COVERITLIVE.COM

11:59

Boston.com - Hi chatters -- Chad will be here at noon to take all your sports related questions. Comments about "The Office" are also fair game, though it should be noted that John Krasinski (you may know him as Jim) is chatting away just a few desks away.

12:13

Chad Finn - Gimme one more minute, guys. Just wrapping up a Dolphins gallery, then I'll be over . . .

12:14

Chad Finn - By the way, there's some pretty boy running around the office who keeps making goofy faces whenever someone speaks to him. Looks vaguely familiar.

12:20

Chad Finn - All right, gang, thanks for you patience. Let's go already . . .

12:20

[Comment From GreasyWindow]
And so began the curse of Eric Hinske...?

12:22

Chad Finn - I don't think that book would sell quite as well, Grease, though it's remarkable that he's made the World Series in three straight years with three different AL East teams, winning two rings. The Orioles are the only AL East team he has never played for. Schilling, in his interview on EEI yesterday, made a point to single out Hinske as about the only Yankee he was happy for. Pretty popular guy around baseball, I guess.

12:23

[Comment From Guest]
Joe Pos: "And then, if you are a not a Yankees fan, you will want to throw up." True statement. But the fact of the matter is now we have to wear it like Abraham said and I think on opening day when the the Champs come to town we tip our caps as we stand and clap during introductions. Then when Jeter steps into the box for the first pitch we boo louder than ever.

12:25

Chad Finn - Agree wholeheartedly. I moan about the salary imbalance, but the reality is that the Yankees have always spent more than anyone, and it's no guarantee they'll win the championship. This year, they spent well (yeah, $423 million on three players, but still . . .), their old guys came through like it was the '90s, and they got some contributions from the farm system (check Dave Robertson's K-rate). They were the best team, they deserved to win, and they should be treated with the same class on opening day at Fenway that they treated the Sox with at the start of 2005. Especially Rivera.

12:26

[Comment From Blogging Ryan]
First off, hope your doing well. 2nd, I LOVE the Jeremy Hermida trade. we gave up Hunter Jones who is not an american league pitcher, and someone with very little upside. Jeremy Hermida is someone that oculd play a HUGE role on this team. if Bay isn't resigned and Boras is astronomical with Holliday, he SHOULD be the Left fielder. My question to you is, that it seems to me that the Red Sox could make a LOT of non-tender moves this offseason like JJ Hardy among others...thoughts?

12:32

Chad Finn - Absolutely, Ryan. Buster Olney was on WEEI talking about how he thinks that will be the Sox approach yesterday I believe (earlier today, Dale and Holley played the clip of him basically predicting the Hermida deal). Maybe Hardy will be acquired in a similar way. I really like the Hermida deal from a talent standpoint -- I'm looking at the 2006 Baseball America Prospects Handbook right now, and he's the cover boy, rated as the Marlins' No. 1 prospect ahead of some kid named Hanley. He's got a ton of hitting talent, but for whatever reason he hasn't put it all together (he's writeup in the Handbook says his dad made him a lefty hitter at age 4 and he was hitting strictly with a wood bat at 13, so do with that info what you will). But they're getting him before his prime, and I wouldn't be stunned if he ended up in a Roenicke/Lowenstein style platoon with someone like Josh Willingham should Bay depart.

12:32

[Comment From felgie]
Where's Phil Kessel when you need him?

12:33

Chad Finn - Trying to score pretty goals while avoiding all contact somewhere in Toronto.

12:33

[Comment From Erik]
So the logical thinking 2 weeks ago was that a trade for King Felix would cost us more than a trade for Gonzalez. Now that Hoyer is in SD and knows EXACTLY how Theo feels about each and every player in our system, wouldn't it be smart to say that Gonzo would cost us more than Felix? Regardless...why is Bay only getting 4/60mil offers and Holliday is said to want 6/100+ They're not THAT different...

12:37

Chad Finn - That's an interesting way of looking at it, Erik. I suppose it COULD cost more in terms of players who Theo rates higher than the conventional wisdom, and Hoyer probably has a strong inkling regarding Theo's true feelings in that regard. His fundamental knowledge of the Sox farm system gives him a tremendous advantage over Seattle. That said, the price for King Felix would probably be so high -- assuming he doesn't tell Seattle that he has no interest in signing there sometime soon -- that it would probably be more costly than what it would take to get Gonzalez, even with Hoyer's insight. As for Bay and Holliday, they're essentially the same player to me. I wonder if it's the Boras effect. I can't imagine anyone would give Holliday $100 million, though.

12:37

[Comment From Jeff/Maine]
Good thing Jenna isn't there..this chat would go nowhere. Hope you caught the Bias doc on ESPN. Things are rosy now, but his death remains one of the great 'what if's' ever. My take: McHale traded for picks/bodies & some legendary battles w/Chicago would have followed.

12:39

Chad Finn - Got that right, son. I'd be in a trance. Krasinski was sitting in a cubicle right across from Eric Wilbur -- for a brief moment, Eric must have felt like Dwight Schrute.

12:41

Chad Finn - Thought the Bias doc was excellent, though some of the cutesy camera tricks got old after a while. I actually had an advance copy and watched it a week or two ago, but I caught it again when it aired. The one thing they overlooked was the number of coke-head screwups in that draft. I mean, I know we want to believe the first time Bias used coke was that fateful night (despite having stuff that was 98 percent pure, which as one talking head said in the doc, indicated a pretty deep connection in the DC drug scene), but who's to say he wouldn't have gone the way of Chris Washburn, William Bedford, or Roy Tarpley?

12:42

Chad Finn - FYI, I was talking to Bob Ryan about this the other day, and he said he thought Bias would have been a second-tier star. Not a Jordan or a Bird, but a consistent, steady All-Star.

12:43

Chad Finn - The other great thing about it -- not to dwell on this -- was all of the interview and game footage of Bias himself, especially right after the draft. It was absolutely haunting and mesmerizing.

12:43

[Comment From Blogging Ryan]
It also looks like the Yankees are John Lackey and Matt Holliday away from creating not only the American league all star team minus Joe Mauer for the next 5 years, but a juggernaut that NO ONE could EVER beat. Do we try to block at least one of these players from them? Holliday has more upside than Bay despite his struggles in Oakland and Lackey could give us a solid 2-3 pitcher...thoughts?

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