-=> Quoting Ed Grinnell to Stephen Frazier <=-
 EG> Stephen was waived by Sparky Anderson and then ranted:
 EG> Man, if you're going to call one bunch stars and another ordinary
 EG> players, you're doing so because you want to prove your point. Minus
 EG> Bonilla and NO appreciable replacement, the PiRATS STILL took the
 EG> Braves to 7.
They still had Bonds and the others, most of whom were established players, 
some with post season experience. I think Pendleton was maybe the only Brave 
with appreciable post season experience. Besides, it was Avery and Smoltz 
that 
made the seven games possible. Bonilla could very well have been there, but I 
doubt if he could have done much better.
 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.
 EG> It's irrelevant because WITHOUT B&B, the PiRATS don't make the damn
 EG> playoffs in the first place. If ANYTHING, this point favors B&B
 EG> because they generated income for the PiRATS that they wouldn't have
 EG> gotten without either.
Well, I don't think I can prove a negative, so you win that point by default.
 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.
 EG> Are you actually following what's going on or are you just making this
 EG> up as you go along? Most of the superstars were put on hold because of
 EG> the agreement. Teams were afraid to commit to a player because of the
 EG> possibility of one of the service time free agents actually getting
 EG> their time. When the agreement fell through the first time, several
 EG> teams began to make their moves to sign free agents, which is when
 EG> Belle got his offers. After that deal, the owners ratified the deal
 EG> and then waited for the players to ratify it and then the REAL bidding
 EG> began.
All that long explanation and for WHAT??? Belle would not have been affected 
by the free agency rules. He was free agent anyway. Besides, once the 
agreement was signed, he was still out there long enough to visit Florida and 
a couple of other places.
 SF> You are talking about past history. I'm talking about TODAY. No pitcher
 SF> in baseball is as good as John Smoltz TODAY.
 EG> Baloney. Brown, Hengten, Maddux and Glavine are all better. Smoltz had
Oh, hell. Everyone's better. Why not?
 EG> a year that got him a $7 mil contract but he didn't earn it for his
 EG> performance OTHER than this year (Which is why Fernandez balked at
 EG> Chicago's numbers. His record is as good as Smoltz and it looks like
 EG> he's going to sign a contract that's equal to what Smoltz got).
I guess so, but let's see what it gets the team that gets him.
 SF> All that's fine, but they need the victories NOW, not later. And Belle
 SF> STILL can't pitch. Stephen
 EG> They don't need ANY victories NOW unless you know of a MLB season that
 EG> started yesterday. They've got more than enough time and money to
 EG> address any pitching problems that they might have.
Well, if they think they are going to the Series because of this, then they 
SHOULD start now, because they won't get enough victories during the six 
months of the season.
 EG> Oh and it still doesn't matter if Belle can't pitch. He can hit for
 EG> 162 games. Can you name a starting pitcher (Probably Smoltz, by your
 EG> accounts) who can say that he's pitched 162 games in a season?
Nope, sure can't, but can you name me one position player who had at least 
one  
victory to his name last year? Belle hit for almost 162 games THIS year and 
he 
got no closer to the ring than I did.
Stephen
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