The hitting will still be the hardest part.

This will not end well.

This will not end well.

Agreed.

Seriously, in a hitting contest between Rey Ordonez and a random fan picked out of the stadium, who would win?

Suppose Dave Dombrowski offers you Neifi Perez for Rey Ordonez straight up. Do you:

a) accept the offer
b) reject the offer
c) swear you'll never do mushrooms again

c.

If the other Alex Gonzalez makes a comeback, they can do a 10 year anniversary of the topless shortstop photo spread!

http://www.deadspin.com/sports/baseball/shirts-off-boys-172762.php

That picture just gets more bizarre every time I see it. What were they thinking?

Thank god this was posted. I'm going to add him to my fantasy team right now.

"I'm going to add him to my fantasy team right now."

Stupid Mets fan.

Dammit--I was hoping I'd keep the distinction of having seen his last major league homer in person.

Actually, I probably still will. My condolences to SMK, Mug, and other good folk who pull for the Ms.

Is Willie Bloomquist still around?

I always though Rey was in the wrong place/wrong time--he should have been on the late 60s Tiger teams

in the wonderful Oyler/Matchick/Tracewski tradition

difference is, of course, that NOBODY thought those guys were any good

Suppose Dave Dombrowski offers you Neifi Perez for Rey Ordonez straight up. Do you:

a) accept the offer
b) reject the offer
c) swear you'll never do mushrooms again

C is certainly a plausible choice, but in all honesty, the baseball-sound answer is A. And for all the abuse Neifi takes, it's not particularly close. He's a legitimately good glove at two positions, can fill in at third in a pinch, is a switch hitter (such as he is), and, FWIW, has a lot more power than Ordonez ever had. He's also younger than ReyRey.

I'd laugh, but Rey Ordonez would probably be an upgrade for the Royals at this point.

If the other Alex Gonzalez makes a comeback, they can do a 10 year anniversary of the topless shortstop photo spread!

http://www.deadspin.com/sports/baseball/shirts-off-boys-172762.php

Wow. That....is.....awesome. Looks like a Menudo album cover.

I unearthed some retro beefcake photos of the 1985 Championship Royals here

"Unearthed". Yeah, surrrrrrre.

An old girlfriend's favorite player was Rey Ordonez. It is to my detriment that I didn't realize this was representative of her overall judgement.

An old girlfriend's favorite player was Rey Ordonez. It is to my detriment that I didn't realize this was representative of her overall judgement.

As Rey Ordonez's suckitude is well-documented and hardly worth discussing, I demand that the remainder of this thread be devoted to your producing stories related to her lack of judgment, and discussion thereof.

Bavasi is just trying to get fired now. Do you think Matt Millen, Isiah Thomas, and Bavasi call each other with a contest to see who can get fired last?

A gentleman never crazies and tells.

Is Willie Bloomquist still around?

More than that, he is hitting around .400 in spring training.

WFB was slated to be the backup infielder. Now with St. Rey's addition, he'll be free to become an integral part of the team, pinch-running, defensive-replacing, and playing some in the outfield.

An old girlfriend's favorite player was Rey Ordonez. It is to my detriment that I didn't realize this was representative of her overall judgement.

As Rey Ordonez's suckitude is well-documented and hardly worth discussing, I demand that the remainder of this thread be devoted to your producing stories related to her lack of judgment, and discussion thereof.

She dated him, and yet you ask for more evidence of her lack of judgment?

It’s strange to see Safeco Field like this, with
completely vacant sections in the upper deck and rows
and rows of buttless seats everywhere else.

“I never thought I’d see the day where there was less
than 20,000,” said utility man Willie Bloomquist.
“(Tuesday night) was the first time I’ve walked out
for a game and gone, ‘Wow.’ It’s a little odd being
able to hear conversations with fans.”

“Really?” I wondered. “What did they say?”

“You (expletive) suck, Bloomquist!” Bloomquist said

Waking up to these links on my day off is nearly too much. Thanks guys.

Not like the Jays are going to do much better. Rey Ordonez vs. Royce Clayton for A.L. shortstop of the year!

How was he in the top 10 three times for intentional bbs?

"How was he in the top 10 three times for intentional bbs?"

He was hitting in front of the pitcher all those years with the Mets. And as he was usually slightly better than the pitcher...

How was he in the top 10 three times for intentional bbs?

Batting 8th in the NL?

Who will drive me crazy more: Ordonez, Bloomquist or Rizz? Ah, such choices!

How was he in the top 10 three times for intentional bbs?

Batting 8th in the NL?

I think the question still stands, how was he in the top 10 three times for intentional BBs?

Ordonez can be valuable as a backup if he can still field. And he may be being used to get Betancourt "untracked".

Funny story, I was playing Baseball Mogul 2007 last night and it was the offseason, Aaron Hill had just left as a FA and I wanted a guy who could field all the infield positions, and not cost too much. Turns out Neifi was a FA, had 'moderate' interest in signing with the Jays and had good fielding numbers.

Talks broke down quickly though when his initial contract request was $7 million over 2 years. Think I was being generous, I offered $4 over two and we haggled back and forth. Things took a turn for the worst when his asking price started going up (to almost $5 million a year). He broke off talks. Anyway, I think I ended up dealing from my vast minor league reserves for a more balanced and cheap player. So the season is about to start and I'm thinking about picking up a veteran catcher. Neifi was still available and was asking for $700k. Classic. About a month later, he signed with the Royals, who offered him to me later that season.

I remember when I went up to $5million/2 years thinking that I would get assaulted by BTF posters if I ever admitted I threw that kind of money at Neifi!

"I remember when I went up to $5million/2 years thinking that I would get assaulted by BTF posters if I ever admitted I threw that kind of money at Neifi!"

I'm more disappointed you haven't gotten Mogul 2008 yet!

Just bought a bunch of mariners tickets this morning.

she dated him, and yet you ask for more evidence of her lack of judgment?

Ouch.

A gentleman never crazies and tells.

And this affects my demand how, exactly?

The balance of power in the A.L. West has just shifted.

"I'm more disappointed you haven't gotten Mogul 2008 yet!"

I excitedly bought 2007, played the 06 year with the Braves, won 105 games and never really got back to the game. I got a number of really nice seasons out of pitchers who either suck or haven't actually been around for a while; I sort of threw up my hands when I picked up 150 solid innings out of Scott Sobkowiak, for example.

Is Willie Bloomquist still around?

More than that, he is hitting around .400 in spring training.

WFB was slated to be the backup infielder. Now with St. Rey's addition, he'll be free to become an integral part of the team, pinch-running, defensive-replacing, and playing some in the outfield.

Bavasi's apparently trying the Jim Hendry model of collecting as many bad middle infielders as he can. That's why there'd never be a Rey-Neifi trade in the real world--the goal is to increase the absolute NUMBERS of such players, irrespective of quality.

(I should stop complaining about this already, since the Cubs have finally jettisoned the likes of Neifi and Jose Macias, and are only keeping Ronny Cedeno and Ryan Theriot as backup MIs (and TheRiot is versatile enough to be useful for other purposes).

Not that I'm thrilled with Izturis as the starting shortstop (that'd be a nice lineup we're looking at if we'd managed to sign Furcal last year), but what can you do.

</Cubs hijack>

And he may be being used to get Betancourt "untracked".

I don't think he is being used that way. Betancourt is already untracked in the FO's opinion and will be the full-time SS in 2007. As TFA states, Rey will provide (a) insurance at 2B and (b) freedom to move Bloomquist to the outfield. Probably hits worse than a pitcher now if he can't break .230 in Arizona, but Mike Hargrove has a plan for St. Rey.

Hargrove has failed in executing such a plan before. He wanted to protect Jeremy Reed to start 2006, so he kept Joe Borchard and Matt Lawton on the roster as OF reserves to start the season. Reed was healthy, and neither Borchard or Lawton got off the bench. Then Reed got hurt, then Borchard and Lawton proved in their CF PT that they were shot, then WFB and a 20-year-old overmatched rookie stepped in as semi-regulars, and the club finally resorted to asking Ichiro to be in CF once the season was in the tank. It was an ugly and unnecessary performance.

I remember when I went up to $5million/2 years thinking that I would get assaulted by BTF posters if I ever admitted I threw that kind of money at Neifi!

Well, keep us posted if you do get assaulted. The price of Neifi in the real world seems to be going up regularly, so use that as your backup.

"I'm going to add him to my fantasy team right now."

Stupid Mets fan.

Hacking Mass

The balance of power in the A.L. West has just shifted.

Fixed.

Best Regards

John

I wish Rey Ordoñez the best of atta-boys in his future athletic career. Being edged out of an Opening Day roster by Jason Ellison, that's gotta hurt....