vivalaultra

Oh, I agree with locking up a #2 or #3 starter (even though I think both Pettitte and Clemens will return in some capacity next year), but I'm not convinced that Jason Jennings is the right man for the job. Now, if it was Willy Taveras/Chris Burke for Jake Peavy (or Chris Young. I really like Chris Young) or Willy/Burke for Dontrelle Willis, I'd jump on that in a heartbeat.

Willy Taveras, I think, is going to be a hell of a major league Centerfielder, probably not Carlos Beltran-esque, but still I feel he'll be a good one. He skipped AAA and he's still only 24 years old so there's alot more development to be done, but his defense and speed are excellent, and this year, he showed better plate discipline, hit for more power, and, overall showed much improvement at the plate, as evidenced by his 33-game hit streak. Once he learns to read pitchers better and not to always go back into first standing up, I think he'll be capable of stealing 50 bases a year and while he might not hit for much power, I think he's capable of hitting about .290-.300 every year with his ability to drop a bunt down or leg out an infield single. And there's the whole issue of if the Astros get rid of him, who the Hell's gonna play centerfield? Luke Scott? Jason Lane? Carlos Lee? Gonna shuffle Biggio back to the outfield? If it comes down to trading either Chris Burke or Willy Taveras, I'd trade Taveras and play Burke in center before sliding him to 2nd next season, but if the Astros trade both for a pitcher, that seems like creating two holes to fill one.

The Padres are somewhat close to signing Greg Maddux to a 2-year deal. They've already signed Jose Cruz Jr., who crushes left-handed pitching. Also, the Houston Astros have inquired about Jake Peavy. I stand by my statement that any team that trades Jake Peavy deserves to be kicked out of baseball, but, good God, having a rotation of Oswalt, Pettitte, Peavy, Clemens, and Woody would be sweet. Also, the Astros are interested in Jason Jennings still, with the trade suspects being Chris Burke and Willy Taveras, although I don't see what the point of trading away the future of 2nd base and the first true CF the Astros have developed since Steve Finley for a guy with a career ERA over 4 and a career record of 2 games under .500 with a not-so-stellar K/BB ratio is. And there's a slight rumor of a White Sox/Mets deal with Mark Buehrle and Lastings Milledge being involved.

Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals have extended their agreement through 2011 with an option for 2012. Hopefully for them, he'll continue to be the pitcher he was for the last 2 and a half seasons...and not the several before that. The Giants signed Bengie Molina to a 3-year deal. They also officially signed Rich Aurillia.

I enjoy them on occasion, but I don't think I can say that they "rev my engine."

The Winter Meetings start today!!!!!!!!1!1!1!!!!11!!1!! Not a whole lot of recent activity, but...The Braves signed Tanyon Sturtze to a one-year, incentive-based $750,000 contract. The Cubs are looking at the Ageless Kenny Lofton to play center and are exploring getting rid of Jacques Jones. Both the Rockies and the 'Stros are interested in Juan Rincon. If the Astros make a move, the package would likely include Morgan Ensberg. As good as Rincon has been and as good as I think he could be in the NL, I hope the 'Stros don't trade Ensberg for less than a quality #2 starter. Also, there was supposedly a deal in place that would've sent Brad Lidge to the Indians for Jake Westbrook. I think that trade would've been fair and helped out both teams. And the Dodgers and the Sawx have met regarding Manny Ramirez. The supposed package includes Brad "Short Fuse" Penny, James Loney, and Andy Laroche.

Houston-2,106,582 in the city as of the 2005 census; 5,280,077 in the metroplex. 4th biggest city in the US.

The Tribe signed Roberto Hernandez and Aaron Fultz. The Giants are trying to keep their team age north of 37 with their signing of Dave Roberts to a 3-yr/18 million deal; they also resigned Pedro Feliz to a one-year deal...and the Cardinals have met with Jason Schmidt's agent. I think that's it.

Meh, the "Sun King"/"Something" mash-up is good, at least...at least I think so.

But it gives people a chance to hear various Beatles' songs in a slightly different context! Yeah, I listened to it twice today and it was enjoyable enough, but probably nothing that'll be listened to anytime again.

Since nobody cares about the Rockies, I'm sure no one's mentioned that they've signed LaTroy Hawkins to a one-year deal.

Hey, nice jerseys. ...The Astros, today, did not offer arbitration to any of their four free agents: Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte, Aubrey Huff, or Russ Springer. They'd obviously love to resign both Clemens and Pettitte, presuming they want to play. Roger and Andy's mutual agent said that Andy will decide "by Christmas" but added "who knows about Roger?". The Astros are only "mildly" interested in both Huff and Big Springs and probably won't sign either one of em. Huff, I guess...might go...to the Phillies? maybe...and if the Astros don't resign Springer, he'll probably retire again. And the Astros' #1 priority at the Winter Meetings is a top o' the line #2 starter that they'll try to acquire through trades, which means that some combination of Willy Taveras, Chris Burke, Brad Lidge, Morgan Ensberg, Chad Qualls, Jason Hirsh, Taylor Buchholz will be gone.

I saw that Selig's stepping down, and I heard one person...possibly joking, possibly not...suggest that George W. Bush might be interested in the baseball commisionership in 2009. Would Baseball comissioner be a step up or step down after the Presidency?

No. It's crap. Edwin, I think it's from Cirque du Soleil, so you're in the right ballpark here. Poppycock! Do you just dislike the Beatles in general? Wots....uh...going on?

Bah! "Rocky Raccoon" is the pinnacle of musicosity! The sheer genius of "Rocky Raccoon" is unquestionable! Anyone that disagrees is nothing more than a dullard! ...Yeah, but seriously, "Rocky Raccoon" sucks...but for every "Rocky Raccoon" there's like...800 wonderful Beatles' songs.

Hey, it's the Beatles. It can't be crap! Even if it's nothing special, any CD that has 20-some odd songs by the Beatles cannot be considered crap.

Does anybody have any interest in the new Beatles' semi-remix CD Love? I'm downloading and listening as I go, and it's interesting so far, but I'm not sure that the songs that I've got downloaded and listened to so far are best representative of the mashing up of various song elements.

There's a good chance that he should have won it, but his statement that the MVP should only come from a playoff team is just dumb, especially considering that if the Phils were in the Central and the Cards were in the East, the Phils would be in the playoffs and the Cards wouldn't. And it's fine for like...casual fans to say that Pujols should've won, but, I think he just comes off as a smug bastard by clearly hinting at the fact that HE should've won and not saying anything good about the actual winner. Derek Jeter had more of a reason to be pissed in the AL, but he handled himself with class...unlike Al-bert. Oh, if we could all only be as classy as the Cap'n.

Hey, who knew that Albert Pujols was a smug bastard? I can sort of understand his point, but he just kinda seems whiny...especially considering that the Phillies won 85 games this past season while "MVPujols" only powered his team to 83 wins...

That would be a terrible mash-up. I am listening to the Swan Lake CD, Beast Moans. It's...really good. It sounds exactly like it should...like a cross between Destroyer, Wolf Parade, and Frog Eyes. A little awkward here and there, but mostly wonderful, yeah.

Yeah. He donated $10 million or so of it to help build a children's wing at Methodist hospital. He's donated a hefty chunk of his Astros' money to various charities. One of the stipulations when he first came to Houston in '04 was that he'd get 22 Diamond Club level seats right behind home plate for each home game, and he always gives those out to kids with cancer and such. That's why I just can't buy all the talk about him being some crumudgeonly ogre. And God, I hope he comes back...and Pettitte. Wandy Rodriguez a playoff contender does not make.

Maybe the Phils didn't want their rotation to be too "lefty-centric", with Wolfe, Hamels, and "The Ageless" Jaime Moyer.

I think Peter Gammons is wrong about Clemens. Houston would give him the freakin' moon to pitch next year. I could see him come in for a full year (hopefully not at $22 million) or a half-year at $11 million ($10 million of which Clemens donated to build a new children's wing on the local hospital). Either way, for the last two years, Clemen's salary hasn't come out of the payroll, it's come out of Uncle Drayton McClane's wallet. I'm more sure of Clemens coming back than Pettitte at this point. And with the 2nd and 3rd tier pitcher's flying off the shelves, both of them probably need to come back to make the Astros front-runners for the division.

So, is Larry Lucchino playing "dirty pool"? I heard that term used on the local AM sports show on the way home. I heard that he's potentially lowballing Matsuzaka and would not have a problem with recouping the $51.1 million if a deal can't be reached. I can't wait to see what Zito, Schmidt, etc. are gonna be asking for contractwise if Dice-K gets some ungodly amount of money. Edit: The Cardinals have made moves! Big moves! They've brought in Kip Wells...Kip Wells? Yeah...Kip Wells! The Astros were looking at Kip. They also signed Adam Kennedy, Eli Marrero (to a Minor League deal) and resigned Gary Bennet.

Hey, I had forgotten that Caminiti's on the ballot this year. He'll never get in, and not just because he did every drug imaginable...performance-enhancing and recreational, but I still hope he gets some votes thrown his way. He was possibly the best 3rd baseman in baseball for a good chunk of the 90s.