EVIL~! alkeiper

Forgot all about Marmol. I have seen Gagne's name surfacing in Cubs rumors, so take that as you will. If people are wondering why Gagne might get a lot of looks this offseason, look no further than JC Romero asking for a three-year deal or Kyle Farnsworth being considered a hot trade commodity this offseason. Romero has a 3.65 career ERA as a reliever, and he's left handed. Him and Scott Eyre look like the only lefty relievers worth a crap this offseason. Something that occurred to me today. The Phillies lost out to the Marlins in the 2003 wild card hunt. Juan Pierre against the Phillies that year hit .397 with a .471 OBP. That seemed to plant the notion in Ed Wade's head that since Pierre beat them, they needed a player like him to win. They couldn't get Pierre of course, so they spent a full year lusting after his crappier version Endy Chavez until they finally traded Marlon Byrd to get him. Now as GM of the Houston Astros, Wade has started by acquiring another speed-and-defense center fielder.

$500 is not exactly a small piece of change I have lying around.

If I had the money to spare, I'd buy season tickets to a minor league park instead.

With the preponderance of baseball statistics on the internet, you might question the need for an annual statistics book. Certainly, baseball-reference.com provides a plethora of statistics along with sorting options and statistical splits that a printed version simply can not match. In this environment, a publisher needs to add a few bells and whistles to entice paying customers. First off, if you feel the need for a print stat book of any kind, stop now and buy the book. That said, here are a few other features. The book offers a look at the first version of the "Fielding Bible" awards. The publishers chose a panel of ten voters, ranging from Bill James and Rob Neyer to the Tangotiger online fan poll. Honestly, this strikes me a bit elitist. It is one thing to say you can improve the process. It is another to assume you are a better voting group because you disagree with the results. The awards are improved by the nature of the process, each voter submits a weighted ballot rather than choosing a single player. If they selected candidates the same way the actual gold glove awards do, three of the picks would change. You get the usual chapters you expect. Park factors, managers' records, platoon splits, etc. The manager index demonstrates how many lineups a manager used, how many pinch-hitters and runners used, and more than a dozen other categories. Some other records are compiled. Particularly useful are baserunning statistics, chronicling how often a player went from first to third on a single, or scored from second on a single, or scored from first on a double. The best baserunner in 2007 of course was Jose Reyes. The best baserunning team suprisingly was the Kansas City Royals. Much has been made of the Young Talent Inventory. That James produced a list based solely on 2007 statistics seems quite sloppy. I believe it is an example of the commerce aspect of the book, needing to attach names and essays to the book in the interest of sales. The player comments however are interesting. Player projections are covered (only for established players), as well as win shares. I wish the publishers would simply list the win shares in the career register. Amazon currently lists this book around $15. For that price, it's a solid purchase.

XM user. The big thing is the out-of-town baseball. You know how big a fan I am, so paying for such a package is a good deal. On the radio market itself, I live two hours away from any major city amidst hilly terrain, so my options are limited. If not for baseball, I would not own satellite radio but I would likely stick with CDs while driving. I can't stand to listen to any terrestrial radio in my region.

What the hell would convince you to do this in the first place?

I'm a big Pedro Feliz booster myself. Right handed power and an excellent defensive player. The offense doesn't concern me much since the team already led the league in runs scored. They could use a lefty corner bat in the outfield, but beyond that the offense as constructed is Spring Training ready. I don't think moving Costanzo suggests more than he was simply a piece that netted a quality player. They won the division last year with Dobbs/Helms, they can survive with that again.

Nate Silver of Baseball Prospectus weighs in. To suggest that Mike Costanzo could be a league average third baseman now is laughable, ludicrious. Yes, he hit 27 home runs in Reading. He also struck out 157 times and had a .917 fielding percentage. He is nothing special as a player at all. Michael Bourn I have already brought up. You can look at service time, but if you have service time of fungible players, there's no point to it.

Compared to what the Astros have lurking in the rotation behind Oswalt, Leiber's an upgrade. Lieber had some noted problems with weight gain the last year or two, hence the anchor comment being apropos.

Umm, WHAT?!

Holy shit. I just added a new level of respect for Pat Gillick. We get our closer and utility infielder. In turn that allows the Phils to move Brett Myers back into the rotation where he belongs. Regarding the guys we gave up, I like Bourn but the presence of Shane Victorino makes him expendable. Geoff Geary is a favorite, but his ability may not carry him well down the line. Mike Costanzo is a fringe prospect. For the Astros, this gives them their center fielder off the bat. Bourn is a Houston native as well, so they'll get a hometown kid.

Guys I'd vote for on the ballot. There's a limit of ten. Carlos Colon Bill Miller Fabulous Moolah Rey Mysterio Jr. The Rock Rock 'n' Roll Express Hans Schmidt Sgt. Slaughter Jimmy Snuka Sting Konnan belongs in the mexican category but I'm not otherwise qualified to make a judgment. I'd say none of the remaining wrestlers on the ballot make it without a shift in the voting process.

I understand the idea, but you can't really do that, because there are other cases where players might be picked up as unsigned free agents after the season starts. It's not fair to draft a Clemens Rule just because one asshole abused the system. Exactly. Most common are players coming from independent ball.

At least in Kerry's defense, that interview could also give the impression that he had suffered a serious head injury.

Not an option, they resigned him for $4.5 million. The White Sox earn my first official "What the hell" of the offseason. It's one thing to overpay for talent. It's another to give money to someone who doesn't even merit a starting job. Sub .300 OBPs the last two seasons, poor plate discipline, low batting average, poor stolen base percentage, you name it. He can field. That's not worth the money.

Baseball's World Cup (Not the World Baseball Classic) has commenced in Taiwan. Games are being streamed on the internet. http://www.stadeo.tv/baseball_world_cup_2007/games/" target="_blank">http://www.stadeo.tv/baseball_world_cup_2007/games/

Of course the problem with all that is that the Dodgers already have good prospects at center field (Matt Kemp), third base (Andy LaRoche) and shortstop (Chin Lung Hu). The only thing the Dodgers really need to do this offseason is kick their unproductive veterans to the curb.

I got the 2008 Bill James Handbook in the mail today. A lot's been said about the list of 25 best young players in baseball. That list is certainly very shaky. There is a ton of good stuff in it though. I get the feeling they're desperate to stay ahead of the pack (especially given the ease of collecting statistics online). The baserunning data in the book is very useful. Jose Reyes rates as the best baserunner in MLB. Todd Helton was the worst. Mike Cameron was the best runner at going from first to third on a single. Jason Varitek NEVER went first to third on a single this season. I'll have more to add as I get some time to digest all the information, probably in a blog entry.

This sucks. It doesn't mean that Pettitte is gone. Not even close.

I only rated what I've seen, so nothing after Summerslam just yet on my list. I think I would take Batista/Taker (WM), Cena/Michaels, DX/Rated RKO, Cena/Umaga (NYR) and maybe Batista/Taker (Backlash). The mid-year PPVs are nothing special but not really bad. They're enjoyable to watch as long as you didn't spend $50 for the privilege.

Pillman and Hart you likely know. Hiroshi Hase was a famed wrestler in New Japan in the 1990s. Gama and Morrow are fairly obscure, but Makhan Singh got a WWF run in the 1990s as Bastien Booger.

Let's see. I've seen every WWE PPV on 24.7 up to Summerslam. Backlash and Judgment Day were missing the Benoit matches (I saw Wrestlemania on first airing). Let's rank them. 1. Royal Rumble 2. Wrestlemania 3. Backlash 4. New Year's Revolution 5. Vengeance 6. One Night Stand 7. Judgment Day 8. Great American Bash 9. Summerslam 10. No Way Out Five favorite PPV matches 1. John Cena vs. Umaga, Royal Rumble 2. John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton vs. Edge, Backlash 3. Money In the Bank, Wrestlemania 4. Umaga vs. Jeff Hardy, Great American Bash 5. Royal Rumble match The divas' battle royal at Summerslam was one of the worst matches I have EVER seen.

Eddie doesn't come up except with Chavo/Rey. What makes it difficult?

For the most part, they ARE the pretzels you get at a baseball game.

Man, wrestling Essa Rios was good luck in 2001.