There could be worse things than having Abreu back for one more season. I like him; I like his obp; I like his 100 rbi’s. I wish he liked the wall, but, hey, no one’s perfect, right?

Of course, with the standards lowered so much by letting Gary Carter et al in, many of the real good, but not great, players will make it, especially if they suck up to the media.

As a pull hitter, He also benefited greatly from the Whiffle Ball dimensions of Fenway Park.
His career Htting stats:
Fenway: .320/.374/.546
Away: .277/.330/.459

Are you in on Burnett for 5years/75-80 years?

In this economy will he be had for less- 4 years/52 million?
Fewer owners are willing to spend the big bucks, and want to hold onto the young prospects and draft picks.

Maybe one year contracts for some free agent players would be a better deal, then go out again in FA pool in 2010, when things might be better.

You’re absolutely right about George Brett. Brett was the best hitter of that era. Rice was somewhere in the next 3. I should have said “can you name 3?”.

But I respectfully argue that he only had 3 great years. He finished in the top 5 in MVP voting 6 times. His 162 game career averages were .298, 30 home runs, 113 rbi,.352 obp and a .502 slugging %. From ‘75 to ‘86 Jim Rice was the one guy on the Red Sox you did not want to have come up to the plate, especially with men on base. Yes, Rice did drop off dramatically his last 3 years and it effected his career numbers. But before that he was nasty.

Here’s where I shake my head at those who base a player’s worth solely on black and white numerical criteria. Rice & Blylevan were both better than their final numbers and IMO deserve to get in.

Astros signed lefty Mike Hampton to a one year deal today, and don’t see them spending the money [crying poor] on Wolf, who before this year pitched mainly for the Phillies, before injured.

Interestingly, Astros want to trade Ty Wiggington rather than going to arbitration for him. Spot on the Yankees bench perhaps???

Thanks for your opinion on Wolf.

Wolf is decent and cheaper than Lowe, but I’m not sure he’d be a better fit. I am not high on signing Lowe apart from his ability to handle a large work load, 200+ innings and has pitched in the playoffs pretty well.

I’d just drive the price up on Lowe and let him go back to the Sux.

But at the end of the day, what do all these possibilities hinge on? CC Sabathia. With each passing day that he doesn’t decide where he wants to go, I like him less and less, not that I don’t understand his reasons for patience.

Wolf is probably more of a national league pitcher. In the past he’s been very particular about where he plays. He’s had success in Houston before and that’s evidently part of the reason why he’s interested in returning there.

I don’t think he has much interest in playing on the east coast or in the AL for whatever reason.

I also wonder how his stuff would translate into the AL East. I could see him getting hit pretty hard.

Does Nady have a better arm? If so, why not Nady in RF and Abreu in LF if he sticks around. That of course leaves Damon in CF which isn’t a great idea, but is it any worse than Brett Gardner or Melky?