via i629.photobucket.com

Here is my proposed new logo for the blog - meet Stanley the Great White.  Even if it does not become the new logo, I hope all my fellow Sharks fans will enjoy this.  It should serve as some inspiration.  I have another picture of Stanley the Great White that I will share later.

Special thanks to Dan Thomson for his hard work on this image.  Without dedicated Sharks fans like Dan who also know how to use illustrator, we would be lost in a sea of poorly photo-shopped images...Enjoy.

Go Sharks!!!

Is he falling out of the hearts of Cinci?  I hear him talking about his situation in Cinci on Mike&Mike and it sounds like there is a rift between him and his team/coaches.  If there is such a rift, we should try to make a trade.  I don't even know what you offer them, but they need help on defense so maybe we could find something they want.

If we traded for a true #1 reciever like Ocho-Cinco, we could focus our draft and free agency on linemen.

Thoughts?

With the team in a funk, in limbo, in oblivion, in an unescapable abyss, <enter colorful imagry>, I really look at our leadership.  I am not 100% sold that Nolan isn't the right guy, but I am 100% sold on the idea that we need to bring in a real football mind.  I watch this team and I can't help but think that they are no better than a pee-wee league team.  I ask myself: do they even know how to play football??? Do they know how to play today's football???  

This thread is not meant to bash Nolan, but rather to suggest potential options of bringing in a great football mind.  Who is out there?  Who are the underdog/underappreciated coaches?  

With the potential departure of Singletary, who could take over our up-and-coming defense?  Who can build an offense that will complement said defense?  I think some of the more obvious or bigger names are Bill Cowher and Marty Shottenheimer.  Who else is out there?  Who could we bring in?  Who should we bring in?  

Let the coaching brainstorming begin...

Being as this is the eleventy-billionth A-Rod thread let me make this quick.  

We need to sign A-Rod so he doesn't go to LA.

Thoughts?

Well, in light of our recent suckitude, I thought I'd share some info on my fantasy team so I can make all of my fellow NN bloggers jealous.  

This team is just straight beastly:

QB: Tom Brady
RB: Joseph Addai
WR: Reggie Wayne
WR: Santonio Holmes
TE: Jeremey Shockey
RB/WR: Braylon Edwards
PK: Adam Vinatieri
D/ST: Baltimore

Bench: Minnesota Defense
       Joey Porter
       Derrick Ward
       Brandon Jacobs
       Nate Burleson
       Brian Leonard

Most of my bench has not been with me for this entire season.  I make many waiver moves to pick up whatever talent I need, but as you can see, my starting roster is pretty much stacked.

So is anyone jealous?

...you should be...

For a gold glove?

He has a paltry 2 errors in almost 1250 outfield innings.  Of course it is split up among the three positions, but he plays most of his games in RF.  A home RF that can be a pain in the arse for anyone that wanders near it. So does he have a chance?  Does he need more spectacular catches?

What are the best qualifiers for outfield gold glove?

in all sorts of ways.  And no matter how bad our team is, I will ALWAYS be proud to yell...

BEAT LA!!!

Hopefully this will make it easier for people to analyze and create potential options for this offseason.  You will find that I rounded some numbers off, to make this a little bit easier.

Salaries are obviously in Millions of dollars.

Name           '07 Salary  '08 Salary  '09 Salary

Barry Bonds       15.8
Barry Zito          10.0        14.5         18.5
Ray Durham        7.0          7.5
Pedro Feliz           5.1
Dave Roberts       5.0         6.5          6.5
Randy Winn         4.0          8.0          8.25
Omar Vizquel       4.0
Rich Aurilia          3.5          4.5
Bengie Molina      4.0          6.0          6.0
Mike Matheney     2.25        2.0*
Ryan Klesko        1.75
Steve Kline         1.75         1.75
Noah Lowry         1.12         2.25         4.5
Matt Cain              .4            .7           2.65
Kevin Correia        .4
Brad Hennessey    .4
Vinnie Chulk         .4
Eliezer Alfonzo      .4                      
Jack Taschner       .4
Jonathan Sanchez   .4
Kevin Frandsen      .4
Russ Ortiz            .4
Tim Lincecum        .4                      

Rajai Davis      
Patrick Misch

Armando Benitez    7.6
Mark Sweeney         .95
Matt Morris             9.5

-------------------------------------------------
Total                  ~87.0        57.7         46.4

Estimated
Discrepancy:          8.0

Pitching:
Starting                21.0      
Relieving              11.75

Lineup/Bench        54.25  

*Mike Matheney contract buyout in '08

The estimated discrepancy is about $8M and it is there because I heard the estimated payroll for this year is around $95M.  I don't know exactly what the $8M entails, but I am assuming it is for mostly minor leaguers, maybe even signing bonuses.  If anyone wants to add to this so that we have a better idea of exactly what the payroll is, I would greatly appreciate it.  I understand that 5.8M of Bonds' contract is deferred, although I do not know for what year, and I do not know if this counts against the lux-tax threshold.

With the way that Weaver has been pitching, they are going to feel the pain for not trading for Lowry or any other SP.  Considering that they have Jones and Balentien who are both ready to be promoted next year, and considering that they might only have one OF position open, it is very plausable that a trade can still be made.  Maybe not in the next month, but in the offseason.

So if Lowry continues to improve, or at least doesn't shit his pants like Morris did, is anyone still up for a SF-Seattle honeymoon in the offseason?

I figure if we can do a deal with Seattle, then we won't need to overpay for an outfielder, and that gives us even more room to bring in A-Rod.  

July: .294/.344/.645  with 7 HR.

When do we call this kid back up?