Dan Gould

You got me, Conrad. Either Boras isn't telling his client the truth, or his client is willing is to wait up to two more years to get every last dollar possible. But the bottom line is that every team who bid would have taken the same approach as the Red Sox - the posting bid represents a portion of the contractual value of the player - they are bidding on the right to have him under contractual control precisely because he isn't a free agent - so Boras would have these very same issues. But if he thinks that Matz gets a 100 million dollar contract separate from the posting fee, they might as well quit right now because that will never fly. And if Matz thinks that is what is he should hold out for, instead of taking a decent offer so he can compete in the majors, than I sincerely hope that he has to wait until 2008 to be a completely free agent, and that his arm falls off before then. I think Boras still has the upper hand because what do the Red Sox do if they don't sign Matsuzaka??? Go after Zito?? That will drive up Zito's price, which is already in $70 million range. They would probably being paying Zito close to what Boras is asking for what we assume to be a better, younger pitcher. Either way they are gonna have to spend $100M. I mean their hands are tied now - all of the good pitchers are gone. They will have to overpay for Zito or try and swing a deal for a pitcher. Manny as trade bait?? They tried that already. What I want to know is how is Theo going to spin this if he fails to sign Matsuzaka?? They can't use the,"They were asking for too much money", excuse when The Royals are showing Meche the money. The Royals! With the kind of money that is being thrown around this year on marginal pitching(cough, Marquis, cough) the Sox have to come up big or they can kiss that Asian market(and the playoffs) goodbye. The fact is Theo underestimated the FA market(to be fair I don't think anyone thought the market would explode like it did this off season) and now he has to pay. A lot. I have to respectfully disagree, on a number of points. First off, Boras doesn't have leverage, if in fact his client is interested in playing in the Majors now. If he is willing to wait up to two more years, suffer the embarassment of returning to a team that has already planned and announced how it will spend the posting fee, and suffer the additional cultural embarrassment of refusing a sizeable offer because his agent insisted on a gigantic offer, then Boras has leverage. But as one GM said last week, what does he have? A "mystery nation" who is bidding on his client? The FA market has exploded, yes. But Matz is not a free agent. Every team in the bidding considered it an investment on controlling his rights for six years prior to free agency. Earlier in this nutty season, I read that between signing costs, development costs, and escalating salaries through arbitration, developing a topnotch player costs something like 30-40 million dollars. That's how some teams went about determining their bid amount. The Red Sox wanted to be sure, so they bid significantly in excess of that figure. To say that it should not impact the amount a posted player is offered in salary is to live in fantasy land. You're a little out of date on Zito. He's being offered upwards of 100 million, not 70 million. But remember - when Boras says that his client is worth 100 million dollars, he says that is independent of the posting fee. He is saying that the Red Sox should spend 150 million dollars to secure his services, and that is completely insane and will never happen. Theo absolutely can spin this as "they asked for too much money" because anyone can see what Boras is asking for is outrageous. The rules are the rules: Matz isn't a free agent. Matz doesn't have any track record in the Major Leagues. Maybe he does get 120 million dollars as a totally free agent in 2008. But it is 2006. If he wants to return to Japan as an embarassment who demanded too much money, he can do it. When it comes out that the Sox offered 10-12 million a year, no one will accuse them of negotiating in bad faith or not being committed to a fair offer. At that point, while it will be difficult to make the impact they want to in Japan, it will not be as impossible as you suggest. Lastly, they will not go after Zito. The money saved will go in a nice little package for Roger Clemens, and we will find out if he wants to follow his bitch to New York or his heart to Boston. I expect he'll go for his bitch in the end ... but the Red Sox will deal with it in the end. You are probably right that they can kiss the playoffs goodbye, especially if both Matz and Clemens spurn their advances. I do however believe that this is the darkness before the dawn. Matz wants to play. He doesn't want to return, and deal with all that will entail. A deal will get done, and Matz will be on the plane sometime Wednesday (I don't think they'll necessarily leave early Wednesday morning). And one last thing: if Boras thinks that he can convince his client that it is in his best interests to take a stand and try to break out of the posting system by buying his way out, they are both fools who deserve each other. The simple fact is that if Boras "buys" Matz' freedom to be a true free agent, it will mean the end of Japanese baseball. Every star will never stick around; they will simply buy their freedom to pursue a major league career, and Japanese baseball will ultimately cease to exist, except as a feeder system to America.

You got me, Conrad. Either Boras isn't telling his client the truth, or his client is willing is to wait up to two more years to get every last dollar possible. But the bottom line is that every team who bid would have taken the same approach as the Red Sox - the posting bid represents a portion of the contractual value of the player - they are bidding on the right to have him under contractual control precisely because he isn't a free agent - so Boras would have these very same issues. But if he thinks that Matz gets a 100 million dollar contract separate from the posting fee, they might as well quit right now because that will never fly. And if Matz thinks that is what is he should hold out for, instead of taking a decent offer so he can compete in the majors, than I sincerely hope that he has to wait until 2008 to be a completely free agent, and that his arm falls off before then.

Oh man, I've totally been there. That was the one I liked the best. Disappointing as it is to learn that they are all intentionally bad. That reminds me, shouldn't the "It was a dark and stormy night" awards be announced soon?

An interesting column on Foxsports.com from their main guy - he basically says that Pettite was quite poor last year, despite his second half splits, is returning to pitch against a killer offensive division, and has serious health question marks. A nice antidote to the usual "brillian Cashman move" commentary. Also an interesting piece up on ESPN.com from a sportswriter in Japan. He's basically certain that Matz will sign on the dotted line, and bases that on just how important Dice Man is too important to his countrymen to come back now. He gives particular weight to the fact that his team has already announced what they'll do with the 51 million - X amount for salaries, and an enormous percentage for various improvements to the stadium. Imagine how the fans will feel if they lose out on all that, because Boras tells him that he should hold out for more $$. I do believe its going to come down to whether or not Matz tells Boras to get a deal done, I want to pitch in the majors NOW, or if Boras convinces him the Red Sox aren't offering nearly enough, and that he should challenge the posting system rather than accept their offer. My guess is 40% chance he signs, and if he doesn't, 100% chance Boras is fired before he tries again.

But don't you think, Jim, that "I just don't stop asking questions of myself" is a separate issue from "eloquence"? Its one thing to feel, and then to venture deeper into something. But the ability to communicate what you find to others is a whole 'nother thing, and you have that in spades.

I listened most to the blues, and while a lot of "new" artists came into the mix, given the way that the collection expanded, number one artist would still have to be B.B. King. Favorite "new" artist: Lowell Fulson, particularly in terms of purchases, and to a lesser extent, Albert King and Frankie Lee Sims.

With automated sniping programs, ending times that coincide is hardly an impediment to sniping.

I'm pretty sure they've inquired about the Pirate dude. And that Soriano acquisition was outstanding. He can easily step in for Wickman if he starts biting the big one again; otherwise, he's an outstanding setup man.

Pettitte had wicked splits last year. --------------- IP--- H--K/BB--ERA--WHIP-BA Pre All-Star 121 150 92/43 5.28 1.60 .309 Post All-Star 93.1 88 86/27 2.80 1.23 .249 They're hoping & paying for the Pettitte of the 2nd half. this is certainly true, but there's an interesting note in the piece in New York Newsday: So in other words, as he was posting such great stats, his elbow was killing him. The Yanks better hope he can make it out there 30 times next season, as well as perform as he did in the second half facing weak NL lineups.

One other thing: I'm more concerned with the closer position right now than whether or not Clemens follows Pettite like a dog chasing his bitch. They couldn't make a Manny trade that would net them a closer, and now they've lost Dotel to the Royals and apparently other teams are stepping up for Gagne, too, and it is unlikely they'll sign him. That would exhaust the free agent options and leave them having to make a trade. Chad Cordero is one target, but Wily Mo won't get that done; the Nats want young pitchers, too. On the other hand, Texas needs a CF, so maybe the Sox dangle Coco for that Japanese guy they used last year. I know his numbers were good overall, I'm not sure if they came with extreme agitation and angst, though. Sending Coco away would put Wily Mo in the lineup everyday, the question would be CF or RF. Personally I think he has better instincts in CF, and Drew can certainly handle RF better. That's the way I would go. But it will all depend on whether Texas will part with the closer. Probably depend on whether they win Gagne, but at the same time, whoever gets him has no guarantee he's healthy enough to dominate again. So it would be damn hard to make that trade, unless it gets done in spring training.

I will whistle a different tune if Clemens joins Pettite. It would only confirm my utter contempt for his mercenary ways. Regardless, I think its not a big, but a huge assumption that RJ will be take five years off of his age with this surgery. The much greater likelihood is that it allows him to return to his 4.7 + ERA ways, with a steady stream of lame outings befitting a 43 year old, punctuated by a handful of stellar performances befitting a hall of famer. Remember that his injury occured late in the year. Unless its been festering all this time and he was too stupid to get it taken care of sooner. In the meantime, I'm more worried about the Dice Man and whether or not a deal will be struck by Thursday night. If it gets done, bring on Pettite, take Clemens too. We'll still be the superior rotation. If it doesn't get done, you can bet that they will take even 30 million of that posting fee and offer it to Clemens.

Yes, but I wasn't sure how people would react, so I was holding off on the reveal. I was looking through the Mosaic site again when I decided to click on the True Blue link. As a few folks are aware, blues has begun to take over most of my listening/purchasing for the last several months. So when I realized that Mom could take care of a lot of wants via a phone order, (she's never ordered anything online), I ended up putting together a list that was the monetary equivalent of a Mosaic box: The three American Folk Blues Festival DVDs Freddie King Dallas Texas 1973 and these CDs: Albert King, Live Wire/Blues Power, Wednesday Night in San Francisco, Thursday Night in San Francisco T-Bone Walker, T-Bone Blues Little Walter, The Blues World Of Junior Wells, Hoodoo Man Blues Sweet Home Chicago Thanks to everyone who participated in the poll; I honestly intended to request one of those three finalists, but ultimately went another way instead.

Its worth picking up, definitely, but if memory serves, Sco appears on a couple of cuts, not the whole thing.

Amen to that, my friend.

So its official now with Pettite, and it always amazes me how its never about money but "feeling wanted". Pettite had an offer of 12 million which they never deviated from. The Yanks offered 16, he told the Astros he was theirs for 14. If you want to stay in Houston, just take the 12 million! You've made 50 million or more in your career, what's 2 million dollars? Other than a smaller fee for your agent, that it is ...

Looks like, wild, wacky stuff to me. I had the record years ago, got rid of it. On paper it looks like it might cook, but I recall it was pretty flat, very few solos, mundane arrangements. Thanks to Stefan Wood, I've received a transfer of this and given it a listen. Jack has it exactly right, and I am very thankful I didn't throw money after this one. Let it go, if you ever see it in the bins.

Supposedly Gagne is making his decision today, but the big news is that Pettite is returning to the Bronx on a 1 year deal. Interesting that the Astros weren't budging off of 12 million, the Yankees offered 13 and said they'd go as high as 15, but he signs for 16 million? Nice negotiation, Cashman. Did you think you were bidding against yourself? No doubt this makes the Yankees better, when they are right now relying on Unit, Pavano, and a Japanese pitcher that few think is anything more than a back of the rotation guy, at best. But I seriously doubt we will see the Pettite of old. He was pretty bad in the NL last year, and has battled injuries, too.

"Grandma Got Runover by a Reindeer" Virtually all arrangements of "Jingle Bells"

He wanted 18 million and got 16. What a country. What a game.

Damn. This is terribly depressing news, though certainly not surprising given his age. For me, there was such a warmth and joy in his playing and in his personality, which came across wonderfully in the many interview tracks that were included on recordings he did for Chiaruscoro and Stony Plain. I never programmed those out, even if I'd heard them a dozen times. Play some Hootie tonite, and remember him. He'll make you smile.

Well, Lugo and Drew are on board, and all indications are that Manny will need to suck it up and play for us, or else forfeit 20 million dollars. I can definitely handle Drew as a complement and not as a Manny replacement. Apparently Francona has already decided that Lugo will lead off and Youk will bat second. That makes sense with Youk's patience and Lugo's speed. Drew bats fifth and Coco slides down to 8th, where he can run all he wants with the rookie batting behind him. Maybe without the pressure, and a healthy finger, Coco goes back to the hitter he was with Cleveland. Now, it looks like Gagne is the next target. He's gonna cost, so he better be healthy. And what is going on with the White Sox? They trade Garcia for crap, and according to Fox, may be trading Garland next? I know they've got young pitching coming up, but these guys ought to be worth more than what they're talking about. And for Yank fans, if they do indeed trade Garland to Houston, you can punch Pettite's ticket for a return to the Bronx. Wouldn't expect a return to 2003 form, but he's gotta be a better bet than Pavano, right?

Ace reissues My wife I should get credit for including her, with a ding for not putting her first.

Not sure if anyone has posted this or many have read it, but I stumbled across this over at the Blindman's Blues Forum.