On the private jet with SNB914

1. Since you're a new face to my interviews, describe yourself. Give us some juicy information.

I really don't have much to hide. I'm 23 and I live a half hour north of New York City in a small village called Bronxville. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is from my town and was born and raised here. I actually ran into him on the street a couple weeks ago.

I went to McDaniel College in Maryland for a little more than 2 years before a couple stupid pot possession arrests did me in. Nothing happened at all in court, but the school ran out of patience with me and I got suspended. My parents didn't want me going back there and I completely understood and agreed with them.

I wanna finish school, but because I have like one year to go and with each college having its own unique senior program, plus the fact that my parents have already paid off the loans, my situation is both unique and difficult. My sisters are growing up and will soon to be off to college themselves and in this recession, the money just isn't there. It sucks, but I'm trying to do what I can to get by.

Since then, I've become devoted to writing sports articles for Bleacher Report in hopes of one day becoming an actual beat writer for a professional sports team, preferably in baseball or the NFL.

Other than that, I'm an avid online gamer and a diehard Mets and New York football Giants fan.

Good luck to you! Best answer to one of the these questions yet.[/color]

2. So this past season you finally broke into the playoffs, only to be swept by the Phillies. What were your thoughts going in? And after?

I seriously thought I had a chance with Philly. Obviously, pitching is most important generally speaking in the postseason, but with my lineup hitting the way it was, led by Walker's amazing second half, I thought I had a chance to out-hit and out-score Philly. But as it turned out, it was not meant to be and Philly's team really impressed me in that series. I knew his pitching was great going in, but I didn't think my own pitchers (Hillman in particular) would have gotten shelled as bad as they did. Philly earned it fair and square and there isn't much more to say.

Pitching wins in the playoffs. Always will.[/color]

3. Not really going to beat around the bush, your team is old and expensive. You're losing money fast. Many people have claimed you are stubborn with your "Blake Street Bombers." Say what you will about the success of your offense, but it hasn't translated to postseason success. Isn't it time to make a change? Why keep trucking along the same road?

For one, my team is on the old side, but they're all not like really old. I personally consider "old" to be age 35+. 32-34 is aging to me, but 35+ is what I consider old.

Obviously, I made some mistakes financially with my payroll. I made it a lot more bloated than it should have ever been. What killed me though was the 96-97 offseason when I overpaid for a few too many starting pitchers. And of course, after they all signed, no one else had interest in them. I was basically stuck with them, but couldn't put anyone in waivers because my minor league system blows and has been shitty since day 1.

As for being stubborn with the Blake Street Bombers, I would slightly disagree because I did trade Galarragga to the Red Sox for McGwire, among others. I felt Galarragga was aging and I never had any plans to re-sign him after his current contract, so I wanted more long-term stability at first base, which I have in Big Mac.

Burks is a different issue. I would have loved to have given him an extension, but he rejected my $10.3 million offer and I was done. I knew I couldn't afford to pay 15+ for him, and he's almost 35 so I had to choose between extending him or extending Walker or even Bichette as well. Obviously, I made the right choice with the latter, so it was just Burks' time to go.

Walker, Bichette and Castilla of course are all still here. Bichette would be the only one I'd consider moving, but right now, it would make no sense because I already need another outfielder and my top offensive prospect, Derrick Gibson is still at least one year away from being called up. I like Bichette and I will try to keep him as cheaply as possible because he's already 33, but despite the noticeable drop in power last season, he's still a very productive player.

Castilla I feel is the best overall third baseman in the entire league. He is obviously an amazing hitter and his defense is very good too. I don't really see a point in trading Castilla for mediocre prospects that would never replace him to the same degree down the road.

And finally, Walker is a dime a dozen. He has been the best position player in the entire league for 3 seasons and counting. I love having him. He singlehandedly rakes in large amounts of board cash for me, so his stats and the board cash are an easy win-win for me. If I were to ever trade him right now, I would literally ask the world for him. I'm talking 4 or 5 1st round picks, in addition to solid major league talent. Obviously, that sounds outrageous, but goes to show how much I value him.

The one thing you all seem to overlook is loyalty. I have loyalty with the players I care for. For me to see Walker or Castilla in another uniform here would honestly make me very uncomfortable. Sometimes, you just have to listen to your heart and I feel I'd be doing the Rockies a disservice to not have either or both in Colorado. I feel my fan ratings would instantly plummet to the worst in the entire league and it would take a long time for me to find a new direction to go in.

Yes, obviously I need to start putting together a better pitching staff in the long run, but my team plays at Coors Field, which is a hitter's paradise and I have to build around my stadium. If this team was elsewhere, I'd be doing things differently, but it is what it is.

All in all, I do want to make changes and I feel I need to now. I tasted success, but I don't have all the money in the world to keep my current roster intact the way it is. I got a lot of salary coming off the books after 99 and I'm honestly starting to think about tanking hard in 2000. But I would have only 1 reason to do that and that would be to draft a certain someone in 2001. Now for him, I would trade away just about everyone I have. However, if I tank hard in 2000 and am not able to draft my guy, then 2000 will have been a complete waste.

Finally, I feel that the competition overall in the National League is weak. The Giants and Astros in my opinion are the teams to beat in the NL this year. Philly is gonna be very good again. But besides that, I feel like my Rockies can do better than any other team in the NL. The Braves and possibly the Cubs (if Play actually lives up to his word this time) could give me some trouble, but I'm not too concerned with the Dodgers, who seem to want to start rebuilding. Everyone else is either rebuilding or not a team I'm concerned of. So yeah, I believe the NL is weak enough that I could still win the Wild Card again despite possibly having a worse team this year.

I'd say competition is down, but the NL is a future powerhouse for sure. One hell of an answer though.[/color]

4. You are in a very competitive division. The defending World Champ Giants, and the Dodgers are always close by. How do you feel about your chances this year in your division?

Obviously the Giants are the team to beat in my division. There is no question about that. They got a solid lineup, and a great pitching staff led by reigning Cy Young Award winner John Smiley. They got Glavine too and I never knew Rogers and Soderstrom would be as good as they are. That's an amazing rotation.

Their bullpen is just as good with Rod Beck closing it out. If I played in a more neutral stadium, I feel I could give the Giants a run for their money, but I'm at Coors Field, so my pitching obviously would never have a shot in competing with the Giants' pitching.

I don't know exactly what to think of the Dodgers. Greg seems like he wants to rebuild, yet still compete. I mean come on now, make up your mind! His pitching is comparable to mine or possibly better, but he would need another great bat or 2 to really make a run at the Wild Card, which is what I will be shooting for once again. With Habes continuing his rebuild, the Dodgers look to be in 3rd place again this year. But if they do better than the Rockies, it wouldn't surprise me that much because his team does have some potential.

Yeah probably another repeat year for the NL West.[/color]

5. To ride the coattails of the previous questions, what are your plans this season? You've appeared to go into salary shed mode with Walker being an impending FA. You've seemingly lost Burks to FA. You traded away Galarraga last season. Give us a little insight on the Rockies plans this season.

First off, again, I wouldn't say I "lost" Burks to free agency. I chose to not give him an extension because his demands were too high at his age and his stats declined noticeably as well. I didn't feel he was worth $15+ million per season and his exact demands were vague. He never give any numbers. Apparently, Burks didn't wanna stay in Colorado in the first place, so it was his time to go.

Walker is by far my top priority, but I now have more than enough extension money to give him every dollar he wants, which I will. He's staying in Colorado for good and that's that. If I'm unable to draft that certain someone I want in the 2001 draft though, that would be the only instance in which I would ever consider dealing Walker.

Once I take care of Walker, I will move onto Bichette. Bichette is older and he has declined a bit, but I feel he is worth more for me than on the open market. Unlike Walker, I will not overpay for Bichette. I was thinking of trading him this offseason, but I already need another outfielder to replace Burks, so trading Bichette wouldn't make sense.

I feel I got an upgrade in McGwire over Galarragga, who is a bit younger and under control for another 4 seasons. I'm very happy I made that trade and I'm looking forward to another big year from Big Mac.

My plans for this 1999 season are to compete again and defend the Wild Card. Winning my division would be a big bonus, but the Giants are stacked in all areas and with the way the division has ended up from 96-98, my chances of overtaking the Giants are not that high. Of course, some injuries and bad PD's could make this all a different story, but none of that shit can be accurately predicted.

Again, I want to ride out the 99 season, but I might tank in 2000 to get that high 2001 draft pick that I really want badly.

I don't think riding it out will work for anything other than some pretty offensive numbers, but we'll see.[/color]



6. What is your opinion on the league so far? Any suggestions?

This league has been a blast. It's been a lot of fun. It's a great way to keep busy with the fact that I honestly have too much free time on my hands. As an online gamer, I need a main game to play, which I have in Shot Online, but I also a legit activity to do on the side. That is what BBSBL is for me.

I really like every single person in this league. There is not 1 person that I honestly don't like. Obviously, I've known Break, D-Rowe and Stutter for a few years, but I'm glad to have gotten to know the rest of you because the constant and consistent activity in this league is exciting and it makes the whole experience that much more fun.

Sure, I wish a few more people would post more often and get their opinions heard more, but that's their choice and people can only control themselves.

I can't really think of too many suggestions at the moment, but if and when I do, I will certainly let everyone know.

Lots of fun personalities in this league for sure. Some ornery folk indeed, but fun nonetheless.[/color]

7. Let's assume Giants take the division again, and you're competing for the wildcard. Which three teams are your main competition and why?

As I already stated, the Braves, Cubs and Dodgers would most likely be my main competition.

The Braves have been on my tail the last 2 seasons. They barely got past the Rockies in 97, but my guys finally prevailed in 98. Despite dealing Glavine and Smoltz, among others, they still have Maddux and other good pitchers. Plus, Chipper has emerged as a star and Ryan Klesko has certainly exceeded my expectations in this league. I think trading Andruw Jones away will hurt them in the long run, but they will compete. There's no doubt about that.

The Cubs are an interesting case. Play said they'd be legit in 98, but they weren't. Now he is saying they are the team to beat this season, but I'm still waiting for the actual results to occur. The Astros are too stacked to not win the NL Central again. They got the best lineup in the game (or 2nd best...the White Sox might have something to say about that) and their pitching is very solid as well. But the Cubs obviously have a very young and legit rotation and an improving lineup that will only get better. I don't think this will be Play's year yet, but he is on the way up and the Cubs will be a dangerous contender by at least 2000, if not 2001.

The Dodgers again could go either way for me. They could try to tank for once, or they could somehow stick around like they did in 98. I was honestly surprised they were still in the mix last September. They'll be up there again this year unless they tank, but if Greg wants to get past me, he will have to make 1 or 2 big trades to do so. Good luck with that!

Dodgers will be more of a pest than anything. Play needs to make more moves to get there, but unfortunately so do you. At best you're another first round sweep waiting to happen.[/color]

8. Give me the top 5 most valuable players in the league and why.

I'd love to say Walker is #1 and in most situations, he would be, but the season that Todd Helton had made it official that Helton has reached his full potential and is here to stay. Due to his age and the amazing average he had, he is the #1 most valuable player in this league right now.

I would honestly put Walker at 2 because no one has had better numbers the last three seasons than him. He has done everything for me and the Rockies. He has hit, drawn walks, hit home runs, driven in runs, stolen bases, scored run, thrown out runners from right field and the board cash he has helped me earn speaks for itself. Walker is only 32 and I feel he can still rake for at least another 3-4 years at a very high level.

In no particular order, the other 3 players in my top 5 would be Manny Ramirez, Ken Griffey Jr. and Vladimir Guerrero. Manny is an unbelievable hitter and could really put up some crooked numbers in Boston for the next decade or longer. Griffey is the best all-around outfielder in the American League and his hitting and defense combination is one of a kind. Like Manny, Vlad is gonna be a monster for a very long time and he is a special young talent that could carry to a team to a World Series title in any given season.

9. Who is your favorite player in real life? And if he's in the league/coming to the league, what would you give for him?

Ok I guess I have no choice but to spill the beans now. Mike Piazza was my favorite player of all time. And I was sad to see him sign that huge contract with the Astros. But there is one way I can redeem myself for that. And with Jose Reyes having recently been drafted by the Twins, there is only one player I'm focused on in the upcoming drafts.

David Allen Wright

He is the only player I'd give up Walker for. Heck, I'd move Walker, Castilla and at least 3-4 years of 1st 2nd and 3rd round picks to have Wright, if I'm unable to draft him. Once the Blake Street Bomber era ends, the David Wright era will begin and I will do whatever it takes to get him. I won't care what the asking price is because I will throw away everything I have to get him.

A lot of hitters would probably be #1 numbers in Coors Field.[/color]



10. Who are your top 5 GMs and why? Your top 5 posters and why?

Top 5 GM's (in no particular order):

- Erbes...He's the commish, has done an excellent job running the league, and outside of the #frosted bullshit, he's been a great guy to interact with. His efforts toward running this league are unmatched and the overall commitment to having a successful league starts at the top and he has set quite the example.

- Steve...Erbes may be the commish and what not, but if it weren't for Steve, some of the features in this league may not have been possible. As our OOTP guru, Steve has done quite a great job himself with helping with files, getting the CATO Base together and co-running the drafts. His humor is legit at times, and he's just a great member of this community and someone we all can depend on to do sims if Erbes is unable to or help with other issues that other GM's may have.

- Play...If anyone can match Erbes' efforts with running this league and putting a lot of time into making BBSBL as successful as it has, it would easily be Play. Play does spend a shit load of time on this forum (I'm not knocking him on it at all because I spend quite a large amount of each day here myself), but everything he has done with keeping this league in order and co-running the draft with Steve has been great to see. Play truly cares a lot about this league being fun and successful. As someone who has moderated online forums in the past and did a lot for MLBDH when it existed, it makes me happy to see how much Play goes out of his way to do what he does here.

- Break...I know Break outside of this league, so my view of him is obviously different than that of most others. But as I have seen in the past, Break is another person that will go out of his way to make this league better. He has done a great job with the bank and helping me with the annual awards. Break and I are also going to be starting up the BBSBL 3 Hall of Fame soon, so that will be fun to do as well. I'm very glad Break got me involved in this league and it has been a great experience up in here for me since day 1.

- Ashes...Ashes is another guy that really puts a lot of effort into this league, despite the fact he apparently doesn't give a shit about real life baseball. Like Break, Ashes has done a great job with the bank, and the fact that he goes to school full time, works 50+ hours a week and still has a shit load of time to run the bank is just amazing. Big props to him for successfully managing all that. He deserves a legit vacation for himself soon. Sure, he complains a bit too much about PD hits sometimes, but he has certainly made the Marlins more fun to follow here than ever in reality.

- I know this is a top 5, but I gotta give an honorable mention to Broph. Despite some of the PD hit complaining he sometimes does himself, he is certainly one of the most outspoken people in the league, but is also one of the more fair people as well. He's yet another great member of this league and someone I view as more or less of a hybrid between Play and Ashes. That probably doesn't make a lot of sense, but Broph from what I've seen shares characteristics of both Play and Ashes, two people I respect a lot. With that being said, I got a lot of respect for Broph as well.

Top 5 Posters (in no particular order):

I think I basically summed this up in the roundtable I hosted before, but here we go again.

- Styro...Styro is one of the most entertaining people here for sure. Great sense of humor, speaks his mind and doesn't bullshit with people. Sometimes his trolling remarks towards myself will still annoy me slightly, but I don't take him seriously with that shit at all. He's a good guy here and is never afraid to make his opinions heard.

- Break...As I stated before, Break doesn't have the greatest sense of humor in the world, but his rages can be entertaining more often than not due to the subject matter. He's still on the conspiracy shit with Erbes and thinking that anything bad that happens to him only occurs because Erbes is the Yankees and wants to fuck over the Red Sox. It's funny and what not, but I see where he's coming from too. He has honestly mellowed out a bit, but whenever something does not go his way, his posts are always a must read.

- Big Buhner...Big Buhner at times seems like he tries too hard to be funny, but when he uses just the right amount of effort, his posts usually are funny. I'm not sure if I'd want him being drunk all the time while posting tho...seems like he's an angry drunk when he drinks. Besides that though, he's got a great sense of humor and makes the forums more lively when he is around.

- Waldo...Nothing has changed with Waldo. He's still acting goofy a lot, but still in a very entertaining way. He is still searching the entire YouTube site for more random videos to post, which are always unique in their own ways. I really have no idea if he's a complete pothead or if he really acts like that all the time, but he's a great member of this community and can always give us something to laugh about when we need it. At times, it's somewhat necessary.

- James...James doesn't post all too much generally speaking and stole the Mets from me before I got a chance to choose, but when he's been here, I have always enjoyed reading what he has to say. The last post pad session was when I got to see James at his best and it made the dull process of post padding more entertaining for sure.

- Honorable mention to Game...Game of course is another one of the more entertaining members of this league, and has me literally laugh my ass off at times. If he could only post a little more often, he could reach his full potential and get a lot on higher on my list.

Lol at game[/color]

11. If you could switch teams with anyone in the league, which team would it be and why?

Back then, I would have said the Mets because that's my team and playing with the players I grew up watching would have been a lot of fun, but right now, I wouldn't want them as much. It has nothing to do with the fact that the Mets have yet to have a winning record in this league. All the guys I grew up cheering for on the Mets are gone. Alfonzo, Franco, Gilkey, Huskey, Hundley, Bobby Jones, the list goes on. Ironically, I have Alfonzo and Franco now, which somewhat satisfies my loss on the Mets. Had I picked the Mets before James though, that team would certainly be looking different now because I would have probably played favorites and kept the guys I liked in real life.

At this point, the team I'd enjoy playing with the most would be the Astros. They have not only Piazza, but a star studded lineup that includes, Bagwell, Biggio, Burnitz, O'Neill, Canseco and Carlos Guillen. You know your lineup is in excellent shape if Derek Bell is on the bench full time. His rotation is very solid and underrated to be honest with Reynolds and Hampton leading the way. Wagner is a great closer that I always liked and it would just be a lot of fun to manage all those stars I like a lot and grew up watching.

Astros are very good, but just never seem to get the job done. I think this season will be no different.[/color]



12. How do you feel about the rule changes? Any specific opinions on any of them? Any other rules you feel need tweaking?

I like all the new rule changes that Erbes just made. The improvements in board cash payouts for articles and all that are awesome! A lot of people think it's difficult to accumulate board cash, but I personally find it easy and not just because of the Player of the Week and Batter of the Month shit.

If you apply yourself to this league, write articles, participate in all events and help out in any way possible, you will benefit a lot. It's obvious that if you care and make efforts toward staying active and helping out, you will get rewarded for it. All you need to do is take advantage and you'll be able to a bunch of increases like I have.

13. Describe how devastated you'd be should Walker choose to test the market. How much money do you think he'll command from your or another team?

It's not something that is on my mind at all. I haven't spent one second thinking about that until now because I plan to offer the world to Walker. If he wants $20 million a season, he can have it. If he wants even more, he can. He has earned every penny he will get. Based on all the success he has had at Coors Field, I couldn't possibly see him wanting to play elsewhere. Then again, crazier things have happened...

I predict I will be paying him between $18-20 million a season, and I wouldn't be surprised if it gets as high as $25 million. I'd consider $15 million to be a discount for him. If he gets on the open market, forget it. He will ask for even more without a doubt.

Walker is going to be the most overpaid player in the league.[/color]

14. You know I have to grill you on this one. Todd Helton. Why on earth did you trade this beast? Your pitching is mediocre, at best, and that was the centerpiece of what you got. Guzman and Hentgen. And you added a 1st to Helton! What were you thinking man!

He certainly is a beast, but I felt I could ride it out with Galarragga and now McGwire for a long time, while trying to make a significant improvement in pitching, which I had to do because my entire pitching staff was a complete mess when I first saw it. I knew I had to do something major, so I felt that acquiring the guy that won the real life 1996 AL Cy Young Award would fit the bill, plus Guzman as well.

The extra 1st round pick was an obvious mistake and I regret that just as much as dealing Helton himself. My problem was that I didn't think I could have gotten more for Helton than I did. Looking back, if I had offered Helton to Atlanta for Maddux, would it have happened? Probably. To Montreal for Pedro? Probably.

Guzman has been better than I ever expected him to be. I didn't think he'd be better than Hentgen at all, but Guzman proved me wrong. Hentgen overall has been decent, but I acquired him to be an ace and to be one of the best pitchers in the entire league. On that note, he failed by a lot. I was very disappointed with the way Hentgen's career has been after the trade. He went from a #1 in the beginning of 1996 to a #4 last postseason. Now, I'm trying to get rid of Hentgen as a salary dump. Ugh..

Looking back, it was obviously not a good idea to trade Helton because he really is a dime a dozen, just like Walker. However, I definitely could have gotten a Greg Maddux or Randy Johnson or a more exceptional group of pitchers if I had still traded Helton away. I knew this was a high risk high reward trade to begin with. And I certainly paid too much for what I got back.

Helton is the most valuable player in the league. I would've traded Maddux and Johnson for him lol.[/color]

15. Finally, let's hear your predictions. Which teams make the World Series and which team wins it all?

I'm gonna stick to my original 1998 postseason prediction and go with a Red Sox Astros World Series in 1999. Both teams are stacked in all areas, but I could definitely see the Giants and Astros duking it out in what could be an epic NLCS. I think the White Sox will once again be the Red Sox' biggest challenge, but sooner or later, the Jays and A's will be the cream of the crop in the AL for years to come.

Boston's starting rotation is so exceptional though that I will give them the edge over the Astros. I predict Red Sox in 6. I know Break really wants to win a World Series here by 2004 and I think 1999 just might finally be his year.

Thanks for the interview, Ashes!

Solid prediction. Great interview.[/color]