jjfanec

So Axford finished 35 games over more than half a season. If they split the remaining 30 or so games KRod still only gets 17 or 18, but that is cutting way too close

He cant be serious. There is no reason to share duties. I want to like RRR but this would really annoy me

I agree this was a win for both teams. The Mets were almost forced to pitch Krod in the 9th so he would have reached that incredibly high option. The Brewers are not forced (barring injury) to do that so the option wont be reached. KRod does not come out bad either because he will be a free agent now after this year and will get a solid contract from a team looking for a closer.

Boy, if that was the case.....I'd be ecstatic! I believe Reyes is the best available SS out there, and is a gigantic upgrade over Yuni. I really believe, especially after last night, DM is going all in for this year. Prince is as good as gone, especially after the AS MVP, so this is the best chance. Casey may or may not pick it back up, but the biggest weakness is SS. If DM can get Reyes, I'd love it!!If this happens, wouldn't the Brewers get 7 first round picks in 2012? That would restock the system quickly.If we offered KRod arby and if the teams that signed Prince, KRod, and Reyes were picking in the bottom half of the first round then we would have 7 first round picks.

Sounds like he's seen the list? Not really clear though. He sounds very confident. I am wondering what top guys in the system means. I mean our system isnt great so is just not Peralta, Thornburg or Gamel? Two of which we already knew were not even possibilities. Or do guys like Green, Gindl, and others on the top 10-15 of the Power 50 qualify?

I think the Linebrink trade has me worried which is funny since neither of those prospects (Inman or Garrison) ever did anything in the majors. Thatcher was the best of that bunch.

Maybe it is the recent acquisition of Boras as his agent swaying my opinion but I just can see him accepting arby especially if he sees he will be a set up man all year next year too. Good point on the Type A scaring some people away. However, if Rodriguez did accept arby could the Brewers simply trade him to a team who wants a closer. I am assuming there are teams that would trade for one year of him

I don't see them offering arby in this case, so Type A/Type B won't matter. There's a chance, no matter how small, that he accepts the arby offer, and there's no way Melvin and co. want to be on the hook for a 10 mil + salary for K-Rod next year.K-Rod is a type A free agent right now. If they get indication he wants to test the market there is no reason not offer him arby. He will demand a decent multi-year deal as a free agent. Heath Bell is only big name closer out there this year.

I guess I really need to watch up. Oddly enough I have recommended it a couple times but my wife is the one who hasnt wanted to watch it.

The question is what movies were best picture caliber movies? Inglorious Bastard, Precious, Blind Side, Up, Avatar? I just dont see a best picture caliber movie in that group. This years crop with The King's Speech, Inception, Social Network, 127 Hours,The Fighter and True Grit (although I did not love it) were all better movies than either of those two in my mind. I have not seen Black Swan, the Winter's Bone, Toy Story 3 and the Kids are Alright to know if they were better The biggest "grower" in estimation for me from 2009 is A Serious Man. If nothing else it has, bar none, the best final shot of the year. I also loved Moon. I liked The Hurt Locker, but I'll agree that it seems more of a compromise choice than a true classic. I'll take it over Avatar any day though. Robert I havent watched either of those movies. I think we completely agree on Avatar and the Hurt Locker though

The Blind Side is a good, fun movie but not an Oscar winner. I have yet to see Up or Inglorious Bastards. I have heard good things about both

The question is what movies were best picture caliber movies? Inglorious Bastard, Precious, Blind Side, Up, Avatar? I just dont see a best picture caliber movie in that group. This years crop with The King's Speech, Inception, Social Network, 127 Hours,The Fighter and True Grit (although I did not love it) were all better movies than either of those two in my mind. I have not seen Black Swan, the Winter's Bone, Toy Story 3 and the Kids are Alright to know if they were better

Avatar deserved to win every visual category there was but it was not a best picture. The plot was weak and a ripoff of countless other films and the acting was average at best. The character development was seriously lacking. It was a visual masterpiece but overall not a best picture worthy movie. I found Hurt Locker more engaging but I thought this years crop had numerous movies more qualified to win a best picture than either of those two.

6 innings and 2 earned runs and 10 Ks is a pretty solid start. If he has half of a defense behind him he is probably able to go 7 at least. He was making guys look silly last night.

I saw a thread discussing this in the trade forum of all places but I thought it would be interesting to bring to the major league forum. When looking at the NL MVP race one would think Fielder is the favorite right now. Overall stats and team's success seem to be the big factors. Tom Verducci did a mid-season awards list and had Fielder number 1 and Braun number 2 in the NL MVP race.

I am not sure if we have but the Cards as whiners has been a pretty yearly topic over the last few years. Yeah I remember those threads but the only ones I really read where about the announcers constantly whining about the untuck'em thing. I did not remember much about Pujols directly although i have noticed the animosity toward him on this board

Just curious, outside of the staring down his home runs what are the other things he has done what makes him a giant d-bag? I really wouldn't have a problem with him doing stuff like that except he has complained about other players and teams doing the exact same thing. I am not fan of Braun watching his HR but at least he isn't complaining about players on other teams doing the same thing. The hypocritical part is why I think he is a D-bag. If you don't agree with that after all the other discussions we have had about it over the past couple years, I am not going to waste time trying to convince you because I don't think you will change your mind. Many players do charitable things. It is easy when you have a lot of money. I don't think Pujols or his evil overlord LaRussa handle losing well. They are poor losers. Are you saying you and I have had discussions about this over the past years? I wanted to know if there was anything other than the staring down home runs and you explained that he complains when others do the same thing. That is hypocritical. It does not make him a d-bag in my mind but I can understand how it does in yours.

Past performance is a good indicator when people seem like the same players but it is obvious this year Young, Morneau, and Mauer are just not the same guys. Really Morneau and Mauer have not been the same for a couple years. I think they could turn it around and have solid years - well not Young even if he gets healthy because he just doesnt seem to care this year. On the staff Liriano does not look dominant very often anymore. I know Twins fans who want to trade him for anything they can get. Gibson could help but you are making him sound like Strasburg when he has been has a 1.3 WHIP and a 3.87 ERA in AAA right now. Good not great. Pavano is another guy who a regress was obviously coming. He is a 4 ERA kind of guy who will do well against bad hitting teams but when he faces good teams he gets rocked. Baker has been very good. Blackburn was rolling pretty good till he got rocked last night and Duensing is pretty good. However their bullpen is nowhere near the same as last year. The lost big pieces in Crane and Guerrier, Nathan is not healthy and Capps is back to pitching like an ok closer not a lights out one. The Twins at worst would have to get to about 86-76 to win the division one would think. At 32-45 they would have to go 54-31 to get there. I dont see that team going 54-31. They get some guys back in Kubel and Span, but Morneau wont be back for a while. They will have more home games the second half of the year so that will help. They end the first half with 2 more against the dodgers at home, then Milwaukee and TB. Then they travel to the White Sox for 4. That is a tough 12 games and we will see how they fare there. Edit - You also brought up Nishioka's great defense before. He now has 6 errors in 16 games.

Oh I know. I wonder if he will even be on a major league roster next year.

Betancourt has a team option next year right? So if the team declines that option we get no compensation is that correct? Getting a sandwich pick for Bentacourt would be stealing

Logan can fight his own battle, but he never said anything about off the field in his original post. Just that he's a giant d-bag. Which he certainly is on the field, which is all I, personally, care about. There is not a chance in Hell I'd hug him. Just curious, outside of the staring down his home runs what are the other things he has done what makes him a giant d-bag?

Morneau missed the last 30 games of 2009, most of 2010 and there were questions to him being ready for this year. It is not a surprise at all that he is hurt. Mauer has had a lot of trouble with his knees and catching puts a lot of strain there and he had surgery in the off-season. I live in Minnesota and when Mauer went on the DL it was a "here we go again" attitude. As to Nishioka I have read nothing calling him a fantastic fielder. Most said he would be lucky to stick at SS but was probably a 2B. Lots of players from Japan come over and dont succeed and watching Nichioka at the plate he looks pretty bad. Twins fans are railing his approach. I agree they have had some bad luck but Thome being hurt some is not a surprise as he is old. I will stick with Morneau being hurt not being a huge surprise. And when some of these guys were healthy they were not producing anyway. Span is unlucky and Cuddyer was a short stint on the DL. Young getting hurt the first time was a product of an out of shape player. I think they have been unlucky but I think some of it had to do with banking on guys who have a history of missing time the past few years and on guys who have not proven to be consistent major league players like Casilla, Valencia (hiandtight is probably right that he was rightfully banked on to do well), Young, and Nishoka. You like Nishoka a lot more than I do. For some reason both Young and Valencia both seemed like prime candidates for let down years. Valencia because the sophomore slump is fairly common and the league figures guys out. And Young because off-season reports were not glowing and came in out of shape. The Twins have actually been remarkably healthy in their starting pitching staff and it has been pretty average at best. I dont see that rotation setting them up to make much of a run. There bullpen has had a couple injuries but one of those, Nathan, you could see coming a mile away with his coming off major surgery and a dip in velocity starting in spring training Again I dont want it to come off like I think all of this was expected to happen and that the Twins are not unlucky but when I looked at their roster and question marks at the beginning of the year I told my Twins fan friends I did not see them making the playoffs. A rotation that is a bunch of 3/4 guys, a bullpen that got gutted in the off-season, and what I saw as question marks at 2B, SS, 3B, and LF and catcher since I didnt think Mauer would be able to catch a ton. Kubel is a DH playing OF, Thome is a DH only and Mauer needs to be able to DH some. I just did not like their roster. Now the Twins are a second half team and they could make a run in a weak, weak division but outside of past performance of the team do you see any reason to think this team is really going to turn it around that much?

AL ranks in OPS 2011 - 12 and 12th in runs scored 2010 - 4 2009 - 5 2008 - 9th but 3rd in runs scored 2007 - 13th and 12th runs scored. Finished the season 4 games under 500 2006 - 8th and 8th 2005 - 12th and 13th and missed the playoffs The Twins offense has been better than people give it credit for but when it is off they dont win. This year they are lucky to not the be the worst offense in the AL but Seattle and Oakland are terrible as well.

Carlos continues to pitch well for the Blue Jays. 5-1 in 7 starts with an ERA of 3.15. His WHIP is very un-Carlos at 1.03. He seems to be focusing less on striking guys out but is getting very good results. He is giving up a lot of fly balls still but his control is much better. He was not very good the past couple years and he would not be a starter on this years team but he is having a good year

I completely agree if it was Hardy for Yuni it was a terrible trade. However, Hardy at the time compared to Gomez is a loss but not a huge loss. Melvin and the rest of the scouting department thought Escobar was ready to be a starter and they were wrong. The biggest mistake was moving Escobar without a better plan than Yuni who is dreadful.