Bryan

I'm looking for a vulture outfit. I'm going to take my nephew trick-or-treating dressed up as Joe Girardi. :thumbup :banghead :banghead :banghead What? That's the only reason he worked for YES, was to wait for Joe Torre to go. :blink: (BTW: I was going to dress as Joe Girardi. He was dressing as Harry Potter.) Anyway, :lol at Girardi to take #27, as in wanting to lead the Yanks to their 27th title. What, his own #25 wasn't good enough? Jason Giambi wears #25.

It's sticking it to the Yankees because they did offer him a contract. Maybe they intended to offend him with it and maybe they didn't. But the fact stand that he turned them down, not vice versa. And now has taken a job elsewhere. Believe me, the Yankees didn't feel turned down. If they wanted Saint Joseph back it would've happened. They didn't even make a counter offer. He was not in the Yankees plans. It's pretty well acknowledged and transparent at this point. Joe wanted to come back, he said so himself, he was run out of town by Tampa. Good luck to Joe. He's a fantastic man. A below-average manager, but a fantastic, classy, extremely likable guy. The charity work he does is amazing. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a clue how to run a baseball team anymore. Luckily for the Dodgers, one of his main flaws (his over-loyalty to certain players) will not rear its ugly head for a while. Somewhere Scott Proctor is crying.

The Yankees didn't want him and, more or less, let him go. How is this sticking it to the Yankees? Mattingly, possibly, if they asked him to come back and coach. Torre, no. Torre was run out of town by an offer the Yankees knew he would turn down. The Yankees offered, he rejected, and they said "Ok, fine, thanks for the last 12 years!" rather than make a counter offer. but the yankees sure do want rivera and petite back, but i think theyre going west now. I doubt it. Money talks. However, if Pettitte or Rivera are either getting more than one or two year deal's respectively, they'll likely become an albatross. If the Yankees or Dodgers sign Rivera more than two years or Pettitte more than one, they're making a major tactical error.

The Yankees didn't want him and, more or less, let him go. How is this sticking it to the Yankees? Mattingly, possibly, if they asked him to come back and coach. Torre, no. Torre was run out of town by an offer the Yankees knew he would turn down. The Yankees offered, he rejected, and they said "Ok, fine, thanks for the last 12 years!" rather than make a counter offer.

What a good choice to manage the great young arms they have next year. :| Girardi was made very well aware that he had restrictions to follow in regards to the Yankees young arms. Brian Cashman made this abundantly clear, I'm sure. Besides, Nardi Contreras and Dave Eiland run the Yankees young pitchers, and the rumor is Eiland is the favorite to be the new pitching coach. Joe Girardi will not be allowed to overwork the Yankees young arms. That aspect of his managing will be under a constant microscope. Throwing Hughes for 125 pitches won't fly in New York. This isn't Florida. He will deal with Hughes, Chamberlain, Kennedy and Horne as Contreras and Co. tell him to, or he will be yanked immediately.

I'm momentarily ending my self-imposed exile to say that this thread was tremendous. I was rolling for a while. Great stuff.

Cervelli and Samardzija really have no business being listed. Both were flat-out awful at times this year.

Test-screenings haven't been too favorable so far, thus my interest has been a little sapped. We'll have to see.

I believe Holliday has edged out Prince Fielder for MVP. How can anyone not vote for Braun for NL ROY? Josh Beckett and Jake Peavy are the Cy Youngs It might have something to do with Troy Tulowitzki being one of the best at the most important positions on the field and Ryan Braun being a COMPLETE abomination at third base. Personally, I'd give it to Braun, but it's very close.

The Wild Card has to get more stipulations applied to it. I don't know if I'd go as far as some (No home games for WC team in first round, having 2 WC teams play 1 final game to decide who gets into ALDS), but it's getting to that point. The Wild Card is weak and it's imperative that MLB fix this major hole in their playoff system. why not just get rid of the wild card altogether since we're going to make things so unbalanced for the wild card team, they will just get knocked out in round one? that sounds like a better idea than making the wild card team nomads that can't win for the playoffs. don't take away home games for the wild card. i think that's getting to a point of an unfair advantage for the other team and depriving the wild card team's fans of seeing their team at home in the playoffs. and what makes the wild card weak anyway? some of these teams are probably the second best team in the league, but they run into bad luck with a just as good team in their division. so i'm supposed to believe that a 82 win team is better than a 100 win wild card winner (extreme example) 100% of the time? Again, I didn't say I agreed with those ideas, I was just throwing them out there. I do believe that they have some merit to them and that less harsh stipulations do need to be evaluated for future use. Basically the long and short of it is, it brings back meaning to winning division titles. Right now, the Yankees could care less about winning the division and that takes much of the luster of the final few weeks away. There is an out to getting in (hah!). Back in the day, it was an all-out war, with teams battling desperately to finish first in their division so they'd have a shot at the crown. Now instead of intense battles between heated divsion rivals, these last few weeks are merely battles to see who can secure Home Field. What's the point of playing 162 games? The WC devalues the playoffs. The contrarian argument is that the WC brings life to divisions that would long since be dead. An argument that is hard to ignore. However, they play 162 games for a reason, adding harsh stipulations makes the Wild Card considerably less likely to win the whole thing and adds more meaning to actually winning one's divsion. If they're so good, they'll beat the minor additional stipulations anyway (that they earned over the course of a season). I've also heard the idea of realigning the divsions so that it was just one super-division and the top 4 teams come out of it, the last team facing the additional penalties, that way you can counter the 100 win - 82 win issue that you just brought to the forefront. The person also brought up the idea of re-balancing the schedule, an idea which I'm a staunch supporter of. There's a huge thread on SOSH about it. You can read it there.

The most incredible part of his stats is that he's been playing hurt for the better part of two years now. His season was ended early by surgery to remove the hamate bone in his hand. It had been a cause of concern for at least the past 2 years, and the Yankees finally decided to have it removed. From what I understand, the injury he sustained to his wrist was caused by the bone, and the injury would become chronic if the bone was not removed. A complete loss of power is expected along with this sort of injury and looking at his slugging percentage, that's exactly what he had happen. He'll start next year in AA, and should he find his power back fairly quickly could see AAA, too. If all goes according to plan, he should be in New York no later than 2010, with 2009 not being impossible if the Yankees face injuries in their outfield.

Give a win to the Sox and a loss to the 'Best Yankees team since 1998'. 3. Don't come with that, it's weak and you know it. When the Yankees are using Karstens, Igawa, Veras, Bruney and Villone in the same game, you know the foot is officially off the gas. You're right, the team the Yankees fielded tonight isn't the 'Best Yankees team since 1998'. Their usual team is, however. Not saying I agree, personally I think they should be gunning for it, but the Yankees simply don't care about the division at this point. And, for only reasons of pride, do the fans care. The Wild Card has to get more stipulations applied to it. I don't know if I'd go as far as some (No home games for WC team in first round, having 2 WC teams play 1 final game to decide who gets into ALDS), but it's getting to that point. The Wild Card is weak and it's imperative that MLB fix this major hole in their playoff system.

Yes, because you say so. :lol It's 4 teams that are about as even and different as I've seen in a while. I don't get how anyone can say anything definitive about it. I can't shy away from that arrogance though so I'll definitely risk my account here if it comes to it. It's not arrogance if I'm right. Personally, I think it's pretty easy to see who the various matchups favor. Sorry that you disagree.

If the Sox and the Yankees meet up in the ALCS and the Sox have won the division, I'll do a permanent ban bet with you. If it happens, you've got a bet. Let's hope its not Cleveland/Boston, New York/Anaheim or we're both toast.

The Yankees are clearly superior? :lol :lol :lol It's cool if you think they are the best but the entire AL playoffs will be an absolute crap shoot. To say one team or another is clearly superior is the definition of being a homer. I guess you assume no one but Jabba and Mo are going to pitch from your pen. :lol I clearly state, without actually using the words, that the ALDS matchups will decide who goes to the World Series from the AL. It's a huge mishmash at the moment, and the final standings/matchups will make everything much easier as far as picking a favorite. However, I will state again -- the Yankees are clearly superior to the Red Sox and Indians and would beat them easily (6 games or less) come playoff time. I will bet my membership here on it. The Angels are the only team the Yankees need to be concerned with. This is the strongest Yankees team since 1998. Just because you take a hard-stance on something positive about your team, it doesnt make you a homer. Though I may be one, this is not an example of that fact.

As far as I'm concerned, the two best team in the AL are both in the AL East. The Indians would beat the Red Sox right now. Particularly if they get to use CC and Fausto four times over the five game series. The Angels MAY beat the Yankees right now. Though I think the Yankees are clearly superior to every team in baseball, the Angels have their number. I'd favor the Yankees over the Indians and Sox. I'd favor the Sox over the Angels. It's really not as clear-cut as you make it. The only clear-cut thing is that the AL is annoyingly better than the NL. It's a landslide.

The last half hour was very funny. Was some dead time throughout, but overall, it was very good.

Theres ZERO hint of sarcasm in what you said, and ONE straight-sentence that someone is actually likely to say would not be enough to develop a recognizable bit of satire. You need to go back to the drawing board. To avoid continuing an off-topic discussion, PM me if you want to get in an "YOU'RE AN IDIOT! NO, YOU ARE DOUCHEf***! I HATE YOU!" argument. I'm game.

The standings don't indicate the Red Sox suck so I think Duncan needs to get his priorities straight. Come back down to reality please. My goodness.

Easily the best movie of the year for me, thus far.

Someone PM me the sopcast address/channel that the Yankees are on.

This Week's Games: Miami @ Oklahoma TCU @ Texas Arizona State @ Colorado South Florida @ Auburn Oregon @ Michigan Notre Dame @ Penn State BYU @ UCLA Boise State @ Washington South Carolina @ Georgia Game Of The Week: Virginia Tech @ LSU

I know nothing about blackouts, never having had to deal with them before. I'm assuming: U.S. postal code "07---" is subject to blackout for the following MLB teams: New York Yankees New York Mets means that I'm getting blacked out right? THIS SUCKS.

I'm still technically in the Yankees market though so I'm afraid of getting blacked out. I know the Yankees have a special TV agreement with MLB so I'm a little hesitant to pull the trigger. Can anyone shed some light on this? Will I get blacked out since I'm still in the Yankees broadcast area? Remember, I don't get YES. I dont want to pay 20 dollars and then find out that I'm not even going to get to see the games.

OT: Is MLB.tv good? Im away at school now and don't get the YES network, but still have to watch the games. Thoughts?