Johnny Damon spurns Sox for Detroit: The sub-head is a little misleading. Not for a second did I think we'd actually get him. Check out Sox GM Kenny Williams quote on the matter:
"Well, I think you see he did very well for himself,'' Williams said. ''He gets to train in Florida, and that's where he wanted to be. Had we gotten into it a little bit earlier and had I known that was really an overriding factor, then maybe we could have considered moving camp out to Orlando and set up shop to accommodate him. It was a little too late for that. We had everyone here." (link)
When Kenny drops the sarcasm, and Scott Boras is involved, you know Kenny was either jerked or jerking around. Boras used him to get and extra $2 million guaranteed, no deferred money, and a no-trade clause out of Detroit. Good for Johnny. Now the real question is: did we want/need Johnny at this point? Not really. He would've been the 6th outfielder on the roster (thereby keeping an extra pitcher in the minors), and basically wasted all the off-season money spent on Mark Kotsay and Andruw Jones. Thinking of Damon before throwing money at Jones and Kotsay would've been the ideal situation. The only really terrible part of the whole situation is that he's going to a division rival that we'll have to play all summer. The fact that it was Detroit, and not some non-AL Central team, negotiating with Johnny was probably the only reason we got involved in the first place.
Herm Schneider is the best trainer in baseball: Please take a look at this. Hard-core Sox fans have long known that Herm Schneider (I call him "Dutchie") is one of the best athletic trainers in all of baseball. Now we have stats to back this up. The Sox have lost just 6% of their payroll to injuries from 2002-2009. That's BEST IN BASEBALL. In a purely baseball sense, colintj at SouthSideSox has figured that Herm, and his staff, are worth 2-4 wins per year because of their ability to keep the players on the field. Just incredible!
(Herm, Frank, and some guy. Lookin' good Dutchie!)
Buffs vs Sasnak: I'm betting the team had written off this week's road trip before it even began. As long as they end the season on a 3-game winning streak, they'll make the post-season (either NIT or CBI) and finish with a .500 record. My only problem with Saturday: why was KU whupping CU the 2nd story on SportsCenter? Saturday wasn't that slow of a sports day. Is the #1 team in the land laying the wood to a sub-.500 team at home really that big of a story? I had to watch my beloved CU Men's BBall team get killed all night long. That's a low blow ESPN.
LeBron to Bulls: The Bulls have positioned themselves to be one of the teams in the LeBron sweepstakes this offseason. The Bulls are in the bottom 5 in terms of salary commitments for next year (The Knicks have the lowest salary commitment), and are desperate to bring in one of the big-ticket free agents this off-season. Earlier this morning I heard someone postulating that LeBron to Chicago makes perfect sense. On the surface I would agree with this. Chicago is a major market, have a young superstar point guard (Derrick Rose), have a championship history, and have a rabid fan-base. LeBron is the best thing since Michael Jordan, so why not play in the house that MJ built? But that's just the problem. By going to the United Center, LeBron would put himself directly under MJ's shadow. If he were to go to New York or L.A. (Clippers), LeBron wouldn't be saddled with the direct MJ comparisons, and would have the franchise to himself. (I assume this is ultimately why Kobe to the Bulls was never going to happen a few years back) New York is probably the best bet for Bron Bron's final destination. Since when has anyone actually wanted to be Clipper?
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