Valadius

What's with the paperclip?

Wow. Just wow...

Wow, the epitome of super-douchey-ness.

I think we could have used: 1. More home runs 2. Fewer walks by pitchers 3. Fewer basepath blunders

I have no idea what's being talked about here, but Razor Shines has been abysmal and should be fired anyway.

I see Daniel Murphy as a latter-day Ty Wigginton. I'd trade him.

I think Thole has earned a shot at a platoon with Santos next year, don't you?

Why is Beltran sitting out?

I don't think that the institution of a promotion/relegation system necessitates an abandonment of the farm system. On the contrary, I think it would create more farm teams in places that haven't had them before, in rapidly-growing parts of the country.

The Rose thing, if I recall, was briefly floated and promptly shot down.

Shoeless Joe was given a "lifetime" ban. Why the hell it applies from beyond the grave is beyond me.

I'd start with team location: In terms of metropolitan-area population, nearly every team seems to be in a place that makes sense. The one team that, to my mind, seems out of place, is the Oakland A's. Compared to other parts of the country, the Bay Area has been growing at a substantially slower rate, and other metro areas have surpassed the Bay Area in terms of population. The San Francisco-Oakland Metro Area is ranked 13th in the US as of 2007 estimates. Add San Jose in, and it's still far behind the other two-team metro areas. It is increasingly difficult to justify the Bay Area having two teams. In a perfect world, I would move the Oakland A's to Sacramento. Sacramento is already the AAA affiliate of the A's. Of all metropolitan areas without a major league team, it trails only Portland in population. It makes sense, and so it would be done. Teams that need to watch out, population-wise: Milwaukee Brewers - Milwaukee is the smallest market in Major League Baseball. It's ranked 39th in metropolitan areas, behind the following areas without a team: Portland, Sacramento, Orlando, San Antonio, Las Vegas, Columbus, Indianapolis, Charlotte, Norfolk, Austin, Providence, and Nashville. Even when considering Combined Statistical Areas - a larger census designation that pulls in more outlying small metro areas around a bigger hub city - it's ranked 26th, still the smallest market in the majors, behind many of the areas listed previously. Kansas City Royals - Kansas City, by any measure, is the second-smallest market in the majors. It ranks 29th in metropolitan areas, behind Portland, Sacramento, Orlando, and San Antonio. In Combined Statistical Areas, it's 22nd, behind Orlando, Sacramento, and Charlotte, as well as Portland, which doesn't qualify for a CSA but still outranks Kansas City based on the size of its metro area. I'm not sure if I'd be willing to move either of them yet, but they're the two that stand out. In terms of where I would put a team that needed a home, the most obvious place, in my mind, is Portland, as the largest metropolitan area without a major league team. After that, you're talking about Las Vegas and Charlotte, most likely. Orlando's surprised me in terms of just how big it is (over 2 million people), but I figure it ends up in Tampa Bay territory.

If you had the ability to reorganize Major League Baseball, and move teams wherever you felt they should go, what would you do? Would you reorganize the divisions? Would you move teams clear across the country? Would you expand or contract? Alternatively, if you could reorganize the minor leagues, how would you do it?

Well it's not like we ever thought he'd have a regular spot in the rotation.

That's really weird. Odd superstition perhaps?

They need someone at the top to keep Jeff Wilpon from screwing everything up.

He's actually back? Seriously? I'm shocked.

What image? I don't see anything.

Luke Appling for White Sox hits.

I said Kirby Puckett for Twins hits upthread.

Mike Lowell for Marlins HRs?

Twins hits: it's gotta be Kirby Puckett, no?

Luis Castillo for Marlins hits.

Tim Salmon for Angel homers.

Vlad Guerrero for Expo homers.