The 1977 Yankees are the ultimate "Chemistry is overrated" team.

 

The manager hated their best player. The captain hated the best player. The best player was a bonafide dick who didn't hustle, took games off and generally raised hell. The manager tried to choke the best player. Numerous books have been written about how much this team hated eachother. They exemplified the "the guys left in 25 different cars" saying. The best player was quoted in season saying he's essentially the only person that mattered.

 

They won the World Series!

 

I'm not saying having guys who hate each other is good, but if you can get someone better at baseball, Wes Helms is a waste of a roster spot. Let the guy be a special assistant and do his fun Uncle Wes stuff there. Leave the on field stuff to people who can produce.

 

 

 

Edit: Never mind lol, it was Reggie Jackson.

Reggie, Reggie, Reggie!

The Rays are close to signing Hank Blalock to a minor league deal and could finalize the contract by tomorrow.

 

Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times reported (via Twitter) that the sides were near a deal and added that the deal should be finalized soon (via Twitter). Jon Heyman of SI.com reported (via Twitter) that Blalock was deciding between the Rays and Marlins and later added that the infielder was in "serious talks" with the Rays (Twitter link).

 

The Scott Boras client will make substantially less than the $6MM the Rangers paid him last year. The Marlins, who were the only other team linked to Blalock recently, offered him a minor league deal a few weeks ago.

 

Blalock, 29, hit .234/.277/.459 last year with the Rangers, adding 25 homers. Blalock, who hasn't played more than 39 games at third since 2006, split his time between first base and DH in 2009.

In light of the recent chemistry talk and Hanley.

 

 

By BARRY JACKSON

 

Aside from Dwyane Wade, no South Florida athlete had a better 2009 than Hanley Ramirez, who won a National League batting title (.342), hit 24 homers, drove in 106 runs and stole 27 bases. That's why it was surprising when no teammate rose to his defense in September, after Dan Uggla blistered him in front of reporters, accusing Ramirez (who left the previous night's game with a hamstring injury) of lacking desire to win and showing up teammates and dismissing him with a ``Yeah, you got your $70 million!''

 

As one on-field Marlins official said, Ramirez has ``acted like a baby'' at times in the past and can be moody or stand-offish. Another Marlins person said Uggla's issues with Ramirez reflected sentiment among many players at the time. Even Marlins executive Andre Dawson said in September, ``Hanley is going to have to really do what it takes to be a leader. He hasn't embraced that yet.''

 

But Ramirez has changed for the better since that Uggla incident, teammates say. Ramirez took the negative perception of him to heart -- he said recently it's important to him to have teammates' respect and is trying to become a leader. ``I am [the face of the franchise],'' he said. ``Everything I do, everybody is looking at me. It makes me do everything the right way.''

 

Third baseman Wes Helms said recently, ``I have told Hanley 100 times, `You have to lead this team.' '' Now, ``he looks like a guy that wants to. I'm proud of him.''

 

After the incident with Uggla, ``I saw Hanley cheering for guys more in the dugout and pick guys up who were struggling,'' Helms said. ``He would go up to guys and say, `We have to get it going.' I had never heard him do that before. That, to me, is more important than what he does on the field,'' though fans and management would disagree.

 

Catcher John Baker said Ramirez ``is starting to grow into being an adult'' and deserves credit for doing ``a fantastic job of calming Leo Nunez down'' on the mound last year. ``One time Hanley told Leo, `Throw Matt Holliday a fastball inside and he'll hit into a double play.' And that's exactly what happened.''

 

Ramirez, 26, said ``I help the young guys like Cameron Maybin, give them tips. It's a pleasure for me to teach them.''

 

For fans, what Ramirez does on the field is all that matters. ``People said he couldn't hit third, and then he goes out and wins a batting title,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said. ``Some questioned if he could play shortstop. He cut his errors in half last season.''

 

(He had 10 after 26, 24 and 22 the previous three.) ``Let's see if I can do less errors,'' Ramirez said. ``I could have hit .370. I can do better.''

The Rays are close to signing Hank Blalock to a minor league deal and could finalize the contract by tomorrow.

 

Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times reported (via Twitter) that the sides were near a deal and added that the deal should be finalized soon (via Twitter). Jon Heyman of SI.com reported (via Twitter) that Blalock was deciding between the Rays and Marlins and later added that the infielder was in "serious talks" with the Rays (Twitter link).

 

The Scott Boras client will make substantially less than the $6MM the Rangers paid him last year. The Marlins, who were the only other team linked to Blalock recently, offered him a minor league deal a few weeks ago.

 

Blalock, 29, hit .234/.277/.459 last year with the Rangers, adding 25 homers. Blalock, who hasn't played more than 39 games at third since 2006, split his time between first base and DH in 2009.

 

 

 

Thank you for actually posting something that has something to do with the subject matter of Blalock.

Hank Blalock and the Rays have agreed to terms on a minor league deal worth $925K, plus $350K in incentives. The deal will allow Blalock to opt out if he's not in the majors, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com.

 

Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times reported (via Twitter) that the sides were near a deal and added that the deal should be finalized soon (via Twitter). Heyman reported that Blalock was deciding between the Rays and Marlins and later added that the infielder was in "serious talks" with the Rays before noting the specific details (all Twitter links).

 

The Scott Boras client will make substantially less than the $6MM the Rangers paid him last year. The Marlins, who were the only other team linked to Blalock recently, offered him a minor league deal a few weeks ago.

 

Blalock, 29, hit .234/.277/.459 last year with the Rangers, adding 25 homers. Blalock, who hasn't played more than 39 games at third since 2006, split his time between first base and DH in 2009.

Hank Blalock and the Rays have agreed to terms on a minor league deal worth $925K, plus $350K in incentives. The deal will allow Blalock to opt out if he's not in the majors, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com.

 

Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times reported (via Twitter) that the sides were near a deal and added that the deal should be finalized soon (via Twitter). Heyman reported that Blalock was deciding between the Rays and Marlins and later added that the infielder was in "serious talks" with the Rays before noting the specific details (all Twitter links).

 

The Scott Boras client will make substantially less than the $6MM the Rangers paid him last year. The Marlins, who were the only other team linked to Blalock recently, offered him a minor league deal a few weeks ago.

 

Blalock, 29, hit .234/.277/.459 last year with the Rangers, adding 25 homers. Blalock, who hasn't played more than 39 games at third since 2006, split his time between first base and DH in 2009.

 

 

 

 

 

damn. wish we could have gotten him. he would have had more playing time here. i just don't get why we couldn't have offered 1 million and some incentives involving plate appearances and such. cheap asses. i honestly think our team has downgraded since last season

damn. wish we could have gotten him. he would have had more playing time here. i just don't get why we couldn't have offered 1 million and some incentives involving plate appearances and such. cheap asses. i honestly think our team has downgraded since last season

 

Silly. Because Hermida, Gload, Johnson, Calero, Donnelly, and Lindstrom killed it? 1000 PA of a .760ish OPS and 135 innings of a 3.50ish ERA isn't replaceable? Lame.

 

I don't foresee us having a problem with basically Maybin, Gaby, and a "25th man" from Jiminez/Lamb/Richar/Barden/Murphy/etc replacing those PA on offense (plus easily would improve defense and that's not including the vortex of suck that was Bonifacio), and as for the pitching, I suspect Volstad throws a low 4 era over 180-200 innings, which makes up the 20-25 runs "lost" over the pitching right there. Let alone we have a lot of RP competition and depth to not have to resort to things like G. Taylor, Ayala, Koronka, Kensing, Leroux, Davidson, and Penn, who cumulatively gave up over 60 runs in 60 innings last year. That's not going to happen this year.

 

I mean. There isn't a tangible argument that we have downgraded, unless you suspect widespread failure and injury. Losing those guys, and not signing Blalock, doesn't effect the bottom line at all.

 

This team grows with the SP. They are a 80-85 win team as is, if Nolasco shows up like 2008, Volstad finds his inner Derek Lowe, and another starter can throw a non-embarrassing 180 innings, we're going to creep real close to 90. It's that simple.

Rotoworld acts like Blalock to the Rays is a done deal but I can't tell if they are quoting the article already mentioned in this thread. I wonder what the Marlins offered him.

The fact Blalock isn't coming here shows the front office is not desperate or on life support and sound thinking still prevails "upstairs".

 

Not wasting a week negotiating with Scott Boras is a good thing if you believe what's been written about his deal with Tampa. All in all it's a good thing we passed on Blalock. Heyman and Miller to me are on a par with Barry Jackson when it comes to credibility but that's just me. Because you're wrong or expert at repeating stuff people already have reported doesn't mean they all can't be right some of the time. In this case they may have been wrong to report that the Marlins had anything more than a cursory interest and perhaps a passing comment that *(hypothetically)* "we can always find room for him in New Orleans if he wants to prove he's a hundred percent and ready to contribute..." rather than closing the door on anything.

 

Speaking of being productive, in both parts of the game you have to give it to Gaby Sanchez who in part made the Blalock decision easier for them if there even was any decision-making to do. At least in this first week of games Sanchez is doing everything that could be asked of him while Morrison has shown little to nothing except his shadow. If this continues LoMo will be relegated to the back field in another five or ten days, and the field will be clear for Sanchez' ascendancy.

 

For Sanchez all he has to do now is keep showing up everyday and playing the caliber of baseball the front office always thought he could. Local boy makes good. Sells tickets. Not the reason to give him a spot in the lineup but if and when he earns one, it doesn't hurt. For Sanchez to make the squad he has to keep playing major league caliber baseball, that's totally on him. Also one has to wonder how healthy is Cantu really? I have no reason to not take him playing everyday at face value but these little snippets that seem to surface here and there about his hand and his ankle still not being 100% "from last season" makes me wonder if the Marlins decide to go south (well sort of, the do open in NYC) without him for the first ten days (I believe the DL at the beginning of the season begins on the day in spring training the player in question played his last game) and give him a little extra rehab time and conditioning with a long season ahead. Purely hypothetical.

 

It will be interesting to see whether the Fish will start playing Gaby at third to determine what he can do without the worry of making the roster hanging over him. Interestingly, Jimenez also plays a quality first base, so the interchange of players at both corner positions becomes quite interesting. Throw Cantu into the mix and occasionally Helms, and Fredi if everything plays out, will have a unique opportunity to fine-tune his lineup on a day to day basis like he hasn't had before. Bringing in a potentially big bat but a one dimensional one at best doesn't make things easier, it makes things less flexible.

The fact Blalock isn't coming here shows the front office is not desperate or on life support and sound thinking still prevails "upstairs".

 

But they are talking internally about Mike Lowell, who Blalock out hit AWAY last year. Granted HB's defense stinks and Lowell is passable, but that's the same level of player.

 

Desperate? No. But they clearly know they need to bring in another flexible corner infield bat so they aren't stuck with Jimenez/Lamb/Richar/Murphy/etc. Whether that's April or July (Morrison?), it's eventually going to happen.