Troy Glaus to Anaheim really he signed with anaheim ?

Beltre will be the best signing, with ichiro batting in front he could hit over 50 dingers.

Beltre will be the best signing, with ichiro batting in front he could hit over 50 dingers

If anyone can explain the logic there to me, I'd appreciate it. Reverse protection???

Maybe JayFan0912 means that with Ichiro on the basepaths... distracting the pitchers... they'll be tossing nothing but hard stuff down the middle...

Not saying I agree...

Yeah, that's right ... the Anaheim Diamondbacks ... yeah, that's the ticket. Coffee time.

There is no doubt something to "reverse protection". All you have to do is watch Manny and Ortiz. Manny takes a walk and then Ortiz "can't" be walked for fear of moving Manny into scoring position. Happened all the time last year.

Also 90210 may be referring to Ichiro's speed and the need to throw heat to give the catcher a chance to gun him down at second.

It works both ways.

I think ichiro will see more strikes and will be on base more often. At the same time, when ichiro gets on base, I doubt someone like beltre will be walked, especially with sexson and boone behind him (forgot to mention this).

Getting Hudson is by far the best investment. Braves rebuild their rotation with him and Smotlz in one week, put themselves back on top. Oakland got great players in return, but I think Atlanta really came out of this golden.

My prediction is that Sports Illustrated will have a cover picture in late September of Rich Harden and Dan Meyer with the headline-Oakland's young guns carry the A's to another division title". Maybe Blanton is in the picture too.

Protection, reverse protection whatever. Joe Carter in 1993 had Alomar and Molitor batting in front of him and Olerud behind him. They just happened to be 1-2-3 in the batting race that year. Did Carter derive any benefit (other than more RBI opportunities) from his good fortune. Not that you could tell. He had the same year as he always had.

It's like when Dwight Evans was asked about the benefit of having Fred Lynn and Jim Rice hitting behind him. He said that pitchers try to get him out the same way as always. He didn't notice any difference.

My prediction is that Sports Illustrated will have a cover picture in late September of Rich Harden and Dan Meyer with the headline-Oakland's young guns carry the A's to another division title"

And a week later Harden and Meyer will go base jumping and cripple themselves.

Which trade acquisition or free-agent signing will be considered the best investment by the end of the 2005 season, taking into account salary, length of contract, and player and team performance?

Hudson, no question. He is one of the absolute top pitchers in the game today; he's priced VERY reasonably for next season ($6.5 million), esp. considering what much, much, much lesser starters like Ortiz, Benson, and Clement are commanding this offseason; and along with the return of Smoltz (assuming John's elbow holds up, of course), he's pushed the Braves' rotation back to the top of MLB, or very near to it. I mean really, Smoltz, Hudson, Hampton, Thomson, and the extremely promising Horacio Ramirez (again, assuming he's healthy) have to be more than enough to guarantee the Braves a 14th straight division title, right? The only downside is that he's a FA after 2005, but I wouldn't worry to much about that considering: a) the Braves being his hometown team and proven winner, there would seem to be a decent opportunity to sign him to a reasonable extension, and b) even if they lose him after next year it's still a good value, and Schuerholz doesn't seem to be afraid of remaking his club.

Which will be considered the worst?

Can I pick ANY FA signing so far? Even Russ Ortiz for 4 years/$33 million? OK, I'll take that one. Absolutely, inexcusably bone-headed move by Arizona. There's really no way for that one to work out well.

Mike, you're putting too much faith in Meyer and/or Blanton. Harden is going to be amazing in 2005, of that I'm sure -- he could win the Cy Young, that wouldn't surprise me. But really, in 2005 the odds are stacked against either Meyer or Blanton being average starters, let alone above-average ones. And certainly, they're not going to be the ace that Hudson was. I hate to bring up the Dreaded Intangible Clause, but Hudson, like Miguel Tejada before him, was a true leader. I don't see anyone taking over that nebulous role. Eric Chavez is the obvious answer, but he seems too timid; Bobby Crosby could, one day, but I don't see it this year; Mulder and Zito are too flaky. Probably it won't matter, and since there's no way to measure it, we'll never know. Pisser.

This is a very tough question, because I seem to have spent most of the off-season muttering "They're giving him that much money? For that many years?"

Of the people who signed contracts worth more than $10 million dollars (and if you weren't one of them, you probably don't really qualify as an answer here - sorry, Nomar) I would think the guys most likely to be of still comparable value at the end of their deals would be Beltre, Renteria, Kent, Koskie, Finley. I don't really have any faith in any of the pitchers to retain much of their present value, with the possible exception of Brad Radke.

So I'm going to go with Renteria. I think even if Beltre plays great in Seattle, it's not going to matter. It's going to take a while for Bill Bavasi to convince me that he's got a clue of how to assemble a championship team. Renteria has a chance to matter for the next four years.

I'm a little leery of Tim Hudson. (There was a discussion last summer about which of the Big Three Beane should be unloading, and I was going "Hudson, Hudson, Hudson.") I don't like the 4.9 Ks per 9 IPT. He'll be 30 next season, and I have this stubborn belief that even the best RH often get lost for a year or two around this age. If he does have a good season in Atlanta, he's a FA asking for more money than I believe John Scuerholz will ever pay anyone willingly. So if he doesn't win them a World Series in 2005... it could turn out Not So Good.

That's Renteria going forward. Strictly in terms of 2005, Radke or Hudson.

Gitz, I do my best to cheer you up. What else can I offer? There's no way yet to send eggnog over the internet, is there?

My guess is that Bobby Crosby takes the leader's role early.

It would be funny if that cover had the headline: Generation A

Where is Pulsipher these days?

#26989 Posted 12/17/2004 12:45 PM by MatO:

Protection, reverse protection whatever. Joe Carter in 1993 had Alomar and Molitor batting in front of him and Olerud behind him. They just happened to be 1-2-3 in the batting race that year. Did Carter derive any benefit (other than more RBI opportunities) from his good fortune. Not that you could tell. He had the same year as he always had.

It's like when Dwight Evans was asked about the benefit of having Fred Lynn and Jim Rice hitting behind him. He said that pitchers try to get him out the same way as always. He didn't notice any difference.



Carter's not being very good has little to do with anything :)

Best? Hudson, Ginter, Carlos Lee, Hidalgo, the Dodgers getting Vazquez and two B prospects for Shawn Green and Penny (if it's true), Koskie, the angels flipping ortiz for a prospect and signing byrd for the same money (only because they don't care about overpaying a pitcher by $3 mill a year)

The single best--the dodgers if it is true -- if not, Pod for Lee.

Worst: goodness. Pedro. for the labrum. for the dollars. for the refusal to rebuild. for the unrealistic notion that one or two big signings, usually flawed as old hell, can make your team a contender again. this feels like george foreman's last ten comebacks. being a mets fan must suck--the money with which to win, none of the intelligence to do it anyways.

Best: Aquiring Hudson, Lee, Hidalgo.
Worst: Diamond(backs) are forever...
Mike: Next best thing, may you send me an eggnog recipe? were are having cold nights down here ( down to 12 centigrades )...

Jabonoso, it was -24 this morning in Toronto. Hot rum toddy or mulled wine was the drink of the day. Wine and cinnamon sticks heated would be so much more appealing than work today. It was not to be.