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Originally posted by Shamez214 I just heard the Yankees are as well. And the Rangers are soon to follow.

Oh yeah, Piazza said he wanted to be his battery mate too.

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A Q&A session in the Washington Post about the upcoming 2006 season for both the Orioles and the Nationals. There were a lot of stupid questions about moving players, contracts and the new baseball stadium, but this one pretty much hit the nail on the head when it comes to embroiling the Nats into one collective heading.

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Why should I pay more to see a worse baseball team than I saw last year? Granted, the Nats overachieved last year. But the team's "leadership" is obviously hamstrung by its owners (Major League Baseball itself), who know a cash cow when they see one. Why should Bud get those ownership group interviews done when the team is so profitable? Why should I think the Nats will pursue any free agent of value? As noted elsewhere, MLB has a significant disincentive to allow the Nats to make a competitive salary offer. Doing so might tend to nudge salaries higher throughout baseball - raising costs for all MLB owners. Of course, this is exactly how you actually sign top players - by offering top money. Sure, the Nats apparently made a nice four-year offer to A.J. Burnett - the problem is that everybody in baseball knew that the Blue Jays had a nicer, five-year offer on the table, and the Cardinals were also making a nice four-year offer. MLB could be pretty sure that Burnett would either take the money in Toronto or the legitimate chance at a championship in St. Louis, rather than a second-rate deal with the unsettled Nats. Why should I believe this was anything except a cynical attempt to make people in Washington think that the Nats are trying to get better? Especially when they're bleeding players left and right? Jim Bowden says his payroll budget has increased, but he doesn't know by how much. How can a GM do his job if he doesn't know how much he can spend? And how can we expect Bowden to be an effective GM when he's ready to jump on a chance to get out of town? Theo Epstein famously spent Thanksgiving asking Curt Schilling to come play for him. By comparison, Bowden is asking free agents to come play for his un-named replacement, while he rents his apartment month-to-month. That's a tough sell. Meanwhile, the bill for next year's tickets, 11%-12.5% more than they were last year, is due in full on December 14, 15 weeks before one game is played. Note that they include the pre-season game against the Orioles in the season ticket invoice, revealing in the type at the bottom that we can opt out of paying full regular season price for this exhibition. This leads me to believe that MLB would do anything, including actively seeking to deceive me, to get my hard-earned money. MLB has a significant incentive to make the Nats appear as a player in the free agent market, because all of their season ticket holders, hit with a hefty price increase, are making decisions regarding thousands (or tens of thousands) of dollars of disposable income. So, to appear serious about getting better, they make an apparently meaningful, but inherently doomed offer to the top free agent pitcher. Listen, I'm a Nats fan. I saw my life-long allegiance to another team melt away last year. I like my seats in the Diamond Club; the cushions on the seats are nice, the food in the outfield is nice, the parking's very nice, and the service is... well, let's skip that for the moment. Why does MLB expect us to be willing to pay more, when they seem to be doing everything they can to provide less?

Basically, i know MLB is in it to make money. Lots of it. So when prices are raised for every aspect of the game (seats, merchandise, commodities, etc) it all depends on the value you recieve. Why did people in kansas city keep going to baseball games this past year? It's for the enjoyment of watching the game of baseball.

Ugueth Urbina and the Phillies situation ?

who thinks he is coming back next year ?

not i.

i think his career is over. he is going to be stuck in venezuela for awhile. i don't get it. they kidnapped his family last year. now this year, this whole fiasco with him beating up some guys. i think something is wrong here, when 5 "average built" guys get beat up by just 1 guy !!!

last time i checked, i dont think urbina is chuck norris. something is fishy, and i dont think urbina has the tools to get out of this sticky situation.

why cant urbina protect himself from this type of stuff ? all the other latin american players can.

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Originally posted by LeopoldStotch Ugueth Urbina and the Phillies situation ? who thinks he is coming back next year ? not i. i think his career is over. he is going to be stuck in venezuela for awhile. i don't get it. they kidnapped his family last year. now this year, this whole fiasco with him beating up some guys. i think something is wrong here, when 5 "average built" guys get beat up by just 1 guy !!! last time i checked, i dont think urbina is chuck norris. something is fishy, and i dont think urbina has the tools to get out of this sticky situation. why cant urbina protect himself from this type of stuff ? all the other latin american players can.

Well he supposedly went after the guy with a machete. That's not just beating him up, that's attempted murder. Sounds fishy to me right after the kidnapping. Boy, this makes me one to vacation though in Venezuela sometime... errr maybe not.

If only he was left handed... then he could hack someone's head off and still get a job.

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quote:

Originally posted by Member of X Well he supposedly went after the guy with a machete. That's not just beating him up, that's attempted murder. Sounds fishy to me right after the kidnapping. Boy, this makes me one to vacation though in Venezuela sometime... errr maybe not. If only he was left handed... then he could hack someone's head off and still get a job.

was it one guy ? i was watching sportscenter this morning, and pedro gomez was interviewing 5 guys who said that they have wound marks from urbina's machete ?

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Originally posted by LeopoldStotch was it one guy ? i was watching sportscenter this morning, and pedro gomez was interviewing 5 guys who said that they have wound marks from urbina's machete ?

We're both right and both a little off:

According to police, Urbina and a group of men allegedly attacked several employees at his family's ranch.

The group wielded machetes and poured gasoline on the employees in an attempt to set them on fire. Five workers were injured, and one of them suffered burns on the back and right arm, police said.

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This Alfonso Soriano trade has really got me worried. Alfonso has been quoted as saying "I'm going to play second base," Soriano told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Thursday. "I don't think they want me to play the outfield. I think that if they traded for me, it's to play second base. Obviously I have the control. Of course I'm not going to play the outfield."

One Rangers official defended Soriano, saying, "He is a good guy. He's certainly not a malcontent." But, he added, "They're going to have a big problem if they try to move him [to the outfield]."


I just hope this doesn't escalate into problems during the season. Didn't Gary Sheffield have problems in Atlanta by deliberately throwing games and shit like that? I can't remember if I read that on here or not.

and the funny thing is, this is the least of the Nats problems right now. We still need a new owner, money to build the new ballpark, and pitching!

hmm.

For your sake, you should hope Soriano is traded. For reasons beyond just that he won't move off 2nd (where he is one of the worst defenders in the league)...

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*can't imagine it feelin' much better...
i wish it would just last forever.
and so, to feel like that?
i'd pay any price just to get that back.*

Vasquez going to the White Sox. Sorry Shamus, the Mets pitching staff won't be as awful as you hoped. Now that gives the White Sox one bad starter.

Grand Slam Johnny Damon.. I won't relent on my Javy bashing...

My Javy prediction:

14 wins, 4.54 ERA, fair amount if K's, 36 HR's allowed

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Which means YAY... we keep Benson.

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*can't imagine it feelin' much better...
i wish it would just last forever.
and so, to feel like that?
i'd pay any price just to get that back.*

Well it's quite possible there may not be a Washington franchised baseball team next season. I feel like i'm in deja-vu all over again here.

MLB has rejected proposals of a new stadium to be built adjacent to RFK in Washington DC because the current proposed cost of the new stadium has risen by a couple million dollars. This is not what MLB and the DC Council agreed to last year.

Now protestors are fighting the extra tax incurred by these new costs and the DC Council is split.

Could be a long winter here in DC.. i'll be monitoring this closely.