The Final Word on the Lee Fiasco
There are two aspects to the "baseball" side of this trade, and neither makes sense.
First, there's the Lee side of it. They made him a good offer, yes. But we all know that Lee wanted 5 or 6 years. It seems that the money wasn't the problem, it was the years on the deal. If Lee could have been had for 1 extra year at $12 million (or 10), then this entire trade is completely indefensible.
Why? Because the two unneeded outfielders they picked up cost $8 million. What's the difference paying Lee $12 million for an unproductive season in 5 years and paying two stiffs $8 million for an unproductive season now?
The difference is $4 million.
If my above assumption is true, then they let Lee go because they didn't want to spend the extra $4 million.
But, what if Lee would not have accepted 5 years, $12 million. What if he was set on trying out free agency? ...then you trade him. And the first part of my criticism goes away. But then you have to get something for him, ...and we did not.
Second, there's the players they got. No one has yet explained to me how we had a need for an average outfielder (Mensch) and a below average AAA outfielder(Nix). It seems we're kinda full-up on average outfielders (Clark, Gross, Jenkins, Hart, and Gwynn), don't you think?
Why did we need these two guys?
And say what you will about Nelson Cruz, his stats are far superior to Nix's.
The talking points out of Miller Park say,
"Hey look! We got REAL MAJOR LEAGUE PLAYERS!" like we're supposed to be impressed by that.
"This shows we're not giving up on the season!" Then you need your head examined.
"We didn't want AAA prospects!" Why not? I'd rather have one good solid player, even if he's in AAA, then a bunch of rabble that DOESN'T HELP THE TEAM NOW OR IN THE FUTURE!
"But they cost $8 million! That means we're not cutting salary!" And that's supposed to make me feel better? That's just another reason why this trade is so indefensible.
But we got a pitcher! He has Turnbow syndrome and costs $5 million a year. He likely won't even be on the team next year.
BUT, if Mensch hits 30/100 and Nix makes the roster and contributes like a Gabe Gross, or Cordero plays well AND stays with the team, ...I'll eat my words.
I feel pretty safe about that bet.
What Most National Columnists Miss
Reading
this story about 3 time NFL MVP, Super Bowl champion, NFL record holder, and living legend Brett Favre suprises no one from Wisconsin.
But national columnists who constantly ascribe ulterior motives to Brett don't get it. When they see stories like this, they probably chalk it up to is "publicist" is he even has one.
Practicing with high school kids for weeks, no TV cameras, no reporters (until the last day), ...just football.
1 Day to Camp
McCarthy had his
pre-camp press conference.
Highlights:
They are installing the offense now, and that will be the offense that we will see all season long.
He will be very cautious (playing on the "high side of caution") with his aging running backs in camp.
Current depth chart is accurate based on their expectations.
Should be some "good battles" on the offensive line and receiver corps. Translation: none of our players are very good, so no one know who will play.
Defensive line has a lot of depth. Translation: all our backup players are just as lousy as our starters.
When describing his blocking philosophy, he said a main part of it was "cutting on the back side". I always hated those cutting teams, ...I don't how I'll react when I see our guys doing it.
Going into camp with a clear mind. Some players with great measurables don't show up in a game, and some players with smaller measurables perform great. He'll judge players on their performance.
Woodson will return punts? Way to get him hurt again.
Says he is not giving the new rookies the guard positions. They have to earn it. He wants to see competition. Has no problem with starting two rookies on the line, ...like he has a choice.
Says the best performing players will suit up against the Bears.
He's mentioned the Bears about 3 times in this press conference.
Overall, he sounded more confident than in his
first blundering press conference.
So, that's progress. I guess.
2 Days to Camp
Well, the Packers signed Colledge and Spitz, the 2nd and 3rd rounders they expect to solidify offensive line at gaurd.
They gave Spitz starter money and there's no word yet on Colledge's money.
If these picks don't pan out, the Packers will be dealt a severe set-back in their rebuilding plan.
Thompson doesn't believe in getting experienced free agents, so we're left with picking up guys like this and hoping they pan out.
So, start hoping.
The rebuilding effort starts with the line, so if these guys fail, ...it's rebuilding all over again.
This is Just F*cking Sick
The death penalty is the appropriate penalty for
this bitch.
Instead, she'll stay in hospitals until she is eventually released back into the world.
And the former husband, ...he's still "friends" with her? They "reminisce" about their dead children?
What must that conversation be like?
I'm totally disgusted all the way around.
3 Days to Camp
This morning we all opened our laptops to read that
AJ Hawk got married to his longtime girlfriend 8 months sooner than planned.
Amazingly, the article does not speculate on the reason for the sped up date, although it's obvious to everyone.
A little hawkling is on the way.
4 Days to Camp
Well, the Packers signed their most
indefensible draft pick, Greg Jennings.
In case you don't remember, he's the 5-11 wide receiver from Western Michigan who the Packers wasted their middle-second round pick on (52 overall). He was the 4th wide receiver chosen in the draft. So, I guess Thompson feels he is the 4th best reciever in the draft.
He was taken ahead of Brandon Williams.
As I said at the time:
Someone please explain to me how this bum is better than Brandon Williams. He played at Western Michigan for crying out loud. I think they played Brookfield Central last year. Let's see, he's small, slow, can't jump, hasn't played top-notch college opposition, and is unable to catch the deep pass. Now, what does it say about a player that can't catch the deep pass? It says he can't get open. If you can't get open at 1-AA how will you get open in the pros? He's a BUM!I think it was a silly risk. We'll see soon how it will play out.
5 Days to Camp
Some video of former Packer greats talking about Reggie White at his Green Bay Hall of Fame introduction
here.
Funny bit, Keith Jackson (the TE, not the Gatorade hawker) talked about when he first met Reggie.
Jackson was a rookie in Philly and introduced himself to Reggie by telling him how he was going to block him. They lined up across from one another and when the ball was snapped, Jackson simply stepped aside, forcing Reggie to fall flat on his face.
He said they had been friends ever since.
6 Days to Camp
Sara White was not at Lambeau Field when Reggie White was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame because of a
dispute over NFL properties suing a memoribilia store that Reggie and a parter operated in Green Bay.
Apparently, the Packers didn't handle it well.
“Two former (Packers) employees could’ve handled the situation a little more diplomatically,” Harlan said. “It is too bad that it may have led to some tattered feelings.”
The Packers were conspicuous by their absence on White’s funeral card, although the Tennessee Volunteers, Memphis Showboats and Philadelphia Eagles were acknowledged.
The Packers also had difficulty convincing Sara White to attend the No. 92 jersey retirement ceremony on Sept. 18, 2005.The Journal has no mention of this story. You have to go to the Green Bay Press Gazette to get it.
How many sportswriters do they have at the Journal? 100% of their job is to write about sports, and there is currently only ONE sport actively playing games. You'd think one of them would actually get off their ass and do some work.
7 Days to Camp
Wayne Simmons is dead?
Chris Havel's column on the '96 defense mentioned that little nugget. It was something I didn't know.
I really loved the way Wayne Simmons set a nasty tone for the defense.
Legend has it that prior to the '96 Super Bowl, Holmgren was holding a team meeting down in New Orleans. He was trying to impress upon the Packers that New England was really a tough team that should not be taken lightly.
In the middle of Holmgren's attempt to sing the praises of the Pats, Simmons disagreed, standing up and bellowing
"We're gonna f*cking kick their ass!!!!"During the pre-game introductions, while all other players ran through the tunnel when introduced, slapping hands and cheering, Simmons walked. Slowly. Turning his head slightly from side-to-side as if he was about twist someone's neck until their head came off in his hands.
He set the tone, ...something that's been missing from Packer defenses ever since.
He died in a car accident in 2002.
Ten years ago they were top athletes in this country's biggest game, champions of the world, and at their physical peak.
Now, two are already dead.
Incidentally, Simmons was traded to KC in October of 97, just two months into their season as defending Super Bowl champs for a 5th round draft choice. With that pick they chose Corey Bradford.
Now in the Dump Yost Camp
There's a lot of "Dump Yost" people out there, and while I agree with a lot of their criticisms of Yost, I have been on the fence. A lot of things were beyond his control, and in the past a lot of their players were not very good.
But we can't say that anymore. And he keeps costing his team games.
It's been clear to anyone with eyes and a brain that Turnbow has lost it. It's been clear since before the all-star break, and after he blew the first game after the all-star break I said he needed to be dropped from the closer role.
This is something that everyone agrees with. Everyone but Yost.
Last night he put in Turnbow again. You'd think maybe he'd have a quick hook with his erratic pitcher. Naw. He let Turnbow load the bases with one out, delivering two 4-pitch walks. But the reality is worse than that sounds.
He lost the first hitter after a long at-bat to a single. Then he threw 4 straight balls to the next batter. Then Cincy sacrificed them over. Then Turnbow walked another on 4 straight.
Only then did Yost bring out the hook.
I'll put it simply.
Yost needs to be fired.For his mistakes, and to set the tone for the organization. This can't be tolerated if we're serious about erasing the last decade of ineptitude.
Start the clock now, ...Saturday July 22, 2006, 2:21pm.
Fire Yost.
8 Days to Camp
On Friday Belling was asking his audience which professional sports team in Wisconsin will be the next to win a championship.
My gut instinct was to say the Brewers, but then I reconsidered. Even as bad as things are now in Packerland, ...I gotta say the Packers are the most likely to win it next.
My reasoning:
The BucksThey are actually the team most likely to leave, so they have that going against them. Plus Senator Kohl has been running the team on the cheap again after rolling the dice with George Karl and getting within 1 inch of the finals (literally one extra inch on Glenn Robinson's jumper and we were headed to LA). He's got a cheap inexperienced coach and a cheap inexperienced GM who is also in over his head. They don't really have any stars, and the team is going nowhere until a change in coach, GM, and/or owner. The scary thing is a change in owner could mean a move out of town. But even with all those changes, we'll need to spend a king's ransom to get over the hump.
The BrewersWith a new stadium, new owner and a lot of young talent, they would seem to be in a great position to push for a championship. But they have a lot to prove as of yet, and Mark Attanosio will need to spend more freely than he has so far. When he bought the team he was committed to running it in a prudent and frugal manner, making it clear that he was not going to simply pour money into the team to buy a winner. Unless he changes his mind, the Brewers will need a LOT of luck to get where they need to go.
The PackersThe Packers probably have more problems than any of the other teams, but they also have the shortest hill to climb. The NFL is parity crazy, so there's no economic reason why the Packers can't compete with the big markets.
In 2003 they were inches away from an NFC championship game in Carolina, but 7 close plays went against them, a fluke stumble, 4 bad marks by the refs, and two bad calls by Sherman. Any one of those things go the other way and the Packers are dancing out of Philly.
So, they've been close as recently as 3 years ago, ..of course Favre will be here only one more year, the GM is out of his depth, has a flawed philosophy about managing a franchise, and stupidly passed on an opportunity to make a run at it with Brett. His moronic desire to rebuild from scratch is not only outdated by a decade, but it has also cost the Packers two bad seasons and a third on the way. And there is little hope for the near future.
BUT, like I said, it's a short hill to climb. If they get lucky and draft a new QB (Rodgers isn't the answer, but I'll give him another shot this pre-season), get some good receivers, some good running backs, a good defensive line, ....shit, ...so basically they need to improve at EVERY position on the field and in the front office. But if they do, they have a chance. If they win their division, win a couple of playoff games, ...anything can happen.
Unfortunately, I think it's going to take a purging. Here's my hope, ...McCarthy bombs. Thompson goes down in flames, and the new Packer president, whatshisname, gets Charlie Weiss to leave Notre Dame and the Glory Days are back.
I know it's a dream, but let me have it.
It's all we got.
9 Days to Camp
Today I read an
article by Jason Whitlock on ESPN's Page 2 that made the same mistake I've seen sportswriters make over and over and over again regarding Brett Favre.
They assume he's a normal guy with a normal brain, normal motivations, and normal values.
Anyone who's ever listened to him speak, listened to his rationalizations and pontifications realizes that he's many many MANY things, ...but normal ain't one of them.
He makes 5 points about Brett in his column, and I'll address them in order:
1.
"Brett Favre will regret his decision to return to the Packers by Week 4, when John Madden won't be around on "Monday Night Football" to explain away Favre's terrible performance against the Eagles. "I agree that he very well may regret his decision to come back by week four, but it won't have anything to do with John Madden covering for him. To some non-Packer people, the entire population of the earth is involved in a massive conspiracy to coddle Brett's many bonehead mistakes on the gridiron. No one is harder on his bonehead mistakes than Packer fans. Favre repeatedly addressed the situation last season as he was peppered with criticism for not "altering his style of play" to reduce the number of risks he took at the end of games. He refused. You see, he doesn't care if Madden covers for him, he doesn't care if fans criticize him. He only knows how to play the game one way, and he'll do it that way even if it sinks the ship. A normal person would adjust their style of play, ...Favre ain't normal.
2.
"I'm bummed Favre didn't grow a pair this offseason and tell the Packers he wanted to be traded to the Dolphins."Yeah, Favre's a wuss. He doesn't even have "a pair". He never speaks his mind. No. Never. A normal person would see that the Packers are going nowhere and are being helmed by an idiot who is driving the franchise into the dirt with an ill-advised non-youth youth movement. A normal person would want to go somewhere else for a year or two and get a ring, ...Favre ain't normal. He said he wants to stay here and he means it. I know it doesn't make sense, ...that's kinda the point.
3.
"He's just not capable of elevating a weak team to a higher level anymore. He's like Michael Jordan playing with the Wizards. "I think he is physically capable of it, but like I said before, he's unable to change his style of play. He's always been a gunslinger, and that's how he'll go down. And no, he's not like Jordan with the Wizards. He's like Jordan staying home in Chicago to finish out his career where it started, ...isn't that what everyone wanted Jordan to do? Why is it different for Favre?
4.
"Favre's spending his last year or two in the league running plays called by the former offensive coordinator of the 49ers -- Mike McCarthy, a product of the Mike Nolan coaching tree, not the Bill Walsh tree -- is just about the dumbest thing imaginable."Amen.
5.
"I hope Packers fans are happy they're holding Favre hostage in Green Bay rather than allowing him to finish his career with dignity in a winning environment. "And here we have the winner of the stupidest thing said this month award. I'll say this one more time.
Brett didn't want to leave. So, why do sportswriters and NFL fans seem to want Brett to leave so bad?
Because most of the league is tired of hearing about how great the Packers are, how great Brett is, and how great the fans are. Some people can't identify with it. Others are jealous. So, they want Brett out of Green Bay so they can once again root for him.
One word for them.
PHHHLBBT!
Ps - Jason Whitlock is a normally good writer, as
evidenced by this item which is not only well reasoned, but long overdue.
10 Days to Camp
In ten days the Packers enter training camp in what most observers realize is a futile effort to
win the Super Bowl win the division make the playoffs have a good season play .500 ball win more than 4 games.
I'll get myself in the mood by offering up a post-per-day about the dysfunctional, madcap workings of the Packers organization.
Today I want to talk about Al Harris, and by that I mean I want to complain about Ted "Teen Wolf" Thompson.
Thompson shows us again and again that he is in so far over his head that he actually drowned a year and a half ago an no one noticed.
First, he pisses away the free agency period by going after low-priced nobodies (who then decide to skip the mini camps). Then after Favre complains, he makes a sudden and desperate attempt to lure Arington. When that fails, he deperately tosses a big money deal at Woodson (who then decided to skip minicamp), alienating his best defensive player who is grossly underpaid.
Didn't he think that might cause a problem or two?
As of today Harris says he will be in camp, and unless something's changed, he won't be getting a much needed raise.
Thompson should have spoken with Harris prior to the Woodson signing and reassured him of his worth to the team, even promising to give him a much deserved raise after free agency.
But he didn't. And now we have another unhappy player to go along with all the players who seem to have no respect for Thompson or McCarthy.
Should be a hell of a season.
Turnbow Must Take a Seat
I saw every inning of
this mess.
Putting in a struggling Turnbow in against two fastball hitters is stupid enough, but the real blame goes to Turnbow.
He's lost it.
And by that I mean his control. And if I was coach, he'd also have lost his closer role.
But Yost is a players coach. Expect no changes.
MOELLER DFA!!!!!
Well, it only took Yost 15 months to see what the rest of us have known since last season, ...Chad Moeller isn't a legitimate major league catcher because he is only able to hit the ball at a AA or possibly AAA level.
He was sent down today, probably never to return.
Helium and Miracles
For the screech-monkey’s second birthday extravaganza, we ordered a huddle of oversized, Dora-themed balloons.
One of the ballons was a mylar cut-out of Dora’s impossibly top-heavy (not in that way, you perv) visage. The gigantic head was about two-and-a-half feet across and served as the main helium vessel for the otherwise thin and limp figure.
In the days and weeks after the party, I became aware that this
floating set of staring eyes was stalking me.
Wherever I walked, wherever I sat, the balloon slowly drifted towards me. Staring, always staring.
As the helium slowly abated, the monster fell closer to the ground, which was actually more disturbing because it now appeared to be walking along the carpet.
Well, I did what any father-of- the-year would do. I waited until the young one toddled off to bed, and I stabbed the balloon in the head with a vegetable knife and stuffed it in the garbage.
Problem solved.
…
The past few weeks saw another domestic wonder, this one involving the World’s Naughtiest Dog.
I could go into a long and complicated description of how the leash ring on the WND’s collar became bent, stretched, or weakened but it’s not important. What’s important is that I didn’t know it had been damaged.
I found out about this when I looked out the window last week to check on the WND and saw nothing but an empty leash leading to the edge of the garage on the other side of the yard.
This of course meant that once again, she had escaped.
So, I bolted from the kitchen to back door where I was shocked to see her sitting on the steps by the back door waiting for me!
She had a free passport to a neighborhood of bunnies and squirrels and cats moving cars, and passed it all up.
This isn’t just a big deal, it’s a near miracle!
