Stan from Tacoma

Speculation alert.. Tommy all but promised McCourt that he would deliver Gillick, Valentine, and Hershiser to orginization when he was trying to get DePo canned. It didn't happen and hopefully, Tommy is back to being the loud mouthed cheerleader that he was during the Daly years.

Stan from Tacoma

http://tinyurl.com/a4gof

ZiPS likes Choi, but hates Kent. And Tydus Meadows has a better projection than Cruz?

Just in case you guys didnt' know, Lovullo has re-signed to manage the Cleveland AAA team.

Stan from Tacoma

I'll admit it, I'm not sure why I said that.

Of course, I got this from the same place that tells me that the Yanks, Dodgers, and Marlins have agreed on a 3 way, so I wouldn't trust it unless someone else heard the interview. It was somewhere around 10 this morning supposedly

I am glad we aren't don't get me wrong.

But I can only imagine Plascke's Remington model No. 2 typing with all it's might right now about:

-how were going with Choi instead of Delgado cause of value, when all plashcke wants is a 30-100 guy and a veteran leader who has the conviction not to stand for the flag due to his anti war stance.

-how we could have made up for the Beltre mistake by bringing in Lowell.

-how we could use a Billy Wagner as insurance for Gagne but that Moneyabll places no value on a bullpen

-how that even though Beckett has been on the DL 7 times in the last 4 seasons, he is a warrior, a proven winner unlike JD drew.

The worse move for McCourt was to let go of Paul. Not for the reasons we think, but for him, he has no cover anymore and is exposed as the real moron to even the biggest anti Depo guys.

It's true. The blame has shifted from Moneyball to Moneybags. McCourt can run, but she can't hide.

If this is this case, the White Sox are taking a huge risk. All the risks paid off last year, but they could easily backfire this season

For a laugh, we get Pavano, Pierre, and cash. Yanks get Bradley and Mota. Marlins get Brazoban, Houlton, Delwyn Young, and Melky Cabrera

I don't mean to be spreading stupid rumors, and (Steve) please do not believe this

-- Associated Press, 11/23/05

"Drew said, `If you really want to do something, two of my pals that I met in Columbia in the physics and math department won the Nobel Prize,' but they really love baseball and they would do it for nothing".

I saw this today and laughed. I am suprised these two aren't the GM and Manager.

"We feel as an organization we have brought in four players who can help us now and in the future. Brazoban has had success in the past as a set up man and a closer. I got to witness first hand DJ Houlton's command and repetoire in a start here in August."

"On the heals of trading Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, and Carlos Delgado, the Marlins are at it again"

I would hope a real newspaper could cach the error

so, in this imaginary deal, we would give up Bradley, Braz, Houlton, and Young. In return We would get Pierre, Pavano, and cash? No thanks, although i'm sure McCourt really likes the cash part.

Did you cut and paste that quote? If so, 'repertoire' is spelled wrong too.

I see. Now I know why he won't let colletti trade Bills.

The worst thing about this would be that Pierre would come and actually play. Outs galore!

But imagine if it were just (from LA's perspective) Pavano and cash for Bradley, Houlton and Brazoban. If losing Bradley is a foregone conclusion, then that's not so bad, right? Pavano ain't worth his contract, but the cash helps there, and he's a serviceable starting pitcher. How good is Young supposed to be? Houlton and Brazoban I think I have a read on already.

My view is that we can trade Ghame Over for something we can't get otherwise, then just turn Broxton into Mota version 3.0

Besides, who needs a first baseman when you dont even have a manager?

I'm reeeeally glad we didn't go for Thome based on what he was traded for, but I think the Dodgers could have given the Marlins a better deal for Beckett or Delgado than what they got back.

My only fear is that management is so afraid to let Choi start that they will sign someone worthless like Millar or Mientkiewicz.

Part of me wonders if Colletti is just throwing his hat in the ring for some of these trades just to give the impression to fans that McCourt is committed to spending money and signing big name players, but with no actual interest in signing them. If so, that could actually be a good thing, particularly if Colletti's triumvirate-braintrust is behind it.

Count the rings!

Someone needs to till Jim Hendry about the part about scoring runs.

LINEUP
-Nomar
-Bradley
-Drew
-Kent
-Giles
-Choi
-Navarro
-Aybar

Starting 5:
-Burnett
-Penny
-Lowe
-Perez
-Houlton/Billingsley

Btw, the above is a nice lineup, but I'd wonder if the infield defense would be anywhere better than mediocre at best. (Tho Kent was better, much better, than people feared he'd be.)

He's free.
He's freeeee.
And he's waiting for you to follow Hee.

I think Brazoban closes for Licey. It's 7-7 right now so might see how his offspeed stuff is looking.

I'm another "no" on getting Burnett. His bidding will be ridiculous, especially in the number of years. I'm more comfortable with someone a little cheaper like Morris or super-cheap like Jason Johnson.

"Beckett's career ERA of 3.46 compares to a park- and league-adjusted norm of 4.04, according to Baseball-Reference.com. His ERA+ is 117, which puts him in the same group as Bartolo Colon, Matt Morris, Mark Mulder, and Kerry Wood. Of these pitchers, Beckett is more like Wood than the others -- two of the most promising, yet underachieving pitchers in the big leagues."

http://tinyurl.com/ahqd3

The Los Angeles Dodgers joined the list of suitors for Braves free agent Rafael Furcal, who could get down to the business of accepting and comparing offers by next week.

Agent Paul Kinzer said the four teams he considers contenders for Furcal's services — Braves, Cubs, Mets and Dodgers — haven't made formal offers yet, but parameters have been discussed, and the shortstop has been given a good idea of what he can expect.

Other teams, including Kansas City, expressed interest, but Kinzer said he was honest and told them they had no chance of signing Furcal.

The Cubs targeted Furcal as an offseason priority, but Cubs officials have stated their belief that the Braves have the inside track on him. Furcal has spent his career with Atlanta, and Kinzer has cited Furcal's fondness and respect for manager Bobby Cox.

The decision might boil down to how close the Braves come to long-term offers that could approach $10 million annually for four or five seasons from the Cubs and Mets.

The Braves consider their shortstop and closer situations priorities.

If you don't like Burnett, substitute Lily in his place. D4P, didn't you propose one of these lineups way back in the good old days on your blog? (Good old days being before Depo was fired).

It doesn't have to be complicated, Ned. Stick with the plan.

I saw her on a sitcom a few years ago. I have to say, she looks HOT. I heard she went to harvard.

Also, Danica is such hot name.

She's a big fan of Lynn Ryan.

From my own viewing, I can say that Memphis shoots really well and is very deep and UCLA needs to get healthy.

All I wanted was Giles, Nomar, and Washburn.

Washburn seems like the most attractive free agent pitcher this offseason. He's a lefty and he had 3.20 ERA in the American League(4th best).

I was thinking that it would cost about 11 mil for Giles, about 6 mil for Nomar, and about 11 mil for washburn. The perception was that Depo had about 24 mil to play with if the payrol was to remain the same. So I didn't think that was out of the question. Plus, signing Nomar might allow the team to trade izzy to free up some money.

Oops. Well, I dig that blog, anyway. Or is it bad taste to mention the competition? Jon, I love DT as well.

I hopped on the Freeway and traffic was insane. So I decided to take the street. Traffic was worse. I guess everyone is trying to get out of town for thanksgiving weekend.

Since I wasn't going to make it on time anyway, I turned around and came home. Just thought I'd share my pre-thanksgiving traffic story with you guys.

and with that last update, I'm off to do something more productive with my night than watch Dominican Republic winter league games :)

He threw mostly 88-91 mph fastballs - also threw two breaking pitches (both high 80s so pretty much same velocity as his fastball tonight) that didn't look too good.

Oral Roberts should have made it to the NCAA tournament last year, but they were upset in their conference tournament final by Oakland, which had a losing record.

Oakland University's main selling point to students is that it has free parking.

No, not Iraq under Saddam. We're talking about the language used by the arbitrator in the Terrell Owens case.

Are you trying to stalk me? Many people have? ;-)

Friday night I will be covering the epic tilt between Sage Hill and Campbell Hall.

A prize to the first person who can tell me the location of BOTH schools.

G'night all. And, since we're 9 minutes in on my end, Happy Thanksgiving.

sam

http://rays.tbo.com/rays/MGBANI8HEGE.html

Why would the Dodgers want to pick up an older catcher?

As much as I'm baffled by Lasorda's choices and reasoning sometimes, I don't think his comment was intended as a swipe at Bud Black. Rather, Lasorda made the mistake of actually reading Simers' columns, especially a prior one in which Simers blasted Colletti for considering Jim Fregosi (someone who hasn't won the world series), and called out Simers for contradicting himself. Of course, pointing out that a writer at the Times has written something that contradicts one of his other columns is a bit like pointing out that the LA skyline is a bit smoggy sometimes.

Perhaps the biggest sin here is in actually caring what Simers thinks about the Dodgers. I certainly hope that the Dodger management doesn't care what the Times' writers think of their choices -- for the same reason that I hope the Dodgers aren't using a magic 8ball to make their decisions. (Both have a similar level of reliability.)

Simers, incidentally, changed his tune (in the same column) and now thinks that the Dodgers should take a risk and hire an unknown newcomer. Go figure.

"I showed in '04 what I can do when I'm healthy. I can make an impact and it was no fluke," he said. "This year, at no time were things right in my wrist and when they went in there and found that it was severe, at least I've got the evidence of why. That explained a lot to me."

http://tinyurl.com/dmbg7

Where are our Clippers fans? They are likely very nervous now.

That's too bad. If Giles wants to stay close to home, we're only a few hours away...

Congrats on passing the bar. It's like the opposite of a Bar Mitzvah--this is the day you stopped being a man. You're a lawyer, now.

It's good being able to cross off names like Thome and Delgado. Still waiting to cross out Konerko, Pierre, and others I can't think of off the top of my head.

http://www.sanspo.com/baseball/top/bt200511/bt2005112203.html

I tried google, but I learned Seibu is gearing for war (or "necessary war potential," whatever that means).

Furcal has had years of great OBP, his rookie year. And he's developed power his last couple years.

If he puts them both together, could definitely be an impact player.

I'd rather sign Brian Giles before Furcal.

As far as Werth, I had him penciled in as the 4th/5th OF anyway. Perhaps Werth injuries give us more of a shot at keeping Bradley.

While I agree with your assessment, I would add that the loss of Depo will hurt McCourt in another way. Paul was the perfect GM for McCourt in that he understood (and was fully prepared to operate within) McCourt's fiscal limitations. While McCourt has never admitted just how fiscally undersized he is in comparison to other big market owners, Depo was very aware of it and acted accordingly.