Tim Dierkes Interview

Tim Dierkes, of http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/, was kind enough to answer a few questions for myself for posting pleasure. So please do indulge and digest...

1. Interleague play is about to kick off, what are your overall thoughts of it? What is the best series this weekend?

I don't mind it. I think it's more for the kids though. At least, I was much more excited back in '97 when I was 15, seeing the Cubs play the White Sox in real games for the first time. I will vote for Mets/Yankees for this weekend, the whole Johan thing is intriguing.

2. About a quarter of the way through the season, Chipper Jones is hitting .418 so far, is it foolish to consider Jones a legitimate contender at .400 this season?

Kind of...the odds are terribly strong against him doing this. Although thinking about the odds takes the fun out of it. I would love to see it.

3. A recent trend in baseball has been to sign young players through their arbitration years, a la Ryan Braun, Scott Kazmir, Troy Tulowitzki, what are the benefits and drawbacks of this new trend?

The benefit is saving many millions of dollars and gaining cost certainty. The drawback is the fairly small risk of the player busting a la Eric Hinske or Angel Berroa.

4. President Bush said he would build his expansion team with Roy Halladay and Chase Utley, who would be your franchise pitcher and hitter?


My knee-jerk reaction was A-Rod or Pujols for the hitter. But considering Utley's age and position I will agree with Bush's pick. I would choose Brandon Webb as the franchise pitcher. He's young, durable, dominant.

5. What big names, in say 2 months from now, will be the hot names tossed around to be traded at the deadline?

A.J. Burnett, Kevin Millwood, Jon Rauch, Ken Griffey Jr., Adam Dunn, Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Garrett Atkins, Matt Holliday.

Thanks to Tim for his time and do comment below with some of your answers on the opinions.

Spygate: Annoying or Appropriate?

At the instant of writing this, I am losing credibility in my own mind of myself, if that makes sense? The topic of "Spygate" is starting to rival steroids in baseball. Both stories have gone on way to long, both have questioned the integrity of the game, and both will most likely continue on for the foreseeable future.

My question: Is this much attention given to "Spygate" annoying or appropriate?

The initial reaction and answer is...Annoying, but upon further review it is appropriate. It is annoying in the fact that everyone thought it was resolved when "Tough Guy" Commish Goodell took $750,000 and a draft pick from the Pats (Yes, I do think that was a light penalty, considering a QB coach in Dallas was suspended 4 games for using HGH, A COACH!, this coach is caught cheating in a game situation and loses 1 of TWO draft picks, and a petty fine, which the team paid most of).

Yes, it is annoying that NFL Live is broadcasting and for a half hour straight talking about this subject, when NHL Playoffs, NBA Playoffs, and multiple other sports stories are taking place.

However, there are some issues that need to be tackled linked with this situation. When Matt Walsh comes out and says, " When I was doing it, I understood what we were doing to be wrong. We went to great lengths to keep from being caught. Just saying that the rules were misinterpreted isn't enough of a, an apology or a reasoning for what was done. I mean, we live, you know, in a very forgiving nation, you know. People, if you come out and you admit a mistake you made or something you did that you shouldn't have done, people are usually very forgiving of that, accepting. When people try to get around answering it, or giving an explanation, or you know, admitting culpability, that’s usually when people start to question your motives".

..People start to get a little ticked off. Now shame on some newspapers citing that the Pats taped a pre-Super Bowl practice of the Rams, with no real evidence. However, I do call into question that if these tapes were going to be used for future use then why are they taping the sign of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who theoretically the Pats play once every 3 years and surely will alter signs? There was some resolution in the admittance by Walsh saying that he talked to quarterbacks, naming Drew Bledsoe, after the game and asked if the tapes were useful, citing a game against Tampa Bay.

Do other teams practice this same "strategy"? I am sure they do, and I am sure they have stopped as a result of seeing the backlash. But I do think there is a sense of appropriateness to this situation in the fact that it is cheating and with Matt Walsh admitting some newsworthy items, namely Belichick telling him not to get caught while taping, it may be worth some further investigation.

The situation with Senator Spector, I understand that he wants some clarity on the situation and links it to the Mitchell Report in baseball, and I applaud him for trying to find some resolution in this situation, but cheating and video taping is not a federal crime, as opposed to using steroids. I just wish that Goodell would not put a half-hearted effort into the situation, and act like the commissioner he promised to be, a la incidents with Pacman Jones, Chris Henry, Tank Johnson, etc.

An interesting quote I found on ProFootballTalk.com (great site for up to date news) by Senator Ted Kennedy (D - MA) courtesy of the Boston Globe, "With the war in Iraq raging on, gasoline prices closing in on $4 a gallon, and Americans losing their homes at record rates to foreclosure, the United States Senate should be focusing on the real problems that Americans are struggling with. I’m looking forward to another great Patriots season where they can let their play on the field speak for itself."

-Take it for what it's worth.

I would like to hear comments about this phenomena known as "Spygate" ...Annoying or Appropriate?

Do Comment Below, no need for an account to do so.