#the dors

[sixtiesdoitbetter]

h e l l o !

[dreamsroad]

[ikamii]

todos son extraños cuando eres un extraño

[dreamsroad]

# diğer tarafa kiriş i kır

[music-theonlyaddiction]

If someday I'll have my baby she or he will listen only good music! Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin aand many modern others as Paramore or YMAS ;)

[therynoshorn-blog]

Where will Pujols land?

[caption id="attachment_7481" align="aligncenter" width="472" caption="Where will Albert be knocking them out next year?"][/caption]

by Alex Dorsky

Albert Pujols is a stud.

Although he's played only 11 seasons, most people agree he could never set foot on a field again and still be a first-ballot hall-of-famer. Pujols’ is a career .328 hitter with 445 HRs and 1329 RBIs, which means he delivers just over 40 HRs and 120 RBI in an average season.

In addition to his personal statistics and accomplishments (3 MVPs), Pujols has anchored World Series winning ball clubs in 2006 and 2011.

Now Albert Pujols is now on the market. He heads a respectable list of big-name free agents this offseason that includes Prince Fielder, Jose Reyes, Jimmy Rollins, and David Ortiz. But Albert is the prize of the lot – the consummate team player, a model of consistency, and in the prime of his career currently at 31 years old.

Realistically, only a few teams can afford him (my Pirates and A’s can only laugh at the idea), so let’s take a look at who’s got a shot.

Rangers: Texas really wants to get over the hump. After losing the World Series to the Giants in 2010 and the Pujols-led Cardinals in 2011, Texas is desperate to win its first title. The Rangers offense is fine, however, and they have good options at 1B already with Mitch Moreland and Mike Napoli, who I imagine will start to see more time at 1B and less at catcher as his career progresses.

Instead, Texas should focus on re-signing its own top-notch free agent – pitcher C.J. Wilson – and solidifying the rotation with someone like Mark Buehrle or Edwin Jackson.

Cubs: If the Rangers are “desperate” to win a title, the Cubs are off-the-charts insane. New president of baseball operations Theo Epstein will do everything in his power to get Pujols to join the North Siders, but I don’t see money being enough to lure Albert to a division rival.

Sorry Cubs fans, but you’d be better off going after players like Ryan Madson, Hiroki Kuroda, and Michael Cuddyer -- and you could probably get all 3 for less than what it would cost to get Pujols.

Angels: The Angles seem to throw money at a high-priced free agent year after year (Torii Hunter, Hideki Matsui, Vernon Wells…), so why not go after Pujols too? They’ll toss their hat into the ring, but I don’t envision Albert joining the Halos, although he should be happy to see Arte Moreno drive up his price just by being named as a suitor.

Red Sox: Even though Boston just signed all-star 1B Adrian Gonzalez last year the Red Sox will likely be replacing slugger David Ortiz and want to keep its run of success going. Boston’s rotation, which looked incredibly solid going into 2011, will need Clay Buchholz and Dice-K to stay healthy in 2012 (along with Jon Lester and Josh Beckett) no matter who they sign on offense.

I don’t see the Sox winning the Pujols sweepstakes, either, although it would be cool to see Pujols take shots at the Green Monster night after night.

Marlins: I know, I’m usually bashing the Marlins, but apparently they stepped up to the plate with a serious (9-year, $225 million) offer to Pujols. The Fish already netted firecracker Ozzie Guillen as manager, met with and offered a contract to Jose Reyes, and are reportedly ready to increase payroll to $90 million. These are all clear signs the team wants to build on the momentum of the new stadium opening in 2012 by fielding a playoff-ready team.

With the return of Josh Johnson and another year of experience under the young-but-talented team’s collective belt, look for the Marlins to be playing meaningful games in September this year, with or without Pujols.

Cardinals: Sorry to disappoint fans of the rest of the league, but I expect Pujols to stay put in St. Louis. Sure, last winter he turned down a deal from the Cardinals reportedly worth $195 million over 9 years, but I wouldn’t read too much into that. Pujols was originally signed by the Cardinals in 1999 and debuted with them in 2001.

Albert is old-school in his approach to the game, feels comfortable in St. Louis, and would likely take pride in starting and finishing his career all with one club. I’m not saying he will give St. Louis the coveted home-town discount, but all else being equal my guess is that he prefers to stay with the Cards & they know better than to part with their franchise gem.

There probably won’t be any significant progress until the winter meetings (December 4-8) get underway in Dallas. I think it will take an obscene amount of money to pry Pujols from St. Louis, but stranger things have happened & I’d love to see him in South Florida as a Marlin – maybe he could even convince them to rethink their stupid uniforms…

[caption id="attachment_7482" align="aligncenter" width="462" caption="Pujols is psyched MLB isn't on strike"][/caption]

[therynoshorn-blog]

Angels and Marlins Make Moves...Rangers Next?

by Alex "The Dors" Dorsky

It's been one of the crazier off-seasons in a while, and most of the attention was centered around the same few teams.

As to the BIG move, I'll admit I was wrong. I thought Albert Pujols would remain in St Louis, guessing that Arte Moreno would make a bid but St. Louis would match it.

The Angels ended up offering 10 years and $254 million, $34 million more than the Cardinals’ $220 million proposal, and Albert jumped ship. $3.4 million (15%) more per year is nothing to sniff at, but I think Pujols also preferred to move to the American League where he can transition to DH at the end of his career.

Yes, his numbers will drop in the second half of the contract as he rounds 40 and the Angels will probably be saddled with some dead money, but Pujols will likely remain one of the top two or three hitters in the game over the next 5 year.

I’m sure Angels fans are happy with the signing (and Moreno now understands why the Steinbrenners love TV revenue so much) and even happier that they'll get to watch Sir Albert on his chase to break Babe's then Barry's record.

[caption id="attachment_8273" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption=""Holy Crap, we signed who?""][/caption]

The Halos also nabbed pitcher C.J. Wilson, who had limited success for Texas in the playoffs but put up great numbers over the 2010-2011 regular seasons. Wilson, Texas’ ace, will probably be the 3 or 4 in Anaheim as he joins Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, and Ervin Santana in an imposing starting rotation.

Anaheim is a bit weak on the left side of the infield, but Torii Hunter should keep rolling and if Vernon Wells returns to form or Kendrys Morales can finally return from a broken leg suffered in 2010, the Angels could reach 100 wins and lock up the best record in the American League. For you fantasy players out there, look for new catcher Chris Iannetta to put up solid numbers if he can secure the daily job, and for OF/1B Mike Trout (who struggled a bit at the end of last year) to fulfill his potential in 2012.

The Horn’s hometown Marlins also made a big splash during the winter meetings, coming away with prize SS Jose Reyes (6 years, $106 million), All-Star closer Heath Bell (3 years, $27 million), and accomplished LHP Mark Buehrle (4 years, $58 million). That’s $191 million and over $40 million per year. Buehrle joins stud Josh Johnson and Anibal “The Animal” Sanchez at the top of the Fish’s rotation.

The Reyes signing shifts Hanley Ramirez to 3B, so hopefully the petulant superstar can put his ego aside and just play baseball. If that happens, and Mike Stanton, Gaby Sanchez, and Logan Morrison continue to improve, the Marlins have a legitimate shot at the post season. Owner Jeffrey Loria showed he’s serious about opening his new stadium with a bang and playing with the big boys…at least this year.

The next biggest move might have been the Arizona Diamondbacks signing Trevor Cahill. The reigning NL West champs have to compete with the tough rotation of the 2010 World Series champ SF Giants. With Cahill joining Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson, and Josh Collmenter, the Snakes look to have done the job. Both teams are somewhat offensively challenged, but a strong rotation goes a long way toward reaching the post season.

The Yankees and Red Sox have been surprisingly quiet. The Cubs' attention has been focused on their new President Theo Epstein.

Prince Fielder is still on the market, but there aren’t many other impact players looking for homes.

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like it’s been a long time since AL East teams weren’t the ones hogging the headlines during the winter meetings. But then the Rangers went and threw $51.7 million at a Japanese club, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, for the rights to negotiate with the best pitcher in Japan, Yu Darvish. They now have 30 days to negotiate a contract with Darvish, a  6'5", 25 yr old right-hander with a reported repertoire of 7 pitches.

At least we don’t have too long to wait, as pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report to camp on February 19, barely over 2 months away…

[caption id="attachment_8274" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption=""Oh well, 2nd place ain't so bad""][/caption]