Don't bother. A judge threw out Comcast's suit against Angelos and MASN for the second time a couple days ago, as Comcast failed to present any new information following the first dismissal of their case. MASN is good for everyone - Angelos and the Orioles mostly, but even the Expos get a little out of it. Not a lot, mind you, but something. Washington does deserve TV, and this gives it to them, which is something Comcast didn't seem prepared to offer anytime soon. So, in short, screw Comcast. Also their cable service stinks.
Ken Griffey, Jr. and Jason Giambi won the Comeback Player of the Year awards, which is fair enough I'd say. Giambi had a hell of a year that a lot of people seem reluctant to give him credit for. A .440 OBP is a .440 OBP, and he proved he's still got the old power. As for Griffey, I've always liked him, and I'm happy he found his stroke and stayed healthy this year. Good for him.
If you didn't hear, the Devil Rays have basically been blown up. Just absolutely decimated. Founding owner Vince Naimoli has sold the majority of the team to Stuart Sternberg, a New York investor. Naimoli retains 15 percent ownership and will be chairman of the franchise.
Gone are GM Chuck LaMar, manager Lou Piniella, assistant GM Scott Proefrock and player personnel director (and former awful Pirates GM) Cam Bonifay.
Maybe now the Rays will have an owner willing to spend a dime on something other than a PR move to bring in a proven winner of a manager, or signing some washed-up former star that isn't going to make any difference for them. Maybe now they'll get a real GM. Maybe they'll start mixing youth with good veteran players, something that I think could make Tampa Bay dangerous because they have some good young players. It's not as though they're completely untalented, it's just never come together.
Maybe now the Devil Rays can escape the cellar without injuries pushing Toronto down there. And maybe now the Orioles are in even more trouble if they don't start fielding real teams.
Naimoli and LaMar were at the helm of a pretty disastrous first eight seasons. Basically, the D-Rays have been an expansion franchise since day one, never really climbing above that level. They are a pitiful franchise. I don't mean this to be offensive to D-Rays fans, because they really do mostly seem like good, rational people, but seriously, what a complete train wreck they've been.
I don't want Tampa Bay to fail, because I wouldn't mind having more competition in the AL East sometime than just having New York and Boston duke it out. But I am fearful for the Orioles if the Rays really do get the ship righted. Someone's got to finish in last place, and considering the Orioles haven't had a winning season since Tampa Bay has existed, it worries me that that someone could be Baltimore.
Yes, my talking about the Devil Rays has turned into another one of my desperate pleas for the Orioles to get in the damn game already. New York and Boston are always going to give themselves a chance to win for the foreseeable future, Toronto is ready to start spending money (and has a nice core of players to start with), and now Tampa Bay has done away with every one of the inept dumbells that were running the team. Angelos better really have a plan of attack for not only this offseason but for the next few years, and it better work. Losing every year is one thing, but the O's have never finished in last place. You start finishing last routinely, and people just give up. I think there's a difference in "I root for a losing team" and "I root for a last-place team." It's maybe a subtle difference, but it's a difference.
Somewhere in there I had a point, and I think it might have gotten across. I need an editor. Or I just need sleep.