nymr83

is someone going to pay them $20 million a year to do so? this is a great business decision, the name they get "stuck" with isn't really bad (you can say it easily, it doesnt scream "this is just dumb" like minute made or us cellular) and htats 20 mil a year they can spend on providing a better product.

that sounds like a great deal, the Mets wouldn't be getting a dime out of "Shea II."

heres my 25 man, i'm assuming that i need to win as many as possible in a 162 game season, not win a short playoff series. 1. Jones LF 2. Alfonzo 2B 3. Strawberry RF 4. Piazza C 5. Hernandez 1B 6. Johnson 3B 7. Wilson CF 8. Harrelson SS 1. Seaver 2. Gooden 3. Koosman 4. Leiter 5. Darling bench: Carter, McReynolds, Beltran, Kent, Reyes, Wright, Staub bullpen: Franco, McGraw, Orosco, Benitez, Cone

I'd rather CitiBank Field than Citifield.

Steve's list is fine but i have a hard time putting Matlack that high

i really feel this would get more discussion tacked to the top of the baseball forum

am i putting together a playoff roster or a roster for a 162-game schedule?

obviously you've got to balance good years with longevity, but i dont htink it serves any purpose to put Wagner on the list just because you expect more good years out of him in the future. by that logic Wright should top Hojo. here's my top 3 (in order) at each hitting spot alog with 10 starters and 5 relievers: C: Piazza, Carter, Hundley 1B: Hernandez, Olerud, Kingman 2B: Alfonzo, Kent, Backman 3B: Johnson, Wright, Ventura SS: Harrelson, Reyes, Elster LF: Jones, McReynolds, Gilkey CF: Wilson, Agee, Beltran RF: Strawberry, Staub, Bonilla SP: Seaver, Gooden, Koosman, Darling, Fernandez, Leiter, Cone, Jones, Ojeda, Saberhagen RP: Franco, McGraw, Orosco, Benitez, Wendell the top 2 catchers arent in dispute i don't think, i have hundley 3rd he's 5th all time and held the single season club record in homers. wright/reyes/beltran simply havent been here long enough to take the top spots, but they probably will soon. yeah, we all hate bonilla, but who else is there? bobby j jones gets no love.

]...and Jose Valentin (who earned at least a shot as a starter in '07)... i dont think a team can automatically hold a spot for someone just because they had one good year, if he's the best option then sure resign him, but if you dont honestly think he'll do it again don't just sign him beacuse he did it last year. ]...This is no knock on Soriano, a genuine star who hits, steals bases and racks up assists in the outfield... easy to rack up assists when everyone runs on you, how many extra bases were taken on him, is there a way to find out?

they can have jose lima

Elster88 wrote: I saw a lot of clowns bid 1 on that show when they weren't the last guy to bid. i've seen the next guy say "2" and teach them a lesson its a good strategy if you're the last one to go and feel that theres a decent chance they all went over, but if you arent last you need to make an accurate guess

$28,000,101

lubitul, forget the picture of matsuzaka, who is the hottie holding it?

Opinion: I hope nobody is used often enough in the regular season to break that record next year Fact: Box Seats at Shea were only $10 in 1987 source: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE1D61F3DF932A05753C1A961948260

Opinion: he's full of shit Fact: Jose Reyes raised his OBP 54 points and his SLG 101 points from 2005 to 2006.

sending Floyd up there was definetaly defensible even if you don't agree with it, to say otherwise is to over-dramatize the situation because you're a writer trying to sound like you've got something worth complaining about.

]Beyond Soriano, I just don't see anybody worth committing mutliple years to. I wonder if a Valentin/Aurillia platoon would be cost-effective. a platoon in general may be more cost-effective, and just as productive, as signing a Ray Durham and a guy like Woodward to be the 2B/UT, whoever isnt playing that day is the UT, i havent looked into the lefty/righty splits for these guys to see who would be the best targets (theres also the question of who would be willing)

="Edgy DC"]Sage's Plan C Group: Player / Age / Career OPS+/2004/2005/2006 Durham / 35 / 106 115, 107, 127 Loretta / 35 / 101 136, 96, 82 Valentin / 37 / 96 88, 62, 112 Sage's Plan D Group: Player / Age / Career OPS+/2004/2005/2006 Aurilia / 35 / 104 80, 99, 112 Kennedy / 31 / 92 98, 97, 90 DeRosa / 32 / 90 59, 98, 106 Lugo / 31 / 92 94, 105, 94 I can see buping Aurilia up and/or dropping Valentin down, but I see no reason to recommend a Lugo upgrade. i amended Edgy's list to include 2004, 2005, and 2006, i don't care what these guys did years ago if i had to order them i'd go: Durham, Aurilia, Loretta, DeRosa, Lugo, Valentin, Kennedy but thats irrespective of defense, age, and contract demands. if i factor in my own opinions of their defense, their ages, and i assume that they all want 2 years i'd go Durham, Loretta, Aurilia, Lugo, DeRosa, Kennedy, Valentin. Valentin was great for the Mets in 2006, but if he wanted 2 years i'd have to pass, he's the oldest man on the list and is responsible for 2 of the 5 worst seasons put up by these 7 guys in the last 3 years (21 seasons total) I've talked about liking Loretta in the past, but with the year he had in '06 I'd hesitate to give him more than a year with a team option as well. I've gotten the impression that DeRosa isn't very good defensively, but if i were told htat he's as good as the other guys on this list he'd be someone i'd take a gamble on along with Aurilia or Lugo. I'd give Durham 2 years but i have a feeling he wants 3 as he's the guy with the best name recognition here and its his last big payday.

I would have to put Lugo in the same group of options with Durham, Valentin, and Loretta, and not with the likes of Belliard and Walker

bump. when is the deadline to file?

]ESPN's Buster Olney put forth another shady arrangement; one where some team like Baltimore or Toronto puts in a sky-high bid and then low-ball the Mataszka/Boras team in negotiations. With no other teams to bargain with, he'd have to return to Japan and try again next year when he'd be a true FA. Meanwhile, the O's & Jays would keep him out of the hands of the Yanx & BoSox for at least one more year. Olney said he did NOT expect this to happen, only that it could. of course, this could backfire on them if the Japanese team decides it wants the money, they could tell Matsuzaka to accept the "low ball" offer with the understanding that they'll pay him 1/3-1/2 of the gigantic fee.

i could also, very tentatively, make either game and i'd be bringing a few people (2-3) in addition to myself. woohoo road trip!

SteveJRogers wrote: ="Nymr83"]the writers strike me as ignorant or worse. to give a GG to a guy who played 20 games of the position smacks of ignorance to what is actually going on in the league Did I miss something, I thought the GGs were done my managers and coaches? BTW, I'll give you something worse that was undereported and only because the player is one of the current "It" players in the game. How was David Ortiz even allowed to be on the ASG ballot as the AL 1Bman? Plays 10 games a year, and only because the Sox need that bat in the lineup when playing at the NL park during interleague. the AS ballot question is a good one, is there a spot for DH? if so he belongs there, if not i dont think its fair to leave him off the ballot which means putting him at the fielding spot where he played the most games the previous year. i wonder if Steinbrenner will try to put Matsui at 2B on the ballot, he'd stand a chance of getting in

why is that scary? they couldn't win with Abreu, a better player.

Hail! (to a great waste of the seaver post)