EVIL~! alkeiper

There's a rumor that the Padres may now flip Gonzalez to the Red Sox for David Wells. Weaver's agent is Scott Boras. Boras knows the market, and he's going to squeeze every penny. Remember Kevin Millwood, another Boras client, hasn't signed either. Mecir retired. Don't feel bad, Rob Neyer made the same mistake. Hasegawa received some poor reviews for his performance this season. He's a finesse pitcher and I don't think he has much left. Ligtenberg has performed poorly in the Majors the last two years, but he did strike out a batter an inning at AAA Tucson. He's worth an NRI. And Scott Sullivan missed all but two innings in the minors due to injury.

I agree. This is not quite a good deal for Texas. It doesn't hurt them too much though. Adrian Gonzalez was blocked, and Terrmel Sledge is an average player. What really makes it odd is Chris Young for Adam Eaton. Eaton had a 4.27 ERA compared to 4.26 for Young. That's before you make any park adjustments. Adam Eaton hasn't posted an above average ERA since his rookie season. Good job for the Padres for turning Eaton's winning streak into a better pitcher. Adrian Gonzalez is a great young hitter who demolished AAA, and he gives the team a fine young hitter. Losing Otsuka may hurt, but a good first baseman is better than a good reliever.

I wouldn't put much stock into these kind of signings. Teams will sign a slew of washed up players and hand them NRIs for Spring Training. Just today the Indians signed Danny Graves and Steve Karsay to minor league contracts. Reyes is somewhat of an injury risk and the Cardinals will need depth in their system. Rueter is not going to get a rotation job unless he shows he has something left.

Thought of this at work yesterday. If the MLB license is unavailable, why not make a negro league baseball game? There are old teams and players that would be tremendous fun.

There's something funny about the best Arcade baseball game being Super Baseball Simulator 1.000. Dusty Diamond's All Star Softball (NES) is very good if you're willing to travel the emulator route. Today, Slugfest is probably the only thing on the market. Sega's got exclusivity starting next season, so there's no other way to get a game with real players. Wasn't there a Mutant League baseball style game, except with robots? Did anyone ever play that?

Yeah, I was just winging it when I spelled that.

It appears the organized fan protest is gaining popularity. There were similar movements against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays last season. Nice to see fans taking some matters in their own hands and gaining publicity against lacksidaisal management/ownership.

Well thank goodness the Dodgers' canned DePodesta. Wasn't him signing injury prone players one of the justifications/excuses for his firing?

I didn't like Stark's column, because it was awfully condesending. Worse, he wrote the same column three years ago... Yeah, that's a joke. Just be thankful the GMs behind such masterpieces don't become studio analysts and columnists for ESPN.

As opposed to voting for the only player other than Nolan Ryan to win 280 games, strike out 3,700 batters, and pitch 60 shutouts. The problem with this logic is that Chuck Tanner decided he'd rather have Blyleven pitch the majority of his games, 37 starts compared to no more than 30 for any other pitcher. And of course, there is the nagging problem that Blyleven had the best win/loss percentage on the staff. Of course it really doesn't matter who you think you're going to beat on that staff, because you're going to end up against Kent Tekulve anyway. In fairness though, we see now that Blyleven had a more impressive career. Blyleven won 115 games after he turned 30, compared to 67 for Candelaria. But John Candelaria from 1975-79 went 70-38. A young pitcher with that kind of record on a championship team is going to get some recognition. And obviously Collier's going to remember the Pittsburgh years. The problem is writers who prefer to judge Hall of Fame worthiness based on their memories. Writers have not seen every game from every player. And if statistics make you queasy, instead of poo-pooing most candidates and cherry picking statistics, make some phone calls. Ask former players who was tougher to hit. All of these writers who say Blyleven wasn't dominant never actually stood in a batters' box and hit against him. My case for Blyleven is simple. 13th among post-dead ball pitchers in wins. 5th in strikeouts. 4th among post-dead ball pitchers in shutouts. Eight of ten most similar pitchers in the Hall. Compare him with Nolan Ryan. Blyleven wasn't "dominant," while there is not a writer who would not use that term for Ryan. The dominant Ryan, in 88 more career starts, posted exactly ONE more shutout than Blyleven.

Polanco's OPS was higher (.830 to Cano's .778). Besides that, Polanco is regarded as very good defensively, whereas Cano and Soriano are suspect. You do understand that Cano was a rookie? Nobody thought that he would come up and make the team last year. Nobody thought that Cano would have the kind of impact that he did last year. He was a very nice suprise last year and hopefully only improves. The issue is not who will be the best second baseman in the future. The issue is which second baseman is best qualified to start for the D.R. in March. It is about who is better NOW. No matter how much potential Cano has, he's simply not better than a player who just hit .331. Cano's defense was regarded as problematic in the minors, and he's had some issues there in the majors. Polanco could easily win a gold glove if given a full year at one position. Now if they pull off this same tournament in four years, I might have a different answer.

Polanco's OPS was higher (.830 to Cano's .778). Besides that, Polanco is regarded as very good defensively, whereas Cano and Soriano are suspect.

MIB... Too bad the Royals had to DFI one of their best hitters (Matt Diaz) to make these signings. I just considered their staff ERAs from last season. Four starters over 5, and two over 6. And the only starter who posted a sub-4.00 ERA in more than 10 starts (DJ Carrasco) is off to Japan. Mike Wood pitched decent in ten starts, but his peripherals are ugly. As for Cano vs. Soriano. Cano certainly hasn't earned the second base for DR gig, particularly with plate discipline nearly as abhorant as Soriano's. Luis Castillo is the best performer at second, but he's not confirmed. Placido Polanco has outperformed Soriano the last two seasons. I'd make him the starter.

Why the overwhelming concern about a pitcher who's never succeeded outside of Dodger Stadium?

I'm not sure this makes make tremendously better defensively either. Mientkiewicz is an upgrade at first. Grudzielanek is probably better at second, I don't have references handy. But Mientkiewicz moves Matt Stairs back to the outfield, and that's a step down. I can't criticize these moves. Except for second base, these guys aren't blocking anyone. The Royals may have something in either Ruben Gotay or Donnie Murphy, but a short term plug to give these guys AAA time is likely beneficial. What's sad is that if Scott Elarton maintains his 4.61 ERA, he becomes the staff ace.

I don't know who they are looking for, but I have to believe Julian Tavarez is the next suitable candidate.

The Nationals signed manager Frank Robinson for another year. I think Robinson may be the most overrated manager in the bigs, Dusty Baker included. With 15 years of managing under his belt, Robinson has yet to reach the playoffs. Here's the top five in managerial wins without a first place finish. 1. Jimmie Dykes 2. Robinson 3. Paul Richards 4. Birdie Tebbetts 5. Jimmy McAleer

Floridian politicians have suggested a team of Cuban-Americans. Just for fun, let's see what that team would look like... C- Brayan Pena 1B- Rafael Palmeiro 2B- Yobal Duenas SS- Yuniesky Betancourt 3B- Kendry Morales LF- Eli Marrero CF- Alex Sanchez RF- Carlos Rodriguez DH- Jose Canseco SP- Livan Hernandez SP- Jose Contreras SP- Orlando Hernandez SP- Ariel Prieto SP- Hansel Izquierdo CL- Danys Baez What a great team. Michael Tejera gives the club FIVE pitchers good enough for the majors. We've got three steroid users, a AA second baseman, a minor league bench, and a right fielder who posted a .641 OPS in the Texas League. This is exactly the team that will bring the honor to the World Baseball Classic that Cuba just couldn't provide.

Dominguez is a reliever and Nix doesn't play second base. Kaz would likely do pretty well in Arlington, especially in an order where he'd be hitting after Michael Young and before Mark Texiera. If the Mets and Red Sox kicked in a bit of cash towards the Rangers as well they'd probably think about it. Perhaps a combined $5mill to Texas? That or they could try to work Phil Nevin into the deal somehow to free up a bit of cash. Dominguez is a starter. He made ten starts last year after spending time in the bullpen coming back from arm injury. Nix doesn't play second, but Kaz doesn't play center field. Moving Nix would open up another hole in the lineup. Ian Kinsler hit 23 home runs in AAA last season and that was an off year. He's ready to step up to the big club and play second. It just seems like shuffling cards at best, and I don't think the Rangers should let good young players go.

You just don't want Anna Benson to leave. If the Mets traded Beltran they could have Nady play CF. I think a fair deal for the three teams would be... Mets get Manny Ramirez and Juan Dominguez Red Sox get Nix and Beltran Rangers get Kris Benson, Kaz Matsui, Abe Alvarez, and a bit of money from both the Mets and Red Sox. What's the point of the deal for the Rangers? Benson isn't better than Dominguez at this point, and Nix is probably better than Kaz Matsui.

For David Bell, I'll take it. As for pitching his way out of the closer's job, he didn't. Sanchez had a run where he was scored upon once in sixteen appearances. All four of Sanchez's blown saves came when he was a middle reliever. Once Sanchez garnered the job, he was eight for eight in save opportunities.

Any A's/Yankees trade MUST include the freeing of Colter Bean. Make it happen guys.

Not entirely unexpected. Here's John Sickels' assessment before the season... "The only main flaw right now is a lack of home run power. He has a level swing and may never hit many taters, making him a tweener who could find it difficult to force his way into an outfield spot. His OPS was a positive at +7 percent last year, limited to that level by the relative lack of power. I think he has untapped potential, so watch him at Double-A."

The trade is not all bad for the Dodgers. Andre Ethier is a well regarded prospect.

Generally because of injuries. Teams are much more protective of their talent now than 20 years ago. Many contracts have clauses specifically prohibiting some physical activities.