Metsblog.com passes along a rumor that Scott Kazmir may be traded, depending on how the market for Johan Santana pans out. The Rays have talked about a long term deal, but nothing happened. It really would be sad to see Kazmir go just as the Rays are on the brink of improvement. [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 5:09 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | 4 Comments
December 31, 2007
Roger Will Speak
Roger Clemens will speak at the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:27 pm | Players | Permalink | No Comments
December 31, 2007
Wild West
Chone Smith details why Angels fans should love the wild card.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:11 pm | Team Evaluation | Permalink | No Comments
December 31, 2007
Familiar Face
I didn’t know Rob Neyer played for the Yankees in the early 1960s! (See picture in the upper right-hand corner.)
Posted by David Pinto at 10:31 am | History | Permalink | 1 Comment
December 31, 2007
More Patience
Squawking Baseball likes the Pirates do-nothing approach so far. The author wants Pittsburgh to spend in the draft:
New CEO Frank Coonelly spent the last few years as MLB’s watchdog for draft slot bonuses, which could spell trouble. But I can’t imagine this administration not realizing that this was perhaps the key area in which [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:06 am | Management | Permalink | 2 Comments
December 31, 2007
Goose Looking Good
Here’s another Hall of Fame vote for Goose Gossage. Grant does use the weaselly argument to keep McGwire off the ballot, however:
For me, McGwire’s case is singular. It all comes down to home runs. Yes, he has 583 homers and currently ranks eighth on the all-time list, but I suspect he’ll be out of [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:49 am | All-Time Greats | Permalink | 4 Comments
December 31, 2007
The Twins and Santana
David Zingler complains about the Twins and Santana in a post titled, “Santana Situation shows exactly what’s Wrong with Baseball.” His main complaint appears to be that big market clubs are allowed to low ball the Twins.
He complains that baseball doesn’t have meaningful revenue sharing like the NFL. However, I believe teams collect [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:26 am | Management | Permalink | 5 Comments
December 30, 2007
The Case Against Rice
Dan Fox notes that when you adjust Jim Rice’s career for his home park, he doesn’t look as impressive. Here’s a simpler version:
Rice, Career
Home
Away
Batting Average
.320
.277
On-Base Average
.374
.330
Slugging Average
.546
.459
Rice’s road numbers just don’t scream hall of fame.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:04 pm | All-Time Greats | Permalink | 18 Comments
December 30, 2007
Re-Juiced
Jose Canseco’s new book is set for an opening day, 2008 release. Given the veracity of Jose’s previous book, there are going to be many unhappy players the day the volume hits the stands.
Posted by David Pinto at 4:35 pm | Books | Permalink | 1 Comment
December 30, 2007
The Stats on McLouth
The new management team in Pittsburgh rates Nate McLouth higher than the previous regime. Some of the stats cited in the article are a little too specialized to mean anything real, but they do show McLouth is a patient hitter who gets on base better than most of the people coming through the organization [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:17 am | Players | Permalink | No Comments
December 30, 2007
More on Leyritz
The New York Daily News covers the Jim Leyritz traffic accident that left a woman dead.
Cops said Leyritz was stinking drunk with red, watery eyes. He flunked several sobriety tests and refused to voluntarily submit to a Breathalyzer or blood test. After he was booked on a manslaughter charge and released on $11,000 bail, Leyritz [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:09 am | Crime | Permalink | 8 Comments
December 30, 2007
Winter Worries
My Baseball Bias asks a question:
Did you know that Robbie Cano was only supposed to play six games with his DR team? I guess that was the deal he made with Cashman before he split for the winter, but he proceeded to play in another four games. Cash said he won’t be reprimanded, but the [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:03 am | Players | Permalink | 4 Comments
December 29, 2007
Confession of a Steroid User
Shane Monahan talks in detail about his steroid use in the late 1990s. Why?
“I’m not a superstar. Nobody remembers who I am. But you know what? I don’t want kids from college or kids from high school going through what I had to go through. I certainly don’t want my son, 20 years from [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:01 am | Cheating | Permalink | 3 Comments
December 29, 2007
Saying Something Nice
Dayton Moore manages to praise Miguel Olivo:
“As I put the pieces in place,” Moore said, “I looked at: One, we needed depth and strength at the catching position. This accomplishes that. Two, we needed a power, right-handed bat. This guy’s the best available player in our minds currently available to us. In talking with Trey [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:38 am | Free Agents | Permalink | 3 Comments
December 29, 2007
Legal Hardball
Some have suggested Roger Clemens bring a law suit against Brian McNamee, but the trainer’s legal team appears to be the ones going on the offensive:
In particular, Ward and Emery pointed Friday to a Mike Wallace interview with Clemens that is scheduled to appear on the Jan. 6 broadcast of “60 Minutes,” on CBS.
“If Roger [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:20 am | Cheating | Permalink | 4 Comments
December 28, 2007
Leyritz Kills
Jim Leyritz is accused of running a red light and killing the driver of another car:
Fort Lauderdale authorities got a call at 3:20 a.m. that a crash had occurred in the city’s entertainment district, Collins said.
She said Leyritz was driving a 2006 Ford Expedition when he collided at an intersection with a 30-year-old woman driving [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:30 pm | Crime | Permalink | 5 Comments
December 28, 2007
Salary Structure
Joe Christensen examines the likely salary total for the Twins in 2008. His 24 man roster comes in at $62 million with Santana, a drop of $12 million dollars. It seems the Twins could use that $12 million to raise Johan’s salary to $25 million per year for five years and keep him [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 4:21 pm | Management | Permalink | 2 Comments
December 28, 2007
Prior Commitment
My latest column at SportingNews.com looks at how Mark Prior might fare in 2008 and beyond.
Posted by David Pinto at 12:15 pm | Pitchers | Permalink | 6 Comments
December 28, 2007
League Networks
Squawking Baseball notes the Baseball Channel is already doing better than the NFL Network, even though the Baseball Channel won’t launch until 2009.
Posted by David Pinto at 7:57 am | Broadcasts | Permalink | No Comments
December 27, 2007
Beauchamp Passes
Jim Beauchamp died of leukemia on Thursday. He was an extremely poor hitter for a first baseman/outfielder, even in the deadball era. But he went on to a successful coaching career with the Braves, and was associated with the organization for 22 years.
My thoughts go out to his family and friends.
Posted by David Pinto at 11:00 pm | Deaths | Permalink | No Comments
December 27, 2007
Death of a Prospect
Taylor Bruce tells the story of Dernell Stenson’s death. I hadn’t realized that Stenson attempted to fight back. He went for the gun of one of the assailants when Stenson had the opportunity, but failed to reach the weapon first.
One shot was fired, then another two in rapid sequence. Stenson pushed open his [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:26 pm | Crime | Permalink | No Comments
December 27, 2007
Remembering the Devil Rays
R.J. Anderson published his book on the early years of the Devil Rays, Lamar-itis. It’s available via download at the link.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:06 pm | Books | Permalink | No Comments
December 27, 2007
Erstad an Astro
The Astros signed Darin Erstad. At the moment, not terms are available, but you have to hope it’s for one-year and $1 million or less. Erstad hasn’t hit well since the 2000 season. It’s really strange to see a player not only peak at age 26, but totally lose it after such [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:56 pm | Free Agents | Permalink | 1 Comment
December 27, 2007
The Post Disappears
Trent Rosecrans posts his last as the Reds beat writer for the Cincinnati Post. The paper is about to go out of business, and Trent’s blog goes with it. Thanks to Trent to keeping us updated on the Reds all year.
Posted by David Pinto at 7:58 pm | Blogs | Permalink | 1 Comment
December 27, 2007
I Hope He Does Better than Andy
The Yankees signed LaTroy Hawkins to a contract today:
The New York Yankees finalized a $3.75 million, one-year contract with LaTroy Hawkins on Thursday, strengthening their weak middle relief with the veteran right-hander.
Hawkins, who turned 35 last Friday, was 2-5 with a 3.42 ERA last season for the Colorado Rockies. He made $3.25 million and Colorado [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 7:49 pm | Free Agents | Permalink | No Comments
December 27, 2007
Top Ten List
I just love the title of this post.
Posted by David Pinto at 12:57 pm | Team Evaluation | Permalink | 3 Comments
December 27, 2007
Passing on Johan
Peter Abraham gives his reasons why the Yankees should pass on Johan Santana:
Spend the money on draft picks, Dominican shortstops and Taiwanese pitchers. Go find kids in Korea, Australia, Venezuela and everywhere else. Hire more scouts and go see every junior college prospect in Texas. Go find the next Santana, don’t trade for the old [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 10:19 am | Trades | Permalink | 8 Comments
December 27, 2007
Fish Fans
Craig at FishStripes questions the assertion that ticket sales are up for every team. It’s tough to believe more people are buying tickets for Marlins games this season. Maybe fans didn’t like Cabrera and Willis? That’s tough to believe. Maybe advance sales were so slow last year, they had no place [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 9:36 am | Tickets | Permalink | 1 Comment
December 27, 2007
Serving the Customers
Cardinals Diaspora takes Cardinals management to task for not building a decent team around Albert Pujols. I actually think this was a long term problem. For many years, the Cardinals surrounded their stars with okay talent, older players with mixed records. As some of those players aged and declined, they didn’t improve [...]
Posted by David Pinto at 8:50 am | Management | Permalink | 3 Comments
December 26, 2007
Baseball Musings Radio Show
If you missed tonight’s show, you can hear the recorded version here. It’s also available on demand at TPSRadio.
Posted by David Pinto at 9:03 pm | Podcasts | Permalink | 2 Comments
Bad Behavior has blocked 1930 access attempts in the last 7 days.