EVIL~! alkeiper

http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,3...2587981,00.html What I find interesting is that there is a massive endeavour underway to collect negro league baseball statistics. I can't wait until it is published. Guys like Josh Gibson and Cool Papa Bell get noticed, but earlier stars such as Louis Santop, Biz Mackey, Cristobal Torriente, and Clint Thomas are largely forgotten.

Always fun to see the fantasy lineups. Of course, no way in hell they happen, but its fun to dream. Gotta give a thumbs up to the Jeff Kent signing, by the way.

So much for fiscal sanity. I can't wait for 2006 when the owners start crying again about how player salaries are killing the sport. 4 years, $50 Million for a guy who's played 149 games total over the last two years? $20 Million over two years to a 39 year old center fielder with a .333 OBP? $10 million over two years for an outfielder with a league average OPS?

So far they haven't officially signed him yet. I have to think though that Guillermo Mota has first shot at the closer's role.

Jose Guillen may be a nice name, but he's not going to draw fans. Fans will be drawn to DC first and foremost by the novelty of a baseball team. Once that wears off, it comes down to wins and losses. If the Nationals fare poorly, it will not matter who they put on the field. Remember, Tampa Bay's Four DHs scheme in 2000 netted a loss in fan attendance (on a team that included Castilla and Guillen, oddly enough). What matters is that the team can compete.

About half of the guys I'd say fall under the category of entertaining. If they're not favorites, they're also not groaners either. Overall, I think while the quality of the writing and shows has fallen dramatically, the performers themselves have gotten better.

There aren't just official websites, or "insider" websites. You can look up Brandon Truitt's shoot interviews for example. What did wrestler A say about an incident? Does it agree with what wrestlers B or C said? That kind of thing.

Here's a before and after on the Nationals. 2003 Orlando Cabrera (246/298/336) Tony Batista (241/272/455) Juan Rivera (307/364/465) and with a few moves.... 2004 Christian Guzman (274/309/384) Vinny Castilla (271/332/535) Jose Guillen (294/352/497) Castilla's numbers came in Colorado. His road stats were terrible, so take that line with a grain of salt. In any case, the new group is better than the old group. The problem is, the old group scored only 635 runs last year, 15th in the National League. Will Guzman, Castilla, and Guillen help post enough runs on the board? Not with the poor OBPs you'll get from Castilla and Guzman. Guzman can't leadoff while he's posting a .300 OBP. His defense I'm not so sure on, because various statistical methods conflict. But the Expos had Orlando Cabrera, regarded as an excellent shortstop, and lost 95 games. Guzman will almost certainly not represent an improvement. In my view, you have a franchise that is essentially spinning wheels. They're making a few acquisitions, getting marginally better. But they're not looking to climb the ranks at this point.

He can answer e-mails in his free time if he wishes to. Pretty much everything Meltzer reports is fact, which is why I go by what he says. The problem is that there are no other credible wrestling sources online for all this general information. There are plenty of credible sources. You just need to learn how to double-check and verify things. Tell you what. Post a sample question, and I'll show you how it works.

Why not just adjust the color settings on your monitor?

Right now there is not much competition in the NL East. Atlanta's running out a rotation of Hampton, Thomson, Horacio Ramirez, TBA and TBA. The Marlins completely lack a bench. The Washington Nationals have made a few questionable moves that at best replace their craptacular players with equally craptacular players, and the Mets are the Mets.

Ok. The first post sounds essentially correct, except the teams would equal six on five. There's something there that's not clicking.

As stated before, Meltzer has many other responsibilities than answering email. He has a newsletter to compile and write, he has contacts within the wrestling world, he has a site to maintain, and he is essentially running a business. He cannot possibly answer every email. Meltzer's a nice source, but A) he is not your personal answerman, and B) you shouldn't rely on a single source, no matter how reliable he may be. If you have a question, do your own research. Google a messageboard and see if it has been asked before. Check other boards and see if they agree with each other. Double-check sources, and draw your own conclusions. You should find your answers. And if you really are stumped, THEN you email Meltzer who whoever. But emailing him for everything just smacks of laziness. Whenever I have a baseball question, I don't go running to Bill James. I check it myself.

Right now the rotation is Randy Wolf, Vicente Padilla, Cory Lidle, Jon Lieber, and Brett Myers, with Gavin Floyd waiting in the wings. I couldn't see them adding another starter without swinging a trade.

ESPN.com seems to have forgotten that the Blue Jays exist.

Alfonseca can give you league average innings. He shouldn't be the closer, but he's an acceptable middle reliever.

I think the Phillies are just about done for the offseason at this point. The lineup, bench, and rotation appear just about set. I could see them seeking a final reliever, and re-signing Doug Glanville. They'll listen to offers for Ryan Howard, but I am not sure the Phillies see a good deal on the horizon at this point.

The Winter Meetings occur this weekend. We will see the most substantial movement of free agents and trades of the offseason. MLB.com will have live radio coverage. Consider this a new offseason thread.

I read that he was an A based on the shallow pitching market this year. He's a type C. The Braves simply receive a supplemental draft pick (between the first and second round).

I would like to clarify a few thoughts on the subject. 1. Taking steroids is an undesireable element of professional sports, and some steps need to be taken. But at the same time, we need to take a broader look at the issue of performance enhancement in professional sports, because it is likely we will see more ambiguous issues down the road. 2. We do not know to what extent steroids benefit athletes in professional baseball. Even with steroids widely available, Bonds is still vastly outperforming his peers. 3. There are doubtless several pitchers who have taken steroids as well. Derrick Turnbow was banned from international play for two years because of a positive steroid test. 4. We know 5-7% of players tested positive. There are many names out there besides Bonds, Sheffield, and Giambi. So before you call for banishments, remember the next victim could be your team's star hitter.

Breaking baseball rules, and breaking the law are two different things. If breaking the law is cheating in baseball, then let's exclude Willie Mays and Hank Aaron from the record books for taking recreational drugs. Hell, why not ban Babe Ruth for drinking during prohibition?

Also, they use traditional counting stats, rather than advanced statistics.

Leiter's strikeouts the last three years have gone 172, 139, to 117. That is not a good sign. Leiter barely struck out more batters than he walked. That is a serious red flag. Most of his value came from his low rate of hits. Pitchers just cannot maintain that kind of luck without a high strikeout rate. If I had to pick a list of five pitchers on a collapse list, Leiter is one of them.

So would I, to be honest.

Just because Brown is not a star does not mean he did not deserve to enter the NBA early. Whether a high schooler deserves to enter the NBA or not is not dependant on if he is, or can become, a star player. The question is simply whether the player is good enough to play in the NBA at all. As for the league, the vast majority of NBA players, are respectful, law abiding citizens. We hear about the few bad apples and we let that become the general image of the NBA, because most of us really do not understand the hip-hop community. Yes, the NBA had a bad brawl a few weeks ago. It's not that big a deal. No one suffered any major injuries, and the NBA will review security protocols, and properly educate players on how to deal with troublesome fans. MLB had a similar crisis twenty years ago, and they dealt with it effectively. As for high school players, my opinion has always been that if you are good enough to play professionally, you should play. I do believe teams will realize that all but the best high schoolers are bad investments, and the tide of high school players will diminish in the next couple of years.