Thoughts of the Day

Um....Please click on this link immediately then come right back.

http://sports.espn.go.com/MLB/news/story?id=2348706

1) Did you see it? Barry Bonds has officially lost it. Wearing a dress and impersonating Paula Abdul. Wow, I never thought that I'd get to watch a major sports star have a complete mental breakdown while chasing the most important record in sports history. Something tells me Hank Aaron wasn't dressing as a women in 1974. I could be wrong. The fact that Bonds is staring in a reality show during this time, I mean who could have planned this timing. This is perfect. Going insane + greatest record in sports history + reality TV = success. Unless you don't want the greatest record in sports history tarnished. This series could make that Britney Spears-Kevin whatever his name is show look, well still awful, but not as awful and pitiful as this.

2) I went to buy the new MLB 2006 : The Show: video game today because I saw Amazon.com that it was being released today. However it's not going to be released for computers. Just on Play Station2 and X-Box. So what does that mean? It means that there is a company BAM (Baseball Advanced Media) that is trying to ruin everyone's life. BAM is an extension of Major League Baseball and they are the people responsible for screwing up both MLB video games and fantasy baseball. Last time I checked more people in the world have computers then Play Station2 or X-Box. So why does BAM and MLB want to cut off their computer using fans. Probably because the Play Station2 and X-Box people agreed to some sort of deal for Play Station2 and X-Box sales. You can't get that from computers because too many different companies can make them. EA Sports had been making the excellent MVP series for the past five or six years, but once BAM took power BAM appointed one company to make all of Baseball's MLB games. So EA is out. They have to base their game on college now. You can have the Texas Longhorns playing the USC Trojans in a game but you can't play the Yankees vs. the Red Sox. So if you want to play a video game with real mlb players.....guess what? You have to buy a Play Station2 or X-Box. Thanks BAM.

3) I'll just wait until fantasy baseball season starts. Might not be that easy because BAM is screwing you there as well. Any stats produced by major league players cannot be used in fantasy games unless the company hosting your fantasy league gets a contract with BAM. Those contracts, by the way, cost a great deal of money. So instead of paying $30-70 dollars to be in a league or even the insane idea of playing in a free league you're going to have to offset the costs being put upon the fantasy game hosts. I guess these people don't release that fantasy baseball players are among their sports biggest fans. These are the guys who get the MLB extra inning package, the Serious radio package and buy all these fantasy baseball magazines. Which last time I checked only gave you MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE SPORT OF BASEBALL. YOU STUPID MORONS! This should be exactly what these people wanted to promote. Instead they're more interested in screwing over you the fan. Screw them!

4) Saw on Amazon.com that the great, great new Baseball Prospectus Book was to be released today. Guess what my Borders didn't have? The great, great new Baseball Prospectus Book. I was on a job interview earlier in the afternoon and I was filling out the paper work and couldn't remember the date. I was at the counter at Borders asking where the great, great new Baseball Prospectus Book was and the guy at the counter asked me if I knew when the book was supposed to come out. In a second, without thinking about it, I said "February 28th, 2006 the day that the great, great new Baseball Prospectus Book is supposed to come out". I blame BAM. I have a weird sense of priorities in case you can't tell. So far I had an awful day. What saved it you ask? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000DZ854A/qid=1141185439/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-3634708-6282551?s=dvd&v=glance&n=130

5) Yes the third season of Newsradio was released on DVD today. What a great, great show this was. It's a lot like Scrubs, which was on earlier tonight, in how the network really screwed the show up. Moving it from night to night, time slot to time slot screwed both of these shows up so they both had trouble setting up an audience. But anyway the top five great things about season Three of Newradio:
1) Maura Tierny is just plain hot. She plays smart together women and who aren't typical sitcom girlfriends and it just works. Did I mention she's hot. Even on ER now.
2) The great, awesome and unbelievable comediac genius of Phil Hartmen.
3) Dave Foley, formerly of Kids in the Hall, is just funny, in everything he does.
4) Stephen Root. Mr. James wow. He was an awesome character rivaled only Root's roles as Milton Waddams in Office Space and Gordon in Dodgeball.
5) Did I mention that I thought Maura Tierny is hot?

"What we don't want here is a T.O. situation."

Oh Bob Boone special assitant to the GM for the Washington Nationals. Why not just stab Alfonso Soriano in the back. Bringing up the name of the most hated athlete in the world into the fold should help. The Nationals and Soriano are heading towards a fight here as the Nationals try to get Soriano to move from second base to left field. Soriano is an awful fielding second basemen. However he's a great hitting second basemen. Probably one of the best of all time. As left fielder Soriano is a.......left fielder? Heading into his free agent season if Soriano is moved he stands to take a big hit on his next payday. An elite second basemen will earn more then a disgruntled average left fielder. You can check the entire story below. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/27/AR2006022701514.html

Selig must be pissed about Negro League Hall of Fame voting.

Wow did that special committee, that MLB set up to review the qualifications of 39 members of the Negro Leagues who weren't currently in the Hall of Fame, screw both Bud Selig and the Hall of Fame today or what? You can read the story for yourself below: http://sports.espn.go.com/MLB/news/story?id=2346848

At a time when major league baseball is desperately trying to attract African American fans back to baseball MLB, in an attempt to do so, sent up a batting practice lollipop pitch to the plate that the committee was supposed to hit out of the park. But instead they fouled it off. They did elect 12 new Hall of Famers, but they left off the two most important and the only two living members of that original 39, Buck O'Neil and Minnie Minoso. If they were inducted this season baseball would have offered two living legends to the able to help welcome back African Americans fans to the game. In the 2004 season, 63 percent of players were white, 26 percent were Hispanic and 9 percent were black Americans. That represents the lowest numbers for black Americans in the sport in 25 years " says NBC5 Chicago. You can check out the full story here: http://www.nbc5.com/sports/5180111/detail.html?rss=chi&psp=news. For years the number of African American players and fans have been dwidling. Most pundits point to the success of African Americans in both the NFL and NBA as to reasons the why. MLB recently has begun a program to attract those fans back to the game. This was to be this program's shining moment. However like I said the committee fouled off the pitch.

Minoso was an excellent player for a number of years. He played in the major leagues for 17 seasons, mostly with the Chicago White Sox, and hit .298 lifetime. He was a seven-time All-Star and won three Gold Gloves in the outfield. He was also an electric five tool player who could do anything to change a baseball game. He didn't get to the majors until he was 26 so he basically missed five seasons in the big leagues due to the color barrier. Minoso has a great personality and a passion for the game that endeared him to fan's all over the country. O'Neil was a first basemen/manager in the Negro Leagues and a hitter very often compared to Mark Grace. During his time as a manager he sent more players from the Negro Leagues to the majors then any one else including Ernie Banks. He later served as the first African American Coach in Major League history with the Cubs. Since he retired he has served on the Hall of Fame veterans committee and currently as the President of the Negro League Hall of Fame. O'Neil most recently rose to national fame from Ken Burns "Baseball" series. In interviews O'Neil talked so passionately about baseball that he became both the a spokesman for the Negro Leagues and Baseball itself.

What does not including these two players do to baseball and the Hall of Fame? It basically takes two hero's and legends out of the place reserved for them. O'Neil is the most recognizable face of the Negro Leagues. Inducting these two would have exploded Hall of Fame weekend. Buck O'Neil's stories alone would have filled newspapers and brought African Americans, young and old, to Cooperstown. If he had been inducted I probably would have gone. I'm not African American but I just respect the men and their struggles so much. It also would have helped a young generation put faces to the negro leagues. Instead of two great charismatic players talking about their experiences with race and their passion for baseball now you get, I don't know, someone like Bill Cosby talking about them. I mean how much fun is it to hear people talk about dead people that they never heard of anyway? I mean how many fans are go to Cooperstown (no offense) to see Bruce Sutter get elected? Adding thes two player would have added probably upwards of 1,000-2,000 fans to Hall of Fame inducations. I'm a big believer in stats but I don't care about stats here. The Hall of Fame is a better place with these to in it rather then on the outside looking in. If I was Bud Selig I would fire everyone on that panel. I mean I'm sure they did their research but they totally missed the point on this one. That being said congratulations to the families of Effa Manley (the first woman to be elected to the Hall of Fame), Mule Suttles, Biz Mackey, Ray Brown, Willard Brown, Andy Cooper, Cristobal Torriente, Jud Wilson, Alex Pompez, Cum Posey, J.L. Wilkinson and Sol White.

A little more on Batista

Came across this piece in the Star Tribune today about the Twins signing Tony Batista it actually a more complete way of saying what I was trying to say. There's a link to the whole story at the bottom

"While the Twins were stumbling to an 83-79 record last season, Batista was dealing with his own set of failed expectations in Japan.
According to Gaku Tashiro, a reporter from the Japanese daily Sankei Sports, Batista's contract was the biggest a Japanese team had ever given to a foreign player with no experience playing there.
"He was released for several reasons," Tashiro wrote in an e-mail to the Star Tribune. "Manager Sadaharu Oh expected a lot. [Batista] was predicted to hit many home runs. But his numbers were not high enough for a high-paid foreign player and No. 3 hitter.
"Another reason Softbank released him was they had a good third base prospect. The team wanted to give an opportunity to the young player. ... Batista's fielding as a third baseman was also a problem."
Batista played in 134 of his team's 136 games, but he led Pacific League third basemen with 14 errors. Five of the six teams in that league play on artificial turf, which is interesting as Batista moves to the Metrodome, with its slower and more forgiving FieldTurf.
"Everybody knows the story -- that his range wasn't what it once was when he was younger," Gardenhire said. "That's expected. All we ever ask here is that you catch the balls you're supposed to catch. That's one thing he's always done against us."
http://www.startribune.com/509/story/269599.html

O.K. so let me get this straight the Twins admit his range is bad, they know what kind of hitter he is and they're still going ahead with this. The Japanese team released him from his contract and wanted him gone so badly they let him keep the entire $15.5 he was supposed to make over the life of the contract.

Negro League Hall Vote

A good story on ESPN about the voting on New Negro League Hall of Famers. I think it was a Rob Neyer article a year or so ago about how it's likely that there were a lot more Negro League players that should be in the Hall of Fame based on the fact that within ten years of breaking the color barrier baseball had added players like Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson, Roy Campenalla, Roberto Clemente, Ernie Banks and Larry Doby. All Hall of Famers. Also mentioned in the article is also how it looks like Buck O'Neil may finally become a Hall of Famer. As a player O'Neil was actually a lot like Mark Grace good defensively and good with the bat but not a whole lot of power. Mr. O'Neil was also the first African American coach in MLB history after serving as a manager in the negro leagues for years. He also currently serves as the President of the Negro League museum in Kansas City, MO. Many people were first introduced to Mr. O'Neil in Ken Burns "Baseball" series. I think that O'Neil should be elected due to not only his play on the field, but for his leadership and spirit seeps through him. I had the opportunity to interview O'Neil a few years ago and he was an absolute pleasure. Everything that is good about baseball you can experience by speaking to Mr. O'Neil. His passion and energy on the subject of baseball exude from this man. If ever you think players are overpaid, lazy, complacent, uncaring steroid headed freaks speak to Mr. O'Neil and all that will be washed away.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/blackhistory/news/story?id=2339983

Ten Worst Offseason Signings Part 2

4) The Seattle Mariners sign LHP Jarrod Washburn for $37.5 million for the next four years because they just knew somebody was going to do it. Bill Bavasi, former LA/ANA Angels GM and current Seattle GM, really loves his old Angels teams. So much so he may not realize that they're a full two seasons removed from that World Series title they won in 2003. Or maybe he can just use that as his excusewhen he tries to explain this deal in the future. Entering the 2003 season Washburn was coming off of a seasin in which he had won 18 games with an ERA 3.15 and was just 27. Under those conditions you could understand this contract. Instead what you're getting now is a pitcher who hasn't thrown 200 innings in three years and who has a balky shoulder that has seen his velocity and strikeouts go down in reason years. Last year he went just 8-8 with a horrible K:BB ratio of 94:51. He did manage an ERA of 3.20 though. He will be helped by moving to Safeco Field but his ERA will probably be closer to his career 3.93 then to 3.20 ERA from last season.

3) NY Mets GM Omar Minaya awards a 2 year $2.2 million dollar contract to 1B/PH Julio Franco. Note to Omar: If this is the same Julio Franco that I remember I think he may be lieing to you about his age. How old did he tell you he was? He said 48? Yeah that's what I had too. I still think he's older then that though. Two years? Why two years? Omar must really want to win now and he's going to do whatever he has to do to get it done. Or maybe he was just trying to piss off the Braves. So how are the Mets going to use Franco. Maybe in a platoon with Delgado at 1B? Delgado did have a bad year against lefties but over the last three years he has 23 HRs and put up a line of .265/.355/.481 against lefties. What did Franco hit against Lefties last season .271/.365/.449 about the same line Delgado put up over three years. I don't see Delgado being that happy being delegated to part time player. And sitting your number four hitter every time there is a lefty usually doesn't work. So what does Franco do then? He can't change positions at this age. So he's a late inning defensive replacement. Delgado rated among the worst fielders at first base last season and probably will again this season. But Franco isn't really a great defensive player. But hey maybe he will improve. There's not alot of current data on 47 year old baseball players batting and fielding performances improving but why not start now. It's not like you pick up someone at the minimum and expect similar results. But Minaya will say that having Franco is like having another coach in the dugout. But that's a load of crap. Last year coaching for the Braves Leo Mazzone was making around $200,000 and imagine he made more of a diiference than Franco did in the dugout and clubhouse.

2) Obivously not learning from the insane Troy Percival deal of 05 the Tigers once again invest heavily in an old closer in Todd Jones for two years and $11 million dollars. Luckily this offseason was an improvement over last season's offseason. Last year they had the two worst offseason signings not just the second. Yes, besides Percival's riduclous deal, the Tigers also managed to land slugger Magglio Ordonez. Not only did they once again fail to correctly read medical documents but they also didn't understand the market for this guy. He had no other deals on the table and he got them to go to five years on his contract. Jones signing isn't that bad , but it's still pretty stupid. Granted he was coming off of a truely wonderful 2005 season in which he went 1-5 with 40 saves and an ERA of 2:10 with a K:BB ratio of 4:1 (62-14). But.........he is going to be 38 within a month of the season opener. Detroit will be his sixth team since 2003. Why was he moving around so much? Because he wasn't that good. Last year was pure and simple a fluke. His ERA in the 2003-04 seasons were 7.08 in 03 and 4.15 in 04. His K:BB ratio was the best of his career and his ERA was almost two runs fewer then his career ERA (2:10 last year; 3.91 for his career). He's not going to produce numbers like that again and yet he was able to rope the Tigers into giving him an absurd contract.

1) Terry Ryan with blood pouring out of his ears from hearing "that the Twins haven't had a 30 Home run player since 87" so often welcomes back homer savior Tony Batista from a two year stint in Japan for a $1.25 million one year deal. What was Terry Ryan thinking! Batista hit .263 with 27 HRs and 90 RBI in Japan last season. So waht's so bad about this deal? Ok let me explain Tony Batista to those you not familar with him. Over his nine year career he has put up a line of .251/.298/.458 with 214 Hrs and 681 RBI. That's good power for a third basemen some of you are saying. And it is. I admit that but the problem is that power is all this third basemen can do. He can't field, he can't hit and he can't run. He has no patitence and looks lost at the plate when he isn't hitting a home run. What's worse is that managers fall in love with his power and envision him being a run producing machine. His last season before heading to Japan he drove in 110 RBIs in his last season in Baltimore. But at that time he was hitting in the number four spot in the lineup and actually squandered far more scoring opportunities. He is awful. He be a nice guy but he is just the poster boy for people who haven't figured out that getting on base is the most important talent in baseball. He also can't field which I mentioned before. Whenever you hear GM's talking about veterans you hear them say they hope the veterans rub on the younger players on their team. Ryan should just hope that Batista doesn't rub off on Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.

Ten Worst Offseason Signings Part 1

I hope that you realize that the 2006 free agent was probably one of the worst in recent memory. So these deals are very bad and pretty weak. Some of these signings I don’t like for the length of the contract they signed, how much money some players were paid and some that just me scratch my head.

Honorable Mention: (C) Mike Piazza agrees to a one year $2 million dollar with the San Diego Padres. Don’t get me wrong this is a great deal for the Padres. One year and $ 2 million dollars to see if Piazza has anything left in the tank isn’t that much of a risk at all when your other primary option is Doug Mirabelli behind the plate. Not that I have anything wrong with Doug who is 35 and last year hit .228/.309/.412 and last played in over a hundred games……never. So adding Piazza who hit .251/.326/.452 in 113 games with 19 HRs last year and .311/.382/.555 with 397 HRs for his career is good move the Padres. The fact that he has done all of that damage in some of the worst hitting ballparks in the NL (Dodger Stadium, Pro Player Stadium and Shea Stadium) makes this deal even better. But it isn’t a good deal for the Padres because you still leave Piazza’s greatest weakness in the game on the field and that’s he defense. Piazza is just horrible defensively these days. He never has been able to throw out base runners and his range behind the plate is now completely gone. He’s never been the best calling catcher in the game either. Mostly I don’t like this deal for Piazza. He either of gone (the supposed) Sammy route and retired or he should of gone to the AL. This should have been the season that Piazza went to the AL and DH’d for some team. He could have put his defensive problems behind him, padded his offensive stats and stay healthy for an entire season. No one would have blamed him. Instead he goes to the NL’s toughest hitter ballpark Petco Field, he has to try and stay healthy120-140 games and he has to continue to hear daily how bad his defense is and for a team that will be lucky to finish third in bad division all for $2 million dollars next year. He should of retired no one would have blamed him.

10) (OF) Jeromy Burnitz signs a one year deal with Pittsburgh for $6.7 million dollars. Umm…Why? This is a question for both the team and the player. What does Jeromy Burnitz, .258/.322/.435 with 24 HRs and 87 RBI in cozy Wrigley Field, do for your team that Craig Wilson, .264/.387/.421 in spacious PNC Park, doesn’t give you $3.7 million dollars less? Sure Burnitz is better defensively but if you are the Pirates why not take the hit on defense and spend the money on better pitching. Yeah they have some good younger guys this year in Zack Duke and Paul Maholm but come back these guys up. The question the Pirates have to ask themselves is; are we going to win the division because we got Jeromy Burnitz? The answer with or without Burnitz is no.

9) Cardinals sign (RP) Braden Looper to a 3 year $13.5 million dollar contract. The Cardinals are a smart team but I still don’t like this move for St. Louis. Sure they don’t expect Looper to close (this season) and getting out of New York may also help him relax but I don’t buy it. He was really awful last season blowing 8 saves and ending up with a record of 4-7 with an ERA of 3.94 along with 28 saves. What’s most scary is his K:BB (strikeouts vs. bases on balls) ratio last year a horrible 27:22. In 2004 Looper had a great K:BB ratio 60:16. This leads me to believe that besides his never adjusting to New York there also maybe shoulder problems. The Cardinals thinking seems to be that everybody loves it here in St. Louis and once Looper gets here and realizes that he’ll pitch like he used to. After a season setting up Jason Isringhausen he could assume closing duties for the Cards in 2007 if Izzie retires. But remember he also had problems closing for the Marlins. But three years is simply too many for a mid market team like the Cardinals to invest in a pitcher who maybe injured.

8) A.J. Burnett strikes gold in Toronto agreeing to a 5 year $55 million dollar contract. J.P. Riccardi reeled himself in a Marlin but he had to use some huge ass bait this time. I’m sorry to tell you this J.P. but five year deals on pitching never work out good for the teams involved. Examples you ask? How about Chan Ho Park, Kevin Brown or Mike Hampton? Earlier Riccardi was asked why a five year deal and he joked because he didn’t want to give Burnett a six year deal. So you’re paying $11 million per season to a pitcher who has averaged a 7-7 won-loss record, 3.78 ERA in 122 IP with a K:BB ratio of 2:1 (108:54) per season. Oh and in the second best pitchers park in the NL. Also on a team that was good enough to win the World Series which Florida did in the 2003 season. What was Burnett’s contribution that season? 0-2 with an ERA of 4.70 in four starts before having Tommy John surgery. Did I mention how last season ended? He was kicked off the team down the stretch while the Marlins were crumbling to the finish line. The Jays have to hope that Roy Halladay and Burnett’s reuniting with his former Pitching Coach Brad Arnsberg can settle him down.

6) Baltimore signs (OF/1B/DH) Kevin Millar to a $2.1 million dollar one year contract. Baltimore follows that up by signing (OF/1B/DH) Jeff Conine to a $1.7 million dollar one year contract. For more awfulness continue to number five.

5) Ramon Hernandez (C) scores a 4 year $27.5 million dollar contract with the Orioles. Now the Orioles already had (C) Javy Lopez under contract for this season as well as (1B/OF) Jay Gibbons. Ramon Hernandez now moves in as the Orioles fulltime catcher. Lopez now will see much less time behind the plate and more time at first base and DH. Jay Gibbons who was supposed to be Rafael Palmero’s successor at first base now moves back to the OF. Where he wasn’t a particularly good fielder. Millar then plays first base/DH/ and platoons with Gibbons against tough left handed pitchers in the OF. Conine then plays ? The problems with having Lopez, Millar and Conine on the roster is that they are all right handed, none are going to top their 2005 stats by much and their respective ages are 35/34/39. Last year Millar hit .272/.355/.399 with 9 HRs and 50 RBI. Conine hit .304/.374/.403 with 3 HRs and 33 RBI. Lopez hit .278/.322/.458 15 HRs and 49 RBI. Even if the Orioles were able to trade Lopez, who is owed $ 7.5 million dollars this season, that leave the O’s with Millar, Conine and Gibbons at DH, 1B and LF those are three big power position and not a lot of power. Plus Ramon Hernandez is 29 and has already caught 805 games (most catchers rapidly decline after 1,000 games caught in their careers). Hernandez did have a decent season last season in a tough pitcher’s park (.290/.322/.450) with 12 HRs and 58 RBI. He’s also good defensively. But offensively last year was probably his best and he’s unlikely to play at level for the next two years. If the Orioles don’t want out of this contract by the time Hernandez is turning 32 I’d be amazed.

Goodbye Curt

A sad day today as Hall of Fame Broadcaster Curt Gowdy died of leukemia on Monday a story you can read here http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2337202.

Big News on Barry

During a phone interview with USA Today Barry Bonds vowed that even though he's only 48 HRs away from Hank Aaron's major league record of 755 that 2006 would be his season no matter how many home runs he hit in a story you can see here: http:/www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/giants/2006-02-19-bonds-retirement_x.htm

"I'm not playing baseball anymore after this," Bonds told USA TODAY in a wide-ranging telephone interview near his home in Beverly Park, Calif. "The game (isn't) fun anymore. I'm tired of all of the crap going on. I want to play this year out, hopefully win, and once the season is over, go home and be with my family. Maybe then everybody can just forget about me."

At least Bonds said he was still planning to report to camp on time. Repeatedly calling himself "fat" and saying "I can't even tell how you may pain pills I am on or how many sleeping pills I'm taking," Bonds sounded really down on himself. He said that because of all the attention that is placed on him due to home run chase, steriod allegations and an ongoing custody battle with his ex-wife have made the game of baseball not fun.

I don't know if I believe this story. It seems to me that this interview has too much emotion from Bonds. What I mean that he could come with some reason to stay in the game if he hits 20-30 homers this season. No matter what Bonds did this offseason even if he retired it would have been front page news. And will be for the next few years. Maybe if he just stays away from the game of baseball for a couple of years. But Barry knows he has no shot at any endorsements and being able to sign your name with All-Time Home Run Hitter probably mean more for autographs. I imagine some AL time would pay him $6 or $7 million to come DH for them and break the record.

Yet another load of crap from Ozzie.

Ozzie Guillen appears to have run his mouth yet again. This time he takes on Alex Rodriguez and Nomar Garciaparra. Guillen basically said that these players shouldn't be representing countries that they're not actually from. True both were born in the U.S. but both have parents from the Dominican Republic and Mexico respectively. I could care less either way but the rules allow for these players to play for the countries there parents are from. Who is Ozzie Guillen to decide which players are really should represent which countries. I'm not a huge A-Rod fan but give the guy a break. His parents seem to have wanted him to represent the D.R. and his wife the U.S.. These are decisions of the players not managers for a reason. There's a link to Dave Pinto's story about on the excellent Baseball Musings blog.

Ozzie Guillen says nasty things about Alex Rodriguez and Nomar Garciaparra
http://www.baseballmusings.com/

Red Sox 2006 Part Four

Part Four of my look at the Red Sox offseason

Bullpen: Keith Foulke, Mike Timlin, Rudy Seanez, Julian Tavarez, Jonathan Papelbon, David Riske, Craig Hansen. This bullpen scares me as there are alot of questions about health and ability so let's get started.

Keith Foulke was hurt for the entire season. He had surgery on both of his knees and was ineffective when he pitched. His numbers last season were 5-5 with 12 saves and an ERA of 5.91 a strikeout to walk ratio of 34:18. Foulke refused to have surgery on his knees in the 2004 offseason and brought the injuries into the season. What made the situation even worse was Foulke calling into WEEI and complaining about the Red Sox, their fans and Boston. He was upset that after helping them the World Series that the fans could turn on him so quickly. Foulke down the stretch in 2004 was like a piece of tough leather and nothing could take him off of his game. I just don't know if Foulke can get back to that point. I bet that if he can it won't be in Boston.

Mike Timlin: had the best season of his 14 year career last season. He went 7-3 with 13 saves with an ERA of 2.24 in 80 innings. He allowed only two home runs. Timlin was especially dominate early in the season before taking over Foulke's spot as the closer. Timlin had problems with inherited runners last year. Timlin is turning forty this season and is pitching in the first WBC so he may have to lessen his role during the regular season. Timlin has been a workhorse since coming to Boston three years ago and has appeared in at 72 games each of those seasons. Timlin seemed to tire down the stretch last season his ERA jumped from 0.71 in july to 3.94 in August and 3.75 in October.

Rudy Seanez: Looks to continue his career resurgance during his second trip through Boston. Seanez is coming off of a great season in which he went 7-1 with an ERA 2.69 and a great K/BB ratio of 84:22. A truely excellent season. But how likely is Seanez to repeat last season at the age of 38. The strikeouts where the highest total of career and he pitched a career high of 60.1 innings pitched. On top of that he spent last season in the NL's best pitchers park Petco in the DHless league. I expect his numbers to rise to at at least an ERA in the 4.00's and his strikeouts to come back down to earth.

Julian Tavarez: At least he's not old. Just 32 Tavarez comes to the Sox after two successful seasons pitching for the Cardinals. He went 2-3 with 4 saves and an ERa of 3.43. Tavarez has had some maturity problems famously breaking his hand by punching a wall shortly before the 2004 playoffs started. One thing to be afraid of is his home ERA at Busch Stadium was 2.48 opposed to 4.72 on the road. Don't know if he has the temperment to handle Boston.

Jonathan Papelbon: Last year's savior done the stretch Papelbon is the most promising pitcher the Red Sox farm system has produced in years. He went 3-1 with ERA of 2.65 with a K/BB ratio of 34:17. Thrown into the heat of pennent race Papelbon thrived. The Sox invision him as a starter in the future, but due to an abudance of starting pitchers he may find himself starting the season in the bullpen. Within the nest two year's Papelbon along with Josh Beckett and Jon Lester will give the Red Sox a formidble power rotation.

David Riske: His numbers from last season look fantastic 3-4 with an ERA of 3.10 with a K/BB ratio of 48:15. So that's good. But here are the facts. His manager last season, Eric Wedge of Cleveland, was so fed up Riske that he refused to pitch him down the stretch or in any situation with some pressure in it. He pitched a combined 8 2/3rd innings in September and October. If you can't handle the pressure from pitching in Cleveland maybe Boston isn't the best place for you. He also had problems pitching away from Jacobs Field putting up an ERA of 1.50 at home opposed to an ERA of 4.66 on the road.

Craig Hansen: The silver lining of the Red sox bullpen. The Red Sox second pick in the first round last season was rumored to be in the running to be the number one pick but fears of his agent Scott Boras dropped down to the Red Sox spot. And the Red Sox were only too happy to take him. A closer for St. Johns Hansen pitched only 13 innings in the minors before moving up to the big leagues. He is the Red Sox closer of the future and if things don't work out this season he very well could be the closer by the end of the season.

The Red Sox Front Office was in my opinion was the single most important thing the Red Sox had to deal with this offseason. And in a round about the settled it well. Theo's back. Larry's still here. And John Henry is still the owner. What's important is that in the Theo-Larry power struggle Theo won. He will be the one calling the shots for the Red Sox baseball operations side of the front office. If Larry had won Jim Beattie would be the Red Sox current GM. But John Henry stepped in and said no. Eventually Theo returned and we'll see how this works this offseason. Most likely once the Washington ownership situation is figured out Larry will head their and do what he does best: getting stadiums built. Don't get me wrong Theo does make mistakes. Some of the trades he's made or hasn't made either didn't work out or wouldn't have. But he's an intelligent guy that looks at the statiscal side of baseball and understands it. Players, fans and front office people all seem to like and he is the living GM to ever bring a World Series Championship to Boston. and how many other baseball GMs can say they hang out with Pearl Jam?

The Red Sox still have too many starters (a good thing) and too few relief pitchers (a bad thing). There offense should still be good and their defense should be improved. If Lowell and Gonzalez can hit at all and Crisp can handle center field the offense and defense should be fine. If Schilling and Foulke can make any reasonable comebacks their pitching should be OK as well.

2004 Video

I hate to admit how much of a dork I am, but I just came across my favorite video of the Red Sox 2004 season. This from a person who has almost worn out his copies of Faith Rewarded, MLB 2004 World Series Video and the 2004 Boston Red Sox Collector's Edition. To further accuse myself of being a dork I must admit to having the complete Ken Burns Series on DVD. Here's a link to the video I mentioned.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dVPhJW4zaI&search=red%20sox

Thanks to Xanga for coming up with this

Red Sox 2006 Part 3

Part Three of my look at the Red Sox 2006 obsession

Starting Rotation: Curt Schilling, Josh Beckett, David Wells, Tim Wakefield, Matt Clement, Bronson Arroyo

This is where a lot of things have to go right if the Red Sox expect to have a successful season. Schilling again steps in as the ace of the staff. In 2005 due to the ankle injury he received in 2004 playoffs Schilling was a shell of his former self. Schilling's numbers fell from 21-6 with an ERA of 3.26 with 203 strikeouts in 2004 to 8-8 with an ERA of 5.69 with 87 strikeouts. After the season Schilling spoke about how stressful the season was on him and appeared to visibly shaken after he spoke about a teammate openly asking why fans weren't booing Schilling. If the Red Sox are to succeed they Schilling back both physically and mentally. Reports that I have read say that he's in good shape and has lost significant weight. One positive thing after Schilling returned was he hadn't lost much velocity still managing to strikeout 87 batters in 93.1. Schilling will probably never be at the level he was at in 2004 again. One thing though you never want to bet against Schilling because like he proved in the 2004 playoffs and World Series he's capable of anything. If the Red Sox can get 180 innings and 16-18 wins again they should be thrilled. It's also important that he rediscover that swagger that made him one of the most feared pitchers in baseball.

Josh Beckett: If you would have told me at the end of the season that the Red Sox would end up with Beckett this offseason I would have said that you were nuts. This is exactly the type of player that the Red Sox had to get. His health is a concern with his blister and shoulder problems but when this guy is on he's on. Last season he went 15-8 with an ERA of 3.38 with 166 strikeouts. He's 6-5 weighs 223 and he's only 25 years old. That's the perfect frame for a power pitcher and he still has 3-4 years left in his prime. The guys idol growing up was Roger Clemens. Putting him together with Schilling should also help his development. Beckett also comes with added bonus of standing in the spotlight during the World Series and shining the pressure shouldn't get to him. Did I mention he did it against the Yankees? In Yankee Stadium? And that he was the World Series MVP. Beckett has the potential to be the Red Sox ace for years to come. Great great move bringing him in even if you did have to swallow Mike Lowell's contract to do it.

David Wells: He wants to leave. That's informants because he's still a very good pitcher. Especially at Fenway where I believe he's won his last sixteen starts. And he's a lefty to boot. Last year he was 15-7 with an ERA of 4.45. He battles minor injuries and still has problems with his back every year but he's still won at least 11 games in 11 of past 12 seasons. He'll probably be traded at some point in spring training to avoid him becoming a headache.

Tim Wakefield: Every team wishes they could have a Tim Wakefield. One of the Red Sox most popular players Wakefield is also one of its most consistent. Wakefield has eight seasons of winning 10 or more games for the Red Sox in his career. Wakefield had one of best seasons going 16-12 with an ERA of 4.15 with 151 strikeouts. But stats aside Wakefield brings more the table then just numbers. He can start, pitch out of the bullpen, close or pitch long relief. Anything you need Wakefield's your guy. Throwing a knuckleball he come in and throw pitch after pitch and literally save your pitching staff. Always a favorite in the community and a perennial candidate for the Roberto Clemente award Wakefield last year signed a contract tieing him to Red Sox for as long as Wakefield wishes to pitch. And for only $ 4 million a year.

Matt Clement: There were two Matt Clements last year pre-All Star break and post-All Star break. Pre-All Star break he was 10-2 with an ERA of 3.85 with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 97:35. Post-All Star break he was 3-4 with an ERA of 5.72 and K/BB ratio of 49:33. Part of the problem no doubt was a horrific accident when Clement got hit in the head with a batted ball. Clement has always had serious stuff but while in the NL there were always rumors that he lacked the concentration to hold it together under pressure. It certainly appeared that way during the playoffs which may have caused the Red Sox to sour on him as they offered him up in various trade proposals this offseason. I think he makes an excellent fourth or fifth starter and as long you don't put in the front of the rotation I still think he could be successful.

Bronson Arroyo: Please don't hate but I have to admit this. I own a copy of his album Covering the Bases. I bet the Pirates wish they could have this one back. Like Tim Wakefield Arroyo was released by the Pirates, signed by the Red Sox and became a successful starting pitcher. Arroyo was thrown into some trade discussions this offseason before signing an under the market deal to stay with the Red Sox. Last year was his best season to date as he went 14-10 with an ERA of 4.52. Supposedly the Red Sox promised not to trade him, but they didn't actually give him a no trade clause so he may still get dealt. Arroyo could end up in the bullpen if everyone is healthy. Only 28 Arroyo offers the Red Sox pitching staff some much needed youth. Arroyo has a bit of a bull dog in him having hit a combined 34 batters the past two years.

I'll be back tomorrow to take a look at the Red Sox bullpen and front office.

A fun look at the Red Sox 2005 season from Youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mgEKuNIDTM&search=boston%20red%20sox

This is a slideshow presentation I made to commemorate the 2005 season of the Boston Red Sox. The song used is "Boston" by Augustana, check them out at http://www.augustanamusic.com . There are also clips from both NESN and WEEI. [Note: This is a not-for-profit piece and is provided for entertainment purposes only]
Added on February 14, 2006, 10:27 AM by anewfoundhurley

Red Sox 2006 Part 2

Part Two of my look at the red Sox offseason.

Outfield: LF Manny Ramirez; CF Coco Crisp; RF Trot Nixon/Dustan Mohr. Manny is Manny. Take that any way you want. Let's take a good look at Manny first his vaults. He's perpetually unhappy in Boston, frequently indifferent to the game of baseball he's playing in and one of the richest athletes in the world. He's awful in the outfield. His range in left is awful, which is particulary a problem because Fenway has such a shallow left field. He manages to get a fair share of assists, but that's because runners don't know if Manny is paying attention to the game or not. Example when he went into the Monster as Bronson Arroyo was still pitching. Manny also is an adventure on the bases. He makes questionable decisions about taking an extra base or even running out ground balls. As out of it as Manny may appear to be on the bases or in the outfield the one place where Manny remains locked in is at the plate. Simply put Manny is one of the best hitters in the history of baseball. Check these numbers for Manny's career .314/.409/.599 with 435 HR's and 1414 RBI. Those numbers are amazing. Check out Manny's combined batting line for his time in Boston:

Games Runs Hits Doubles HR RBI Avg OBP SLG
720 514 736 174 199 615 .316 .412 .610

He's elite player that has been an MVP candidate every season he's played in Boston and he's still one of the most dominate players in the game. However he is coming off of his worst season in Boston to date and OBP and batting average have declined each of the past four seasons. These facts along with wanting to leave Boston, his absent mindness and his huge paycheck make me think that this actually the year that Theo will pull the trigger at the deadline. No matter where or for who Manny will hit. Babseball Prospectus' excellant Pecota projections peg Manny for .296/.386/.570 with 39 HR's and 118 RBI.

CF Coco Crisp. After Johnny Damon left the Red Sox had to do something to fill the void. And they did a decent job. I knew when Scott Boris said that Damon needed a seven year contract he wasn't going to come back to the Red Sox. Damon was a very good player but he wasn't worth the money he was going to get on the open market. For the 5/$52 millon that Damon signed with the Yankees for he just wasn't worth it. Damon was a good leadoff hitter and an excellent centerfielder. He threw like a girl scout but every other aspect of his game was sound. But he's 32 which means he had just left his peak seasons. He was also one of the Red Sox who wore down towards the end of the year and into the playoffs. I think that Damon, like Jason Giambi, before him will eventually regret his decision of leaving Boston and his cult hero status for the millions of George Steinbrenner. But back to Crisp Pecota's projections have him hitting .295/.347/.445 with 15 HR and 76 RBI. They have Damon hitting .290/.352/.423 with 13 HR's and 69 RBI. So they matchup fairly well. The Red Sox who will pay Crisp $ 2.75 million
next season save about $9 million dollars. I have two problems with the Red Sox adding Crisp. First off I don't know if he can actually cut it in centerfield. He started last year in center for the Indians but he wasn't a good fielder in center. It wasn't until Grady Sizemore came up and took over center that Crisp started playing good defense. And that was in left field. The second problem I have is that I think the Red Sox really got hosed in the deal. Marte is going to be an excellent hitter and third basemen for years to come. I can't believe that they couldn't have gotten more for any package that Marte was involved in. Mota and Shoppach as well? Mota with his injuries may be a wash but why give up Shoppach? In Varitek the Red Sox have a catcher in his mid thirties who there is a chance he good breakdown. If that happens I'd take the 26 year-old Shoppach over the 28 year old Josh Bard who the Red Sox got in the trade. That said Crisp will be a good productive player of the next four years.

RF: Trot Nixon/Dustan Mohr. Nixon is a good player. He's good in the field although his range has declined the past couple of years possibly due to hamstring injuries. He knows how to play the difficult Fenway rightfield. At the plate and on the bases Nixon is a bulldog. Nixon who has played his entire career with the Red Sox is an excellent hitter when he's healthy enough to make to the plate and there isn't a left hander on the mound. A .279/.366/.489 career hitter with 125 HRs Nixon has a knack for delivering when the pressure is on. Mohr will most likely be Nixon's platoon partner this season. He was with the Rockies last year when he established a career high of 17 HRs, however I do believe that all but one of those came at home. Mohr is adequate in the field and as the Red Sox don't face many lefties he should be good in this role.

DH: David Ortiz. He is god. He's the guy who keeps Manny happy. He's the guy who will lead the comeback against the Yankees. With the loss of Kevin Millar all eyes will now turn to Ortiz for leadership and I think he'll be up to the challenge. Besides that he's flat out awesome his stat line since coming to Boston three years ago is

Games Runs Hits Doubles HRs RBI Avg OBP SLG
437 292 484 126 119 388 .297 .382 .600

Ortiz is the leader and the heart of the the best one-two punch since Ruth-Gehrig. More then that Ortiz is quickly becoming the most popular player in baseball. From teammates, to fans, to writers and even opponents there are few in the game more respected then Ortiz. His play in the 2004 postseason and 2005 regular season have made him a legend for years to come in all of New England.

Tomorrow I'll handle the Red Sox' pitching.

MLB to Investigate Bonds?

The New York Times Murray Chase in an article today calls for MLB to investigate Barry Bonds about his suspected steriod in the face of his closing in on Hank Aaron's home run record of 755.
There is a link to the story below.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/sports/baseball/14chass.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

My problem with this is that at the time Bonds is suspected of using steriods there were no rules in place forbidding it. Bonds may have cheated professional sports of it's most hallowed record if he used steriods. But as guilty as Bonds would be Bud Selig and the Players Assocation would be guilty also for turning a blind eye to steriods in 1990's and early 2000's. The best thing for everyone involved would be for Bonds to simply retire right now and let this issue die down.

Dunn Deal

Great move today by the Reds in locking up 1B/OF Adam Dunn for two years for $18.5 millon. Dunn, who hit .247/.387/.540 with 40 HR's and 101 has been the Reds best player for the past 2-3 years. The salaries he will earn over the life of this contract are $7.5 million this year and $10.5 million next year. The Reds also have a option for $13 million for 2008. This actually a relative discount as opposed to what Dunn would have made via arbitration. The other aspect of this signing that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere yet is this contract could make Dunn prime trade bait come the trade deadline. No offense to Cincinnati fans but the Reds are going to be a bad team with or without Dunn in 2006. Dunn has complained openly about the team's performance in the past and has mentioned how he'd like to eventualy play for his home town team the Astros. Sluggers signed to reasonable contracts can be moved. Why do you think Manny Ramirez hasn't been traded? Because of the size of his contract. Dunn is just entering his prime and I imagine teams would be lining up if he were available. The Reds would be able to receive some young talented pitchers in return which is what they need to improve as a team. Teams that should be interested include the Dodgers (after Nomar gets hurt) and the Red Sox (to replace Manny). Because of Dunn's ability to get on base via walks 114 last year I imagine Billy Beane and the A's would be interested.

Red Sox Part 1

Just so anyone (if anyone?) reading this knows I'm huge Boston Red Sox fan having grown up in Connecticut. For the previous six years I had worked for the Sports Network.com where I rose to the position of Senior Editor. During my time there I was in charge of all the official scoring for the 2004 minor league baseball season as well as serving as one of the head writers for Minorleaguebaseball.com for that season. Afterwards I served as the Fantasy Baseball Editor. I started this site to comment on the goes on of all of baseball. Not just the Red Sox. Any big story in baseball I hope to give my take on it. I think the best baseball writing always should try to have some humor to it so I'll try to include some. I'm just trying to learn how to use this so please forgive any mistakes that may occur at the beginning (like my double listing of the Sosa piece). So to begin with I'll start on a short review of the Red Sox offseason.

The Red Sox: I've been reading alot of reviews of the Red Sox offseason, most of which have been negative, and find myself scratching my head as to why. I loved the 2004 Red Sox team and probably always will (even Johnny Damon post-Yankees). I actually felt bad last year as the Boston fans were so critical of Keith Foulke, Curt Schilling, Mark Belhorn...etc. I still love those guys and in the future when they head to an old-timers game I'm sure they'll all head to Boston. That being said the Red Sox team at the end of last year was tired, bad fielding and in a slump.
So this offseason the Red Sox wanted to get younger, more athletic and better defensively. For the most part they have.
Catcher: Varitek as good as always except he seemed to tire down the stretch.

1B: Kevin Youkilis/J.T. Snow I think this is a huge improvement over the Millar/Orleud tandem was last year. Youkilis has been an OBP machine for years and certainly deserves a chance to start. His .805 OPS over a full season would have made him the fifth ranked 1B in the AL last year. A former/current thirdbasemen should certainly be better defensively at first. Snow is a awesome defensive player.

2B: Mark Loretta his numbers were down last season due to injury, but if heathly he's much consistent then both Belhorn and Tony Graffanino. Don't expect a return to his 2003 stats (.335/.391/.495 16 HR and 76 RBI) at 35, but he's very good on defense and leaving Petco Park should really help his offensive stats.

3B: Mike Lowell....??? He's very good defensively but his offense took a nose dive last season and don't know if I see him making a comeback. Leaving Pro Player Stadium should help his numbers but he really really fell off last season. If the Sox can get 10-15 HR's from him then they should be happy. I don't remeber which magazine I read this in this offseason, but in ranking AL thirdbasemen they rated Lowell 5th or 6th. Their reasoning seemed to be there had to be some reason why the Red Sox let Bill Mueller walk and assumed Lowell's 8 million per year salary. So clear up any questions anyone may have that reason was of Josh Beckett. Simple.

SS: Alex Gonzalez he's a great defensive player. He's terrible offensively. How terrible? He has a career OBP of .291. He doesn't steal bases, can flash occasional power and strikes out way, way too much. He's a decent player but you just don't expect too much from him. Still I think he'll be improvement over Edgar Renteria this year. Renteria, I feel bad I'm going to give him a bad rap here, never got comfortable in Boston after signing his huge 4 year $40 million dollar contract at both the plate and in the field. His 30 errors at short just aren't acceptable especially without any offense from the position. The Red Sox seemed to think that Edgar was going to return to his 2003 stats (.330/.394/.480 13 HR's 100 RBI) rather then his 2004 stats (.287/.327/.401 with 10 HR's and 72 RBI) which just wasn't happening. The best thing about Gonzalez is he's signed to a one year contract for $3 million. And on top of it it's unguarneeted so if he's awful in Spring Training they could cut him for $300,000. I'll be back tomorrow to go over the Red Sox DH and OF.

Sosa Retirement

Sammy's Going to Retire?

I'm fine with that. Smart move for him. Why you ask? Because it will earn him hundreds of thousands of dollars over the next 20 years. He hit .221/.295/.376 with 14 HRs and 45 RBI last year. How many players who hit .221/.295/.376 do you wait in line to get an autograph from? Few I imagine. By continuing to play Sosa is going to bring his career down further then it already is. He can't perform to his 1998-99 levels, or his 2001-03 levels or his 1996-97 levels.
He once was a great player, but that is far behind him.

Sosa now falls into the group consisting of Mark McGwire, Rafael Palmeiro and Jose Canseco who all have stats that waranate Hall of Fame consideration, but will always be hurt by the accousations of steroid use. It may actually be better for Sosa at this point to retire to the Dominican Republic and refuse public interviews if he one day wants to write "HOF" after his name in the future.

Just an update but it seems like Sammy has made the right choice. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2332063