pan6467

Not saying Prior is innocent but the Cubs couldn't low ball Prior, you need to know your facts. He probably will not be able to pitch for a portion of next season and the Cubs would have had to go to arbitration to keep him. In doing so they cannot reduce his contract by more than 20%. He'd still be making $3.4 million and his future next season is questionable. Not worth it, especially for a team trying to be sold.

LINK: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/rumors/p...?urn=mlb,57634

Black Jack is one to talk..... the stories of him and his nightlife still live in Cleveland.

__________________
I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

Ustwo

Ah didn't know, I don't follow the Cubs that closely.

I have to wonder if cNBC got an early draft of the list, lots of the same names on it, and several missing. Interesting if they were not on the report due to a lack of substantial evidence.

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pan6467

I have a feeling this is just the start. There are going to be players coming out to save their name and they'll take down others and management.

This could get extremely ugly for baseball in the very near future.

__________________
I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

Average_Joe

I just got through browsing the .pdf file of Mitchell's report on ESPN, and I didn't see some of the names on that list. Where did your list come from?

__________________
I think I'll procrastinate......in a little while.

kutulu

Here is a bigger list and the full report (400+ pages):

Allen, Chad
Ankiel, Rick
Bell, David
Bell, Mike
Bennett Jr., Gary
Bonds, Barry
Brown, Kevin
Byrd, Paul
Cabrera, Alex
Caminiti , Ken
Carreon, Mark
Christiansen, Jason
Clark, Howie
Clemens, Roger
Conseco, Jose
Cust, Jack
Donnels, Chris
Donnelly, Brendan
Dykstra , Len
Franco, Matt
Franklin, Ryan
Gagne, Eric
Giambi, Jason
Giambi, Jeremy
Gibbons, Jay
Glaus, Troy
Gonzalez, Juan
Grimsley, Jason
Guillen, Jose
Hairston Jr., Jerry
Herges, Matt
Hiatt, Phil
Hill, Glenallen
Holmes, Darren
Hundley, Todd
Jorgernson, Ryan
Justice, David
Knoblauch, Chuck
Laker, Tim
Lansing, Mike
Lo Duca, Paul
Logan, Exavier
Manzanillo, Josias
Matthews, Jr. Gary
McKay, Cody
Mercker, Kent
McGwire, Mark
Miadich, Bart
Naulty, Daniel
Neagle, Denny
Morris, Hal
Palmeiro, Rafael
Parque, Jim
Pettitte, Andy
Pratt, Todd
Randolph, Stephen
Rocker, John
Riggs, Adam
Rios, Armando
Roberts, Brian
Santangelo, F.P.
Santiago , Benito
Schoenweis, Scott
Segui, David
Sheffield, Gary
Sosa, Sammy
Stanton, Mike
Tejada, Miguel
Valdez, Ismael
Vaughn, Mo
Velarde, Randy
Villone, Ron
Vina, Fernando
White, Rondell
Willaims, Jeff
Williams, Matt
Williams, Todd
Woodard, Steve
Young, Kevin
Zaun, Gregg

I'm really not surprised by any names. I don't know why people would be surprised to find out that Pujols was using PEDs. He's huge AND his trainer had been linked to HGH through other players.

Another thing to consider is that there isn't exactly strong evidence for all people listed. Supposedly the section with Matt Williams was based only on newspaper articles (although Williams did publicly admit using PEDs)

Hanxter

john rocker still plays???

QuasiMondo

I don't think John Rocker's pitched at the major league level in years.

__________________
Cameron originally envisioned the Terminator as a small, unremarkable man, giving it the ability to blend in more easily. As a result, his first choice for the part was Lance Henriksen. O. J. Simpson was on the shortlist but Cameron did not think that such a nice guy could be a ruthless killer.

-From the Collector's Edition DVD of The Terminator

The_Jazz

Yeah, there are a lot of former players on there. I don't think that they discriminated between current and formers at all and just named anyone that played at the major league level that they had evidence on.

__________________
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo

Halx

I feel so let down by Paul Lo Duca and Eric Gagne. Well, at least my favorite pitcher, Greg Maddux, is pure.

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[Don't Feed The Animals]

Ustwo

Not necessarily, it just means he didn't get from the suppliers that got busted.

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Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

pan6467

Maddux?????? oi the greatest pitcher in the last 30 years was Nolan Ryan and you never hear a bad word ever said about the man.

__________________
I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

Halx

Nolan Ryan was amazing, but Greg Maddux thrills me more. Besides, I only said he was my favorite, that doesn't need to meet any of your criteria. I enjoy the delicate nature of Maddux's pitch placement and his overall personality.

Thanks, but I don't recall seeing an offseason where Maddux blew up like a balloon.

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[Don't Feed The Animals]

Ustwo

Most pitchers didn't, you don't have to end up looking like a gorilla to benefit, it helps in your recovery time.

Now I hope hes clean, I THINK hes clean but due to how things went down, you can only hope and think, you can't know.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

pan6467

True Maddux does have the finesse Ryan lacked.

Didn't mean anything by it was just trying to add some smack talk and lighten things up for a minute.


It's going to be impossible (next to first person admissions) to truly know who did and who didn't.

I liken this back to the 1919 Black Sox scandal. The difference is back then the teams were reliant on people showing up at the stadiums... now the owners make more money from television, radio, satellite and so on.... none of this is really going to affect them financially, nor many of the players.

It's not like in 1919 when MLB had just fought a heavy battle with the Federal League for fans. MLB has a monopoly on the game, even the minor league teams make the Major League owners money.

So unfortunately as shown not too long ago, baseball can have a tied All Star game because the players don't want to play over 9 innings.... they can cancel the World Series.... they can tarnish the game in every feasible way and yet we, who love the game, end up still going and watching because we love it, irregardless of the tarnish.

I honestly believe MLB could come out tomorrow and say the last 20 years every World Series was fixed and we will continue to fix them...... and we'd still watch.

Same with the NFL, NBA, NCAA Football and Basketball. They hold monopolies, billion dollar contracts and we are a nation that has lost touch with our sense of true right and wrong and all we care about is being "entertained"..... this even shows by what passes for news (Paris Hilton, Britney Spears.... etc).

/ends rant gets off my shoeshine box and runs down to the train station to catch Shoeless Joe and Eddie Cicotte for autographs.

__________________
I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

Glory's Sun

As I stated in the other thread.. this list doesn't mean shit. Most of the names are on the list by hearsay and by the two snitches from NY who want to save their asses.

Give Mitchell some power to subpeona people and then we'd have a true barometer of what the state of the sport is.

kutulu

That has nothing at all to do with why the 2002 ASG was a tie. It was a tie because until that it was customary to make sure that just about everyone got a chance to play. As a result they went through all 19 pitchers in 11 innings. You cannot bring a pitcher back in after removing him, you'll risk an injury.

pan6467

That is true, it was poor managerial skills and the desire to showcase every player.

Up until that time there had been 9 extra inning games (5 going past the 11th inning) with only one ending in a tie because of rain.

The point I was trying to make is that MLB and the players (any of the big sports actually) can tarnish and hurt the integrity and treat fans like shit and not truly care because they have their billion dollar contracts and the public may get pissy and mad about things but we still go.

Pro sports is becoming more and more WWE-ified, and noone seems to truly care enough to turn them off and demand better.

In my 40 years I have never in my life seen such little talent in any sport. It's easy to get great stats when the talent around you sucks shit and doesn't care.

In baseball, 9 times out of 10 a player signs the BIG contract and never plays the same again.

In the NFL they have tweaked and distorted the rules that so much as touching the QB the wrong way is a penalty. (Hell, I remember back when the Browns Turkey Jones picked Bradshaw up and piledrove him.... now, you slide into the QB accidently and a flag is thrown.)

In the NBA, I maybe a Cavs fan (somewhat still my least favorite sport) and to compare the talent today with that of the 80's or early 90's is laughable.

In the end the Mitchell report isn't going to matter, what baseball does isn't going to matter (they'll do something for show but come on they're not going to change anything, the union won't let them and they know they don't really need to).

The only thing that will change anything is if we all stopped watching (won't happen because even if they stated everything was fake we'd still go, because we want the entertainment and we just don't care), advertisers decided to put the ad money into payrolls or research and development (won't happen, the advertisers like their perks, we love the commercials they are almost as exciting as the game) and the major networks, cable stations and satellite networks decided the contracts weren't worth the money. Which won't happen because almost every major media company owns a piece of a major sports team or 2).

I apologize, this ran too long and I just needed to vent. Sorry if someone gets upset by the length.

__________________
I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

Glory's Sun

Pan, I'm not picking on you, but I absolutely hate when people start talking shit about the talent of today and how much better and pure the past was.. especially in baseball. I would bet everything I had, that if Ruth were alive today, he would be a run of the mill player. The game has just evolved to that point. The game of baseball has never been pure. The game will always have it's super stars and super contracts. That's just how it is. Comparing past and present just doesn't work.

Baseball has it's faults as does every sport ( I totally agree about the QB flags). However, it still has plenty of beauty and merit.. which is why I still watch and will continue to watch.

pan6467

You have 30 MLB teams, the talent pool is shallow. That's why we are looking to Japan, and overseas. But you are right comparing past players with modern players isn't quite fair. But who has the hustle Pete Rose showed? The loyalty of Andre Thornton, who in 1980 could have signed for far more anywhere else but stayed in Cleveland because he knew the Indians as a franchise would probably die without him (as he was pretty much their drawing card). To say the talent is better today.... is as one sided as saying the talent was better in the past.

Yes it does have its beauty and merits, as does any sport, but as I stated above; they could come out and say every World Series, Super Bowl, and so on has been fixed for the past 10 years and we will continue to do it; yet, the vast majority of us would still watch and cheer our teams.

It is what it is.... a multi billion dollar industry that will keep treating fans like shit and playing on their emotions and not give a damn about any tarnish. I may dare to go as far as to say the owners may be loving all the attention because controversy stems interest, interest increases ticket sales and ad revenue.

__________________
I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

Glory's Sun

I don't think going to places such as Japan means the talent pool is shallow. I think it's just another revenue source for the big machine to capitalize on. I will agree to a certain extent that alot of players are probably just in it for the money and are lazy. There's alot that really do love the game though and they are in it to win. Maybe they are harder to pick out .. I don't know.

How exactly are the owners/teams treating the fans like shit? These guys go out there and play banged up and travel and are away from their familys.. for what? To entertain us? To win? I guess it depends on the player.. but I'm not going to be so selfish as to expect a person who is just like me with a crazy schedule to just entertain me.

pan6467

I agree with this, every year we see players trying to hang on for one more year, taking "cheap" contracts, playing hard in Spring Training for one last year. Sosa this year is a prime example, Jose Rijo, Deion Sanders, Aaron Boone, Marcus Giles, Scott Elarton, etc. There are MANY great players, maybe not talent wise but heart wise in the game. That's a reason to love it right there, the passion some of these players have.

To me personally, I think letting salaries get out of control to where teams have to trade their star players away, because they can't afford them and want something before the player goes Free Agent. So they "rebuild" and by the time those great prospects are seasoned enough to contend the team has to trade them away.

I think trading Santana to Boston or New York shows how bad things really are. Granted I'm not a Santana fan and I think he won't be able to handle the pressure but you're looking at Bedard, Haren and others going the same route to the "rich" teams. So in turn, the poorer teams are always in rebuild mode, losing their fan base and because of the way revenue sharing is, they can't afford to keep or get the players they need to contend.

They go out and play those hard games for MILLIONS and the "great" players today don't give a shit if the team wins or not. Look at players that sign huge contracts with teams knowing the team will never contend.

Another way they treat fans like shit is the cheating, I'm sorry taking steroids, HGH, PEDS whatever, knowing that it may enhance your game and thus line you up for a big payday isn't being very fair, honest and true to the fans and the owners who sat by allowing it, turning blind eyes and in some ways encouraging it because it meant more money in revenue didn't give a shit about the integrity of the game or the fans or the players lives and health that were destroyed by the drugs.

It's all about the money, to Hell with the fans, the players and owners have proven with this whole debacle they care not about us but about the money. And we'll do nothing but watch and go to games because we don't want to believe the games and the winning teams and losing teams are pretty much determined already. Hope springs eternal that the "kids" will outplay the billion dollar machines.... but in the end the small market teams while every year there maybe that surprise team..... are doomed to be bottom feeders.

It's sad, it's disgraceful, it's a slap in the face to the true fans (not the band wagoners or the corporate douche bags that come late and leave early because the company gave them primo tickets while the true fans sit miles away in exensive cheap seats because that's all they can afford... and they can only afford to 2-3 times a season). Teams with proud histories and once great fan bases are being turned into farm teams.... it's pathetic. But there's no alternative... they have the monopoly. It's WWE sports entertainment where the end is known before the season even starts.

The sport used to belong to the fans and the players and owners knew that. Now it belongs to the Media Corporations and the advertisers and they don't want small market teams to win.... they want the big cities to win.... big cities playing means bigger ratings, bigger ratings means more ad revenue means more profit. Fuck the fans in Kansas City, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toronto, Oakland, San Fran, Houston, Philly, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and so on.

(Yes, I know Cleveland is on a run Cavs have LeBron, the Tribe is looking good and the Clowns look to be playoff bound..... but what of the other cities? It's not just poor management in those cities in every sport, I don't buy that.)

Every now and then one of those cities may contend in a sport but in the end... the big markets and the media crush them like ants. Those fans don't matter, because if they play for the championship it means little ratings .... so fuck them.

All about the money, honey.

__________________
I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

Ustwo

primo tickets while the true fans sit miles away in exensive cheap seats because that's all they can afford

Only poor people can be true fans?

Yankee's fans or the big market teams don't have true fans?

Lets not over dramatize.

__________________
Agents of the enemies who hold office in our own government, who attempt to eliminate our "freedoms" and our "right to know" are posting among us, I fear.....on this very forum. - host

Obama - Know a Man by the friends he keeps.

QuasiMondo

Ticket sales aren't the only way a team gets their money. Local broadcasting contracts, merchandise, and revenue sharing plays a factor as well. A fan can give more financial support to their team by watching the game at home than to come out to the stadium.

The Yankees can afford to buy whatever player they want, but what people forget is that they have a well-developed minor-league farm system. Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, all came up through their farm system. Their big dollar acquisitions are hit or miss (Mike Mussina, Johnny Damon, Alex Rodriguez, Jason Giambi, some were worth their money, others were a waste). Deep pockets doesn't always translate into a quality team. Just ask the Knicks.

A general manager who knows what they're doing can develop a team without having to reach deep to sign them. If deep pockets was all it took, the Yankees wouldn't be in a seven year drought, and Cubs fans wouldn't be singing the blues about 1908.

__________________
Cameron originally envisioned the Terminator as a small, unremarkable man, giving it the ability to blend in more easily. As a result, his first choice for the part was Lance Henriksen. O. J. Simpson was on the shortlist but Cameron did not think that such a nice guy could be a ruthless killer.

-From the Collector's Edition DVD of The Terminator

djtestudo

They HAD a well-developed farm system. It became well-developed when Steinbrenner was suspended and other people were spending his money.

When he came back, the system was bearing fruit, but then he started trading it away. Once it stopped producing players, that is when the real spending started (along with the already-developed players getting their big money).

Now, they are starting to develop players again. The question is, will Kim Hank-Il allow them to do so successfully?

They also have a real advantage in player development: they can sign the superstar prospects to real money while they are still on the islands, and afford to have most not pan out. In the modern baseball universe, that is HUGE.

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"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

pan6467

And I stated that earlier. The teams make more from the cable, satellite, radio, and advertising than they do at the gate.

That's just the point they can sign relative bums to high dollar contracts (Pavano, Giambi, etc) and have them bust, but what they did was make everyone else's contract price go up, so the end result is the teams that can barely make payroll can't even think about acquiring a true free agent or the missing piece or 2 they need. Thus they never truly contend, their fans get tired of waiting as the "team rebuilds" and the teams lose more money and have to get rid of their superstars because they can't afford arbitration or to extend. This results in having to go after "prospects", that they'll bring up give the "prospect" major league experience and have to trade away once he is developed. Thus the team will never truly contend, they maybe able to be a .500 team because of the youth and talent but as for making any true post season... unless they play in a weak division, forget about it.... and if they do get there, they won't last long.


.

Ah, but finances are a huge part of it. There are many great GMs right now (Beane, Bowden, Shapiro, etc) they are tremendous evaluating talent (or hiring the right scouts to) but unless they get ownership to fill the missing pieces and spend some money to keep the players..... doesn't matter how great they are. (I was not a Dolan fan but he did keep his promise and has spent the money to keep our "core" players (look for them to offer CC17-20 mill. but in a 3yr contract with options) but we are still lacking.)

__________________
I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

kutulu

Just about every team can afford to spend at least $100 M on payroll.

The Diamondbacks are essentially paying $100M for payroll next season. The downer on that is that over $45M of that is going to pay players that are no longer on the team... (deferred salaries from the Colangelo days and Russ Ortiz).

Anyways, back to more fun topics. The DBacks traded for Haren over the weekend. I'm so excited. The rotation now is:

Webb
Haren
Johnson
Davis
Owings

That is a kick ass rotation. Although I don't expect Haren to be as great as he was last season, he's probably going to be one of the best #2 pitchers out there. The only real question mark is Johnson's health. He showed last season that if healthy he's still a great pitcher.

I think the DBacks did pretty well in the deal. They traded 5 minor leaguers (Gonzalez, Smith, Anderson, Cunningham, and Carter) and Dana Eveland for Haren. The best guys in the deal are Gonzalez and Anderson. Gonzalez should was rated as AZ's #1 prospect but I don't necessarily agree. He has his difficulties (no walks, can't hit lefties, attitude). Anderson is only 19 and finished his first year of pro ball. He really did great and was one of our top pitching prospects.

They also traded Valverde to Houston for Qualls and others. I like this one also. Closers are highly overrated and I like the idea of moving replaceable players when they are at peak value

Halx

I fear the Dbacks.

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[Don't Feed The Animals]

pan6467

The D'Backs are looking pretty good. I'm kind of pissed the A's traded Haren there instead of to Cleveland, whom I feel put out a better offer (better players). The A's may have just wanted Haren out of the AL. One has to wonder why they traded a pitcher of such talent who is signed relatively cheap until 2010.

I would still like to see Cleveland shore up their staff, no telling how Fausto will do in his sophomore year or how Byrd will react to the reports. They need a bat at 3rd base and some speed in LF.

I just don't know where they are going to get the pieces they need. Maybe Blanton or Bedard but 3b and LF there just is a lack of talent available there.

__________________
I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

djtestudo

And the answer to that fear is sitting 3,000 miles away in black-and-orange

__________________
"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

Glory's Sun

Just want to give a big fat "TOLD YOU SO" about Haren

What's the latest on Bedard?? Are the O's still trying to move him? There has to be a reason he hasn't been moved yet. Fuckin A. 11 teams want him.

Halx

Yes it is. Yes it is.

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You have found this post informative.
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[Don't Feed The Animals]

Glory's Sun

The Skanks are back in talks with Minnesota for Santana but the asking price is the same so I doubt we'll see NY get him. I have a feeling though, that the Yankees will get Prior. They are interested in him, and since they have a knack for buying overpayed, old, washed up pitchers.. he's right up their alley.

kutulu

Prior is probably toast. However, any team that has the roster and payroll flexibility to give him an incentive-driven 2-3 yr contract should do it. There is just so much upside.

djtestudo

The Orioles want A LOT for him. At least what Santana will pull in, if not more because of the difference in money (Santana is a FA next year, while Bedard is two years away, and would cost less to extend).

Dodgers won't give up Kemp, Reds won't give up Jay Bruce. Mariners won't give up enough players.

__________________
"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

kutulu

I think they will have to tone down their expectations for him. They should get something comparable to what Oakland got. Bedard has never pitched 200 innings and has had injury problems (even finishing the year on the DL).

djtestudo

He also had a better year then Santana last year in a month less. He "only" won 13 games, but 1) anyone who uses wins as a real stat shouldn't be in the discussion and 2) he had 10 no-decisions without pitching the last month. That's insane.

His injury last year was an oblique strain. Everyone had an oblique strain last year. He was held out of the rest of the year mostly because there was no point in bringing him back unnecessarily.

He's spent essentially two full seasons without any major injury issues. He is under a team's control for an additional year compared to Santana, and will cost less to extend.

__________________
"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

Glory's Sun

Bedard's problem is he just doesn't have the name. Everyone knows Santana and considers him the best left hander in the business. Bedard, while having a great couple of seasons, has to prove himself over time. This is why the asking price is probably just a little too rich for most teams. I have a feeling that if the O's dropped the price tag by one player, he'd be signed in a day. The other thing that would open the door immediately is if the O's decided to pay some of the contract money. Not sure if they are even considering that option or not.

kutulu

Bedard had a great season but his history doesn't support the idea that he's likely to repeat it (at least at that level). Yes his peripherals were great last season but his K/9 jumped and his BABIP dropped by a lot. He's probably due for a little bit of regression but should be able to keep an ERA+ around 115-125.

You can't compare him to Santana. Santana has a career ERA+ of 141. Remember that Santana has stated that he wants a long term deal to waive his no trade clause. Therefore the team that gets him will keep him.

djtestudo

"Pay some of the contract money"? He made $3.4 million last year, and is still in arbitration for two more years.

If a GM is doing his job, then he DEFINITELY knows who Bedard is, and that is all that should matter.

But he'll want six-or-seven years at $20-25 million per.

Bedard would ask for Zito money, max. Plus, you have two years to decide to keep him.

__________________
"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun

Glory's Sun

Now that Seattle has signed Silva from the Twins, they'll probably fall out of the Bedard sweeps. Silva should be a good fit in Seattle as he has a decent record against AL West teams and he's an inning eater, which is what they lack desperately.