Randy Johnson retires.

I don't see this happening until he wins #300.

oh no....not "hot stove". Isn't 8 months a year enough?

enough of what? no sport has an off-season in this day and age

True, but no sport comes even close to baseball when it comes to off-season bullshit. It's beyond annoying and this is probably the 5th straight year i've bitched about it on RM.

oh no....not "hot stove". Isn't 8 months a year enough?

i probably like the offseason more than the actual season.

That hurts and i'm not even a big baseball fan. Just don't say you like fantasty football better than the real season and we'll be ok.

i'm not quite following.

in other news, it appears the yankees are bringing back mike mussina and andy pettitte.

Numbers and stats aren't the only data points to consider when analyzing offseason moves. If you like stats, go hang out with the BCS computer.

i probably like the offseason more than the actual season.

I was going to write some mean spirited post about this. Along the lines of "Of course you do, because the offseason is the only time VORP, and ERA+ and Win Shares actually turn out to be relevant and you dont need to worry about insignificant things like who won the game.

However, i dont disagree with you. There is something very interesting about the speculation of what pieces will turn up where, and how it went down. Seeing obvious perfect fits going to the wrong place, and trades that should be made that aren't. Its easy to follow, because for all the things that seem to go on, its usually only 2-3 noteworthy moves a week. Its a time to gain hope for you favorite teams, and laugh at the failures of the teams you hate (even if you know they'll still be good). I also love the lists of supposed "likely teams" FA's are going to end up with... which are right, what, 10% of the time?

I totally disagree with both of you and think the whole thing is a joke. Teams like the Pirates and the Nationals aren't even involved in any of this except giving away their best players for nothing. It's great if you are a fan of a big market team but for a lot of other teams the whole thing is unfair.

Im a Tiger fan.
I spent 12 years as a small market team.
And for the Nationals and Pirates, its not a matter of market- its a matter of idiot ownership and management. Look at the Tigers (before the last 2 years), Twins, A's, Brewers, Rays, Rockies, Marlins etc... All have had playoff seasons in the bottom half of the payroll list. Some, like the Twins have been consistantly decent, others like the A's and Marlins have been good, regressed and rebuilt- all while remaining small market. Poorly run franchises will suck no matter what the system.- and i say that as a Lions fan.

And As a Fan of a team that was very bad for a very long time (like the Pirates and Nats. ) I can tell you this time of year was with out a doubt the best time of year. You can look at the winter league performances and get excited about AA prospects you know arent gonna amount to much, etc. The Hope is what is exciting for fans this time of year- no matter how good you were the previous year.

"Idiot Owners" seem to be a dime a dozen in MLB, it's a big part of the problem. Detroit isn't a small market team so i'm not sure why you'd make that comparison. It's a fact that 10 teams this off-season will basically sell the ranch and not bring enough back in return to field a competitive team

True, but no sport comes even close to baseball when it comes to off-season bullshit. It's beyond annoying and this is probably the 5th straight year i've bitched about it on RM.

two thoughts after reading unrelated articles:
#2 - the chisox seem to want to rid themselves of vazquez. they would like to upgrade their lead-off spot and/or 3rd. the money for lowell and vazquez is identical. could a deal possibly workout as such:

lowell & coco

for:

vazquez & minor leaguer