started a forum thread .
can you do any better ?
are you sweet “genius” ??

@chata: I’ll take the under.

I had unfortunately not discovered golf yet. Living without a car in Manhattan would’ve made golf a little difficult anyway. I had discovered drinking, though! And air hockey! A buddy was part-owner of a bar in the Lower East Side that had an air hockey table, so I got really good at air hockey. And drinking. God Bless the Subway.

On a side note – ABC reporting that all 8 of Sandusky’s alleged victims are going to testify against him at the preliminary hearing next week (despite what his lawyer has been saying).

On another side note. Rosenthal just tweeted that Bill Hall has lost 15 pounds, though left out the all-important “he’s in the best shape of his life”.

if the O ‘s sign prince …. my guess is that he hits 47 home runs this year .

In a 2 run game, Reyes went 3 for 4 with a HR, 2 SB, and 2 R, singlehandedly guaranteeing a game 7. Everyone chanted “Jose, Jose, Jose, Jose, Joooose, Joooose,” all the way from the stadium to the 7 train, and the chant rose and fell on the ride home as well. Game 7 was a heartbreaker, and the team’s epic implosions since then are well known, but that hasn’t stained one of my greatest baseball experiences.

In other news, the Dodgers have now signed two SP with away ERAs of 4.70 and 5.42. Colletti being Colletti!

@SwaggerJackers: Yup and yup!

Do people reallly stick tampons in their bats?

@Rudy Gamble: Interesting…

@Grey: Yount was moved at 29. Hanley is 28. And Hanley is much faster.

I’ve seen the argument than Hanley had been declining before 2011 in a few places, but I only half buy it. Half buying because of the GB% spike in 2010 that persisted in 2011, but half not because aside from that, not a whole lot changed over the 2007-2010 period. His walk and strikeout rates were a bit more erratic in 2007 and 2008 (in one year he whiffed and walked a lot, in the other he made more contact but didn’t walk much) but take both as a whole and they’re pretty much the same as they were in 2009, 2010, and even 2011. In 2011 most of his other ratios were on par too (contact and swstrike%, HR/FB, IFFB%, were all pretty close to his career norms). His ISO and BABIP were the only things that fell off, and even the ISO dip can be traced more to a lack of doubles than HR, meaning the low BABIP was probably effecting his ISO too. Seems to suggest that, aside from the GB% issue, most of this was more injury related with a bit of luck than actual skill depreciation. As long as he’s healed up, I’d expect a season within range of his 2010, maybe a touch worse, though unless he can correct the GB% issue, expecting anything better than that may be wishcasting. Still, a 3B/SS who can give you 45-55 HR+SB and hit around .300 is a pretty excellent second round value, which is about what I’d expect if there don’t seem to be any lingering injury issues in the Spring. I just wouldn’t expect a .340-30-30 monster the way he used to be projected every year.

On the draft, I totally agree with you. People are always surprisingly willing to overpay for last year’s career year. There is a reason why Marcel The Monkey is about as successful as any prognosticator out there: it’s based on that player’s historical performance, not hopes, dreams and momentum. I’d be out there looking for the value in the first few rounds after I snag some proven performers. Kemp is a perfect example of how this theory works. Why CBS had him in the 60s last year is beyond me. Now, they’ll have him #5 after Pujols, Braun, Halladay and Cabrera. No thanks.

@Grey: my hot stove readership leaves a lot to be desired.

Every year people do this, kemp is a stud they overdraft, then he bombs, he slides the following year only to rebound huge….. Hanleys got all the tools, i think he’ll be motivated this year. Ozzie wont take any of the slacking BS he did in the past.

http://razzball.com/a-resigned-grady-re-signed-with-resigned-indians/

@Tony: Their pitching isn’t terrible. Anibal, Nolasco and Volstad… With LeBlanc, I guess. Okay, it’s not terrific, but not terrible.

@schlitzy: I think the deal sounds about right. Teams have to give players too many years in order to sign them. I’m sure this deal like most will be sour by the end.

@GopherDay: Cool, will check it out in a bit.

@charlie batch: Gotcha

@Eddie: Put on the glove again himself.

@Rudy Gamble: What age was Yount when he switched? Seems like Hanley’s too old to be going to center, no?

@KeeblerMN: Rotoworld

@Wake Up: Ha…Nice

@OaktownSteve: I honestly haven’t looked at Hanley in-depth yet. Last year was terrible, but he had been declining for a few years.

@sean: Yup

Now, the 3B eligibility makes him everyone’s second round sexy pick. He looks a fuckton better than Zimmerman and Youuuuk, who were getting drafted in the second and third last year.

I am a little concerned about his 2010 as much as 2011. More ground outs, fewer flyballs and line drives. Plus there’s no way to know how much the injury recovery continues to affect him this year.