(Wow… your take on this is sooooo un-1965)

Sure, everybody would love a Doc Halliday. The guy is the goods, no question. But as long as he doesn’t go to the Sox, I’m happy to pass. If he goes to the NL, that much the better.

Long term/big dollar contracts are always riskier with a P then a position player. With as inflexible as our roster is, I think the Halliday’s of the world are out of the question. It will be a HUGE buyers market this FA season, and maybe next. Salary dumps will abound. I’d rather we get a sweet deal (meaning cheap) on a reliable #3 or #4, they pay with blood for Halliday.

Basically what I am saying is that I have very little faith that he will age well, and he is already 32.

As for what’s a fleecing, I think just about any trade that involves high level prospects will be a lopsided victory in the Jays favor. If anything, I would rather the Yankees sit tight and see if they can’t sign him as a FA (at age 34) to a three year deal, and hang on to their prospects.

a) The FA aspect has to be built-in, he’d be negotiating an extension ith any team that signed him.

b) the injury history is an odd thing to say for a guy who logs 220+ most seasons. In 04-05 he was DLed (one was a broken leg, which is not a ‘history’, one was a tired arm) but since then he has been as Iron Man as any pitcher imaginable. We can get ‘oh, that means he’s due to break down’ but we can also note that guys with 4 (5!) pitches and the size and smarts he has and the durability are as likely to be Ryan-types.

I see no one better than Doc in the game. Age would limit me to a 3-4 year extension, to age 37 or so, but I’d feel pretty secure doing that. Complete class act.

c) Well, yeah, if they get fleeced it is a bad deal. I, um, agree! The question was, what’s a fleecing?

[38] Great news!

and ace taking the next wang start.

Me, I’d be flabbergasted if that got even a chuckle from Ricciardi. Halladay is the best around.

So the question is, how much would Banterers give to get him? What will it take? He’ll cost CC-money after making about 15 million next year. (Maybe 2-3 years shorter) Or would we rather he mosey over to the Phillies (the other touted team chasing and with money and prospects). For this year … Wang is possibly done, Pettitte is fading, Joba iffy …

For Manny, I separate the pre-trade “Clown Years” from the extortion he pulled on the Sox. As a clown, you could give Manny the benefil of the doubt, and credit him for a Zen-like attitude. It’s not traditional, but I can buy it.

But what he did to the Sox was a calculated move to squeeze a few years/few dollars out of the situation. They did pay him $160m for 8 years. He did sign off on 1 and/or 2 option years at $20m per. IMHO, his behavior to force the Sox into trading him, was unforgivable. Imagine if other players did that. Maybe down the road, Alex or Tex would want out of NY. Imagine them pulling that shit, after being rewarded huge guaranteed contracts.

I find it hard to believe MLB did not heavily sanction and fine Manny for what he did to the Sox. It’s more of a shit in the mouth then a spit in the eye. I would have banned him from the game.

By any reasonable standard, he has “respected his talent” a hell of a lot more than did, say, Mickey Mantle, who left too many of his best days on a barstool in Manhattan.

Why is “respect his talent” in quotes, unless the author is implying that this is a charge made commonly against Manny. yet I have never once heard this said (or seen it written). No one that I know of claims that Manny disrespects his own talent, they claim that he disrespects the game. This is a charge, meanwhile, that I have never heard made against mantle.

Now, if the author wants to say that Manny’s supposed disrespect for the game is not as bad–or at least no worse–than Mantle’s disrespect of his own talent, then say so explicitly. If the author wants to say that Mantle’s disrespect of his own talent is itself an affront to the game as bad or worse than Manny’s, then say so explicitly.

But to posit the comparison as he did, complete with quotes, at best obscures the point being made about Manny, and at worst holds up a straw man to be pushed over. In any case, it strikes me as lazy writing and/or thinking.

[21] hell yeah. classic!

[28] oh this is a baseball blog? hehe. Cano was 7th on Sunday and 6th yesterday to boot.