We gotta hand it to the marketing strategists who work for the St. Paul Saints minor league baseball team.

They recently gave out 2500 bizarre promos that obviously poke fun at Senator Larry Craig and his dubious tap with the rest room police last year. For more on the zany, but effective Bobble-feet promotion, go to their website.

Sales for the item on Ebay Auctions have been brisk - selling for around $75 bucks and higher!

Considering the fact that a member of the Saints marketing team is Mike Veeck, son of legendary major league promoter Bill Veeck, and comedian Bill Murray is part-owner of the team – we can see how an idea like this came to fruition.

Tasteful idea or not - our stance - the promotion sold the little known minor league team out the night of the giveaway, and gained tremendous media attention.

Verdict: Great to see an organization step out of the box a bit, and induce some inventive ideas into a game that essentially has been the same for over a 100 years.

And we gotta admit, we wouldn’t mind one of these to put next to our Dwight!

Some folks in the baseball realm have been bashing Joel Zumaya for the recent photos that have surfaced on the internet that show the rehabbing flame thrower at what appears to be a house party doing a “kegstand”

The shoulder looks to be holding up well Joel!

Perhaps I’m in the minority here, but I give this one a big ol’

“SO WHAT!!!???”

Zumaya has proven that he is going to play by his own rules since joining the league.

Whether it’s playing Guitar Hero, adding to his arsenal of tattoos, or doing kegstands at house parties - people need to keep in mind…

He’s a 23 year old guy!

He’s not breaking the law, and heck there isn’t even proof when these pictures were taken? It could have been a year ago?

Even if it was last week - Who really cares?

Sure, I understand when you see an athlete who is suppose to be rehabbing a bum shoulder doing a kegstand at a party you may question his integrity, and his conviction to getting back to playing.

But, I’m sorry, a couple of photos of a guy having a little fun isn’t reason to throw Zoom Zoom under the bus.

He’s not scheduled to pitch. 

He’s not doing illegal drugs.

He’s not behind the wheel of a vehicle.

And I re-iterate…  

He’s 23 years old!

So, whether I see Kyle Orton parading around with an entire bottle of Jack Daniels in hand or Matt Leinart letting loose with Nick Lachey…or whoever out partying and having what appears to be a little too much of a good time, I don’t sweat it too much.

As a fan I’d encourage anyone overly concerned to realize, these are ALL very young men just letting loose a bit.

Sometimes, like any other red blooded alpha male, they go a bit overboard. But I think many of us can attest that back in the day, most of us have had one of these kinds of nights.

Prior to the internet, and every human on earth carrying a digital camera, we missed a lot of these precious “Kodak moments”

But trust me.

Young professional sports figures have not just recently begun tipping the elbow. Just nowadays, with the advent of continuous media scrutiny, these sorts of pictures seem to surface more and more.

And don’t give me the “athletes should be role models for your kids” thing. They still can be.

Zumaya is not shown here at a function signing autographs for your sons and daughters while downing a flask in between signatures.

He’s at a house party.

Oh, and did I mention …..he’s 23!?

I’m willing to bet that many of these guys are involved with plenty of charity work.

In fact, they probably do more good for their community than both you and I combined, and are in all liklihood pretty down to earth individuals who are just out to have a little fun now and then.

They do, however all have one thing in common. They are all VERY YOUNG.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go pour myself a beer, and enjoy the game.

Ridiculous trade offers, just tick me off!

The term ridiculous can be interpretive. But, we’re all likely too familiar with an infamous few who, on more than one occasion, have offered up deals seemingly more moronic than Matt Millen’s draft board!!! 

PLEASE, I’m begging you—Don’t make the mistake of offering 2 or 3 borderline fantasy players for 1 stud player! You are wasting everyone’s collective souls, and insulting their intelligence at the same time!

I understand a smart owner has every right to begin the bargaining regiment by offering up a little less than he’s actually willing to part with.  FINE. I get that.  But if you are going to continuously bombard manager’s inboxes with countless asinine offers right out of left field, expect them to grow tired of your extreme low-ball tactics, and eventually in many cases…word will spread that you are an insane fantasy manager to deal with! (Well, golly shucks ya sayin’ that can actually happen sometimes on that thar intranet thang?) Yes.

Worse yet, sometimes a trickle effect can occur. Whereby if your offers are insultingly bad, some abolishing alliances can form against you, risking any future consideration by other managers to make deals with you all season, and perhaps in keeper leagues, for years to come! Sound familiar? I hope for your sake it doesn’t.  

Also, don’t be the #’s guy. He’s the type that feels by tossing up several zany offers to each manager in the league, by sheer volume of trade offers, someone is bound to eventually bite. He even has the gall to get mad when no one does. “I offered all sorts of trades, and no one wants to make deals in this league!” If you’re in a relatively competitive league, all managers will see crap for what it is…CRAP!

Instead, concentrate on some well thought out, and fair trade offers.  In my experience, I’ve found that before I make an offer, I have some inhibitions, and will even say to myself: “I’m not certain this is fair to ME?” Chances are, you’re getting a bit closer to a potential deal if this thought crosses your mind. 

One common, but great tip is to try concentrating on dealing your strengths, while catering offers to managers whose team has weaknesses in the areas/positions you own a lot of.  

Another ‘Duh’ guideline is that a manager is far more likely to close a deal with you if it HELPS him! Otherwise, why the heck’s he going to make the trade? By the way, don’t toss in an extra mediocre player if it actually forces the manager you’re trading with to drop a more valuable player than the one you’re ‘tossing in’! This is a surefire way to sour a potential exchange~! 

Last ‘Duh’: Usually, trades are made when a WIN-WIN situation exists, whereas both parties view the trade as advantageous to their respective teams! The fantasy sports world has changed from years ago. With the advent of numerous fantasy websites created to assist you with knowledgeable decision making, the days of the fantasy ‘chump’ have all but disappeared! 

So keep that in mind, the next time you conjure up your next ‘humdinger’. My final advice: Offer trades, not insults! And leave the Screwter to me!