Hack, Hack, Hack Away

• If Buster Olney were a blogger, would anyone pay attention to him?

With some of the nonsense that emanates from ESPN and ESPN.com, you'd think that people would wise up to the fact that the majority of their "experts" don't know much of anything more than even the most mediocre bloggers. I have less of a problem with Buster Olney than I do with a large chunk of their writers (although I'm still trying to get past the commercial in which is does a "taste test"----watch below if you dare)...



But for a so-called reporter to fling absurdities against the wall and expect people to take it any more seriously than something anyone with a BlogSpot, TypePad or whatever forum to vent their views, and for him to get paid (presumably lucratively) for it, is a bit of an insult.
The latest from Olney concerns a flinging at the wall possibility that Matt Holliday will choose to leave the Cardinals as a free agent at the end of the year; Olney suggests that the Angels will let Vladimir Guerrero go and bring in Holliday. First he caveats Holliday's struggles in Oakland, then makes the suggestion about the Angels:

We don't know how Holliday's mediocre three-month stint with Oakland factors into how AL teams view him. On one hand, the lack of depth in the Oakland lineup undoubtedly hurt Holliday, but on the other hand, even when he was pitched to, he struggled to make an impact. "The book on Holliday [in the AL] was pretty simple -- just pound him with fastballs in," said one long-time NL talent evaluator. "They don't really do that as much over here."

But I'll venture a guess (and it's nothing more at this point): Holliday winds up signing with the Angels, effectively replacing Vladimir Guerrero within their salary structure.

I wouldn't come right out and say it's a done deal that Guerrero's not back. The Angels' modus operandi has always been to play their cards close to the vest. They've dispatched players who were no longer of use or didn't fit into their organizational template (Jose Guillen, Bengie Molina); they've kept players who many expected to leave (Garret Anderson); they've admitted mistakes and replaced those mistakes without qualms to money or perception (Gary Matthews Jr.); they've made quick-strike free agent signings before anyone knew what happened (Torii Hunter); and they've taken advantage of the markets (Bobby Abreu). Add in that Holliday simply didn't play well in the AL West with the Athletics and it's a big assumption to think that he's going to be the designated replacement for Guerrero.

The Angels always seem to have something cooking in the back of their minds. Who knows what they're going to do to reconfigure their lineup if they do let Guerrero leave? It could be anything. A blockbuster trade for a player no one knew might be available or something no one else cooked up. In fact, I'd go after Jason Bay before I went after Holliday if I were a team like the Angels.

As for Holliday, will there even be a market as lucrative as he and Scott Boras are expecting? Which teams might go after him? The Red Sox are a big possibility and he'd be a winner aiming for that wall. The Yankees? Probably not. The Mets? Doubtful. The Giants? Maybe. How much money is he expecting to get? If there simply isn't the money that he's expecting, will Holliday just tell Boras to get a deal done with the Cardinals? Or sign a short-term (2-3 year contract) somewhere and hope that the market improves?

My bet is that he ends up staying in St. Louis; but just like Olney's speculation, it's a guess, although I'd say mine's a little more educated than his is and I didn't stoop to licking anyone's spikes to come up with it.

• How does this man still have a job?

This is probably the stupidest and sickest thing you'll ever see written from a sportswriter about any subject----Mark Whicker OC Regsiter Column.
What this sick bastard was thinking about when he wrote this disgusting bit of garbage about the kidnapped and tortured Jaycee Dugard and how the worst thing that happened to her is not seeing the sports pages is beyond my admittedly rudimentary level of understanding of what goes through people's heads when they do certain things.
We all have our factions; our beliefs about stuff, but there's being a human being and not being a human being. Whicker apologized for his inappropriate column, but an apology isn't good enough in this case as far as I'm concerned and if I were Ms. Dugard's step-father, I'd like five minutes alone to discuss this with Whicker. I can promise one thing and float a likelihood: 1) he'd never write another column like this; and 2) there's a real good chance he'd never walk again.

• THE PADRES LOSSOMETER: 79

The Padres have played very well lately.

• Viewer Mail 9.12.2009:

Jane Heller at Confessions of a She-Fan writes RE the life story of the Prince:

So you think Hollywood would make a movie about your life? Hmm. Maybe you should write a memoir!


I haven't made a big enough mess of things...yet. I'm well on the way though!!!


Jeff at Red State Blue State writes RE my entreaties to the Mets to get back at the Phillies:

In a perfect world, 'Lil Davey will knock one right back up the middle and bust Cole Hamels' teeth... and Michigan will KILL Notre Dame -- not that you care or anything.


Hamels fancies himself a tough guy; he got into a bar fight a few years ago and broke his hand.
I've had just about enough of the Mets this year. They can't even play the spoiler right.