CBAreject

He's going to be hard to pry away. I definitely like Nene's upside...

It's hard to make a player 'toughen up'. How many times have coaches tried. Mahorn did a little bit with Lo, but he was already a good rebounder to start with. I think Skita might get incrementally better in the paint, but we're not going to make him a thug in the paint. It just won't happen. It's not in his personality. He'd have to not only relearn the game, but also reprogram his brain. That said, he still may be a very good player down the road. I think he's more of a 3, though. 7 feet doesn't mean all that much if you can't bang.

I know expected win percentage doesn't mean much to most of you, but it is a better indicator of future performance than current record, as it accounts for luck and such. If you don't know, EXP WP is calculated using the basebally Pythagorean theorem: (RS^2)/(RS^2 + RA^2), where RS is runs scored and RA is runs allowed. The formula is purely based on scoring. The Braves', despite all that has gone wrong, have the 3rd best expected winning percentage in MLB, currently, at .570. So, on the one hand, they're underperforming to date. On the other hand, they project better than the Phillies in the second half (or last 64 games, if you will). It's funny how the second half in baseball is usually the last 40% of the season. Anyhoo, I'm happy with the team, and I think I've grown more attached to this rag-tag bunch than any other team we've had. Johnny Estrada is my favorite player. No Drugs, Panch. No drugs. The future is bright for the Braves. The team is playing well despite having a low payroll. Fans are more interested in the team. A minor league system thought to be devoid of prospects at season's beginning suddenly appears stocked after breakout seasons (Nick Green, Charles Thomas, Jose Capellan, Kyle Davies, Jacob Stevens, James Jurries, Adam Stern, Brian McCarthy) and expected progress from Andy Marte, Jeff Francoeur, Dan Meyer, and Tony Pena. Heck, even Betemit is respectable AND, the media is beginning to defrost the humble pie. Well, except for Rob Neyer who will no doubt claim that the Braves success is a statistical anomaly, and that he stands by his prediction of a 4th place finish. Go TomaHAWKS

Again, you insult my intelligence in the title of your post. Why do you feel that you need to do that? Quote: Sir, I did not call KB out. In fact I did not mention anyone by name. And I most certainly did not criticize anyone for wearing an elephant on their sleeve. I didn't say you did. I said you would, but I, admittedly, cannot be certain of this. This, if anything, seems like a reading comprehension issue to me. My only evidence that you would do this is that you seem to vehemently disagree with my position, which is that KB shouldn't have been called out. I deem that evidence to be sufficient. Quote: And regarding the portion of my post you chose to ignore: ******This is not a political forum. We used to have a separate political forum. The mods got rid of it. If you want a political forum ask them for a new one or post political issues somewhere else. In fact why don't you use the Lounge instead?***** I didn't ignore that portion of your post. The fact that I didn't respond to it does not imply that I did not read, understand, and even agree with it. In fact, I do agree that this is not a political forum, so a political debate has no place here. This, however, is not a politcal debate, and I didn't start it. I'm standing up for a person who didn't need to be called out. He's vanished, by now, but that's OK....it's a matter of principle. I also do not agree with the generalistic and derogatory comments that he made about ‘liberals’. There was truth in them, but they were too extreme, and cannot be applied to the whole group. Quote: And I most certainly did not criticize anyone for wearing an elephant on their sleeve. Well, you and I both know that I meant that figuratively, and you most certainly did: Quote: morons spewing their religious and political dogma I conclude from this statement that anyone who makes public his religious or political persuasion is a moron, by your estimation. That qualifies as criticism to most people.

Persecution is simply harassing someone because of his race or beliefs. If you tell someone that his beliefs annoy you, that's persecution, albeit mild. Certainly tarring and feathering would be more severe persecution...

Quote: 1) I am a fan of free speech but believe firmly that politics and religion (as most are told from childhood) are issues that should not be brought up whenever someone has a whim. But should they be kept under wraps? That is the question? Should we keep our views completely secret to avoid offending anyone??? What sort of freedom is that? We have grown far too timid in this nation, as political correctness is now the only value that we seem to stand for. Quote: 2) I have never pulled over someone with a rainbow pride sticker and for that matter have never pulled over anyone with any sticker primarily because I am not a racist, homophobe or moron. *** Not to imply that you are any of these things. But to go through with an act like that would pretty much fill the criteria for me to be two of the above.*** Of course I wouldn't do this. I believe the person who wears the rainbow has a right to wear his rainbow. I think you might have missed my point, though. You wouldn't call out a gay person for wearing his rainbow, but you would call out KB for wearing an elephant (Republican...I'm sorry I have to explain. Don't mean to insult your intelligence, but you'd be surprised what some people don't know...). Why is the rainbow acceptable or applaudable, but the elephant despicable? This is the connundrum that I wanted to put in your mind. Don't skirt it. Think about it. I'm not just babbling, either. That's insulting, and I believe you know that I can think.

There have been so many bad presidents over the years. What's four more years? Oh, precedence....nevermind.

You are right. I took what you said to KB to an extreme. You were merely expressing your distaste for KB's position. That said, there is much truth in what I said, and it stands. You did say that his political position was 'annoying' to you. You left that part out of your quote. Saying, 'you can do whatever you want' is trite, and it's meaningless when you persecute someone for doing what he wants. However, you couldn't be more wrong about the 'hate' that I have 'bottled up'. I do not hate anyone, and wouldn't call someone out for expressing his opinions, values, or beliefs. You were the one who did that. The passion that I might have expressed in my 'rant' or 'diatribe' comes from repeated violations of my rights by the same people who claim to strive to preserve the rights of others. Do not confuse my love for justice and fairness with hatred. You say that discussions about political views are polarizing, and you are correct, but don't call me out for 'bringing up religion'. This is not a political discussion. It is a discussion about whether a person should wear his beliefs on his sleeve or keep them under wraps. If he peacefully projects them, why should they cause a stir? You were the one who had a problem with that.

I suppose you 'liberals' who are so interested in 'reform' and abandoning traditional ideologies would like to abolish freedom of speech while you're rewriting the rest of the constitution. Have you ever pulled over a guy with a rainbow on his bumper and told him how much it annoyed you to see his pride in his sexual orientation? I wouldn't guess that you have. I went to GA Tech for 4 years and saw several gay pride 'parades' go by. The gays were applauded for making out in the street, but if a Christian pulled out a bible in public, people wanted to stone him. We're not interested in freedom of speech and religion in this country (2 major tenets of constitutional law). No, we're only interested in seeing the views and lifestyles of those who do not value morals and absolute truth. I believe that people have a right to believe what they want per our nation's laws, and those people can publicly air their views. You are not 'protected' from hearing their views unless they are obscene. 'Obscenity' is what kept gays from having parades for 2 centuries. However, our definition of obscene changed, so the parades began. While KB21's views may not be in line with yours, they certainly aren't obscene, so stop trying to rob him of his fundamental, inalienable rights.

What value does Hendu have to us except that his contract is ending? That's a real head scratcher. I would easily give up CC or Hendu. CC I wouldn't mind having around b/c he can run and really played well at the end of last year, but Hendu? How many times have we tried to unload him?

Johnny Estrada, Julio Franco, Nick Green, Charles Thomas, Jaret Wright...need I go on? THIS should be America's team. A bunch of guys that nobody gave any credit to. I have OVERLY criticized John Scheurholz moves in the past. I was WRONG. He does make some bad moves (Albie Lopez, Rico Brogna), but his good ones far outweigh the bad. What great finds these guys are. Who would've thought Wright would lead our staff in ERA? Look at the Bullpen, too. Cruz, Gryboski, Alfonseca...all castoffs. JS should be up for executive of the year if we make the playoffs. Cox should get manager of the year, too.

If you don't give a damn what I think, then why did you reply? My disdain for the Yankees has nothing to do with Leyritz, though. I like Leyritz, and he is a heck of a clutch hitter. That was back when I didn't mind watching them play. Besides, no one broke my heart more than the Twins, and I have no hatred for them. I think the Red Sox buy a lot of players, too, BTW, and don't mind that they lost one bit. "but the FACT is that they are good for it. The Yankees routinely sell out or come close to selling out on the road which generates revenue for competing teams " I actually agree with you here. Well, the Yankees do generate some revenue for other teams. That is true, but I still believe they are bad for baseball. "EVERY team in baseball has that opportunity. EVERY owner has more than enough of their own money that they could put into the team like Steinbrenner has done if they wanted to." That is a fallacy through and through. SOME owners have enough money to spend $183 million on their roster per year (at least for a few years). They could do that if they were philanthropists who wanted to please their fans. See, they'd lose money hand over fist that way. Every owner is a businessman first and foremost. If he could make more money by spending more on his roster, you better believe he'd do it. Fact is, many owners are operating at a deficit, even with $70 million payrolls. Losing $100 million per year will make a billinoaire broke. "Steinbrenner isnt even close to the richest owner in baseball, yet he knows how to run a team and he doesnt mind spending his own money to field a winner." AW, well isn't Steinbrenner a noble soul? Please, buddy. You expect me to believe that Steinbrenner is losing money on this team? Fat chance. Show me a budget that has the Yanks $20 million in the red every year. Knows how to run a team? I suspect it takes a real shrewd GM to pay Alex Rodriguez $25 million per year. "the Yankees also give away prospects to teams looking to unload players" Oh, well God Bless the Yankees. You make it seem as if they do this without getting all-stars in return. Every player that is traded because his team can't afford to keep him (I explained why before) has many teams that will try to trade for him (see Beltran). The Yankees just have more prospects to trade who are generally overrated. Name 5 minor-league prospects the Yankees have traded in the last 5 years who have traded who have actually been productive players at the MLB level. "the Yankees are the only team using the system to their advantage." What? Explain this statement. The shrewdest team in baseball is the Athletics. They are using everything they can to their advantage. The only thing the Yankees are using is the largest market in America. That's not 'the system', that's 'their location'.

Joe Smith was signed to a 1 yr deal with the understanding that Minnesota would sign him to a longer deal the following season, so it was fundamentally different. Boozer was released from his contract to sign a bigger contract. Is this legal? I don't know, but it is different from Joe Smith's situation.

Everybody loves an underdog, man. I sure hope the Yankees can prove all those people wrong who said they didn't have a chance as a small market club. No, seriously. GAWD, I hope they get everybody healthy, so they can start whoopin' up on the rest of the league. Competitive balance is for the birds. OK, no more sarcasm. I really want to see Alex Rodriguez with a ring. He's one of the most underrated and underpaid players in the league. Texas and Seattle were keeping him down. That's all. Dude, I just can't help it. Your team is bad for baseball. You're really in a no win situation as a fan. You can't brag about how good your team is, b/c no one cares. They went out and bought the players that other teams couldn't afford. Seriously, what do you expect people to say when you come with, 'Man, nobody's gonna beat the Yankees!' Well, you're gonna get some variation on, 'Whoop-tee-freakin-doo' That's not just sour grapes. No one begrudged the Marlins their well-managed WS victory spear-headed by youthful exuberance and careful personnel decisions (nor Anaheim's). The Yankees, though? Who cares about that ridiculous team that has suffocated any hope out of their small-market division "rivals", Baltimore, Tampa Bay, and Toronto? If the Yankees win the World Series, it's 'so what'. If they lose, it's 'BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! BWAAA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!'

Sheffield's ABYSMAL performance in the NLDS was THE primary reason we were put out of the playoffs the last 2 years. I can't believe that chode sack wanted more money after that. Also, Robert Fick's complete lack of savvy at 1B (and Cox's choice to play him over Julio) and Glavine's two generous performances against the Giants really hurt. I'm glad that Sheff is gone. I didn't like the Drew trade at the time b/c he is so injury prone. However, Drew is just clutch for us. I can't imagine him popping up twice in a game with the bases juiced like Sheff did against the Giants.

Leiter and Glavine have been terrific this year. Mets ERA is the best in the NL. Mets lack hitting. Don't be fooled by a temporary hot streak. That lineup is full of holes. I'm sick of hearing about how their .700 OPS shortstop is a 'run scoring machine', too. Don't give that crap to me and expect me to swallow it, NY media. Wiggington is decent at best. Floyd is overpaid. Hidalgo has been good for only 2 weeks. Piazza is the only reliable hitter in that order.

J.D. Drew has been the 2nd best hitter in the league OPS-wise (save Helton and his Coors inflated stats) to Barry Bonds. He's every bit as good as Sheff was. The bats we miss are Chipper's, Javy's, and Giles'. As good as Estrada is, he can't approach the MONSTER season that Lopez had last year. I expect Chipper to have a better 2nd half (though not hit .400 as others are predicting) and Giles to come back in good shape, though.

Who is this guy? He thinks Indiana could've squeezed us for a draft pick in addition to Jackson. Then, he says that the Hawks got a raw deal b/c Harrington isn't that good. Which is it? I think Jax for Harrington was about even, and it appears both GM's did, as well.

I think it's really unfair that they've had a couple of injuries. The MLB should institute a rule that the Yankees can borrow any player from another team's roster while their own player is injured.

Look, a guy with a .700 OPS isn't going to win any divisions for you. Furcal is a better offensive player (as much as I don't really like Furcal). The Mets hit a hot streak sparked by 2 good weeks by Kaz and Hidalgo. Chances are, Hidalgo will not hit .500 for the rest of the year. Mets will finish 3rd.

It's rare that you can say a guy with a 3.78 ERA has been 'lights out' and not get carted away... Reitsma's big blown games: 7/9 vs. Phillies - 3 runs in 1 inning...eventual loss 6/16 vs. KC - 4 runs in 1 inning...blows 2 run lead...loss 5/28 vs. Phillies - 1 run/BlSv/loss... *also has 2 other blown saves that I do not consider to be as BIG as the three listed above including a 2 run inning against Cincinnati that we came back to win. I list those three because the were crucial. We'd be a game up on the Phillies if he'd been the 'dominant' reliever that the Braves' management said he was. That game against KC could've turned things around in the midst of a losing streak. Instead, we just kept losing and went 6 games under .500. I never said Reitsma was horrible. He's an average set-up man by league standards. A "lights out" setup man has a 2.5 ERA and is unhittable in big games. Remlinger was a lights out setup man. I think Reitsma is a fine component of a good bullpen, but I wouldn't want him as the closer of a contending team. If Smoltz leaves after this year, I'd hate to see Reitsma take his job...he's just not good enough. Braves' management has been way wrong on players before. Wes Helms a 40 HR guy? Andruw Jones deserving of a 6 yr 75 mil deal? Albie Lopez? Rico Brogna? Michael Tucker? Quilvio Veras?

Tonight's game was the type that you might look back on at season's end and say, 'you know we were starting to pull it together, starting to make a run, and that game was the one that sent us back into a tailspin.' Reitsma has shown that he is not a premier relief pitcher this year. It made me sick when we traded Nelson for him (though now Nelson looks like a flop?). This guy had one decent half season in his whole career, and suddenly he's our 'closer of the future'. Tonight's game was one of a few BIG ones he has BLOWN this year. True, Smoltz will get credited with the BS, but it was Reitsma's three runs given up, all with 2 outs and nobody on in the bottom of the 8th that were the catalyst for the Phillies comeback.

He shouldn't have a job at all, much less for his salary. Schaffer will start. I wonder if Dez will be the #2 or not...

For that reason, I might trade for him. However, I would only do it for his value in another trade. I don't want him on the team, but 18 ppg has more value that 'solid defense'.

"You got some Phantom numbers in here. The budget I produced came out to 21.8 million. That's the 18 + 1 MCE if needed." No, your numbers come out to 21.8 million for THIS year. The money obligated for next year is about 3 mil greater given the raises you included. What do THIS year's salaries have to do with NEXT year's cap (which we will be very close to with your signings). I understand that we could trade contracts next year, but that's an uncertainty. You have to find takers, even on 1 yr deals. Phoenix was successful, but they had to trade a #1 pick to get rid of White. BTW, I think that Swift is a fine player, but I do not think he is equivalent to Kenyon Martin. That said, I agree that we should sign him for 6 before giving 14 to KMart.