Your point about the money referred to players that the M’s have signed or wanted to…I referenced people who have worked and succeeded in the business and that does not include Bill Bavasi. Thanks for your comment and the great site.

Starters are salads: occasionally you have one that can be a full meal in itself, but usually you have to follow it up with something else (and occasionally their dressing or something goes bad and ruins the rest of the meal, no how much the other dishes try to make up for it. Carlos Silva: bad mayonnaise). A great closer is a fine dessert; the setup men are the cheese course (several varieties, some of them goat or otherwise so stinky they can ruin what had, up to then, been a great meal). Swingmen are fruit: as a salad they can start the meal, or you can have them towards the end, just before dessert.

And even the best dish goes bad eventually. You want to eat it, or throw it out, before it’s past its prime.

…You know, if my only contribution to the advancement of sane and enjoyable baseball discussions is an alternative metaphor for describing rosters, I’ll die a happy man.

Heck, for how much The BOOK has improved my understanding of baseball and thus increased my enjoyment of it, I’m just happy I could offer Tango some small amusement in return.

So, any player who MLB teams value with at least a 3 year year, $24 million contract has to be considered above average.

Do you think Miguel Batista is above average? Jarrod Washburn? Carlos Silva? Kenji Johjima? Jose Guillen? Barry Zito?

I’m pretty sure you’re going to say no, but those players all fit the criteria you just laid out. What’s the difference?

Raul hits, drives in runs and has been at the top offensively for outfielders for three years.

The top offensively of what? From 2006 to 2008, Ibanez ranks 36th in the majors in home runs and 48th in slugging percentage. Even if you just compare to outfielders, he ranks 14th and 23rd. Do you think home runs and slugging percentage are esoteric numbers?

The myth of how good Ibanez is as a hitter has been advanced by the media, who are almost unanimously awful at player valuation. There’s literally nothing you could point to that would support the case that Ibanez is a “top offensive performer”. It’s just not true.

But this website appears to want to get rid of out best offensive players–Raul, Lopez, et al. and replace them with Branyon (who was a good sign) and Nelson and other insignificant but statistically “projectible” nothing.

Actually, this website wants this team to get better, and recognizes that defense is massively undervalued, and the quickest way for this team to put a quality product on the field would be to upgrade the defense, which starts by getting Raul out of left field.

Keep Lopez, Keep Yuni, Keep Raul, Keep Beltre, Keep Ichiro, Play Vlad, Play Clement and address the weaknesses.

If you keep Raul in left field, you are not addressing the weaknesses.

Don’t blame the best players for the rest of the drivel.

We’re not – the best players on this team are Beltre, Ichiro, and Felix. Ibanez is a marginal role player who simply isn’t as good as you think.

so, how ’bout those RJ to the A’s rumors.

Randy’s not going to sign here. You should give up that notion.

Let us dream.