Frigid temps but the stove is still hot and there's grapefruit on the horizon

Bill:
Oh, Mother of Jesus, Todd Helton? C'mon Theo WTF?

 

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Mike:
I dunno, guy, I confess I get a little giddy imagining the lineup.

 

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Bill:
But this Helton's a guy with a huge contract, who's 32 and whose OPS has declined fastah than a Kevin Fedahline album in the last two years.

 

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Mike:
Here's anothah way to look at it … How would you feel if the Yankees had acquired Helton rathah than Minky?

 

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Bill:
See that's just friggin' it. This thing reeks of a Yankees-style deal. I thought the party line was we were gonna be smahtah than the Yankees and not we are gonna become the motherfucking Yankees.

 

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Mike:
If Helton gets back some of his old form or even plateaus, this deal has a lot of upside.

 

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Bill:
You wanna give away pitching prospects like Hansen for a whose WARP charts a negative slope?

 

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Mike:
Look, the dude's been all out of whack because of intestinal problems.

 

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Bill:
Yeah, well I'm envisioning being doubled ovah with my own stomach cramps come August when we have no young, fresh ahms to call on because we traded 'em all away.

 

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Mike:
Relax, guy, Theo's "unmotivated to tinkah with the rostah" and is talking more like Tavarez and Lowell in a trade.

 

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Bill:
Yeah, well, I'm still not convinced, but, you know what? I'm happy as hell to have something to occupy my mind and divert me from the 24/7 Peyton Manning media spoogefest.

 

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Mike:
Pitchahs and catchahs and 16 days!

 

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Comments

[louclinton]

I'm in for two pounds of "This smells like the MFY"

I believe the below explains a lot (from wiki)

"I don't try to be a Christian to be a better baseball player. I try to be a Christian to be a better person and father. I struggle with it every day, like everyone else in the world. I want to be a better person, like everybody else."
— Todd Helton on FoxSports.com

Give it a rest, Jesus. Just hit the mf ball.

Best Headline of the offseason so far, in today's NYT (part owner of your RS).

"Pitchers and Molinas Report In Three Weeks"

Gas up the truck, Luscious. I'm ready.

lc, Christian

[David B]

13 days until the truck!

[Ryan with a capital "R"]

This paragraph about the Rockies absorbing some of the salary, as did the idea that they want to get rid of Tavarez and Lowell instead of Hansen. If it takes losing Hansen to make this work, then I don't want it to work.

Lou, that's quite an excellent NYT headline.

[Bob]

I just get weird Dante Bichette vibes from this possible move. I guess it all depends on who we'd have to give up.

Truck? Did someone mention The Truck?:

http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2006/02/13/1139871850_0870.jpg

[vermonter]

Hansen and Delcarmen...No.

Batshit and Chuckles...Absolutely.

[Rob in CT]

Batshit is one thing, but I really liked Lowell in the corner. Always thought the guy was a gamer. Has everyone forgotten his plays at third base? I'm not comfortable with this at all...

I agree with Bill. Smacks of the MFYs.

[Devine]

Ah HAHAHAHAHA, "pitchers and Molinas...", that's awesome.

See, here's the thing...*tongue in cheek*...if we do trade Hansen, he'll become Mariano 2.0 and have 1000 saves in his career. If we don't, he'll be a career 4.5 guy. So why not trade him to the NL and get a shot at something this year? /*tongue in cheek*

I think we got a bit lucky with Lowell's offense last year. I don't imagine Helton being a major improvement (though I do imagine him being a minor one--even given his recent decline and the move to the AL), so I guess I'll just not think too much about anything until near the end of spring training when things are a bit more settled. I'm still hyperventilating from when they were (sort of) attempting to trade Manny; I can't handle any more emotional upheaval.

[mikeya2k1]

(in my best neareast indian accent)"im sporting a tremendous woody"
1: 13 days
2: todd helton (for lowell and tavares only)
would not want him at all if it cost the sox young pitching. hansens psyche is already a bit bruised if he had to pitch in colorado i think his career would end much sooner than later. i dont think of this as a dante bichette repeat but it is a bit yankee like.

[Rob in CT]

This, via ESPN.com:

"While he would prefer to pitch in Boston in 2008, Schilling is open to joining another team. However, he swears he won't pull a Johnny Damon.

"Where I'm going to play beyond 2007, I hope it's Boston, but I will go out and find a home to pitch," Schilling told WEEI. "I hope it's here but there's also that possibility [of pitching for another team]. It would not be to New York."

Damon, the Red Sox's former center fielder, signed with the Yankees last offseason after declaring he would never sign with Boston's bitter rival.

Schilling said he currently is discussing an extension with the Red Sox."

Pull a Damon... Heh. Wonder how long someone would be on IR if they had a severe "Damon Pull"?

[Aaron]

While I'm not thrilled with the Drew signing, due to his injury history and questionable competitiveness, I still recognize that his power numbers almost can't help but improve, given that he'll be batting after Manny and Papi and will be freed from the hitter's graveyard that is Dodger Stadium.

Helton? Not so much. This is a guy whose career stats have benefited from playing in Coors Field, and in the past two years, even that couldn't help him. And he's got five years left on his deal? At least we can kick Drew to the curb in three years if it doesn't work out. Who would take Helton off our hands for that money?

[Rob in CT]

Aaron - I'd feel better about the Drew signing if it included a provision that allowed the front office to "Pull a Barbaro" on him if he lands on IR.

[Jason O.]

Meme update alert: The Yankees no longer spend giant dough on guys like Helton, Cashman's in charge now and he spends dough on guys like Abreu who rake down the stretch. It does not bode well for the AL East.

Don't take my word for it:

"The once-fallow Bronx farm is primed to churn out some outstanding arms to supplement the Bombers."
-Baseball Prospectus, 1/29/07

[DenverSoxFan]

Since the Red Sox are my favorite baseball team and the Rockies are #2, I've been following this rumor pretty intently. I've been hoping that the Rox would trade Helton for youth, but I'm really hoping now that it doesn't come at the expense of the Red Sox.

The Tavarez/Lowell for Helton trade looks sort of good for the Sox on paper. I have no idea what the Rockies' front office is thinking, though, other than ditching part of that salary they owe.

The Rockies want youth, and the Sox shouldn't trade theirs. The Rockies are trying to unload salary but would still have to eat a big piece of Helton's contract. Long story short, this trade makes no sense to me.

[Rock]

Everyday, I mean every friggin' day, I become more and more convinved that Theo is secretly working for Steinbrenner.

The sad thing is as a loyal member of the Nation, I'm required to be a pessimist and see doom and gloom before the season even starts, but withthe roster we have now, and more Theo "good for the Red Sox" aquisitions on the horizon, I'm already looking for the '08 Sox because this year is bound to be a repeat of last year... if we're lucky.

I guess the days of "well, there's always next year" are truly over. There's always the year after next.

[Pat]

It's just a hunch, but I don't think the Yanks want the 2008 Schilling and wouldn't bid on him in a free market.

[yazbread]

Is everyone forgetting that Lowell was the bright side to the Beckett deal? With Lowell gone, it becomes Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez for Beckett and the Sox still picking up a hugh junk of Lowell's salary from the Marlins. Keep Lowell at third. He solid and the fans warmed up to him quickly.

[Ryan with a capital "R"]

It wouldn't be logical for the Yanks to acquire Schilling, but you know George would at least give it a shot. He'd have to if only so he could pull his Damon.

[Mike]

Good lord, what is it with sluggers declining production and intestinal problems? Without saying the guy is on steroids, I see a huge red flag here.

Rock, I have to defend Theo here, he's a smart person and is not going to make a deal that just blows for the Sox. The starting line up is arguably going to be the best in the league, Manny - Papi - Drew - WMP is going to be a killer combination, and the infield is improved over last year. Yeah, I know we don't have a closer yet, but the other parts of the equation seem sound fundamentally.

Looking forward to 2008, Schilling says he's coming back and I don't think Theo is going to let that ankle get away after all the Frankenstein surgeries that have gone into it.

M

[mikeya2k1]

i wonder if the closer thing is a bit overplayed. i mean throw out riveria (the best ever) and who has a good closer in the AL. east? and hey yazbread, before last season lowell was supposed washed up. and he may have turned out to be the bright spot in that trade so far but beckett should improve alot. the transition from NL. to AL. is difficult for pitchers at this point in history and if you compare beckett to say pavano( yes i know injuries) beckett looks pretty darn good

[Mike]

Mikeya2ki, the Blue Jays have a tremendous closer in BJ Ryan, and they won more games than the Red Sox last season

[Bob]

Just in from the Globe:

"The Rockies owner said today that the Sox would have to part with pitching prospects in addition to Mike Lowell and Julian Tavarez in any deal for Todd Helton."

To which I say: Screw.

[Jason O.]

Re: Barbaro

Fought for 8 months with an injury that usually means immediate euthanasia. We should all be as brave as that horse.

He's probably already dropped a challenge to Secretariat in equine heaven.

[h.b.]

Well said with respect to Barbaro. He fought the good fight as best a horse can do.

While it never came up here in the strip (at least I don't think), I personally followed the Barbaro saga fairly closely.

I confess a certain relief that it is now over, as the "he's getting better!" then "he's getting worse!" prognosis reversals from week to week were wearing.

[Kaz]

Speaking of things that are finally over, my thesis is signed, sealed, and delivered to the university. I'm a free* man!

* - The school still wants 600$ from me for the annual health insurance plan since I am not registering for the spring.

Anybody need an "idea man" for scientific consulting? I'll send you my resume! :)

[mikeya2k1]

point taken on bj ryan still good closers are few and far between in all of baseball and like other bullpeners they seem to fluctuate as far as performance from year to year. i also watched the barbaro saga unfold but i have a bit of a different take on it. i dont believe for one minute that the owner only thought about money in keeping this horse alive i belived he loved this animal as anyone would love a pet. i do however believe that there was a bit of a factor wether pride or greed on the part of vetinarians saying they could fix this horse when no other horse with this condition was able to be saved. i honestly feel that by letting this horse live as long as they did it was borderline cruelty

[yazbread]

I did not follow Barbaro too closely. But I recall after the Preakness and his initial surgury, the surgeon came right out and said this was the easy part, the next 6 - 8 months are very critical. So I think there was a lot of honesty up front. I suspect they went the surgury route given the high profile race - anything less would have seemed callous. The horse will probably end up showing more fortitude than J. D. Drew.

[soxdownunder]

Happy days - no talk of trading Manny at least! Not yet anyway

[mikeya2k1]

my wife just walked in the door with a jonathan paplebon baseball autographed baseball how cool is that!!!

[Edgy Reggie]

Watching the news the other night, I had to laugh at the story from Detroit on the guy with the mannequin fetish. They had a picture of the guy, he reminded me of Cuba Gooding Jr. He had smashed a storefront window at a department store and was apprehended by police nearby with a mannequin dressed as a french maid.

This wasn't his first mannequin bust. The last time he was arrested the cops caught him in an alley with three mannequins dressed in various undergarments.

[Edgy Reggie]

What do you suppose he...uh..nevermind.

[IkeG]

I lost you when you started talking about mannequin busts...