EVIL~! alkeiper

Judging by Floyd's performance this year, if a Floyd for Blalock offer came around I would seriously consider it. Blalock could perhaps platoon with David Bell for a season.

I'm staying out of the rumor talk. Let me just say that Jojima is a potential STEAL for the Seattle Mariners. Great signing.

Here's a fun one. The Philadelphia 76ers are 126-129 against the LA Lakers. 255 head to head games and only a three game difference.

Packers-Lions isn't much of a rivalry, but Packers-Vikings is the only rivalry in professional sports that's right at or near .500 all the time (waits for alkeiper to come in and refute this claim about some AA minor league baseball teams that have had one at .500 since 1936) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> What amazes me is that many football teams have very close head to head records. Eagles/Cardinals is no kind of rivalry (unless you were a fan in 1947-48), but look at their matchup. 53 wins for the Eagles, 52 for the Cardinals, and 5 draws. That's simply amazing.

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article...t=.jsp&c_id=mlb There's two things particularly interesting about the list of candidates. One is the negro league executives, such as Cumberland Posey and Effa Manley. Second is Minnie Minoso. He's borderline deserving of a spot in the Hall of Fame on his MLB merits alone. I'd love to see him reach the Hall, but it'd be iffy seeing him go in the back door, as it might be seen. Cristobal Torriente, Mule Suttles, Louis Santop, and Biz Mackey are the stronger candidates that I'm familiar with, though I'm sure I'm missing some.

Wang turns 26 in March. There aren't many pitchers with mediocre K rates at that age who become stars. I'm not saying he isn't good, but if you can get a worthwhile position regular for him, bite. Cano's a different matter, as he's 23 and already a good hitter at his position. His asking price would be much higher.

There's nothing wrong with Gordon seeking a three year deal. Free agents set their sights high and work down. If they set an asking price too low, they will lose out on potential earnings. As for Cano and Wang, I wouldn't be so opposed to trading them. They're useful players, but not future MVPs.

Not necessarily. What you do is identify guys on the cheap who can provide league average production. Instead of going after big names, look at Marlon Byrd, Lew Ford or perhaps even Gary Matthews Jr. These guys can be had relatively inexpensively, in Byrd's case perhaps by flipping a bench player.

I think much of what is written about atmosphere, and many other things are not that much of a factor, just sportswriters who need to fill space in slow times. I think the Yankees will be fine, provided they don't do anything stupid. Acquiring a real center fielder will solve most of their problems and again, they need to emphasize defense.

I doubt the Marlins are assuming any of Lowell's contract. Lowell is apparently owed $16 Million, but there's about $14 Million on Hank Blalock's contract, over three years.

A couple of points. That Blalock has poor numbers against AL West pitchers but almost no experience versus NL East pitchers is not really a point in his favor. Turner Field is close to a neutral park, not the launching pad that Atlanta Fulton County Stadium was. And if you are going to use the divisional parks as a frame of reference, remember that the NL East also contains RFK Stadium. But honestly, Arlington is an easier place to hit than any park outside of Coors, so moving to another division will not help his numbers. Blalock has quite a few troubling splits. He's got an .880 OPS against lefties but .624 against lefties career. He's .927 at home but .692 on the road. He's .862 before the All-Star break but .740 after. There is one encouraging marker though. He's 24, so he's likely to improve somewhat. As for Beckett and Lowe, the difference is that Beckett's performance was completely in line with the type of performances he's delivered throughout his career. I would ask if you would have any concerns about Beckett beyond the blisters? He's certainly delivered when he does take the mound. And again, he made 29 starts this year. All that aside, let's move this along. If you're the Texas Rangers, do you move Mark Teixeira back to third base? And what do the Marlins do about their pitching staff? They were throwing AA pitchers against the wall in September every fourth and fifth day, and now they're losing two of their big three. They have a wealth of pitching talent in their system, but none of it has logged any time at AAA.

And let's try to keep this from a flame war.

When I looked through Beckett's game logs, I looked for starts where he went 4 innings or less, and left due to injury. The only such occurance was the abdominal strain. I missed the blister game. Ok, I was off by one. Now, is Beckett a fragile pitcher who frequently leaves games early? 20 of his 26 starts were quality starts (6+ IP, 3 ER or less), a percentage in the top 30 of the league. He averaged 97 pitches a start, equal to Astros' starter Andy Pettitte, and also in the top 30. By nearly any measure, he was one of the top 15 starters in the league. The blister problem is scenery. What it doesn't answer is how Blalock can be a better player than Beckett. The only way Blalock wins out is on playing time. This is a poor trade for the Marlins, and I think it confirms to me what a scumbag Jeffrey Loria is. Every team in baseball is awash in money thanks to the ESPN and XM Radio deals, and he's still looking to cut costs.

I honestly had never heard his name until just now. Veras was a decent prospect in the Devil Rays' organization but apparently stalled in 2004. The Devil Rays made him a reliever, but let him go after the season. The Rangers used Veras as a reliever full time in Oklahoma, where he struck out 72 batters in 61 2/3 IP. Veras has control issues but a real live arm. This is an encouraging acquisition for the Yankees, as this is exactly the type of way a smart organization builds a bullpen. Get a few of these guys, pay them the minimum, and if one or two pay off you're set. Once in a while, one of these guys turns into a Bobby Jenks.

Well, the Marlins will save about $10 Million in the process. Let's see if they put it to good use.

Lots of Frigid Soul goodness tonight. Let's see... Zero. Beckett pitched 184.7 innings total in 2003. Blalock hasn't proven he can hit on the road. Mik made several good points, and this is your best response? Grow up.

The Marlins need another bat, and Beckett is never healthy enough to fully utilise his talents. I feel its a fair trade from both sides <{POST_SNAPBACK}> 1. Lowell hit .236/.298/.360 last year. That's slightly worse than Blalock's career road line. The only difference is that this was Lowell's worst season, and Blalock's done this for four years. If you're going to trade a potential ace because you need a bat, shouldn't you get one that's shown an ability to hit the ball when not facing lefties in Arlington? 2. Beckett made 29 starts this year and compiled a 3.38 ERA. He made 26 starts last year. We're not talking about Kerry Wood here.

But why should the Marlins take Blalock? He's played 252 games on the road, and hit .238/.296/.396 in the process. And you would trade your second best pitcher to bring this guy to one of the toughest hitters' parks in the Majors?

I notice your list is numbers two through five of Baseball America's rankings of the Marlins' system. Josh Johnson is the closest match. He's got the same level of control as Diamond. But Johnson's career minor league strikeout ratio is 7.29 per 9 innings. Diamond's ratio is 10.86. Diamond's practically unhittable, his mediocre AA debut aside. As for Thompson and Volstad, I haven't seen them personally, but I can not possibly justify rating two pitchers with a cup of coffee apiece in the NY-Penn League above a hurler with nearly 200 professional innings above his belt. Volstad and Thompson may be very good, but it is a long way to the major leagues. Diamond's a better bet. I'm convinced Marlon Byrd is the perfect fit. His batting line last year would look closer to 270/330/400 outside of RFK Stadium, and when you really need a fly chaser, he could be a tremendous asset, for pennies on the dollar. All he needs is an honest chance.

You think so? I'd rank Scott Olsen above Diamond, but that's it.

Giles has played 36 games in center field over the last four seasons. Considering he turns 35 in January, I doubt a return full time would do him good. Besides, how many more runs do the Yankees need when they already finished second in the league last year? Their outfield defense was their big problem last year, as it exacerbated their pitching woes. A real center fielder could shave a few points off the team ERA as a whole. Like another person said, count out Urbina. Wickman also is unlikely to sign outside of Cleveland. I wouldn't count on Mesa, as his ERAs have been below league average for two of the last three years. I would add Tom Gordon to the list however. He still has good stuff and past closing experience.

Just as a courtisey, I'm not going to mention that the Cubs lose their first round draft pick to the Giants for signing Eyre. From the quality of their offense or lack of defense?

Because the Yankees will not free Colter Bean.

I think the Braves are going to get Furcal back somehow.

$5.5 Million a year? (Or $3.5 Mil if the player option's included in that). If this is a harbinger of things to come, the best teams will be the ones who DON'T spend money this offseason. That's a huge chunk of change to spend on a pitcher who's essentially a situational lefty.