jordo212000;519702 wrote:The Reds are dropping mega bucks on Coco Cordero. They could be spending much less for the type of pitching he provided us with. I'm saying that you can most definitely get away with having an average closer. The Indians had Joe Borowski during their playoff run a couple of years ago, right? He's working Citgo now.

Yeah, Reds could have had a better closer all season in Nick Massett at a fraction of the cost. He made $1m this year, $1.5m next year. I can't wait until Cordero's money is off the books.

Rays aren't totally blowing things up. Crawford and Pena were gone and the Rays knew it from day 1. Didn't B.S. the fans and say they'd make a competitive offer when in reality it was insulting. Crawford will be replaced by Desmond Jennings aka Crawford 2.0 which is what bloggers have called him for a while now. Pena hit below .200 and they have a guy who is young but rose from single A to triple A and hit over .320 the whole time that could be ready by mid year. BJ Upton really f'd up their future by not turning into the player they thought he would be. That would be my guess as to why Choo would be of interest to the Rays. Jennings has the ability to move to CF if Choo came along.

Justin, I vote to reverse your plan and move the Rays to Charlotte. I guess before the recession the city had plans to move the Triple A Charlotte Knights to the downtown area into a new stadium that could be easily expanded if a MLB team ever thought of moving.

wes_mantooth;518405 wrote:I agree....the Cliff Lee one really pisses me off though. It was like they were in a rush to get him the hell out. He had a year and a half left on his deal and they gave him away. I will never understand that one just because they still had him under contract.

I couldn't agree more. After this trade my interest in the Indians dropped big time. It made no sense at all. With that much time left on his contract you don't make this trade unless your getting a Steven Strasburg type. That trade just sealed my belief the Indians are doomed under Dolan and company.

That trade was right up there for "biggest knucklehead move by Cleveland management" this decade. However, hard to top Brown's drafting and Paxson's Boozer debacle.

mucalum49;519928 wrote:Rays aren't totally blowing things up. Crawford and Pena were gone and the Rays knew it from day 1. Didn't B.S. the fans and say they'd make a competitive offer when in reality it was insulting. Crawford will be replaced by Desmond Jennings aka Crawford 2.0 which is what bloggers have called him for a while now. Pena hit below .200 and they have a guy who is young but rose from single A to triple A and hit over .320 the whole time that could be ready by mid year.

Basically what I said in an earlier post

justincredible;518844 wrote:I'd move the Rays to Portland and the Marlins to Charlotte. The AL East would now be the 4 team division and the NL East wouldn't have to change.

Portland would be interesting, but I would never put anything in Charlotte. Not a good sports city IMO. The Panthers struggle to draw and the Hornets left. I think putting another team in NY would be their best bet.

jordo I saw that, people kept saying it was going to be blown up though so I reiterated it

Portland just built a new Triple A stadium because the old is being converted into a soccer only stadium for their new MLS team. I haven't seen what it will look like but I wonder if it could be expanded easily.

I agree that Charlotte is a shitty town in regards to hometown teams. Most people are transplants and root for their old teams. Although if they were winning I think they'd get a better attendance then they do now but I don't think they'd be selling out every game either. At least I'd have season tickets.

I would maybe put a baseball team in Brooklyn? That would be pretty sweet

Nevermind I just saw the Beavers left Portland and no new stadium is planned. I just assumed they were getting a new one, guess I should look before I post.