[Slum]

Yanks are gettin' it handed to them... One game into the season and Posada's already sitting with a sore shoulder. Does not bode well for him repeating his stellar play of last season.

[Optimus Prime]

Slumgullion Spitteler;283767 said:

Yanks are gettin' it handed to them... One game into the season and Posada's already sitting with a sore shoulder. Does not bode well for him repeating his stellar play of last season.

You don't give a 4 year contract to a 36 year old catcher...just doesn't make sense...baseball's salaries are becoming astronomically ludicrous.

[Slum]

It certainly wasn't what me or any of my friends felt was a good move...but I think the Yanks wanted to placate the rabid Dynasty-era stalwarts who rail at the thought of another of the golden boys being discarded, even if it makes sense (ala B. Williams). They have Molina, who's better defensively anyway.

[Optimus Prime]

Very true. People have to realize that loyalty in sports is a myth. Players leave for more money, and teams cut guys who can't produce anymore or who are too old for big contracts.

[Dagger]

OK, time for the lifetime Twins fan to weigh in. We won our two World Series before the salaries went through the roof. Hell, Kirby Puckett made headlines with a $7 million dollar salary. The best we've done in this decade is a string of winning the division only to get crushed in the playoffs. And post 2005 - our offense is toothless (there is hope that will change but they've gotten 4 runs in 3 games against the Angels) and our best pitcher is hurling for the Mets. We do have a fantastic farm system and we always produce outstanding pitching. But something is seriously wrong with our offense. If Morneau or Mauer aren't hitting, the rest start batting like kids starting out at tee-ball.

Speaking of Santana, is Hank Steinbrenner going to have a meltdown at the end of the season if he doesn't make the playoffs because pitching failed him and he could have had Santana if Cashman had made the deal?

[paladin]

Slumgullion Spitteler;283682 said:

Maybe the Royals and Rays are on their way up, but my whole point is, how are they going to keep those players if they're not willing to pay them market value? They can't overtake take the big dogs by building a good team and then dismantling it when it gets too expensive, only to start over again. Or maybe they can...I don't know. Like I said, I'm no expert, everything I know about baseball I get from ESPN and the YES network.

They Rays are still building a fanbase.. If they start to win, they'll make more money. Their only problem is that Florida if full of Yankee fans, and they've yet to turn any of them.

The Royals are in the best baseball region in the US(KC, Omaha, Wichita, St Louis, etc) and draw well when they don't suck tailwind. They've had talent before and can keep it if they need to. At this point there has been no need to do so in the past few years. They did go out and make some solid acquisitions in the offseason, notably Jose Guillen, who isn't a star but is a reliable semi-power producer with an excellent arm. The Mariners are going to miss his bat tremendously

Anaheim wasn't a high attendence or high revenue team until the 01 or 02(WS) season. Those teams were built around cheap veterans(Kevin Appier, Aaron Sele, Orlando Palmiero, etc) and some homegrown/youthful talent(Lackey[02], K-Rod[02], Kennedy, Eckstein, Glaus, and Garret Anderson[who should have won the MVP]). After they won the WS they secured the fanbase that was largely "meh" and only watched when it was interesting or when it was Bosox/Yankees/Dodgers. The increase in revenue(and selling to a better owner) has allowed them to invest in their talent, keep attendence and merchandise levels up, and still be a profitable or nearly profitable. True, they haven't won a championship since then, but they are perennial contenders without breaking the bank and one day they may actually come into the playoffs without half their starters on the DL or suffering from wacky shit like back arthritis, mononucleosis, and very bad intestinal infections.

The Marlins are another story because the ownership has destroyed any potential fanbase by not committing to anyone. Hopefully the new stadium does something for them

[paladin]

Dagger;283995 said:

Speaking of Santana, is Hank Steinbrenner going to have a meltdown at the end of the season if he doesn't make the playoffs because pitching failed him and he could have had Santana if Cashman had made the deal?

I dunno, but Jose Molina is lookin like a steal now.

[RodeoRanch]

Cubs win!


Course winning one in three games all season long may not be the best strategy.

[Optimus Prime]

RodeoRanch;284270 said:

Cubs win!


Course winning one in three games all season long may not be the best strategy.

Wood looked good today. I think they need to keep Soriano in the lead off spot, he's a spark.

Braves lost another tough one tonight...and Hampton's hurt...AGAIN!!!

[Slum]

Hughes looked pretty good in the Yanks win last night. Rivera, too. We'll see how Kennedy does tonight.

And yes, Molina was an excellent pick up, especially with Posada seemingly fragile. I don't know many back up catchers that are better. He's definitely a step from Flaherty and Nieves.

[Optimus Prime]

How bad do the Tigers look right now? All that payroll and three losses in a row to the Royals...

I'm laughing my ass off.

[Slum]

Yeah, not an auspicious start for Detroit...but It's early. I imagine they won't be pushovers all season, not with that roster. I don't see how you can add Cabrera and Willis and get worse...

Yanks vs. Rays tonight - I wonder if there'll be more bad blood on display. It'd be cool if this turned into another heated rivalry...but I guess Tampa's gotta get some fans first.

[Optimus Prime]

and some wins

I hope it does, the Rays know if they want to make noise in the division, they've got to stand up to the Yanks. They are getting more fans, or so i hear.

[paladin]

Slumgullion Spitteler;284539 said:

Hughes looked pretty good in the Yanks win last night. Rivera, too. We'll see how Kennedy does tonight.

And yes, Molina was an excellent pick up, especially with Posada seemingly fragile. I don't know many back up catchers that are better. He's definitely a step from Flaherty and Nieves.

The Angels are going to miss him(like they missed Bengie too), but we've got so much freaking young catching talent it was unfair to keep him and put him in so few games. Hopefully he gets a lot of use with the Yankees because eventhough his bat isn't great, he's better defensively than Bengie, whos a multi-goldglove winner. I think they all say that Yadier has the best arm of the three though.

[Slum]

OUCH! Kennedy got rocked for for 6 runs in 2 and a 1/3...

Edit: 10:30 PM Yankee time - Oh, Jesus, did we get our ass handed to us...13-4. If the Rays demolish our bullpen and 4-5 starters like that all season it ain't gonna be pretty.

[Tiste Simeon]

This is just depressing that I can't watch any of it. Especially as I now work on a monday and have to be up around 6:30, and can't afford to stay up til 4am to watch whatever game happens to be on Channel 5... And now I look on www.mlb.com and find that the Angels lost 11-6 to the Rangers. *sigh* Still, we're half a game ahead of the Rangers and Mariners, and a whole one ahead of the A's. So it's not all bad. Plus it's only been a week...

[paladin]

Tiste Simeon;284814 said:

This is just depressing that I can't watch any of it. Especially as I now work on a monday and have to be up around 6:30, and can't afford to stay up til 4am to watch whatever game happens to be on Channel 5... And now I look on www.mlb.com and find that the Angels lost 11-6 to the Rangers. *sigh* Still, we're half a game ahead of the Rangers and Mariners, and a whole one ahead of the A's. So it's not all bad. Plus it's only been a week...

they were down 6-0 in the 8th, gave up 5, 11-0 in the 9th, and started hitting like crazy. GA just missed a homer that would have made it 11-9 to end the game.. it was 2 ft from the wall on the track. a warm night or a daytime game it would have been out

[Tiste Simeon]

Wow... that's pretty impressive, to get 6 runs in the 9th!

[Optimus Prime]

Angels are in trouble. Escobar may be done and Lackey is hurt. I think the Mariners are going to win that division. Angels do have a great defensive outfield with Hunter and Matthews though.

Rays look like they are out to prove something against the Yanks. Wow, but their lineup is siiiiiick! They crushed the Yanks.

[Slum]

Well, they crushed a pitcher making only his fourth major league start. And then they were dealt with easily by Bruney and the other guy for the next few innings. And then they CRUSHED Latroy Hawkins, one of the worst acquisitions of the off season, and Kyle Farnsworth, or as Yanks fans refer to him - Farnsworthless.

Don't get me started on Farnsworth, how a guy can have all that power and potential and not quit giving up home runs in nearly every appearance is beyond me.

Pettite's on the mound now. 5-1 Rays...