jacksonianmarch

His WHIPs of 1.51 and 1.49 would say otherwise.

I actually think Swisher fits better into the theme of the offense. Patience, power etc. Nady is a hacker with power. Swish is the most patient player in baseball. That being said, we have a LFer in Damon who is slowly breaking down, we have a DH in Matsui who hasnt been healthy in 2 yrs and we have a CF situation that could be surprising or incredibly disappointing. If we kept everyone, I would expect Swisher to get the RF job with Nady playing over Matsui or Damon vs lefties. I would also expect Nady to get a ton of PT spelling Damon and Matsui as well as spelling Tex when he needs a blow. I could see Nady getting 450 ABs this yr, pretty close to regular PT while also having him maintain his type A status

He's in his walk yr. But he'll be a type A and the O's would be due 2 picks for him if he walks. So a crappy prospect like Johnson wont get the job done.

The AIDS virus does exist in some amount in saliva.

Exactly

Who gets optioned/waived if Smoltz is ready in May. Also, I agree with the sentiment about the extra OFer. They signed Kotsay AND Baldelli for a reason. I honestly think Baldelli is your right handed bench bat and your platoon option with Ellsbury if he doesnt absolutely take off this yr. I dont see Baldelli being a true 4th OFer, though. I'd expect Wilkerson or someone of that ilk to make the roster initially until Kotsay is ready because as we all know, Baldelli is not a guy who can fill in for a week if Drew's menstrual cramps act up and he needs a week off.

Wilkerson's OPS last yr was .634. His OPS in 07 wasnt bad (.787) but the two prior to that were below league avg for all players and WELL below league avg for an OFer.

what does that have to do with anything on the field. Joba is a bulldog on the field and likely a dickhead off the field. Buchholz is a pussy on the field and a computer thief off the field.

I think its completely different than the Helton rumors prior to 2007. Lowell was stuck in Boston at that time. For 08, he chose to return to Boston when he had better offers elsewhere and then got jobbed all offseason when it came to Tex and the trade rumors. Plus, add in the bum hip and this might not be a good yr for ole Mikey.

I find it funny we are even comparing Masterson to Wang. Wang is nothing like Jesse Litsch. Jesse is a shitballer who gets by on pure command. Wang is more like a Rivera. He gets by on one outstanding pitch and the deception he gains when he doesnt go to that one pitch. Wang throws a sinker in the 92-97mph range and it has so much downward movement that it is extremely difficult to lift. And if you look at his numbers, you can see him starting to develop his other pitches around his sinker. His first full season as a starter was 2006 and his K/9IP was 3.1. In 07 it was 4.7. In 08 it was 5.1. This shows the progression of his slider and his changeup. Two pitches that if he can get to above average, he will become even more dominant. Masterson does not have a sinker nearly that good. But his slider is far and away better than Wang's. That being said, without having that one amazing, top of the line pitch, he needs more to the arsenal than Wang does. And it is shown in the numbers. Masterson had a .787 OPS vs lefties in 08 compared to Wang's .710. That is what separates the two. Is it that Wang's sinker makes up for his lack of a plus change or slider vs lefties? Or is it that Wang's better sinker and changeup makes him more effective vs lefties? Regardless. The fact remains, Masterson needs to improve something, most likely the changeup, to be useful as a starter. Because teams will catch on and he'll see lineups with 60% lefties. Thats the overall point.

wang has a good enough slider. Thing is, his sinker is best in the game IMO.

Even if you get cut, it doesnt guarantee anything. AIDS is actually not a very hardy virus and even if you get a direct transfusion of blood from a AIDS donor, it doesnt guarantee you get AIDS. Hep C OTOH, damn near never dies

I dont think he needs them to be a big power hitter. Also, the effects of roids are not just immediate. The extra muscle he built is still benefitting him today

so, Buchholz needed some help getting over his mental hurdles. And he's pitching in Boston. Yeah, sounds like he'll be just fine /sarcasm

Tito said the same thing about Schilling last yr and about Mantei a few yrs before that. What do you think he's gonna say. "You know, Papi is still hurt and Lowell looks like a f***ing gimp?" Of course he's gonna be upbeat.

they're all guilty. But as a fan of watching the game, I dont really care. Its the era we live in

ALE- NYY ALC- CLE ALW- ANA ALWC- BOS NLE- NYM NLC- CHC NLW- LAD NLWC- PHI

Kottaras is a great catcher? LOL. He's an awful catcher and a marginal minor league offensive player. I think the ultimate answer to the "What is George Kottaras" will be a free agent shortly.

The jist I got out of the interview was that he knew it was roids, but he didnt know which kind they were. Thats fair. If someone handed me a syringe of winstril I wouldnt know what it was either, and I'm a doctor.

And if I didnt have something to fall back on in terms of medicine, I would have roided my balls off. It was easy to get. I was a pretty big guy in college. I got scouted pretty heavily after my junior season in college. If I roided in the offseason and came out hitting more moonshots, I would have had a shot. And I would have continued roiding, no doubt. The fact is, the majority of minor league and major league athletes dont have much to fall back on. If you dont make the bigs you dont have a name for yourself and all the time spent in the minors was wasted. You go from having a shot at being a household name to being a guy with nothing. Its an easy choice. ARod wasnt that guy, I know. He was a premier talent and he didnt have to do this. But he did and I dont blame him. He got the two richest contracts in baseball and the roids helped. If you could have the chance at making 550 million dollars, would you roid? I sure would.

but the problem is keeper, that the use is so prevalent and the detection is impossible that to single out one player is ridiculous. Trust me man, I played at a pretty high level of baseball. I didnt get drafted. But I played with a bunch of players who did and a few who have made MLB debuts. And I am still in contact with them to some degree. And I will tell you this. It is RAMPANT. Everyone IMO is a user. My friends are users. Its a sign of the times. Here, inject this into your ass and you might make it to the majors where you'll have health benefits and a MLB pension if you spend one day on the 25 man roster. Think about that. One day on the roster and you get money for the rest of your life and your health insurance is taken care of. Then imagine if you actually make an impact. Millions thrown your way.

Also, if I were ARod, I'd be suing the living s*** out of Gene Orza and the players association. The evidence from this testing period was supposed to be destroyed. But Orza held on to it in hopes of messing with the numbers so he could get out of manditory testing. Instead, he held onto it long enough for the feds to get wind of it and subpeona it. The agreement was for this to be completely annonymous and for it to be destroyed post test. Orza f***ed up. And he should not only be fired, but be sued for the damage he has done to ARod and what he'll due to the rest of the players on this list.