"STAGNANT SEASON"

***IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MONEY***
While that's no revelation, what's interesting is that it's a mirror situation. Teams used to throw money around like it came from a Monopoly game, now General Managers are sitting back, waiting for salaries (and the stock market) to stabilize at new levels. Free agency used to be a game of Chutes 'n Ladders, with no chutes. Them days is gone.

2 months ago, it was a no-brainer to offer Bobby Abreu arbitration, thinking it was a good deal to get him for a year at $16-$18 million if he accepted. Now, the best Bobby can expect is an $8 million offer. Other than the "Elite Four" (Sabathia, Burnett, Teixeira & Lowe), none of the free agents are going to reap a major payload, despite any 80-page scouting manuals that Scott Boras publishes. Now before you all start mailing your tear-stained dollar bills to help poor Scott, consider this: 22 clients of Boras, spanning the last 10 years, signed for a total of $1.2 BILLION. Yeah, that's no typo. If this trend continues, we will definitely need a program to tell the players, because there will be a lot of minor leaguers being called up.

***WHO BELONGS IN THE HALL OF FAME***
The nominees have been announced and Picasner is beginning to feel his age. He recognizes all the names. Bummer. The sports columns, blogs and sportscasts will soon be filled with arguments for and against players. Most arguments will be a litany of statistics but Picasner feels a big consideration should be what he calls, "effect on the game." To properly evaluate that, you really need to be a contemporary of that player, that is, you had to be following basbeball when he played to recognize his full value. For example, Tim Raines, good player, nice career, no dice. On the other hand, Ricky Henderson, for many years, the premier leadoff man in baseball and often changed the course of games with his rare combination of speed and power. Other players may have stolen a lot of bases or hit more homers, but Ricky was pretty much in-your-face. That's what is meant by "effect on the game".
PICASNERS CHOICES:
Ricky Henderson
Lee Smith
Bert Blyleven
Tommy John