I live in fear of JP making a trade along the lines of the Vince Carter deal(or the thankfully aborted Dany Heatley trade, for that matter).
A reasonable person would conclude he’s arguing that Manny’s production on the field outweighed his shenanigans, and not that “sports are only about the numbers” for him. (And, there are two Red Sox World Series titles that back up his conclusion.)
But, as you’ve repeatedly demonstrated on the boards, you seem to have a weird, deep-seated need to separate all baseball fans into “people who truly love and understand baseball” and “soulless stat geeks who only care about the numbers.” I mean, God forbid someone mention homers and OBP when deciding if a player is worth having on your team! :rolleyes:
The idea of winning games is to win championships. Keeping a bunch of stiffs around Halladay demonstrably won’t do that, but trading him for some talent just might, in a couple of years.
It can be damn fast, though, if you’re smart about it. I mentioned the Marlins already.
Maybe I’m spoiled here, but I don’t see the value in that. Either one means “pretty mediocre”.
Now THAT makes complete sense. 
Matt Millen, but that’s in a different sport.
Such as yourself.
And yet the numbers are the only evidence he’s offering for that, and he’s refusing to consider the shenanigans at all. So, as I said, what else can one conclude?
Yes, Manny won them both singlehandedly. How could I forget?
Yawn.
BTW - the Red Sox have certainly sorely missed Manny. Why, they were an entire inning away from winning the pennant without him last year, and they’re barely in first place at all these days. The cries of anguish from the clubhouse and the fan base are truly piteous.
And those poor Dodgers only moved out front by, what, 7 games with him out of the lineup this year. They’d no doubt have clinched the NL West already if he’d been in the lineup for those 50 games.
And in your posts about Manny in this thread, you never once mentioned his hitting. Should I conclude from that that you feel that his ability to slug has NO impact on whether he should be considered as an asset to your team? Of course not! (Or maybe you do feel that, which would be bizarre.) He simply offered some counter-evidence to your point.
Yeah, because that’s exactly what I said. :rolleyes: Of course he didn’t win them singlehandedly, but he was one of the most important parts of the team both season, and there’s a good chance they wouldn’t have won either WS without him.
Oooh, scathing rebuttal!
Care to respond?
Ricciardi’s not a good GM but he’s not as stupid as Rob Babcock.
For someone who abhors torture, you sure do like to commit it against logic. How does last year have any specific bearing on how the 2004 or 2007 seasons would have gone with a less-productive outfielder in the lineup?
So, what you’re saying is, if Matt Kemp had missed 50 games, and Manny had been playing and slugging .600, and the Dodgers had the same 7 game lead, you’d conclude that Kemp wasn’t an asset for your team while he was playing? Because, your sarcastic hyperbole aside, that’s where your logic goes.
Don’t get me wrong; Manny shot his way out of Boston and I wasn’t all that sorry to see him go. And my opinion of him moved to “strong dislike” with his drug suspension. I’d much rather cheer for Jason Bay.
Indirectly, yes I have, by saying it isn’t worth the negatives he brings. Do try to pay more attention, please.
No way to be sure either way, is there? But I did point out last year’s results (you could scroll up and read, while you’re paying attention). Without him the last 2 months, and even with all their injuries, they still were just an inning away from going to the WS yet again. Wouldn’t you have bet on them to beat the Phils? Hmm, now how could that possibly have been? :dubious:
You made the claim about his central importance to winning 2 Series titles. If your claim doesn’t hold up to much inspection, that isn’t my problem.
It was appropriate to the level of your threadshitting here.
Because you can *certainly *compare last year’s Sox with Manny vs. with J-Bay. Duh. Any other factors are as well-controlled as they ever get.
That’s YOUR logic, friend. YOUR attempt to claim how his hitting matters so much to his team.
Here’s a hint you might find useful in the future: Baseball is a team game. It isn’t individual performances, or the sum of individual performances.
And in a nice break from the flaming, good news for Blue Jay fans!
B.J. Ryan Released!
The Jays are still on the hook for the rest of Ryan’s gargantuan contract, but that money’s a sunk cost. There’s two positives here:
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Ryan, who was not one of the 15 (and maybe more) best pitchers in Toronto’s organization, will necessarily be replaced by someone better, or at least with some upside, and
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This further illustrates the stupidity of Ricciardi’s original decision to sign Ryan, which perhaps will contribute to Ricciardi’s dismissal in the off season. Or sooner, God willing.
It’s not Ryan’s fault he wrecked his elbow, of course. He tried his best. But giving a $47 million contract to a part-time pitcher whose delivery shrieked “Arm injury coming! Probably in the elbow! Call Dr. Jobe now!” was not a smart move.
Give Ricciardi credit for effectively publicly admitting a mistake there. It so rarely happens that one tends to wonder why.
Anyway, IIRC they did need a closer, and Ryan was the only plausible FA at that position. FA pitchers’ contracts are crazy all around anyway, though, and his really wasn’t out of line. Hate the game, not the player, so to speak.
:rolleyes:
But, I apologize to the rest of the thread for letting myself get dragged through the mud. I’d much rather talk about Kevin Youkilis, a player about whom I heard much talk of overachievement after 2008. Even with his current 2-for-26 slump, he still has a higher OPS this year than last year, made all more important by David Ortiz’s execrable start.
On the one hand, I delight in knowing that the Yankees are still looking up at the Sox even after going 11-2.
On the other, there’s no denying that this is still a tight three-team race (sorry, Jays fans!). The Rays actually have a better run differential than either the Sox or Yankees! (Yeah, Bartlett and Zobrist will come back to earth, but they’ve also stayed within striking distance without Kazmir.)
In news on retired players:
The really pertinent quote:
This isn’t the first and won’t be the last former pro athlete who made millions and then blew it all. I’ve read from several sources that more than HALF of all NFL players go bankrupt after their playing careers (granting most have brief careers and so won’t make the money Nails did.)
I find this fascinating. How do athletes do this, and why is it so often athletes you hear this about? Is it the culture of pro athletes? Education deficiencies? Dykstra in the last two years of his last contract - which he didn’t even play in, due to injury - made $12 million. Assume it’s $7 million after the taxman has his way. If you gave me $7 million I’d be set for the rest of my life and most of the principal would still be there when I died. How can the man have only $50K in assets? I have more than that in assets AFTER debt, and I’m just another wage slave.
Isn’t that amazing? How could you possibly take on the responsibility of having that much money and NOT think “the first thing I should do is stash half of this in the safest conceivable investments known to man”?
I don’t think that’s a phenomenon unique to athletes; I’ve read that something like 30% of millionaire lottery winners go broke after a few years. I’ll bet that many pro athletes who suddenly find themselves millionaires have little skill at managing money. Combine that with a peer group for whom profligate spending is no doubt common, and you get cases like this.
Still, I’m with you. I can’t fathom frittering away that much money.
Have you read anything recently about Lenny Dykstra? This is not a rational or smart guy.
The funniest part about Dykstra is that he was on Philadelphia sports talk shows before the economic downturn offering economic advice and selling himself as a stock market mover and shaker. Ah, I see the article mentions this. I found it pretty hard to swallow- I mean a few years before his claim to fame was opening a chain of car washes. I guess his magazine never hit it big and he becomes another victim of the 2008/2009 economic downturn.
Not Bragging or in anyway whatsoever pointing out anything that would in any manner subject the universe towards malicious Karma, just a simple news report…
Rockies back within one game of the NL wild card 
This SI story covers the bankruptcy story, and the reasons for it, very well.
A combination of thinking the good times will never end, taking bad investment advice, and lots and lots of leeches.
Look who has the longest winning streak in baseball: The D-backs!