The Winter meetings see every team show up and do nothing while sportswriters blow hot air and call it smoke signals. Here is my analysis of how each major league team fared at the Winter meetings by comparing them to one of the TOP 100 Classic Rock Songs of all time.
AL WEST
Angels - Led Zeppelin's Kashmir. They already got their ace pitcher in August and can talk of days for which they sit and wait where all will be revealed.
Athletics - the Who: Who Are You - I heard a rumor in 2002 that the way these guys ran their team was going to let them compete with the big boys. Tell me who are you... Who who? Who who?
Rangers - AC/DC's Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap - They get Rich Harden on an incentive deal, Mike Lowell with his salary paid and unload Kevin Millwood. And they are being sold for a lot less than their owner owes the bank.
Mariners - The Beatles: Come Together - It is obvious they have a plan, they got $50 Million to spend, they got Figgy Sideboard, they got hair, down, to their knees, hold you in their Safeco you can feel Ichiro sneeze.
AL CENTRAL
Twins - Rolling Stones' Brown Sugar - How come Gardenhire manages so good? They were quiet at the meetings in obvious preparation for making Joe Mauer rich, at which point you know they will be singing "I said yeah, yeah yeah WHOO!"
Tigers - Led Zeppelin's When the Levee Breaks - Dumped Curtis Granderson in order to rebuild. Got flooded in prospects.
White Sox - Jethro Tull's Aqualung - You might need a similar breathing apparatus to talk as fast and furious as Ozzie Guillen.
Indians - Don McClean's American Pie - nostalgia for the 90s? News of them trading Kelly Shoppach for a PTBNL makes one a bit wistful for the days when this team was a powerhouse...
Royals - Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run - Any song with the line "tramps like us" has to be referring to these underachievers, who showed up in snowy Indianapolis to sign a Cuban defector.
AL EAST
Yankees - Pink Floyd's Money - When you can pay Andy Pettitte $12 Million for one year, you certainly are in the race.
Red Sox - Van Halen's Runnin' With the Devil - No other team in sports defines itself by its main competitor more. The lack of action on the Free Agent front among all teams is the matching up the wallets between John Henry and George.
Rays - Boston's More Than a Feeling - Joe Maddon's club gets quite a bit of respect and when they are tied to a rumored signing everyone pays attention.
Blue Jays - Rolling Stones' You Can't Always Get What You Want - Roy Halladay will bring you some good players, and if you try some time, you just might find... you get what you need.
Orioles - Rolling Stones' Sympathy for the Devil - Peter Angelos used to be the agreed upon worst owner in the sport, but you gotta feel sorry for him with the McCourts, that soccer coach in Arlington and some of these other schmoes...
NL WEST
Giants - Led Zeppelin's Ramble On - Mentioned in every free agent signing possibility and trades galore but it was years ago in days of old when their magic (in a pill) ruled the world, so I guess they'll just keep ramblin' on....
Rockies - KISS' Rock N Roll All Night - If you had their wealth of pitching, you'd be partying at the winter meetings just daring clubs to make you an offer while two strippers in the hot tub were calling you over...
Dodgers - Derek and the Dominos' Layla - They did not even offer arbitration to some good players as the owner's divorce has Frank McCourt on his knees, beggin' darlin' please...
Padres - Rolling Stones' Paint it Black - Bud Black is obviously held in high regard and ... as for the Adrian Gonzalez rumors? I could not foresee this thing happening to you...
Diamondbacks - Van Halen's Jump. A big trade? Headlines? Dumping big prospects for AL maybe arms? Might as well jump. JUMP!
NL CENTRAL
Cardinals - The Doors' Light My Fire - You know that it would be untrue, you know that they would be a liar, if Ken Rosenthal were to tweet "Pujols trade rumors gettin' higher"
Cubs - Guns N Roses: Welcome to the Jungle - Signed Milton Bradley last year and now finding it hard to trade him. If you got the money honey, he will still be your disease... in the jungle...
Brewers - Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love - 3 years for Randy Wolf is "Love" not "Likes a lot"
Astros - Elton John's Funeral for a Friend - I guess we can be happy for them that they still get an invitation to the Winter Meetings...
Reds - Def Leppard's Pour Some Sugar on Me - Dusty Baker can make the worst headache of a managing job sound sweet.
Pirates - Black Sabbath's Paranoid. People think they're insane because they are frowning all the time.
NL EAST
Phillies - Pink Floyd's Shine On You Crazy Diamond - Never a better time to be a Philly or a Phillies fan.
Braves - Cream's Crossroads - They sign Billy Wagner and Takashi Saito and then Rafael Soriano accepts arbitration. Should they just go with possibly the best bullpen in history or trade Soriano, the best of the three relievers?
Marlins - Jimi Hendrix: All Along the Watchtower - They always have a good player or two that you gotta keep your eye on at these meetings.
Mets - The Who: Won't Get Fooled Again. But you know they will. It will be hard to top last offseason's swindle by Bernie Madoff, though.
Nationals - Foghat's Slow Ride. They signed Pudge!!! Saving up for Nationals playoff tickets??? Take it easy.
2 recs | 51 comments
Good stuff, Rev
For Los Doyers de Echo Park maybe a little ‘Black Magic Woman’?
LAASurfin - December 10, 2009
Funny and creative Rev.,...one complaint though ;
Def Leppard (crappy 80’s metal/hard rock) hardly qualifies as “Classic” rock.
Jack Frost - December 10, 2009
Just going by the KLOS guidelines there
There are a couple of questionable entries on that Top 100.
Rev Halofan - December 10, 2009
Pyromania may qualify...
but certainly that later stuff was way overly commercialized and “top-40’s.”
Downing Rules - December 10, 2009
NICE!
This was a very nice read! You sure you don’t work for JackFM?
agent_99 - December 10, 2009
KLOS
check out the link.
Rev Halofan - December 10, 2009
Wow, Cynthia Fox is still working there!
She & Deirdre O’Donoghue were like the voices of my childhood radio, which seemed permanently tuned to either KLOS or The Mighty Met whenever there wasn’t a Halos game on KMPC. Cynthia still looks great even though she must be pretty close to 60 by now.
Quad Fin Rider - December 10, 2009
Very nice and most excellent.
Good job!
Clutch - December 10, 2009
Hallady update . . .
Angel beat writer Bil Plunkett of the O.C. Register is not convinced the Angels made the Suanders-Aybar-Bourjos offer for Halladay . . .
Reagins refused to discuss the specifics of the reported offer, saying it was "not worth commenting on."
"We’ve talked about a lot of things," Reagins said of his discussions with Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos during the Winter Meetings. "They have a lot of pieces that are attractive. I’ll leave it at that."
The Toronto report doesn’t quite match up with what I’ve been hearing — that a lot of names have been discussed on both sides but it remains very unlikely the Angels would trade Aybar.
And whatever offer the Angels do put on the table will decrease significantly if they are not able to negotiate a contract extension with Halladay first. (Halladay also has a no-trade clause that would have to be waived.)
http://fromthedugout.freedomblogging.com/2009/12/10/did-angels-make-offer-for-halladay/42111/#respond
G Abbes - December 10, 2009
Throwing some more doubt on a possible Saundo AND Aybar deal...
Ed Price at MLB FanHouse wrote:
“Toronto is aware which teams it should talk to about Halladay, who has the right to veto any deal and thus can pick his destination. But the Blue Jays are looking for top-notch prospects with little or no big-league experience so they can keep them for an extended time.”
http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2009/12/10/after-anticlimactic-meetings-long-winter-ahead-for-boys-of-summ/
Quad Fin Rider - December 10, 2009
Yeah dude, but who is going to offer top notch prospects.
They had their chance in dealing Halladay in July. Now the Angels make a very attractive offer, it seems that Halladay may be an Angel after all.
SenorChuckles - December 10, 2009
the Phillies have no interest on Halladay per mlbtraderumors.com
RedAces - December 10, 2009
Rev has been hitting the Bong again
Dono Romantico - December 10, 2009
Re: Halladay
I fear this is going to be another in that long list of cases where we Angels fans get excited and get our hopes up only to be disappointed by inaction. Someone in the Halladay thread yesterday quoted a source close to Halladay as saying Roy would come here in a trade but not sign long term. Well, that pretty much kills that dream of getting a true ace to counter Sabathia in a seven game series.
It did somehow seem farfetched to me. Angels brass is currently in love fest with Aybar (young, cheap and talented) and not likely to give him up. I would have done this trade w/ signing of Halladay for three years, but I fear Reagins will not.
Jack Frost - December 10, 2009
Re: Halladay...
I am astonished that most people have been spelling his name right the past week or so. I thought for sure we’d see more:
“I like Holliday as our number one starter” comments.
Downing Rules - December 10, 2009
Maybe Tony Reagins should give Halladay a tour of the Mormon Temples in southern California.
He could tell him, “Look we built these for you to worship you in.”
44FAN - December 10, 2009
hah.
SenorChuckles - December 10, 2009
i also am getting fearful that it won't happen
only because of the rumor that Hallady’s friend is saying the would come but not sign long term..
If thats the case we really can’t afford not to sign Lackey and get some additional offense.
RedAces - December 10, 2009
Well...
name the teams that have been really successful this decade, then name the teams that are a favorite to win the division.
Decent teams 10 years ago to now: Yankees, Boston, White Sox, Twins, Angels, A’s, Dodgers, St. Louis, Astros, Cubs, Atlanta, Philly, Mets.
Angels, Yankees, White Sox, Philly, St. Louis, and Dodgers are capable of winning in 2010 and beyond. The Yankees, Phillies, and Dodgers will get some great competition due to thier “tough division”. If he signs an extension with the Angels he has the easiest road to the playoffs year in and year out. We have 4 teams total in the division, great fans, and its in Cali. Halladay must know we are a great organization.
SenorChuckles - December 10, 2009
I wish they all could be California
Man i totally get it. Plus we have the best of everything. I mean the only thing that NY has on us is the payroll but Los Angeles/Orange County has it all. Hollywood all the attractions, the girls, the weather, the beach, on and on.
And of course we have the easiest road into the playoffs. And with him it’s a sure thing. I wonder if he is asking for more offense or anything else.
RedAces - December 10, 2009
The Dodgers are in a "tough division?"
44FAN - December 10, 2009
i guess if the rockies have another good year it will make it tougher than ours
RedAces - December 10, 2009
Halladay is Mormon?
Jack Frost - December 10, 2009
y e s .
Rev Halofan - December 10, 2009
Arte can throw in some magic underwear if he hits his incentives.....
Jack Frost - December 10, 2009
Used to live right next door to one...
On Mulholland, just off the 101 in Woodland Hills.
When I was a kid, my synagogue would rent it out (public spaces, anyways) for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
red floyd - December 10, 2009
Well,
I guess I know where he’ll be going if he ends up in Anaheim and needs a rehab start or two. It ain’t Arkansas…
Slasher52 - December 10, 2009
I was gonna bust your chops for using music from my era.
Then I clicked the link and realized that you are using a list built by us old farts anyway. The list is the most musically relevant post I have ever read around here.
Merry Christmas to me!
Stirrups - December 10, 2009
When all was said and done
the final report is that Fred Wilpon might have been one of the few guys in the entire Madoff scam that actually MADE money.
Just sayin’ is all.
Caseys Kiss of Death - December 10, 2009
What will it take to make Halladay a Free Bird (or freed bird)?
Reagins will need to Break on Through with a better deal…more than Another Brick in the Wall anyway. Maybe an American Girl or an LA Woman will get Halladay to Walk This Way? Oh wait…this isn’t about Tiger…and it doesn’t appear that Halladay was Born to Be Wild. Crap.
I have More Than a Feeling that Halladay wants Money. That will give him Satisfaction, but it won’t help the Angels become the Sultans of Swing.
Its time to Ramble On…
sothball - December 10, 2009
nice!
Blaze453 - December 10, 2009
Just remember, sothball
You Can’t Always Get What You Want, so you might have to climb a Stairway To Heaven to get Halladay to play in the November Rain.
On the other hand, if it does happen and We Are The Champions, we’ll Rock ‘n’ Roll All Night, and feel that Sweet Emotion.
red floyd - December 10, 2009
I admire your Sweet Emotion, although...
…it Smells Like Teen Spirit. In fact, it’s almost like that Wayward Son, Tom Sawyer. Any you know I Ain’t Talkin "Bout Love!
I’d like a Slow Ride back to Paradise City, but iit’s Time to get back to work…so I can avoid being Paranoid or Dazed and Confused (sort of like Aqualung).
Carry On My Wayward Son.
sothball - December 10, 2009
if halladay goes to ny I will have to start "Burning Down the House"
RedAces - December 10, 2009
So you won't have to Paint it Black?
sothball - December 10, 2009
Unfortunately, since Hud is gone, there's no more Spirit Of Radio. All of our listening choices are Dust In the Wind.
red floyd - December 10, 2009
Just last night...
I went to the bedroom door and I said, “Can’t You Hear Me Knockin’?”, to which my wife replied, “Walk This Way”. Since this was completely out of character for her, I thought “Who Are You” and, became Dazed & Confused. I had More Than a Feeling something was up, and not in a good way. So I said, “Hey Jude, Don’t Stop Believin’. Gimme Shelter and we’ll Rock n’ Roll All Night. I’ll even start with some Foreplay/Long Time.” Of course she retorted, “Dream On. You Shook Me All Night Long last month. You ain’t no Fortunate Son” This pissed me off, so I pulled out the verbal bitch-slap, “Well you ain’t no L.A. Woman!”, went downstairs and put the Stranglehold on my Barracuda.
Did I go too far?
WiHaloFan - December 10, 2009
Turn The Page
Stirrups - December 10, 2009
I've got More Than A Feeling that this thread is going to end up badly.
red floyd - December 11, 2009
You need to get outdoors more...
even if it is like 80 degrees below zero.
Seriously, I tried to keep it G-rated, and then you go low ball (‘bout time!). While you were at it, you should have asked for added a little Brown Sugar on that American Pie. Don’t know that it would Smell Like Teen Spirit, but it’d sure enhance your Sultan of Swing.
I know it’s cold in Wisconsin, but Welcome to the Jungle. Can you tell me…where can I buy a Stairway to (Halo) Heaven?
sothball - December 10, 2009
Did I go too far?
Give me a “HELL” give me a “YEAH”.
Slasher52 - December 10, 2009
Sorry
Had to bring the 21st century around…
Slasher52 - December 10, 2009
Very cool.
Clutch - December 10, 2009
So,
What is your feeling on the changes the Rangers made? Does this tighten the race? Should the Angels be concerned?
SanDiegoKev - December 10, 2009
did they fix the wind tunnel?
Rev Halofan - December 10, 2009
nope
RBPIA is what it is..hell for all pitchers and whoever is watching the game there during the hot months.
SanDiegoKev - December 10, 2009
rearranging furniture
So far, they really haven’t done anything of note. They essentially gave up Millwood’s durability for Harden’s overall betterness. But they’ll need someone else to cover the 8 starts or so that Harden won’t be able to make…and that’s assuming that Harden is healthy. And I’m not sure that the marginal difference between Millwood and Harden is going to make much of a difference anyway.
jjackflash - December 10, 2009
It won't, the Rangers are just glad Bud Selig allowed them to make a deal this winter.
44FAN - December 10, 2009
+1^10 for creativity
The classics are always in vogue.
Slasher52 - December 10, 2009
Kasmir an ace???
In your classic rock piece, I love Led Zeppelin, but Kasmir is NOT a #1 ace starter, he’s a #3, he might be a #2 some day, hell, Lackey’s only a #2.
haloigor - December 10, 2009
He's more of an ace
than Ace Frehly.
Rev Halofan - December 11, 2009
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