And That

All things being equal, I'd just assume the Dodgers or Yankees sign Sabathia. If the Giants sign him, we don't get their first round pick.

This is why Ryan Braun is paid to play baseball, and not to schedule the World Series.

This hasn't been confirmed by anyone except a radio station host thus far.

That's my point. All there's left is everyone but Jeremy Affeldt, Ryan Dempster, LaTroy Hawkins and someone else I might be forgetting. Plus everyone still on the trading block. I don't like to judge the offseason before it is complete, and the offseason is barely begun.

We had acquired none of those players by 11/19/07. Up to this point last year, we had acquired one player (Randy Choate). So far this year, we've acquired one player (McGehee).

I have to confess that I did not know Cops and According to Jim were both still on the air. They should merge the shows somehow.

I would certainly care if someone took him, but I would be just as befuddled. I just don't see a scenario where he would be selected - will he be healthy to pitch out of a bullpen in April and May and even if he is healthy, since he hasn't pitched in a game situation in two years, do you want him skipping from half a season of advanced A ball in '06 to a big league pen in '09? That would likely be a tremendous liability. Maybe an AL team could essentially go with a 24 man roster, but that is sacrificing a lot for guy with a big injury history. That said, if Melvin and company think there is more than a remote chance he'll be selected, they'll protect him. He still may yet be a valuable asset in the future.

But there is almost no way he will be taken - why use an option in the the spring when you don't have to? Given how much time it could take him to fully recover from his injury and get back on track to the majors and then stick in the majors, the Brewers might need all of his options without putting Mark on the 40-man this year.

Link. Not "official" official, but the deal is expected to be inked today. One less arm on the market. Seems like a pretty fair deal.

However much of a liability he'd be at the plate in relation to other shortstops, Escobar would be that much more of a liability at the plate in relation to other second basemen. Not to mention the nosedive his defensive value would take. If we trade Weeks for something valuable that is not a second baseman, I'd just assume go with a Graffanino or Durham type guy for this year and leave Esocobar to mature in AAA.

The list of pitchers who have not pitched a professional game in two years that were selected in the major league phase of the Rule 5 draft is a very short, if nonexistent, list. Mark Rogers will in all likelihood not add to (or start) that list.

If they don't put him on the 40-man roster, they wouldn't be "giving up" on him, they'd merely be taking a calculated risk that he wouldn't be taken by another team. With his injury status, I'd be shocked if he were drafted in the Rule 5 unless his shoulder heals quite a bit in the coming month. I'd put money on the Brewers not putting him on the 40-man. That's not a shot to Mark, it is just being realistic about his current state of health.

If the Brewers are very competitive immediately, say 84+ wins with 3 million in attendance, I could see $100 million opening day payroll for the 2011 season easily, if not the 2010 season.

Folks, please watch what you're quoting. Only quote the most cogent part of what you are responding to, which is almost never the whole post. Especially if the post is directly preceding yours, in which case you really don't have to quote at all. Thank you.

This is the cover of the new Animal Collective album "Merriweather Post Pavilion": http://images.yuku.com/image/jpeg/bf4355504cd5905cd3f592ee23950c0706a27d5.jpg Ow.

On its face, I'd be inclined to answer the question in favor of Prince Fielder due over Ryan Braun to the dramatic difference in BABIP. During the 2007 season, Prince and Ryan had BABIPs of .286 and .367 respectively. A .367 BABIP is pretty unsustainable and that so many more of the balls that he hit dropped (or went out of the park) than maybe should have occurred, makes me think that he may have already had his peak season, unless he somehow achieves that good BABIP fortune again. Meanwhile, Fielder's relatively pedestrian (and actually below average) BABIP makes me think that had he had even average luck, his monster season would have been that much better. His LD% has also been higher than Braun's. With all that said, Braun seems to have the ability to make his hits "stay hit" as it were and doesn't seem rely solely on good BABIP to keep his batting average above normal. Ryan also slightly increased his walk rate (especially as the year went on) and really cut into his strike out rate, bringing it down to just about league average. I think there is reason to believe his BB and K rates will continue improving for a few more years and in the end I do believe he'll walk at or slightly above a league average rate. And as he becomes more selective at the plate, he'll get his pitches to hit, which we all know he does a very good job of hitting. Braun is also the more athletic of the two and the guy who should age much more gracefully, giving him a longer (healthier?) window to repeat his '07 performance. When I say "repeat" I mean a >1.000 OPS, which in the future may be less slightly more OBP heavy. Fielder's walk rate dropped from '07 to '08 and he struck out at a higher rate than he did in his first full season in '06. He seemed to be a very mature hitter when he came up in '06, sort of like how J.J. Hardy was a very mature defensively at shortstop when he came up. The question is, will he be able to mature further at the plate or will he follow in Hardy's footsteps and just settle into a nice, maxed-out groove? I tend to think the latter case is more likely. I see Fielder as a guy who some seasons could go on three or more big hot streaks and hit 45-50 bombs and other seasons only have one or two such streaks and hit 30-40 home runs, which of course is nothing to scoff at. To answer the question, I think both could easily approach and possibly surpass their '07 output in some future season or seasons. However, I think Braun is more likely to do it for two reasons: 1)Improving peripherals as opposed to Fielder's consistent peripherals (as how I see them progressing anyway), and; 2)Since he'll age better, he'll have a longer prime and therefore more chances to do it.

Link. It's just a two year deal... Affeldt was a Type B free agent and I was hoping we would make a run at him (just like I was hoping we'd make a run at him last season).

No matter how much money I had, if someone offered me $30 mil, I'd have an awfully hard time turning it down. There are countless things you can do with it... heck, if you don't want it, give it to charity.

This thread was opened first, and since the topic only has only a vague connection to baseball, we'll keep it in the Off Topic forum.

Prison Break is my guilty pleasure. I think it's pretty well done... they are on season four now and have really only escaped from two prisons. Seasons two and four have been more allegorical "prison breaks" and if the show runs a full 6-7 seasons, they may not have to physically break out of a prison again. The worst part of the show is the acting - both the leads are pretty bad, but the writing makes up for it. I agree that the Simpsons should have been cancelled long ago, around when Futurama debuted. Futurama was/is a hilarious show. It has easily been funnier than the Simpsons since they've both been on together. I haven't watched Law & Order since Jerry Orbach left... I can't imagine that show still being fresh. Heck, Law & Order: SVU is in its 10th season and should be finished soon if not now. Criminal Intent is really good, mostly because of Vincent D'Onofrio, but again, that is in its 8th season. The Law & Order franchise needs to think about closing up shop.

This has nothing to do with CC Sabathia, even tangentially. Please keep political commentary here or elsewhere on the internets. Thank you.

Shouse is all but a lock. One of Lamb/Branyan is a lock, maybe both (honestly, I'd prefer Lamb). Kapler is likely. I think Counsell will retire, but if he doesn't, he'll be back. One of Sabathia/Sheets is maybe a 25% shot.

I found a book in my girlfriend's attic titled "Richard Nixon: 1969-19??" - I am really looking forward to seeing how it ends.

I'll go with some top end minor league free agent who gets a 40-man spot, sometime before the end of the month.

Cruz is going to get 80-90% of Wood's annual salary, and sign for just as long or longer. He won't be cheap by any means.