Stephen was waived by Sparky Anderson and then ranted:
 SF> The Braves may have had STARS from 90'-93, but no SUPER stars. Teh
 SF> superstars they have now were not yet shining so bright. The Pirates
 SF> didn't many superstars either, but they had more established STARS,
 SF> which cost them a lot more money than the Bravos were getting.
Man, if you're going to call one bunch stars and another ordinary players, 
you're doing so because you want to prove your point. Minus Bonilla and NO 
appreciable replacement, the PiRATS STILL took the Braves to 7.
 SF> Winning is irrelevant? Well, the Yankees have even LESS post season
 SF> experience during the same period, but look at how many rings THEY have.
It's irrelevant because WITHOUT B&B, the PiRATS don't make the damn playoffs 
in the first place. If ANYTHING, this point favors B&B because they generated 
income for the PiRATS that they wouldn't have gotten without either.
 SF> Belle was out there a long time. If there was more money, why didn't he
 SF> get it? Not even Cleveland would offer more.
Are you actually following what's going on or are you just making this up as 
you go along? Most of the superstars were put on hold because of the 
agreement. Teams were afraid to commit to a player because of the possibility 
of one of the service time free agents actually getting their time. When the 
agreement fell through the first time, several teams began to make their 
moves to sign free agents, which is when Belle got his offers. After that 
deal, the owners ratified the deal and then waited for the players to ratify 
it and then the REAL bidding began.
 SF> You are talking about past history. I'm talking about TODAY. No pitcher
 SF> in baseball is as good as John Smoltz TODAY.
Baloney. Brown, Hengten, Maddux and Glavine are all better. Smoltz had a year 
that got him a $7 mil contract but he didn't earn it for his performance 
OTHER than this year (Which is why Fernandez balked at Chicago's numbers. His 
record is as good as Smoltz and it looks like he's going to sign a contract 
that's equal to what Smoltz got).
 SF> All that's fine, but they need the victories NOW, not later. And Belle
 SF> STILL can't pitch. Stephen
They don't need ANY victories NOW unless you know of a MLB season that 
started yesterday. They've got more than enough time and money to address any 
pitching problems that they might have.
Oh and it still doesn't matter if Belle can't pitch. He can hit for 162 
games. Can you name a starting pitcher (Probably Smoltz, by your accounts) 
who can say that he's pitched 162 games in a season?
--- TrekEd 1.00
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