Forums > Contributor Zone > All I want for Christmas... 2008 Edition

Wow, it's turned into a Zelda-Metroid thread!

My thoughts (cause you KNOW you want em):

I see where people are coming from when they give Metroid a lower score than Zelda. Zelda was, overall, better designed. I would probably give Zelda an 8, myself. It holds up very well in modern times, but I can't STAND the last dungeon. Drives me frickin' crazy.

Metroid I would give a 6 or a 7. Certainly not a 3. But I do agree that it's more confusing, more boring, more back tracking, and has worse controls. So... maybe a 5, actually.

Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."

Guardians / Denjin Makai II

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You're not clever enough, DOGMAN. We all know you only showed up to gloat about C.C.

Well the Mets now have the guy with the most ninth inning appearances in games where his team leads by one to three runs. And Luis Castillo is an awesome second baseman. Seriously, he is totally going to try this year. Really. So bite me.

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Isn't this the same situation that the Mets are in every year? Their team gets better and better but the same results every year.

IF YOU WANT MORE BEATS FOR YOUR BUCK THERE'S NO LUCK.

Given the last 5-7 years' worth of overpriced Yankee pitcher signings, I'm pretty skeptical of what just happened re: CC.

That said, it's pretty safe to say that NYY cannot pull off what NYM has the last couple Septembers. Your team is truly prolific at making fans feel secure in mid-July and crushing their spirits with great swiftness

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The difference between the Yankees and Mets in the last few years is the Yankees are playing worse and actually getting worse. The Mets, on the other hand upgrade their team every year and still manage to collapse in September. I'm a big Yankees fan but like both teams and hope they both do well.

I'm also not too excited about CC, since big Yankee signings generally don't pay off (see: A-Rod). They used to have the best farm teams in the league (and probably still do, we just don't hear from them much anymore) and some of their best players are ones they got from there.

IF YOU WANT MORE BEATS FOR YOUR BUCK THERE'S NO LUCK.

We won't have any lamebrain baseball talk here.

"I'm also not too excited about CC, since big Yankee signings generally don't pay off (see: A-Rod)."

A-Rod joined the Yankees in 2004. In the five season since 2004, the Yankees have had only seven seasons where a starting pitcher has posted an ERA+ of 100 (league average) and pitched in at least 28 games.

Wang 2006 and 2007
Mussina 2006 and 2008
Pettite 2007
Wright 2006
Johnson 2005

Now let's look at how many such seasons there were from 1996 to 2000:

1996 - Pettite, Key, Rogers, Gooden
1997 - Pettite, Wells, Cone
1998 - Pettite, Wells, Cone, Irabu
1999 - Pettite, Cone, Clemens, Hernandez
2000 - Pettite, Clemens, Hernandez

So 18 compared to 7.

Wouldn't one think that has more to do with the Yankees recent lack of success than A-Rod, the guy who has won two MVP awards in the past five years and is statistically only behind Pujos for the best offensive player in baseball over that span? The fact that the Yankees haven't even had league average innings eaters?

Is there anyone the Yankees didn't sign because of A-Rod's contract and A-Rod contract alone (the answer is no)?

So let's keep myth from reality. A-Rod is a smart signing for any team not bound by a strict budget, and he has done nothing but help keep the franchise treading 90-win water longer than it should.

I'm not sure how the Mets upgrade every year unless you mean they "make a big off-season move" every year, which is undoubtedly true, for better or worse. Santana was a good move. Alou and Castillo were not. Wagner was a good move. Delgado (despite three good months last year, finally) and Lo Duca were not. Glavine was okay. Beltran was amazing (like A-Rod, a top ten player over the past five years). But I don't think upgrade is the right word if you're still constantly trotting out relics like Jose Valentin, Fernando Tatis, Orlando Hernandez and Damien Easley on a regular basis year in and year out. And over that time your original core (Piazza, Floyd, Martinez, Glavine) regressed and left.

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"I'm also not too excited about CC, since big Yankee signings generally don't pay off (see: A-Rod)."

...Oy. And you know who's really killing the Angels? Vlad Guererro. And the Tigers? Miguel Cabrera. Man they suck.

www.firejoemorgan.com

Read up.

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By upgrade I meant big off-season moves since you're right, they're not all upgrades.

I never blamed A-Rod for the Yankees lack of success. I was just trying to say most of their recent success (I'm talking 96-01) came from their farm teams, NOT from offseason signings. If they still have this farm team (I don't follow baseball as much as I used to but it couldn't have gotten too much worse) they should shift their focus back to bringing up stars rather than signing them. Of course they have signed big players in the past that have had positive impacts but they're at their best when that's not their focus. At least with CC they're focusing on pitching, though.

If I was GM of the Yankees I would nuke the whole team except for Jeter, Chamberlain, Rivera and Posada and rebuild from there.

IF YOU WANT MORE BEATS FOR YOUR BUCK THERE'S NO LUCK.

"If I was GM of the Yankees I would nuke the whole team except for Jeter, Chamberlain, Rivera and Posada and rebuild from there."

I positively bleed pinstripes, but this is insanity. Rivera is 38 years old. Jeter is 34 with declining offensive skills (let's not even get into how bad of a defensive SS he is because my heart can't take it). I don't think he'll ever again reach the level of his last really admirable offensive season (2006). Posada put up ridiculous numbers for a mid-30s catcher (catcher!) a couple seasons ago, but had 195 PAs last season -- why am I confident that a 36-37 year catcher is going to bounce back to even his personal average-level of productivity? Chamberlain you're obviously correct about.

So you want to build a team around Jeter, Posada, Rivera, and Chamberlain. J, P, and R should be starting their post-career reminiscing about the good old years on goofy ESPN Classic documentaries when Chamberlain is hitting his peak age 27-30 years. I understand the want for nurturing home-grown farm players, but the reality is that what the Yankees had '96-'01 is not perpetually sitting in their farm system, waiting for their time to shine. With your philosophy, you should be pinning your hopes to the emergence/health of Phil Hughes. Ian Kennedy I'm even less optimistic about.

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And in the interim, if I understand correctly, the Yankees have all but acquired A.J. Burnett. I feel decidedly Kevin Brown-ish about this (but hopefully it doesn't go THAT badly). I see numerous missed starts due to injury on the horizon.

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You can't get rid of Rivera; even though he has maybe two years left he's still one of the best in the game. Jeter and Posada (especially the former) are past their primes and not even that good anymore but are a tremendous presence in the clubhouse and mean a lot to the organization. I would start looking for replacements, though.

I think (hope) we can all agree that they need to start younger. Damon, Abreu, etc are decent offensive players but getting worse and worse and signing hitters past their primes is not making up for the lack of pitching. I'd rather them get younger players that are either in or haven't yet reached their primes and have a few rough seasons and then be on top again than struggle for the wild card every year. The Yankees won't be able to milk this current strategy much longer, since their team is only getting older and with the competitive AL east it will only be tougher and tougher to win 90+ games.

IF YOU WANT MORE BEATS FOR YOUR BUCK THERE'S NO LUCK.

You speak a lot about clubhouse presence. Maybe you frequent it, but if not, you're basing opinions on second-hand beat writer bullshit. Don't do that. To equate it to reviewing, it's as if I assume a game is better than it is because of the company that released it. Because the Konami label just has an intangible quality. They have good clubhouse programmers.

If Jeter and Posada and Rivera are tremendous clubhouse presences, why did nearly every Yankee youngster (Cabrera, Cano, and Kennedy in particular) have disappointing years? The point is "good clubhouse guys" are anointed after the fact for being on winning teams. You think the Yankees in the late 90s didn't have similar sideshows? Canseco, Fielder, Leyritz, Gooden, Strawberry, Irabu, Wells, Rogers... if the great clubhouse guys kept these bums on track, why can't they do it now?

Because most of it is sportswriter myth. It was a great clubhouse... after the fact. They won because of great pitching and having hitters that worked the count and got on base. Not because Scott Brosius talked about the kids with Chad Curtis and Wade Boggs ate a bucket of fried chicken before each game.

I'm not saying you dump Jeter, Posada and Rivera (you can't), but if you're rebuilding the Yankees and you decide to keep any 30-somethings, Alex Rodriguez is the first one. Because he's been the second best hitter in baseball over the past five years. Proceed from there.

Frankly, I think fixing the rotation with prime starting pitchers is a great first step, as long as they can stay healthy. Which you can't predict, but they don't have the parts to trade for more durable guys (like Peavy or Zambrano). And they're picking the right guys -- with as lousy a defense as they have, these strikeout pitchers are going to hide some flaws (whereas Jamie Moyer would not).

I also like adding Swisher for nothing. That's a smart bet. About the only thing I don't like that the Yankees did thus far was not offer Abreu and Pettite arbitration. Yes, they need to get younger, but it doesn't hurt at all to sign these guys to one year contracts at fair market value (because there's no one better internal or external, really) and when they decline arbitration (guaranteed for Abreu, maybe for Pettite) you get draft picks as compensation. It'd lessen the blow of losing so many picks for Sabathia and Burnett.

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Maybe you frequent it, but if not, you're basing opinions on second-hand beat writer bullshit.

Maybe not the clubhouse directly, but getting rid of Jeter, Posada, and Rivera would piss off most Yankees fans who have so much respect for what they've done, even if they are past their primes. As you know the media would be all over it and portray them as a bunch of heartless bastards like when Torre was basically forced to resign which could in return hurt the team. Starting in a new Stadium with little respect and the media out to get you can't be good for the team.

Frankly, I think fixing the rotation with prime starting pitchers is a great first step, as long as they can stay healthy.

Agreed

if you're rebuilding the Yankees and you decide to keep any 30-somethings, Alex Rodriguez is the first one. Because he's been the second best hitter in baseball over the past five years. Proceed from there.

I see what you're saying and that's a valid point although I disagree with you. I just don't think any player in the league is worth 28 million or whatever he's making per year. Even Jeter is making at least three times more than he deserves but as GM I just wouldn't be able to get rid of him (it would be tough to get rid of A-Rod with his high salary as well but I'd rather he go and never wanted him in the first place). Plus his contract expires in 2010 if I'm correct which isn't too far away.

Yes, they need to get younger, but it doesn't hurt at all to sign these guys to one year contracts at fair market value

They could keep on doing that and signing older players (in the NBA the Celtics did that a year ago and won the finals so it obviously can work) but I'd rather start over and begin another dynasty again. However I do agree about Pettite and am neutral over Abreu.

IF YOU WANT MORE BEATS FOR YOUR BUCK THERE'S NO LUCK.

Jeter and Rivera are not actually going anywhere, so you need not worry about pissing any fans off. Of course, the unavailability of some all-star replacement simplifies the problem for us. It's not like the Yanks could easily acquire Hanley Ramirez right now (oh, how I wish).

But your staunch refusal to admit A-Rod is the stalwart who has kept these recent Yanks teams from being even worse than they are puzzles me. Who would otherwise have been the 3B over that period? Aaron Boone? Would he have been 2-time MVP in the last 5 years? Putting up, without fail, .280+, 35+, 110-140+, .400+?

Please refrain from using the words "clutch" or "intangible" in your answer.

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What the hell happened to this topic?

I can avoid death by not having a life.

I DON'T KNOW JEREC but it needs ENDING!

Note to gamers: when someone shoots you in the face, they aren't "gay." They are "psychopathic."

This is my topic about my shitty contest no one is going to write for so I'll lead it where I wish.

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Hey, hey, now. Never say never. =D

[Eating EmP's brain] probably isn't a good idea. I mean... He's British, which means his brain's wired for PAL and your eyes are NTSC. - Will

But your staunch refusal to admit A-Rod is the stalwart who has kept these recent Yanks teams from being even worse than they are puzzles me.

A-Rod is one of the greatest players in the game today, without a doubt. The Yankees are much better off with him than without him, I don't think anyone would argue there. With that being said, unless he's hitting .400 with 80 home runs or winning 25+ games with an ERA of less than one I don't think anyone is worth $28 million per year. Yes, I would much rather that money be spent on maybe two solid starting pitchers and a solid hitter/fielder or two. With the Yankees payroll A-Rod's contract is nothing but overall for 28 million per year I am disappointed.

IF YOU WANT MORE BEATS FOR YOUR BUCK THERE'S NO LUCK.

If you're the Yankees you don't have to make choices between paying A-Rod 28 million or signing two starting pitchers, etc. You do both. This isn't a one or the other situation.

You could use that 28 million to buy more wins... maybe. The going rate is about 5 million per win a player adds to the team in the free agent market. See some articles on FanGraphs. The five years ARod was with the Yankees he was worth: 3.2, 6.7, 3.4, 7, and 4.1 wins to them offensively. On average, he's added 4.88 wins above an average third basemen per year. This doesn't include positional or defensive adjustments, but A-Rod has been almost worth his contract, believe it or not (4.8wins*5mil/win= 24 million per year market value). So the Yankees are overpaying a little, but there's also only 25 spots on the roster and only so many at-bats to go around, and condensing four wins above league average production into one player at a premium position might be worth a few extra dollars.

Fiscally, A-Rod makes sense for them, because their payroll bound is just north of 200 million. If you're the Brewers or Marlins, you value wins differently. Teams like that are non-factors in the free agent market because they can't afford market rates -- they need to look at cheaper alternatives, find inefficiencies and grow their own talent. The Yankees can benefit by doing the same, but they can also afford market rates, so why limit your options? Why not have A-Rod and find your market inefficiencies (like Swisher, who had a bad luck BABIP last year and was worth zilch in a flooded all-bat, no-field FA outfield market) too?

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This is my topic about my shitty contest no one is going to write for so I'll lead it where I wish.

Actually, I can guarantee I'll have either one or two reviews for this one!

I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle

Dear Satan, for Christmas I would like:

Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall (PC)
Secret of the Silver Blades (any version)
Any good review for an Apple II game
Super Punch-Out!! (SNES)
Dead of the Brain 1&2 (Turbo CD)
Dragon Knight & Graffiti (Turbo CD)
Any import review by Zigfried

Oh, and NO BASEBALL.

Sho
All that did was remind me that at some time, I really have to get back to Curse of the Azure Bonds and resume trying to beat that game, so I can move on to Secret of the Silver Blade.

Gold Box stuff is fun as hell, but damn, it can get brutally tough. I think I threw in the towel on CotAB after coming across some room loaded with various Drow who tended to get in a few Hold Person spells on me to ensure death on my party members.

I'm not afraid to die because I am invincible
Viva la muerte, that's my goddamn principle

I would like a review for Doki Doki Majo Saiban on DS.

_