Whilst masticating on , Ed Grinnell (1:170/1701)
wrote to Terry May:
TM>> Where's the money going to come from when you're paying an old 
TM>> 1B with Coors-inflated numbers $8.25 million/year?
EG> I just don't get the whole thing. Weiss was a bad sign, Galarrage 
EG> was even worse and losing out on Anderson is unbelievable. The 
EG> excuse was that they NEEDED a right handed hitter and yet, 
EG> they've gotten along quite well without having an $8 mil per year 
EG> grandpa like The Pig Cat for years and could have gotten better 
As an Oriole fan, I thank Schuerholz for his stupidity.  I hope Gord Ash is 
similarly stupid and signs Molitor, thereby saving Yankee Pat from himself.  
Baines, Berroa, and Chili Davis are all better choices than Molitor, but 
Gillick wants Molitor.  It seems he wants to make the Orioles' offense like 
the 1997 Toronto offense - nonexistent.  He took an offensive juggernaut from 
1996 apart, despite the fact that the Orioles only made the playoffs because 
the offense overcame the poor pitching.  Instead of just fixing what was 
broken (which Angelos took a huge step toward by hiring Ray Miller as 
pitching coach), he decided to fix what wasn't broken as well.  As a result, 
the 1997 Orioles made the playoffs because the pitching overcame a seriously 
weakened offense, which completely disappeared after the first two ALDS games 
in Seattle.  While Todd Zeile hit 30 homers and drew walks for the Dodgers, 
his replacement hit six homers and rarely took enough pitches to draw a walk 
for the O's.  Was Bordick the only Oriole goat in the ALCS?  Of course not - 
he had help.  Would the Orioles have had a better shot with Zeile than 
Bordick?  Of course.  And both players cost exactly the same!
EG> for that much (or less). Last year they said that Belle's signing 
EG> was what killed salaries when it was really the Braves overpaying 
EG> for Smoltz. This year they're talking about Jay Bell raising the 
EG> bar when the Braves have once again topped that with Galarraga.
And the Diamondbacks just gave Matt Williams $9 mil per year for five years.  
However, I figure the Diamondbacks will draw well, unlike the Marlins, so 
these signings should translate into fannies in the seats.  *adh*
--- Msged/2 4.10
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