Hot Stove Thread

I thought it was pretty common knowledge ESPN had already done so. I mean, they are the WWL.

 

I guess I'm gonna have to resort to the blue font every time I make a facetious entry. Nothing's too outlandish to be taken seriously on a hot stove thread, apparently.

I do think A-Rod will wind up with the Cubbies, and I'm not being facetious. Why? Hitter's ballpark, a money-printing operation and high fan tolerance of postseason failure. Why not? The ownership scuffle; but Boras has a way of selling into a fogbank.

We'll see. I was wrong about the Angels; once players started to go down, they didn't have the depth. Whatever you think of Francona, he didn't panic. He allowed the players time to heal, and it paid off.

Would you rather have Francona or Soscia managing your ballclub?

 

As a Sox fan Phila, let me say that your co-worker's proposed lineup is nuts. I don't think they need Willis, and they sure as hell don't need A-Rod. They shouldn't touch him with a forty foot pole.

I mean when you can win a championship without paying a guy thirty mil a year, why even bother?

 

A-Rod will not end up with the Cubs because the Trib is in the process of selling the team and will not commit to that much money over that long a term when there will be new owners coming in.
There also have been reports that Selig has told the Trib to pull back on its spending to make the team more financially attractive to prospecive buyers.
$250 mill over 8 years ain't real financially attractive.

 

Bud also doesn't want them, or anyone else in the Central, getting too good and making it tougher on his pet team in Milwaukee. Fuck. Him.

 

Exactly. Which is why we probably won't see Mark Cuban as an owner any time soon, since his primary interest right now is in the Cubs and he has stated in the past that he would like to buy the Pirates.

 

Didn't Cuban also make a bid to buy the Braves?

 

Apparently, everything Boras has run up the flagpole has been shot to hell. Brian Cashman to the white courtesy phone, please.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/10/31/boras.arod.ap/index.html

 

I'm sick of the Yankees, but I'm sicker of Boras, the Gordon Gecko of baseball. It would be tres delicioso if A-Rod had to go back to New York for a pay cut because no one else is willing to meet Boras' demands.

 

Well, the Yankees can bid if they want. It's just that it makes a lot less sense now that it will cost $30 million more plus luxury tax to get him. I think Scott didn't mind taking the $30 million burden off Tom Hicks' hands. Interesting, too, that after all of the hand-wringing that took place when A-Rod initially signed the deal (10 years, $252 million!) that the last three years (apparently) turned out to be undervalued.

 

Willis would get fucking shelled in the AL.

 

When will you people realize this? Scott Boras never loses. It's completely accidental when his clients win the hardware, but he always wins.

Don't waste your time hoping A-Rod ends up playing for the Newark Bears next year. It's not going to happen. Boras is going to find an idiot willing to meet his price.

Along those lines, there is an awesome book to be written about the Boras-ARod relationship. It's quite clear watching these two insufferable pricks that Boras has had a 20- or 30-year plan for ARod since the white gloved one was 15. He's been thinking in terms of making this guy the richest athlete in the history of pro sports--and Belichicking the competition along the way--all this time. It's fascinating stuff. Too bad no one will ever get the access to write a book like that.