Dipre

No to F% please. No to wins plz.

I'm in. I owe you for last year's finals WhiskeyBreath.

Touche. But my bi-annual fat chick quota was exhausted in late 2010, so i may have to sit out 2011 as you say, due to lack of other options. But i will remain true to my principles!

An extreme. And my point stands. Intent is the key to the equation.

And people call me stubborn. Wow.

Stop picking 1st basemen so early in the draft. Specially if they're fat, and love the booze. So essentially, don't pick me early in the draft.

Same chances that i'm going to sleep with a fat chick in 2011: Nill, zilch, zero, nada, nunca, not happening, don't think so.

I may have just developed a bald spot scratching my head after reading this. If 2010 was a fluke from Bautista, they just put their foot in their mouth in a big, big way.

My problem with your stance Jacko is the following: You are a healthcare professional. So if let's say, you were supposed (this is hypothetical) that you had to tend to the wounds of a recovering alcoholic who fell off the wagon and hurt himself after smashing his car into a tree, would you go ahead and call him an "idiot"? You've bragged several times on this board about your knowledge of medicine, then why doesn't this seem to you like the symptoms of a person who has no friggin' idea what the f*** he's doing? Now, let me get this straight, he should be (and will be) punished, because the law is blind. Errors in interpretation or claims of ignorance mean nothing, and i keep questioning why he has a license in the first place, since it's proven with scientifical studies (will present sources) that a drunk is much less likely to get on the wheel if he does not have a valid driver's license. I am not defending or condoning his behavior, but mainly making two points: Point A: We don't fully know what happened, how it happened, or why it happened. Point B: We're not talking about a casual drunk, but a blown-out alcoholic, and i expect to be corrected by Jacko and his expertise here, but while in law school, we were "invited" to convene some people who were being tried for accidents while DUI'ing, and it was then that we were introduced to the phenomenon known as "blackout". That happens when someone drinks to the point where their conscious state is compromised, and they have literally no control over what they're doing. Now, again, i'm not using this to condone his behavior, because he will be punished (and deservedly so), and what i take offense against is the minimizing of his person and his integrity due to something he honestly has no control over. "He who is clean of sin, cast the first stone".

Then this begs the following questions : Do we have all the facts about what happened? Are we judging on facts? Do you know what actually happened? That's why i bring up the Taylor story. The "FILTHY RAPIST" screams reached the heavens. Look how that turned out. Why does a declared alcoholic have a valid driver's license? For a system as astringent as the one in place as America regarding drunk driving, anyone with a history of alcoholic abuse, and violent behavior due to it should have his license immediately revoked until he's "clean" for a certain amount of time. By the way, you should know better than trying to change my mind on something i' have a set opinion on.

There is no second standard, a drunk is different from an alcoholic, just like a hippie weed-smoker is different from a crack addict. Try again, grasshopper. Nuh-uh. I wasn't even talking to you, but you came in dressed in your "Mother Emily from Calcuta" robes: http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSIrL4to44wPqxW9_vyKu-oth7OHOH-xo59cegy7yttUDqjzq1X&t=1 On the left, Emmz, 50 years later. ^ Obviously a joke, but i thought i should point it out, before i am pounded into the ground by angry TalkSoxers. It all comes down to what decisions he made while conscious, now, none of us knows for sure whether he got drunk to the point where he didn't know what the f*** he was doing, but the fact that he took a drink in front of a cop makes me think he probably thought he was riding a donkey throughout the fair streets of San Felix, Venezuela, and that doesn't give anyone the right to point their finger without knowing what actually happened. This is the type of thing that people feel bad about when a report comes out that the story was completely different than what was initially imagined. (See: Taylor, Lawrence).That's why you don't judge.

Then what is your definition of judging? First off, you say "He knows better"? (That is a judgement on his "judgement" by the way) And it's a logical leap of faith, because you say "i don't know the guy" but there is enough evidence to suggest he did, in fact, stay clean throughout last season, but no evidence to suggest he "knows better".How can someone who can't control an urge to drink "know better"? It's like a junkie. He doesn't know s*** besides his urge. I'm not separating "types of drunks" i'm separating a "drunk" from an "alcoholic" who fell off the wagon. There is a big difference. Should he be tried and punished for his offense? f*** yeah he should. But should the focus be on helping him fix his situation instead of pointing the finger and saying "This guy's just another stupid drunk"? Positive as well.

He stayed clean for months. Unless it was a "media-ploy" like everything that doesn't go along with the general opinion. And you're not judging? Reaaaaaaally?

When you've got enough bloodstream in your alcohol that you take a drink in front of an officer, i don't think you're conscious enough to know if you're driving a car or a donkey. And i'm not condoning his behavior, but i ask, again, how the hell is he still allowed to have a driver's license?

I'm sorry that i don't think that the guy's behavior, while reprehensible, is more a direct result of a problem he may or may have not created for himself. I don't think i'm so much above another human being to look down on them and call them "stupid" for having a problem as serious as alcoholism. I lost my Halo on a boating accident. I'd be much more inclined to agree with the general sentiment if it wasn't perfectly clear and well-documented that the guy is a raging alcoholic, not just a partying idiot who gets drunk every so often. He made great strides last season in keeping that s*** under control, but all it takes is one argument with the wife, one problem with the boss, a misplaced word from a fan, and next thing you know, in comes the thought of "Taking a sip to cool yerself down" and off the wagon you fall. Weeks, months, or even years of hard work all down the drain. And in come the Halo-wearers proclaiming their superiority over the "Hopeless drunk". I feel sorry for the guy, he has all the talent in the world, and seems to have seriously intended to clean up his act but f***ed up again. I'd rather see him get well than sit here and criticize him from my comfortable chair (and it's very comfortable).

I'm not going to go into an all-out battle about this because: A) I wasn't referencing you with the above post. B ) I'm not defending his behavior, so don't twist my words. I've made my stance on drunk-driving clear several times on this board. But Cabrera's problem extends beyond the issue of drunk driving. He's a raging alcoholic who needs help. The fact that he still has a license is a travesty, because this isn't the first time he's been caught D&D'ing or exhibiting destructive behavior after drinking. I'm not talking about "Miguel Cabrera the drunk driver" i'm talking about "Miguel Cabrera the alcohol addict", who definitely needs help. It's easy to point the finger and comment. Not as easy to put yourself in the other person's shoes and think how difficult it must be to try and fight something so difficult to control. The league should take cards in it and take this guy step by step through his alcohol problem, or he'll end up hurting himself or even worse, somebody else, but please, spare me the "Holier-than-thou" attitude. We're all humans, and all liable to indulge in similar behaviors should similar circumstances arise.

Lester signed his extension after his breakout 2008 season,before the beginning of 2009, which is actually eerily similar to Buchholz' 2008. In fact: Lester stats before signing his extension: 59 GS, 3.81 ERA, 6.65 K/9, 3.55 BB/9, 3.81 ERA. Clay Bucholz stats up to now: 62 GS, 3.68 ERA, 6.97 K/9, 3.80 BB/9. Extremely comparable numbers. Bucholz has a significant margin of error to significantly outproduce that contract regression-wise. As a 3.0 WAR guy (certainly attainable) making six mill per, he would be underpaid given the current financial structure of the MLB. Strike while the iron is hot, i say. (Version 2.0)

I remember similar criticism when details of the Lester deal came out (diony specifically) and how'd that turn out? Even if Bucholz regresses to the point where he's a 2.5- 3 WAR guy, he'd live up to a contract with a similar framework to Lester's, whereas if he keeps up (or improves) on his level of production, then he becomes that much more expensive. Strike while the iron is hot, i say.

Bard is not a potential starter. He lacks the third pitch necessary for success as a Starting Pitcher, and he actually had a fairly flukey season peripheral-wise last year (even though people don't like to talk about that). If it ain't broken, don't fix it.

Only in planet Yankee. Pujols is arguably the best defensive 1B in the business, and you can bet money he won't shift positions for a lesser defender and ballplayer like A-Rod did. Did the Cliff Lee issue not teach you all that pinstripes are not magical? All of this is a facade and Pujols will stay with the Cardinals. Stop the mental masturbation sessions, all of you.

In this case, ceiling is nothing but an over-optimistic projection. But the problem with Reddick has never been power. It's pitch recognition and patience. A sub-.330 OBP in the Minor Leagues is not boding well for a future promotion to the Majors. Blind yourself to the truth all you want, but right now Reddick looks like a bust, quite possibly not even a monster 2011 is going to put him ahead of Kalish in a competition for the RF job.

Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer, Jeff Keppinger, Jason Kendall, Augie Ojeda, Carlos Ruiz, Juan Pierre.

Not if you factor in baserunning, and the ability to make contact and handle the bat. His set of tools is much more complete. Pedroia has also elevated his game with runners on base every year since reaching the league. He's the complete package,