bobcatfan

[Hidden Content] Its kinda long but read it and tell me what you think. If you have an account on that site (or you could sign up for an account, very quick) post a comment on either of the blogs if you like. Post your comments on here too obviously.

Roll left, i think you understood the question right, bears 99 is just saying taking griffey and bonds at this stage in their career when they are injury prone and lucky to play 140 games is a risky versus taking a more durable Jeter. OLGabe, you were pretty vague in your post. I asked specifically to make your list, so you put him high, but how high though? Make your list so we can discuss who you put in, left off, etc. I guess since i formed the question, i should answer it also. I said in the beginning this was a hard question to answer. Mainly because all these guys play different positions and some are valued higher than others. I think everyone would agree the highest premium positions are catcher, shortstop, and center field, so guys who can put up numbers in those positions are valued higher. But how do you value a first basemen who hits 35-40 homers for a high average against a shortstop who normally hits half as many homers for high average. Its a tough question to answer. So instead of being definite, which i think it is hard to do, i'll put these guys in different categories for you. Guys i would definitely take over Jeter: Albert Pujols Alex Rodriguez Vlad Guerrerro Guys i would take over Jeter, and could make a great argument for them: Alfonso Soriano Manny Ramirez Miguel Cabrera Jose Reyes Joe Mauer Brian McCann Victor Martinez Jimmy Rollins Chase Utley Hanley Ramirez Justin Morneau Ryan Howard Grady Sizemore Carlos Beltran Torii Hunter Lance Berkman David Ortiz Andruw Jones Ichiro Suzuki Carl Crawford Guys i could make a decent or good argument for and could possibly take over Jeter, but i'm not so sure i can take them over Jeter: Ivan Rodriguez Travis Hafner Russell Martin Barry Bonds Derrek Lee Aramis Ramirez Matt Holliday David Wright Gary Sheffield Vernon Wells I put this in my new blog, its a sports blog, go check it out, post comments [Hidden Content]

A couple days has gone by and i cant believe i didnt get any responses to this post, i figured it would be a hot topic in this forum. Maybe the post was too long to read. I'll give you the general question i was asking from it. If all the MLB players were all put back in the draft today and you could draft a team of current mlb players (EXCLUDING PITCHERS just for this discussion) for just this year only, how many players would you draft before you would want to draft Derek Jeter? I think its an interesting topic because of Jeters immense popularity and perceived talent, i'll be curious to see yalls answers. I said if you can name 10 or more players before Jeter you would have to say he's at least slightly overrated. Anyways, in the post before i listed all the good players i could think of so look over the list and give me your list of players you'd draft before Derek Jeter.

Derek Jeter is the one the most talked about and most famous players in major league. Whether you like it or not, Derek Jeter has been the most marketed guy in sports and the face of baseball for the last 5-10 years. Many experts say Jeter is on the way to a sure fire hall of fame career, while many fans say he is overrated. He certainly has the awards in his favor: AL rookie of the year, 1 silver slugger award, 3 AL gold gloves, 4 world series rings, and 1 world series MVP. At age 33, he has already 2269 hits, 5 200 hit seasons, a career .317 hitter. But, for all those who like to sing his praises, there are several critics (like myself) who say he gets too much credit and is overrated. For a guy whos supposed to be one of the best in the whole league, he has only posted 3 20+ home run seasons and never hit over 25 home runs in his 11 year career. So with the lack of power you would think he has swiped a lot of bases in his career (like the gatorade commercial suggests), but he has only stole more than 30 bases 3 times in his career. He averages over 100 K's a year, striking out over 100 times 7 times in his career, and 99 times twice. And while he has recently added 3 gold gloves to his resume, it is widely known that the gold glove is more of a popularity contest than anything. In fact there is evidence that suggest Jeter is a below average fielder ([Hidden Content]) and was undeserving of his gold gloves. So, with all that being said, i was trying to think of a test to figure out if Derek Jeter is really "overrated". Well, first you have to figure out what a player is valued to determine whether he is in fact overrated. To me, if a guy has major endorsement deals, and is seen on many commercials, and is the most marketed guy in baseball, i think that player should be one of THE best players in the league. So how then would we determine the best players in the league? The best way i could come up with is kind of a similar question i asked in the NFL forum, which was this: If every major league player was put in one big pool of players and the league was redrafted, how far would you get till Derek Jeter was drafted? Now in fairness, i'll exclude pitchers, just because they have more perceived value and would go before many position players. One thing that will be hard to quantify though is one position player over another. For instance, you cant say because a first basemen has more HRs, RBIs that he should automatically be picked over Jeter because Jeter is a shortstop and first basemen are expected to perform better offensively than shortstops. Thats just something to keep in mind when doing this list. So lets let you play GM, if you could build a team for THIS YEAR only(only this year, dont consider the future), how many players would you pick before Derek Jeter? I'll put down a list of possible candidates for you to look at, feel free to add someone if you think of one to your list. Let me say in closing that if you can come up with 10+ players you'd start your team with over Derek Jeter, he has to be at least slightly overrated, because he should be a top 10 player based on his popularity. Alex Rodriguez David Ortiz Manny Ramirez Vernon Wells Alex Rios Brian Roberts Carl Crawford Gary Sheffield Magglio Ordonez Ivan Rodridguez Grady Sizemore Victor Martinez Travis Hafner Joe Mauer Justin Morneau Torii Hunter Paul Konerko Vlad Guerrero Chone Figgins Orlando Cabrera Ichiro Suzuki Eric Chavez Michael Young Mark Texeira Jose Reyes David Wright Carlos Beltran Andruw Jones Chipper Jones Edgar Renteria Brian McCann Ryan Howard Jimmy Rollins Chase Utley Miguel Cabrera Hanley Ramirez Ryan Zimmerman Prince Fielder JJ Hardy Alfonso Soriano Derrek Lee Aramis Ramirez Albert Pujols Jason Bay Lance Berkman Carlos Lee Ken Griffey Jr Adam Dunn Russell Martin Rafael Furcal Eric Byrnes Matt Holliday Todd Helton Barry Bonds I put this in my new blog, its a sports blog, go check it out, post comments [Hidden Content]

Gabe, i still dont think you fully understand what i'm saying here, partly because you never addressed my main point of why 95% of fans in houston boo beltran. Yes, i agree in part that you can't fault a player for taking more money to go elsewhere. I realize that many of us would take the most money if put in the same position. Although its great to see players stay with their hometown, i think thats why people like the astros so much because they have a hometown feel with players like Biggio, Bagwell, Berkman, and Oswalt that you feel will be there for their career. The first issue i take with what you said is making a blanket statement that New York is a better gig. Not every player wants to play in New York. Look at Vlad Guerrero, i'm pretty sure he couldve made more than his 6 year 72 million dollar contract he signed with the Angels (that looks like a relative bargain now) if he wanted to play in New York but he chose not to, and he's not the only one. I think you have to agree that New York, while it has its benefits, comes with its negatives too, its not all great. New York has many positives like more money, more endorsements, bigger spotlight, more exposure. But with that comes the negatives like: 10x times the media coverage, more pressure to win from fans/management, and high and sometimes unrealistic expectations to perform always which leads to being highly criticized and scrutized for your every move. Beltran experienced that in his first year with the Mets when he had injury problems and was performing well below his career averages, and lead to him being booed on his home field. I dont think that would ever happen to him in Houston. I'm sure guys like Oswalt and Berkman will tell you Houston is a better gig because they dont have near the media coverage/scrutiny, the fans here are more laid back, and yet its still a winning organization with a good track record. But my main point that i dont think you fully understand or just tended to ignore was what Beltran and his agent did to Houston in the negotiating process. I explained this in my earlier post, but i'll phrase it differently for you. Basically, Beltran and his agent USED Houston as leverage to get a big deal done for Beltran. If New York was the only team bidding on Beltran without Houston he wouldve only gotten maybe 2/3 of that money. But we did get involved which helped Beltran get paid a lot more. Heres the part you need to understand Gabe, not only are fans mad about Beltran and his agent USING Houston to get a better deal, but he signed a contract with New York that was worth the SAME AMOUNT as what he wouldve made in Houston. So basically he LIED to Houston fans saying he would like to be in Houston, if he really did, he wouldve signed with us since he was getting paid the same. That just shows he really didnt have intentions on signing with us (even though he said he did), he just wanted to use us to get a larger paycheck, which really got under everyones skin. I understand your point that you're a baseball fan and you like to see the best players play. I'm as big a baseball fan as anyone, i would always go to see the expos when Vlad played, and i always go to a Giants game every year to see Bonds, and i like to go to watch the astros play the good teams like the Mets, Cubs, Cards. I go to around 10 games a year. I was at the 17 inning game saturday and was amazed to see Beltran make that catch on the hill. I like to see the best players play too. But that doesnt mean as a baseball fan i have to like every player in the league. I like most players but i have no problems booing Beltran. He deserves to be booed in Houston and if you want to be in the very small minority of Astros fans who cheer beltran thats your choice if you want to cheer a guy who used you, lied to you and deceived you as an astros fan.....

ST4life, i agree with you that polls are skewed because most fans vote for their own team regardless. But i disagree with you that the Orangefield or WOS freshman teams had no chance to beat Silsbee. I dont know about WOS, but Orangefield's 2 best players didnt play on the freshman team, one of them played on varsity the other on JV. Orangefields freshman class, when they were in 8th grade lost only 2 games, both to WOS, (they beat Silsbee at Silsbee) and if they had a decent coach they wouldve gone undefeated. If they wouldve kept that team together for their freshman year and not moved up the 2 best players, i think theres a good chance they couldve beaten Silsbee or HJ. Without their best 2 players (which makes a huge difference for them) they still only lost to only Silsbee and HJ all season. So what i'm saying is those votes while maybe are homer votes can be very much justified based on the facts i gave you.

Gabe, what are you talking about with Beltran??? I totally disagree with you on Beltran. What do you mean by a better gig?? More money or better team, do you mean one of those? Let me break it down for you why me and all Houston fans boo Beltran and maybe you will too. Since you dont remember or didnt pay close enough attention to what happened back then i will go over it again for you. Ok, after the 04' playoffs, everyone in Houston wanted Beltran to stay here and he played so well here we thought if we gave him a good deal he'd take it. Reason being, he was successful here, he said he liked it in Houston, there were reports saying he wanted to be in a city that didnt have a big spotlight like Houston, and also Houston has a big hispanic population which he liked also. So we as Houston fans thought if Drayton could offer a competitive deal that Beltran would take that deal and stay in Houston. Beltran's agent was Scott Boras and he is a big jerk, i could say a lot more about him but i couldnt write it on this board. After weeks of negotiations between the Mets and Astros, Beltran ended up signing a deal with the Mets. He signed a deal with the mets for 7 years 119 million, the astros offered 7 years 108 million. I'm sure you're saying, see more money, BUT, New York has a 12% state tax, Texas has no state tax so the money is practically identical, and Beltran and his agent knew this because a big deal was made about it while negotations were going on. So essentially, New York and Houston were offering the same money but Beltran took the deal in New York. In the end, it was a believed that Boras USED Houston all along to get Beltran the most money. Thats a hard pill to swallow for Houston fans when Beltran had said he liked it in Houston and would like to play there. It is also believed that Boras probably took the New York deal because even though the money is the same for Beltran, Boras makes more money in commission. The astros had been to the playoffs in 01' and 04' (and the eventual world series in 05') and made 2nd place in 02' and 03' so they had been very competitive and with Beltran and Berkman in the lineup would be set for years. The mets had come in last and next to last in the NL East the last 2 years so this deal seemed to all fans like it was all about money. So was New York really a better gig for Beltran when he signed the deal???? The money was the same for Beltran and Houston had a better track record recently. So in conclusion why should you boo Beltran? Because he lied to the houston fans and in the end came across very disingenuous in his intentions to actually sign with the club, it was all about the money for Beltran and his ruthless agent. I guess i'm still left wondering why the heck you or anyone would actually cheer for this guy.

I was at the astros game last night that went 17 innings. I stayed there for the whole game. We moved down to a couple times from the upper deck and ended up sitting right behind the astros dugout for like half the game. I asked Jose Cruz if Wandy spoke english and he said yes. Morgan Ensberg threw me a piece of gum in extra innings. Carlos Beltran made one of the best catches on the hill i've ever seen. I took lots of pics of the game and glad i did. I go to 6-10 games a year but i'd have to say this was one of the more was more memorable games for us. I'm not in any of these pics, those 2 guys are my brother and friend.

[Hidden Content] This is the cover story on ESPN baseball's homepage, Hunter Pence's picture is on the main page.

I'm glad he made it, he hasnt been great in the last month, and not his best first half. But he should have at least 10 wins already, he was tied for the league lead in blown leads, between low run support and bullpen woes, so his stats are deceiving. You can probably guess that Chris Young won the NL vote, and he deserved it. Larussa shouldve put him in before that. You know the players respect Oswalt a lot for voting him 6th even though this isnt his best year statistically.

If for some reason Carlos Lee doesnt go to the all star game, there will be a little ground swell of support for Pence to replace him (especially from Houston), and he would have an ok chance if that happened, but that would be Pence's only chance i think. But missing the first month of the season hurt him, if he played from the beginning his chances would be better. If Roy Oswalt doesnt get in on the fan ballot, and Chris Young makes it, i think he would be the first or 2nd choice of Larussa as a replacement if a couple pitchers drop out. I think Larussa has a lot of respect for Oswalt so he would be a strong candidate to make it.

NL roster [Hidden Content] C Russell Martin Los Angeles Dodgers 1st 1B Prince Fielder Milwaukee Brewers 1st 2B Chase Utley Philadelphia Phillies 2nd 3B David Wright New York Mets 2nd SS Jose Reyes New York Mets 2nd OF Barry Bonds San Francisco Giants 14th OF Carlos Beltran New York Mets 4th OF Ken Griffey Jr. Cincinnati Reds 13th PITCHERS POS PLAYER TEAM ALL-STAR GAME RHP Brad Penny Los Angeles Dodgers 2nd RHP Jake Peavy San Diego Padres 2nd LHP Cole Hamels Philadelphia Phillies 1st RHP Ben Sheets Milwaukee Brewers 3rd RHP John Smoltz Atlanta Braves 8th RHP Trevor Hoffman San Diego Padres 6th LHP Billy Wagner New York Mets 5th RHP Francisco Cordero Milwaukee Brewers 2nd LHP Brian Fuentes Colorado Rockies 3rd RHP Jose Valverde Arizona Diamondbacks 1st RHP Takashi Saito Los Angeles Dodgers 1st RESERVES POS PLAYER TEAM ALL-STAR GAME C Brian McCann Atlanta Braves 2nd 1B Albert Pujols St. Louis Cardinals 6th 1B Derrek Lee Chicago Cubs 2nd 1B Dmitri Young Washington Nationals 2nd 2B Orlando Hudson Arizona Diamondbacks 1st 2B Freddy Sanchez Pittsburgh Pirates 2nd 3B Miguel Cabrera Florida Marlins 4th SS J.J. Hardy Milwaukee Brewers 1st OF Alfonso Soriano Chicago Cubs 6th OF Carlos Lee Houston Astros 3rd OF Aaron Rowand Philadelphia Phillies 1st OF Matt Holliday Colorado Rockies 2nd My NL all star snubs-Jimmy Rollins, Hanley Ramirez, Eric Byrnes, Chris Young, Tom Gorzelanny-Ian Snell, John Maine, Roy Oswalt So if you have a snub you have to take someone out, here is my solution and who i would sub in for who. Take out-Aaron Rowand, Put in- Jimmy Rollins Take out-Orlando Hudson, Put in- Eric Byrnes Take out-Freddy Sanchez, Put in- Hanley Ramirez Take out-Brian Fuentes, Put in- John Maine Take out-Trevor Hoffman, Put in- Chris Young Take out-Jose Valverde, Put in- Ian Snell or Tom Gorzalanny After reading a few articles and examining the stats, these are the choices i would make that i think most of America would agree with. Larussa made a few mistakes that i will note. Remember when looking at this list that at least one player from every team has to be represented First, i cant believe Aaron Rowand made the team when teammate Jimmy Rollins is having a better season at the shortstop position. Freddy Sanchez is a head scratcher for me also. While he does have a good average, thats about it. Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny are having very good seasons and are much more deserving being representatives for the pirates. I have Eric Byrnes on my fanatasy team so i know how good hes been, looking at possible 30 HR, 30 SB season and left off for Orlando Hudson whos having a fine season and a good fielder but i'd take Byrnes over him. And just look at Hanley Ramirez's numbers this year and for a shortstop theres no way he shouldve been left off the team, especially when you compare him to Sanchez or Hudson. I didnt mention Aramis Ramirez who's having a fine season and should be on the short list of infielders as a replacement if someone bows out. And then theres Larussa's obsession with taking closers. Valverde is having a fine year, but i'd reward one of the pirate pitchers and leave him off to get a pirate on there. Trevor Hoffman is having another good season, but his teammate Chris Young has been great this year with a low 2 era which is way more impressive for a starter than a reliever. Who wants a closer that throws mid to low 80's in the all star game anyway (remember Michael Youngs triple for Hoffmans blown save last year)? And after Brian Fuentes horrible week and removal from the closers role, i'd give John Maine the nod over him. I'd have no problem also with Tim Hudson or Roy Oswalt making it over some of the afformentions pitchers, maybe they can get in with someone not going. Hopefully Roy O can get in with the fan vote. AL roster [Hidden Content]\ C Ivan Rodriguez Detroit Tigers 14th 1B David Ortiz Boston Red Sox 4th 2B Placido Polanco Detroit Tigers 1st 3B Alex Rodriguez New York Yankees 11th SS Derek Jeter New York Yankees 8th OF Vladimir Guerrero Los Angeles Angels 8th OF Magglio Ordonez Detroit Tigers 6th OF Ichiro Suzuki Seattle Mariners 7th PITCHERS POS PLAYER TEAM ALL-STAR GAME RHP Josh Beckett Boston Red Sox 1st RHP John Lackey Los Angeles Angels 1st LHP Johan Santana Minnesota Twins 3rd RHP Justin Verlander Detroit Tigers 1st LHP C.C. Sabathia Cleveland Indians 3rd RHP Dan Haren Oakland Athletics 1st RHP Gil Meche Kansas City Royals 1st RHP Jonathan Papelbon Boston Red Sox 2nd RHP Francisco Rodriguez Los Angeles Angels 2nd RHP J.J. Putz Seattle Mariners 1st RHP Bobby Jenks Chicago White Sox 2nd RESERVES POS PLAYER TEAM ALL-STAR GAME C Victor Martinez Cleveland Indians 2nd C Jorge Posada New York Yankees 5th 1B Justin Morneau Minnesota Twins 1st 2B Brian Roberts Baltimore Orioles 2nd 3B Mike Lowell Boston Red Sox 4th SS Carlos Guillen Detroit Tigers 2nd SS Michael Young Texas Rangers 4th OF Carl Crawford Tampa Bay Devil Rays 2nd OF Torii Hunter Minnesota Twins 2nd OF Manny Ramirez Boston Red Sox 11th OF Alex Rios Toronto Blue Jays 2nd OF Grady Sizemore Cleveland Indians 2nd In the AL, i think they did a better job of picking the team. You could make a case for Orlando Cabrera whos having a better season than Michael Young, but a Ranger has to make it and i'm not putting Sosa and his high K rate and low OBP in the all star game when he doesnt deserve it. James Shields and Carlos Pena are having fine seasons and you could make a case for them over Carl Crawford, but Crawford is proven and having a good year. The AL pitching staff is so good, having so many pitchers putting up good years, pitchers like Jeremy Guthrie and Joe Nathan got squeezed out of the all star game but i'm sure they would be the first guys to replace someone. You might could say Buerhle or Garland could represent the White Sox over Jenks, but Jenks is having a decent year with a 2 something era so no big problem here. For the fan vote, Neshek and Okijima have miniscule ERA's, but with their limited innings pitched i'll cast my vote for Kelvim Escobar whos having a great season. What do yall think of my picks? Agree or disagree? I would like to hear other people's opinions on my snubs in the NL.

[Hidden Content] heres a few quotes from the story Anabolic steroids were found in Benoit's home, leading officials to wonder whether the drugs played a role in the killings. Some experts believe steroids can cause paranoia, depression and violent outbursts known as "roid rage." The New York Daily News, citing anonymous sources, reported Sunday that GHB, known as the "date-rape drug", also was found in Benoit's home. "Benoit was a GHB user and he did it with [now-deceased wrestler] Chris Adams," a source told the newspaper. "The question is, does GHB use play into what happened [in Fayetteville]?"

As much as i'd like to see Biggio get 3000 hits, i'm really tired of watching him at the plate this year. He is clearly going up to the plate to hake away and most of his numerous strikeouts look flat out embarassing to watch. If i was pitching to him i wouldnt throw him anything but a slider EVER. Its funny how in 4 AB's and seeing several of them in a pitch sequence in a game he still cant lay off the slider. He's been one of the worst leadoff hitters for the past couple years, sporting a .273 OPS this year which is a laughable for a leadoff hitter. You've got to give the astros organization a lot of credit for staying with this guy because for the past couple years he has been undeserving of a starting spot on the astros or any major league team the past 2 years. As soon as Biggio gets 3000 hits, i would find no problem with the astros sitting him from here on out. The only time you'd consider starting him is at home because he's way better at home based on his home/road splits. Its time to get Burke some playing time though, Biggio hanging around has adversely effected his career and development so far. Read what Keith Law said about him on a chat today, its hard to disagree with most of what he says... Todd (Philly): Isn't it time SOMEONE mentioned Craig Biggio - it's an embarrasment that he is getting zero press this week.... SportsNation Keith Law: The embarrassment is his .273 OBP. He should be glad no one's paying attention. Andy (Houston): Biggio is not getting any press because he is one of the most stand up players in all of sports. maybe he he bad mouthed his teamates (Owens), demanded trades (Kobe), or whined non stop (Owens again) he would be on sports center more often. It's sad that a future HOF isn't getting any press for this great milestone. SportsNation Keith Law: Seriously, you're making me want to write an article on how one player's selfish pursuit of a rather meaningless milestone is helping to sink his team's playoff hopes. Isn't that a story? If his initials were B.B., don't you think this would be a regular rant in sports sections everywhere? What if Biggio was African-American, or Latino? He's getting a free pass. Just be happy with that.

I thought i'd get a little discussion going on this board with something i've thought of the past few days. I'm reminded of this every time i watch Baseball Tonight and they preview web gems and they show some old highlights of old web gems. I always scratch my head at 2 plays in particular that are shown all the time that i think are very good plays but not worthy of the attention they got, thus being overrated. And if you guessed it right, they both involve the 2 most famous plays Derek Jeter made. I'll break down both plays... The first one is the famous play at Yankee Stadium where there is a foul ball hit behind 3rd base right near the stands and Derek Jeter takes off running, catches it on the run and a few steps later barrells into the first row of the seats and hits his head on the seats and gets a nasty cut under his eye and i believe has to be taken out of the game. No doubt this was a gutsy play. But i do have a few questions to why this play was so great. First off, is there a general perception by ESPN that no other shortstop couldve made this play? Because to me, it just looks like he takes off running and makes a running catch, a play that most shortstops in MLB SHOULD make. Secondly, is this play considered great because of the catch, OR the fact that he ends up going in bleachers and hurting himself because people think he sacrificed his body? So what i'm asking is, if he is able to slow down a little or stop after making the catch and doesnt go into this seats and hurt himself, is this play still as famous as it is today? I think the answer is no it isnt as famous. In the play, he takes at least a good 2 or 3 steps before going in to the stands and makes virtually no attempt to slow down. I think he had enough time to stop or at least slow down. I think since it was done in New York that had something to do with it. Although if a much lesser known shortstop for the visiting team at Yankee Stadium wouldve done that exact play, i still dont think we are still watching this play over and over on baseball tonight. The other famous play by Derek Jeter was done in the playoffs against the Oakland A's, i believe it was at Oakland. I'm not sure exactly what happened but i believe Jeremy Giambi was rounding 3rd and going home after a double was hit down the right field line. There was a relay throw coming from down the first base line toward home plate. The ball was underthrown and was coming toward homeplate but wasnt going to be in time. Jeter runs over and catches the ball and quickly flips it to home and Posada tags Giambi out. I dont think Jeter was necessarily intended to be involved in the play but he made a good instinctive play. The 2 praises i hear about this play are that it was a heads up play and great hustle. Here are my criticisms of this play and why it is undeserving of its overplay. First and foremost, Giambi was SAFE at home, the ump made a bad call! Giambi was tagged on the back of the leg as he was stepping on home plate. What's also frustrating about this play is that if Giambi just slides into home plate he beats the tag easily. The athleticism of the play wasnt overly great, he just caught it and flipped it to the catcher, something any shortstop could and should be able to do. Yes i'll admit it was a very instinctive play and heads up, but, he is a professional baseball player, hes supposed to make instinctive heads up plays and be in the right place at the right time. So because a SS makes a heads up play in the playoffs that he wasnt supposed to be involved in the play that stops a critical run, thats merits an all time great play? If this was a regular season game and someone else did it, it wouldnt be blown so far out of proportion as it is today. I think the main reason its made out to be such a great play is because it was in the playoffs and it was a critical run, fair enough. How about Carlos Beltran's catch in game 5 of the 04 NLCS? That was one of the greatest diving catches i've ever seen and i never see that play shown. Way better than Jeter's famous "flip". What do yall think, do yall agree with me? i cant wait to hear all the Jeter apologists...

[Hidden Content] Heres the schedules and divisions for the new summer league. Give me yalls predictions for this summer: Best overall records for Coed upper, lower, and overall champ? Best overall records for mens lower for tuesday, wednesday, thursday, and overall champion? Best season records for mens upper for tuesday, wednesday, thursday, and overall champion? Here was last seasons winners: Coed Lower: Lights Out Coed Upper: Ringers Mens Lower: Snake Pit Mens Upper: Doguet Grass

Gabe, i just read your article, and i totally disagree with pretty much everything you said, and heres why: In your article, you say the astros should be sellers, yet the only player or bargaining chip you offered up is Lance Berkman. We are not trading Lance Berkman (In other words, Drayton Mclane wont and shouldnt), i know he's had the worst 2 months of his career, but he will not keep this up. He's had 2 extra base hits the past 2 games and is hitting the ball the other way which is a good sign. I promise you in a month from now he will be back on track and be over this slump. Our offense is bad right now, but i think when your best hitter has played so bad, that is why the numbers look like they are. Once Berkman gets going, with Lee, Pence, and Loretta hitting + Scott being more consistent i expect the astros to pick up the pace offensively. So, if we arent trading Berkman, who else on this team has any value? Lane, Ensberg, Everett, Burke, Loretta, Woody, Jennings(if we dont think we can resign him)? We arent trading Burke, he is our starting 2nd basemen next year. We arent trading Jennings or we will look like complete fools for the rockies trade, we will try to resign him. So that leaves Loretta as the only guy of any value, Ensberg being 2nd. And what are you expecting teams to give you in return? You arent getting a grade A prospect for Loretta so whats the point. The only guy who you didnt mention in your article that we could trade to get a good prospect is Brad Lidge and the way hes pitched i'm not so sure the astros want to do that right now. Not only that, when you trade off a Brad Lidge, you have to replace him with someone in the bullpen and i really dont want to mess with our bullpen. So to sum it up, after the top guys on our roster we dont have anything thats enticing to other clubs that would return a top prospect. You also mentioned we should go out and get a guy like Guillen or Pinella, both of which are in Chicago. Just ask Chicago fans right now how thats going. Pinella has already alienated himself from the players, and everyone is already saying hes a bad fit for the Cubs. And Guillen's act is getting old with the White Sox, everyone's patience has worn thin with him. His profanity laced tirades are not working like they did just a year or two ago and are looking bad on the franchise. I know Guillen won a championship his first year, but look at the pitching staff and bullpen he had, along with a very solid lineup top to bottom. Garner makes a few questionable moves here and there, but he's not the problem, and bringing in another manager would not make the astros starting hitting better all the sudden. The baseball manager in my opinion is a little overrated anyway because the players win and lose games not the manager. And getting Carlos Zambrano is a horrible idea. Forgetting the fact he is probably pitching with arm problems, his price tag is way high and will command a near 100$ salary next year. Do you really think we need a guy like Zambrano who punches his teammates in the dugout and clubhouse, i'll pass..... You cannot bury the astros just yet, its way too early. On their 10 game losing streak they lost TWO games in the standings, because the Brewers couldnt take advantage. If that tells you anything, it should tell you that nobody is running away with the division. If you've watched the astros the past 3 years you'd know they are a 2nd half team, they do this every year. The only thing different this year is our pitching is the least experienced of any of those years. But Oswalt is Oswalt, Jennings has looked good, Sampson has been a nice surprise, and Wandy has had a few bad games here and there but has really pitched well. So if those guys can keep it up, with our strong bullpen and our lineup of Lee, Pence, Berkman, Loretta, Scott scoring more runs i think, we should keep grinding and get back to .500 and make a run at the Brewers. Keep the faith in the astros, i'm not saying its a lock they'll come back for sure, but we still have a good shot, dont give up on them just yet....

I have to disagree with you on that one. During the astros 10 game losing streak they were averaging 2 runs a game. Oswalt hasnt won in his last 4 decisions and hes pitched well. I know our relievers have blown the last 2 games, but yesterdays game we had scored 1 run into the 9th inning and shouldnt have been in that situation. You cant use the sample size of the last 2 days and say the problem is pitching. How often do Wheeler and Qualls blow back to back games like that? almost never. The trend you saw in both games was yesterday, Garner trying to stretch Qualls for 2 innings, and today the same for Wheeler and they gave up their runs in their 2nd inning of work. Qualls had worked hard yesterday for an inning and shouldnt have come out in the 9th. I know we could 2nd guess Garner all day on that but our relievers are fine. I'll take Qualls, Wheeler, Lidge over most teams, i dont think you could name 5 teams with a better threesome than that. I promise you if we averaged 5-6 runs a game that with our current pitching we'd be over .500 easily. So i guess what i'm saying is your accessment is wrong, its our hitting.

[Hidden Content] Jason Stark wrote this, i've heard interviews with him on ESPN radio and i'm not surprised who he chose at #1.

"pence is no willy t but the way he is playiin right now it might pan out for them later on in the season... i know its early but if pence plays like this for the rest of the year we may have a rookie of the year candidate coming out of h-town." eagle_sports, are you kidding me?? I hope you meant that pence is BETTER than willy t, but i doubt that was the meaning behind that comment. If i could choose between the 2, i'd choose pence right now with no hesitation. Willy t is a marginal major leaguer with great speed and a great arm, but has marginal plate discipline and often negates his speed by misjudging balls in the outfield. Willy T has hit his ceiling for the most part and pence has just started out and his WAY more upside.

Thank you

[Hidden Content] Roy O actually makes the list.... I might be paying to watch him this saturday....

The question was are Biggio/Bagwell HOFers. I'll take the angle of what i think the voters will probably do. Biggio will get in on the 1st ballot based on how he compares to other 2nd basemen. Heres what i've heard about Bagwell. I heard Rob Neyer (a baseball guy for ESPN whos opinion i respect as much as anyone) say that Bagwell is a top 10 1st baseman and is deserving of the hall of fame. Most other analyst i've heard will say that he is a close call and some put him in there. Personally, i think he'll eventually get in maybe 3-5 years after he comes up for election. I think there will be a lot of sentiment from the general public to put him in because Bagwell and Biggio did it together for several years and everyone considers him a very classy guy and he stayed with the same organization his whole career and i think that counts for something. Dont yall agree?

Where are yall getting these charts that show the new districts? Can someone post a link that has the possible new districts list?

[Hidden Content] I always check this at the beginning of the season to see what giveaways i want to go to. Generally i think the astros have a handful of good promotions a year. Heres the promotions i'm most interested in: April 28: stadium blanket May 12: Bagwell t shirt jersey May 20: Lone star series t shirt June 1: sports bottles June 14: retro t shirts June 16: Ausmus bobblehead (not an ausmus fan though) June 17: astros grill set June 30: Astros mesh jersey July 7: retro Astros trash can July 28: Oswalt bobblehead August 24: retro gym bag August 25: Berkman bobblehead Sept 15: Carlos Lee bobblehead Sept 28: Astros Umbrella In the past few years, i've taken advantage of the promotions and gotten these things: Lance Berkman bobblehead Jose Cruz bobblehead Lance Berkman figurine Jeff Bagwell figurine Nolan Ryan figurine "Strikeout Kings" (Ryan, Clemens) figurine Jimmy Wynn figurine 2 different style Astros lunch boxes Roger Clemens T-shirt Jersey Roger Clemens liftoff (6-22-06) poster another different Clemens poster astros thundersticks astros team poster (03,04,05) numerous astros rally towels Astros cap retro astros logo t shirt Lone star series t shirt (05) If anyone has any astros memoribilia they would like to trade with me, heres a list of a few extra things i have gotten that i would trade: Jeff Bagwell figurine Nolan Ryan figurine "Strikeout Kings" (Ryan, Clemens) figurine 2 different Clemens posters send me a personal message if you are interested and want to trade something.