Catching up...

Originally from Thursday, July 12, 2007...

Greensboro, NC – With a massive project at work concurring about to arrive at full culmination next week with a trip to New Jersey, the blogs have been scarce. Below are some thoughts on this past week’s All Star game, along with some other random tidbits.

-- Did anyone see A-Rod talking to Bonds at the Home Run Derby? The only person missing from the conversation was Scott Boras to make it the triumphant axis of evil.

-- Speaking of the Home Run Derby, at first I was shocked about the lack of homeruns hit into McCovey Cove. The All Star logo had the splash in it! But, after some pondering, it would make sense that the balls hit to right would be knocked down by the wind. With the right handed hitters, they had the advantage of the centerfield scoreboard to provide a blockade from the wind coming off the bay.

-- With the bland format of the All Star events, some MLB insiders have proposed a world players vs. American players format. I think everyone is sick of that format with the Ryder Cup and the failed NHL All Star game. Why not separate the cities; east and west. All of the western cities could play the eastern cities?

-- Was checking out Buster Olney’s blog this week and I think he made a great point. The point was made about teams hesitating to part with their veteran, free agent-to-be player for a mid-level prospect. Instead, the selling teams would rather take the draft compensation (a sandwich pick between the 1st and 2nd round) for the soon-to-be free agent. But what about teams overvaluing their prospects? Remember two years ago how Ervin Santana was untouchable? This year, he’s 5-10 with a 5+ ERA. Or, how about Brandon McCarthy of the Rangers? When McCarthy was with the White Sox prior to this season, you’d think he was the next Nolan Ryan according to Sox GM Kenny Williams. Sometimes, I think GM’s need to be more realistic with these “star” prospects. With all of the hype attached to them, we expect everyone to be a Cole Hamels or Felix Hernandez. Sometimes, you have to give up your best prospect to obtain the piece needed by all legitimate contenders; starting pitchers. Prime example: the Red Sox obtaining Beckett from the Marlins over top prospect Hanley Ramirez.

This & That:
§ How do you spend $16 at Town Hall by yourself? A pitcher of Guinness ($10) and a pint of Hefeweizen ($2), and a block (12 songs) of Rush in the jukebox ($4). Courtesy of Brendan Magee.
§ Everyone has seen those oval shaped stickers that abbreviate a place or thing. Perhaps the most famous of the stickers is “OBX” for the Outer Banks, NC. I e-mailed the editor of ovalstickers.net, and upon request, you can ask them to design a sticker for you. Very cool.

Hope everyone enjoyed their free slurpee yesterday at 7-11.