MLB Off-season discussion

nyisles16 · Post by **nyisles16** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 12:32 am

makes all the sense to me... the yanks will have trouble getting to the WS
this year cause their staff is old & in decline.. yes Wang & Chacon are decent, but how often can you rely on older pitchers.. & besides, is Pavano really a great pitcher??? seems he was around a .500 pitcher until his FA year.. take a wait & see approach with them.. & if they happen to sign Clemens, just adding to the age..

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 12:54 am

The Bosox are dismantling and that's the sad part for any loyal fan on any sport. But I suppose what really bugs the Boston fans here is that Damon chose their archrival NY Yankees while he could have gone to the Angels, the Orioles or to the NL. It's the sad part of free agency where the dollar signs rule and your true love for that Jersey that you represented is a thing of the past. I am sure former teammate J. Giambi had also a lot to do with Damon's decision but there used to be a time when a player would not cross the line especially moving to an archrival team.

Having said that, Damon did a lot of good things for Boston and fans should remember for his contribution to the team, but that move to the Yankees, hmmm.

vinny-b · Post by **vinny-b** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 1:24 am

Hood · Post by **Hood** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 1:29 am

hulkster29 wrote:makes all the sense to me... the yanks will have trouble getting to the WS
this year cause their staff is old & in decline...

Hulk, I get the part about the pitchers, it's just the whole ... "just like I need more COWBELL!!!" that has me confused.

I see you live in Long Island. Ever hit up any Islander games? Been to a few this year. Fan of the pace.

As for the Yanks, their staff is fine for 2006.

Hood · Post by **Hood** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 1:34 am

10spro wrote:Having said that, Damon did a lot of good things for Boston and fans should remember for his contribution to the team....

...but instead, you have tools engaging in nonsense like this:

Typical Boston.

nyisles16 · Post by **nyisles16** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 4:14 am

Hood wrote:
hulkster29 wrote:makes all the sense to me... the yanks will have trouble getting to the WS
this year cause their staff is old & in decline...
Hulk, I get the part about the pitchers, it's just the whole ... "just like I need more COWBELL!!!" that has me confused.

I see you live in Long Island. Ever hit up any Islander games? Been to a few this year. Fan of the pace.

As for the Yanks, their staff is fine for 2006.

havent been to any yet.. hoping too soon.. to me, they just seem old, that's the problem.. of course, being the met fan i am, not too young ourselves.. but relying on Johnson, who as we saw last year is very hittable now, Mussina, who has been streaky, & Pavano is a huge risk to say that they will be fine..

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 9:00 am

Hood wrote:
Zlax45 wrote:I think a rotation of Johnson, Mussina, and Pavano will bring the Yankees a championship just like I need more COWBELL!!!
Is that supposed to make sense or be funny? I'm legitimately confused. Would you mind helping me out?

Zlax is a Sox fan.

He was being sarcastic.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 9:11 am

I'm really hoping the Blue Jays start a 3B fire sale soon. The thought of Tony freaking Batista starting there for the Twins is downright depressing.

I'll even take Koskie back at this point.

AJColossal · Post by **AJColossal** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 1:03 pm

Sport73 wrote:The idea of Damon on the Yankees just bugs me. I don't fault him or the Yanks for the move, but it's a depressing reminder that the role of sportsfan in today's world is to cheer for a uniform, not the players.

Damon embodied the Red Sox spirit, the spirit that brought us the Championship. He will be missed. My beloved Sox are now a team without a clear identity.

This is the kind of move, as a baseball fan, that would have bugged the s*** out out of me two years ago. The Yankees get everyone they want, they win all the time, Boston or anyone else can't stand up to them, blah, blah, blah.

Well, this is a very different baseball world now. The Red sox stood up to them and won it all. (The freakin White Sox even won it!) And the Yankees have become this sorry, bloated assembly of big names, without any team cohesion whatsoever. They seem to be drifting further and further away from what made them such a great franchise just a few years back.

So while it may suck that he's a Yankee, you do have a ring than is only a little over a year old. Look at the bright side; imagine how much worse this would have felt in the 2003 offseason!

Sport73 · Post by **Sport73** » Tue Dec 27, 2005 1:21 pm

Hood wrote:
Sport73 wrote:The idea of Damon on the Yankees just bugs me. I don't fault him or the Yanks for the move, but it's a depressing reminder that the role of sportsfan in today's world is to cheer for a uniform, not the players.

Damon embodied the Red Sox spirit, the spirit that brought us the Championship. He will be missed. My beloved Sox are now a team without a clear identity.
Hey Sport 73, that's en entirely fair, well-reasoned, measured analysis. Are you sure you're a Red Sox fan?

That is a nicely designed compliment wrapped in an insult!

Again, the motives both on the part of Damon and the Yankees are understandable and I have no problem or personal animosity toward Damon for doing it. I wish him the best, thank him for the Championship, and will cheer him in his visits to Boston next season (now that I'm moving back up east I should be attending a few more games).

That said, the Red Sox were the anti-Yankees. The long-haired "Idiots" that were anything but the 'metro-sexual' Rico Suaves of New York. Damon was our dim-witted spokesperson and mascot, and a damn good lead off batter. Without him (and the corps of other players recently departed), the Red Sox cease being a team with a clear identity. They're no longer the cursed franchise, no longer the long-haired grizzlies of the league, and no longer guided by the slick "I take Tom Brady's left over chicks" Theo. Who are they? Just another team.

That's the depressing part. I liked the old identity. Bring back Clements and lets be the assholes of the league!

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 2:27 am

It's official, BlueJays fill up the gap that C. Delgado left last season in acquiring T. Glaus from Arizona. He's the cleanup hitter that they missed last year. Now does this move mean the end for Koskie, Hillendbrant or E. Hinske?

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 9:37 am

Man, Blue Jays are really going after it hard.

Fans up there most be excited to see managment be as aggresive.

EDiddy · Post by **EDiddy** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 12:03 pm

Can anyone remember the last off season team who had the most active/best/expensive winter season to come close to meeting there lofty expectations? I think the Jays will fall into that category next year also, and not reach any where near there paper potential.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 12:18 pm

EDiddy wrote:Can anyone remember the last off season team who had the most active/best/expensive winter season to come close to meeting there lofty expectations?

The Mets for the past 5 or so years...always playing runner up to the Yanks in the papers, and the Braves on the field.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 12:34 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:
EDiddy wrote:Can anyone remember the last off season team who had the most active/best/expensive winter season to come close to meeting there lofty expectations?
The Mets for the past 5 or so years...always playing runner up to the Yanks in the papers, and the Braves on the field.

Yep, 0 championships to show for it. Big deal.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 12:37 pm

jLp vAkEr0 wrote:
dbdynsty25 wrote:
EDiddy wrote:Can anyone remember the last off season team who had the most active/best/expensive winter season to come close to meeting there lofty expectations?
The Mets for the past 5 or so years...always playing runner up to the Yanks in the papers, and the Braves on the field.
Yep, 0 championships to show for it. Big deal.

Seems to me the Braves have had one a hellova lot more recent than the Mets. About 10 years more recent. Not to mention Ediddy asked who has been disappointing...and the Mets and there ever increasing payroll fit that perfectly in the past 5 years. The Braves and their decreasing payroll, do not. Read the question, THEN the answer, then YOU answer. That's usually how it works in the english language when you're having a conversation or discussing a topic.

Leebo33 · Post by **Leebo33** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 12:41 pm

The Red Sox did pretty well two years ago after landing two of the top free agent pitchers available and having a sizeable increase in their team payroll compared to the rest of the league. I can't see them winning the series without spending the cash on Schilling and Foulke. However, I'll generally agree that it is tough to go from the middle-of-the-pack to a contender based on money alone.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 12:46 pm

EDiddy wrote:Can anyone remember the last off season team who had the most active/best/expensive winter season to come close to meeting there lofty expectations? I think the Jays will fall into that category next year also, and not reach any where near there paper potential.

Nobody said the Jays will set the world on fire.

The fact is fans in Toronto have had nothing to cheer for after their Championships years and the fact that managment is actually trying to put out a decent product must make them very happy.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 12:55 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:
jLp vAkEr0 wrote:
dbdynsty25 wrote: The Mets for the past 5 or so years...always playing runner up to the Yanks in the papers, and the Braves on the field.
Yep, 0 championships to show for it. Big deal.
Seems to me the Braves have had one a hellova lot more recent than the Mets. About 10 years more recent. Not to mention Ediddy asked who has been disappointing...and the Mets and there ever increasing payroll fit that perfectly in the past 5 years. The Braves and their decreasing payroll, do not. Read the question, THEN the answer, then YOU answer. That's usually how it works in the english language when you're having a conversation or discussing a topic.

Wow, after all of this years, you still think I care.....

Incredible.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 12:57 pm

Oh I know you care. You wouldn't argue with me daily if you didn't.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 1:03 pm

dbdynsty25 wrote:Oh I know you care. You wouldn't argue with me daily if you didn't.

Dude, no one cares.

People don't like pricks, only when they can give them some info on mp3 players or the hot new cell phone on the market.

You know it.

I'll leave it at that before this gets locked.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 1:05 pm

You spend a lot of time not caring. You must be obsessive compulsive. I'd hate to see what happens when you DO care. And you're the one who took it OT, so thank you for finishing up. I'll do the same.

EDiddy · Post by **EDiddy** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 1:39 pm

Yeah, the Mets come to mind. And of course the recent Yankees teams come to mind. But I swear there are more. Even my fav the reds finally open the wallets up last year and they bombed. The Orioles last year.

This is really one thing that I enjoy about baseball. Almost every year it seems a team that on paper is a 100+ win teams does not win 70. And a team that is a < 70 win team can put together a 90-100 win season. You truly never know who will click and who wont. IMHO, it is easier to tell these things in the other sports.

jLp vAkEr0 · Post by **jLp vAkEr0** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 2:30 pm

Mets sign reliever Chad Bradford.

Good situation reliever vs righties. He's awful vs lefties.

10spro · Post by **10spro** » Wed Dec 28, 2005 3:47 pm

EDiddy wrote:Can anyone remember the last off season team who had the most active/best/expensive winter season to come close to meeting there lofty expectations? I think the Jays will fall into that category next year also, and not reach any where near there paper potential.

Hey, I don't think the Jays are planning a parade by any means but having lived in Toronto in the past, I can imagine the excitement the city is feeling since the WS's in 92-93. I think, what they have done is close the gap between them and the Yankees & Redsox and they have a core of young players just entering hopefully their prime and they still have some wiggle room under their planned payroll of $75 million.

Bottom line, they are a better club but like everyone else you still have to go out there and prove to everyone day in, day out.