[Note by VanRam, 04/23/11 8:26 PM EDT ] Promoted for your reading pleasure...

Gil Brandt, the godfather of modern day scouting and drafting once said that he would add the raw totals of a players bench press, broad jump and vertical jump to measure their explosiveness. He went on to say that any number over 70 (example: 30 reps on the bench, vertical of 30 and 10 foot broad jump)  indicates a player is explosive and this is important in the battle in the trenches or moving people back. Football is a game of 11 one-on-one battles and if can have just a momentary edge due to that explosiveness that could be a difference maker. With that said here are this years members of the +70 club and their projected rounds they will be picked.

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Jayson Stark is saying that according to two clubs, Adrian Beltre will decide by Thursday (this or next, I don't know). If true this could make sense in light of the Takahashi signing. Possibly Ninja and Arte could have cut bait on Soriano and got another bullpen arm because they are close with Beltre. This could make the addition of Beltre  and Crawford more realistic with spending less on Takahashi. The stove is warming up!

I was just on mlbtraderumors.com and there was an interesting story about the possibility of Russell Martin being traded by the Doyers. It was mentioned that the Red Sox have had previous interest in him and it got my wheels spinning in my head. Imagine this nightmare scenario:

1) the Dodgers trade martin with a prospect(s) to bawston for Jacoby Ellsbury

2) the sux sign Carl Crawford to play left.

Then there we are again standing on the sidelines like a bunch of putzes scratching our heads trying to figure out what happened. As payback we'll probably overpay for Beltre as a way to "stick-it-to-them" while they move Kevin Youkilis to third and probably get Adrian Gonzalez. I hope this doesn't happen but the writing might be on the wall.

glazer is usually pretty damn good so i trust his info.he's saying that dallas is dangling; carpenter, hurd, crayton, & spears, jax has henderson available & the saints has jamal brown available. my take, carpenter (pass-to soft), hurd (kick the tires), crayton (for a low round pick, he's on the wrong side of 30), spears (for the right price), henderson (pass-too many city miles) & brown (give them a pick or picks for him). 

back in 2004 the chargers had the 1st overall pick and the giants had the 4th overall pick. that is the same positions the rams and skins find themselves. the chargers ended up getting the giants 1st round in 04/4th overall (rivers), their 1st round pick the following year (used the pick for merriman), the giants 3rd round pick in 04 (used for kaeding) and a player (roman oben). this seems pretty fair to use as a comp. for us and the skins if we pull of a trade and that trade worked out pretty well for both teams. in review we would swap 1st rounders, pick up their 1st rounder next year, 3rd rounder this year (or comparable value picks), and a useful player who can contribute immediately.

On mlbtraderumors.com is a report that Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman dumped API as his representation and is now represented by the Hendricks Brothers who Kendry Morales recently defected and jumped ship to as his new representation. What does this mean? Probably nothing but this is the kind of story that keeps us warm during the hot stove league. Did API (who doesn't have another baseball or maybe even athlete as a client) rub too many teams the wrong way with their demands?

in the spirit of the approaching mlb trade deadline i got to thinking, "what was the worst trade i ever made?" it has to be hands down when i traded a hank aaron autographed baseball for a pete rose autographed baseball. now mind you this was before charlie hustle  got bounced from the league and his income was dependent on autograph signings. 

so what are some of your worst trades you ever made. it could be baseball cards, computers, cars, whatever. wife swapping may be a bit personal for this thread.

got bored and wondered which current mlb pitchers who where angels in the recent past could help us now? considering we have a big question mark for our #5 starter and a black hole for our 8th inning set-up role (arredondo may solve this), the acquisition of an arm would be helpful. let's take a walk down memory lane and see who could help us out;

starters

john garland (zona)- his #'s aren't great but he could be better than the three headed monster of palmer, o'sullivan and loux. he does have a 2.5 mill. buyout for 2010

bartolo colon (wsox)- he's on the dl right now but i could be crazy but i could see him as an 8th inning guy at this point in his career, give him ball (hopefully he won't eat it) and let it rip for one inning

jeff weaver (dodgers)- don't laugh his #'s aren't half bad and he could spot start or corrupt the bullpen

jarod wahburn (seattle)- the mariners are still in it but if they decide to sell and the price is decent, we'd have to kick the tires plus he's a free agent after the season.

relievers

kevin gregg (cubs)- the cubbies are still contending but i think he'd be a great pick-up if they fell apart especially since he probably not going to be re-signed by chi-town.

bobby jenks (wsox)- due to get a big raise next year and don't see us adding his salary along w/the $ already on the hook for fuentes

brendan donnelly (marlins), joel peralta (kc), troy percival (rays)- either hurt or not that much of an upgrade over the jepsen, bulger, speier dreck.

jc romero (philly) & scott schoenweiss (zona)- bad attitudes and not any better than oliver

krod (mets)- not a chance

we're almost to the halfway point of the season and it looks like we're hitting out stride. taking this opportunity to examine and compare what we lost over the off-season and what we replaced it with. i want to focus on 1b and lf, big tex and ga.

what we lost:      tex .276  20hr  60 rbi (20.0 mill)     ga .284 4 hr  27 rbi (2.5 mill)  total: .280   24 hr 87 rbi

what we have:   kmo .280  13hr  41 rbi  (600k)    rivers .307 13 hr 43 rbi (3.25 mill)  total: .293 26 hr 84 rbi

granted ga was injured which i think further validates letting him walk (durability issues) and tex is the beneficiary of hitting in a wind tunnel for half his games. also consider the salary implications, tex and ga 22.5 mill compared to kendry, rivera, abreu & fuentes 17.35 mill.

an interesting observation about the bees game tonight. brandon wood is starting @1b w/matt brown @3b. brown @3rd isn't unusual but wood at 1st is pretty odd. could this be foreshadowing a potential roster move. my guess is that ninja wants to see if wood could play first in a pinch then quinlan could be swapped for an expiring contract of a bullpen arm w/quinny being a free agent after this season.

the death of nick adenhart has been something that all of us are wrestling with and are grieving in our own way. he will NEVER be forgotten or replaced and his memory should be held in the highest regards by all of here at halos heaven and the extended angel family and fans whether they are casual or religious followers to this game all of know and love. i've been so touched by how all of us have come together through this tragedy but it might make us all feel better to start busting each other's balls and ripping on the competition again.

here goes:  vlad scares the liviing  crap out me on the basepaths

what was up with figgy's little bitch tantrum after kendry didn't dig that ball  out of the dirt?

how long before we regret letting krod go?

(tongue firmly in cheek) now come on all you pansy ass, self righteous twits tag your it....