The Plate: Clash of Stickers

Website design By BotEap.comDid JD Drew get $ 70 million (over five years)? Are we talking about the same JD Drew?

Website design By BotEap.comThe JD Drew I know has played more than 110 games in a season four times and less than 110 games in a season four times. The JD Drew I know has had 100 RBIs exactly once, this year. He has hit more than 20 HRs twice in eight seasons. Hey, maybe those season composite numbers are tough for Drew, because he rarely ends a season. But a season rarely ends. If Tony LaRussa thought Edgar Renteria would be eaten alive by Boston, what would he say about JD “Nancy” Drew?

Website design By BotEap.comLet’s take a look at the annual salaries of some recent intermediate relief free agent signings in baseball:

Website design By BotEap.comDanys Baez: $ 6.33 million annually, three years

Website design By BotEap.comJustin Speier: $ 4.5 million annually, four years

Website design By BotEap.comJamie Walker: $ 4 million annually, three years

Website design By BotEap.comMike Stanton: $ 2.75 million annually, two years

Website design By BotEap.comMy God. Didn’t Mike Stanton’s arm fall off two years ago? Isn’t Danys Baez, like, bad? Here are some more irritating free agent transfers:

Website design By BotEap.comAlfonso Soriano: $ 17 million annually, eight years

Website design By BotEap.comCarlos Lee: $ 16.66 million annually, six years

Website design By BotEap.comJason Schmidt: $ 15.66 million annually, three years

Website design By BotEap.comVicente Padilla: $ 11.33 million annually, three years

Website design By BotEap.comGary Matthews Jr .: $ 10 million annually, five years

Website design By BotEap.comTed Lilly: $ 10 million annually, four years

Website design By BotEap.comJuan Pierre: $ 8.8 million annually, five years

Website design By BotEap.comMoises Alou: $ 8.5 million annually, one year

Website design By BotEap.comAdam Eaton: $ 8.17 million annually, three years

Website design By BotEap.comBengie Molina: $ 5.33 million annually, three years

Website design By BotEap.comAlex González: $ 4.66 million annually, three years

Website design By BotEap.comEight years for Soriano, leading up to his 39-year-old season? That’s crazy. Six years for Lee, who is also on the senior side of 30 and doesn’t do much more than hit home runs and eat donuts? Wasn’t Schmidt’s arm hanging by a thread a couple of years ago, and hasn’t he lost dangerous speed on his fastball? Padilla, Matthews and Eaton, all former Rangers teammates, are simply inexplicable. It must be Arlington water. The Phillies know Eaton has a 54-45 win-loss record, a career ERA (primarily in the NL) of 4.40, and a career WHIP of 1.36, right? And Padilla could have good things, but his ERA-plus (which fits the park, where 100 is an average score, and the higher the better) has been 96, 96 and 104 in the last three years. Matthews spoke of a good year at Fort Knox. Three years for Bengie Molina? $ 10 million for Ted Friggin ‘Lilly?

Website design By BotEap.comI don’t even want to dream about what Gil Meche will achieve. Oh good. I guess there will be no collusion this year.

Website design By BotEap.comWhat have you thought of the NFL Network’s coverage of regular season games? Have you been able to find the NFL Network? Does Bryant Gumbel need an earlier wake-up call on game days? Do you think the NFL is making a mistake by excluding so many millions of people from being able to watch?

Website design By BotEap.comBoDog Bookmakers, BoDog.ws: You just need to check the NFL Network forums or Google’s “NFL Network” to see that people are not totally satisfied with the new coverage or the new play-by-play man. For the moment, we’ll ignore the fact that Gumbel recently spent half his day cooking turkey on Martha Stewart’s show. We could go on and on about his overflowing closet of Emmy, his 15 years hosting the Today Show, and his work on CBS and HBO, but play-by-play coverage of the NFL isn’t in the same ballpark to discuss. Fall fashion tips with Katie Couric. Fans who turned off the sound last Thursday to hear Enberg on the radio may be an indication of his success. The rumor so far has been that this is a bug. The NFL may have to consider how big this mistake is. The league obviously wants the Web in as many homes as possible and, like any growing network, cable or broadcast, it is using exclusive rights to the game as leverage; in other words, playing hard with soccer fans.

Website design By BotEap.comI remember in this space we decided that the national championship game would definitely include USC or Michigan. UPS. What’s your take on the Florida / Michigan controversy? Do you really think Florida is better than Michigan?

Website design By BotEap.comBDB, BoDog.ws: Doug Flutie said it best: Michigan deserved the opportunity. Their only loss was to Ohio State on the road by three points! All of his other victories, including the victory against the then # 2 squad of Notre Dame, were decisive. Florida lost to Auburn and had a pair of wins against teams like South Carolina and Tennessee. Honestly, I don’t think Florida is better than Michigan; Had Michigan had a chance to prove itself again on the last Saturday of the year, the spotlight on Florida’s exaggerated win over Arkansas might have faded in time to give them the spot.

Website design By BotEap.comAside from the top five bowling games, can you give us another two or three college bowling pins that you think will be especially great to watch and / or bet on?

Website design By BotEap.comBDB, BoDog.ws: The Hawaii Bowl should be exciting to watch, with the # 1 offense in the NCAA playing at home. The state of Arizona may be able to oppose the spread. After UCLA’s big upset by USC, punters will love the temptation to back the Bruins against Florida State in the Emerald Bowl. This game opened at -4.5 in favor of UCLA, which could generate a lot of action in the latest spoilers.

Website design By BotEap.comWhat do you think has been the best offseason baseball transaction so far? How about the worst?

Website design By BotEap.comBDB, BoDog.ws: That really has yet to be determined with the rumors currently brewing. So far, the best thing has to be for the Cubs to sign Soriano to eight years in the Windy City. It cost them, but their numbers speak for themselves. The worst has to be Maddux ripping off the Padres $ 10 million, unless there is an extended option as a pitching coach; I could start work early. The riskiest yet is the Red Sox’s charity effort in Matsuzaka.