I think that power is harder to come by and Lee's presence in the lineup should help Jenkins get better pitches and drive in more runs. I liked podsednik but moreso in my fantasy leagues for the steals. Like shmoo said he only scored 85 runs.

Financially the Sox got the better of the deal. 8M for Lee and low salaries for Podsednik and Vizciano give the sox more flexibility to get whatever they need.

The Brewers have the ability to finally increase payroll so this was a good way to get a proven power guy at a bargain (IMO) for a couple years. Hopefully the clubhouse cancer part of him stays in Chicago. The old cliche of a change of scenery may do him some good. I think Ned Yost is a class act and a great manager and can probably deal with Lee a little bit better the Guillen. Of course that's just my opinion.


Plus the Sox overpaid for Garcia.

Who's gonna drive you in on that team? Geoff Jenkins?

that's a good point. it's not like the brewers had anyone that would consistently hit him in.

but, still, with that being said, go cubs.

I'm pretty sure Lyle Overbay led the league in doubles and hit over .300 in the 3-4 slot. Podsednik would either get 3-4 hits in one game or go 0-fer in the next 4-5. Very inconsistent.

Out of the top 30 centerfielders in the league only Luis Matos had a lower OBP and OPS.

When you factor in $$, this trade looks even, but in terms of production, Lee is much more valuable. The general trend for power hitters is to hit their prime at 27 or 28 and plateau for a few years, so for Lee to repeat his 2004 production is very possible.

Scotty Po's 2003 pretty much came out of nowhere. He had toiled in the minors for years, never really showing a knack for hitting. I think most of his minor league numbers are more comparable to his 2004 stats. Unless he significantly improves his plate discipline (2 k's to 1 bb doesn't cut it), and gets on base more, I'd bet he repeats his 2004 numbers.

And how shitty is this DC thing now? Public financing of stadiums is the biggest con going. Cities pour hundreds of millions of $$ into these things just so owners can make better profits. It's really sad...

I gladly voted to help fund the building of Safeco field in Seattle and don't regret it. Seattle got a beautiful stadium that i've been able to see many games at. Sure i paid for it with .1% increase in sales tax for a year or two but i'm glad it happened. Gov. Locke was great.

Plus the revenue, jobs, tourism, etc........ generated from the new stadium probably did the state and community some real good.

Unfortunately, I don't have them handy, but there have been studies done to show that new stadiums do not necessarily bring the community benefits those who champion them promise.

Thinking about it further - I suppose the impacts may differ by sport- a baseball stadium, which would have 81 homes games per year, probably does have a somewhat more beneficial impact than a football stadium, which has only 8 games per year. But it's not like you bring in a new stadium to an old neighborhood to bring it back to life- because you only have games on certain days, etc, it doesn't usually bring enough consistent (daily) traffic to support many business.

Still, whether the stadium is new or old wouldn't impact any benefits it would bring to a community. People would still be employed to clean or serve food at an old stadium, for example.

interesting reads:

http://www.cato.org/pubs/briefs/bp89.pdf

http://www.fieldofschemes.com/


http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=946

Obviously, these people have their own agendas, but I think they raise good points. There's a lot more to the issue than the vast majority of people realize.[/url]

I personally have made 4 trips to Seattle simply to catch a Mariners game. I flew in twice and drove the other two times. I stayed in Hotels on all four trips for at least two nights each trip. All the money associated with visiting a city was spent including on the wide variety of in-stadium food that was never available at the Kingdome. I only made one trip for the sole pupose of seeing a Mariners game during the Kingdome days and i lived in Spokane not Boise and that time i stayed with my sister.

Safeco field was built right next to the Kingdome but has definitely helped the neighboorhood (albiet small) in the surrounding area.

Overall you may be right that it's not a good deal for the citizens but if done right (like the Mariners) it can be somewhat beneficial.

There are some good things that happen from building a new stadium (i.e. people like you visiting to catch a game, etc) but I feel like that benefit is pretty small compared to the huge costs of public funding.

The problem is that owners have cities by the balls, b/c they know that some other city will gladly offer them whatever tax breaks/ public funding they want to lure them away.

There are some good things that happen from building a new stadium (i.e. people like you visiting to catch a game, etc) but I feel like that benefit is pretty small compared to the huge costs of public funding.

The problem is that owners have cities by the balls, b/c they know that some other city will gladly offer them whatever tax breaks/ public funding they want to lure them away.[/quote]

I do agree with that. The Mariners org picked the perfect time to exploit the citizens. The team was starting to perform and they pulled the old "it's not profitable enough in the Kingdome to keep us competitive, we can always move the team to xxxx to make this happen".

However, at least i got my moneys worth in the deal.

Beltre's officially a mariner

You just made my day.

If the Sox can get a real #3, they will be all set if Thomas can come back from his injury

Check. And check. Villone signed today.

Now we need a decent starter, and I'll give the M's a chance to compete next year. If Soriano and Guardado can come back healthy, move Franklin to the bullpen along with Villone, and a starting rotation of Piniero, Madritsch, Moyer, Meche and Free Agent X---not too bad.