a700hitter

I don't understand the need for such elaborate deception. When they lost Pedro to the Mets, they were honest about holding the line. Pedro was pretty popular and a guaranteed HOF er. Was there such abacklash by RSN when Pedro left. Were they fearing riots in the street if they said that Damon was not in their plans? I don't think that this ruse theory is realistic. You mean that they preferred to look foolish to the entire sports world and the press? Sorry, I am not buying. The argument makes no sense.

Next year a year of transition? Why? With Damon and the rebuilt pitching and a couple of tweaks, they had a good chance at going all the way. You don't get that many chances where you can put out a team of such a high caliber and you have to hope that you are lucky enough not to suffer key injuries, etc. You can't toss away these chances to build for the future. This team was built to win, and now I am hearing that 2006 will be a transition. I am sorry, but don't you think that is a bit foolish?

Yes, send me a pm when they make an impact at the ML level. I am still waiting for Murphy, and my hair has been turning grey. What % of draft picks do you think make it to the majors? and what fraction of those guys makes an impact? and how many of them become All-Stars? Play the pick 10 lottery. Your odds would be better. Don't be talking to me about draft choices until you can show me these odds. It's a real long shot that one of the two of them will be another Damon.

Please send me a pm when any of these draft picks makes an impact at the ML level.

I'll give the Sox FO props for their accomplishments. They've built a solid minor league system, etc. I'll give them props for sending Renteria away. That was a move that was carefully considered. But I will not give them excuses when they so clearly got blind-sided. This might work out for them in the end, but I'll bet they were not patting each other on the back when they heard the news. In fact, I'll bet that there was a big meeting and a fairly significant s*** storm. The Yankees got themselves a good ballplayer, whether they overpaid or not, and our guys were left with egg on their faces. The were not feeling prideful that they had maintained their integrity. Trust me that they felt that they had been made fools.

I agree. We didn't need Glaus. Let the Blue Jays have him. Now they have 4 1B/3B types. I have to assume they will move 1 of them... perhaps Hillenbrand.

That forces us to conclude that the surprise by Lucchino and John Henry upon hearing the news was feigned, and that they were dishonest at the next day's press conference, because they did not give an impression that they would have refused to move off the 4/40 offer. I think the events of those two days, including the damage control press conference, indicates that they just dropped the ball.

I don't think this outcome had anything to do with the Red Sox FO sticking to their strategy. I will not be an apologist for the FO. They bungled the negotiations and got outmaneuvered by the Yankees FO. Sox management never even got their final offer on the table. They misread the situation, and they handled the whole thing in an incompetent manner. Now. they have their work cut out for them. If they don't recover from this and the team finshes 3rd or misses the playoffs, heads in the FO should roll.

Please go on. Those links are from some crappy NJ paper with a circulation of about 10. Send me some links from the NY Post, NY Daily News or LI Newsday. Those are the guys that ARod takes to dinner and buys drinks, not the guys from some crappy Jersey paper. Remarks by Red Sox players made in Boston papers hardly qualifies as bad press. Sox players hate him, because he is a big press suck up. Read a "Tale of Two Cities" - the one by Masserotti and Harper. There's a good discussion about ARod's Press savvy behavior and the resentment it causes among the other players.

ARod is a shameless self promoter. Remember, his "A Magical Night in Pinstripes" stunt when he was selling inscribed balls commemorating his 3 HR game against the Angels. He had no one less than Michael Kay promoting that sales job. He courts the print and TV press and is resented by the other players for doing so. He really hasn't gotten bad press. If anything, it was due in large part to his good press relations that the press whored themselves out and robbed Papi of his MVP because of defense.

Sounds like a good plan. Who plays SS until he is ready? How is Izturis offensively?

You are right. He can't miss the cutoff man, but he will regularly two-hop it to the cutoff man.

I am sure that the Yankee clubhouse has its share of goofballs. I wonder how the other Yankees will react as Johnny Damon grabs every microphone and jumps in front of every camera with ared light. It should be interesting. On the Red Sox, he only had Millar as competition. ARod will be a much more formidable opponent.

Yankee fans praying for injuries. Interesting. Our pitching must be pretty strong. Schilling was completely healthy by the end of last year, and he showed he can still win the big game when needed by beating the Yankees in two big games down the stretch. He should match up with Unit. Both are aging, but both are still aces. Mussina has had two bad years in a row 12 and 13 wins with high ERA's, and the Red Sox have eaten him for lunch. Pavano has had 1 good year. His walk year in 2004. Jared Wright has won more than 5 games in a year once since 1999. Chacon is an unproven quantity. Pavano, Wright and Chacon are big questions. Beckett is a young stud who won 15 games last year and threw 97 mph gas in his final game. He also went into the lion's den and beat the Yankees in a World Series as a child. You are reduced to hoping he get injured. Wakefield has had some very good years without Mirabelli. The important thing is finding a catcher that can catch the knuckler. The pitch selection will not be a big mystery. Clement is not bad for a number 4 or 5.

I am not sure whether I prefer signing Millwood or taking a one-year flyer on Clemens with a very high pricetag. Whichever way they decide to go, they should decide quickly so that they will have plenty of time to move Wells, Clement and Arroyo to fill the SS and CF holes.

I've lived and gone to school deep behind enemy lines for many years. I have been exposed to this arrogant attitude for as long as I can remember. I have always called the Yankee fans on their illogiical belief that they were smarter, superior human beings because they root for the Yankees. I do remember getting called a dumbass last night. I stayed away from personal name calling. I may have said his arguments were stupid or illogical, and yes I did question his ability to read and write, but only because his line of argument was so absurd. I did, however, refrain from suggesting that he had a learning disability. 26 to 6 and the other Yankee fan agitators better get used to the fact that I will be a frequent contributor to this board. For 40 years on almost a daily basis, I have heard the best arguments by the most hardened Yankee fans and held my ground. 26 to 6 and the others had better be good, because I have been carving up guys like him for years.

Don't you even remember what you write? "Nomar should have just pulled a Teddy Ballgame and spit in the face of the Sox fans who he had served as a player for so long who wanted him out." I have highlighted the portion pertaining to Williams. I sarcastically added the reference to Yaz. If this quoted statement was just poorly written, maybe you also need a remedial writing course. As for the class of the current Yankee organization, what about the exile of Yogi Berra who has more rings than any Yankee in history? How long did that last? What about hiring slime balls to spy on a HOFer like Winfield? What about the Boss' current treatment of Torre and Zimmer. I heard Zimmer on the FAN recently. When asked about King George, he said that he wouldn't say hello to him if George walked into his house. He had more hard feelings against the Boss than Pedro. Does a classy organization holds grudges against old-time heroes and senior citizen coaches. More recently, the Yankees had a team of lawyers looking for grounds to void Giambi's contract when he started slowly this year. When he got hot, they called off the dogs. Hypocrites! And just because it happened 70 years ago doesn't erase the shame of releasing Ruth. BTW the reconcilation with Ruth was motivated by a desire to fill the house. The Yanks never gave him a meaningful position after his retirement. They broke his heart. What a disgrace.

Oh, okay. You're right. It was a conspiracy between the front office and the fans to run Nomar out of town. We wanted Ted Williams gone and Yaz too. You must be right. Organizations just love to get rid of icons that are big draws and good business. And the fans who gave him the biggest ovations of anyone on the team every single night, they clearly wanted him gone. You know how Nomar was offended by the fans and the front office, and you know when he made his decision to leave, and you know exactly how the fans felt about Nomar. You must be right. So, let's move on, and please start adding some interesting information to this Board or go torture some Met fans. Your baseless conjecture and illogical theories are boring and tiresome. Oooops, I forgot. I promised to use monosylabic words. BTW Speaking of organizational mistreatment, let's not forget that Babe Ruth, the biggest sports icon of all and an American hero, who helped save the legitimacy of the game after the Black Sox scandal was released by the Yankees, who never offered him any meaningful position after retirement. That's class. That's gratitude.

He's bluffing. He is as big a whore as there is. He won't walk away from the guarantee plus incentives that can reach 8 million. He might be pissed, and he might dog it, but he won't walk away from the money.

Huh? Please follow the thread. Do all Yankee fans need remedial reading? 26 to 6 is accusing Boston Fans of running Nomar out of town. What control would the fans have over the contract offer? Some of us would like to think that we run the team, but we don't. It was obvious that Nomar wanted out of town. He resisted every attempt to be re-signed prior to entering his walk year. 4/60 was a very fair offer. No one was offering ARod or Jeter type deals in 2004. The market had shifted dramatically. Obviously, Nomar's agent seriously misjudged the marketplace. That being said, Red Sox fans were sad to see Nomar leave. Please stop telling us what we think and what we want, and start adding some information to the Board.

Please sign-up for a remedial reading course. The Sox were going to lose Nomar to FA after '04. This was obvious to management and the fans. He never once stated that he wanted to re-sign with the Red Sox, and when he turned down 4/60, it was obvious to everyone that he would walk. The fans never wanted him to go. Getting ARod a year early was better than getting nothing after '04. I hope this was clear, or do I need to use even more monsylabic words.

Sox fans may have liked the Nomar trade after the fact, because it turned out well. Remember, we did win the Championship, and we choked the Yankees in the ALCS like Luka Brasi in the Godfather. When the trade first went down, there was a state of shock in RSN. And we couldn't believe that we didn't get a pitcher in the deal. Theo was very worried that he would be run out of town for trading an icon. The ARod thing was a big deal, because he is acknowledged to be the biggest talent in the game. No one wanted to see Nomar go, but it was the smart business move. If his ego took a hit, well, too bad. Nomar was giving every indication that he would be leaving as a FA, so the Sox were faced with losing him and getting nothing in return. The fans would have been very happy if he had re-signed for 4/60 million, but he turned it down. What a mistake. He wanted out of Boston long before the ARod thing happened. Ownership gave him a heads up that they would be trying to get ARod and offered Nomar a final chance of taking 4/48 with a an option for a 5th year, but he declined. He wanted to go back West and that became obvious before the ARod thing. Oh, and by the way, where did he end up? He would still get a Standing O at Fenway. He wanted to go home and he has. Please stop talking out of your...

He's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but most players are idiots. I don't think he should be ridiculed for the way he speaks, especially if he has had to overcome a stuttering problem. I'll be the first one to tear apart the substance of his remarks, but to criticize an obvious speech impediment is just cruel.

Where do you get this foolishness. Nomar was beloved by the fans like no Red Sox player that I have seen in more than 35 years. Maybe the press had a problem with him at the end. RSN was in a state of shock when he got traded. The press threw him under the bus, but only after he left. They disclosed a lot of locker-room info about Nomar that the fans hadn't known about. The print press in Boston is a vindictive lot, and they have always been that way. Pedro wouldn't play their game and the press poked criticism at him for being a prima donna. They said he had worn out his welcome in Boston. That was not true. When he took the mound the excitement was palpable. No fan wanted to see him go. What the press meant was that he had worn out his welcome with them. The print press killed Rice because he did kiss up and play their game. They are the ones responsible from keeping him from his rightful place in Cooperstown.

Yeah sure, and he was about to be knighted by the Queen of England. Try to distinguish BS from fact.