Zycho32

I'm fairly certain the Celtics would've been butchered mercilessly both on the court and off it if the deals for Allen and Garnett did not happen and the team stood pat with the team it had. Frankly, the idea really does work well on paper. You've got Garnett in the high/low post wrecking havoc on the Eastern Conference frontcourts without needing to be the entire team on any given night, you've got Allen sniping away at the perimeter without needing to shoulder the main scoring load every night, and then you have Pierce working in-between the other two and not needed to be the quintessential team leader for an underperforming club. I really think the best kinds of acquisitions that would make this 'Big 3' really click would be a fairly large PG who is a hellacious defender and can score/pass a little and a frontcourt player who really thrives in the low-post and can give Garnett a breather when it comes to abuse. You can argue all you want about the Celtics mortgaging their future for the immediate dividends, but it feels like you're excercising Small-Market Baseball strategies in a sport that really doesn't work that way. You very rarely find either of the following; A: A team that lacks a superduperstar but nevertheless is capable of winning a title without their opponent losing their own stars to injuries first. The Pistons of one or two years back? Very unlikely to happen again. B: A superduperstar who comes almost out of nowhere- and by nowhere I mean they don't get into the draft lottery, or even the first round. Anybody who is legitimately considered a star capable of taking his team to contention by himself is usually drafted really high, Top 10 or even Top 5 at least.

I guess where you stand on the deal depends largely on where you stand with Will Inman and the fact that Linebrink's current production is not helping the judgement at all. Still, here are my thoughts: Immediate Short-Term: Linebrink pretty much solidifies the bullpen for the Playoff Push. Thinking about it, either he takes the set-up job from Turnbow, or he combines with Wise in the 7th. Either way could be seen as in upgrade for the clutch, but that assumes Linebrink regains his form. This Off-Season: The compensation picks are an okay fallback, but if Linebrink is as good or better as advertised, I think i'd want to keep him around and see if he truly has what it takes to become a closer. 2009: By this time we should realistically know what path Will Inman's carreer will take. This is still a sensative point though, because it seems a lot of people were banking on him to be a future arm in the rotation, perhaps right behind Gallardo. Granted, trading him hurts, but we're only working on a vague glimpse into the future. That year will also be an indicator of how deep and strong our starting prospects really are after trading Inman, and whether or not we could afford trading him.

They must be destroyed. Their ballpark must be raped, looted, and pillaged. Their pitchers must be devastated with moonshots that threaten to leave the park and kill innocent pedestrians. Their bats must be burnt to a crisp by 100MPH fastballs. ...even I can't tell if this deserves blue coloring.

Already the thread is in panic mode. People hate Gross, People hate Gwynn... sooner or later you guys are going to support a trade where we deal an actual gem in the minors for a patch-up player who can take CF until Hall returns. I find that option sickening myself. Either way, this is it. There will be no more doubt during this time whether Gwynn/Gross/Nix/whoever can hack it as a starter. All of you endorsers... be careful what you wish for.

They might as well get it over with and start establishing Minor League Football back in the states, where they KNOW it won't curl up and die.

I've got nothing substantial to the topic in question- I just want to point out Sheets has collected a new nickname- "The Sheeter". Try saying that in a bastardized Mexican accent, why don't you.