The 2004 Free Agent Trade Market opens today (11/10/03)

Manny is the same situation with the added addition that he is a pain in the ass and isn't that good with the glove.

There is a good "small ball" lead off tandum in the free agent pool that could probably be gotten for reasonable money which might be a good fit for a couple teams with Kenny Lofton and Luis Castillo.

There was a writer in a column on ESPN's Page 2 that had a pretty reasonable scenario for making the NYY even more hateable. After what Schilling did to the Yanks, I don't know if they would want him, but then again they signed Clemens.

http://msn.espn.go.com/page2/s/schoenfield/031104.html

NYY - 5
CHC - 5
STL - 3
LOS - 3

everyone else either 2 or 1. Seems way to biased toward the media centers: NY and CHI.

GIANTS ACQUIRE PIERZYNSKI FROM MINNESOTA
The Giants added an All-Star catcher to their roster Friday,
acquiring A.J. Pierzynski from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for
right-hander Joe Nathan, as well as minor leaguers Boof Bonser
and Francisco Liriano. Pierzynski, a left-handed hitter, batted
.312 with 11 homers and 74 RBIs in 137 games last season for
Minnesota.

"I made that team and I made those guys."

I don't understand the Red Sox interest in going after someone like A-Rod, when they need a starter and could use another couple of arms in the bullpen.

I wouldn't be suprised if Santiago ends up in Chicago, as paired with Miller that would be a solid platoon with very good defense. He seemed to get along well with Dusty.

Benito isn't going to get anything but a one year deal at his age.

SF has traded away/let go of like 12 pitchers in the past season and a half... some were top 10 pitchers in the majors last year (livan, russ ortiz) others were some of the highest ranked prospects in the majors (ainsworth).

Derek Lee might not be too bad a pickup, especially since he is really good with the glove. I don't think he will be much better as a hitter as he is now.

Unbelievable.

Six more days till things should heat up!

NYY are dropping cash on the elderly. They signed Tom "Flash" Gordon and are to trade Weaver for Kevin Brown, who still gets major cash. You would have thought the Yanquis learned their lesson in the 80s, but now that The Boss is calling the shots it is expected I suppose.

I think the arms race is just getting started.

Of course, both teams will drop all of this cash and the Royals will probably win the AL with a payroll the size of the Yanquis buffet budget.

http://www.bushnews.com/bored.jpg

From the way it looks, he is not going to stay with Florida, as he wants too much cash. None of the big spenders need a catcher and those that might drop the cash would perhaps go for Javy Lopez, since he should be more affordable.

What about Greg Maddux? He is an older pitcher that might be worth giving a three year deal. I'd love to see him go back to the Cubs to finish his career, but there isn't a snowball's chance in hell that would happen.

he wants the same $$$ he made this year ($10MM) for 4 years. he's not young and perhaps the marlins know something about his "dietary intake".

The Phillies signed free-agent reliever Tim Worrell to a two-year contract believed to be worth about $6 million, ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reported Tuesday.

Enduring memory of Matt Stairs during brief stint as a Cub:

Upset that he couldn't have signature song played over PA as he approached the plate at Wrigley.

His song: Something by some professional wrestler.

Conclusion: Goof!

The Big Hurt is rare player that has stayed for such an extended period with the Sox.

Reinsdorf hasn't had much luck with the Bulls either since Jordan and Jackson bailed.

The ownership of the Bears and Cubs are about as bad.

As a Cubs fan, I would rather have seen Andy Pettite remain in NYC.

Pettitte is a winner, how he will fare in the NL and with the Astros I think is debatable. It isn't like he is a Cy Young canidate, but being left handed is a definite bonus.

It has to be tempting offer for Clemens, although every NL team will chuck at his dome at least once a start.

Maybe the Tribune will get into the cold war and sign Maddux.

The football Cardinals are worse than the Bengals. The Bengals were pretty good in the 80s/90s with a couple of Superbowl trips (and like to joke that they covered the spread both times against the 49ers). Yes they haven't made the playoffs since Bush I, but isn't like the Cards have done anything ever. Cinci fans are still into it (somewhat) considering how bad they have been for so long.

Actually the absolute zero of US pro sports is probably the LA Clippers. Getting drafted by them is like getting banished to the the freakin' phantom zone.

Consider this a MLB bonus to the rest of the teams in pro ball.

If this plan works out, the Expos will become the baseball penal colony.

Now if you could merge the Blue Jays and Orioles, then you would have a team.

Ivan R. is backed into a corner with Baltimore getting Javy Lopez.

I don't understand the Yankees signing Kenny Lofton, unless they are planning on playing him at DH. They can't really be considering sitting Bernie Williams for Lofton? Can they? Either way, Lofton has even a worse arm than Bernie.

I'm still holding out hope that the Cubs will bring Maddux back. Probably won't happen, as he was pretty angry with them when he left, but it would be great if they did.

Maddux has a deal waiting on his signature with the Cubs. ((Please sign it Greg, all is forgiven, you can come home.))

Where Ivan R. is going is still up in the air.

Why was he angry with the Cubs? (I don't live in the US, so am not up
to speed with all of these things)

Maddux basically stated if they didn't have an extention worked out before his last season in Chicago started, he was going to file as free agent and leave no matter what. That season he won the Cy Young award and left as a free agent. He took less cash than the Cubs and Yankees offered to go to Atlanta. The Cubs pissed him off not wanting to get a deal done.

It was one of the worse mistakes they made in the recent past, as Maddux has been a very consistent/hall of fame level pitcher. The Cubs had a couple of seasons where they had good years, but were missing that top notch starter to put them over the top.

Chicago sports teams, while being quite profitable and generally well supported by the fans are all known for being stingy bastards. Usually when they spend money it is on some player that is terrible and not worth the cash.

According to Scott Boras (his agent), it's likely Detroit with a small possibility of the Cubs coming through at the last minute with some cash.

I'm sure Maddux realizes that it would be a special pitching staff if he comes on board, but then again he goes to St. Louis he get the additional bonus of stuffing it to the Tribune.

To be honest, I wouldn't doubt that the Cardinals out bid the Cubs on this one, they need another starting pitcher to keep up with the Cubs and Astros.

Other than cash, why would Ivan R. go to Detroit? It is sad to see Motown that far down the baseball food chain, but I don't see it turning around in the next couple of years. It is a shame he won't be in Miami this next season, no matter where he goes.

I suppose it is somewhat a sign to long suffering Tiger fans that they are trying to improve the roster.