MDXS

I don't care about typical profiles. Dustin Pedroia is my god right now. I can buy that he's better than what people perceived him to be as he made his way to the majors and even after a season or two, but the pendulum has swung the other way. Every hack sportswriter can't wait to wash his balls. Bottom line is that he's a pretty average shortstop that is a curiosity because he's 5'6".

Huh. Thought it was 160. In that case, their payroll will likely hold steady. Yankees had no choice on Abreu. Nobody is out there that can put up those numbers for 8 million a year...especially since the market's all crazy these days. So yeah, the Yankees are a slave to free agency in this offseason, and the talent out there is pretty thin overall.

It depends a lot on what happens to their recently turned free agents. If Rivera, Posada, Pettitte, etc...end up leaving they've got a lot of holes to fill. Even if they come back, they won't necessarily perform at the same level this year (goes triple for Posada). Given the talent that's out there it will be difficult to make up for losing them and ARod. Money's less of an advantage if there's nothing to spend it on.I wouldn't be surprised to see Boston's payroll go down this offseason. A lot is coming off the books and the necessity to spend more isn't there. The Red Sox have very few holes

We have to go back to college to prove this guy's a good player?

I think talent matters a bit more than you're giving it credit for. 120 losses was an exaggeration, but that would be an ugly, ugly team....almost as ugly as a team of Jeff Cirillos.

I like the Angels at those odds. They're the frontrunners in the ARod sweepstakes. They're likely to win their division without him and with him, they're nearly a lock. Once in the playoffs you have to figure they're better than 6% ton win from there.

Get 100% and lose 120 games.

Looks like a solid choice to me. I was hoping for Mattingly.

Me too. I'm still not sure why they got rid of him.

Not this bad though. They may end up losing a lot of talent that they won't be able to replace. If ARod leaves and Rivera and Posada follow through with their threats to leave if Torre doesn't come back, that's a lot of ground that they've given up.

Well, Toronto had the highest payroll in baseball not all that long ago and Gammons was writing articles how the Red Sox need to get used to not having the resources to compete...so yeah, things can change. You'll be able to compete next year even without the cash. Toronto's good and the Yankees are primed to fall off a cliff.

Looks nice, but they aren't getting ARod AND Lowell.I'll write more about this when the Sox aren't 3 batters away from a World Series, but the ARod/Lowell situation is a very interesting one. The front offices are already playing games, I think...

I'm curious as to whether Cashman's bullshitting about refusing to pursue ARod if he opts out.

First six game winning streak on the year. Good timing.

Not over yet. If the Rockies can win 20 of 21, they can win four in a row. Win or lose, they had a hell of a run and will be a fun team to watch for a few years at least.

Yikes...and he didn't lay you any odds?

It's not what it was, but it's also nowhere near a pitcher's park. Park Factors for Coors (over 100 favors hitters):Year Batting/Pitching2007 109/1092006 107/1082005 110/1112004 119/1202003 110/1102002 117/1182001 121/1202000 129/129For comparison, here's the recent weighted averages for some notable parks:Fenway 106/105Great American 104/105Comerica 101/101Petco 91/91McAfee 93/93So year, Coors isn't COORS anymore, but the place inflates scoring.If you're interested, here's how these numbers are calculated. I'm warni

There's a great chance that we head to Colorado up 2-0. The pitching matchup is quite unfavorable for the Rockies. A rookie who walks a lot of guys, who averages 5 1/3 innings per start working in front of a not-so-fresh bullpen facing an extremely hot, patient, and experienced line-up in Fenway is not quite what you want in this situation if you're Colorado...

And will soon be heading to Coors. Nice to get hot at the right time.

Good game guys. Tough way to lose, but you've got a really good young team and will back sooner rather than later.

I'm guessing they're just gassed. They've both thrown way more innings than they're used to. It adds up.

They always kick ass complete with grand slams on my birthday (see: 2004 Game 7).Lot to feel good about right now. Let's hope they can keep it going...play off this momentum.

Not a bad idea. Tavarez's numbers aren't sparkling, but he did a good job for us this year and probably deserves more recognition than he's getting. He's a sinkerballer, so he'd be a good guy to bring in with guys on base. Considering Gagne's numbers/look/overall performance have been awful and there's no situation anyone wants him in, yeah, Tavarez is looking good.Of course, Sox have to make it first. Too lazy to look it up, but I think I saw that teams down 3-1 have won 50% of the time if they force a game 6. Not sure what kind of sample we're dealing with here, and really this should regres

Baseball Prospectus has an interesting write up on Dusty and his handling of his starters.

He had a hurt oblique and a sore shoulder. I think he was topping out at 90 in that game at a time when he regularly hit 98.