This Week's Hacks

This week's ledger indicates we gots:

Felipe Lopez - 3.5M
Augie Ojeda - 700K
Scott Schoeneweis - 2M
James Skelton - rule 5

and lost:

Orlando Hudson
Adam Dunn
Juan Cruz
Randy Johnson (probably)
Brandon Lyon
Connor Robertson

...and lost out on:

Mark Loretta / Ramon Vazquez
Arthur Rhodes




Does this spell twilight for the Arizona franchise? I'm actually more hopeful than most, that some sizable checks are still forthcoming, hence the parenthetical 'probably' next to Unit. No less an authority than Earl Kendrick crows:

"We’re feeling pretty good about our revenues” and "I think we have a little more flexibility to make deals than maybe what’s being reported as of now."

Good news, I guess, but the intriguing bit in Bordow's article is this:

Arizona, according to a source, has approximately $15 million to spend, whether it be in free agency or trades. Kendrick would not confirm the figure.

The FO forcefully contradicted this contention in The Republic:

Club officials scoffed at a published report that said the Diamondbacks have $15 million to spend this off-season. They indicated that the team likely has something closer to half that available.

The $15 million question is this: Who was Scott Bordow's source for the $15M figure? I'll give you three guesses.

Josh Byrnes?

Bad answer. Way too smart to show his hand like that.

Someone like Moorad or Woodfork?

Doubtful, considering Bordow hasnt quoted either elsewhere in any article for quite some time (ie there's little evidence he's even recently spoken to them).

Who has Bordow talked to recently? Indeed, who is the only Diamondback source quoted by Bordow in the past week, in any capacity whatsoever?

Ding! Ding! Ding! Earl Kendrick. We have a winner.

This is an old reporter's trick, when a source divulges confidential information, then threatens to walk out of an interview if you attribute it. To save the relationship, a reporter will distance the stoolie and say "Kendrick would not confirm the figure". Which is absolutely true, and is what I believe happened here. Again, Mr Kendrick has a rather loquacious history, and if not Earl, what other highly placed source would've ( or logistically could've ) provided this figure to Bordow?

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Frank Rich cautions against submitting to elitists, and spanks Robert Rubin pretty soundly in the process. At a time when the mob is keen to blame Bush and Cheney for the failure of fantasy league teams, it's refreshing to hear an influental liberal really rip into his own party's self-interested excesses. Good for Rich. Good for the poor and the middle, too.

Are we on the cusp of a great depression? At first, I thought it silly, because our economy is more diversified - and institutions more insured - than in 1929, but each day I grow more troubled at the prospect. The lesser reason is that we've grown fat and lazy as a culture. We can mitigate that, somewhat. The daunting structural reality, compared to 1929, is largely beyond our control, however. The rest of the world is changing faster and more productively than we are, and I'm increasingly skeptical we can keep up. The protected illusions of Detroit (which we've all sensed for thirty years) and Wall Street (which I've been dubious about for fifteen), are almost staring us in the face now. We can either confront them head on and suffer significant dislocation, or suffer doubly with our cherished fantasies.

*** Yesterday, I heard tapping on my roof and went outside to investigate. About twenty orange segments lay on the shingles. Of more concern, about five citrus throwing kids - nine or ten years old - were playing on my neighbor's pitched roof with no adult in sight. Inside the home, when confronted, the middle-aged nanny cheerily explained, "Oh! It's roof day."

To be followed by "pink slip" day, if I have anything to say about it.

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Song of the Day - Up On The Roof (The Emburys)