Phightins

Also, we need to remember that there are a handful of pitchers who won't be able to play in the ASG since they will pitch on Sunday (Hamels, Verlander, a few others I can't think of right now). So there will be a handful of roster spots opening up, I believe.

Holy [expletive], the Pirates are 1.5 games out of first place.

#Vanimal Stutes and Bastardo have become a pretty filthy (pun kind of intended) 8th/9th inning combo, too.

I do not want to trade him just for the sake of trading him, though. Unless we get significant cap relief or a player who fills a need (Ellis does neither), then I don't really see the point. I really like Turner, but not to the point where I am willing to dump our best player to get him more minutes. If we had a legit chance of acquiring Dwight Howard at some point, and Iguodala's contract needed to be cleared to make that happen, then it's a different story. But that isn't happening, and such, I don't see a scenario where trading Iguodala makes us better. Maybe I am overvaluing him. But his value to the Sixers is probably greater than any value he'd bring back in a trade. Since NBA trading sucks and all, I'd rather just keep him.

Bryce Harper promoted to AA...

Lackey ftl

Now leaning towards keeping Andre. I have not seen one potential trade that makes the Sixers better this year, or in three years. On a team like the Sixers, nobody is untradeable. But if we were to designate certain guys as "untradeable" just for the sake of argument, they would be Jrue, Thad, and Turner.

Early lineup prediction... van Riemsdyk-Giroux-Jagr Hartnell-Briere-Voracek Talbot-Schenn-Simmonds Nodl-Betts-Sestito Shelley Pronger-Carle Timonen-Coburn Meszaros-Lilja Bartulis Bryzgalov Bobrovsky Pretty clear another forward is needed. Also, I am not sure I like the idea of Schenn being the "shut down center" as a rookie. From everything I have seen and read, I think he is capable, but I still am a bit weary of it. Also, I would really like to see Erik Gustafsson make the roster, but I suspect they want another full season in the AHL. Anyway, the defense is still great if Pronger and Timonen can hold up for a full season, the goaltending is improved, and the forwards, at first glance, are significantly weaker. IMO Schenn really needs to have an incredible year for the offense to be anywhere close to what it was last year. That, or Couturier needs to have an incredible camp and force his way onto the roster and be great. Really have no idea what to make of this roster right now. Pretty excited to see them play though.

Please enlighten us, Kingfish.

I find it hilarious that people still take this so seriously. Really, who gives a [expletive]?

Also, the Vokoun deal is absolutely sick for the Caps. And it makes the Bryzgalov deal look awful. Only man to blame for that is Ed Snider...

Richards-Gagne-Williams...*flashes back to my dreams of 2003*

Going out on a limb here. Halladay-Lee/Hamels

Canada!

Damn, I wanted Cole on the Flyers. But yeah that's kind of a lot of money...

See ya Ville. Love ya, but 6 years/$27M is a massive overpayment. Have fun with that, Sabres. Really happy Homer didn't match that. I will take one year of overpaying Jagr as opposed to 6 years of overpaying Leino. Also, Versteeg to FLA. If the cap space isn't for Leino, perhaps it's for Gagne? Well, some of it will go towards getting Simmonds signed, but there will still be extra.

And now Talbot... Today is officially known as "[expletive] Pittsburgh" day.

The eye test falls into the "paper" thing. Basically, I meant that the best team rarely wins. And I'd disagree about that. Well, both years that the Red Wings and Penguins played in the Finals, they were probably the two best teams. But those two years aside, I can't think of a champion in the past 10 years that was clearly the most talented team.

If I have learned one thing about the NHL, it is that the best team on paper rarely if ever wins the Stanley Cup.

Bob McKenzie reporting that Ehrhoff gets a 10 year deal!

A few weeks late starting this, but with free agency getting started tomorrow, I guess now is as good a time as any. Today, Christian Ehrhoff reached an agreement with the Sabres.

No offer sheet for Stamkos. Would have been a huge risk, so I understand it. Would have made for a fun week though. Now we can focus on the likes of Erik Cole, Michael Ryder, Simon Gagne, Ville Leino, Jamie Langenbrunner, etc.

Everything I have read suggests that the NBA situation is much, much, much worse than the NFL's. So this might be painful.

Well, [expletive].

I just bought 6 jerseys for $200 total on one of those Asian wholesale websites. They all look legit and I have heard good reviews from friends, so my fingers are crossed!