Matt

And what if you don't? Then you've just given up one of your top young pitching prospects for a 40-year-old pitcher nearing the end of his career. Trading for Smoltz does not make the Red Sox a sure thing to win the World Series. If I trade away one of my young arms, I want another relatively young arm in return. Someone who will spend more than just one season with the Red Sox.

They've already announced 6 HR Derby participants. 2 more will be named by the end of this week. The ones who have been named are... Ryan Howard, 1B, Philadelphia Phillies David Wright, 3B, New York Mets Carlos Lee, RF, Milwaukee Brewers David Ortiz, DH, Boston Red Sox Jermaine Dye, RF, Chicago White Sox Troy Glaus, 3B/SS, Toronto Blue Jays

Smoltz is 39 years old. There's no way I'd give Hansen up for Smoltz. Unlike some, I have yet to give up on Hansen, and I'm willing to bet that Hansen's value in 3 years will be a hell of a lot more than Smoltz's in the same time span.

Liriano not making the team is absolutely ridiculous. 94 Ks in 81+ innings, a 9-1 record, and a 1.99 ERA.

Yup. I think that they'll have to trade Glen Murray in order to sign him though. Not that I'd have a problem with that. The B's also need an enforcer to put on the fourth line (Georges Laraque?), something that they lacked last season (LaCouture was a punching bag). Chara can't be fighting all of the battles for the Bruins because they need him on the blue line, not in the penelty box. As of now, the Bruins roster looks like this (assuming they re-sign their restricted FAs)... LINE 1 LW - Marco Sturm C - Patrice Bergeron RW - Brad Boyes LINE 2 LW - Phil Kessel C - Marc Savard RW - Glen Murray LINE 3 (CHECKING LINE) LW - P.J. Axelsson C - Wayne Primeau RW - Shean Donovan LINE 4 LW - Petr Kalus (?) C - Jan Statsny RW - Martins Karsums (?) DEFENSIVE PAIR 1 D - Zdeno Chara D - Paul Mara DEFENSIVE PAIR 2 D - Brad Stuart D - David Tanabe DEFENSIVE PAIR 3 D - Milan Jurcina D - Mark Stuart/Andrew Alberts GOALIES Starter - Hannu Toivonen Backup - Tim Thomas

Bruins signed former Flames forward Shean Donovan to a 2-year contract. He's a very good two way player and a PK specialist who will fit in perfectly on the 3rd line with Primeau and Axelsson.

He played 1,259 career games at first base compared to 1,125 career games at SS, 69 games at 3B, and 23 games in the outfield. He'll be in the SS tourney too. BRACKET ONE Lou Gehrig (New York Yankees) vs Chris Chambliss (New York Yankees) Willie McCovey (San Francisco Giants) vs Joe Kuhel (Washington Senators) Jeff Bagwell (Houston Astros) vs Phil Cavarretta (Chicago Cubs) Johnny Mize (St. Louis Cardinals) vs Bill White (St. Louis Cardinals) Rod Carew (Minnesota Twins) vs Harry Davis (Philadelphia Athletics) Todd Helton (Colorado Rockies) vs Hal Trosky (Cleveland Guardians) Don Mattingly (New York Yankees) vs Jake Fournier (Chicago White Sox) Jake Beckley (Pittsburgh Pirates) vs Dolph Camilli (Brooklyn Dodgers) BRACKET TWO Jimmie Foxx (Philadelphia Athletics) vs Stuffy McInnis (Philadelphia Athletics) Harmon Killebrew (Minnesota Twins) vs Ron Fairly (Los Angeles Dodgers) Mark McGwire (Oakland Athletics) vs John Mayberry (Kansas City Royals) Ernie Banks (Chicago Cubs) vs Rudy York (Detroit Tigers) Tony Perez (Cincinnati Reds) vs Lee May (Baltimore Orioles) Keith Hernandez (St. Louis Cardinals) vs Joe Adcock (Milwaukee Braves) Frank Chance (Chicago Cubs) vs Andres Galarraga (Montreal Expos) Mark Grace (Chicago Cubs) vs Cecil Cooper (Milwaukee Brewers) BRACKET THREE Eddie Murray (Baltimore Orioles) vs Bill Buckner (Los Angeles Dodgers) Dick Allen (Philadelphia Phillies) vs Wally Joyner (Kansas City Royals) Frank Thomas (Chicago White Sox) vs George Scott (Boston Red Sox) Roger Connor (New York Giants) vs Jim Bottomley (St. Louis Cardinals) Rafael Palmeiro (Texas Rangers) vs Joe Judge (Washington Senators) Orlando Cepeda (San Francisco Giants) vs Ted Kluszewski (Cincinnati Reds) Jim Thome (Cleveland Guardians) vs Hal Chase (New York Yankees) Boog Powell (Baltimore Orioles) vs Gil Hodges (Brooklyn Dodgers) BRACKET FOUR Hank Greenberg (Detroit Tigers) vs John Olerud (Toronto Blue Jays) Dan Brouthers (Buffalo Bisons) vs Bob Watson (Houston Astros) George Sisler (St. Louis Browns) vs Roy Sievers (Washington Senators) Cap Anson (Chicago Cubs) vs Fred Tenney (Boston Beaneaters) Norm Cash (Detroit Tigers) vs Kent Hrbek (Minnesota Twins) Will Clark (Texas Rangers) vs Jake Daubert (Brooklyn Dodgers) Mickey Vernon (Washington Senators) vs Ed Konetchy (St. Louis Cardinals) Fred McGriff (Atlanta Braves) vs Bill Terry (New York Giants)

The voting for this round ends on July 4th at 11:59pm. The winner of this tournament will be added to the Talksox.com All-Time Team. BRACKET ONE Lou Gehrig (New York Yankees) vs Chris Chambliss (New York Yankees) Willie McCovey (San Francisco Giants) vs Joe Kuhel (Washington Senators) Jeff Bagwell (Houston Astros) vs Phil Cavarretta (Chicago Cubs) Johnny Mize (St. Louis Cardinals) vs Bill White (St. Louis Cardinals) Rod Carew (Minnesota Twins) vs Harry Davis (Philadelphia Athletics) Todd Helton (Colorado Rockies) vs Hal Trosky (Cleveland Guardians) Don Mattingly (New York Yankees) vs Jake Fournier (Chicago White Sox) Jake Beckley (Pittsburgh Pirates) vs Dolph Camilli (Brooklyn Dodgers) BRACKET TWO Jimmie Foxx (Philadelphia Athletics) vs Stuffy McInnis (Philadelphia Athletics) Harmon Killebrew (Minnesota Twins) vs Ron Fairly (Los Angeles Dodgers) Mark McGwire (Oakland Athletics) vs John Mayberry (Kansas City Royals) Ernie Banks (Chicago Cubs) vs Rudy York (Detroit Tigers) Tony Perez (Cincinnati Reds) vs Lee May (Baltimore Orioles) Keith Hernandez (St. Louis Cardinals) vs Joe Adcock (Milwaukee Braves) Frank Chance (Chicago Cubs) vs Andres Galarraga (Montreal Expos) Mark Grace (Chicago Cubs) vs Cecil Cooper (Milwaukee Brewers) BRACKET THREE Eddie Murray (Baltimore Orioles) vs Bill Buckner (Los Angeles Dodgers) Dick Allen (Philadelphia Phillies) vs Wally Joyner (Kansas City Royals) Frank Thomas (Chicago White Sox) vs George Scott (Boston Red Sox) Roger Connor (New York Giants) vs Jim Bottomley (St. Louis Cardinals) Rafael Palmeiro (Texas Rangers) vs Joe Judge (Washington Senators) Orlando Cepeda (San Francisco Giants) vs Ted Kluszewski (Cincinnati Reds) Jim Thome (Cleveland Guardians) vs Hal Chase (New York Yankees) Boog Powell (Baltimore Orioles) vs Gil Hodges (Brooklyn Dodgers) BRACKET FOUR Hank Greenberg (Detroit Tigers) vs John Olerud (Toronto Blue Jays) Dan Brouthers (Buffalo Bisons) vs Bob Watson (Houston Astros) George Sisler (St. Louis Browns) vs Roy Sievers (Washington Senators) Cap Anson (Chicago Cubs) vs Fred Tenney (Boston Beaneaters) Norm Cash (Detroit Tigers) vs Kent Hrbek (Minnesota Twins) Will Clark (Texas Rangers) vs Jake Daubert (Brooklyn Dodgers) Mickey Vernon (Washington Senators) vs Ed Konetchy (St. Louis Cardinals) Fred McGriff (Atlanta Braves) vs Bill Terry (New York Giants) For those wondering why certain players, like Rod Carew, are included in the first basemen tournament, it's because they played most of their games at first base. That is also why Pete Rose was included in the OF tournament. Just to clear that up.

And the greatest outfielder ever, according to the people of Talksox.com, is Babe Ruth! Ted Williams comes and second, and Pete Rose wins the consolation bracket, making him the third greatest according to this website. Using these results, I'll be assembling the "Talksox All-Time Team". The next tournament I'll organize is for first basemen. I'll make a completely different topic for that though. So far, the Talksox All-Time Team looks like this.... C - 1B - 2B - SS - 3B - OF - Babe Ruth OF - Ted Williams OF - Pete Rose DH - SP - SP - SP - RP - RP - Manager -

The left side of the infield gets all of the glory, but Loretta and Youkilis have done awesome jobs on the right side as well.

It's comes from the movie Beautiful Girls, which takes place in New England. During a scene in a bar, a group of people sing Sweet Caroline.

Loretta definitely deserves to make the All-Star team this season. Not only is he batting .321, but he's doing so after switching leagues this past off-season. However, if Robinson Cano gets more votes and is not injured during the All-Star break, it's almost a lock that Ozzie Guillen will pick Iguchi over Loretta for the backup 2B position.

Babe Ruth Ty Cobb

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, voting ends on July 1st at 11:59pm.

CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET Babe Ruth (New York Yankees) vs Ted Williams (Boston Red Sox) CONSOLATION BRACKET Pete Rose (Cincinnati Reds) vs Ty Cobb (Detroit Tigers)

Lidle pitched pretty well against the Sox the last time these two teams met in Philly. Let's hope that the Sox bats can get to him early and that Wakefield can keep the Philly lineup quiet.

That's too bad, Bill Mueller's a gamer. Let's hope he's able to get back out on the field.

That's got to be embarrasing for the pitcher. Serves him right, though.

WINNERS OF BRACKETS ONE AND FOUR Babe Ruth (New York Yankees) vs Pete Rose (Cincinnati Reds) WINNERS OF BRACKETS TWO AND THREE Ty Cobb (Detroit Tigers) vs Ted Williams (Boston Red Sox) I can't believe that Pete Rose made it this far, and I agree that Willie Mays should have made it out of the 2nd bracket over Ty Cobb. Just my opinion, though.

Voting for this round will end on June 25th at 11:59pm. WINNERS OF BRACKETS ONE AND FOUR Babe Ruth (New York Yankees) vs Pete Rose (Cincinnati Reds) WINNERS OF BRACKETS TWO AND THREE Ty Cobb (Detroit Tigers) vs Ted Williams (Boston Red Sox)

Actually, Nixon leads the league in BB/K (1.76). He doesn't strike out much either (not this season anyway). I still believe that Loretta is a better fit in the 2-hole though.

I'm willing to bet that the majority of professional athletes from around 1995-2004 were taking some sort of steroids or HGH. A lot more than people think anyway. I'm not surprised at all.

Even against lefties?

Ozzie sure is a classy guy. Although, Jay Mariotti is a douchebag.

I'd much rather have Trot bat 5th behind Manny. I really don't see what's wrong with Loretta in the 2 hole.