will have the potential to suck the life out of the bullpen causing it's performance to deteriorate. Are 95-96 wins a possibility? Sure. But I would feel much more confident with Oswalt in the 5th instead of Padilla and cook.

Unless the Commissioner steps in and mandates a trade, but the price tag seems high for the Sox.

This is a fearless prediction. No doubt about that.

I think he got expensive. He settled with the Cubs for $9 million plus the Cubs want a basket full of goodies in a trade.

Maybe the Commissioner will award us Oswalt, since no one else seems to want him.