brettac1

Jeremy Hermida: .296/.369/.501, 18 HR in 429 AB's. If he stays healthy, his walks and HR totals will rise and he's going to be a star. Rafael Betancourt: 79.3 IP, 80 K, 9 BB, 1.47 ERA Jack Cust: .256/.408/.504, 26 HR, 105 BB/164 K (He had more walks than hits. That's awesome.)

I love Pedroia and Youkilis, especially. I've always been a Drew fan, but he was pretty bad this year and everyone hates him. I'm with you on Schill, though.

The A's and the Red Sox.

I guess if you see him replace Rock in the booth, you know what's up.

You can't report roster moves when it's a baby. They take up a lot of time. He's probably spending time with her so he doesn't have much time to post. Sounds like a lame excuse to me! He's in my sights. Another 4,700 posts and I am so there.

I saw him say something about his wife being upset that he was ignoring a crying baby while playing Halo, so I'm guessing yeah.

Hey, on the bright side, it eliminates one brewer of awful beers.

I totally agree, but the chances the Brewers can get a pricey import like him are pretty slim.

I think you would see the same thing that happened with Suppan happen with Garland. The Brewers need pitchers who limit balls in play, due to their defense. I'm not saying he'd be a disaster by any means, but for what it would cost them, financially as well as giving up Hall with decreased value, combined with them not really having a need at the position, makes me think the rumor is bogus.

I wasn't completely serious in my post, but it's just generally those types of guys who get the label of being professional hitters. Matt Stairs fits the description, and he can still take and rake, and is an FA that made under $1 M this year. But Gross can, too, albeit without the track record of Stairs. It's pretty plain to see that when you look at the FA list, along with Melvin's comments, that they're not going to go that route (nor should they). They're going to need to trade, and the only position they would do so for is likely a corner OF, or the slim chance they acquire a CF and move Hall to 3B with Braun going to LF. I have seen the name thrown around before, but the number one guy I'm going after is Carlos Quentin. He's going to be fairly available, I would guess, without having to pay through the nose. He'd be a corner OF (with excellent defense, by most accounts), who is a patient hitter with decent pop and upside. At this point he looks similar to a RH Gabe Gross at the time the Brewers acquired him, probably with a higher ceiling. As far as I'm concerned you can never have too many guys that can get on base. I kind of reject the idea of depending on Joe Dillon, much like I rejected the idea of Mike Rivera (and still do). To me, something doesn't pass the smell test. His recovery from back ailments due to some miracle cure, his physique, his magical power increase after taking those years off and returning to AAA, etc. It just doesn't seem right to me. I don't have the concerns over the same things with Rivera, just to clarify, I think he's just a classic 4A guy with a terrible approach at the plate.

I think if Derek Jeter or Vlad Guerrero or David Ortiz were given the highest salary in baseball history, they'd be able to handle the pressure that comes with it. Vlad in October (57 AB): 193/.258/.246, 1 HR You think wrong?

Want people to think you should be ranked up there with Ted Williams and Babe Ruth? Get a hit off of a tough pitcher on a playoff team! Hey - how many world series did Ted Williams single-handedly carry his team to? .200/.333/.200 in the postseason. Get him out of the Hall!

Usually that's a tag that a gritty white guy that is old/bad gets. Scour the free agent list for guys that fit the description. Jeff Conine Mark Sweeney Mark Loretta Scott Hatteberg Jeff Cirillo Aaron Boone Brady Clark Darin Erstad Shawn Green Trot Nixon I'm guessing it'll be one of those guys.

It's a whole 'nother level of play, and he's failing miserably at it, again and again. But what about when he succeeded, again and again? Like all the way until that 2004 ALCS? He was flat-out mashing in the playoffs. He singlehandedly destroyed the Yankees in New York when he was with the Mariners in the playoffs. I don't get it, though. People hate on A-Rod because he makes a lot of money. Great. But he doesn't have some sort of a character flaw that doesn't allow him to hit when a calendar is flipped to October.

Weeks being the best offensive player in the league for almost two months was pretty awesome. Fielder taking his game to superstar levels. Braun's bat.

I think he's had a bad 35 AB's or whatever. I think he's fine. What's weird is that he was never hailed as God of Clutch when he was hitting .400 in the postseason before this bad stretch. I think the reason you see anecdotal evidence of a weak psyche is because it's gets pounded and pounded into everyone's heads by ESPN and NY papers that he's a choker. History teaches us that if you repeat something over and over, in time it comes to be seen as common knowledge and truth. In reality, I don't really think it makes much sense to take AB's from multiple years and add them together as something meaningful, like these 35 AB's. It's cherry picking, each season is it's on entity, not to mention he has faced the likes of Carmona and Sabathia, probably 1 and 2 in the AL Cy Young this year. On the road. He's had a rough stretch, he could just as easily come out and go 4-4 tomorrow with 2 bombs.

The long national nightmare known as Jermain Taylor's reign as middleweight champion has finally come to an end. Thank you, Kelly Pavlik.

One thing that is odd to me is that Yost supposedly was getting into statistical analysis a lot during the off-season, yet he seemed to not absorb any of it. I like that he doesn't bunt, that's a positive. But then when he does it's in an incorrect situation like Saturday's game. The last thing I want is a "run manufacturer". Yost needs to be able to just sit on his hands a little more. I'm resigned to the fact that he'll be back, and I really do feel that he's basically the same as the rest of them, but 5 years is a long time without really getting much done.

First, he did not have the single most worst season ever. In 2005, he just may have - .215/.254/.348 Absolutely abysmal. Guys who can only carry a .300 OBP are bad hitters, pure and simple. The power he had when he had his good season way back when appears to have vanished, as well. He would be a decent 5th OF who can run and play some decent CF, but I wouldn't want him with a bat in his hand. He makes Gwynn look like an appealing option.

If Mark A. starts to publicly claim he has "plans" to improve the roster, I'll be very worried.

Every single game Capuano has pitched in since May 7 has been a loss!!! The dude won today as far as I'm concerned. He gave them an excellent start when they needed it. The fact that Claudio Vargas followed him into the game is indeed Ned's fault.

Chamberlain is a great prospect. He's going to be a solid #2 pitcher or a fringe ace in time. That is assuming the Yankees don't blow it and make him a reliever for good. He's going nowhere, the Yankees are commiting to their young players nowadays.

Vargas.

It's a 4 cylinder, small-ish 4-door family sedan, kind of like a Chevy Cobalt (really the same thing, I think, just under the Saturn umbrella).

Why would you bunt when you already have the lead, though? Play for the big inning on the road.