p.s. as long as you're not rooting for the yankees.

p.s.s. you can, but i'm not sitting by you.



p.p.s.s. i'm 1/2 kidding.

while i'm at it...and since most of you are northeast ohio peoples..

watch STO tonight at 8pm. regional semi's in hoops...Warren Harding v St Ed's (booo)

big rivalry game. harding got hosed last year when a 3 pointer at the buzzer to tie counted, and there is clear picture evidence in the newspaper the next day that the ball's in the kid's hand, and the light behind the backboard is lit.

also, his foot is 6 inches over the line.

at the district final last week, a couple Ed's scouts walk into the gym, and promptly get booed by thousands of Harding fans..

Desmar Jackson is top 5 in the state...

Go WGH!

harding's best player is out with an acl tear, was averaging 20/game...sort've like last year with Delvin Roe out for Ed's...

STILL pissed off about that regional final last year. it was probably the worst thing i've ever seen...then, to top it off, in OT, harding's down 2, shot missed, and chris henderson two-hand dunks it in, but about a 1/2 second too late...

i will say though, that desmar had two ft's with 5 seconds left in regulation up 2 last year, and only split, so they had their chance...

again though, STO 8pm tonight...watch desmar jackson.

i'm done now, i promise.

I disagree that the Central is crappy. I'd just call it competitive. If the division champ does finish with under 90 wins it will be because the Indians, Twins, White Sox and Tigers beat each other up all season (the Royals will suck as always obv). As long as the bullpen doesn't hang us out to dry and Hafner and Victor get at least part of their past productivity back we've got a great chance to win this thing and get back to the playoffs.

I'm not holding out hope for Hafner.

harding getting done in cleveland by the refs....again.

ball goes out of bounds with 1 second left in the 3rd, ref blows the whistle, and they just let the time run..

they don't deserve to win, but they're getting nothing either..

49-49....45 seconds left....harding ball.

beat the eagles, the refs, and the world..

OT again...

i'm trying not to be biased, but we can never get a call against a cleveland team in cleveland...this is unreal.

they'll have to win by 6 in OT to win by 2.

public schools, ftw...

desmar had 0 in the first half, 26 in the 2nd/ot...

nba is waiting, north ridgeville is next.

thanks for listening.

Yeesh, I didn't realize Hafner was struggling that much. I haven't paid as much attention to spring training this year since just going to a game would involve flying across the country as opposed to last year when I could drive 40 minutes down the road.

Are you an Ignatius kid? My father graduated from there.

This would depend on your definition of C+/B-, but guys like Weglarz, Hodges, De La Cruz, Beau Mills, and the always injured Adam Miller have solid value. I assume Laffey would be dealt in any trade for a starter, and guys like Meloan, Crowe, or Scott Lewis could be 3rd/4th players in a deal for a big pitcher. We could put together a solid package, even without dealing some of the newer acquisitions like Santana, LaPorta, Valbuena, Chisenhall, Huff, Brantley, etc. I don't think Shapiro is willing to give up 3-4 young players for many players older than about 26, though.

Boo.

KJS, St. Ed's class of 1988

St. Ed's really does suck. Also I had no idea KJS was old.

Kos13- Those guys have pretty minimal trade value imo, even combined. It's very tempting to overrate your own marginal prospects, but what did it take to get Sabathia?

you're probably a doctor, who has no black friends.



take that the right way...over the years, harding has developed a pretty ridiculous rivalry in football/basketball with you all...hasn't been pretty on our side for a couple years now.

5 or 6 years ago, harding was down 2 with 1 minute to go at Byers in the playoffs against Ed's (lolhomegame)...

ed's coach punts with :20 to go, and could've run the clock another :10 or so..

Mario Manningham fair catch at the 20.

Ed's fans are clowning us, telling us which way our cars are...

1 play...mario catches a bomb to the other 25.

Harding kicker lines up with <10 from 42...it's good.

i spent the next 20 minutes searching for someone in green to make eye contact with...whole lotta eyes looking at the ground...

i just don't like that we get killed for 'recruiting' (we're the only D1 worth anything in the area, and routinely send kids to D1-A college), and Iggy and Ed's can just BLANKET cleveland, and because they're catholic, it's all good...

either way, great game last night...i'll be up saturday for North Ridgeville...anyone near CSU wanna get a beer beforehand?

Oh please. St. Ed's is the redheaded step-child parochial school in Cleveland. St. Ignatius FTW if we're talking about prep academies in Cleveland (I guess University Prep and that other private boarding school on the East side [Solon?] are pretty good too).

(I went to public school, but both KJS_Dad and kyleb_dad went to Ignatius.)

I left home at 18 and moved to Seattle at 20 so not much St. Ed left in me. Only had 1 real friend there anyway and haven't talked to him in 20 years.

Not a doctor.

Do root a bit for the Eagles only to rile up my Wildcat Dad.

Don't feel or act old, that stung.

/blog

Back to the Tribe: 15 or so cuts this week. No huge surprises except maybe David Huff going to AAA. Adam Miller is going to try to throw a decent pitch with no movement in his finger (good luck) and if he cannot then it is year, and maybe career, ending surgery. Dude is cursed.

KJS

I'm probably underrating the value of veteran pitchers (I thought we'd only get LaPorta for CC), but I don't think I'm overrating the prospects. Weglarz is a legitimate top 50-60 prospect, and Laffey has decent value as a cheap back-end starter. Yeah, we'd obviously need to deal more, but if Shapiro was willing to give up 3-5 young players, I think it'd be possible to put together a reasonable package of major and minor leaguers without giving up Santana or LaPorta (neither of whom Shapiro would even consider dealing). Shapiro just isn't going to make that type of move, though.

in this climate those guys can get a starter of that level, just by taking on the money more than the prospect value.

as far as the "it'll take 90 to win the central"

well, it might. it often does due to variance...but cleveland is the favorite with detroit close behind

Less talking about schools more talking about places to get really drunk and find chicks to bring back to a hotel. Also, one of the people I'm gonna be there with is getting married in the summer so we're throwing a semi bachelor party. Whats the best strip club?

I should probably ask Victor.

harding won 53-38 tonight against north ridgeville...we'll go ahead and win state for NEO, and let you cleveland catholics take your picture with the trophy for $5...



p.s. the columbus school has to be the fave, though..

Go Tribe!

Scott Lewis won the 5th (well, 4th) spot in the rotation. Also, here's a pretty cool recap from a guy who sat behind two of the smartest men in baseball at today's game. It's good to see Chulk is getting such high praise, as he'll probably win the 7th bullpen spot. The Towers talk is pretty interesting, too, as I think they're a potential trade partner later in the year.

Good stuff, can't wait for the season to start. Lewis was solid in the few starts he had last September but hopefully he'll be able to go more than 6 innings this year.

Went to my first Spring Training game yesterday at the Giants in Scottsdale. The Tribe looked very flat and lifeless, I hope Wedge let them know if afterward. They were pretty dreadful on defense and got themselves into a hole early after 3 errors lead to 3 first inning runs. They stranded Grady after he got to 3rd with nobody out in the first and then promptly gave up 4 more runs in the second. Then they followed up with stranding the lead-off men again in the 2nd and 3rd.

Lee continues to give up a lot of ST runs but he did not look that bad to me. He walked none and got 6 Ks and with decent defense and a couple fewer grounders through holes he could have had a reasonable start. He kept his composure throughout and got those Ks when he needed them. Lewis and Joe Smith looked good to me, Betancourt so-so. Highlights from the O came in the way of a Peralta HR which I missed in the beer line and 2Bs by DeRosa, As Cab and Shoppach.

Non-baseball highlight was sitting with a rab DeRosa fan from Chicago who told me everything I needed to know about him. She said her and her girlfriends would be at the game Sunday at the Cubs under a sign "DeRo's Ho's". Definitely going to find them for some beers before, during and after that game.

Remaining games: Sunday at Cubs, Monday home v Mariner's, Tuesday home v Padres.

KJS