AGonzalez11

So let me get this straight -- you guys bash announcers for being "homers" consistently -- then when a guy shows emotion for the opposition you rip him? What kind of hypocrisy is that? I didn't hear him today because I was at the game -- but I thought he did a great job opening night. No emotion for the Marlins? give me a f*cking break -- his voice was almost squeaking on Enc's grand slam and Delgado's 2RBI double. Anyone making a judgment on the guy after two games is a fool. If he makes a couple of nice calls on a walk-off homer or a clutch save -- you guys will jump to the other side of the wagon. Be objective and give the guy a chance -- you'll save yourself a ton of integrity in the process.

It just wasn't our night...how often does Juan Pierre pop up ANY bunt -- let alone a sac bunt in a crucial situation. I really felt like that was the turning point of the game...Easley on 2nd, no outs, top of the order up...that DP in particular was killer. That being said, I thought it was really cool of the crowd to give JP a standing O in his next at bat -- sort of as a "we forgive you" type of response.

Riedling had a very impressive first half last year -- but got pounded post-all star break probably due to being overworked and the death of his father. If I remember correctly -- we were trying to pry him away from the Reds early last season when his ERA was in the low 1's. He's a mixture between Bump and Christ Reitmsa to me -- a hell of a lot better than Nate -- not quite as good as Reitsma. Gets a ton of ground balls and should benefit from our defense. Hopefully he and Spooney return soon so we don't have to suffer through anymore Bump in crucial situations.

Yeah, it's a terrible product that nobody will watch, even though in the early to mid 90's NHL ratings were far higher than every other sport, including Michael Jordans' Bulls plain.gif. Are you kidding me? Are you on drugs? Do you have ANY proof? ESPN2 is getting better ratings with re runs of poker, womens basketball, and bass fishing. 725920[/snapback] Are you illiterate? Do you need glasses? Go look up the Nielsen ratings from ~1992-1995. Hell, just take a look at one of the covers of SI in 1994 that read "Why the NHL is hot and everything else is not" or something along those lines. In 1994, the only sporting event that got higher ratings than the NHL was the Super Bowl. 726085[/snapback] Show me proof. I dont believe you. How does a sport take such a turn around? From being the best and greatest to being NOTHING. Give me a link to YOUR claim. If you provide evidence I will never talk about hockey ever again on this board. Te evidence better real and from a trust worthy site. 726103[/snapback] A ton of combinations lead to the decline of the NHL. The 1994 lockout had the same affect on hockey as it did with baseball -- except baseball was able to recover because of the excitment generated from McGwires legendary chase and what not -- while the NHL on-ice product just got worse post-lockout. Teams have dedicated themselves to defense-first, defense second, defense third strategies that simply make 90% of the games boring to the casual fan. The only people who don't find games boring are those with an emotional attatchment to the game. They need to open up the game -- bigger ice surfaces, longer bluelines, less room behind the nets, should help somewhat. I DO NOT think they should make the goals bigger or drastically change goaltenders equipment -- that will just make the game WORSE. Teams will focus even MORE on their defensive game because their goalies just cant be trusted like they used to be. A great save is just as exciting as a shot on goal -- its SCORING CHANCES that they need to improve -- not just overall goals produced. My personal idea is to actually clamp down on obstruction -- call EVERYTHING and make every third obstruction call a penalty shot. make powerplays a full two minutes regardless of how many goals are scored. teams will NOT be willing to take penalties if powerplays are all of a sudden converting at 20-30% -- which will mean the 5 on 5 will be opened up drastically. the clutching, hooking, holding, slashing will dissapear, the game will open up and scoring chances will improve twofold. Anyway...I don't have any stats -- maybe Accord does -- but I can assure you his facts arent far off. Hockey was incredibly popular in the early 90s -- remember Miami in 96? The Panthers were the talk of the town. Finding a ticket to a Panther game was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Honestly -- I think Hockey is the best sport out there -- but the NHL is poorly run making it an unattractive product -- Bettman needs to be shown the door when this lockout is over -- he has done nothing but hurt the sport.

Yeah, it's a terrible product that nobody will watch, even though in the early to mid 90's NHL ratings were far higher than every other sport, including Michael Jordans' Bulls plain.gif. Are you kidding me? Are you on drugs? Do you have ANY proof? ESPN2 is getting better ratings with re runs of poker, womens basketball, and bass fishing. 725920[/snapback] Are you illiterate? Re-read his post -- note the "early 90s". Hockey was reaching it's pinnacle until Bettman ran the league into the ground.

the NHL has already been eclipsed by NASCAR. NHL on TV is a terrible product that nobody will watch, and it would be foolish of ESPN to pick it back up when it comes back 725301[/snapback] ESPN already did pick up for next season....

Didn't the Royals also waive Denis Tankersley? He'd be intruiging for our long reliever -- although he was beyond awful this spring. His stuff is filthy

Will Little make the team? I know Aguila will but I doubt we will carry 5 OFs. I can only see Little make it if JP is on the DL. AAA should be a good team this year! 725451[/snapback] We will be carrying 5 OFs -- Pierre, Cabrera, Conine, Encarnacion, Aguila.

Hockey is a great sport -- the ignorant constantly bash it because they simply don't understand it. It's arguably the most physical, fast paced, game out there -- but people just have never been given any reason to truly understand the sport -- so the NHL is where it is. Its a tough sport to market -- any kid can buy a basketball for 10$ and go play hoops, or buy a glove and ball for 40$ and play catch -- but hockey is so expensive its tough to introduce to kids at a young age. I remember playing when i was a kid -- and I spent over $2000 on equipment. Anyway...hopefully Bettman and Goodenow are fired after the impasse is declared..... :plain

dear god no -- Higginson is terrible. what a mistake that would be.....

Mark my words, we're going to regret this later. I don't like Treanor at all, there's a reason why you spend so many years in the minors. It's because you're not good. Not only did DiFelice out hit Treanor in ST, he has veteran experience behind the plate that would have been useful if Lo Duca needs a break or gets injured. 722042[/snapback] Really? Tell that to Lo Duca...or Kevin Millar....or how about Johnny Estrada? Should I keep going? Regardless of who the backup was....if Lo Duca gets injured Willingam will be the one starting, not Treanor(or DiFelice if he was kept). They are BACKUP catchers -- guys who can fill in once or twice every other week to give your starter a break. I like Treanor -- he's not going to light the world on fire but will do his job.

If/when Valdez stinks up the joint -- Olsen should NOT be the first option to replace him. The Marlins are playing with fire by promoting kids at an early age -- we were very fortunate with Willis and Cabrera -- but as the article said, they are the exception, not the norm. They tried it last year with Kensing and failed miserably...hopefully his psyche wasnt damaged and development stalled. If Valdez struggles, I'd expect them to look at Moehler, Bump, or even a trade before calling up Olsen from AA.

Good voice...hopefully his chemistry with Hutton will improve...they just dont seem to be on the same page yet and it really hurts the flow of the telecast and makes it seem "boring" You cant really judge though...what makes or breaks all announcers is their emotion during big moments and you wont get any of those situations in spring training.

okay..so he went back to his original delivery..how is one hit bad? 718783[/snapback] His point has nothing to do with Burnetts performance -- just Burnetts inability to improve due to his own stubborn, arrogant, self If his flawed delivery is the reason for his arm troubles -- how is he every going to fullfill his potential? Every time he takes a step forward on the field -- he takes two steps back because of an arm problem. He claims he wants to be comforatable -- I wonder how comforatable he's going to be when they're opening up his elbow again. Hopefully I'm wrong...but I've seen it too many times where bad mechanics lead to SERIOUS arm problems...and I think this is the reason why the Marlins were willing to move Burnett this offseason and rather invest serious money into someone else(Hudson, Vazquez...etc)

Just so you guys know.... Most Scrubbie fans are saying they are "very unimpressed" by Len Kasper and/or Bob Brenley. They are complaining the same way alot of you are about losing Steve Stone and not giving Len or Brenley a fair shake because their love affair with Stone was cut short... Now -- do you guys really want to be on the same level as Cubs fans?? :lol

If he just shows a little more enthusiasm, everything will be good. 716252[/snapback] Its spring training for christ sakes! how much enthusiasm do you expect him to show?? You guys are unbelievable -- first game in SPRING TRAINING and the guy is already public enemy #1. I think this has to do more with missing Len Kasper than it does about Rich Waltz. I thought he did fine -- it's a tough job to be Kasper's replacement -- comparing Waltz to him is just unfair -- its like comparing every prospect that comes up in your farm system to Randy Johnson or Barry Bonds. Len spoiled you all rotten... Accord....arent you a Panthers fan? I thought you would have been more accepting after having to listen to Jeff Rimer for the past decade :lol

a backup plan and insurance in case Conine isn't healthy. 711904[/snapback] That's Encarnacion, not Sanchez. We don't need 3 slap hitters in the lineup (two of whom would be below average defensively) when we could have (at the least) a solid to gold-glove calibre right fielder in Encarnacion... 711906[/snapback] You seem to be forgetting that Encarnacion is set to make $4.5 million this year -- you don't pay a "backup" that much money -- I don't care how much you may like him. What happened to the whole "dump Encarnacion for a bag of baseballs" wagon? Are you guys really that fickle to allow a half decent spring change your minds? If Beinfest can replace Encarnacion with Sanchez(or Redman...) he HAS to do it -- the 3-4 million we'd save would be invaluable at the trade deadline. 711947[/snapback] We'd have to pay half of his $4.5 million salary. And then pay for whoever we get, so by the end of it all we may be saving $1 million while now with a player that we don't really need, i.e. another slap hitter. 711948[/snapback] The more $ we take on the better player we'll get in return -- you saw it with the Urbina deal we made with the Rangers. If they make Beinfest take on a significant amount of salary -- we'll get a solid return -- if they take on most of the deal -- we rid ourself of Encarnacion's terrible deal. Win-win situation. I'm not a big fan of having another slap hitter either -- but I'd much rather have Sanchez than Encarnacion at this point. At least Sanchez will make contact -- Encarnacion and Gonzalez might be possibly the two worst contact hitters in baseball and we have them batting back-to-back. they are the epitome of rally killers.

a backup plan and insurance in case Conine isn't healthy. 711904[/snapback] That's Encarnacion, not Sanchez. We don't need 3 slap hitters in the lineup (two of whom would be below average defensively) when we could have (at the least) a solid to gold-glove calibre right fielder in Encarnacion... 711906[/snapback] You seem to be forgetting that Encarnacion is set to make $4.5 million this year -- you don't pay a "backup" that much money -- I don't care how much you may like him. What happened to the whole "dump Encarnacion for a bag of baseballs" wagon? Are you guys really that fickle to allow a half decent spring change your minds? If Beinfest can replace Encarnacion with Sanchez(or Redman...) he HAS to do it -- the 3-4 million we'd save would be invaluable at the trade deadline. Also...who are you saying is below average defensively? Sanchez and who? God help you if you meant Pierre or Castillo.....

I don't think it'll be for Redman -- he (as well as Sanchez) is older than Pierre so the whole replacement thing doesn't make sense to me. I think the Marlins think they already have JP's possible replacement in Eric Reed. A couple of names to keep an eye on...Freddy Sanchez and Ryan Vogelsong. Sanchez, although already 27 now, has solid tools and could be a reasonable backup plan if they lose Gonzalez next season...Vogelsong just as a shot-in-the-dark type of chances Beinfest loves to make....he has good stuff...alot like Pavano before his trade to Florida -- good stuff, bad luck with injuries and needs a change of scenery. I am NOT saying he's going to become as good as Pavano or anything like that -- just saying he could be a guy Beinfest takes a look at. I wouldn't mind signing Sanchez at all if the price were right (IE: below $1mil). If they do sign him however, hopefully they arent under the impression that hes going to REPLACE Pierre -- just simply a backup plan and insurance in case Conine isn't healthy.

I'd go with Dillon and Aguila. Aguila for defensive purposeses -- and Dillon provides a major power threat from the bench regardless of his spring. He's got major pop -- something that will prove to be an asset off the bench. Willingham will get nothing out of playing sporadically in the majors. I think it would be best for him to go back to the minors and fine-tune his mechanics as a catcher and get consistent at bats. I'm pleading ignorance on Little -- don't know anything about him -- so I'd go with Aguila and Dillon

I don't know much about him honestly -- but if that's true then I think he could have a legitamate chance to win the job does Jorgensen have options left? (can he be sent to the minors without passing through waivers?) if he does -- that could hold him back.

I think the backup job will go to whoever proves to be the best defensive catcher. With the struggles Lo Duca seemed to have last year in the field -- I think McKeon will pay more attention to the aforementioned contestants' defensive abilities.

Hermida will be in the top 25 699590[/snapback] I bet you 200 bucks he won't be that he isn't. 699597[/snapback] bad grammar and a bad bet in one post? impressive!

If AJ isn't re-signed by the allstar break, consider him gone. 699641[/snapback] I doubt they deal him unless; A)they fall out of contention OR B) They get a different pitcher of similar caliber that is signed long term. If they were to deal him I think they would have done it this offseason when they could have gotten a Vazquez-esque pitcher to replace him.

Something I've been thinking about for a week or so now: How about Encarnacion and a prospect for Byrnes? The A's would likely do it depending on the prospect -- Enc's deal is done with after this season so the risk is very little for them. They dont need Enc but we make them take him for salary concerns. Byrnes is far from an all star -- but hes a hell of alot better than Encarnacion. He plays with so much heart, good defense, fast, reasonable power. would be a great fit in the 7th slot. He'd be a fan favorite too -- guaranteed. For those that havent seen him play -- Imagine Eric Owens hustle -- but he's 10x the player. He'll hit around 20-25 HR, hit in the .280's, steal 15-25 bags, solid defense and wear his heart on his sleeve every night. just an idea... :thumbup