And Affeldt has actually been pretty damn good the last two years, FWIW.

But Cook typically doesn’t project nearly as well as he winds up pitching, at least that’s been the case the last two seasons, so we’ll see if it still holds true.

I’m a liar, full of deceit and inaccuracies (see Saddam Hussein, Bernie Madoff). The people on azcentral are “know nothings” and not “true” fans (thx for the clarification ;-) Foolish Giant fans have no idea of the mess they’ve gotten into. Poor TAP doesnt understand how worthless Randy really is. Steve Gilbert, professional journalist, is the last word on the team’s finances, not to be questioned by an outsider like me. Nobody but Jim understands The Big Picture and all the agonizing decisions Jerry Colangelo has foisted upon the Unheralded Savoirs of this grand franchise.

Welcome to Jim World!

First of all, I really dont appreciate being called a liar, especially twice for something that’s factually true. It’s out of bounds, and I encourage you to control your impulses a little better if you want to be respected or taken seriously.

They’ve already pared $35M gross from baseball’s eighth lowest payroll

This is a well-intentioned, and as far as I can measure, accurate statement, and the fact I didnt dilute it in your requisite corporate gumbo doesnt make it “a lie”. If I wanted to be disingenuous, I would’ve said something like the Dbacks anticipated payroll is half of what it was last year, which we both know to be false. I was merely trying to highlight the full extent of salary shed from 2008, which I felt had been systematically underreported (by Mr Gilbert among others), fully cognizant that much of it is counterbalanced by various increases. We can quibble as to exactly how much, but that pales next to the fact you felt compelled to lash out at this substantive statement as “a lie”, cackling that I’m suddenly “forced to admit” such an obvious, generally accepted fact. Get. A. Grip.

Regarding Steve Gilbert, I’ll copy what I said on azcentral:

I dont know more about the team than Steve Gilbert, but neither do I pretend he’s an idependent journalist ferreting out facts that might place the FO in a remotely unfavorable light. Nothing personal against Steve, but he’s a public relations man, employed by MLB to write down what Derrick Hall and Jeff Moorad tell him to write down, without being too much of a nuisance. That you seem to deem Mr Gilbert’s regurgitated budget as the last word on team finances, above question from outsiders, distinguishes you from me.

It’s one thing to say the Dbax WANT to spend less than $10M – that’s what the EVT says – and that’s closer to journalism, in my view. To say, over and over, the Dbax “HAD” less than $10M to spend" however, wreaks of unsubstantiated, collusive boilerplate.

After watching Moorad operate a couple years, seeing the players, colleagues and fans he’s alienated, his publicly blaming someone else (in this case Johnson and Johnson’s agents) for his own glaring inability to corral a willing stallion back to the ranch is hardly surprising. But if you know they did “everything they could”, who am I to argue. Perhaps we should consult Steve Gilbert on this ;-)

I stand by all my comments on this thread, about your “know nothings” and “true” fan remarks, about “crumbling”, about Diamondback fans being uniquely cheated, about my characterization of your broad-based fury as a “crusade”, in terms of scope and angry zealotry. I do give you credit for finally acknowledging (on McCovey, I think) that their pickup had bargain potential, but what does it take, Jim? Forty three comments across cyberspace, calling people idiots, liars, deceivers and unbelievers?

You probably wont believe me, but I really didnt want to get into this with you. My email the other day was sincere. But I just watch you go on and on and on, spinning like a whirling dervish, in lockstep with the Home Office (on this issue) and I just felt some perspective was needed.

I’d really like to move on

Here’s to a more peaceful 2009

And it is, it is, a glorious thing, to be a pirate spokesman!

play baseball for crap, either.