Cosign this.  Lawler's been friggin unlistnable for YEARS.  I loved him during the late 90s-early part of the decade but he's been phoning it since then.

Actually, Linda's political aspirations are only a portion of the WWE money drain.  They've spent millions on trying to launch the WWE network but that seems to be in question as they have already been turned by Direct TV (or Dish Network.  WWE network was supposed to debut this year but that has been pushed back again.

They continue to dump money into WWE Films even when that division isn't very profitable at all.

In 2010 WWE stock was worth $18.64, a few weeks ago it dropped to $7.86.  That's a lot of money to lose.

Don't get me wrong, WWE won't be going out of business anytime soon but there are some major red flags here.  Personally, I don't know why they just don't can the WWE films division and just spend more time on money on the DVD releases.  They have the rights to most  of the wrestling footage.  They're sitting on a goldmine in old NWA/WCW tape libraries.

More trades:

Hanley Ramirez to LA Dodgers for P Nathan Eovaldi and minor league pitcher Scott McGough.

LHP Wandy Rodriguez to the Pirates for AA OF Robbie Grossman, and minor league pitchers Rudy Owens and Colton Cain.  Pirates also receive cash.

The Ramirez move could backfire on the Dodgers.  They took on all his contract (around 37 million) and his performance has been down since the start of 2010 season.  Defense has always been an issue for him but his bat always made up for it.  He'll be better than Juan Uribe but I think the Marlins lucked out when they got someone to take that contract.  Interesting rebuild on the fly by the Marlins as they acquired a bunch of prospects from the Tigers for Infante and Sanchez and they got something for Hanley.  Josh Johnson could also be moved but they are asking a lot for him and I think he'll stay.

I like the Rodriguez trade for the Pirates.  They gave up a descent prospect in Grossman but they needed a pitcher since some of the starters have been faltering.  PNC Park favors left handed pitchers as well.  They got cash too which makes it something like a 2 year 13 million dollars that they'll be paying for Rodriguez.  That's pretty much the average price for a decent starting pitcher.  I hope they grab another corner outfielder or a first baseman by Tuesday but the prices for position players have been high.  I wouldn't mind Victorino from the Phillies.

Ryan Dempster really fucked the Cubs by essentially blocking that trade to the Braves.  Now the Dodgers are lowballing the Cubs because of this.  What's even more dickish is that he told the Cubs that he didn't really have any objections towards going to the Braves.  Garza might not start again until after the trade deadline.  I still they can still trade him at worst in the offseason but he would have made a nice consolation prize for a team that didn't trade for Zack Greinke.

Phillies sign Cole Hamels to a 6 year contract worth 144 million.  It doesn't look like Cliff Lee will be going anywhere either.  They've been talking about trading Jimmy Rollins or Hunter Pence and that makes sense since they have to reduce payroll somewhere.

Last note on Ichiro, it will be really interesting to see where he ends up in 2013.  He is 400+ hits short of 3,000 hits and I don't think he retires if he's that close to the magic number.  I could see a west coast team giving him a one year deal.

I just saw this and can agree with Bono's review.  This was really boring and long.  I kept on waiting for something (ok anything) to happen and it just moved really slowly.  I kept on thinking about the first Spiderman film (2002 one) when I was watching this as a lot of the plot is borrowed from that film.  The only difference between Mcguire and Garfield in their portrayal of Spiderman is that they tried to make this Spiderman more angsty and angry and it just doesn't work.  Oh yeah, the villian wasn't very interesting or engaging at all.

As an aside, I saw that trailer for the new Twilight film and I nearly LOL in an almost empty theater.  I can't believe people pay to see that franchise.  The acting is just so bad and cheesy.

I would never pay big money for any closer.  If there's one thing that small market teams have realized, it's that you can get closers and relievers for cheap.  The Rays have had something like 6 different closers in the last seven years.  San Diego and Pittsburgh seem to find usable bullpen arms on a yearly basis.  Hell look at the Marlins, they picked up Kevin Gregg on the cheap and he racked up 40 saves for them.  They flipped him to the Cubs after that year.

The Marlins are just a mess.  I'd actually give Morrison a longer leash but it seems he and the Marlins have issues from last year.  They would definitely be selling low at this point.  I think Hanley could still fetch an ok package although it would help if the Marlins picked up some of the contract.  The Marlins minor league system is pretty weak and unlikely to provide help.

I think Ozzie probably deserves to be fired based on his off the field gaffes. 

New article that came out on the Red Sox:

[url][http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/i … ctions/url]

Why did they insist on keeping several of Francona's coaches?  And they had him retain McClure instead of hiring his own guy?

The schedule makers also didn't do the Red Sox any favors either:

@Rays
vs White Sox
vs Blue Jays
@Rangers
@Yankees
vs Tigers

That's 3 1st place teams and two other series vs clubs over .500.  The only "break" is they get to face the Blue Jays who can still mash the ball.  We'll find out a whole lot about the Red Sox after this brutal stretch.

All Star Break time and time for some comments on the general state of each divison:

AL East--Yankees have taken control of the division.  And I think they can ride out their rotation injuries.  They might have to make a trade though (Dempster maybe?) and I think if that happens they end up trading away a Top 10 prospect from their farm system.  They almost never trade away a top prospect though.  I'm having a hard time figuring out whose going to finish in second/contend for a wild card.  I'm going to say Toronto because most of their problems are correctable (pitching injuries) and they have the goods to get another starter if they need.  Red Sox are incredibly inconsistent.  Tampa needs offense and will have to trade a prospect to get one.  Not sure what to think about the Orioles, but I think they fall back.

AL Central--3 team race here.  Youk has brought a lot to the White Sox.  The back end of the rotation is a problem but I think they can ride it out since Floyd has pitched much better.  That and they don't really have anything in the minors to pull off a trade.  I think the Indians fall back as they've been doing with smoke and mirrors.  Unless they pull off a trade for some offense.  The Tigers have finally started to play well and I expect them to trade for a 2b and OF.  Don't know if they have enough to add a starter as well.  Twins and Royals just have to trade assets and pray that their GM"s make smart moves.

AL West--Rangers and A's both playing well.  They'll both be in the playoffs.  Oakland is hanging around near .500 and that is a good surprise.  Seattle is vying for that #1 pick.  I wouldn't be surprised if they just freaking tank in the second half.  This team is BRUTAL on offense.  They'll be forced to move in the fences for Safeco since no offensive player wants to go there.  Also, I think it's time to be critical of their GM (Jack Z), he put together most of their current offense.

NL East--Nats in a great position.  I still think they need to maybe get more offense.  Luckily for them, Zimmerman finally started hitting.  Clippard has stabilized the closer spot.  Braves and Mets still need pieces.  The Mets are a great feel good story this year.  The other two teams (Marlins and Phillies) won't be doing anything.  And Philly should be in fucking sell mode.

NL Central--Three team race.  Pirates are one of the surprises of MLB.  I think this team is more legit than last year's team the cratered in the second half.  They need to get an OF bat and maybe another starting pitcher.  Reds need offense too.  Cards just need bullpen help again.  Milwaukee has a small window to play well and contend, otherwise they should start trading away.  Astros are the worst team in the division and the Cubs seem to be playing better with the Rizzo callup.

NL West--Another three team race.  The injuries have really hurt the Dodgers.  They've been running a AAA lineup the past month or so.  And shockingly, they are still in first.  LA and SF both need offense bad.  Giants have 37 million tied up in Zito and Lincecum this year.  I think the Diamondbacks need offense and pitching but they could come from behind and win this thing.  Their farm system is stronger than the other two teams.  No idea why they are entertaining trade offers for Justin Upton though.

It'll be a great July trading season and I hope everyone enjoys the All Star game and festivities!