My wife informed me last night that if the Tribe goes 161-1 on the season she'll buy me a new 911 Turbo on October 2nd.

With the way the offense and starting pitching is performing, her proclamation has me pondering exterior colors, interior colors, whether I should break her bank and get the optional $13,000 ceramic brakes, etc.

GO TRIBE!!

;^)

I have a close friend who is firmly entrenched in the 'Dolan is Cheap'® crowd.  No matter what I say about the promise of the 2006 Tribe, no matter how much I extol the virtues of the talented core of players Shapiro has amassed, the retort is the same:

If Dolan had just signed Thome, Millwood, Howry, and a serious right-handed bat, the Tribe would be a 'true contender'.  Dick Jacobs made moves like that in the late 90's and the Dolans should do it now.  By failing to spend that extra cash, Dolan has doomed the Tribe to ~75-85 wins with little to no chance of getting into the post season.  Dolan is cheap.  I hate that @$#%'ing guy.

While I agree somewhat about Howry, the Millwood contract strikes me as a VERY risky prospect for the Rangers.  I also expect Shapiro to deliver on another key player in the $5-10 million range as promised.  My friend laughs at my optimism.

He is also convinced that as the contracts for the core players increase, and the total payroll increases in kind, that Dolan will trade away these guys for prospects just to keep payroll low.  Ouch.

I guess I'm looking for some other arguments to help me out though I honestly think my buddy is a lost cause unless the Tribe manages to win the division.  To his credit, he really hopes to be wrong.