The Results of Challenging Busch

What usually happens when you try to win it all (or lately, try to finish 2nd) is that the following season's auction is a disaster. The 2004 2nd place winner, the Old Rips, is no exception.

Who have they got to keep? They have a few:

• Greg Aquino 7-06x Great pickup by Mark. Probably keepable even if Valverde gets the job in the spring.
• Al Leiter 8-05x Moving from a good pitcher's park to a great one. Take your few bucks in profit here.
• Scott Rolen 33-05 Probably not extendable, but reasonably priced if he does it again.
• Bobby Abreu 40-06 Four categories, and paying for it.
• Armando Benitez 30-06 Priced fairly, and given the lack of closers, a must keeper. Beware: he may not like San Francisco's cold weather.

That's 118 for only 5 players. Good players, but only 5. Mark is not likely to keep fully priced Todd Helton 39-05 or Chipper Jones 33-06. Maybe on Larry Walker at 17-06. Fair prices, but they probably don't go for much more.

That's what you get when you play full out. In fact, it's probably a better start than Lou's got (for another day). But as for the Old Rips, we can only say "That's a shame."