Dan Gould

:party:

I've recently seen a link to a straightforward description of the process, but basically, teams put players on revocable waivers. So the player is offered to each team in the same league, from worst to best record, then the process is repeated in the other league (pretty sure they do it by leagues, not overall record). So with one of the best records, the Rays are in a tougher spot than say the Yanks or Red Sox. But once someone is claimed, the two teams have 48 hours to negotiate a deal. If they don't, the player stays with his original team and he can't be put through waivers again for the rest of the season. So the waivers aren't irrevocable because the team that has his rights can pull him back - if they really wanted to trade him to a particular team and someone makes a blocking maneuver, they can simply pull him back and not even bother with the 48 hour negotiating window. The only way the Sox would end up with a bunch of players they don't really want is if their teams chose to simply let them have the players they put a claim on. That's a straight salary dump and for a long time rarely happened. Then the Reds took their "nasty boy" relievers (Charlton?), put them on waivers, and when a claim was made, didn't pull them back, leaving the team that didn't really want him stuck with his remaining salary. Supposedly when Canseco spent the last couple of months of the 2000 season with the Yankees, that was a deal where the Yanks put in a claim to block Canseco and ended up stuck with him. So that's the risk that you run, but its still pretty rare. Most teams put guys on waivers but will pull them back if someone claims them.

What NL team can afford him? He'll be a Skank... count on it. With the revenue and new Met ticket prices for the new stadium, they'd have no trouble using him to replace Pedro. I've also heard that he won't hold out for the last dollar, so its quite possible he doesn't just fleece the Yankees into a stupid contract.

Brewers only won one game yesterday. Sabathia remains undefeated since joining Brewers. Sabathia is a free agent at the end of the season ?.....look for the Sox and Yanks to go nuts bidding for him. I don't know - I think that you have to have some concern about his girth and his long-term health, especially since he will likely demand a ridiculously long contract. I think he's likely to be an effective pitcher for a while yet, but its a lot of money for a guy who could have his knees give out anytime. Plus, I have to wonder if he looks at the NL and thinks that he's got a chance to dominate, much more than he ever dominated the AL. And I think he enjoys taking his hacks, too.

What is a "hard core" Mosaic buyer? I've got a ton of Mosaics, and have musical tastes which are all over the map. Yet, I'm definitely into purchasing this set. I don't know, maybe 60-90% of the people who filled the concert halls that he performed in for the last decades of his life would not be hardcore Mosaic buyers? My point is that if Mosaic captures a fraction of that, this set will be exceptionally successful for them.

Does anyone know what the "most successful" Mosaic set was? That is, which one sold out, and in the shortest period, resulting in the most revenue in the shortest period of time? I think Ubu is right and OP should attract a lot of attention from folks who aren't quite as "hard core" as the typical Mosaic buyer. So this OP set may go "running low" a lot faster than the average set that reaches that status.

Don't know the Rangers mark against the Sox (I've taken more notice of their futility against the Yanks ) and you may be right about a sweep, particularly with Hamilton visiting his newborn child, and a replacement starter going. On the other hand, while Dice-K can probably do a good job against their bats, the Rangers have to know that he typically doesn't go deep into his games because of the way he nibbles. If they get him out of there and get a chance against the pathetic bullpen, I think they've got a good chance to get out of town with a win. If Dice goes seven or seven+, then yeah, we'll probably get the sweep.

Moot point. Pauley optioned, Jeff Bailey recalled. And Bailey will be sent away so that Byrd can start on Friday. (Or was there a roster move I wasn't aware of - I was kind of surprised to see Byrd in the dugout, I thought there were rules about guys in uniform in the dugout for games when they aren't on the roster yet.) In the meantime, it was a great thing to have a starter more than capable of shutting down a great offense, and fortunately the lead was large enough that even Timlin couldn't flush it away. But for this team to do anything, they have to start using Masterson properly, kind of like they did tonight. When you've got no options for setup relief except maybe Okajima on a very short leash, you got to turn to your best option, Masterson, and use him like a regular reliever. No more of these 2+ inning appearances. Get him used to going one inning at least two and sometimes three times in a row.

I'm willing to believe there's slightly faster healing but you can't tell me that its not just like any other oblique strain: there's a decent chance of it lingering, and its easy to re-injure if you come back too soon. And, I was talking about Lugo in September when he returns. There's no doubt that Youk will play 3B except that I am sure they'll put Lowrie there occasionally whenever they face a tough lefty that Casey is likely to have trouble with.

Glad to see you back, MG. I believe I've cleaned up my Stupendous Sale threads such that you won't see what you missed, but suffice to say that when I started the sale, I was certain that you would have snatched them up.

OK, let's forget about the sniping - maybe I was a little too ready to go off. We should all just read Joe Poznanski's great article about Ziegler and his feat.

I don't know, Zen, the description in the Globe sounds really bad: And I'm not at all certain that the right side is better for a right handed hitter - when you twist the torso, both sides twist! And it sounds like he couldn't even assume his hitting stance anytime soon. I'm going to go on four weeks until they say something different, and I'm not optimistic.

You know, I think its completely ridiculous that you think no one knows about this. I knew about it by the time the streak reached about 20 innings, and read with great pleasure Joe Posnanski's column about this guy. We may talk AL East but we're not ignorant of baseball news from around the country. :rolleyes: I didn't know about it. Not all of us are baseball fanatics, Dan. You're constantly on this guy's back, and I don't understand why. It's not like he's Goodspeak or anything.... That may be so but the fact is he's constantly coming down on the northeast "bias" and how much he wants the "Two Evil Empires" to take it on the chin. So frankly, I feel perfectly justified in letting him know when his assumptions are completely wrong.

You know, I think its completely ridiculous that you think no one knows about this. I knew about it by the time the streak reached about 20 innings, and read with great pleasure Joe Posnanski's column about this guy. We may talk AL East but we're not ignorant of baseball news from around the country. :rolleyes:

When Wake is right in his mechanics, his knuckler is nearly as unhittable as it has ever been. In fact, it appears that the pitching coach who Thom hates passionately has a lot to do with it. But I don't think its accurate to say that Wakefield is "inconsistent" - he gets into grooves in every season where he consistently pitches 7 or more innings and leaves batters muttering to themselves. He hasn't always had the wins to show for it, but anyone who cares to take a look at his game logs over the last several seasons can see it. Plus its not as if all of the other games are glorified BP. Six + innings and 4 or 5 runs is serviceable if the Sox are scoring. I'd say that his percentage of true craptastic starts is probably 10 to at the very most, 20%. Meantime, while the win was an exhilarating roller-coaster (sorry Al) it came at what may be a pretty significant cost: Lowell has what appears to be a pretty severe oblique strain. Off hand, I'd say he's out til mid-september but we'll find out later today. On the plus side, he wasn't hitting anyway, and Youk has shown that he can pick them at third almost as well. But the one thing with Lowell was that even when he was going bad, he was a threat to bloop one over the Monster. While Sean Casey gets his hits, his power seems to have really disappeared. One other advantage would be that even if they decide to give Lugo his chance at SS again, they'd still be able to keep Lowrie's bat in there by playing him at third against tough lefties when they want to sit Casey. Still not a good thing though.

I'm disappointed to hear that you think that way. Does a guy who gets by on "smoke and mirrors" pitch to age 42 with a career ERA+ of 109? Since the year 2000, Wakefield has had exactly two seasons of a league average ERA, and every other season he beat the league average. Byrd cannot say that, and has a lower career ERA+ as well. there is no chance of a decent prospect. Theo said at the press conference that it would be an "organizational player" i.e. roster fodder from somewhere in the system, or a "small" amount of cash. **************************** In the meantime, the infuriating, nauseating collapse is complete. 10-0 in the first. 12-2 after that. Now its 15-14 Rangers. And I leave you with this question, because I am done: WHY DOES TITO STICK WITH WORST BULLPEN SINCE 2003 AFTER THEY SURVIVED THE FIRST COMEBACK AND EXTENDED THE LEAD? WHY WOULD HE NOT PUT IN MASTERSON TO GET THE GAME TO PAPELBON? FOR THAT MATTER, HOW CAN HE LEAVE DELCARMEN OUT THERE FOR THE SEVENTH INNING? HE GOT CLOBBERED TO GIVE UP THE TYING AND GO-AHEAD RUNS.

Well this would be an absolutely crushing defeat if they manage to blow a ten run lead at home. Unbelievable. 10 runs in the first, two three run blasts by Papi and Poor Charlie Zink (who I have seen enough of already) can't get out of the fifth, and suddenly its 12-10. And a highly questionable call on the ball to centerfield that Crisp appeared to catch. And now Ortiz is robbed of his third home run (would be his first such game in his career) when they called fan interference on a drive into the first row of the centerfield bleachers. Thank God Youk just hit number 21 and they've got a four run lead. I can only hope that Al is right, and whatever the offense puts up the Ranger pitching is likely to give back.

But now the bigger news is that the Tigers are placing Sheffield on waivers? No one announces waiver moves, this sounds like they are trying to get rid of him after the brouhaha about his playing time and whether he is being "platooned". He's got one more year left on his contract, I believe, but it looks to me that its a no-brainer for the Rays to grab him. What he's got left I don't know but he's been starting to hit a bit more, I think. And that bat is always worthy of some respect. Plus he'd be motivated to get into a pennant race, and have the chance to hurt the Yanks.

I'm not going to expect much but I guess he's protection for Wakefield if his injury is more serious than they think (no way he'll duplicate his performance) and also for Buchholz if he doesn't improve and/or Colon doesn't get himself ready at Pawtucket (he can't be worse than Clay, so why not?). In the universe of pitchers available in August, you could probably do worse than Paul Byrd, and at least the price is right - a player to be named or cash considerations.

And it just happens to be available in my Stupendous Sale

I've never watched but my Mother, who is quite a bit older than Larry, is quite taken both with the show and what she considers the accuracy of the depictions.

Tomorrow at 11 AM there's an episode I don't recall seeing: "Miracle Escape." It's the story of Air France 358, which failed to stop on landing in Toronto and burst into flames after sliding down a ravine. It was a miracle escape because everyone - 309 people - escaped without life threatening injuries. Sounds like an interesting one, and a refreshing change from the usual stories that end in significant casualties. Like, say, the "Seconds From Disaster" which follows at Noon, which is the story of the jet that crashed in Queens a couple of months after 9/11, when the initial instinct was to assume terrorism but it turned out that the pilot was poorly trained and applied too much force on the rudder, and the rear of the plain sheered away.

The GHF says OH HELL YEAH!!!

I'll be very curious to see how many people can be made to buy this one yet again.

My birthday. I'm gonna try extra hard to play some Griff ... maybe one of the CDs he recorded with Michael.