EVIL~! alkeiper

To give another example of Milwaukee's success on the waiver wire, they nabbed Scott Podsednik on waivers in the 2002-03 offseason. After two moderately successful seasons they flipped him for Carlos Lee. Then there's the Keith Ginter for Nelson Cruz swap.

Cincinnati is 8th in the N.L. in sacrifice hits, and 10th in sacrifice flies. I think their success is more due to their league leading .362 On Base Percentage, and 125 walks. If there is a small ball component, it is that they are 23 for 27 in stolen base attempts.

It's one thing if he gives up one to Tony Womack, but Ortiz is perhaps the best hitting lefty in the game. Is it really fair to cross off Myers for that?

Today's Chris Wheeler idiocy moment... "The great closers have been strikeout pitchers." Yeah, except for Kent Tekulve and Dan Quisenberry. Most of the great closers are strikeout pitchers, but there are visable exceptions. "The exception I guess would be Mariano Rivera." Yeah, the guy who strikes out merely 8.2 batters per nine.

Rollins tied the game on a heads up baserunning play, scoring when Dan Uggla stopped paying attention.

Angel Hernandez just did us a favor by tossing Charlie Manuel.

It is awfully early to label Cla Meredith as a AAA lifer, considering he didn't even have 100 professional innings coming into this season. That's a side issue though. Backup catchers are a dime a dozen. Philly has three catchers who could easily fill in at the major league level. Not all of them could catch the knuckler of course, but I find it hard to believe Mirabelli's the only one. For Boston to trade two/three players for a backup catcher is not an encouraging sign, IMO. I apologize that I do not have this year's data available, as my computer does not want to visit every site tonight.

I'm really tired of the Roger Clemens speculation. Honestly, I couldn't give a damn where he goes. The last thing baseball needs is one of the high payroll teams acquiring yet another mercenary. As far as Loretta/Mirabelli etc. I think Boston panicked here. Maybe Josh Bard can't catch a knuckleball. There must be a dozen catch-and-throw guys in the minor leagues who can. It doesn't make sense to trade real talent just for a backup catcher. In addition, this speaks to the stupidity of last year's Gold Glove award. If Jason Varitek is really the best defensive catcher in the AL, why can't he catch Wakefield? As for Mark Loretta and the Padres, you have to remember one of the objectives of the deal was to make room for Josh Barfield.

How can the Twins possibly have overpaid players?

The one thing that annoys me is the obsession with pinch-running Shane Victorino. He sits on first base because you can't steal second and leave a base open for Ryan Howard. He's just there in case someone hits a gapper. Meanwhile you've burnt your second best bench bat. What's wrong with using Nunez or Gonzalez to run?

The Jermaine Dye contract was worse.

What Pinjockey said is correct. Baez had a sacrifice hit, and that counts against his OBP. It's rare but it happens. Let me note a few prospects out of the top 10. 12. Edgar Garcia, SP Garcia's just 18 years old. He more than held his own at the Gulf Coast League last year. His age makes him a very interesting prospect. Garcia will pitch at Batavia this year, so it'll be late June before he kicks off his season. 13. Chris Roberson, OF Roberson's a similar player to Shane Victorino, but older and not as good. 14. Shane Victorino, OF How Victorino's rated below Roberson I have no clue. Roberson has a one in ten chance of outplaying Victorino over the course of his career. Victorino's made it and he could start for an MLB team in center. 15. Eude Brito, SP Brito looks good at times, but his ratios are not very impressive. Oddly, he performed better as a starter last year. He really should be groomed as a reliever though, because he's no more than a AAA starter. At 27, he's as good as he is going to get. 18. Carlos Ruiz, C Making a statement is when you get sent down to AAA and respond by hitting .382 with six home runs in your first 19 games. Ruiz's defense is a plus. He's topped out at 27, but he's good enough for the show. Whether he's a starter or backup is up in the air. 30. Yoel Hernandez, RP Last year I had to watch this fat bag named Franklin Perez walk in and blow save after save in Scranton. Hernandez has six saves and a 1.74 ERA, very encouraging early on. He could be MLB material, but if not at least I can breate a little easier watching AAA games. The Red Barons are now 15-7. They've won 11 of their last 12 games.

Here's a good lighter side of baseball note. The Fullerton Flyers of the Golden League acquired Nigel Thatch (better known as Budweiser's "Leon") from the Schaumberg Flyers of the Northern League for an entire pallet of budweiser.

Mets' minor leaguer Yusaku Iriki was suspended 50 games for failing a drug test. For some reason, he was suspended under the Major League program. I saw him pitch live against the Red Barons last week, and the 'roids didn't help.

And Anglesault, shut up about the goddamned umpiring. Seriously.

You're looking at the w/l records of his teams. The individual win/loss records are too the right of the ERA. Anyway, his metrics are very good. I just think that 195 wins are not going to cut it unless he was once-in-a-generation dominant. Now he's got a very good chance at 220 wins, and I think he makes it then.

Even if he ends up with 3,000+ K's? Only 13 other guys have done that, 14 if Pedro gets 139 this year. I don't think 3,000 Ks is as impressive as it might have been 15 years ago. High strikeout totals are a product of our time, and I'm not sure if the voters will take that into account or not. In fairness though, Schilling performs well on the various HOF Standards tests, and he's 8-2 in the postseason. I thin he'd miss if he retired today, but he should be able to pad his resume for two seasons.

Schilling came into this year with 192 wins and no Cy Young awards. Realistically I think he needs at least 230 career wins. Otherwise there's not much statistically separating him from a dozen other pitchers who had a few great years and missed the Hall.

A .320 player is bound to have 100 AB stretches where he hits .380. Jeter hit .396 in June of 2004. He hit .425 in July of 2003. You see these kind of performances all the time. That it's April just makes them stand out.

I'm not suggesting he should get off light. He should get 20 games to a month.

I think 50 games is extreme, considering past offenses like Carl Everett bumping the umpire netted ten games. Izzy Alcantara got 6 games for kicking a SWB catcher. Still, Young should be warned that a further offense will cost him a season.

About a month into the season, it's a good time to see how the kids are doing in the minors. Rankings are the preseason rankings courtesy of Baseball America. The letters in parenthesis refer to the league. They run in the following order, from highest to lowest. AAA: Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, International League AA: Reading, Eastern League A+: Clearwater, Florida State League A: Lakewood, South Atlantic League Short Season A: Batavia, New York-Penn League Rookie: GCL Phillies, Gulf Coast League 1. Cole Hamels, SP (Age 22) 1-1, 1.77 ERA, 20 1/3 IP, 16 H, 4 ER, 0 HR, 9 BB, 29 Ks (A+) 1-0, 0.00 ERA, 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 HR, 0 BB, 14 Ks (AAA) Hamels earned a call to Scranton after a good start in Clearwater, and absolutely steamrolled the Norfolk Tide in his first start. As long as he stays healthy, he is a premium talent. 2. Gio Gonzalez, SP (Age 20) 1-1, 1.48 ERA, 24 1/3 IP, 15 H, 4 ER, 1 HR, 8 BB, 28 Ks (AA) Gonzalez is a lefty on the short side of 6' tall. The usual concerns from scouts are the only mark on his report. His first four starts in AA are about as good as you can get from a 20 year old pitcher. He's bound to have a rough start here and there to drive back his rate stats, but early returns are outstanding. Gonzalez is close to breaking onto Top 50 prospect lists. 3. Greg Golson, OF (Age 20) .159/.209/.206, 1 HR, 2 RBIs, 1 SB (A) 63 at bats, one extra base hit. As Baseball Prospectus noted, "it would be nice if his performance bore the slightest resemblance to what the tools watchers say he can do." Maybe Golson has upside. But there is no way he deserves the number three ranking in the organization, no matter how thin it is. It is still early, but if I do not see results at the end of the year, I am writing him off. 4. Michael Bourn, OF (Age 23) .230/.269/.324, 0 HR, 4 RBIs, 9 SB (AA) Bourn's batting line includes three triples, and he has yet to be caught stealing. Bourn is an extremely fast runner with excellent plate discipline. The problem is that he has very little power, and pitchers are not apt to pitch around him when he will not drive the ball. That negates his ability to get on base. Bourn posted an acceptable .348 OBP last season, but that will not propel him to star status. Bourn is good defensively with a great arm, so at minimum he can provide a team with a 5th outfielder. 5. Scott Mathieson, SP (Age 22) 1-1, 4.26 ERA, 25 1/3 IP, 24 H, 12 ER, 2 HR, 6 BB, 30 Ks (AA) That K:BB ratio is extremely good, and he does not allow an unusual number of home runs. Allowing twelve runs is more bad luck than anything else. Mathieson's carried this kind of stat line his entire career however. There are several who think Mathieson's future is as a power closer. Since he carried his ratios to AA, he at least has a future somewhere. 6. Daniel Haigwood, SP (Age 22) 1-1, 2.61 ERA, 20 2/3 IP, 17 H, 6 ER, 0 HR, 17 BB, 17 Ks (AA) Seventeen walks?! Ouch. Haigwood's other numbers are very good, but that is a serious red flag. It could be a sample size issue, or an indication of something lurking underneath. We need more data here. 7. Welinson Baez, 3B/SS (Age 21) .250/.241/.393, 1 HR, 8 RBIs, 0 SB (A) Yes, Baez's on base percentage is lower than his batting average. He has not drawn a walk in 56 at bats, while striking out 16 times. Baez has tools and had a great year last year after three shots at the Gulf Coast League. I am pessimistic at this point. Baez was a league repeater and lacks plate discipline. He's still got time though. 8. Mike Costanzo, 3B (Age 22) .263/.310/.450, 3 HRs, 12 RBIs, 0 SB (A+) Costanzo's numbers are slightly low, but given that it is less than a month in and the Florida State League is a tough hitters' league, it is not a serious problem just yet. Costanzo led Division I baseball in walks last year, so I do not think his plate discipline is an issue. 9. Brad Harman, SS/2B (Age 20) .217/.286/.261, 0 HRs, 6 RBIs, 2 SBs (A+) Harman had a great series in the World Baseball Classic for Australia, but has struggled mightily in the Florida State League. The walks are there, I think this is just a case of a slow start. 10. Jason Jaramillo, C (Age 23) .250/.328/.385, 0 HR, 5 RBIs, 0 SB (AA) The Phillies' Great White Hope behind the plate. The Phils' skipped a level for Jaramillo, and he's held his own so far in Reading. Considering his primary asset is his defense, this is certainly encouraging.

I doubt the Phils have such an iron-clad idea of what they want to do with Hamels. I think if Floyd becomes unusable, Ryan Franklin would get the first opportunity. And Hamels won't be this good every time out. It's nice to have choices though.

God damn indeed. I hope to see him in Scranton before long. I saw him pitch in Reading last year, and it was obvious that he's a top-flight prospect, and only the injury bug can stop him.

One more note on the Young incident. Remember that in most cases, these umps are ill-prepared to handle on-field disputes. Most of them come from environments where managers are usually not permitted to argue calls.