"I guess it's a gutty move, a ballsy move"

...Stephen A. Smith would add "disgraceful" to that list.

Anyway, while The Great Strasburg Shutdown Debate rages on, we're just hoping Strasburg's sore back is OK and doesn't cause him to, you know, miss a few starts here and there as the clock ticks down to ~180.

Meanwhile, a couple of must-reads on the Strasburg Shutdown from last week: ESPN's Jayson Stark; and Yahoo's Jeff Passan.

Here's Mike Rizzo, from Passan's piece:

"I guess it's a gutty move, a ballsy move. I'm a stubborn guy. I'm going to do this thing the way I want to do it. The plan since I took over three years ago has worked well for us. I have the trust of ownership that we're going to do this the right way. We believe we're right in this instance. We're going to implement it. That's not to say the industry's going to understand it or our right-handed starter is going to understand it. But what it does show is that we have a long-term vision, and I think it's going to show that we care about our players and we're going to do what's best for them personally.

We have pages and pages of evidence backing this. We have volumes of testimonies of doctors. We've got research and test cases and histories on guys. It's a small sample. This is a very unique pitcher. Tommy John surgeries before the age of 23 years old on power pitchers that average 95 mph on their fastball and 91 mph on their changeup – there's not a lot of those guys around." (Mike Rizzo, via Yahoo Sports.com, 8/11/2012)

(Screen cap via MASN/TV)

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[Feel Wood]

There's an old joke that goes like this.

Man (to woman): Say, if I gave you a million bucks, would you sleep with me?
Woman: Sure, why not?
Man: Well, all I have is $100. Would you still sleep with me?
Woman: What do you think I am, a whore?
Man: We've already established that. Now we're just haggling over the price.

The Strasburg debate is the same deal.

Rizzo: Should I ride Strasburg hard and put him away wet, no matter how long it takes, even up to WS game 7 on Nov 1st, if it's going to ruin his career?
Know-it-all pundits: Oh God, no. Pull him out if it starts to look bad.
Rizzo: Okay, I'll shut him down in September.
Pundits: Shut him down? Who ever said you should do that?
Rizzo: You just did. Now we're trying to figure out when.

[Nor'Easter]

Stephen A. Smiths talks because he likes to hear himself talk. What he has to say is irrelevant. As long as he is talking, he is happy.

Fortunately for us, there is nothing which requires us to listen to him.