Tuesday, June 19, 2007

NFL Noodlings

The White Sox incompetent boobery has killed any zest for the 2007 baseball season I once had.

The good part about that is now I have decided to get back to doing what I do best, covering the NFL.

- Pacman Jones, guns, and strip clubs go together like sausage, mozzarella, and pepperoni. The hot NFL story at this moment in time is something about him being arrested, or suspended, or executed, or something like that. Who the hell knows. I can't keep track anymore. I'm too busy tossing and turning at night wondering how the Titans will replace his 4 interceptions and middle of the pack standing in the passes defensed stats among NFL corners. After 2 years in the league, he is more prolific at being a sociopath than a football player, so it's probably time for the Titans to allow him to pursue that full time.

- Bears D-lineman Tommie Harris got caught in the football equivalent of staring at a hot woman in a restaurant while on a date with your wife when he said something to somebody about how the Bears would win the Super Bowl this year with Donovan McNabb as their QB instead of Rex Grossman. You won't find a bigger Rex-hater than me, but as far as Super Bowls go, by my count both Rex and Donovan have both been to one, McNabb was throwing up all over the field in his and passing out in the huddle, Rex fumbled 15 snaps in his. I don't think EITHER of those guys is beating Brady or Peyton in the Super Bowl any time soon.

- In more squeaky wheel news, Giants LB LaVar Arrington broke his leg and his arm in a motorcycle accident. This should render him even more useless this year than he was last year.

- Back in the world of linebackers who are still effective and relevant, Packers LB Nick Barnett might be looking at a suspension after being arrested for battery this week. Barnett is one of the better pass defending linebackers in the league. He'll be defending a lot of passes if he goes to jail for this, passes at his butthole, from men.

- Adrian Peterson (not the good Adrian Peterson, he's in Minnesota) is still penciled in as the Bears' #2 running back after the Titans re-enlisted Chris Brown. Brown is a Chicago (Naperville) native, and the Bears were the other team in contention for his services. Brown is one of 33 players (no joke) in the NFL named "Brown". He rushed for 1067 yards on 4.9 yards per carry in 2004, but only 156 yards in limited action last year.

That's it for today.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I was wondering what the heck happened. The putrid wretchedness that is White Sox baseball would have completely deflated anyone's motivation to keep up with this blog. I hope you will at least be addressing what moves you think they should be making when they blow the team up.

GRRM Jr. said...

The first thing I would do if I were the White Sox would be to fire Ozzie Guillen. When they hired him people said it was either a stroke of genius or be a disaster, and now we've seen both ends of the spectrum, which means he has run its course and now its time for him to go. You come out after the all-star break with a different manager. I don't care who. Right now they'd be better off with no manager at all than with Ozzie.

After that, the next two to go is your double play combination of humpty and dumpty. They are both fat and lazy and emblematic of what this team has become. You trade Iguchi for whatever non-prospect you can get for him, and call up AAA second baseman Jason Bourgeois who has been hitting .350 in the minors this year, and see if he can hit at the major league level. If he can, you make him your second baseman next year, if not you sign a free agent. You'll probably have to spend more $ on a shortstop, so you won't get the tippy top FA Luis Castillo, so go after Mark Grudzielanek.

As for Uribe, 3 letters, DFA...Designated for Assignment...should have been done this offseason....you put cintron in there for the rest of the year...then god i dont know what you do about that position..i hear mike caruso is trying to make a comeback...david eckstein is a free agent next year..he's only making $4.5M...throw some cash his way and get him

third base i think you get crede healthy and bring him back next year...and move fields to left field for next year....center field i think you take whatever you were considering paying buehrle next year and give that plus 5 million dollars to ichiro and sign him as a free agent..i think hes the one guy that can make this team competitive next year..

in right field i think you have to unload dye...bring sweeney up and see if he can be your right fielder next year...if not then you have to sign a lower tier free agent to handle that in 08

catcher i think you can keep that position the way it is..even though toby hall is brutal

the rotation, buehrle will be traded, hopefully they can unload contreras too..it would be nice to get rid of his contract..

which leaves you with
garland
vazquez
danks

and then a free for all between gavin floyd, gio gonzalez, nick masset, and lance broadway for your final two spots

so heres your opening day lineup next year with their projected salaries

1. Eckstein SS $6M
2. Grudzielanek 2B $5M
3. Ichiro CF $17M (it's alot, but you'd have to pay Buehrle what Zito is making next year, $14.5M, to keep him, this is only $2.5M more)
4. Thome DH $7M (Phillies pay 1/2)
5. Konerko 1B $12M
6. Pierzynski C $5.5M
7. Crede 3B $3M
8. Fields LF $0.3M
9. Sweeney RF $0.3M

Total- $56M

Rotation
1. Garland $12M
2. Vazquez $11.5M
3. Danks $0.3M
4. Masset $0.3M
5. Floyd $0.3M

Total- $24.5M

Bullpen
Closer- Jenks $0.3M
RHP- Broadway $0.3M
RHP- Gonzalez $0.3M
LHP- Thornton $0.9M
RHP- Aardsma $0.3M
RHP- MacDougal $1.9M

Total $4.0M

Bench
Hall $3.7M (Under contract for 08)
Ozuna $1.0M (Under contract for 08)
Erstad $3.5M (pickup option)
A. Gonzalez $0.3M
Uribe Buyout $0.3M


Total
Lineup $56M
Rotation $24.5M
Bullpen $4.0M
Bench $8.8M
Total $93.3M

So this is less than the $109.6M payroll we have in 2007. So if you don't feel comfortable with the 3 youngsters in the rotation you could go out and get yourself a Jon Lieber or a Josh Fogg to eat some innings, or you could upgrade second base from Grudzielanek to Castillo. This is the plan...Kenny please follow.

Unknown said...

Man, it's so hard to stomach going from a World Series to that plan in just one and a half seasons.