? What I learned this week: - When you hear a deal is going down, its not. If you hear about it, imagine how many people have heard it already? Dude, you?re nobody. - Jim Bowden wants to seem smarter than everyone else more than he wants to make a deal to improve the Nationals, fact. - The Rangers new OF Carlos Lee will hit some big homers in September. Too bad their pitching still sucks. - Addition-by-subtraction works both ways, doesn?t it? If a certain team wants to dump guys b/c they?re paid too much and aren?t worth the cloth their uniform is made of won?t they have an adverse affect on the team to which they?re heading? God I hope so. - Maybe Greg Maddux is done, but I bet Brad Penny and Derek Lowe won?t be acting like little girls anymore. - New Mets SP (and farmhand) Oliver Perez was shelled for 8 ER in just 1/3 of an IP. In AAA ball. Oh my. ? The Good, the Bad and the Ugh. - Good: Yankees, Tigers and Rangers. Pitching, hitting and clubhouse guys. Well, except for the Yankees. - Bad: Red Sox, Orioles and Astros/Angels. Get a deal done, there is no guarantee on tomorrow. Especially in B-More. - Ugh: Philadelphia, again. Time for cheesesteak races or something, this is pathetic. C?mon, Chicken Cheese, Buffalo Chicken Cheese, Peppers and Onions and the ol? Pizza Steak. Keeps the people in Milwaukee from caring. ? For a baseball owner Peter Angelos is one helluva an injury lawyer. That dude doesn?t know what he?s doing. If its true that he passed on packages of Erick Aybar and Ervin Santana from the Angels and then Roy Oswalt (who would?ve gone to Boston for Wily Mo Pena and a pitching prospect), Wily Taveras and Adam Everett, then MLB should investigate him for sabotage. He?s got a sweetheart deal for allowing the Nationals into his ?market? and has done NOTHING with the money. That?s bs. ? It?s not over until August 31st? So some teams didn?t make big moves. Some made none at all. And then a third put a 340 lb. hippo on the mound against the Indians and needed their DH to hit another game winning HR. but I?m okay with it. These are the dudes who, b/c of huge contracts and lousy stats, may be available through waivers: - Javy Lopez, C (sort of), Baltimore. I can see someone wanting one extra bat and taking a shot, but it ain?t gonna help, Theo. - Livan Hernandez, Baby Elephant, Washington. Feeding him alone would put many small market teams into the red. But the Mets or Red Sox could use a horse, or inning-eater. Hell, he eats everything else. - Tony Armas, SP, Washington. A good pitcher at a good price, but if the Nats are serious about re-signing Soriano, they?d better keep anyone under 250 lbs and 30 years of age. - Shawn Green, OF, Arizona. Way too much dough for way too few XBH?s, but someone will take a chance, maybe the Angels, and give up very little to do so. - Jeromy Burnitz, OF, Pittsburgh. Absolutely no one will claim this hack. If it wasn?t the thin air in Colorado it must have been ?vitamins?. I?d rather sign Andres Galarraga. - Aaron Boone, 3B, Cleveland. Andy Marte is up from Buffalo now and Boone makes way too much cash for someone with no range and less power. The Padres may snag him if a Todd Walker / Mark Bellhorn tandem doesn?t get the job done but what?s the likelihood of that? - And don?t be surprised when Kevin Millar is back on the Red Sox come September 1st. See what happened with Mirabelli? ? Theo Epstein: Paralysis by Analysis? Theo and Co. were rumored to be in on Roger Clemens, Roy Oswalt, Andruw Jones, Alfonso Soriano, Julio Lugo and Jake Peavy. Theo had two 3-way deals going at once and had his finger in some many pies that in the end, he didn?t get a slice of any of them. Another example of the monster that is the Red Sox machine taking over the business of winning baseball games. Mark Redman or Kip Wells would be better than Jason Johnson tonight against the Indians. That much I do know. Quote of the Week: Phillies RP Arthur Rhodes responding after Corey Lidle mentioned that he went out day after day and give it his all while he wasn?t sure if the team behind him was doing the same: "Who cares what he thinks? He?s a scab?he?d go 5 1/3 every time. He needed the bullpen to go out there and win every game for him. The only thing Cory Lidle wants to do is fly around in his airplane and gamble. He doesn't have a work ethic. After every start, he didn't run or lift weights. He would sit in the clubhouse and eat ice cream. He?s a scab from back when me and Flash (Gordon) and Lieberthal were playing." Good for Arthur Rhodes, more than half the problems with the Phillies are because born losers like Lidle think they?re bigger than the team. For the record, Lidle is 78-69 on his career with a 4.55 ERA. Since coming too the Phillies Lidle is 21-18 with a 4.63 ERA. And one of those guys he blasted is now the right fielder for his Yankees. What an ass. ? Buy/Sell/Hold: OK, so we?ve taken a bit of a hit lately. Do your own research then. - Buy: Last week Derrek Lee, 1B, Cubs. Supreme talent, but this year is a throw-away. He?s back on the DL. Forget touching anything that has to do with the Cubs. Cursed? No, they just stink. This week: Ryan Shealy, 1B, KC. Supremely talented power-hitting 1B, he was stuck behind Todd Helton in Colorado. Could be this year?s Ryan Howard. - Sell: Last week Anthony Reyes, SP, Cardinals. 1-5, 31 1/3 IP, 37 H, 22 ER (6.33 ERA), 1-1 K/BB ratio. Not good. This week: Austin Kearns, OF, Nationals. Still getting on base (11 straight games) but power numbers have taken a huge dip. Sell now while you can get something good for him. - Hold: Last week Livan Hernandez, SP, Nationals. Not traded, so forget him. He looks like he ate David Wells. This week: Roy Oswalt, SP, Astros. Once more through the rotation, and if the Stros can?t get a damn hit, sell him off to the highest bidder, you?re better off with Jason Jennings at this point. If they start to hit (don?t hold your breath) he can win games as easily as anyone else in that rotation. - Dump: Last week Detroit winning the AL Central. Whoops again, they?re still in first. This week Cincinnati Reds bullpen: throw enough $#!% against the wall and some of it will stick, right? Well, they?ve certainly got enough to throw. Love it? Hate it? Want to know what makes me tick? Hit me up here: [email protected]