Rock M Roundtable!

1 - Roughly how many minutes of the NFL Draft did you watch last week/weekend?

2 - Fred Hoiberg: inspired move ... or desperate hire?  And will he still be The Mayor if he doesn't succeed there?

3 - Somehow, the Phillies decided Ryan Howard was worth $25 million/year.  With that, um, tweak to the overall market, what is Albert Pujols' annual salary going to be when he signs his next contract (with whatever team that may be) soon?

4 - Billy Corgan and Courtney Love feuding on Twitter: the greatest thing the Internet has ever produced, or reason for the entire Internet to be abolished?

Doug: 1 - I watched a great deal of the first round and second round, and part of the third round.  I was at work so that cut into my ability to watch it a little bit.  On Saturday I saw the Chiefs' last picks and the very end of the draft, so I missed a good portion of the later rounds.  Time wise, let's say about 8 hours.

2 - Oh, desperation hire beyond words.  Frank Martin had some experience as at least a head coach in high school.  The Mayor has one season as an assistant coach with the Timberwolves, and about 5 seasons in the front office.  There is no earthly way this is a good idea, it's like Iowa State just stopped caring about basketball.

3 - Well, Howard is worth every one of those 25 million dollars a year, and at least one team will agree that Pujols is worth about $35 million a year.  Frankly I thought Howard was going to let Pujols set the market price first, but 25 mill annually for Howard only increases Pujols' bargining power.

4 - Is a Twitter feud any worse than someone using Twitter to tell you where they are, or what their plans are for the day, or posting pictures of them eating pizza?  At least a feud provides us all with a good laugh.  And, in deference to Atch, I won't post the picture, but we all know what arguing on the Internet is like.

RPT: 1. Somewhat ashamed to admit that I watched quite a bit of it, although I should qualify that I had it on in the background while playing NHL and NCAA.

2. Desperately inspired.

3. How much money do the Yankees have left?

4. I will say this: There was talk at the Spring Game tailgate of a Baby The Beef Twitter account, and I will not rest until this happens.

Michael Atchison: 1 - I watched roughly 114 minutes of the draft.

2 - It sounds like a Circle the Wagons move.  Things have gone all kinds of wrong there, so they get a guy they know, trust and love.  It could work.  Don’t underestimate the recruiting value of a solid NBA pedigree.  Played in the league for a long time, knows every front office guy there is.  That will appeal to some kids.  But he’s got a steep learning curve to climb, and it’s too late to do any recruiting of value for next year.  I think ISU fans will be super patient with him.  The question about failure is interesting.  If he doesn’t succeed, he gets out of town for three or four years, all the feelings are dulled, and he comes back a hero from his playing days.  But if it works, he ends up as one of the great Cyclones ever.

3 - It didn’t really tweak the market that much.  ARod already makes more and Mauer makes nearly as much, and I’m always skeptical of the idea that one deal can change the market.  ARod’s 10 years and $252 million didn’t have much immediate impact because it was crazy.

But how much is Albert worth if Howard is worth $25 million?  Probably $30-35 million.  But here’s the thing: The player that Albert has been over the past ten years is worth that much.  The player he is five years from now almost certainly won’t be.  He is (at least) 30 years old.  History tells you that he’s at the end of his peak.  He can still be very productive for several years, but he probably can’t be a 1.100 OPS guy for much longer.

4 - Are those really the only two choices?

ZouDave: 1 - I watched the entire first round, most of the 2nd round, part of the 3rd round, and nothing beyond that.  Not sure how many minutes that is.

2 - I think it's a great move for them.  They needed something to be excited about and this will do it.  He may not succeed, but it doesn't mean the fans will just turn on him.  Frank White is still one of the most beloved Royals of all time despite failing as a minor league manager in our system.

3 - I heard on ESPNews awhile ago that his agent said their target is a $300M contract.  They didn't mention the length, but I think it's pretty obvious they're looking for 10 years, $300M.  NO WAY does Pujols get a $30M/year contract through age 40*.  Just isn't going to happen.  But $30M/year is going to happen, probably for 7 years.  I hope it's the Cardinals, but really I hope it's anyone besides the Yankees or Boston.

4 - Yawn.

(An hour later...)

ghtd36: Morning, friends.

1 - I watched a lot more than I thought I would, especially considering I don't really have an NFL team. I watched the entire first round, most of the second day and bits and pieces of the third day.

And now, a mini-rant: can we put Chris Berman out to pasture? He's awful. I know it's fashionable to rip on Chris Berman, but there are reasons why it is fashionable to rip on Chris Berman. He provides exactly nothing -- he's a tired bit who has absolutely worn out his usefulness. At least Stuart Scott (another walking bit) knows a little bit about the NBA; Berman's clueless. Beyond that, why am I supposed to trust anything that Jon Gruden says? Because he was an NFL head coach? Do you realize how little an NFL head coach has to do with talent evaluation? Wade Phillips didn't pick Dez Bryant on Thursday, because if Wade Phillips were left in charge of the draft, he would have picked that lineman from Varsity Blues. ESPN is just the worst.

2 - It's a desperate move, but a desperate move that I understand. The new coach has to create a bit of a buzz around the program again, and that's what Hoiberg does. Will he be a good coach? Ehh, probably not. But buzz!

3 - Aaah, yes. The question I couldn't wait to answer.

First of all, let's establish one thing: this is not a good contract. In fact, this is a miserable contract. This enters the Pantheon of Bad Contracts, and is currently in the running for Worst Contract in Baseball (along with Alfonso Soriano's 8-year, $136 million deal from the Cubs, Aaron Rowand's 5-year, $60 million deal from the Giants, Carlos Lee's 6-year, $100 million deal from the Lastros and Vernon Wells' 7-year, $126 million deal from the Blue Jays).

And that's not to mention Jason Kendall getting a two-year deal from the Royals. Really, Dayton Moore? Two years for a 36-year-old catcher whose last season of not-distinctly-below-average performance was 2004? Are you even trying anymore?

But back to Howard. It is ludicrous to pay Ryan Howard -- who, I remind you, will turn 31 this season -- $25 million a year. I could go on and on about how Ryan Howard simply isn't worth $25 million a year, but let's just leave it at this:

Ryan Howard's career OPS vs. lefties: .750
Player X's career OPS overall: .751

One guess on who Player X is. One guess.

Give up? Click here for the answer.

Anyway, part of me just wants to write this off as Ruben Amaro being Ruben Amaro and overpaying for the sake of overpaying. But this contract is so out there...so phenomenally obese...that part of me thinks this could be a ploy to get Pujols out of the National League. Right now, if you're Pujols, and you are realistically 1.5 times better than Ryan Howard (Pujols career WAR per game: 0.046; Howard: 0.029), AND RYAN HOWARD IS MAKING $25 MILLION A YEAR, aren't you asking for at least $35 million a year? Doesn't the bidding start at 8-years, $280 million?

If I'm Pujols' agent, well, I'm greedily tapping the tips of my fingers together. I'm representing the best player in the league, and the price just went up. Part of me would try to convince Pujols to be a gun for hire and take only 1-year deals for four years or so. You're telling me that the Red Sox wouldn't pay 1-year, $40 million for the best player in baseball?

So, to answer your question, St. Louis' offer probably needs to start at 8 years, $280 million. And considering they're already paying Matt Holliday too much (because of all those non-existent other teams that were bidding against the Cardinals in the offseason), either they're going to give him that money and be financially handcuffed for the foreseeable future, or they're going to let him walk and lose the best player in baseball.

Maybe Ruben Amaro is a secret genius.

4 - I would pay to subscribe to a Fake Baby Beef Twitter account.

RPT: Greg needs to chill out. Billy Bob from Varsity Blues would have been a value pick at 24.

Bill C.: Priority list:  1) you give Mrs. Bill C. access to the Fake Mrs. Bill C twitter account, THEN 2) you pay to subscribe to Fake Baby Beef twitter account.

ZouDave: Baby Beef

Doug: Who does he have to pay?  I could use some cash.

RPT: Anyone else looking forward to the Google hits that result from the phrase "Fake Baby Beef," because I know I sure am.

Doug: Note to Atch: do not Google image the phrase "Fake Beef Baby."

ZouDave: First image on Page 2 of that search:

RPT: Somebody please photoshop Beef over the King's face.

(TWO AND A HALF HOURS LATER...)

RPT: Get your umbrellas before this thing is published, men. Our readership is not going to be happy with this effort.

ghtd36: So when does Jason Horton join The Rafters?

RPT: He's probably lucky we haven't started The Basement.

Yet.

ghtd36: Last night, on the way out of the American Airlines Center, I was recounting probably my greatest Rec Center moment: knocking down a pullup J over Glen Dandridge.

So, yeah, my athletic career kinda sucks.