EVIL~! alkeiper

What benefits?

They just three outfielders instead of a center fielder, so it's understandable not to pick Grady Sizemore in that regard. Hafner missed nearly a month, so you can argue Ortiz or Thome over him. Crede is an insult. Even if you buy the argument that he's unclutch, you still have Troy Glaus.

Source? If that's true, it's a good deal for the Yankees.

To add on JD Drew. Using my sabermetric encylopedia, I drew up a list of the top 50 players in runs created/game over the last three seasons (min. 1000 PA). Drew ranks ninth, the most potent offensive player on the market. Gary Sheffield ranks 26th. Aramis Ramirez ranks 34th, Carlos Lee ranks 46th, and David Dellucci (wow) ranks 48th.

I give it a 50/50 shot. The nice thing is that Betemit can either play third or second (if Kent does retire, which I doubt). He's a great insurance policy.

C: Russell Martin 1B: James Loney 2B: Jeff Kent SS: Rafael Furcal 3B: Andy Laroche LF: Andre Ethier CF: ? RF: Matt Kemp SP: Brad Penny SP: Derek Lowe SP: Chad Billingsley SP: Mark Hendrickson SP: CL: Takashi Saito The Dodgers have a good bullpen with Saito, Jon Broxton and Joe Beimel. Their big needs would appear to be a center fielder and starting pitching. Dave Roberts or Jay Payton could be options, or they could get into the Alfonso Soriano war and shift him to center. The Dodgers are in a great spot right now given that they have a lot of money and a lot of farm kids filling up key roles.

It's interesting. J.D. Drew has always been the far better player, but Soriano's more valuable due to his ability to stay healthy.

All I can say for certain is that he certainly won't be a Phillie.

J.D. Drew has opted out of his contract, making him a free agent. Drew gives up $33 million over three years with this move. Drew's largely been labeled as a disappointment, but he played 146 games last year and owns a career .905 OPS.

711 home runs for Howard? He would need to hit 629 home runs the rest of his career the rest of the way. No player in the history of baseball has hit that many home runs after age 26. Albert Pujols would also need to set a post-26 record to reach his mark. And 150 more home runs for Bonds? The player who hit the most career home runs after 42 is Carlton Fisk, and he had 40. I think James has become prone to putting his name on projections for his friends at BIS, but his heart is clearly not into it. I don't think he would bother if it didn't sell books.

I assume that Sheffield/Burrell is an either/or proposition. I can't see the Phils hanging on to both, and quite honestly I can see both of them butchering the outfield defense. Here's what bugs me. We dumped Abreu to create "payroll flexibility." If we acquire a superstar player who's paid more but is not as good, what have we accomplished. That's the big problem, that all this feels like shuffling deck chairs instead of real improvement. The Phils finished first in runs scored. What they really need is pitching. I'm not sure exactly what the Phils plan to do with the staff, but they need to get someone. Miguel Batista has been rumored and would be a great acquisition as someone who could slide into the bullpen if a prospect (Gio Gonzalez) pans out.

They need both. They have pitching prospects at least.

Some down time today allows me to fool around with the Sabermetric Encyclopedia. -Over the last two seasons, Chase Utley has hit 60 home runs, driven in 207 runs, and stolen 31 bases. Only twelve other players in baseball have compiled numbers better in their age 26/27 seasons. Eleven of those twelve are outfielders, and none are second basemen. That should put Chase's ability into perspective. Just for assurances, I removed steals, and Utley still remains the only second baseman on the list. -How many 21 year old left handed, 5'7" pitchers have there been in the modern era? One, Fabio Castro. Bobby Shantz is an interesting comparison though. Shantz won the AL MVP award in 1952, compiling a 24-7 record for the Philadelphia Athletics. Shantz soon suffered injuries and never won more than 11 games again, but thrived in bullpen work later in his career. It's the same story. Great talent, but durability issues. -I got Game six of the 1975 World Series of Netflix. I hope Bored does his writeup of this game soon. One interesting, overlooked aspect of the series is that it was the Reds, not the Red Sox, who had the burden of failure to escape. The Reds won 102 games in 1970 but lost the World Series to the Baltimore Orioles. They finished fifth in 1971. In 1972, the Reds lost the World Series to the Athletics in seven games. All four of their losses were one run margins. Then in 1973, the Reds lost the NLCS to the 82-79 New York Mets. -Speaking of that series, the 1975 World Series is probably the most underrated World Series of all time. It's overlooked because it had one true classic that everyone focuses on. Four of the other games were nailbiters too, and game one was not decided until the seventh inning.

To think that people in this country last 10 plus years on death row. Yeah, but how many were put on trial for genocide?

You're just wasting your time.

How about Strom Thurmond, 1948?

The news out of Philadelphia is that the Phillies want to persue free agent outfielder Alfonso Soriano. Presumably they would trade Pat Burrell to open up left field. Soriano has long been looked at in the sabermetric community as an overrated player, even a bad one. At some points, that flies in the face of logic. What do we make of Soriano? Is he a promising player into his 30s, or a potential liability? Soriano's comparables at his age include Howard Johnson, Tony Batista, Matt Williams, Bob Horner and Jeff Kent. Howard Johnson is an interesting case. Like Soriano, Johnson had a huge year at age 30, hitting 38 home runs and stealing 30 bases. Johnson hit .233 the next season with 7 home runs. Ouch. Still, you wonder how accurate the comparisons are given that Soriano didn't get started until he was 25, now plays left field, and has plate discipline unlike most of his comparables. Using Lee Sinins' sabermetric encyclopedia, I sought to create a new group of comparables. I asked the program to give me a list of all players who hit 150 home runs, stole 150 bases, and produced an OBP between .315 and .340 (Soriano's is .325). The list produced fifteen players, one of which is Soriano. That leaves us with 14 comps. Let's take a look at them, purely after age 30. EXCELLENT: Andre Dawson VERY GOOD: Dave Parker, Steve Finley, Dante Bichette GOOD: Bill Buckner, Ron Gant, Devon White FAIR: Vada Pinson, Juan Samuel, Raul Mondesi, Claudell Washington POOR: Marquis Grissom, Lloyd Moseby, Howard Johnson Dawson made five all-star teams, Bichette and Parker made three, and Finley two. Except for Dawson, none were truly great players in their 30s. Most players remained productive well into their careers though. We would expect players with high stolen base totals to remain good later on, as truly athletic players at 50% are still good athletes. What's interesting is that Soriano has a higher isolated power figure than any other player on the list. Going forward, it's difficult to tell what to expect. Players of Soriano's caliber don't remain stars, but Soriano's such a unique player that he may buck the trend. You hope that the Phillies (or any team) have him scouted well, and have taken the stats into consideration.

My question to that would be that if you watch every play Jeter makes, how can you possibly have seen enough plays from the other 13 shortstops to make a qualified opinion? Jeter makes some nice plays. That doesn't mean anything because every shortstop makes nice plays. It's part of the job. If you watch video of Jeter compared to a guy like Adam Everett, the difference becomes apparent.

For MIB, they are doing a set. http://shop.mlb.com/product/index.jsp?prod...kid=body_rv_txt

Gold glove awards are not worth getting worked up over. Adam Everett is a wonderful defensive shortstop. Jack Wilson might be better.

NL Gold Glove winners C: Brad Ausmus 1B: Albert Pujols 2B: Orlando Hudson SS: Omar Vizquel 3B: Scott Rolen OF: Carlos Beltran OF: Andruw Jones OF: Mike Cameron P: Greg Maddux

Wishful thinking.

Michael Young is awful too. I think Yuniesky Betancourt is probably the best fielding shortstop in the American League right now. The problem is that most fans haven't seen him play.

Rogers is purely a reputation choice. Gold glove pitchers are harder to overthrow than communist dictators.

The neutral site is better for sportswriters, and that's about it.