EVIL~! alkeiper

Am I wrong in thinking it looks more and more like they aren't going to find a SP and want to move Madson from the pen. They've now added Santana, Booker, Gordon, have interest in Looper, and already have the other 5-6 players coming back from last year. Seems like they are overloading on RP unless they plan to lose another one in Madson. Reports are the Phils are seriously considering Madson for the rotation. I'm glad. He's a cheap and serviceable option, and deserves a chance. I think their best play would be to try and move Lowell and let Youks/Marte play it out at the corners. Marte is a major league caliber hitter right now - he could probably outhit Renteria next year, especially if he stays in Fenway. Or, alternatively, give Marte some seasoning in AAA and let Lowell/Youks man the corners next year. If Lowell bounces back and hits well enough, deal him to make room for Marte in 2007. Marte has all the seasoning he needs. He could be the best player in the third base shuffle already. The only real question is what they now do about shortstop. Dustin Pedroia isn't far off from Renteria, and it'll be interesting to see if he gets a shot.

This is quite a coup for Gillick. Booker strikes out everything in his path. Here are his peripherials from 2003-05, after he missed the 2002 season. K/9: 11.8 BB/9: 5.1 HR/9: 0.5 Lots of strikeouts, lots of walks, few home runs. Booker is very difficult to hit. And if he fails, it's a low risk signing.

Ok. The next person to make a post not directly related to college football gets booted for a day. And every person after that, and so on. Learn to argue like adults.

It'll likely be Josh Barfield, who hit .310 in AAA Portland with 15 home runs and 20 steals. Yes, Josh is the son of former player Jesse Barfield.

I gotta give the edge to the player with AAA experience, and that's Josh Wilson. Also, Wilson has a good glove rep, crucial to this team. I plugged Willingham into left field because there was no other way to compile the outfield. I'm not sure what the pitching will do, and that's part of the problem. They could be great. They could get hammered. There's just a great deal of uncertainly, and these are not guys coming off full years of AAA ball. Quite a few of them have never been to Albuquerque.

What an awful trade for the Nationals. What's the point of trading for Soriano and moving him to left field when the left fielder you traded for him is a better player?

I updated my blog for the first time in months, with an article about the Florida Marlins. cultofabreu.blogspot.com

Here's today's depressing Marlins' statistic. The entire current 40 man roster earned a total of 74 win shares last season. 49 of those belong to Dontrelle Willis and Miguel Cabrera.

People don't seem to realize that Lugo has turned into a pretty good player since arriving in Tampa Bay. He's also a proven commodity. 41 and 36 doubles the last two years, 21 and 39 steals, .765 ops last year. That's good production for a middle infielder. Marte gets a ton of hype, but who knows if that will translate into success in the bigs. Marte's as good a bet as anyone. He hits at every level, posting a .269/.364/.525 line in 2004 in AA, and a .275/.372/.506 line this year in AAA. He has excellent plate discipline, power, and to top it off he's 22 and plays a prime position. If he's at all available I hope the Phillies are talking. I doubt the Braves would trade him to a division rival though.

Alfonso Soriano reminds me all too much of Juan Samuel. Another undisciplined slugger whose only qualification as a second baseman was that someone put him there. The worrysome part is that Samuel fell off the table offensively mid-career. Soriano has some nice skills, but he just put up a .309 OBP, in Texas. Loaded Glove, this is NOT the move you want the Dodgers to make. Jeff Kent is a superior second baseman, both offensively and defensively. If you move Kent to first, you're replacing Hee Seop Choi, who had the same OPS+ as Soriano last year. Granted Soriano brings 30 steals to the table, but it is not a significant upgrade to the offense. It is certainly not worth giving up a valued prospect. The difficulty of Soriano is that like Samuel, he lacks an obvious role. He's a powerful hitter for a second baseman, but he's awful defensively. He's an absolute speed-burner, but his OBP is much too low to bat leadoff. He's not so much a great hitter in a corner outfield spot. He could be valuable as a center fielder, but he's objected to moving in the past. He's overrated because his perceived value exceeds his actual value. That doesn't necessarily mean he's not a good player.

I wish some team would make a starter out of Affeldt yet.

Bench bat. Eldred has serious, serious power. The problem is, he struck out 159 times in 469 at bats last season, and hit .221 when he was in the majors. He may not be good enough to play regularly.

ESPN reports the Reds have traded Sean Casey to the Pirates for Dave Williams. I know the Reds are desperate for pitching, but is this really the best they can get for Casey? Williams gave up a lot of home runs in a park where it's difficult for right handed batters to hit home runs. Now he's moving to home run heaven. BAD trade for the Reds.

I stopped posting columns in February and to this day no one has said anything.

301 career win shares, quite a respectable number. 2,239 career hits, 255 home runs, 500 doubles, 1,275 walks, .398 On Base Percentage. 129 career OPS+. .278/.364/.435 in 65 postseason games. Three gold gloves. I'm not going to tout Olerud for the Hall, but he has a damned impressive resume.

Well, it's for Steve Kline so it's a great deal for Baltimore. It'll be hard to be worse than Kline and Hawkins was actually extremely good in the AL. Maybe he's just an American League pitcher. It's easy to be worse than Kline. Kline had a 4.28 ERA, and it was the first time he didn't beat the league average in ERA since his rookie season.

The big omission right now is Mariano Rivera from the Panamanian team.

To add, there's simply no way a team can run away with this tournament. It is theoretically possible to go 2-1 in the first round and be eliminated. And in fact, the US and DR can not meet until the semifinals.

Santana's from Venezuela. And Verne, I don't think that just because a player has volunteered that he'll be on the team. I doubt we'll see Leiter.

The only player the Phils could feasibly trade for either Willis or Cabrera is Chase Utley (since he's both good AND cheap). I doubt that's happening any time soon.

The Netherlands are going to be a better team than that. They have a professional league and there are a boatload of players they can utilize that aren't presently in MLB. If this were a full season, the US would win easily. They're deep at every position. The Dominican Republic has a nice lineup, but their third starter is Jorge Sosa. Puerto Rico had just two pitchers even make starts in MLB last season. Compare that to the potential US rotation. But that doesn't matter when a team will not need more than three starters. For me, the most interesting aspect is seeing the best players from outside MLB, particularly the Japanese and Cuban teams. I'm dreading that USA/South Africa matchup though. I really hope this tournament has a mercy rule.

Honestly, what's the difference in odds that a player hurts himself here, or in Spring Training? People are making too much fuss over it.

Saarloos' control is just fine. It's the lack of strikeouts that's the problem.

I don't think so. Salaries have generally risen since the game began. MLB's awash in cash right now from tv deals, their internet holdings (a HUGE cash cow right now) and the XM Radio contract. And to an extent, teams are just hurting themselves with these deals.

Usually a player who plays ten seasons and makes an All-Star team makes a ballot. Sometimes there are some screwy decisions, but they hardly matter in the long run.