AGonzalez11

Soriano from 2nd to the Outfield? 788471[/snapback] Yeah, that's been talked about before with Texas before Michael Young offered to move to shortstop. Soriano stinks defensively at second.

http://torontosun.com/Sports/Baseball/2005...060288-sun.html By BOB ELLIOTT, TORONTO SUN HE WAS one of the three Blue Jays batters blamed when hitting coach Mike Barnett was fired on April 25. After starting the season as the No. 3 hitter in the Jays lineup, he was in the No. 5 spot last night in their 7-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins. He has been dropped to sixth in the order a half dozen times and once his stock fell so far, he batted seventh. So, where do the Jays move Vernon Wells next? Could their centre fielder be moved in a trade? His name has been mentioned in talks with the Washington Nationals and the Texas Rangers. Now, it should be understood that Nationals general manager Jim Bowden made a phone call to ask whether a young Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter or Ivan Rodriguez was available in a trade. It also should be understood that Nationals outfielder Brad Wilkerson might be J.P. Ricciardi's favourite player in the majors for his all-out, fence-busting style of play. Will something happen? Sometimes, where there is smoke, it is a signal that leads to a trade. And sometimes, when there is talk, it is just that. "A radio reporter had been asked about a possible trade the other day," Wells said this week at the Rogers Centre. "And then I read it somewhere on the net ... The Sporting News maybe? I'm not sure." Wells has been around long enough and is mature enough to know that you can control only what you can control. Should something happen? No. Wells should not be traded. The Rangers and Jays discussed a Hank Blalock-for-Wells deal in the spring of 2002, Ricciardi's first season at the helm. Keeping Wells was an excellent move. He hit .275 with 23 homers and 100 runs batted in 2002, then hit .317 with 33 homers and 117 RBIs the following year. He batted .272, with 23 homers and 67 RBIs last season, playing only 134 games because of a right calf injury. But all is not well with Wells this season. He leads the Jays with eight homers, but is batting just .221 after an 0-for-3 last night. Does a Wilkerson-for-Wells deal make the Jays better? We don't think so. Wells did win the American League Gold Glove a year ago. While Wilkerson, 27, played all but two games for the Montreal Expos last year, 86 were at first base after Nick Johnson was injured. Wilkerson played only 18 games in centre, hitting .255 with 32 homers, 67 RBIs and a .374 on-base percentage. Wells will earn $2.9 million US this year and is owed $10.9 million on the remaining two years of the contract. Wilkinson earns $3.05 million this year. Wells turns 26 on Dec. 8 and the Nationals would love to have him patrol the spacious RFK Stadium outfield where liners turn into extra-base hits. Texas always has coveted Wells, who lives in Arlington. Bowden is looking for a bat in an effort to turn this team into a contender. Besides Wells, the Nationals have shown interest Texas' Alfonso Soriano -- who would be moved from second to the outfield -- Eric Byrnes of the Oakland A's, Preston Wilson of the Colorado Rockies and Willy Mo Pena of the Cincinnati Reds. Wells was lauded as a cornerstone of the franchise when the Jays gave him a five-year deal on St. Patrick's Day 2003. The judgment then was accurate and he should be allowed to be given the chance to be so again.

The NHL keeps appearing in random news articles, it should just die already. 787582[/snapback] What an insightful post -- not sure what we would have ever done if you haven't shared that with us.

Can NHL recover from all of this? 786727[/snapback] We would all be amazed if they did. And I highly doubt you ever see hockey on ESPN again, nobody is going to watch it when they come back, and ESPN knows that (they could get better ratings with some Stump the Schwab re-runs). This is very sad, but the NHL has nobody to blame but themself. 786760[/snapback] I think it all depends on the rule changes they are reportedly going to implement. If you remember in the early 90's, the NHL was arguably the fastest rising sport in the US. From magazine covers to front pages in nationwide newspapers, hockey was the talk of the country. Wayne Gretzky was on top of his game, the sport was just simply exciting to watch. The '94 lockout killed all of the momentum the NHL had going for itself, then combine that with the trap that spread like a venereal disease, the NHL went from hot to not. If they somehow can make the sport attractive to the casual fan, not a sport that has a five whistles a minute, I think it can recover. After all, the only people following the NHL to begin with were the diehards like myself that would continue watching regardless of how bad Gary Bettman butchers the sport. Most of those fans should come back -- hopefully they can market the "New NHL" to the casual fan and build up a strong fanbase. Something that could/should really help the NHL is the increasing possibility of an NBA lockout. Alot of fans will watch hockey because it's the only sport they can watch. Using myself for an example -- I can't stand basketball but tuned into more than a dozen games this year and attended a few just because there simply was nothing else I could watch. Alot of people that used to follow hockey, or just dont know much about it will tune in to see what the "New NHL" is like. Some changes they've been talking about: -Getting rid of the red line (more open ice/less whistles) - Bringing back the touch up rule (ALOT less whistles) - Making the bluelines bigger (less whistles) - Making the nets bigger (more scoring) - Cutting down on obstruction (more whistles at first, but if it works, ALOT more open ice which will lead to nonstop scoring chances...) - Shootouts if score remains tied after OT - Making goalie equipment smaller (more scoring, more rebounds) - Reducing limitations of stick curves (makes shots alot trickier for goalies, which probably will lead to huge rebounds and more scoring) - Getting rid of the instigator rule (ALOT more fights) - Making the ice light blue instead of white (supposedly makes the game easier on the eye on television) - Making all PP's two minutes long regardless of a goal scored (more scoring..?) - Not letting shorthanded teams ice the puck (alot harder to kill penalties...alot more scoring) And thats just on the top of my head -- there's probably alot more that I forgot to name. As you can see, the game is going to be alot different when it comes back, hopefully the NHL has a good marketing campaign ready to go :shifty

It's a big deal if you're a hockey fan not because of ESPN's coverage, but because of the $60 million contract the NHL had with ESPN. It's a blow to an already struggling sport. That being said -- they arent "officially announcing" it until next week -- the timing of this whole deal is strange with the reported progress the two sides were having -- It wouldn't surpise me if this was ESPN's way of scaring the NHL & NHLPA to get the deal f*cking done already or you're going to lose out on $60 million next season.

While it's a nice little line, Waltz has made a bunch of better calls this season, especially ENC's opening day grand slam and Joe Dillons first home run. EDIT: I can't believe i'm arguing about how many GOOD calls Rich Waltz has made :lol 785831[/snapback] The call seemed better on video -- watching Dillon haul around the bases with his eyes popping out of his socket adds to the "Run Joe Run!" IMO. Still a good call though.

http://webpage.pace.edu/mh14934n/delgado.wav 785747[/snapback] thanks :thumbup

Did anyone upload Waltz' call on the gamewinning hit? If so, I missed it -- would be appreciated if someone could send me the vid/audio file

Whatever.? I guess I'm in the minority here, but I don't have a huge problem with the move.? I guess there's probably someone down there who could've done a better job...so that's my only problem with it.? But as far as screwing him up for the future, if he can't recover from this, he never had a future. 785636[/snapback] My thoughts exactly...if he isnt mentally strong enough to bounce back than he isnt strong enough to be in the bigs...as far as Yorman's outing...I liked his stuff when he was able to get it over the plate and if it wasnt for Easley's mishap he gets out of the inning only giving up one run...nobody seems to mind that the FO brought up a young 20 year old kid named Dontrelle two years...you dont know what these guys can do until you throw them in the fire...all is not lost with today's game 785644[/snapback] Pitchers psyches are very fragile at a young age -- How do you expect him to develop in the minors when in the back of his mind he's questioning himself and his stuff? Kids are brought along slowly for a reason -- if you don't see that you don't know the first thing about sports in general. For every Dontrelle there's two Justin Waynes. Remember him? The guy they "threw into the fire" and got torched in Houston without recording an out? Beinfest got incredibly lucky with Cabrera and Dontrelle -- but he's REALLY playing with fire right now with Bazardo and Kensing -- he's putting two promising young arms on the line for no reason at all.

Has anyone looked at his numbers recently? vs lefthanders: .286 BA 2.05 WHIP vs righthanders: .133 BA .064 WHIP Meet our righthanded specialist :plain

unbelievable a f***ing shame that Aguila gets the boot and why is Bazardo being called up? 784239[/snapback] It's probably just temporary -- they need the extra arm after abusing the pen tonight. If Castillo struggles, you don't have Bump available to eat up 3-4 innings. I'd be willing to bet if AJ makes his next start as scheduled -- Aguila will be back within a week.

from the Sun Sentinel: The "other guy" was Logan Kensing, who got an earful from McKeon during one fourth-inning mound visit and was sent back to Double-A Carolina after giving up three runs and six hits on 72 pitches in 22/3 innings. He had an 11.12 ERA in three relief apprearances. Outfielder Chris Aguila was also optioned to Triple-A Albuquerque after the game as pitchers Frank Castillo and Yorman Bazardo were recalled. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/basebal...-sports-marlins

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/basebal...-sports-marlins Embattled pitcher Graves headed to Marlins? Staff & wires Sun-Sentinel Posted May 24 2005, 2:44 PM EDT Danny Graves is ready to make a South Florida return. Designated for assignment by the Cincinnati Reds Monday, the former University of Miami standout has told associates he hopes to land with the Marlins. He doesn't have a choice, at least for the next 10 days. That's how long the Reds have to trade him before putting him on waivers for the purpose of releasing him. The Reds would likely swallow the bulk of Graves' remaining 2005 salary, about $4.5 million, in return for a minor-leaguer. Graves is in the final year of a three-year, $17.25 million deal with the Reds, with whom he lost favor due to a 7.76 ERA and making an obscene gesture to a fan after his latest rough outing Sunday. A right-hander, Graves has 10 saves in 12 chances and played for manager Jack McKeon in Cincinnati. In addition, he was one of pitching coach Mark Wiley's charges in 1996-97 with the Indians. If Graves is not acquired via trade and he clears waivers, he is free to sign with anyone for the prorated league minimum (about $225,000). If the Reds were looking to shake things up by getting rid of Graves, they succeeded. "To give up on a guy like Danny Graves -- I just can't believe it," first baseman Sean Casey said. Graves couldn't believe it, either. He intended to arrive at the ballpark and apologize to fans for making an obscene hand gesture to one of them following his poor ninth-inning performance the previous day. He never expected to be packing his laptop and the rest of his belongings in his locker. "I feel like I've been given up on," Graves said. "It's a shock to me." It was one final shock to a career-turning month. Graves criticized fans for booing after the bullpen blew a six-run, ninth-inning lead against St. Louis on May 2. After that, the closer got rough treatment from fans every time he stepped on the field. The catcalls were as loud as ever Sunday when Graves gave up five ninth-inning runs in a 9-2 loss to Cleveland. Graves walked off the field with his head down, got a drink in the dugout and then walked toward the steps to the clubhouse. One fan in the high-priced seats kept heckling him. Graves said that when he heard a profanity, he yelled back and made the hand gesture. A day later, he was gone. "A lot of the off-field emotions had something to do with it, and last night when I flipped the man off had something to do with it," Graves said. "A fan cussed at me. I regret doing it. I planned on apologizing today." General manager Dan O'Brien said it had more to do with Graves' pitching than with his gesture. Graves' ERA was 7.76, and he had given up nine runs in his last three appearances covering 2 2-3 innings. "I did hear about the incident after the fact, but the bottom line was Danny's performance, and the deterioration in that was the final ingredient," O'Brien said. Manager Dave Miley watched Graves get worse as the fans' taunts grew louder. "It became a confidence factor," Miley said. "His confidence has been shaken in the month of May, and we weren't comfortable bringing him in certain situations. We weren't seeing what we were accustomed to seeing." Graves' teammates suspected he wasn't at full health, contributing to his problems. Rather than get rid of him, they thought the team should have done more to help a pitcher who is the club's career saves leader and was willing to do whatever was asked. "It's just shocking," Casey said. "The only thing that bugs me about this whole thing is that Danny Graves has been so loyal for eight years to this organization. Anytime a manager has asked him to take the ball, he's never said no. He's never complained. You never heard a gripe out of him. You never heard anything out of him. "I just think it's wrong. He's a guy you try to find answers for, to see if everything's OK with his shoulder." Graves, 31, maintains he hasn't fully recovered from 2003, when he agreed to try to help the team by becoming a starting pitcher for the first time in his career. He went 4-15 and wore down, losing velocity off his 94 mph fastball. He hasn't gotten it back -- he's been throwing 88 mph. "I changed roles and probably ruined my career," Graves said. "I don't know. I don't have the answers." Graves' teammates pointed out that there were a lot more problems than just the closer. Cincinnati was 16-28 following a 5-3 win Monday over Washington. "We've pitched terrible, I've pitched terrible," said starter Paul Wilson, who is 1-5 with a 7.77 ERA. "And Danny is taking the brunt of it. This hurts. This hurts a great deal. There's nothing Danny's done or said that would give them enough reason to do this."

Being in the bullpen is worse for your arm than being a starter. 781564[/snapback] Not when you're throwing 100 MPH in the 6th inning because you're too stubborn to listen to your coaches and take it easy on your arm.Yeah, that's taxing on your arm - and it's still not as bad as being a relief pitcher. Even being a closer, AJ will have to pitch consecutive days (30 pitches in three days is worse than 110 in one, and that's not counting all the warm up pitches he'd have to throw in the actual pen), warm up and sit down, warm up and sit down, and then warm up and sit down some more. He'd have to be ready to go on a moment's notice, anyday, no matter what. Putting AJ in the pen would destroy him for good. 781605[/snapback] Well we can agree to disagree -- plenty of power pitchers have struggled to keep their health in the rotation and dominated as closers. Gagne, Smoltz, Lidge( I think he started in the minors....) just to name a few Rarely do dominant closers ever need 30 pitches to get through the 9th -- and while I understand preparing for the worst is neccessary, it doesn't mean thats fact. Closers rarely get up, sit down, get up and sit down like you suggest either. If they're warming up in the 8th they almost always come in the 9th or not at all.

Give Logan Kensing a chance Hopefully he'll shut all the idiots in this board up that can't recognize he isn't ready for major league duty yet though he's being cast into impossible situations. 781558[/snapback] So exactly why throw him to the wolves if he isn't ready? to further destroy any selfconfidence? To me, that sounds more idiotic than what the 'idiots on this board' are saying. 781568[/snapback] Kensing isn't a guy lacking self-confidence. Thats a big part of why they decided to give him the call last year and again this year. 781583[/snapback] Doesn't matter -- he simply doesn't know how to pitch to major leaguers at this point. His control is inconsistent and when you're a ground ball pitcher you'll usually get lit up unless you keep the ball down. Those are things he should improve with experience and coaching. He DEFINATLEY has major league stuff -- a 93-95MPH fastball with tons of movement and a good breaking ball -- but needs another pitch and needs to locate better. He'll be a good one with time, but he's simply not ready right now and it shows on the field.

Being in the bullpen is worse for your arm than being a starter. 781564[/snapback] Not when you're throwing 100 MPH in the 6th inning because you're too stubborn to listen to your coaches and take it easy on your arm. With one inning stints, AJ could go in there throw as hard as he wants to and probably not have it effect his arm as much as throwing 100 pitches an outing. I Know we have Jones, Mota, but I think the originals posters point is we have a potentially DOMINANT closer -- ala Eric Gagne. That first inning stat is strage -- but teams wouldnt do well vs AJ after seeing AL Leiters 85 MPH Cutter all night or Brian Moehler's 87 MPH fastball dart down to their feet. I'm not for or against making Burnett a closer -- but I have no doubt in my mind that he has the stuff(obviously) and the mindset to become one of the, if not THE best closer in all of baseball. That being said -- who's going to replace AJ in the rotation? I have no faith in Ismael Valdez and no one in our farm system is ready, so unless they go outside the organization its a hard move to make. What makes us such a good team is our starters -- take AJ out and our rotation all of a sudden is very average (Beckett-Willis-Moehler-Leiter-Valdez? yuk)

To compare Joe Dillon and Miguel Cabrera is idiotic...situation is similar that's about it. Dillon will be a decent bench player, but thats probably all. 779503[/snapback] you're right, he's no cabrera -- but i wouldn't write off Dillon as a decent bench player just yet. You saw it first hand what kind of power he has -- he wouldn't be the first overaged rookie to take the baseball world by surpise.

WOW what a beautiful swing Dillon has...congrats Joe! :thumbup

http://tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=125442&hubName=nhl McKenzie: Marathon meeting a positive sign TSN.ca Staff 5/20/2005 2:48:07 AM I get the real sense that this is the first week that the NHL and NHLPA actually started truly negotiating through this entire process that's been going on for more than nine months.? I think we'll know better on Friday morning as to what's going on exactly here, because the word coming out of the meeting simply was ''we'll know more in the morning.''? What that suggests to me is that there are some things they have to sleep on - proposals being made one way or the other.? That response ultimately will let us know what direction we are headed in - whether they'll continue to meet and get some momentum going or whether things are going to take a step back again.? Do understand this:? When they've met as much as they have this week, I've got to believe that there is at least some momentum going here and that is a good thing. You would have to think that there is enough pressure on both sides now that they can't afford not to have meetings like this.? There has got be more where that came from.? They could have 14-hour meetings every night for a week and they still could be far away from getting a deal done.? There is a lot to be done here.? People think this is a simple process, but it is not.? There are huge issues here - it is not just a salary cap number, it's not just a payroll range.? There are all sorts of transition issues like the fate of Sidney Crosby, Jeff Carter and Mike Richards and restricted free agents.? There are hours and hours and hours of work to be done, but having said that they are not going to get that done if they don't sit for a long time in the room.? They did that on Thursday and I think they are going to do that a lot more in the future, but that doesn't necessarily mean we're going to snap our fingers and within a week say ''great, the game's back on next fall for sure. ? Everything points to a deal possibly being done within the next four to six weeks, but it's going to take an awful lot of hard work. We'll have lots of peaks and valleys and there may be a valley on Friday if the response comes back negative from one side or the other. Definatley a good sign -- but with the ups and downs these idiots have gone through throughout this process -- I remain skeptical. For all we know, the meeting could be yet another ploy by Goodenow against the owners. That being said -- McKenzie usually has a really good grip of whats going on with the NHL -- I'd go as far as saying he's one of the most credible reporters in all of sports -- so hopefully they finally get this done and we have hockey back in the fall

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/hockey/...sports-panthers :thumbdown Hopefully they can still work it out -- having a team in Orlando would be convenient

Good move -- Hopefully you guys aren't expecting Dillon to come in right away and hit 5 HR in a week -- I'm betting it will take some time for him to adjust to major league pitching. Hopefully he adapts and becomes a nice power bat off the bench for us.

Crowell is so bad I almost feel sorry for him. Can anyone shed some info on J.B. Miadich? Never heard of the guy, but he has 32 K in 18 IP...pretty damn impressive.

pitched better tonight. i still cringe at the leadoff walks. and 6 innings ain't much, but it's what we should expect from him. anyway, he did much better tonight. had to pitch out of some jams, but can't complain about 6 IP, 1 run. 773246[/snapback] I think alot of you are getting spoiled by Beckett/Burnett/Willis -- 6 IP 2 ER isnt much? Cmon -- 95% of the teams out there wish they could get that from their starters on a nightly basis.

Leiter either cuts it or he doesn't. Honeymoon based on the past is over. I'm rooting for him tonight. If, once again, he is terrible, then he should be bull-pen coach. Who wants a bum like him COACHING our good pitchers. You're being too kind. Let's make him the ball boy outside of the visitor's bullpen. And while we're changing things around, how about those numbers Moehller's been putting up in the last 4 weeks. Let's make him number 1 and move Beckett down to 2. And let's replace Lowell with Aguilla. Move Delgado down to 6th. Trade Gonzalez for Dotel and a tomahawk, and move Pierre to #2. Let Billy the Marlin lead off. 773014[/snapback] So lets get this straight -- Chris Aguila at 3b? Trade Gonzalez for Dotel when the A's already have Crosby? Brian Moehler our ace? :lol jeez this is pathetic

I don't think he gets it. I was a Leiter fan in 97 but you can tell he has progressively gotten worse every year. Even last year he gave up a grand slam to us. He walks too many people. He tries to nibble too much.? I just watched him give up two runs and it's getting old. I say they put Moehler in the 4 spot and Valdez in the 5 when he gets back.? Screw having a left-right-left rotation. Moehler has pitched lights out and hasn't gotten any run support. Leiter's ERA is like 6.00 or something. Joe 772942[/snapback] Do you even watch baseball? When you're 39 years old and have an 87 MPH fastball, you tend to "nibble too much". He can't throw a fastball by anyone anymore, so he has to hit the corners and jam players -- he's always been someone who walks alot of guys. 6 IP 2 ER tonight...yep...lets just release him now. You guys need to learn two starts doesn't make a season, you all will be eating crow soon enough