Linda

I understand how OBP and OPS work (I've read Moneyball too), but maybe having DePodesta f*** up my team for two years has turned me off from that idea. I'm more of a traditionalist. In regards to Wolf, a 4-0 record is nice. His ERA will drop playing in LA, and he will have the run support from the second highest scoring team in the NL. He's also playing in front of his home crowd, and that may help him to improve. I certainly think he'll be better this year.

Yeah sure, that's why you mentioned the Cubs are better this year. Nice backtracking. Not quite, but if you want to want to make such broad generalizations then I can make mine and call you a homer.

So, making up a name like Dice-K isn't middle school-ish? Dice-Gay is just as bad, I admit, but it's not like Sox fans don't do the same thing. And WHO has given those projections? Epstein? Don't you think it's premature to project stuff like that?

I beg to differ. LA's rotation is head and shoulders above the Red Sox rotation. Let's wait until after the season to see how good DiceGay actually is. I think he'd be a good #3 pitcher, not worth the millions Boston paid for him. I don't want to sound like seabeachfred, but I'm certain I know about baseball than you. Take off your red-colored homer glasses next time you want to discuss MLB.

No problem. Ill take that bet. I have a photo of Schilling f***ing a goat. It'll look good under your username.

Luck.

I'm pretty sure Jose Hernandez signed with Pittsburgh.

Damn straight.

I swing with the hot chicks on my block.

Is he doing "fabulous" like the Queer Eye guys? Bonds knows how to be fabulous: http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/images/2005/02/22/RbEIhFBm.jpg

Please shut up. You have no idea what you're talking about.

Helton to Red Sox? posted: Saturday, January 27, 2007 | Feedback | Print Entry The Red Sox are engaged in trade talks with the Colorado Rockies about Todd Helton, reports Troy Renck, with no deal imminent at this point. But you could see why this would make sense for each side. In response to the Denver Post story, a major league source indicated Saturday morning that the conversations between the Red Sox and Rockies actually opened last fall, and at that time, one of the sides felt that there could be an acceptable framework to make a deal. Any trade may have to include pitcher Matt Clement, from the Red Sox perspective. It could be that the completion of the J.D. Drew deal will now reignite talks, given that the Red Sox have a clearer sense of their financial obligations. For the Rockies, this would be an opportunity to move Helton's contract, and as owner Charlie Monfort told the Denver Post this week, it is very difficult to operate in a situation in which one player absorbs such a large part of the payroll. If they could get the Red Sox to eat a lot of Helton's deal and save themselves somewhere in the range of $8 million to $10 million a year, they would have much more flexibility. And the Rockies have to be concerned with the decreasing production of the 33-year-old Helton. Over the last four years, his slugging percentage has dropped from .630 to .620 to .534 to .476. For financial superpower Boston, however, Helton could be an extraordinary find, even at high cost. He is a Gold Glove-caliber first baseman, having won that award three times, and he would complement their offense perfectly, with his ability to hit doubles, draw walks and drive up pitch counts; he is considered to be among the best two-strike hitters in baseball. Last season, in what was regarded as a subpar offensive season for Helton, he drew 91 walks, struck out just 64 times, registered a .404 on-base percentage, and averaged 3.93 pitches per plate appearance. "His swing is not a power swing," said one National League talent evaluator. "And he hasn't been healthy. Our team was able to pound the hell out of him last year, pitch him inside, much better than you used to. It'll be interesting to see how healthy he is, and he needs to come back, if he's going to take a serious run at Cooperstown." (Helton has 286 career homers, 996 RBI, 1,700 career hits, nine straight seasons of averages better than .300). "He's a line-drive-type hitter, and for the kind of money Colorado is paying him, they need power." The Red Sox do not. They've got the power hitters. They would covet Helton's on-base percentage, his quality at-bats, his defense, especially if they were paying him only $8 million to $10 million a year. We don't yet know what the composition of a Helton-Red Sox trade would be. It would make sense for the Rockies to ask for Kevin Youkilis in return, and on the other hand, the Red Sox have attempted repeatedly, since last summer, to engage other teams in conversation about third baseman Mike Lowell. The Rockies would probably prefer pitching, as Troy writes in his piece. Perhaps the Red Sox would insist upon the inclusion of Lowell in the deal, and then the Rockies -- who don't need a third baseman -- might spin Lowell off to another team. We'll see. The guess here is that the Red Sox would want to retain Youkilis and play him at third, because he's younger than Lowell and because he generates such tough at-bats. Conceivably, then, this could be the Boston lineup for this season, if they got Todd Helton and moved out Lowell: SS Julio Lugo 1B Helton DH David Ortiz LF Manny Ramirez RF Drew 3B Youkilis C Jason Varitek CF Coco Crisp 2B Dustin Pedroia The middle of the Red Sox lineup -- from Helton in the No. 2 spot, to Youkilis in the No. 6 spot -- would chew up starting pitchers the way the Yankees' lineup does -- from lead-off hitter Johnny Damon to No. 8 hitter Robinson Cano. A trade for Helton could make the Red Sox lineup equal, in potency, to that of the Yankees, and maybe better, depending on how good A-Rod is in 2007 (A great A-Rod makes the Yankees' lineup extraordinary, while an inconsistent A-Rod changes things). The money will be the key to the trade talks, of course. Helton's salary for each of the next four seasons is $16.6 million, and he'll make $19.1 million in 2011, with a $4 million buyout of a $23 million club option for 2012. His deal is regarded by some executives as baseball's worst contract, because it was so heavily backloaded, and because Helton's salary will be so high even as he nears his 40th birthday. The Red Sox will want the Rockies to absorb a lot of Helton's contract, the way the Angels wanted Colorado to, when that deal was discussed earlier in the off-season. Helton also has a full no-trade clause, but may welcome an opportunity to play for a perennial contender. He has said repeatedly that if the team came to him under the premise that the best thing for the organization would be to trade Helton, he would listen earnestly; having talked with him about his situation two springs ago, I think he would approve a deal. • J.D. Drew's contract could become a three-year, $42 million deal -- rather than a $72 million deal -- if he spends a specified number of days on the disabled list because of his surgically repaired shoulder, but Drew says he's very confident he'll be OK, writes Amalie Benjamin. The Drew deal promises to be scrutinized heavily, writes Steve Buckley. The bottom line is this: If the Drew thing works out, Theo Epstein should get a heap of credit, because there aren't many executives with other teams who think this is going to work out; most rival executives think this will be a disaster. And if Drew is a bust, there will be lot of folks wondering why the Red Sox did not read all the warning signs. If I ran the Sox, I would not have signed Drew for that kind of money. But there's a chance this deal could work out because Drew doesn't have to be The Man in this lineup. The Red Sox already have Ortiz, already have Ramirez. In effect, J.D. Drew is a complementary player. In every other situation he's been in during his career, his team desperately needed him to stay on the field and produce, but not now. If Drew misses 25-30 games, it's not that big of a deal, so long as he plays in September and October. And when he is in the lineup, there will few teams, if any, that have meatgrinder 3-4-5 hitters like Ortiz, Ramirez and Drew, particularly with the patient and pesky Kevin Youkilis hitting in front of them and requiring the pitcher to throw a lot of pitches. In some respects, Drew's impact on the lineup will be like that of Bobby Abreu to the Yankees; so long as Abreu works the count and gets on base and mixes in some doubles, he's a very effective player. If Drew draws his walks, hits .280 and 25 homers, he'll be tough. The differences: Abreu plays every game and always has, unlike Drew, and the contractual obligation is for only one year.

You stop judging me and calling for a ban on every post, and I will stop judging you. Got it?

I'm judging him based on what he has said (which is what this entire board does to me every day.) Wah wah you don't hear me crying about it. Now let's get back to talking baseball. All you guys want to do is argue with me, and then you turn around and say I never talk baseball.

You are the king of taking quotes out of context. You have done it to me several times. I can hardly comment on that because those are regarding two entirely seperate points. 1) The part about the Dodgers making the playoffs was in reference to Hoke stating the Dodgers were a shithole of a team compared to his Sox who DIDN't make the playoffs. 2) The part about the Giants constantly bragging about beating LA with no championships to show for it was in comparison to the Red Sox. No one constantly brags abotu the Dodgers' playoff record. I brought it up once in response to one of the stupidest remarks I have ever read here. See the difference?

Actually, two other posters here volunteered that info to me. I didn't have to search for anything.

That's why I'm here... to talk to you geniuses.

Good point.

My "shithole of a baseball team" will be in the playoffs this year while yours will once again be playing golf in October. And I am glad that Drew and Lugo are gone. Read any Dodger board -- the majority of Dodger fans feel the same way.