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**E229Lt** · 10-30-2003, 01:45 PM

Well George, we're back to disagreeing

**GeorgeWendtCFI** · 10-30-2003, 02:15 PM

Originally posted by E229Lt
Well George, we're back to disagreeing

OK. Why?

**engine23ccvfd** · 10-30-2003, 03:13 PM

George the Astros will dump reliever Wagner....Yanks would be unbeatable with him!!

**E229Lt** · 10-31-2003, 08:57 AM

Manny will thrive in the Bronx. A Washington Heights native and self proclaimed Yankee fan. The Yanks passed on him and persued Mussina instead.

Guerrero is a good fit in right. Sheffield does not and would not fit the Yankee clubhouse demeanor.

Starters, Kevin Millwood, Andy Pettite and that's all. They need another quality LHP and there are none in the free agent market this year. A trade is needed.

Rich Foulke? we have the best closer in the AL. Why bring in another?

Trade Williams and Soriano while they're still worth something.

<<9. DO NOT trade Nick Johnson or Aaron Boone>> I 100% agree

Make all out effort to get A-Rod. Screw the luxury tax, WIN at all cost!!!

**GeorgeWendtCFI** · 10-31-2003, 09:39 AM

Manny will thrive in the Bronx. A Washington Heights native and self proclaimed Yankee fan. The Yanks passed on him and persued Mussina instead.

I didn't realize that Manny grew up in WH. However, it doesn't change the fact that he has a poor attitude, is a quitter and is an egomaniac (although Reggie wasn't a quitter, he had a bad attitude and was the biggest egomaniac to play the game since Satchel Paige).

Guerrero is a good fit in right. Sheffield does not and would not fit the Yankee clubhouse demeanor.

Shannon Stewart is still my #1.

Starters, Kevin Millwood, Andy Pettite and that's all. They need another quality LHP and there are none in the free agent market this year. A trade is needed.

You're probably right about a trade, but there are few teams that are going to be willing to deal quality players to the Yankees for anything short of super quality players.

Rich Foulke? we have the best closer in the AL. Why bring in another?

Foulke is younger and more durable than Rivera. He is a class guy with great stuff. For the right money, he may be willing to be the setup man that Stanton was and Nelson dreamed of being.

Trade Williams and Soriano while they're still worth something.

I completely understand the reasoning behind Williams. But, the intangibles (and I admit that George has never given a rat's butt about the intangibles) are that Williams is a winner, a leader and a stabilizing factor in the clubhouse. He still has a few good years left, just not in center.
Soriano? You don't trade him. He tanked in the post season, but he had solid numbers, huge numbers for the regular season. This guy is going to be a superstar in the major leagues. He's only 25 and has a .290 career average.

Make all out effort to get A-Rod. Screw the luxury tax, WIN at all cost!!!

A-Rod? He's a shortstop. We already have the best shortstop to ever play the game. He would be a monumental waste of money.

BTW...do you agree about Hammond and Weaver? (Did I mention that they suck?)

**E229Lt** · 10-31-2003, 01:22 PM

Jeter to third, A-Rod has better range at SS.

Boone to second.

Soriano, Williams and Garcia to Texas for A-Rod, I'll even say Johnson if they don't bite on Garcia, but they should.

Williams is a winner, a leader and a stabilizing factor in the clubhouse.

Williams was a winner, he's showing his age though. He has been pulling up on short flies and not throwing his body under them. He has lost a step in the outfield and never had a clue about base running.

If Manny and Vlad can be gotten, there's no need for Williams or Soriano. When Sori is Arbitration eligible he will likely get money that's too much for a second baseman.

Here's a little Manny tid-bit: http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSo...?articleid=301

We need LOOOONG relief, not a set up man. Contreras has potential to fill the role but may move to the rotation depending on the winter market aquisitions.

**GeorgeWendtCFI** · 10-31-2003, 01:48 PM

We probably agree more than disagree on this subject.

Jeter to third, A-Rod has better range at SS.

Boone to second.

Soriano, Williams and Garcia to Texas for A-Rod, I'll even say Johnson if they don't bite on Garcia, but they should.

You are talking about moving a future Hall of Famer out of his natural position. That will never happen. Did Boone ever play second?

Williams was a winner, he's showing his age though. He has been pulling up on short flies and not throwing his body under them. He has lost a step in the outfield and never had a clue about base running.

There is no question that the 2003 Williams is not as good as the 1996 Williams. But he is still better than most and, it would seem to me, to be a good fit for left. Winning has nothing to do with age or ability. It has to do with mindset. Jeter has the same mindset.

When Sori is Arbitration eligible he will likely get money that's too much for a second baseman.

That's why moving him to CF might make sense. But he is more than a 2B. He is a good leadoff hitter (a better #3 hitter) and is a constant threat on the bases.

We need LOOOONG relief, not a set up man. Contreras has potential to fill the role but may move to the rotation depending on the winter market aquisitions.

Don't forget Karsay. Don't forget White and Heredia. I agree about Contreras.

Waddya think? Paul O'Neill as hitting coach? Reggie as bench coach? Mattingly? Little?

**E40FDNYL35** · 10-31-2003, 02:13 PM

Manny Ramirez, hometown guy from Washington Heights, apparently won't be coming home to continue his baseball career.
Sources in both the Yankee and Met organizations said yesterday that neither team wants to claim the enigmatic slugger off irrevocable waivers, where his current club, the Red Sox, placed him Wednesday in an attempt to shed his bulky contract.

A hitter such as Ramirez dangled in front of George Steinbrenner without the Yankee owner sending a limo for him? Yes, say two Yankee sources.

"That won't happen," one said when asked if the Yanks would claim Ramirez before today's 1p.m. deadline.

"I don't think the Yankees would bite," another official said. "It's interesting, but I don't know if the (Red Sox) are going to have any takers at those dollars."

Ramirez, who hit .325 with 37homers and 104 RBI this season, has $101.5 million and fiveyears remaining on his eight-year, $160 million deal. He is due to make $20.5 million next year.

The Yankees might figure they can get an impact hitter like Ramirez - perhaps Gary Sheffield or Vladimir Guerrero - for much less. Ramirez signed his deal three years ago when Alex Rodriguez was getting $252 million from the Rangers.

Now, however, teams are tightening their payrolls, and even the Yankees won't lay out that kind of cash for the 30-year-old Ramirez, though Steinbrenner has admired him for years.

The Red Sox want to get rid of the big expense of keeping Ramirez, even though he is annually one of baseball's top sluggers. The Sox made it to the 11th inning of Game7 of the ALCS before falling to the Yankees and figure to retool for '04. Getting out from under Ramirez's deal would give them the freedom to do it.

The Red Sox have already had an active offseason, letting manager Grady Little go.

"They can be a better club without that contract," a baseball official said of Ramirez's pact. "They could use some of that money to re-sign Pedro (Martinez), who's coming up, and then go after Sheffield or Guerrero.

"They have Nomar (Garciaparra) coming up, too. They're looking down the barrel of some big contracts."

The Red Sox may have worked with Ramirez on this and put him on waivers at his request, though a baseball official said that he had not heard of the Red Sox actively trying to trade Ramirez.

This past summer, Ramirez said that he wanted to finish his career in New York, angering the Red Sox, and Boston officials may be tiring of Ramirez's attitude and lack of attention to anything that doesn't have to do with hitting.

Jeff Moorad, Ramirez's agent, did not return a call yesterday. By baseball's rules, teams themselves are not allowed to comment on waiver moves.

Ramirez is a terrible baserunner and has frustrated teammates and team bigwigs with a lackadaisical approach to the game.

Late last season, Ramirez didn't play in a series with the Yankees because of a sore throat and fever but still met with the Yanks' Enrique Wilson, an old teammate from Cleveland, after one of the games.

Ramirez blew off a doctor's appointment the next day and said he was "too weak" to pinch-hit that night. Little benched him after that episode.

Now the Sox may be stuck with him, unless an eager-to-spend team such as the Orioles or Padres (who are moving into a new downtown San Diego ballpark) picks him up.

If he is not claimed, Ramirez will stay with the Red Sox. Sounds like a frosty first day of spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., in February, if Ramirez is still around.

**GeorgeWendtCFI** · 10-31-2003, 02:39 PM

Thank you, Ray. That is my point exactly.

**E229Lt** · 10-31-2003, 03:35 PM

Did Boone ever play second?

Boone spent the majority of his Major League time at second but was an infield utility man for the past year. Much like Randy Velarde, who I miss greatly, or Luis Soho. Boone would be a much better fit at second. He hit .267 with 24 HRs in 2003. These are excelent numbers for a second baseman.

Don't forget Karsay. Don't forget White and Heredia

I think White may work well. I'm trying to forget the Hernia.

You are talking about moving a future Hall of Famer out of his natural position

That's Piazza's argument!!!

Hitting coach: Mattingly. Pitching Coach: Guidry.

**GeorgeWendtCFI** · 10-31-2003, 03:42 PM

Steinbrenner must be licking his chops.
-------------------------------------

Cuban Pitching Star Defects.

ESPN.com news services
MIAMI -- One of Cuba's top pitchers defected in an undisclosed country so he can begin playing professionally in the United States, a Cuban exile leader said Friday.

Maels Rodriguez and another player, Yobal Duenas, were reported missing by Cuban authorities Saturday.

The Miami Herald speculated that the pair might be in El Salvador.

"They're safe," said Joe Garcia, executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation. He declined further comment.

If the players seek political asylum or residency outside the United States, they most likely will be declared free agents by Major League Baseball and be able to sign with any team.

The players' Miami-based agent, Henry Vilar, did not return telephone messages Friday.

Rodriguez, a 24-year-old right-hander, is one of Cuba's top pitchers and his fastball is said to regularly top 100 mph.

"I want to play the best baseball, and that's in the United States," Rodriguez said. "It's a difficult step because you know how things are in Cuba. So when Yobal and I made this decision, it was the most important one in our careers."

Rodriguez set the single-season strikeout record in Cuba with 263 in 178 1/3 innings three years ago. This season, he was 8-3 in 113 innings with 117 strikeouts and an ERA of 3.11. Cuban officials left him off the Pan American Games and Olympic qualifying teams, blaming arm and back injuries for the loss of 15 mph off his fastball.

"I'm going to demonstrate that I can still throw 100," Rodriguez said Thursday on Miami Spanish-language radio station WQBA-AM. "These are things that they invent to cut a little off the careers of some athletes."

Duenas, a second baseman, is a former Cuban stolen base champion. At 31, he is on the down side of a career in which he debuted with the Cuban national league at 17.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report

**IACOJRev** · 10-31-2003, 03:45 PM

How 'bout dem TIGERS!!?

**GeorgeWendtCFI** · 10-31-2003, 03:45 PM

BTW, Piazza is a girl.

**AFD368** · 10-31-2003, 07:07 PM

George

Head cases do not do well in the Bronx.

I don't understand your logic, The Bronx is full of head cases .

Start with the Owner

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