Money

We would only get a comp pick for Burress if he left via free agency and produced at his next destination. Since his newest deal doesn't expire until 2013 or something, we won't be getting compensation for him any time soon. Equally important: released or traded player do NOT count towards the compensatory forumla.

Compensatory selections cannot be traded...

Marvin Harrison turns 37 in August.

It would absolutely have Will's Stamp of Approval (and I really need someone to design that stamp). Hixon would also be a very good #3 WR, and Manningham and Moss would provide capable competition.

To put it in quantative terms, the Giants threw to Smith only 82 times. The Colts threw to Marvin Harrison 107 times. The Rams threw to Torry Holt 119 times. The Broncos threw to Brandon Marshall 182 times, and he missed one game. During that 05-07 time frame, Toomer got 6.6 targets per game, which amounts to 105 over the course of a 16-game season. At his current production rate, if Smith got 105 targets, we'd be looking at 74 catches for almost 850 yards (assuming a modest 11.0 yard per catch; his YPC is liable to improve by a larger margin just by virtue of playing outside and not being the slot receiver so often). So if you wanted a Steve Smith 2009 projection, there it is. Third-year player, by the way.

Here you go, he had 138 targets in '08, which puts his catch rate at 40% -- which is awful. A lot of the blame can be attributed to poor QB play, but that's the lowest among all WRs that caught more than 50 passes. Receiver stats For what it's worth, Steve Smith had catch rate of 70%. Hixon 59%. Toomer 55%. Burress 53%. Sinorice Moss had a catch rate of 80%, but it's a limited sample -- we only threw him 15 passes.

His targets in 2008 were probably in the ballpark of 120, if I had to guess. Courtesy of my handy Football Prospectus, he had 125 targets in '06 (61/884) and 153 targets in '07 (80/1289). I'll see if I can find the '08 numbers online.

I have an excellent idea, actually. They don't want to trade him. They value him very highly. And he put up those numbers (which, btw, are almost identical to Harrison's production) as the third receiver in a run-oriented offense that only passed for 3200 yards. He's being counted on to assume the role that Toomer had 05-07. I'm as big a fan of Braylon as anyone. I've met him personally. He and I were college classmates. I suggested an Edwards-Giants pairing the day after our season ended, long before the national media or anyone else put two and two together. I would love to have him, but I understand the team's reluctance in giving up a valuable known commodity -- someone who had a pivotal role in our Super Bowl championship -- in addition to a mid-2nd round pick.

I think he's gone in any scenario. And that's indepedent of how his trial is resolved. I would put the odds of him returning at about 25%.

I'm telling you that the Giants have no interest in Harrison (which, apparently, is something they have in common with 31 other teams). The same can be said of all the other names you trotted out earlier. The Giants consider Smith to be better than all those guys; they think highly enough of #12 for him to be a dealbreaker in a trade for Braylon Edwards. And again, it's a moot point. They aren't going to trade Smith. This is not an opinion.

Do you really think Jerry Reese and Kevin Abrams would willingly paint themselves into an unmanageable financial situation? More to the point, if they get Edwards, Plax is out. He might be out even if they don't get Braylon...

We wouldn't be screwed at all, actually. As Peter King explained (scroll down to #2), Plax has clauses in his contract that would cause him to defer his bonus money under these types of circumstances. You really have to credit our FO for having the forsight to insure themselves in this regard...

Well, as the report goes, the Giants allegedly offered the Saints' 2nd and 5th. Cleveland countered by asking for Smith + 2 + 5. So, at least initially, the Giants didn't want to give up anything (or anyone) other than picks. For all we know, they might have offered Moss and Cleveland said no. What's the difference? He's not going to a valued piece in any major deal anyway...

No, none of those guys on the FA market are as good as Steve Smith. Not Harrison. Not Holt. Definitely not Booker. That's why they're available and Steve Smith is not. If we were remotely interested in any of those guys, we would have brought them in by now and possibly even signed them. I don't know how many ways there is to say it: We're not trading Steve Smith for Edwards. If a deal happens, it will involve other pieces on our end.

Moss's name has surfaced in trade rumors, as late as this past season when we allegedly offered him as part of a package for Tony Gonzalez (http://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2008/10/are_the_new_york_giants_prepar.html). The truth is that he hardly has any value...

They won't sign any of those guys. And Smith won't be dealt. It's a moot point.

If they acquire Edwards, then Plax will be gone.

Pedro also did not have a subversively homosexual nickname.

If there's anything I've learned in my brief time on this earth, it's that Ken Griffey Jr. won't always be around to clean up your mistakes...

All things Pedro rule. And I'll tell you another thing: Unlike the Big Unit, Pedro never would have served up a bomb to gap hitter Lou Collins in the bottom of the 9th of a one-game playoff.

I won't argue on Carpenter's behalf. You have to be healthy even to pitch to be considered a useful pitcher; maybe he has a strong comeback season this year. But I think his teammate, Adam Wainwright is quite good and certainly better than Hughes right now. Same with Grienke, who had a really strong effort in '08. 202 IP, 183 Ks, 3.47 ERA, 1.28 WHIP -- almost identical numbers to the "dominant" Brandon Webb. Hughes' career numbers: 106 IP, 81K/44BB, 5.15 ERA, 1.43 WHIP. He regressed from '07 to '08, although you could attribute that to injury. Nonetheless, he might become a good MLB pitcher. But he isn't right now, and you can't reasonably claim that he's presently better than pitchers who have put together productive, complete seasons at the professional level. He has more ability, sure. But he's not better than the aforementioned until he proves it over the course of a full season.

How about we wait for Hughes to legitimize himself as a viable member of a five-man rotation before we declare him better than -- or even remotely comparable to -- guys like Chad Billingsley, Adam Wainwright, Zack Grienke, or Gil Meche. The Twins have at least three starting pitchers that are more accomplished at the big league level than Hughes. And even if he pans out, I sincerely doubt he'll be better than Liriano. Even guys like John Lannan, Brad Penny, Justin Duchscherer, Paul Maholm, Ubaldo Jimenez, Aaron Cook, and Yovani Gallardo deserve the edge over Hughes because they've all have at least some modicum of sustained success at the big league level...

Exactly. It doesn't take a genius to realize that former Cy Young award winner Johan Santana is a good pitcher. But it does take a $100+ million payroll to afford him...

The Yankees have to be kicking themselves for not trading Hughes for Santana when they had the chance. I'll never understand why big-market teams get so protective of their prospects when they have a chance to trade for proven star performers in their prime. It's like when the Mets refused to give-up Milledge when they allegedly could have dealt him for Alfonso Soriano or Manny Ramirez. He was so talented that they ended up dealing him for Ryan Church and Brian Schndeider -- two guys that suck. It sure would be nice to have Jason Bay right now. And it definitely would have been nice to have Manny during the strecth run last season. But hey, at least we were able to miss the playoffs, hold onto Fernando Martinez (who may or may not turn out good), and enter '09 with the worst starting corner OFs in baseball...

xxi, picking the Reds to finish second isn't crazy at all. They got some talented up-and-coming hitters to go with a quietly solid rotation (esp. if Harang and Arroyo have bounce back years). I'd bet anything the Rays finish with more wins than the Yankees. The Rays have an excellent team from top to bottom.