jackalope02ca

I don't think I was wrong with Jeffress. And I don't think I'm wrong with Rogers either. I seriously doubt Jeffress couldn't have been easily replaced in the Greinke deal to still get it done. Just a general comment as some have alluded it could be prescription drugs and don't see that as an issue. Prescription drug abuse is comparable to cocaine abuse or heroin abuse in many cases. I'm not suggesting this was the problem as we will never know. However prescription drug abuse kills people on a fairly regular basis.

2nd offense. Time to drop him. Once can be a mistake but twice suggests he doesn't get it. He obviously didn't learn from the first offense so drop him immediately. And the load of crap his agent is trying to spin is pretty funny. You aren't going to be on many if any medications for carpal tunnel. Unless you have a problem you don't want to tell the rest of the world about. Hope he's invested his signing bonus well.

There is no such thing as overpaying if your going for it which the Phillies obviously are. Anything can happen once your in the playoffs. Prospects that aren't going to help you right now this year are all expendable in a situation like this. The Phillies got a lot better with this trade. Pence is a very solid player. The Phillies are going to be tough to beat.

B+ It's hard to argue with first place even though I've questioned a lot of his moves both in the players he picked to make the team, using certain players in certain situations and how some games like the one against Cincy and the one this week against the Cubs turned sure wins into losses. Overall though I think he's done a pretty solid job. Sure this team has talent and lots of it but it still takes a leader to shape the team and get the players to all buy in.

If a player has an issue on getting there on time he gets a teammate to pick him up or someone else or gets someone from the team to call him that's it's time to get in a cab and get over to the ballpark if he can't drive. There is obviously a lot more to this story than the general public is aware of. I wish him the best and hopes he gets his life straightened out. In todays day and age a sleep disorder is not an excuse for being late. He's a professional. If anyone of us shows up late every day for work eventually we'd get fired. So you make adjustments or put in place a system that gets done what needs to get done. He was optioned to the minors and not put on the DL so there has to be more to this story or the players union would be all over it.

A sleep disorder isn't going to cause you to show up late. The alarm clock will still wake you up. You might be too tired and wiped out to pitch but it's not an excuse for being late. Sounds like it's more than likely mental health issues that can more easily be worked out in the minors where there is less pressure. I'm just speculating here but why else would someone not get themselves to the ballpark on time even if it's just to show they can't play. He's a great pitcher but if he's only available once or twice a week we can't afford to keep him on the roster until he works through things. Put him in the minors where he has less pressure and can hopefully work through whatever it he has to work through. Hopefully we see him back later in the year.

Middle relievers are a dime a dozen. That's what Parra is. I don't agree he would definatley be claimed. Likely but not definately. It's getting pretty close to the time to give someone else a shot with potential. Parra is past the point of prospect and potential. He is what he is. A middle reliever who can make the odd spot start.

Independant baseball is always a juggling act. Guess they dropped the ball. Another reason the Northern League which was one of the premier loops for independant ball just a couple years back is no more.

No most NHL teams aren't teetering on the brink of bankrupcy. Most are rock solid. The NHL's problem is they have an idiot for a commissionaire who thought he'd take hockey from Canada to the Sunbelt. Teams in Atlanta, Florida,, Nashville and Phoenix are in trouble all the time but the rest seem ok. There are individual teams that could be successful given proper ownership and a new arena (Islanders) but there are a team or two like that in every sport. The fact of the matter is you could move 2 more teams to southern Ontario and sell out nightly. A team would do great in Seattle as well and possibly Portland. The idiot in charge though doesn't want to move franchises so they continue to pull hockey down and give it a bad name. There is talk of bringing franchises back to Winnipeg and Quebec City. Neither centre is large enough to support a team long term which is why they left in the first place. Again an idiot in charge.

The NHL isn't a perfect system with the hard cap but it's something that baseball needs to look into. The only big problem with the NHL cap which is directly linked to revenue and goes up or down yearly is that owners can stash their mistakes in the minors. There are quite a few NHL calibre players playing in the minors now because while they are still good enough to play in the NHL they are no longer worth what they are paid. So the NHL team waives the guy and when no one claims him can stash the overpaid player in the minors and remove his salary from the cap as minor league players don't count against the cap no matter what they make. If the player wants to get paid he reports. That's why guys like Wade Redden are making $6.5 million which is a very large NHL salary to ride the buses in the minors. Can you imagine Pujols signing for $300 million and then breaking down after 7 years and getting waived and then if he wants his cash he has to report to a place like Nashville to ride the buses?

Man we are sure in love with a couple of players we've never seen pitch for us yet. Not suggesting we shouldn't be but it might be more prudent for all parties to let both Marcum and Greinke pitch for at least half a season before we start talking extension. You have to see if they fit in first. Don't just assume they will as it doesn't always work that way. The other big equation assuming they are both married is do their wives like it here. Cause if they don't there won't be an extension. More ofthen than not players don't always sign where the money is but rather where their wives want them to.

Vancouver or somewhere close by would be a logical place to put a team. Not even sure what the population is on the lower mainland but it's plenty big enough to support a MLB team. While Basketball didn't work there Baseball would. The majority of us Canadians would rather watch a re-run of whatever than a basketball game. Seattle would have a fit though as it's in their backyard.

Maybe I'm the only one but I can see him settling for a 1 or 2 year deal back with the Brewers. I don't see the market he is expecting (or should I say Boras is expecting) to materialize. The Brewers on a 1 year deal might make more sense for him in the end. But then again all it takes is one nutty GM to try to make a splash to save his job. I actually think Fielder wants to win. Signing with the Cubs all but ensures he never would.

Does this mean Lawrie asks for another position change when the Jays use some of the savings to lock up Bautista long term?

There was cash sent with Wells it's just not been reported how much as of yet. Jays have been trying to move Wells for quite a while now. They did good no matter how much they sent.