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My guest tonight is Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts. He'll be talking about his new book and the soap opera that's the Dodgers' off season.

A Ballpark View is a new blog chronicling the season of Gondeee, who just bought the Braves $250 season ticket package. Stop by and say hi. He posts the lowest season ticket prices by ballclub here.

Paul Konerko decided to stay in Chicago today, taking less money from the White Sox than was offered by the Orioles. He'll get $12 million a year for five years, and form an intimidating power duo with likely DH Jim Thome. The contract seems like a pretty fair price for Paul. Once again, as we've seen so often in the free agent era, location mattered more than a few million dollars.

A Red Sox fan started a web site yesterday to try to keep Manny Ramirez in Boston. For some reason, ESPN.com mentions the name but doesn't give them a link. Do they not realize they're a web publication? Baseball Musings doesn't have that problem. Here's a link to KeepManny.com.

Alex Belth writes on how the Yankees passed on Vic Power due to racism. Meanwhile, Jon Weisman looks at Power's legacy.

There is one flaw is the racism argument, however. The Yankees had a better first baseman in Moose Skowron. If you were just given Skowron's and Power's stats from 1954 to 1960, and asked if the Yankees kept the better player, wouldn't the answer be yes? So what if Power was a slick fielding first baseman, first basemen are supposed to provide offense. That's as true today as it was then.

This isn't to excuse the Yankees miserable track record during that era. But this isn't the Red Sox passing on Willie Mays:

In 1949, the Red Sox gave up the chance to sign future Hall of Famer Willie Mays, who would go on to hit more career home runs than all but one man before him and electrify crowds with his defensive play. As Juan Williams reports, "one of the team's scouts decided that it wasn't worth waiting through a stretch of rainy weather to scout any black player. That decision killed the possibility that Mays and Ted Williams might have played in the same outfield for the Red Sox."

The Yankees had a better option at first base and went with it.

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Thomas Boswell takes Major League Baseball to task for dragging it's feet on finding new owners for the Washington Nationals:

Hardly a day goes by that the Nats' hamstrung front office doesn't get whiplash from watching some NL East rival improve itself. Yesterday the Mets signed super southpaw reliever Billy Wagner away from the Phils. Last week, the Mets gobbled up Carlos Delgado from the Marlins. Last year, the Nats finished two games behind the Mets. Next year, Washington will need divine intervention to get within 10 games of New York.

And that's a baseball crime. Because if ownership had been in place on any decent timetable, the Nats would have been in position to greatly increase their budget for '06 and might have been in the hunt for almost any player in the game they desired.

He also points out that this protracted search is hurting the fan base:

The loss of Loaiza is just the latest of many indignities for Washington fans in the last year. All the goodwill that baseball -- the game -- has engendered in this area is constantly undermined by the ill will that is bred by baseball -- the business.

The Yankees are are saying Joe Torre was misquoted and they never had plans to move A-Rod or Jeter to centerfield:

Cashman said he woke up yesterday morning and was "shocked" when he learned of the story. He said he immediately called Torre to ask about the quotes and was told by the manager that the story was "untrue."

"He said, 'I didn't say that,'" Cashman said. "He told me that he was asked by the reporter if A-Rod and Jeter could handle, athletically, playing center field and he answered that they certainly could. But he also said (to the reporter) that the best athlete on the team is probably Mariano (Rivera) and, along those lines, he'd probably be the best player to go out there. If you've ever watched him shagging (flies) during batting practice you can see that. But those comments didn't appear in the story.

"Either way," Cashman added, "it's not something that we've ever discussed."

So Cashman does his best Capt. Renault, implying that the reporter is a stooge:

The writer of the story, Larry Fine, said he taped the interview with Torre and had no doubts about the accuracy of his quotes. He said he believes he fairly represented Torre's statements and did not overstate the Yanks' interest in pursuing such a plan.

So, Mr. Fine can settle this whole thing by posting the audio tape. It doesn't have to be ones word against another. Just post the tape on the internet.

It's too bad the Yankees aren't seriously considering the move. I still think it's a good way to improve the team's defense.

Paul Konerko turned down an offer from the Orioles of 5 years, $65 million dollars. That's pretty good money for a first baseman with a .349 career OBA and a .488 career slugging percentage. Just to show you how much salaries have risen, the article points out the following:

The Orioles' initial offer to Konerko - made earlier this month - was four years for $50 million, before they countered with the five-year deal for $65 million yesterday. Coincidentally, those are the exact terms of Albert Belle's contract when he signed with the Orioles before the 1999 season.

At the time, Albert had a career .368 OBA and a .571 slugging percentage.

However, with Konerko, it looks like free agency is more about location than money. Chicago or Anaheim is where he wants to be. We'll see if either meets the Orioles level of generosity.

I found this going through Alex Belth's blog roll, the Baseball Uniform Database. You can fill in a form with the team and the years and get a series of pictures of uniforms throughout the history of baseball. A very cool resource.

Phillies Nation likes Pat Gillick's signing of Abraham Nunez.

Former first baseman Vic Power is no longer with us.

Power died of cancer Tuesday in a hospital in this suburb of San Juan, said his sister, Carmen Pellot Power.

Power achieved a rare feat in 1958, stealing home twice in a game when he played for the Cleveland Indians. He had only three steals all season.

Power did not live up to his name, slugging just .411 for his career. That's why you see stolen bases and a gold glove as his career highlights. He's noted for being one of the first Hispanic players in the game, although there were a few white Cubans before Power. I think it's safe to say Vic was one of the first Hispanics that didn't look white.

My condolences to his family and friends.

What do the Oakland Athletics see in Esteban Loaiza? I understand the Giants' need to sign over the hill players, but he Oakland Athletics are supposed to be smarter than that. A lot of Loaiza's success last year came from his excellent work at RFK Stadium. If you compare his home and road numbers from 2005, it's pretty clear that Esteban was pitching in a home park with a lousy hitting background. I don't think that will be true in Oakland.

Loaiza does have very good control, walking just 2.6 batters per 9 over his career. This, however, has not translated into a good ERA (4.60 career). Athletics Nation likes the deal because it gives Beane a strong position to deal going into the winter meetings. He has plenty of pitching and teams need pitching. I'm not sure we can really evaluate this move until we see what else happens. On the face of it, I'd bet Loaiza does worse with the A's than he did with the Nationals.

The people who should be happiest with this deal are the 4th and 5th starters of the world. They're now worth $7 million a year.

The Yankees are thinking about moving Jeter or A-Rod to centerfield:

Torre said he has considered the merits of converting either shortstop Jeter or AL MVP Rodriguez, who has been playing third base since joining the Yankees, but has not raised the subject with either of his star players.

"We've thought about it," Torre said. "We just haven't made a commitment to that. We haven't broached it with the shortstops."

They should have moved Jeter to center when they traded for A-Rod.

So how about this? The Yankees move Jeter to center (he's the best fly chaser), A-Rod back to short and sign Bill Mueller to play third? Whoever DHs or Robinson Cano would be the least productive hitter in the lineup.

Just how much did the Mets help themselves yesterday, introducing Carlos Delgado and reaching an agreement with Billy Wagner? Delgado posted 31 win shares to 8 by the Mets first basemen, an increase of 23. Wagner brings 16 win shares, vs. Looper's 4, an increase of 12. Since 3 win shares is equal to 1 win, the Mets are looking at 11 more wins next year, almost matching the 12 win increase they saw in 2005. They just need to replace Mike Piazza's 13 win shares. Both Hernandez and Molina come close enough. From a win shares perspective, the Mets are looking at about 93 wins next season. That should be enough to put them in the playoffs.

Update: I guess I didn't state this post very well. People seem to think I said that the Mets are going to win 93 games next season. What I'm saying is that win shares is pointing to a 93 win share seasons. Last year, it pointed to an 81 win season, and they ended up with 83. If you really want to learn about win shares, I suggest you buy the book.

Richard Griffin offers advice to people upset by the size of the contract tendered to B.J. Ryan:

It should be noted, in support of the Jays and any other sports franchise with uber-critical, hyperventilating fans, that as long as the front office is not publicly whining about having enough money, then size of contract should not be an issue.

Dudes, relax. It's not your cash. The one gauge should be results. Shut up and appreciate that the Jays, with their much-maligned, albeit personally defensive GM have actually started to spend some of that extra $60 million promised by the great Canadian Ted Rogers.

Giles and Burnett are next up for Ricciardi. J.P. is actually using the Yankees model of free agency; identify the best player(s) available and sign them. If the Jays manage to land the Fish and the Friar, they'll bring home the best reliever, starter and hitter available this off season.

Update: David Gassko at the Hardball Times crunches the numbers, and it appears the Blue Jays got a bargain.

Correction: Fixed the spelling of Gassko.

Jon Weisman just published The Best of Dodger Thoughts, a compendium of his best posts. I however, like to think his best posts are yet to come. :-)

Via Phillies Nation, Billy Wagner signs with the Mets. It's a four year contract with an option for a 5th, and more money per year than Ryan and Rivera. With Wagner, Delgado, Pedro, Beltran, Wright and Floyd, the Mets appear to be going for the gold in 2006.

It's a good year to be a free agent closer.

Correction: I had Ryan instead of Wagner at one point in this post.

The 2006 Hall of Fame ballot is out, and this may be a year when no one gets elected. The freshman class is pretty weak, with Albert Belle and Orel Hersisher being the strongest candidates.

There are lots of different reasons to put people in the Hall of Fame, but significantly outstanding season performances don't seem to be enough. Belle knocked out 100 extra base hits in a strike shortened season in 1995. Hershiser set the mark for consecutive scoreless innings in 1988. Those events brought fame to those two players, but aren't enough to take them to the Hall.

Here's a nice profile of Joe Maddon, the new Devil Rays manager. I've often wondered why Moneyball GMs don't hire a Moneyball manager. Maddon seems to fit the bill perfectly.

Maddon, 51, has been one of the game's best-kept secrets for years. He was this gifted, even-tempered guy sitting on the Angels' bench just waiting for someone to give him an opportunity.

"Joe is the most prepared person I've ever seen," Manager Mike Scioscia said.

With the Angels, it was more than Maddon just lingering there next to Scioscia, providing wise counsel. He also was the team's numbers- cruncher, studying tendencies on one of his many computers. And no one on the staff knew how to soothe a young player's feelings like Maddon, who also managed to provide reporters with the liveliest quotes in the clubhouse.

This article paints Maddon as intelligent and open minded, someone who would be comfortable with the unconventional. I'm going to watch the Devil Rays very closely this year to see how Maddon performs.

The Blue Jays are holding a news conference this afternoon, likely to announce the completion of the B.J. Ryan deal.

Cal Eldred announced his retirement from baseball. Eldred showed a lot of promise in 1992, going 11-2 with a 1.79 ERA in 14 starts for the Brewers. Cal through 258 innings the following year and batters figured out how to draw walks and hit homers off the righty.

After missing 2002 with an injury, he did have a renaissance as a reliever with the Cardinals, posting a 3.41 ERA in his three season with the team while striking out 7.9 per game.

Park Chan-ho is getting married. It's not your average wedding:

Ronald Moon, Chief Justice of the Hawaii State Supreme Court, will officiate at the wedding ceremony.

Moon is the first Korean to head the U.S. state's highest court. Park has been acquainted with Moon since 2003 when they were invited to the Rose Bowl Parade designed to commemorate the centennial year of Korean Immigration into the U.S.

According to the agency, Park will come to Korea early next month to throw the wedding banquet on Dec. 11 for relatives, friends and colleagues who miss the ceremony in Hawaii.

Around 300 people, including Major League colleagues Choi Hee-seop (LA Dodgers) and Seo Jae-weong (New York Mets), will participate in the banquet to be held at Lotte Hotel, Sokong-dong, Seoul.

Is there crying at baseball weddings? :-)

Dennis Boznango at The Hardball Times looks at what makes a game exciting and develops a formula to rate the most exciting post-season games of all time. I was a bit surprised that you needed to factor in the state of the series to get Braves-Twins game 7, but not all people are as fond of 1-0 shutouts as I am. :-)

Chad Finn really likes the Josh Beckett trade.

Rich Lederer reviews The Bill James Baseball Handbook at Baseball Analysts.

Obstructed Seats is a new baseball blog portal. If you're looking to start a baseball blog, Obstructed Seats offers free membership and a place to write.

From a Nov. 1 post:

I have no doubt that Lucchino's a smart guy, but if he knows so much about running a baseball team, why hire a GM? Why not just do it himself? Call what was Esptein's job assistant GM, have him do the same work, make the phone calls, negotiate the trades, but the give the final approval to Larry. Then the guy knows where he stands, and won't insist on having the power that goes with the position. And you won't need to pay him like Brian Cashman.

That seems to be what's happening. The Red Sox have interviewed candidates, some twice, and still haven't hired a GM. Instead, with the winter meetings a week away:

A far from streamlined Red Sox crew – with Bill Lajoie, Jeremy Kapstein, Jed Hoyer, Craig Shipley, Ben Cherington and, last but not least, Larry Lucchino running the show – will be there in some combination and without a general manager.

This crew already executed a blockbuster trade. And going with this committee saves money, as whoever they hire is going to get at least the salary of two rookies.

I'm profiled at BaseBlogging, a new blog that's a resource for baseball bloggers.

I'm wondering if Brian Giles agent Joe Bick made a mistake here:

But Giles' agent, Joe Bick, said yesterday he had told the Padres that Giles would be "moving on" after San Diego rejected a recent contract counter-proposal. Asked if the Padres no longer were an avenue for Giles, Bick said, "Correct.

"Certainly, we were disappointed that they weren't interested in getting a deal done," Bick added. "Now we're in the process of gathering information, which we'll do in the next few days and hopefully be in a position to make a decision soon."

Bick took a potential bidder out of the mix. One thing that would drive the price of Giles for the Yankees was competition from other clubs. If they no longer need to worry about San Diego, that would mean the Yankees could come back with less money, not more, for Brian.

At this point, Giles doesn't fit with the Yankees that well. The best way to use him would be in a rotating DH/outfield/first base capacity, giving Matsui, Sheffield and Giambi a chance to rest from fielding every day.

It seems to me, Brian would be a better fit for the Cardinals, who are looking to replace Larry Walker.

Greg Couch pens the personal story of Jim Thome in the Chicago Sun Times. I love this part:

Part of Thome's folksy story is a little off, though. He did build a cabin on land he purchased near Peoria, where he goes deer hunting, which is his passion. But Chuck Thome said his son has several hundred acres with "bedrooms all over the place. He's got lockers there and a batting cage. I thought the batting cage would be the biggest building there, but now he's built one even bigger to hold all his four-wheelers.

"And he's very involved in the conservation end of it. He's not just killing deer up there. He planted about 80 acres of corn just for the deer. The farmers have never heard of that. They think Jim's goofy.''

Yes, but in a gol'dern good way.

Jeffery Flanagan notices the Royals may be on the verge of a good problem at third:

Gordon is potentially the organization’s new golden boy, its next George Brett, its highest pick ever, at least until next June when the Royals get the No. 1 overall pick. And Teahen has heard the talk about how quickly Gordon could rise through the system up to the big-league club.

But up here, at the big-league level, Teahen represents the roadblock. He is the centerpiece of Allard Baird’s biggest trade as general manager, a deal that shipped out mega-talented Carlos Beltran with the promise that the Royals would be getting their third baseman of the future in return.

Or is Gordon the third baseman of the future?

The potential for politics abounds.

“I don’t see it that way,” Teahen said. “There are ways it can work out for everyone involved. Let me put it this way: For the Royals to be good down the road, I think you would need Alex Gordon and Mark Teahen in the same lineup, working together.”

Some people don't seem to understand why the Royals traded for Teahen then drafted Gordon. The short answer; it's always easy to move a third baseman to another position. If both players were first basemen, then you'd be stuck. But third basemen have plenty of room in the defensive spectrum. If they can hit, they can move to the outfield (Miguel Cabrera) or first base (Jeff Bagwell). It gives the club a lot more flexibility.

As if Pete Rose gambling wasn't enough, Red Reporter finds a story about a corked bat.

Steve Lombardi puts on his conspiracy hat to explore why the Marlins were so good in 2003.

Ken Rosenthal doesn't like the deal, although I'm not sure this is a good reason:

Let's not forget the potential effect on Ryan, either. He would need to contend not only with the pressure of closing — pressure that cracks many pitchers — but also the pressure of performing under a highly scrutinized contract.

I assume they're giving him the money because the Blue Jays believe he can handle the pressure. I wonder if Ryan came up as closer material on the Orioles psychological tests? Maybe the Blue Jays know about those, too.

Toronto does have the rest of baseball upset:

Several major-league executives were in disbelief when they heard the reported terms. Their shock will turn to anger if the deal is completed and they are forced to bid for free agents in a grossly inflated market. Major League Baseball officials would be equally outraged, knowing their pleas for fiscal responsibility are again being ignored.

"It's so shocking, it's almost laughable," one executive said of the Ryan deal.

The problem here is that fiscal responsibility is at odds with winning. The Blue Jays have money; they don't need to worry about the luxury tax. They want to compete in the AL East, so they need to spend money to do that. Surprise! They're bidding up free agents! That's the way the system works. They wanted the best available, and they gave the money to the younger guy with more strikeouts.

The comparison to Rivera is a little dubious as well. Rivera got a little under $10 million for four years. Ryan will get a little over $9 million for five years. With the exception of the last few years, that's always the way the free agent market worked. It's a sign that the game is healthy. Teams have money to spend, and they're spending it to win.

It looks like the Toronto Blue Jays are very close to a deal to sign B.J. Ryan to a very rich contract:

Several reports last night had the Jays and Ryan agreeing in principle to a stunning five-year, $47 million (all figures U.S.) deal. The agreement has yet to be signed, but would likely be contingent upon the pitcher passing a routine physical.

Landing a rising star like Ryan would instantly give the Jays one of the top bullpens in baseball. Ryan would take over the closer role from Miguel Batista, who appears likely to be dealt before next season begins.

As you can see here, over the last two seasons Ryan ranks third in K per 9 among the elite closers. He keeps the ball in the park, but he's no Billy Wagner when it comes to walks.

I'm a little surprised the Blue Jays would spend this much money on a closer. And it appears they're not done:

Ricciardi has also been after free-agent starter A.J. Burnett of Florida Marlins and outfielder Brian Giles of San Diego. The deal with Ryan would still leave the Jays — who have $25 million to $30 million in extra payroll to spend — enough cash to land both those players, provided they can move other players in trades.

One of those players might by Miguel Batista, although Gibbons would like to have Miguel in the setup role, or even back in the rotation.

The Jays are going after the Red Sox and the Yankees. With the Yankees not doing anything so far this off season, the Jays have a chance to make a move on the division.

Update: I wanted to add that the person who may benefit the most from this deal is Billy Wagner. He can argue his experience as a closer makes him more reliable than Ryan, and demand more money.

Bryan Smith at Baseball Analysts looks at the non-trade Rangers and decides they made the right move to keep their trio of pitching prospects:

In the end, it is a good sign that Daniels was slow to dip into the farm system that could shape the Rangers future. It would have been one thing to trade Eric Hurley, the fourth pitcher in the system that pitched well in the Midwest League, but another to swap one of their high potential, AA hurlers. Good first non-move for Daniels, while Red Sox fans are witnessing Theo Epstein's pride and joy (a rebuilt farm system) get torn apart quickly.

Athletics Nation takes a look at the 2006 schedule for the Oakland A's. One highlight:

The A's take on the Paul DePodesta-less LA Dodgers in June at home. As a matter of fact, the A's take on the NL West this season, which should help their travel wear and tear. No trips to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia are needed. The NL West was also the worst division in baseball last season, so this could help the A's excel in interleague once again.

There's one more day to nominate your favorite sports blogs at The Weblog Awards page.

I noticed among the nominations Sons of Bart Brush, a blog about Harvard baseball. As an alumnus of that institution, I encourage you to stop by their blog and say hi.

Joe Girardi is not upset by the Marlins moves:

"My coaches are excited about the players they're getting," Girardi said. "They knew the team was going to change a little bit.... I do know that if they don't get the people they want in return, they're not gonna make the trade. "

Girardi laughed at the suggestion that the Marlins hired him, then gutted the nucleus of his team.

"I'm not ticked off," he said. "I'm excited. I love being around young ballplayers because they are very easily influenced and full of energy."

If nothing else, Girardi is going to get a chance to develop a number of young players into a winner. That's a pretty good challenge for a first time manager. I like the way he's holding off on some coaching hires until the team takes better shape:

Girardi said he'll probably hire a batting coach, bullpen coach and bench coach next month after the Marlins continue to mold their 2006 team.

"I want to know exactly a sense of what the landscape of the team is. Then I'm going to pursue some coaches just because I want to know the type of coaches I'll need to fit the personality of the team. But I know I can't wait forever to fill my coaching staff," he said.

Different coaches have different strengths, and some may be better teachers, which is what you probably want with a young team. It's pretty cool that Joe wants to tailor his staff to the team, rather than the other way around.

A New Mexico reader sends an article about governor Bill Richardson embellishing his baseball credentials:

What you won't find in the record books is a baseball distinction that's been attached to Richardson's name for almost 40 years: that he was drafted to play pro baseball by the Kansas City Athletics.

Publications ranging from The New York Times to the New Republic to the Albuquerque Journal have reported that as fact. So have USA Today, Time magazine and National Review.

In the just-published "2006 Almanac of American Politics," these words appear in a history of Richardson's career: " ... in 1967 was drafted by the Kansas City Athletics."

In preparing a story earlier this year on Richardson's baseball past, the Journal was unable to confirm in any authoritative record that he had been drafted.

Richardson said he believed that he had been, based on conversations with scouts and other sources, and asked for additional time to find proof.

But in a written statement provided to the Journal last week, he said, "After being notified of the situation (by Toby Smith) and after researching the matter ... I came to the conclusion that I was not drafted by the A's."

"However, as the Journal's reporting should reflect, I was actively scouted by several Major League teams ... "

As far as I can tell, Richardson was a very good high school and college pitcher, and struck out a ton of batters. The story appears to be that he would have been drafted out of high school, but his father insisted they younger Bill go to college. Since teams were reluctant to draft someone who wasn't going to sign, Richardson was passed over.

I love this circular thinking:

Steve Vaughn, a teammate who was drafted, said he thought Richardson "clearly was a prospect" and "remembered hearing" his teammate had been offered a contract by Kansas City.

Being offered a contract isn't the same as being drafted. Teams approach players before the draft and try to head off negotiations with agents by offering the player a contract if he's drafted.

That was 38 summers ago, and Richardson was playing for the Cotuit (Mass.) Kettleers, a team comprised of standout college players.

The Kettleers published a 25-cent handout they issued to fans.

Next to Richardson's name on the faded program are four brief lines, and the words "Drafted by K.C."

"When I saw that program in 1967," Richardson said, "I was convinced I was drafted. And it stayed with me all these years."

So Richardson sees his name next to "was drafted", and believes it to be true. But where did Cotuit get the information?

At Richardson's urging, the Journal talked to Arnold Mycock, who was the general manager of Richardson's Cape Cod League team in 1967.

Mycock, 82, and living in Cotuit, Mass., has a copy of that 1967 program. He said information on the bios came from the players or their college coaches.

Nick Furlong, a pitcher for the Kettleers in 1967, later drafted by three major league teams, said he filled in his Cotuit bio sheet himself and sent it to the club.

College athletes typically fill out a biographical form to help a school's athletic department disseminate information to a student's hometown media.

On the bio sheet Richardson completed for Tufts in his junior year, he penciled words "Drafted by Kansas City (1966), LA (1968)."

So what Richardson likely saw in the program either came from his own hand, or came from Tufts relating what Richardson had told them! He believed he was drafted after seeing it in the program, but he had supplied the information! (There is also no evidence Richardson was drafted by the Dodgers in 1968.)

The person sending the link to the story believes Richardson is going to run for president in 2008, and wonders if this will be a campaign issue. It seems anything can become a campaign issue, so I have no idea. It could very well be that as a young man Richardson was confused by what constituted being drafted. In 1967, the baseball draft was only three years old. Before that, players were basically free agents until they signed with a team, often netting large bonuses to sign. The model of direct signings was the model Richardson grew up with, so he could have made a pattern recognition mistake. The baseball draft was always oqaque, with only the first round picks made public. Hypothetically, a scout saying, "We're going to draft you if you're willing to sign a contract," could be remembered as, "We've drafted you. Are you willing to sign a contract?"

Of course, thinking he was drafted twice makes that explanation a little less plausible. So will this be an issue? I suspect reporters like Toby Smith, who did a great job tracking down this exaggeration, will start looking for other embellishments. If there's more, it will be an issue. If this is the only one, it's likely an honest mistake.

Update: Joel Jacobsen of New Mexico sent me the link to the article. I hadn't heard back from Joel about using his name when I published the original post.

The Marlins completed their two big trades yesterday. The one involving Josh Beckett turned out to be bigger than rumored.

The Boston Red Sox and Florida Marlins announced a seven-player trade on Thursday that sends 2003 World Series MVP Josh Beckett, three-time All-Star Mike Lowell and right-handed reliever Guillermo Mota to Boston.

In exchange, Boston sends four minor-league players to Florida, including two top prospects. Shortstop Hanley Ramirez and pitchers Anibal Sanchez, Jesus Delgado and Harvey Garcia join the Marlins, the Red Sox said in a written statement.

It appears the Red Sox didn't like everything they saw in Beckett's shoulder, which is why they wanted Mota.

Mota's stock certainly went down quickly. Dodgers fans were very upset when Guillermo Mota went to Florida, but the former LA setup man did not thrive in Miami. He still struck out batters, but his walks went up (Mota with LA, Mota with Florida).

There's some evidence that Mota's stay in Florida was marred by bad luck. His quick and dirty DIPS ERA was 3.78, vs. the 4.74 actual number he posted. Mota, however, is 32, which means the Red Sox traded four very young prospects for two guys in their early 30s and a potentially great starting pitcher (if his shoulder holds up).

The three pitchers the Red Sox are sending to Miami all strike out lots of batters. Delgado and Garcia walk a few, but I'd be willing to take my chances that they can learn control. It's clearly a win now trade for Boston, a dump salary and win in the future trade for the Marlins.

The Marlins also complete the deal with the Mets:

The Mets, whose pursuit of the first baseman last winter got personal when Delgado accused team brass of trying to overplay their common Hispanic heritage, last night announced the acquisition of the slugger from the Marlins - along with $7 million to offset the $48 million guaranteed to him - for rookie Mike Jacobs, pitching prospect Yusmeiro Petit and Single-A third baseman Grant Psomas.

I don't know much about Grant Psomas. He's played a couple of years of A ball and had mixed results. Neither team really needs a third baseman right now, but the Marlins may be thinking that if Cabrera doesn't work at third the could bring along Grant in a year or two. I know that from now on whenever anyone asks me to spell my last name, I'm going to start, "P, as in Psomas."

Dan Le Batard sees the silver lining:

This flood of awful feels worse by the drop, Carlos Delgado the latest Marlin swept out of town by this godforsaken current, but there is at least one rainbow at the end of this Apocalyptic baseball reign: Management is getting back a wonderful array of the world's best baseball prospects for this or some other city to enjoy in a few years.

Remember, that's how Dontrelle Willis ended up here, in what was perceived as a salary dump. A.J. Burnett, too. And Juan Pierre. And Derrek Lee. And Carl Pavano. And Brad Penny. And all those guys did was knock over Barry Bonds, then Sammy Sosa, then the New York Freaking Yankees in the single best surprise in South Florida sports history.

If you're going to dismantle the team, this is the way to do it. It's not 1997 again.

The Cubs completed their bullpen yesterday with the signing of Bobby Howry. Bleed Cubbie Blue covers the story.

With the pitching set, the Cubs are set to go into the winter meetings looking for outfielders who can get on base.

Josh Byrnes removed another piece from the Red Sox management pyramid by hiring Peter Woodfork as an assistant in Arizona.

"We have certainly upgraded our already-talented baseball staff with the hiring of Peter," said Byrnes, who was the Red Sox assistant GM the past three seasons under Theo Epstein. "I have had the honor of working with him and have first-hand knowledge of his experience, intellect and passion."

Woodfork, 29, spent two years working in the labor relations department with Major League Baseball before joining Boston's front office in March 2003. He holds a degree in psychology from Harvard, where he played baseball for four years before graduating in 1999.

That's three major players gone from the Boston front office gone in a month. Who's next?

It's snowing here in New England, so we'll need to use the sleigh to get to grandmother's house today!

It was about this time last year when I learned that I'd be losing my job at Baseball Info Solutions. As I looked for new work, it became apparent that what I really wanted to do was write this blog full time. When the BIS job ended, Baseball Musings became my business.

I wasn't quite sure how this was going to work. My business plan at that point was very similar to the Underpants Gnomes.

1. Write Blog.
2. ?
3. Profit!

Credit for filling in the question mark goes to the readers of this site. The March pledge drive yielded about $3000 in donations. That generosity and increase in traffic told me this was possible. I'm grateful to everyone who hit the PayPal and Amazon Honor System buttons that month and this year.

I'm just as grateful for all the readers who stop by to visit the site. The second prong for filling in the question mark is advertising. Readership keeps growing, making the site very attractive to sponsors. Baseball Musings hit 1 million visitors in December of 2004, thirty three months into the life of the blog. It looks like 2 million will be reached in January 2006, just thirteen months later. A special thanks to Brian Borawski. Brian took it upon himself to send advertisers my way. Thanks to him, advertising is now a significant form of income for this blog.

A big thanks to my wife and daughter for going this route with me. I couldn't do this without their support and love.

There are so many people to thank this year I'm afraid I'm going to leave someone out, but here goes.

Thanks to Steve Moyer and Damon Lichtenwalner at BIS for providing the daily updates for the Day by Day Database.

Thanks to Ray Garcia of TPSRadio.net for the opportunity to broadcast a radio show. Thanks to Jamie Mottram of Sports Bloggers Live for putting me on the air and plugging Baseball Musings whenever possible. Thanks to everyone who's had me as a radio guest.

Thanks to all my old colleagues at ESPN for the numerous plugs; Peter Gammons, Jayson Stark, Rob Neyer and Mark Simon.

Thanks to the Boston.com staff for aggregating this blog on their site, even though it's not a Red Sox blog.

Thanks to Will Leitch at Deadspin.com for all the readers you're sending my way.

Thanks to everyone who links here. New people find this web site every day, and you're a big reason why.

Thanks to Jim Storer, for always having time to talk about the question mark.

And a special thanks to the ITS department at Bay Path College. In order to make ends meet, I've taken a job there as a part time programmer. They've allowed me the flexibility to blog full time while still putting food on the table.

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you enjoy the day with your family and friends!

Was Watching notices a poor choice of clothes by Jason Giambi.

Jon Weisman at Dodger Thoughts is wondering if Tommy Lasorda was used as a pawn to get rid of Paul DePodesta, and now has no power.

Will Lasorda now go around Dodger general manager Ned Colletti to voice his concerns about Colletti's interest in Black to Dodger owner Frank McCourt, the way he went around former Dodger general manager Paul DePodesta's last month?

Or was the entire controversy over DePodesta's managerial targets a smokescreen for a general desire by the anti-Depodesta contingent to push DePodesta out? The timing of DePodesta's firing suggests that it was his managerial search that was the final straw (reportedly his interest in in-house candidate Terry Collins). But once DePodesta was fired or replaced, did that render Lasorda irrelevant? And did Lasorda know it?

Of course, there's nothing about this at Tommy's blog.

Via Phillies Nation, Jim Thome is going to the White Sox. The Phillies are getting Aaron Rowand in return, two prospects, but they still are going to pay half of Thome's contract.

The teams are trading offense for defense. Rowand overall isn't an impressive offensive player. He had a great year in 2004, but a poor year at the bat in 2005. What he does do is catch everything from gap to gap. Given that the White Sox are built on pitching and defense, I'm surprised they would trade someone who makes their pitching staff better for an aging slugger. Do the White Sox have someone younger waiting in the wings? Without knowing who the prospects are, this looks like a very good trade for the Phillies. They got rid of an expendable player and upgrade their defense at a very important position. Another great Gillick trade.

Jon Heyman of the NY Newsday is reporting the Mets and Marlins have a deal to send Carlos Delgado to New York.

The Mets have reached an agreement for a trade to bring Carlos Delgado from the Marlins, Newsday has learned. The trade won't be finalized until medical examinations of the players involved are complete and commissioner Bud Selig signs off on the deal.

The Mets have agreed to send righthanded pitching prospect Yusmeiro Petit and young first baseman Mike Jacobs to the Marlins for Delgado, according to someone familiar with the deal. As part of the deal, the Marlins will send $7 million back to the Mets to cover part of the $48 million remaining on Delgado's contract.

So Delgado becomes the replacement for Piazza's bat, and the Marlins continue to pick up good, young prospects. While Jacobs is nothing special, Petit's had a very good minor league career. The Marlins keep picking up young pitchers with lots of strikeouts and few walks; you have to like that strategy. In a couple of years they could end up with a staff very similar to Willis, Burnett and Beckett at a fraction of the cost.

It looks like the Mets are going to make good use of their 2006 tax break. If they can land Wagner, you're looking at a team with Beltran, Delgado, Pedro, Wagner, Floyd and Wright. Based on their 2005 win shares, that's 47 wins right there. If Beltran's woes were caused by injury, and he's healthy in 2006, that could even be higher.

It looks like Billy Wagner is going to get Mariano Rivera money:

After two days of meetings with the pitcher and his wife, the New York Mets offered free-agent closer Billy Wagner a three-year contract worth just more than $30 million, a deal containing an option for 2009 that could increase the package to $40 million.

According to Baseball Reference, Rivera's averaged $10.1 million over the last five years. Wagner's pay hasn't been shabby either, pulling in $8.25 million on average over the last four years.

Since Wagner's first full season in 1996, the two rank 1-2 in ERA for pitcher's with 600 IP over that time. You can also see Rivera's strength in home runs allowed makes up for Wagner's strength in strikeouts.

Wagner is two years younger than Mariano. If you believe a closer is worth that kind of money, then I'd say the Mets are making Billy a fair offer. And for those who thought the Cubs were spending too much money on Scott Eyre, do you really think Wagner is worth three times the money?

Just as the Mariners are acquiring another Japanese player, they are losing their translator.

"It's been a fun six years, but it's not something you do forever," said Turner, 29, who also dressed in uniform as the team's bullpen catcher. "I'll miss the guys, and the baseball, but it's time to do something else."

It turns out this may give the Mariners an incentive to re-sign:

Though still unlikely to return as a free agent, Hasegawa is a year-round Seattle resident and may be willing to sign for less than the $2.975 million he earned in 2005. "It's something that has crossed my mind," said Hasegawa's agent, Joe Urbon. "It makes sense."

Someone pointed out to me that my line drive numbers for Mike Lowell for 2002-2004 don't match the Hardball Times. The 2005 number I took from the Hardball Times. I'm going look into this and post when I have an answer.

Update: My mistake. I used the wrong batted ball type field in my database. Lowell's line drives are down the last two seasons from the previous two seasons, but it's not spectacular. I'm making the change at the original post.

There's a link at MLB.com to a press conference by David Samson in which he says that a new stadium in Miami won't happen. They're looking at other sites in south Florida, but they've received permission from MLB to look into relocating the team.

These threats usually work. We'll see if Miami and the state of Florida are intimidated by this.

Update: Here's a summary story.

David Ortiz appears to have inside information on Manny Ramirez returning to Boston:

According to Ortiz, "Manny is not returning to Boston."

"Manny is living through a difficult situation (in Boston) that only he and his family know and he no longer wants to play there," said Ortiz after arriving early Monday in the Dominican Republic.

Ortiz indicated that Ramirez wants to play for a west coast team. Maybe the Red Sox can trade him straight up for Vlad! :-)

Scott Boras employs a very creative statistician:

In the blue free-agent binder that Boras presents to teams interested in Damon, there are 10 sections filled with hundreds of numbers to emphasize why Damon is desirable. If there is a statistic available that details Damon's value, Boras's staff has probably unveiled it.

Boras made a copy of his binder available to The New York Times. In it are sections titled "Best Leadoff Man in Baseball"; "Most Durable Active Player in the Major Leagues/Deserving of a 7-Plus-Year Contract"; and "Better Than Future Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson." Statistics follow each heading.

Just in case that last line seemed far fetched to you, too, their averages through seasonal age 31 (BA/OBA/Slug):

• Henderson: .293/.403/.441
• Damon: .290/.353/.431

And just in case that's not enough to convince you, remember the MLB context was in Rickey's favor as well. From 1979 to 1990, the MLB averages were .259/.324/.389. In Damon's career, starting in 1995, the MLB averages are .266/.336/.424. If Boras made such a statement to me, I'd laugh him out of my office.

Here's the latest on the wheelings and dealing involving the Twins search for a new stadium. It looks to me as if they're trying to bend a lot of rules to get this done. The symbolism of locating near the city garbage burner seems appropriate.

It looks like the Mets and a couple of other teams are going to have more money to spend this season than they thought.

And this was the compromise: No matter how much tax a team paid in 2003 or 2004, if it dipped under the threshold in 2005, it was safe from the tax man in 2006.

"I admit it's kind of quirky," says one baseball man who was involved in those talks. "But that's the compromise we came up with."

So now here we are, more than three years later. And here's that compromise, ready to take hold for this, the final year of the labor deal. But when we polled high-ranking officials of four teams last week, only one had ever even heard of this rule.

Why? Because MLB never mentioned it at the time the deal was done -- and hasn't advertised it since, even now that the time to apply that rule has arrived.

Matter of fact, MLB has never even advised the Mets (or the Angels or Phillies, either) that it could directly affect them -- and save them millions of bucks. Why? Because it obviously was hoping nobody would bother to read the fine print.

Oops. Somebody did. We didn't mean to blow anybody's cover. But someone needs to read this stuff -- and let the world know the rules. Sorry about that.

So the Mets can buy all the players they want, and it won't cost them anything extra in 2006. And if the contract is extended, 2007. I know which way the Mets will be voting on that deal!

USS Mariner takes a shot at predicting what Kenji Jojima's stats will look like next season.

It looks like Boston moved into the lead for Beckett.

Update: Sorry, I had to post that quickly. The deal with the Rangers appears dead:

"In the end, a deal wasn't there," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels told The Dallas Morning News.

Before Texas was told they were eliminated from the running, Florida asked the Rangers to expand their deal even further, to include hot shortstop prospect Joaquin Arias, along with Blalock and a pitcher. In return, the Rangers would want a second pitcher back -- possibly setup man Guillermo Mota.

The Red Sox will be getting Beckett and Lowell, while the Marlins will receive three players in return:

Hanley Ramirez, right-handed prospect Anibal Sanchez and a minor leaguer pitcher.

So Boston has a new ace. I also take it that Bill Mueller is out of the picture. At this point I'd much rather have Mueller than Lowell. Mike's career took a big plunge in 2005, and I don't believe it's a fluke. Lowell came into 2005 a .277 career hitter. Given his 500 at bats, the 95% confidence interval for Mike's expected hits was 119 to 158. Mike banged out just 118 hits in 2005. Rather than just being bad luck, it looks like Lowell decline was real. The other indicator here is that his line drive percentage was down.

Correction: When I pulled 2002-2004 data from my database, I used the wrong key for batted ball type (I used a translation field instead of the actual type). Lowell's line drive percentage is down the last two years vs. the previous two years, but not by much.

Mike Lowell Line Drive Percentage
Year	Line Drive Percentage
2002	23.0
2003	23.8
2004	19.2
2005	20.6

Line drives fall for hits, and if Lowell can't line them anymore, he's not going to hit much again.

I'm somewhat surprised the Red Sox gave up Ramirez. Obviously, with Renteria at shortstop, Hanley is being blocked. The other thing that strikes me is that Ramirez was not able to repeat his awesome numbers in the low minors in AA. At age 21, he should be getting to the point where he's ready for the majors, not taking a step back in the minors. Could it be Boston lost faith in his future?

Anibal Sanchez may be the real steal here. He's so young, the Baseball Cube doesn't have his age yet. But one has to love a starter who strikes out better than 10 a games while walking less than three.

Long term, this is a good deal for the Marlins. Beckett helps the Red Sox for the next few years (barring injury), but I'm afraid Lowell is going to prove to be useless. The Red Sox seem to be taking the path of winning now rather than rebuilding from within. Maybe that was the heart of the difference between Theo and Lucchino.

Update: Athletics Nation sees the win now attitude in Boston as well:

Beckett and Lowell join the Red Sox while Lucchino and company begin dismantling the farm system Theo built.

I'll be on Sports Bloggers Live at about 7:50 EST.

The Marlins are denying the Daily News story that there is a power shift in the Florida organization.

For those with a subscription to Baseball Prospectus, they're launching a new series on transaction rules. Today they lead off with Trade Demand, the rule Javier Vazquez envoked at the end of the season.

The Baseball Hall of Fame arrived at a ballot designed to elect Negro League and pre-Negro League players to the Hall of Fame. Unlike previous elections, this will be conducted by a panel of historical experts. The twelve people will vote yes or no on each candidate. If a candidate receives nine votes, he is in.

It seems the Hall wants to rectify past slights due to the lack of knowledge in this realm of the old veterans committee. This seems like a decent way of bringing closure to this issue, but such a system might have worked better 50 years ago when the experts were alive who actually saw many of these people play.

Update: William Li has a proposal to get sports reporters involved in documententing what fans saw in the Negro Leagues before those fans are gone.

The AP is reporting that the Kenji Jojima deal is done.

Catcher Kenji Jojima and the Seattle Mariners agreed Monday to a $16.5 million, three-year contract.

I'm sure there will be more details when the signing is officially announced.

Update: ESPN also confirms the deal.

I didn't realize until I saw this post that Ken Griffey Jr. and Stan Musial have the same birthday. With Hank Blalock and Joe Nathan on the list as well, Nov. 21 is a pretty good birthday for a ballplayer.

Dave Collins is fighting the defensive spectrum in Colorado.

Colorado Rockies coach Dave Collins was the man in charge when Matt Holliday made the conversion from a third baseman to a left fielder. He oversaw the move of Brad Hawpe from first base to right field.

Now he's working with Ryan Shealy in his attempt to learn to play right field in addition to first base.

Moves from first to any other position are rare. Usually you play first base because you can't play at any other spot in the field. If Collins can take two first basemen and turn them into outfielders, that's quite an accomplishment.

The Daily News posted an article on how the Mets might benefit from a Marlins fire sale, but I hadn't seen this bit of information before:

Marlins president David Samson, the son of owner Jeffrey Loria's ex-wife, has taken over control of the club from Loria and ordered the payroll be slashed by 25-30%, with speculation it could be as low as $40 million in 2006, an organization source said.

I keep seeing that Loria can't be reached for comment in other stories, and what little is coming out of the Marlins front office is from Samson. Does anyone have more information on this?

Is Lou Piniella being courted for the manager's job in Cincinnati?

Via Lookout Landing, the Seattle Times is reporting Kenji Johjima is going to be a Mariner. This deal isn't final yet so stay tuned.

Johjima's team in Japan, Fukuoka Soft-Bank Hawks, reportedly had offered him a one-year deal of $10 million to stay.

He will make his decision public on Tuesday in Japan. At Fukuoka's breakup meeting before the offseason, a tradition for Japanese teams, Johjima will tell Hawks' manager Sadahura Oh that he will play in this country.

He would join J.J. Trujillo as the only players with three Js in their baseball names.

Texas and Boston are competing for the services of Josh Beckett. According to the Dallas Morning News, the Rangers met the Marlins terms for a deal, offering Florida their pick of Texas' top two pitching prospects. Florida needs to decide which package best meets it's needs:

Who ends up with Beckett could in large part depend on just how drastically the Marlins want to reduce payroll. Blalock, 25, will make $3 million in 2006 and another $10 million over the next two seasons. That would be a large commitment for the Marlins to undertake – if they don't turn around and trade Blalock for more young players. Under that scenario, Florida could potentially realize more return from dealing with the Rangers than with Boston.

The advantage for Florida of dealing with Boston is in cost. Ramirez, who turns 22 in December, would make only the major league minimum ($316,000) in 2006 and would allow the Marlins to fill a hole created by the free agency departure of Alex Gonzalez. Boston, however, could up the ante by including more in the deal. The Red Sox's biggest shortcoming in failing to return to the World Series was a lack of starting pitching.

Stay tuned. Scroll down to the bottom of the article for good pros and cons on Beckett.

Joe Capozzi at the Palm Beach Post continues his coverage of the trade. He has six teams in the running, with the Rangers second at this point.

Jeff at Lookout Landing is doing some very interesting work with release points for Mariners pitchers.

The Marlins look more and more like a team about to dismantle.

Marlins President David Samson would not comment Saturday. But sources said Florida's front office has been telling teams that, except for pitcher Dontrelle Willis and third baseman Miguel Cabrera, everyone is available because of orders to cut payroll from the club-record $65 million spent on last season's team.

One source said Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, who is frustrated over stalled talks for a new stadium, is prepared to go with a 2006 payroll as low as $40 million, which could be the lowest in the major leagues.

By trimming payroll, the Marlins could give themselves enough flexibility to offer long-term contracts to their two youngest stars — Willis, the runner-up in the NL Cy Young voting, and Cabrera, who led the team in hitting (.323), home runs (33) and RBI (116).

This looks like a very different approach than was taken after the 1997 championship. The Marlins are attempting to trade for prospects that can help them rebuild quickly, not just cutting payroll for the sake of cutting payroll. They're holding on to their two best talents and biggest draws. Florida is asking for top young talent from other teams. They're attempting to go for short term pain for long term gain.

Connie Mack was famous for this, although his methods were different. Mack developed some great teams in Philadelphia, but he could not afford to keep those teams together. As the salary of his stars rose, Mack would sell off those stars to other teams. Look at the A's in 1914 and 1915. Six years of dominance was followed by the team being stripped of players. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the A's dominated again, going to three World Series in a row at one point. Again, he sold off the team. The money was used to keep the A's alive during the lean years with hopes he could rebuild. It took him ten years the first time; he was never able to rebuild after the second selloff.

If the Marlins do this right, they'll end up like the Cleveland Indians, with a few bad seasons followed by a rapid rise. With luck, Willis and Cabrera will be hitting their peaks just as the young talent kicks in.

Update: Dan Le Batard blames lack of fan support.

Correction: The A's went to the World Series three years in a row. They won two of them.

Bill Gallo, the longtime cartoonist and columnist for the Daily News, dissects the silliness of A-Rod criticism.

Dr. John Uribe is scheduled to perform surgery on Jose Guillen to fix Guillen's torn labrum.

Guillen originally suffered the injury sliding into home plate in late June, and his drop-off in production was precipitous. Prior to the all-star break, he hit .310 and slugged .539 with 18 homers and 51 RBI. After the break, his batting average dropped to .246, his slugging percentage to .395 and he hit just six homers with 25 RBI.

It makes you wonder if Guillen should have been operated on right away. While Washington would have played poorly in his absence, a healthy return could have kept the Nats out of last place.

Orel Hershiser is being kicked upstairs.

Out of the running for the Los Angeles Dodgers' general manager and manager positions, Hershiser stepped down as Rangers pitching coach after three-plus seasons and will move into a sales and marketing role that will include some broadcast duties. He will also be available to the baseball operations staff on an as-needed basis.

The position he is moving into, which carries the title of executive director, is similar to the one former Ranger Jim Sundberg has. The biggest difference is that Hershiser, 47, will help fill in when a TV or radio broadcaster is absent.

It's probably a good move for the Rangers to get Orel out of the dugout. Hershiser had some success with the pitching staff in 2004, but couldn't build on that success in 2005. Instead of becoming a manager or GM, however, he's going to be learning management from the ground up.

In other Rangers news, there's a rumor in Florida that a deal is in the works to send Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to the Rangers for Hank Blalock and a top pitching prospect. The Marlins get younger and improve their offense, but at the price of weakening their rotation. The Rangers get someone to become the ace.

I'm not sure how I feel about the deal, although it's my impression Florida would come out better. Beckett is injury prone and the Texas ballpark isn't as forgiving as the one in Miami. Lowell may very well be done. Blalock is just coming into his prime. If the Marlins get a prospect that's a year away or less, it looks like a very good trade for Florida.

Kenji Jojima cut short his visit to the US without seeing the NY Mets. Speculation is that he's going home to decide if he should take a big offer from his current Japanese team or sign with the Mariners.

The Mets told New York reporters that he returned to Japan because of a personal circumstance, and may reschedule his visit at a later date.

One National League general manager, however, speculated that the aborted trip "is a strong indicator" that he has either decided to become a Mariner, or that the Mets have neared an agreement with another free agent catcher, either Bengie Molina of the Angels or Ramon Hernandez of the Padres.

Here's an article on Scott Eyre's ADHD. His numbers before and after he went on medication are pretty dramatic. It's a good thing nothing he's taking is on a banned list.

The Nady-Cameron trade is official. In general, I like trading a 33 year old for a 27 year old (2006 seasonal age). The big question is, will Nady develop the power and batting eye he showed in the minors. He should be peaking as a major leaguer at this age, rather than working to reach his potential.

Cameron should help the Padres defense in center. If any team should be playing little ball, it's San Diego at home. Cameron's speed should help on both sides of the ball in that park. Right now it looks like a trade for both sides.

The Palm Beach Post floats a Carlos Delgado rumor:

Marlins first baseman Carlos Delgado could replace Rafael Palmeiro in Baltimore if Orioles officials — currently divided over the idea — agree to give up a top pitching prospect, a baseball source said Thursday.

The Marlins and Orioles have not yet discussed a trade, but Baltimore's front office has talked about it since at least the general managers' meetings in California last week.

"Baltimore is seriously debating whether to get Delgado, but they are split over whether to pursue it,'' said the source, who was briefed on Baltimore's strategies.

I'm curious as to the nature of the debate; who is for it and why and who is against it and why. Is the debate over just money, or over a strategy of how to build a team. Does one side want the big slugger while the otherside wants to use the money to build a more balanced team? I guess we'll get a clue as we see the team take shape over the winter.

The Chicago Cubs signed Scott Eyre to a three year deal. The lefty will earn $11 million over the term of the contract, plus incentives.

Eyre is a work horse. Over the last four seasons, only Ray King appeared in more games. My experience is that pitchers that make a lot of appearances over a short number of seasons tend to burn out. The classic example is Rob Murphy. He led the majors in appearances from 1987 to 1989 and pitched very well. In 1990, he flamed out.

There's a big difference between the way Murphy was used, and the way Eyre is used. Murphy pitched many more innings than appearances. Eyre has fewer innings than games over his stretch of work. In fact, Eyre pitched the best of his career in 2005.

On the other hand, 2005 stands out as a fluke season for Eyre. Still, if he's effective as a LOOGY, the Cubs are not paying an outrageous amount of money for his services.

On another note, Eyre's 2005 season provides a great example of how much luck can effect a small sample size. Check out his home/away split. I just don't see why his ERA should be so much better on the road.

Correction: He's better, not worse on the road.

Alex Belth remembers a dear baseball friend as he guest writes at Baseball Analysts.

Richard Blackwood sends this entry from Michael Barone's blog. Barone ran into Bob Kendrick of the Negro League Baseball Museum who was working on getting Buck Williams into Cooperstown. Richard wonders if anyone wants to tackle the highlighted project:

My own suggestion: Let's have some computer whiz work up a program that would simulate how the Negro League stars would have performed in, and would have transformed, Major League Baseball if they had been allowed to compete there before MLB was integrated in 1947. Baseball is, after all, a game rich with statistics, and today people fool around with computerized simulations of games in various sports. What would an integrated baseball competition have looked like in the 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s? Let's give Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, and Ted Williams some more competition, with the Negro League greats. And let's open up the Hall of Fame more to those who deserve to be there.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone had already done this. If not, you'd need to figure out how Negro League statistics translate to MLB statistics, much like the formulas that project minor leaguers into the majors. There are some good simulation engines out there. It shouldn't be too difficult.

I like this idea:

While everyone in Congress and the commissioner's office fought the union over tougher penalties, no one thought of looking at the top of the sport's food chain and sanctioning the people who collect gate receipts for juiced performances. The union wouldn't have blocked a proposal to fine an owner for every positive drug test in his organization, say $500,000 for the first, $2 million for the second, $5 million for the third.

If 50 games' unpaid leave is supposed to deter players from using, imagine the effect of having some of the boss' money at risk.

The money could go into a pool and be divided by the clean clubs that year. With this kind of penalty, you could be sure the teams would get the entourages out of the club house.

The opening bid on A.J. Burnett is a pretty good one. The Blue Jays are offering five years at $10 million a year. Given what okay starters were getting last season when there were a number of pitchers in the market, I expect both the salary number and the length of contract to go higher.

Ichrio Suzuki gave an interview to a Japanese newspaper in which he criticizes the way the Mariners approached the game in 2005:

Among his concerns, as reported by the Tokyo Shimbun and interpreted for this story:

He was upset to see his teammates playing cards so frequently, and was dismayed that no coach or veteran scolded them for doing so.

Midway through the season, he felt as though his teammates had given up on the rest of the year. (Mariners manager Mike Hargrove, by contrast, said he was satisfied with the team's approach, though he also indicated there were instances in which the team could have done better.)

Ichiro is disappointed that the team has finished out of the playoffs every year since 2001. He misses playing in postseason games. Amid the losing culture, his pursuit of 200 hits has been one of his few motivating factors. Given a choice, he said he would much rather be compelled by the external influence of a pennant race, rather than individual statistics.

Ichiro's words could resonate through the winter, as the Mariners seek a way out of a cycle of underachievement that has seen 90-plus losses paired with payrolls near and beyond $90 million.

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Jayson Bay to a four year contract today, locking up the young slugger through his arbitration years. They got a great deal, too, paying a total of 18.25 million for the term of the contract. Bay was one of the top offensive players in the National League last year, at least based on Win Shares.

It's nice to see the Pirates learn from their Barry Bonds mistake. They took Bonds to arbitration every year, and each year was a bitter battle that Barry lost. He had no love for the city when it was time to be a free agent, and left for the west coast. The Pirates will have Bay through his age 30 season, so they'll get the peak of his career at a very low cost. And since the team was good to him now, maybe it will be easier to keep him around when he gets his chance at free agency.

This may be the best deal the Pirates made in a long time. They have great offense at a low price, so they should have plenty of money to build around Bay.

I'm very happy to report that West 116th Street is back in business. It's one of my favorite Yankees blogs, and although it may not be covering baseball as much as it used to, I look forward to the occasional article. Welcome back!

Note, too, that the blog is on a new server, so you should update your links.

Nick Canepa likes the Cameron/Nady trade idea, but is concerned about the rest of the team.

Mike Cameron, vision willing, is an attractive acquisition. But it's still difficult to see exactly where this team is going – it hasn't gotten younger this offseason – and how long it will take to get there.

I have to admit, when I saw the trade for Castilla, I assumed the Padres were picking up a defensive replacement. But Nick seems to think the team will play Vinny full time:

Meanwhile, it appears that what Towers and Alderson promised at the end of a first-place-but-disappointing season is coming true. There may not be a dismantling of this baseball team, but the bosses – including owner John Moores – didn't like the way it played. Rightly so. There were going to be changes made.

Already, third baseman Vinny Castilla has been brought in from the Nationals, all but assuring hasta la vistas to Joe Randa and Sean Burroughs. Now this deal. And No. 2 starter Adam Eaton is on the block.

Castilla doesn't improve the team at third, but amazingly he doesn't make the team any worse. Still, if that's the Padres idea of making the team better, they're going nowhere fast.

The negotiations to put the Nationals permanently in Washington in a new stadium keep running into trouble. The latest is that D.C. wants rent money guaranteed, even if baseball can't be played at the new stadium for a variety of reasons. MLB is threatening not to sell the team until this lease issue is resolved.

It's an interesting standoff. Selig says he won't sell until a lease is in place, but he still hasn't interviewed three of the eight groups bidding on the team. So even if the lease were resolved tomorrow, it's still going to be at least a month before the deal is done (unless, of course, Bud's known all along exactly who's getting the team). On the city side, the longer they hold out, the longer it is before the other 29 teams get their payday for selling the club.

A former trainer for the Texas Rangers believes that amphetamine abuse was worse than steroid use.

The report says that Wheat "would frequently hear players say things like 'Who’s got ‘em?’ and 'I need another one’” in reference to amphetamines.

"He related an anecdote involving 'greenies,’ a name for amphetamines,” the report states. "He once asked a player, 'of the nine players on the field, how many took greenies today?’ The answer from the player was eight.’ Mr. Wheat indicated that the use of amphetamines remained prevalent throughout his tenure as the trainer.’’

One thing that bothers me about players like Jim Bunning complaining about steroids is that plenty of players from that generation used uppers. How many fewer home runs, or hits or strikeouts would that generation have without the stimulation?

If you missed tonight's show, you can hear the recorded version here. It's also available on demand at TPSRadio.

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ESPN is reporting that Mike Cameron is going to the Padres in exchange for Xavier Nady. I'm guessing the Mets would move Nady to first, possibly giving them an outfield of Floyd, Beltran and Victor Diaz.

If you are going to play Beltran in center, then Cameron isn't a good fit on that team. I assume Mike will play center on San Diego. Are they going to move Dave Roberts to right if they can't sign Giles, or is Roberts going to move in another deal?

Tarik Saleh in the comments to this post points out an article that is offering a different approach to controlling the use of performance enhancing drugs in sports. Don Catlin believes that the current way of policing drugs is flawed, and I agree. Drug enforcers can't keep up with drug creators. What does Catlin want to do about it?

Catlin has no intention of giving up, though. Instead, he's decided to mount a campaign to radically change the way sports go about fighting drugs—an idea that he's revealing publicly for the first time in Outside. Catlin's vision is to replace the current law-enforcement model—in which all athletes are treated as suspects who are monitored and tested to find evidence of specific drug use—with a reward model, one driven by a new voluntary system that, he hopes, would enable officialdom to actually prove that the athletes who take part in it are clean.

The meat of his proposal is on page 7. I find it very interesting that he wants to look at bio markers, and actually administer drugs to a control group of athletes to see how those bio markers change. That way, you can look for changes in an athlete without looking for a specific drug. It's an idea worth thinking about.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out their other sports programming as well.

You can also call in at 888-985-0555 and leave a question for the show, or stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

If I have a database table with a bitfield as a column, can I create an index on part of that bitfield? Let's say I have a 64 bit field that I'm using to track multiple conditions. Bits 4 through 7 track a particular condition. Is it possible create an index on (field & OxF0), to capture this one condition? I know it depends on the database manager I'm using, but is this something that SQL should be able to handle?

Ken Arneson says something positive about Ned Colletti, I think.

I've seen some comments about the Yankees going with Bubba Crosby in centerfield next season, most recently in this post about the Matsui contract. Bubba is one of two cheap solutions to the Yankees centerfield problem, the other being Cabrera. Crosby is not a good hitter. He had some decent OBAs in his minor league history, but his overall minor league numbers are nothing to write home about. He'll be 29 in 2006, so he's not likely to improve at this point. As we saw in the playoffs, especially in the crash with Sheffield, Bubba can cover a lot of ground.

Cabrera probably needs more time at AAA. I could see Crosby as a one-year stop gap. Just accept his offense, bat him 8th or 9th, and as long as he catches everything hit between Matsui and Sheffield be happy those balls aren't going for doubles. Then, if Cabrera is ready in 2007, go with him, or maybe with someone else who becomes available. The free agent choices this year are poor.

The Red Sox are finding it very difficult to field a replacement for Theo Epstein. Tony Massarotti continues his excellent coverage of the GM debacle in the Herald:

The writing is on the wall now, in big bold letters for the entire baseball world to see. Not a day seems to pass without someone else withdrawing his name from consideration as the next general manager of the Red Sox. It cannot help but make you wonder if anyone really wants the job. Welcome to the club, Dayton Moore. A long and distinguished group of predecessors has embraced you. Two weeks after Theo Epstein proudly walked away, the Red Sox have been turned down by more potential prom dates than a desperate high school senior. Kevin Towers and Doug Melvin withdrew their names from contention. J.P. Ricciardi, Brian Sabean and Terry Ryan didn’t want the job. Even young hopefuls like Chris Antonetti and Tony Lacava have said no to the headless body that is the Red Sox baseball operations department.

This is the Boston Red Sox. This is a job people should covet. A storied team, an historic ballpark, plenty of resources and intelligent people on staff. What more could you ask for?

For Dayton Moore, it wasn't enough.

So really, what do you think the Red Sox had in store for Dayton Moore? All signs pointed to Moore being the leading candidate as Epstein’s replacement, until Moore woke up and decided he wanted to stay in Atlanta. Or maybe he just didn’t want to come to Boston. Moore told the Herald’s Michael Silverman that Braves GM John Schuerholz helped talk him out of the second interview with the Sox, yet another shrewd decision that explains why Schuerholz is the best GM in the game.

As Massoratti points out, the only people who want the job are two guys the Red Sox could have hired already if they were the front runners; Bowden and Beattie. As I've said before, let Larry Lucchino be the GM, let the four assistants do all the work and Larry can say yes or no at the end. Then there will be no confusion about who is in power.

Kenji Johjima is looking for a job in the North American major leagues. He visited the Mariners, and the Mets and Padres are both interested in acquiring the Japanese catcher.

Here are his stats through 2004 (he had a good 2005 before breaking his leg). His numbers are good, but so were Kaz Matusi's. It seems if you are going to be successful here, you need eye-popping numbers like Hideki Matsui or Ichiro.

Kenji does have a good arm, throwing out 37.6% of base runners. That's more than enough to turn your opponents running game into a negative. If he is a defensive wizard behind the plate, he'll be valuable even if there is a large falloff in his offense.

Dontrelle Willis' agent isn't optimistic about a long term contract as Willis becomes eligible for arbitration.

"I'm expecting it to be a one-year deal,'' he said Tuesday. "They don't have a history of doing these types of (long-term) deals (to arbitration-eligible players). My guess is if they haven't done it before, they won't do it now.''

Sosnick, who said he hasn't had any recent conversations with the Marlins, said he has been reading media reports about the team trying to trade key players because of financial problems. Sosnick expects to talk with the team after Thanksgiving, but he said it is too early to determine if he will reach a one-year contract without taking Willis' case to an arbitration hearing.

This is exactly the kind of situation the Cleveland Indians handled so well in the early 1990s. The offered long term contracts to their young players, locking in salary rates early. They avoided arbitration and the costs associated with that. They avoided losing their players to free agency in their primes. Cleveland was able to trade contracts for talent rather than dumping money, because the players were paid a reasonable amount of money.

According to the article, Willis will earn about $4 million next year if he goes to arbitration. Why not offer him $30 million for five years now? The risk, as the Marlins see it, is that Dontrelle blows his arm out and they pay out a lot of money for nothing. But if he continues to pitch well, they end up shelling out a lot more money in 2007 and 2008 as arbitration ratchets up his value, then they lose him to free agency. If the bet pays off, they get a very good pitcher cheap.

It's a good deal for Dontrelle as well. Even if he blows his arm out, he's set for life. And if he puts together five good years, he'll be young enough to get an even bigger payday as a free agent.

Can Cabrera go to arbitration also? If so, the Marlins should work a similar deal with him. Lock up these two budding superstars for the next five years and the team has a very good chance of great run in the NL.

Ned Colletti is the new Dodgers GM.

Dodgers spokeswoman Camille Johnston confirmed the hiring of Colletti, who has served under Giants general manager Brian Sabean for the past nine years.

The 50-year-old Colletti is considered a good negotiator and a good communicator, attributes owner Frank McCourt said he wanted in a GM after he fired DePodesta on Oct. 29.

At least they didn't call him a good handler of pitchers. :-)

Jon Weisman is not inspired, but will give the new GM a chance.

More background here from Steve Henson of the Los Angeles Times at NY Newsday.

He moved to the Giants in 1995 and became assistant GM in 1997, the year the team began a run of successful seasons that ended with last season's disappointing third-place finish.

"There were all sorts of messes in San Francisco, and not all of them became public," said an agent who has had several clients play for the Giants. "Ned dealt with all of them."

Sounds like the Harvey Keitel character in Pulp Fiction, The Wolf.

The Wolf: You're... Jimmie, right? This is your house?

Jimmie: Sure is.

The Wolf: I'm Winston Wolf. I solve problems.

Jimmie: Good, we got one.

The Wolf: So I heard. May I come in?

Jimmie: Uh, yeah, please do.

He has quite a mess to clean up in Los Angeles.

The Yankees and Hideki Matsui reached a contract agreement tonight:

Matsui is to earn $13 million in each of the next four seasons, a baseball official familiar with the talks said on condition of anonymity because the team did not disclose the financial terms. Matsui was coming off a $21 million, three-year contract in which he earned an additional $1.5 million in performance bonuses.

It's a nice pay day for the Yankees left fielder. It took him a year to adjust to the North American major leagues, but he's posted 28 and 24 win shares the last two seasons. As a point of comparison, Vlad Guerrero posted 27 in each of the last two seasons, and I believe he's averaging $14 million a year over the life of his contract.

It's a good deal for both sides. Matsui's earned a great deal of respect in his three seasons and serves as a great example of how the game should be played. The Yankees lock up a player the fans love and the Japanese advertising that goes with him. Sure, Hideki's best years are probably behind him, but the contract is not outrageous and the term is short enough that Matsui shouldn't go into a steep decline. Now New York can concentrate on fixing center field.

First of all, I was right about Jim Bunning. From the updated AP article:

Bunning said he would wait to hear more and would not be withdrawing his legislation immediately.

"This is what I had hoped for all along, for the two private parties to come to an agreement on their own without Congress having to do it for them," he said, but added that the deal is "not as tough as I would like."

He's not going to be happy until MLB passes a rule that says any record set by one of his contemporaries can't be broken.

I wonder what will happen if positives occur at the same rate? In my opinion, 12 positives out of about 1200 players is pretty low. When most of the positives come from nobodies, it's really difficult to conclude that the policy in place wasn't working. If the same number test positive next year, will Selig and Congress call for an immediate lifetime ban? If it continues at the same rate after that, will they call for summary execution? I'd just like to know what constitutes a plan working in the minds of a US Senator.

I'm glad to see amphetamines added to the list. They've been a big problem for a much longer time. I'm sure the players will find other stimulants to take their place, but at least it's good news for the guy who sells the clubhouse coffee. I also wonder if this isn't another good reason to expand the rosters to 26 players. Teams are carrying too many pitchers, cutting into defensive replacements and pinch hitters. A 26th man would help restore some of the maneuvering that went on in the game on the offensive side, and give the unstimulated players a rest.

It's also impressive that Bug Selig got everything he wanted in this deal. I guess a combination of players wanting steroids out of the game and fear of Congressional legislation led to Fehr caving. All in all, it hasn't been a great year for the union leadership.

The NL voting is up, and I just don't understand it. Pujols and Andruw Jones pretty much split the 1-2 vote, while Derrek Lee polled 30 third place tallies. How could one vote for Pujols 1st and Lee third? They're so close I can't make up my mind as to which one should get the award. Did the voters just shove Andruw in there because Atlanta won? Because it's important to recognize a 50 home run hitter? If you think Pujols is the MVP, how can you not think that Lee is second?

I'm somewhat surprised that Morgan Ensberg finished fourth. It's not that he didn't have a great season, it's that the Astros won when Berkman hit. The way voters go, I'd believe that the Berkman factor would have taken votes away from Morgan.

Giles and Bay were recognized by the voters. Giles finished 9th with Bay coming in 12th. I'd put them higher, but it's a good finish for both.

For the first time since 1989, Barry Bonds failed to poll a single vote.

And who voted Jose Reyes 10th? Please.

The voters picked a good winner. They did a better job on the MVP than the Cy Young. They got 2nd place wrong in the NL, but that's a lot better than getting 1st wrong.

Albert Pujols is the NL MVP. It was a close vote, but it was close between Albert and Andruw Jones, not Albert and Derrek Lee. I'll have more when they post the complete voting.

Congratulations to Albert Pujols on his much deserved win!

AP is reporting that MLB and the MLBPA are in agreement on new penalties for testing positive. More importantly, they're including uppers.

The deal, which also adds testing for amphetamines, was described to the AP by two congressional aides on condition of anonymity because it had not been officially announced.

It looks like it will be a three strikes and you're out policy, with longer initial suspensions. I suppose someone will think this isn't tough enough either. I'm sure Jim Bunning won't rest until Henry Aaron's record is safe for eternity.

The writers at ESPN.com were polled, and voted for either Pujols or Andruw Jones, with Albert getting nearly 2/3 of the vote. I find it amazing that not one writer picked Derrek Lee. These two are so close, it's tough to slide a nanotube between them. Pujols has the most win shares. Lee is #1 in the majors in VORP among position players.

The thinking appears to be going this way; in a head-to-head comparison between Pujols and Lee, Pujols wins. That could be due to the "won the division bias." The real argument that appears to be going on in the mind of the voters is whether 50 home runs is more valuable than being outstanding in all categories. Those that value the homer are voting for Jones. Where does this leave Lee? I wonder if he'll be second on all the ballots that have Pujols first, or will the 50 home run argument cause Andruw to be voted ahead of the Cubs first baseman?

The Baseball Crank and Was Watching fight back against the idea that Ortiz was much more clutch than A-Rod. The Cranks' argument can be summed up as, "If you win games early, you don't need to be clutch late." The Watcher notices that A-Rod did pretty well late in games anyway.

Greg Stroda spoke with Roger Clemens during a golf tournament about coming back next year. Clemens hasn't made up his mind about that, but did explain what happened with his hamstring:

"My hamstring blew because I had been pitching with three tears in my back for two months," Clemens said while walking the Trump course during a lunch break.

I had not hear this before. Was this widely known?

The biggest clue that Clemens might return to the game was this statement:

But there still seems a tug to play at least another season, and Clemens hinted at it while signing everything from baseball cards to baseballs to golf balls to magazine covers to notebooks to photographs while obliging autograph requests. He enjoys the 5-handicap he carries — with very little practice — at Shadow Hawk Golf Club in Houston but knows he can lower it.

Which is where the hint came in.

"I play enough," Clemens said, "but I'll work on my golf more when I'm done with the other silly game I love."

When he's done.

The Boston Herald interviews a few AL voters about their decision making process, including the person who put Vald #1.

There's a good discussion of how writers view the MVP award in this article about Albert Pujols.

The MVP is "the most - I won't use 'valuable' here - prestigious award out there, I think," Boyle said. "The writers have done a good job of not defining what 'valuable' is. There are no statistics, no parameters that make it automatic. That makes for good conversation, that heightens interest in it. 'Valuable.' The fact that the word 'valuable' can mean so many different things helps the award's value, makes it mean more."

I see the NL race as a close one between Pujols and Derrek Lee. Their stats are very close. Win shares gives a slight advantage to Pujols, but you can flip a coin. I'm a bit surprised reports put Andruw Jones ahead of Lee. I assume that's the "team winning the division" bias. By that thinking, Pujols should win easily since his team not only won the division but had the best record in the league.

I'm also interested to see how well Brian Giles and Jayson Bay finish. Giles road stats are excellent and was the big offensive reason the Padres made the playoffs. Bay was also hurt by his ballpark, as he slugged 23 home runs on the road but just 9 at home. His 23 on the road were second to Andruw Jones' 30.

Rich Lederer at Baseball Analysts uses his QUAD statistic to look at the MVP races. What I like about this method is that it uses a voting technique to combine rankings of various categories. When I worked in information retrieval, this was one idea that was used to combine results from diverse search engines.

His number give the AL award to A-Rod easily while putting the NL hardware in the hands of Derrek Lee by a hair. We'll see if his NL prediction is as good as his AL prediction tomorrow.

John Hart is no longer interested in becoming the Dodgers' general manager.

“I want to thank [Dodgers owner] Frank McCourt for the opportunity to speak with him regarding his opening,” Hart said in a news release issued by the team Monday. “I enjoyed speaking to him; however, I have indicated to Texas owner Tom Hicks my desire to remain with the Rangers."

Dodger Thoughts updates us on the latest GM news.

Alex Rodriguez won the AL MVP today in a very tight vote, out distancing David Ortiz by 24 points. The closeness of the race indicates to me that the DH position wasn't that big a factor in the voter's minds. They were willing to vote Ortiz over other fielders like Ramirez and Sheffield, who in total contributed more than than Ortiz did with just the bat.

I agree with the outcome, but I'm surprised at how close it turned out to be. I was expecting the lack of contribution from Ortiz on the defensive side to weigh very heavily with voters. I guess a small number of big hits is more meaningful than a complete season of excellence.

This ends a 20 year MVP drought for the Yankees, do did very well in the voting with four players finishing in the top 10. Given the Yankees excellence since 1994, this is the only the third major award they've won in that time (the others being Jeter's Jackie Robinson award for best rookie and Roger Clemens' Cy Young). It also breaks the AL West's strangle hold on the MVP. The last nine went to players from that division.

The complete voting is here. It shows how little voters value defense as people like Jhonny Peralta and Aaron Rowand did not pick up a single vote.

Congratulations to Alex Rodriguez on his second MVP. He probably should have at least four by now.

This wasn't a big secret, but the Cubs basically gave Nomar his walking papers:

The Chicago Cubs have not exactly told Nomar Garciaparra to take a hike, but they have advised the veteran free agent to feel free to see if he can "find a better fit" elsewhere.

Maybe he can play center field for the Yankees. :-) Actually, he'd be a good fit in Houston, where Adam Everett is a very weak offensive shortstop. The Astros would need to trade offense for defense, but they can always bring in Everett late in the games. The Astros need to add some depth to the offense, and this might be an inexpensive way to reach that goal.

The American League MVP award is announced later today, and Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe makes the best case for A-Rod I've seen; A-Rod had a better year. He lists various batting categories, and Alex finishes ahead of David in most of them. He then takes on the stat cherry pickers:

Ortiz's supporters point to Big Papi's clear advantage in batting with runners in scoring position (.352 to .290), RISP with two out (.368 to .302), and batting in ''close and late" situations (.346 with 11 HRs and 33 RBIs, to .293 with 4 and 12). But it's also foolish to suggest most of A-Rod's production came when it didn't matter. Using one arbitrary comparison, their batting against the other playoff qualifiers, A-Rod hit .325 with 13 home runs and 30 RBIs, Ortiz .273 with 9 home runs and 33 RBIs.

What's more, Rodriguez beats Ortiz in Win Shares, even without his fielding numbers.

If the DH is really discounted by the voters, we shouldn't see a close vote. And if the voters really believe a DH shouldn't get a lot of consideration, they may vote Ramirez or Sheffield ahead of Ortiz. I'd also like to see where Jhonny Peralta finishes. His defense was a big reason Cleveland had their great second half. I wonder how many voters will recognize that?

ESPN is reporting that Joe Maddon is the new Devil Rays manager. An official announcement will be made on Tuesday. What we know for sure is that it won't be John McLaren:

Devil Rays bench coach John McLaren, the other finalist for the job, told ESPN.com that he received a call Sunday from team officials telling him that the franchise wanted to go "in a different direction."

According to the Tampa Tribune, Maddon's deal is believed to be for three years. Financial terms have yet to be finalized between the Rays and Maddon's agent, Alan Nero, the Tribune reported.

Maddon has quite a bit of managerial experience at the minor league level, but none since 1986. He never had a winning season managing in the minors. I know almost nothing about him, but here's a bio. Angels fans, please add any information in the comments.

I will be a guest on Lehigh Valley Yankee Fan Club Radio at 7 PM EST.

Gordon Edes compares the Red Sox situation to Cleveland in 2002.

Imagine this: A perennial contender, one that sells out every game year after year, loses in the first round of the playoffs, and the general manager quits after the season. The new GM trades maybe the team's most indispensable player for a journeyman big leaguer and three minor league prospects. The GM justifies the deal by saying, ''It's a very difficult thing to do, transition and contend. We couldn't."

Teammates of the traded player are stunned and disappointed. The next day, a fan in the upper deck is spotted holding a sign directed at the owner that says, ''Jump, Larry, Jump."

That's the Indians he's writing about, and the Larry is Larry Dolan. But the Red Sox face a similar situation; the team is getting older. Unless they start going to their farm system, they're going to end up like the Yankees, filling holes with old free agents every year.

I do disagree with this statement when it comes to Manny Ramirez (emphasis added):

Ramírez is reaching the stage in his career when he is securing his place in Cooperstown. Ortiz could be named the American League's Most Valuable Player tomorrow. There is no reason to believe there will be any dropoff in production next season from Ramírez, who has averaged 40 home runs and 122 RBIs in his five seasons in Boston. There is considerable cause to worry what impact a lineup minus Ramírez might have on Ortiz.

There's every reason to believe there will be a dropoff in Manny's production, especially after putting up a lower OBA and slugging percentage than the previous season (his OBA has dropped three straight years). That's not to say he won't still be great, but at Manny's age, the probability is that he'll get worse every year.

Peoria Pundit looks at the possibility of Jim Thome moving to Chicago.

Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa are out of the Baltimore Orioles 2006 plans:

The Orioles made the inevitable official yesterday, saying they will not be bringing back outfielder Sammy Sosa or first baseman Rafael Palmeiro.

"At this point, we are heading in a different direction," club executive vice president Mike Flanagan said.

I'm not surprised about Palmeiro. He was there to get his 300th hit, and once that happened and the steroids story broke, the Orioles had little use for the aged first baseman.

Sosa is a much more interesting case. The Orioles thought they were getting a player chasing 600 home runs, which would make a nice marketing tool and would also help the club. But Sosa had his worst year since 1992, hitting just 14 home runs and leaving himself 12 short of 600. Is there a team that is willing to give Sosa the opportunity to hit 12 homers to become the fifth player to hit 600. Or, like his 1998 home run competitor, Mark McGwire, will injuries and diminished skills take him out of baseball before he can reach that magic number?

This quote at the end of today's Bill Madden column sums up the problems with trying to trade Manny Ramirez:

"He's not the kind of guy we want. We have a certain kind of chemistry here."

- White Sox GM Kenny Williams on why he has no interest in Manny Ramirez, even if he loses Paul Konerko.

Manny doesn't seem to realize that Boston fans are very tolerant of Manny's mental lapses and occasional lack of hustle. Other teams look at the price tag and the baggage that goes with it and say, "no thanks." So what do the Red Sox do in this environment? Do they take a poor deal just to get rid of the guy, or do they refuse to trade for less than fair value and hang onto Manny anyway. It seems to me from the way the request was worded, the Red Sox just need to make a good faith effort to move the left fielder. If they can't consummate a deal, Manny will stay.

The Atlanta Braves saw an increase in attendance in 2005, and want to keep that trend positive. Atlanta is holding ticket prices steady for 2006, and offering two new discount packages:

A limited number of seats in the upper pavilion level in right field, which cost $5 on an individual-game basis, will be sold as full season tickets for $249, which comes to $3 per game. The seats were not previously offered as season tickets; the cheapest full-season-ticket package this past season was $830.

Seats in the terrace reserved and Lexus pavilion levels in the outfield will be sold as full season tickets on a buy-two-, get-two-free basis — four full-season tickets for the price of two.

"Selling more season tickets — that's the goal," Schiller said.

"It's been no secret that our season-ticket base has decreased over the past eight years — with the exception of last season, which was the first time it increased [during that span]."

Three dollars a game sounds like a great deal to me. Back in 1984, when George Parker and I bought our first Red Sox season tickets, we paid $3 a game for bleacher seats. Our package contained 26 weekend games, opening day and Patriots' Day. At that time, there were 13 American League opponents, and each came in for a weekend at Fenway, so we were able to watch all the teams on the plan. It was a perfect package. This Braves offer sounds very good, too.

I spent the afternoon at Soldier's Field in Boston across the Charles from Cambridge to watch Harvard pummel Penn 29-3. Duncan O'Brien and his son Duncan Jr. invited me to the festivities. When we sat down, we noticed that adorning the roof line were signs indicating the years Harvard won the National Championship in football. The most recent win was 1919. Duncan Jr. commented, "That's sad."

Duncan Sr. and I are old bandies, and while the size of the HUB is about half what it was our senior year, they still sound very good. They even played Wintergreen for President at our request! All in all a good afternoon to be a Harvard fan.

The Yankees are finding it difficult to replace Bernie Williams:

If the Yankees don't sign Giles to play center, they could be running out of options. They were rebuffed by the White Sox about a trade for Aaron Rowand, who dazzled with his glove in Chicago's only visit to the Stadium this year.

Talented and troubled Milton Bradley could be a choice, but the Dodgers believe there will be an active trade market for him, a source said. It's believed that five other teams are interested - the A's, Cubs, Nationals, Pirates and Tigers. Jim Tracy, Bradley's former manager with the Dodgers, is now the Pirates' skipper and he thinks highly of the 27-year-old's talent.

The Cubs' Corey Patterson appears available in a trade, but his stock has plummeted despite hopes in Chicago that he would be the Cubs' next great player. He hit only .215 with 13 homers and 34 RBI in 126 games this year and has a lifetime on-base percentage of just .293 in six seasons. He also has struck out 286 times in 283 games over the past two seasons.

Giles solves the offensive problem but doesn't solve the defensive problem. I agree that Patterson isn't the answer. How about this guy?

Delgado and third baseman Mike Lowell are not the only Marlins being shopped by the front office. Center fielder Juan Pierre is being dangled as a third starting player the Marlins are willing to unload.

"They are pushing those three names hard. They want to get something done," said an American League source with knowledge of Florida's off-season strategies.

Pierre is entering his final year of arbitration after making $3.4 million in 2005, the final year of a four-year, $7.5 million contract.

He batted.276 with 181 hits in 2005, the first year since 2002 that he hit below.300 with fewer than 200 hits. He stole 57 bases, his second-highest total, but the Marlins might be worried about over-paying for a player who might be on a downslide.

The Cubs are said to have some interest in Pierre.

He's not a great offensive player, but Juan can catch the ball. He's a perfect 9th hitter in the AL. If he's right, he gets on base enough to be a second table setter if A-Rod continues to bat second.

Chad Finn pulls out the crystal ball and makes his predictions on where free agents will land this winter. My favorite:

Ramon Hernandez, Padres: Mets. He's not nearly as good as his stats might suggest, which makes him a classic Omar Minaya acquisition.

This made me chuckle:

The New York Mets, Chicago Cubs and Kansas City Royals have already shown interest in Furcal and, according to Kinzer, the New York Yankees have also contacted him to find out if Furcal would consider playing center field.

So that would give the Yankees three shortstops, with the poorest defender of the three playing the position. Jeter is great at catching fly balls. He's the one who should move to center.

Dan Fox looks for statistical significance in batter vs. pitcher matchups. The Andersons win the battle as Garrett's 0 for 22 vs. Brian has the lowest probability of occuring.

Bleed Cubbie Blue chides other Cubs fans who are upset over the Neifi Perez signing.

Jamie Mottram of Sports Bloggers Live was interviewed on ESPN's Cold Pizza this morning and was kind enought to put in a good word for this blog. You can watch the video below:

My great thanks to Jamie. Television is your medium!

Update: Since the embed isn't working on IE, you can watch here.

Update: I've removed the embed. Anyone know how to get it to work on IE? I followed the instructions at the Quick Time web site, but it still didn't work.

Update: Thanks to Bill Hoffman for getting the embedded version working!

Update: It worked in the preview. The controls are not showing up in my version of IE. We'll keep trying.

Was Watching is wondering about the status of Hideki Matsui. He doesn't appear to be a free agent in the traditional sense, since he's only been in the league three years. It also appears he would need to clear waivers before he can negotiate with other clubs. Does anyone know why Matsui seems to have special status with his contract up? Was it from language in his original contract with the Yankees, or does it have to do with rules governing players coming from a foreign major league?

Update: Alex Belth sends this link, which seems to clear things up a bit.

I want express my appreciation to all my military readers, active, discharged or retired. Thank you for your service. To those on duty away from home, may you all come home safe and sound.

The bidding on free agents begins today, and the Royals are having a difficult time convincing people they want to spend money:

Baird declined to identify the club’s targets but insisted he is ready to make deals.

Today.

“I’ve met with a lot of agents and some players,” he said Thursday after a business session at the general managers’ meetings at a glitzy resort hotel near Palm Springs.

“They’re a little stunned that we’re spending money. Even though we keep saying it, I don’t know if they believe it. So it’s a matter of convincing them.”

It will also be a matter of convincing players that Kansas City is where they want to play. Not all free agents are in it for the money. Some want to play close to home; some want to win championships. The latter may have little interest in the Royals right now.

Javier Vazquez will demand the Diamondbacks trade him closer to his home in Puerto Rico.

Vazquez, the Diamondbacks' No. 1 starter, indicated through his representatives to club officials that he plans to file the necessary paperwork and wants to play for a team east of the Mississippi River to be closer to family in his native Puerto Rico.

The right-hander, who went 11-15 with a 4.42 ERA and 192 strikeouts, has the right to request a trade after having been dealt by the New York Yankees to the Diamondbacks during the middle of a multiyear contract.

If nobody wants him, or a trade can't be arranged, Vazquez can elect to become a free agent on March 15, 2006. I find that path doubtful, since he's unlikely to earn as much money given his last two seasons. His home runs have soared, raising his ERA and lowering his winning percentage.

He would, however, be a good fit in a tough home run park. Since PETCO is out of the question, I suspect he'll do fine in either Washington or Miami, with the Marlins being best for visiting home. With the departure of A.J. Burnett, the Marlins can use another starter as well.

This, of course, is a pain for the new Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes. He now needs to devote resources to Vazquez that he could otherwise direct to building the team. It's not the way you'd like to start your tenure, being put in a situation where you're likely to come out at a loss.

Rocco Baldelli just became set for life:

Baldelli, 24, dealt personally with Friedman during the negotiation and has employed New York-based agent Casey Close to check the language of the contract, which is believed to be worth a potential $33 million if the Rays exercise three team options for the 2009-11 seasons.

The Rays avoided arbitration with Baldelli, who missed all of this past season while recovering from surgeries on his left knee and his right elbow.

I have very mixed feelings about this contract. On the good side, the Devil Rays are locking up a player through his arbitration and early free agency years. They will have Baldelli through his peak seasons. That's the sort of cost management the Cleveland Indians undertook in the early 1990's, and it paid off in a decade of achievement.

However, the Indians were giving contracts to pretty good players. Baldelli has a career .326 OBA and a .425 slugging percentage. He also just missed a season due to injury. That seems like a long contract for someone who hasn't proved himself at the plate and now has a serious injury history.

That said, it's not a lot of money by today's standards. If Rocco can get his OBA up in the .350 to .360 range, the Rays will have a fine defensive center fielder who's contributing at the plate for less than $6 million a year.

It also sends a message to the fans that the DRays aren't going to part with their young players. All in all, I see this as an overall positive for the team. If they can lock up some of their better talent like this, we'll see some long term improvement.

The Baseball Crank wondered if this was a poor pitching season in the AL and discovers it wasn't.

Chris Carpenter takes home the National League Cy Young award for 2005. It was a close vote, with Carpenter edging Dontrelle Willis despite a better ERA by Willis and one more win. It looks like the NL voters applied the "Team winning the division makes you a better pitcher" test.

Of course, Roger Clemens deserved this award more than the one he received last season. Andy Pettitte was also an arguably better choice than either Carpenter or Willis. Pettitte didn't win 20, but he had an excellent winning percentage (17-9 record) and a great ERA 2.39. Plus, his team made the playoffs.

One factor that hurt Clemens (and rightfully so) was his durability in games. Roger seldom went more than seven innings while Carpenter and Willis posted seven complete games each. It's not a bad vote, not nearly as bad as the AL. It's just not clear to me the logic the voters used in selecting Carpenter over Willis.

Update: In looking at the voting and thinking about this some more, I'm surprised there were no ballots that did not include Carpenter or Willis. I could easily see a writer submitting Clemens, Pettitte, Willis or Pettitte, Clemens, Carpenter. Not even the Houston writers saw that they had two Cy Young candidates. I guess there's not that much diversity of thought among beat writers.

Congratulations to Carpenter on the honor!

There's still no end in sight for the sale of the Washington Nationals.

"All these people have spent an enormous amount of time, money, effort," Selig told reporters at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort in Indian Wells, Calif., where baseball general managers were meeting. "And they certainly deserve one interview. I've enjoyed it. I've done five groups so far. I have three to go, and I'm trying to do those as quickly as possible."

Oh please. Selig is going to pick the group that most likely will agree with Bud in running major league baseball. That's what he did in Boston, after all. Bud knows who is going to be the new owner of the Nationals, he just hasn't let us know.

This has Frank Robinson upset:

"It's not fair to this ballclub and this organization to be put in this position for the coming season because we're behind on moves and things we can do and approaching players, the free agent market, either signing free agents or even really seriously talking to them," Robinson said. "Just overall, the feeling and the atmosphere around this ballclub is that we're at a disadvantage."

He's right. With Bowden more interested in the Red Sox job than his own, with no idea about the size of the 2006 budget, what can the team do? Even the coaches are in limbo:

"It's not as frustrating for me," he said of the uncertain situation. "It's really just not fair for the coaching staff. These guys depend on these jobs, and they just can't go and get another job. . . . To hang them out there and to say, 'We don't know what's going to happen here. You feel free to go look for another job.' That's worse than saying, 'You're fired,' because if they're fired, then they know they have to go look for a job. . . . It's a very unfair situation here as far as that's concerned. It's even worse than in Montreal."

But MLB is getting their big paycheck out of the situation, and if there's one less team in a good position to compete, that's good for the 29 others. Washington is learning first hand how much Bud cares about the health of baseball in their city.

On a side note, congratulations to Frank Robinson on his Presidential Medal of Freedom.

ESPN's six month investigative report on steroids in baseball is now on-line. It's well worth the read. It's told in a series of vignettes and names some new names, including Lenny Dykstra. None of it is surprising.

It also fails to tackle the real question; did steroids really make a difference? Or put another way, how much of the boom in power was caused by weight lifting alone? Also, which was closer to the truth, the estimates of use by Canseco and Caminiti, or the 11% positive tests in the minor leagues? Clearly, there were a number of players using these substances, but it's also clear there were a good many who weren't. I'd love to know where that line was drawn.

If you missed last week's show, you can hear the recorded version here. It's also available on demand at TPSRadio. (Sorry it took so long to post, I had disk space issues that took a while to resolve.)

Rafael Palmeiro issued a statement today on his positive steroid test.

"Now that the House Government Reform Committee is finishing its work, I will address the facts as I have always said I wanted to do. Everything I have been working for all my life - to play the game that I love with dignity and earn the respect and admiration of my colleagues and fans - has been changed by my suspension. For this, I alone take full responsibility.

"I have never intentionally taken steroids. But I must also acknowledge that Stanozolol, a banned substance, was found in my system in May. Although I do not know how this substance came into my body, it is possible that a shot of vitamin B12 I took sometime in April might have been the cause. Under questioning by the Major League Player's Association - the player's union - I had to reveal the details of how I got the possibly tainted B12 and then had to testify about the facts of this case under oath. I have never implicated any player in the intentional use or distribution of steroids, or any other illegal substance, in any interview or testimony.

It would have been better for Palmeiro to face the press, rather than just issue a statement. The line "to play the game that I love with dignity and earn the respect and admiration of my colleagues and fans" flies in the face of years of rumors that Palmeiro wasn't such an honorable man while playing the game. My inclination is not to believe this statement by Palmeiro.

Ozzie Guillen and Bobby Cox took home Manager of the Year honors today. Both are very good choices for the award. Ozzie does bunt too much for my taste, but the team did very well in one-run games. If a manager's decisions matter, it's in those tight games where selecting the right pinch hitter, or relief pitcher, or strategy can make a big difference. I may not agree with everything, but Ozzie certainly pulled all the right strings this season.

I'm surprised Joe Torre didn't finish higher. This was his worst Yankees team in terms of personnel, and he still pulled off a division win. Wedge did a good job in Cleveland, but I'm not sure why the writers rate his performance that far ahead of Macha's, who basically did the same thing (coming back from a big deficit with a bunch of youngsters).

Cox, of course, took a bunch of youngsters, wove them into an injured lineup and emerged with a division crown. The surprise to me here is that Frank Robinson didn't do better. Given that the Nationals were not a very good team, keeping them in competition as long as Robby did was impressive.

Congratulations to Guillen and Cox on their well deserved awards!

The Yankees are talking about trading Jorge Posada. At first I thought it might be to trade an aging bat for a younger one, but unfortunately it's about money:

Of course, that contract is the reason the Yanks are interested in moving him. Posada, 34, will make $8 million next season, and if he starts just 81 games at catcher, a clause in his deal guarantees his 2007 option at a massive $12 million salary.

That, obviously, isn't something the Yankees are interested in paying. In addition to the trade discussions, there have been internal talks about shifting Posada to first base - even part-time, with some time at DH, too - in an effort to avoid that contract trigger.

This article, in my opinion, is looking at this contract from the wrong angle. The $12 million salary in 2007 is a reward for being able to play well for the previous three years. He has to start 330 games between 2004 and 2006 for the clasue to kick in. According to Baseball Reference, his earnings for the four years if the trigger is pulled:

• 2004: $9 million
• 2005: $11 million
• 2006: $8 million
• 2007: $12 million

So the contract says to me that Jorge was worth $10 million a year for four years if he could stay in the lineup, $9 million a year for three years if he couldn't. That seems about right. The fourth year is a reward for a career Yankee for doing well the previous three. While I'm sure the New York AL franchise would rather spend the money on something other than an aging catcher, given Posada's production over the years, they should be to willing to foot the bill.

And while I'm not much for team chemistry, Posada is the person in the clubhouse who bridges all the cliques that develop. Posada still posts excellent numbers for a catcher. He's earned the extra pay check.

According to the Daily News, the Mets and Tampa Bay are contemplating a trade:

The Mets and Rays are a good fit because each has something the other needs. The Mets must get a closer and cleanup hitter and the Rays have both. The Rays want young starting pitching and the Mets are one of the few teams with a surplus, including Aaron Heilman, Jae Seo and minor leaguer Yusmeiro Petit.

I would expect Mets fans to react to such a trade the way they did to a previous one with the Devil Rays.

The Boston Herald reports that there's still the possibility that Theo Epstein might return as general manager:

Multiple Red Sox personnel, several prominently placed in the organization, have quietly been trying to talk Epstein into rejoining the ballclub he left on Halloween when he rejected a three-year, $4.5 million offer. Retaining credibility for Epstein in case he changes his mind remains a significant hurdle to overcome, plus a multitude of organizational issues would have to be resolved.

Giving this some credence is the return of Bill Lajoie to the team. Lajoie resigned right after Theo, but a little over a week later is back with a new title. What's not clear from the article is what made Bill change his mind.

If the Red Sox really want Epstein back, they need to give in on whatever issue wasn't resolved in the negotiations. Theo strikes me as the type of person that will stick to his principles. Any changes that bring about a return will give us a better clue as to why he left. If the issue was indeed trusting Lucchino, I don't see how that one is easily resolved.

The Cubs signed Neifi Perez to a two year, $5 million contract today. It looks like the Cubs plan for the light hitting shortstop to be an insurance policy:

The Cubs are expected to make a run at Atlanta Braves free-agent shortstop Rafael Furcal and give Ronny Cedeno a shot at regular time at shortstop or second after he batted .300 in 41 games. The Cubs also exercised an option on second baseman Todd Walker for next season.

"I think I showed them that if they put me in, I can play every day," said Perez, the Cubs' primary shortstop last season. "I can't worry about things that are out of my hands."

It's a perfectly sensible signing. Neifi's not a starter, but he's fine as a replacement if an injury comes up or just to spell a middle infielder.

Congratulations to Bartolo Colon, the winner of the 2005 AL Cy Young Award.

Colon, who led the league with 21 wins, was listed first on 17 ballots and second on the other 11 for 118 points in voting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. He was the only pitcher named on every ballot, easily beating out New York Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera, who received 68 points.

Once again, the win total carries the day over the actual ability to keep runs off the board, the real job of a pitcher. I would have voted for Santana, easily the best pitcher in the AL this year in terms of fielding independent ERA.

I'm a bit surprised that the White Sox pitchers did so poorly in the voting. Buehrle had a great year and deserved many more third place votes. I'm also surprised that Kevin Millwood's ERA lead didn't garner him more votes. Lacking any other evidence, you'd think the ERA leader would deserve as much attention as the wins leader. It seems to me that the AL voters are in the John Kruk school of what stats are important in evaluating pitchers.

Update: As a commenter to this post points out, Jayson Stark makes a very good case for Santana. He winds up chiding the voters:

None of this is meant to disparage the man who won this award -- because we can think of 30 teams that would be thrilled to employ Colon. All we're saying is that it's way too easy to count up wins and cast a Cy Young vote.

Maybe that approach made sense four decades ago, the last time an Angels pitcher won himself a Cy. But it was also a lot harder to turn on a computer back then.

Jack Klugman is writing a blog and podcasting on MLB.com. Klugman played sports writer Oscar Madison on the original TV version of The Odd Couple. Life imitates art in this case.

ESPN.com has a tease for ESPN The Magazine's investigative report on the history of steroid use in baseball. My only quibble with the series is that it starts too late:

The product of a six-month investigation, the "Who Knew?" special report is told in four parts, each weaving together a series of scene-driven narratives: "Steroids Meet Baseball" (1987-1994), "The Tipping Point" (1994-1998), "Busting Out" (1998-2001) and "Crash and Burn" (2002-2005).

Tom House was using steroids in the early 1970s, so starting the story in 1987 ignores earlier use. Still, I suspect it will be an interesting narrative. With luck, we'll learn something new.

Joe Posnanski is concerned that the Royals won't spend their $22 million wisely:

But it’s true. Baird and the Royals do have money to spend. And not only that, they want to spend the money. Royals owner David Glass apparently has been called cheap one time too many. He wants a $50 million payroll. And he wants results.

There are, as I see it, only two problems with the new spend-happy Royals.

1. This is a terrible year to have money to spend.

2. The Royals have not been good at spending money.

He also notes the Royals have competition out there:

There is another possibility, too. The Royals could make trades and take on some salary. This might be a better option, if they can find teams willing to deal. The only trouble is that, unlike previous years, it seems like there are a lot of teams out there with money to spend this off season. There are suddenly teams like Milwaukee and Toronto that feel they might be a couple of players away from being contenders.

So the Royals have money to spend, not a lot of talent available, and plenty of competition for that talent. It appears that the situation is ripe for the Royals to overspend on a free agent.

Mark Shapiro of the Cleveland Indians earned the Executive of the Year Award from the Sporting News.

Shapiro received the award at a dinner at the annual general managers meetings. Shapiro edged Chicago GM Ken Williams in voting among team executives.

I must say I'm quite surprised by this. Ken Williams went the unconventional route and won the World Series. Schuerholz used his farm system to push Atlanta to another division series. I like the way Shapiro is building the Indians, but I just don't see him deserving the award this year. Does anyone know if the voting is like other awards, where you rank order candidates, or is it vote for one?

It appears that the upcoming Baseball World Cup will allow great flexibility in determining which country a player can represent:

Mike Piazza would be eligible to catch for Italy in the inaugural World Baseball Classic next year under eligibility rules being discussed by the commissioner's office and the players' association.

The sport is considering adopting rules that allow the most latitude, a high-ranking baseball official said Monday after arriving at the annual meeting of big league general managers.

At this point, the US is probably better off with Piazza catching another team.

The Detroit Tigers Weblog notes a positive sign for the team; the Tigers are investing in scouting for the second year in a row.

Mark Cuban wants to buy the Pittsburgh Pirates, but the ownership turned him down.

I'd like to see Mark Cuban as an MLB owner. You might not see complete agreement at owners meetings. With his blog, you might actually get to hear about the discussion that goes on before Bud brings everyone to unanimity.

Also, for a losing franchise, the Pittsburgh owners must believe they have a pretty valuable property if they don't want to sell to Mr. Cuban.

The winners of the Jackie Robinson Award were announced this afternoon with Ryan Howard and Huston Street taking home the prizes for top rookie in their respective leagues. I'm very pleased with Ryan winning the NL award over Willy Taveras. While Taveras collected 172 hits, 152 of them were singles. He walked just 25 times, meaning his .291 batting average represented a high percentage of his value. Howard drew more walks in almost 300 fewer at bats, and hit more homers (22) than Taveras had extra-base hits (20).

Street was also a good choice in the AL, although I thought Chacin, Gomes and Blanton should have finished in front of Cano. However, no one remembers who finished second. :-)

Street did everything well a pitcher should do well. He struck out lots of batters, didn't walk too many and only allowed three home runs. He held opponents to a .267 OBA and a .267 slugging percentage. He only threw one wild pitch all season.

Oakland earns back-to-back rookie of the year honors. It's the first time an American League team garnered consecutive rookie awards since 1986-1988, when Canseco, McGwire and Weiss took home the thropies. That was the start of four of five years in the post-season for the Athletics.

Bronx Banter turns four today. If you haven't discovered this excellent Yankees blog yet, stop by to wish Alex Belth congratulations. You'll find some of the best interviews in the baseball blogosphere at his site.

Terry Ryan is looking to make some deals, and has a commodity that's in demand.

Will they add offense through a trade?

Probably.

The Twins have a surplus of pitching, something most teams still need.

But Ryan's answer regarding Konerko suggested the Twins are trying to avoid taking on big contracts.

That would be a strike against Jim Thome or Carlos Delgado, even though their respective teams, Philadelphia and Florida, are looking to dump their salaries.

Still, even with Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau in the lineup, Ryan did not sound opposed to adding another lefthanded hitter.

"It doesn't matter if they're lefthanded or righthanded," Ryan said. "It doesn't matter if it's for the top of the order, or the middle or the bottom. If we can find some people who can swing the bat, that would be our objective."

The Washington Post is running a series on the various bidders for the Nationals. Today's entry focuses on Albert Lord. Other profiles can be found here, here, here and here.

It looks like the Mariners have some money they can spend on free agents:

The major league general managers meetings take place this week in Indian Wells, Calif. Bill Bavasi once again finds himself with a nice allowance under next season's budget (about $20-$25 million) and several weeks to determine how best to spend it.

As noted in the previous post, the Royals have about $22 million to spend this off-season. Toronto's budget is going up as well, in the range of $20 to $30 million. Too bad there are few big names this winter. For the first time in a while, it looks like the money is there.

Of course, the money could be spend on trades. A team willing to pay $20 million a year and trade a pitcher can probably have Manny Ramirez. :-) But in general, it's much easier to trade for a player to fill a need if you have the money to pay his contract.

According to this article, the Royals are upping their budget for the 40 man roster and going after the big free agents:

The Royals are even willing to abandon some long-held guidelines in conducting their search, such as limiting free-agent deals to two years, aiming for clients of superagent Scott Boras and accepting the possibility of sacrificing draft picks as compensation.

Good. They should be putting the revenue sharing money into players rather than into their pockets.

Sheldon Ocker interviews Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro about his off-season wish list. Not suprising, pitching is at the top of the menu. Shapiro, to my surprise, seems unwilling to trade his young talent to acquire his needs:

It’s possible but unlikely that the Indians can fill a key position through a trade. Why will it be so difficult to make a deal?

Teams almost surely will ask for Shapiro’s best young players - Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, Jhonny Peralta, Victor Martinez, Coco Crisp - because they are both talented and affordable.

"Making a trade for a cornerstone guy is unlikely but not out of the question," Shapiro said. "If teams ask for one of our eight or 10 core guys, it doesn’t make sense to rob Peter to pay Paul."

I'm all for developing youngsters (see previous post) but at some point the Indians need to make the jump from being a good young team to being a winner. It's approaching 60 years since the Indians won the World Series. Which would the fans of Cleveland rather have at this point, a good young team that keeps falling short of the playoffs, or a couple of veterans that might put the club over the top? One reason to develop good young talent is to have currency to pick up the players you need to complete the team. Shapiro should be more open to trades than he's indicating here.

Kevin Millar (being an "idiot") doesn't understand why the Red Sox don't want to keep an aging team together:

“We’d been very fortunate to have the same group of guys, basically, for three straight seasons. We’ve been the same, and that’s been awesome. Plus, we were the (first team in franchise history) to win 95-plus games for three straight seasons. . . . Why is it such a thing that when a team has that kind of success, there’s so much interest in making change? I’ve never understood that.

“Look at the Patriots,” Millar added. “The Patriots have been so good and won three Super Bowls because they’ve stayed the same. . . . I think we lost track of that a little bit. We start thinking about change so much, and I don’t think we needed to.”

I'm not that big a football fan, but it strikes me that the Partriots are very good at moving players every year, much like the Atlanta Braves. (Patriots fans, please comment!) When a team wins, the temptation is to hold on to the same players for the next year. Teams that don't win tend to address weaknesses more vigorously. That's one reason it's difficult to repeat; the winner freezes the roster and tends to decline, while the loser makes the team better. That the Red Sox are willing to remake the roster after three winning seasons shows wisdom on the part of management (at least, the management that's left).

Balls, Sticks and Stuff is launching a campaign to get Richie Asburn elected to the Hall of Fame as an announcer. He even has a campaign button!

Update: Greg Andrew correctly points out that this is not really an election to the Hall. It is to help determine the winner of the Frick award.

Kevin Baxter of the Miami Herald pens a good article on the upcoming free agent season around ex-Marlin A.J. Burnett. It seems Pavano was wooing him to New York last March.

''He wants me to be a Yankee,'' Burnett said then. ``He said everybody has got a Bentley or Ferrari.''

The Mets paid a visit to Billy Wagner. I like that Omar Minaya visits the free agents he's very interested in signing. It gives the player a reason to push his agent in that direction.

Wagner gives his wish list for a new team:

It's going to come down to who's got the better team, what direction they want to go and who's closer to a championship."

A big monetary offer, of course, has nothing to do with it. :-)

Farid at The Beltway Boys points out why Major League Baseball is hurting the Washington franchise:

If the Nationals had an owner in place, the new coaches, manager, general manager and players the team signed would have come from the other major league teams. This would have bettered the Nationals at the cost of the rest of major league baseball. Remember, those other teams own the Nationals. Now, someone is going to pay $450 million for the Nats regardless of who the players are or how much better they'll be next season. Why would the other owners allow their teams to be "raided" when it doesn't enhance the value of the Washington franchise? They wouldn't.

And therein lies the problem.

Farid believes the new ownership hasn't been named so the 29 other clubs (who now own Washington) can get their pick of managers, coaches and free agents with one less team competing against them. I can't say I'm surprised.

The Arizona Republic lists the many items on the plate of new GM Josh Byrnes. Shortstop is an interesting situation:

What to do at shortstop? The Diamondbacks have prospect Stephen Drew waiting in the wings, but they may not feel comfortable with the former first-round pick making the jump straight from Double-A to the majors and carrying the responsibility of being the club's Opening Day starter.

There was talk of Royce Clayton returning, but the free agent hasn't seemed interested in the one-year deal the Diamondbacks were floating and the club may turn its sights to Neifi Perez or perhaps Pokey Reese.

From his college and brief minor league numbers, Drew looks like a very good hitter. All the other choices are pretty bad, and no doubt will cost more money than Drew. Spend less on Drew, let him develop in the majors, and at worst the twenty-three year old might surprise you. Unless his defense is terrible, I'd rather have a guy who at least can take a walk than Perez, Reese or Clayton.

A few comments in this post prompt a reader to start a new blog, Down With Bud, although the URL is http://theoforcommissioner.blogspot.com/. Stop by and wish the writer luck in his endeavor.

In the mail today is The Bill James Handbook 2006. It's always a treat. Besides the player register, the book supplies complete fielding statistics, pitchers hitting, batters pitching, managers strategies and player projections. One of the more interesting things I saw in my initial skim was in the team efficiency section. It seems that Chicago was the most efficient team in the league in terms of converting runs scored and allowed into wins, while Cleveland was the least efficient. According to the calculations there, the Indians should have won the AL Central by 13 games!

One thing in hitter projections seemed wrong to me, however. They project Barry Bonds to hit 36 home runs next year, a very reasonable amount. However, when they project career home runs, they put Bonds at 900. I'm not sure what that is based on, but close to 200 home runs for a player Bonds' age seems very unlikely at this point.

I find the park indexes extremely useful during the season. Citizen's bank park in up there with Coors in helping home runs, although it's not that close in overall run scoring. PETCO is the most difficult park for homers and runs by a wide margin.

The Bill James Handbook is a great reference. I keep it on my desk the whole season.

It looks like Theo Epstein will have no shortage of job offers, from consultant to team president. This is my favorite one:

If none of those come through, the New York Mets could even seek him out as an adviser or television analyst.

Theo in the booth would be very cool. I guess it's only a matter of time before Baseball Tonight calls as well.

Nice to see Matt Lawton not make excuses for his steroid use.

"I made a terrible and foolish mistake that I will regret for the rest of my life," Lawton said, in a statement to The Associated Press. "I take full responsibility for my actions and did not appeal my suspension. I apologize to the fans, the game, my family and all those people that I let down. I am truly sorry and deeply regret my terrible lapse in judgment."

It would be nicer to see players sticking to the rules, but it's better than blaming contamination or another player's vitamin shot.

As one person points out to me, the rumor was that the player was appealing his test. Lawton says he didn't do that. I don't think there's someone else out there based on that rumor. I just think the people who floated it got it all wrong.

Jim Tracy is looking for leadership from his starters who can't pitch:

Tracy said he would count on Redman, a seven-year veteran who owns 53 major-league wins, to provide leadership to a starting rotation that could include youngsters Zach Duke, Paul Maholm and an inconsistent Oliver Perez.

Tracy said he also would look to right-hander Kip Wells, whose nightmarish 2005 campaign included 18 losses, to provide leadership.

"You'd like to think that they have the capabilities and want to take on those responsibilities from a leadership standpoint," Tracy said of Redman and Wells.

This is like calling a catcher a great handler of pitchers. You know there's nothing else he can do. Tracy seems optimistic about turning around Wells' record:

Speaking specifically about Wells, who was the Pirates' Opening Day starter in 2004, Tracy said, "I think he's much better than 8-18" -- Wells' record in 2005, to go along with a 5.09 ERA.

"From what I've seen of Kip, and what I've seen done by (new Pirates pitching coach) Jim Colborn with guys who didn't have as good as stuff as Kip Wells... yeah, I think he's much better than 8-18."

Tracy cited Jeff Weaver, who won 27 games the past two seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers under the guidance of Colborn, as an example of the kind of turnaround he envisions for Wells.

They did get Weaver to cut down on his walks, but at the same times his homers allowed went way up. Still, if they can get Wells good enough to post a .500 record, that would be a big improvement for the team.

The Mariners picked up the option on Eddie Guardado, taking him out of the potential free agent pool. With so many closers on the market, this is good news for the rest of the free agents. It makes them a little more valuable.

It's also a good move the Mariners. Eddie has a great record over the last four years, his only weakness being in allowing more home runs than you'd like from a closer. At $6.25 million, he seems well worth the money.

A.J. Burnett headed north of the border to visit the Toronto Blue Jays. We're getting an idea of how the Blue Jays are going to spend some of their increased budget.

He met with Toronto ace Roy Halladay, team management and pitching coach Brad Arnsberg on Wednesday. Burnett got a tour of the Rogers Centre and went for a steak dinner before attending the Raptors' NBA season opener with Halladay and Arnsberg, a former Marlins pitching coach who is still close with Burnett.

When asked about the possibility of signing with Toronto, Burnett said he was interested.

According to MLB.com, Kim Ng is a candidate for the Dodgers general manager's position. If the Dodgers promote Ng, she'd be the first female general manager.

Patrick Arnold was indicted today in relation to the BALCO scandal.

A federal grand jury accused Patrick Arnold of conspiring with Bay Area Laboratory-Cooperative founder Victor Conte to illegally distribute the once-undetectable substance tetrahydragestrinone.

Arnold was charged with three counts of illegally distributing performance-enhancing drugs. His attorneys say Arnold is innocent.

"Patrick Arnold is a respected chemist and researcher in the field of nutritional supplements," attorneys Nanci Clarence and Rick Collins said in a statement. "He is not guilty and will defend these charges vigorously in a court of law, not in the press. He looks forward to his day in court."

As noted earlier, Arnold isn't even a Ph.D. It's interesting that his lawyer describes him as a respected researcher. A Google Scholar search of "Patrick Arnold" Steroid (or combinations thereof) turns up no peer reviewed articles. If his lawyers don't want the man tried in the press, they shouldn't exaggerate his record.

The Yankees hired Tony Pena as their first base coach, bringing to three the number of ex-managers on the staff. This might work out very well. Sometimes people who are very good coaches get bumped upstairs to a job that doesn't suit their talents. This happened to Ray Knight. Ray was a good coach but a poor manager. He's back coaching now, which is where he belongs.

Of course, one wonders if this isn't a competition for the big job when Torre's contract runs out in two years.

If you're in the Boston area, here's your chance to grill Will Carroll on the steroid rumors.

Via Off-Wing Opinion, I found this neat little button:

Any venture capitalists interested?

:-)

The Devil Rays moved Gerry Hunsicker into their front office today. So far I haven't seen GM in front of his name, but he appears to be doing that job.

The reconstruction of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays continued Thursday, when Gerry Hunsicker was named Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations.

Andrew Friedman, who has been involved with the team since new owner Stuart Sternberg bought majority ownership of the team in 2004, was officially announced as Executive Vice President. Hunsicker will work directly with Friedman and team President Matt Silverman.

Jose de Jesus Ortiz looked at Hunsicker's strengths and weaknesses yesterday in the Houston Chronicle. Based on the Ortiz article, Hunsicker comes across as a good GM with character flaws. Tampa will likely tolerate those if Gerry can improve the quality of players on the field.

Tony Massarotti continues to be daily must read on the Red Sox GM situation. As a bonus, he works in an excellent Welcome Back, Kotter reference. Maybe Robert Hegyes could take over as GM and Gabe Kaplan can play the outfield!

Just when did we start caring more about general managers than managers? Branch Rickey and others were certainly famous, but I don't think fans cared all that much about GMs in the past.

Part of it was that the job of the general manager was a bit easier before free agency. Your roster wasn't ripped apart at the end of each season. The executive's job was to figure out who to keep, who to trade and who to cut. He owned the players lock stock and barrel.

Fantasy baseball allowed fans to design their own teams, and brought many to think about how to best build a winner. It was couple with the computer, statistics and internet boom, where anyone can now have access to detailed information about every player.

We see very little innovation by field managers these days. Everyone knows when the bunt is coming, or the stolen base, or the Williams shift. Managers don't carry enough hitters to make platooning worthwhile anymore. The real innovators are in the front office, and that has attracted our attention.

And finally, there's a battle going on there, and battles grab out attention. The old boys club is fighting the young boys club, and we don't know who's going to win yet. Enjoy the skirmishes.

Red Reporter keeps us up to date on the ownership shift in Cincinnati:

That will be Lindner's legacy as an owner. Not that he was cheap, and not that he didn't care. Just that he blew a huge opportunity, one that doesn't come along very often for any franchise. At best the Reds will open a new stadium every 30 - 40 years. Every time they do there will be a potential surge in fan support and interest. But Carl Lindner tossed away the goodwill generated by GABP, because he cared more about keeping the Reds from moving than he did about their success. It wasn't about payroll, because $60 million a year is enough to win. It was about hiring people who knew what the hell they were doing. Carl didn't do that, and Cincinnatians are probably always going to despise him for it.

You had to wonder about the front office when they said they were going younger but went out and acquired a bunch of players in their 30's. I can see why the fans were not happy.

Mike Labuda writes to offer that Carlos Lee's Silver slugger was worse than Derek Jeter's Gold Glove. He lays out his reasoning at Chisox Daily.

The Baseball Musings radio show will be on TPSRadio tonight at 8 PM EDT. Check out their other sports programming as well.

You can also call in at 888-985-0555 and leave a question for the show, or stop by the chat room at TPSRadio during the broadcast and leave a comment. Also, feel free to leave a question in the comments to this post and I'll be happy to answer it on the air.

Update: TPSRadio is one year old. Here's a press release on the anniversary.

The Cincinnati Reds are changing hands. Red Reporter will on the story as it develops.

NY Newsday confirms the Deadspin rumor that Matt Lawton tested positive for steroids. (Thanks to Sue at XM MLB Chat for the heads up.) Would a member of Congress please tell me which of Lawton's many records should be erased?

How many mid-level players are going to test positive before we all start to wonder if these drugs are any help at all?

My apologies to Steve Finley.

Here's the quote I wanted to re-read (emphasis added):

Q: Do you have a good relationship with Larry (Lucchino)?

Yeah. My relationship with Larry is one that spanned about 14 years. We’ve had a very successful working relationship. I think Larry and I like each other. As with any long relationship, there are complexities, there are ups and down, there are occasionally times where you have philosophical differences. But in the end, I want what’s best for Larry. I wish him well in the future. When I look back, he’s done a lot for me. I owe him quite a bit, and I take that to heart. In the end, 30 years from now when I look back on my relationship with Larry Lucchino, I’m gonna see it as a positive influence in my life.

Since Theo is a lawyer, and lawyer's tend to be precise in their public utterances, I wonder if this means that at the moment Theo doesn't see Lucchino as a positive influence in his life.

"I want what's best for Larry." Why wouldn't Theo continuing as GM be best for Larry?

"I think Larry and I like each other." After 14 years, you're not sure? And are you not sure if Larry likes you or you like Larry?

This was the one exchange in the whole press conference that even hinted at Theo's leaving being some difference of opinion between Epstein and Lucchino. And I'm really stretching the meaning of the exchange to extract that. It was a very good job by Theo of being positive in a very negative situation.

In his press conference (link to audio at the link, Gillick looks at having Thome and Howard as a positive for the team. It's good to have depth, and that gives you the ability to trade.

Deadspin has more information on the steroids rumor of last week. It turns out it's not someone important. I believe he wasn't even on the Yankees post-season roster. So much for rumors.

Theo Epstein is about to hold a press conference at Fenway Park. You can see it on NESN, or listen on WEEI.com. I would guess one of the ESPN networks is covering it as well.

Update: Theo is saying that the Sunday Globe column had nothing to do with his leaving.

Update: There was never an agreement in principle.

Update: He keeps saying it wasn't the right fit for him, that he couldn't give his heart and soul to the organization. But he's not saying what didn't fit.

Update: Theo says he's not burned out, and he sees himself in a leadership position in baseball in the future.

Update: He's saying that Larry didn't meddle, there was no power struggle.

Update: Theo wants fans to be patient with the team as they bring in young players.

Update: One team contacted Theo for a job, but he's not talking to anyone until next week. He's trying to get the Red Sox through the transition right now.

Update: Theo's done, John Henry is speaking. Theo was very classy, but didn't shed a lot of light on what happened.

Update: Henry is defending Lucchino. He's taking full responsibility for losing Theo. He says people who blame Lucchino should blame the owner.

Update: Henry thought Theo would be his GM forever. He says he was involved, it wasn't just Lucchino. Henry won't say why he thinks Epstein is leaving.

Update: The conference is over. It didn't really answer any questions. Henry said he blew it, but didn't say how. Theo said it was a bad fit for him, but not why. Everyone's moving on without burning bridges.

I hope there's a transcript later. There was one quote about Lucchino I'd like to reread.

Josh Byrnes is considering bringing Theo Epstein and/or Paul DePodesta on board in Arizona. I'd love to see what kind of teams that trio would produce.

It looks like the Esptein resignation is having consequences outside of Boston (with the caveat that this comes from an unnamed source):

Based on calls to executives and agents around baseball, there was unanimous shock that Epstein had declined to accept a long-term deal with the Red Sox on Monday. One industry source said the team’s reputation had taken a serious dive. “Boston’s taken a dramatic hit in the last couple weeks from players,” the industry source said. “If you can imagine how high their reputation had risen, you can imagine how low it has fallen. It is known now as a difficult place, an acrimonious place. They need to put stabilizers on the Titanic. They have to do something drastic."

Correction: Theo was not fired, he resigned. Sorry.

I missed this story when it first came out, but Alex Rodriguez frequents poker clubs in Manhattan. It's appropriate that it's raised a red flag in the commissioner's office:

Baseball bosses know players frequently play cards for money in the clubhouse, on the team plane and in hotels. Some gamble in casinos.

But officials aren't happy that the man considered by many to be the greatest active player is rubbing elbows with gamblers - some who presumably wager on baseball games.

With clubs being raided by cops and sometimes robbed by gunmen, the 30-year-old star's flirtation with controversy or possible danger is seen as odd for a player known for his perfectly scripted public image.

"What in the world is he thinking?" a high-ranking MLB official said. "He can do what he wants in the off-season and he isn't breaking the law - we checked - but why do it?"

I always thought there was a rule against consorting with gamblers, but rule 21 appears to be strictly about betting on games and bribing players and umpires.

And of course, Selig has to make it about the young people:

But sources said Selig is "very unhappy," in part because of the message the poker playing sends to young fans.

"Kids look up to [Rodriguez]," a source said. "It isn't good for anybody."

Maybe Congress can ban poker shows from television in an amendment to the steroid bill.

Derek Jeter won his second gold glove in a row. I guess the voters prize catching popups more than ground ball up the middle. It's tough for me to believe that a team with a below average DER has a great shortstop.

A big problem with the award is the voting structure. Rather than ranking players, as you do with the MVP and other major awards, the coaches and managers just vote for one. So the winner tends to be the player that gets a small plurality, instead of a consensus second choice.

Angels shortstop Orlando Cabrera actually had a higher fielding percentage than Jeter (.988 to .979) and made fewer errors (15 to 7), but Jeter recorded over 100 more assists (454 to 347) and that increased workload apparently swayed voters.

Well, Tejada had more assists than Jeter, more assists + putouts than Jeter, and more double plays turned. Does anyone have this year's zone ratings? I hope to calculate proabilistic ranges over the winter.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Tommy Lasorda still hasn't commented on the Dodgers doings at his own blog, but he pens a piece on the DePodesta firing at Yard Work. He's also has great suggestions for the Dodgers this off season:

This off season is a key off-season for the Dodgers, and it’s important that they go into it with a fresh start and fresh blood. There are plenty of free agents out there that can do right by the glory and greatness of Dodger baseball. That kid in Chicago, Paul Konerko, for instance - he’s a great hitter! I’d sign him for 10 years, though the White Sox would be stupid to let him go. No one can resist the glamour of Los Angeles, though. I’d also sign Johnny Damon, Billy Wagner, Reggie Sanders, Rafael Furcal, Bill Mueller, B.J. Surhoff, Bernie Williams, and former Dodger greats Brian Jordan, Jose Vizcaino, and Lenny Harris. You need veteran leadership and depth up the middle to play LA baseball! Maybe I can get Pedro Guerrero to come out of retirement. He was a great hitter, and smart, too!

I’d also get rid of anyone that DePadsoda signed, because those guys aren’t true Dodgers. Goodbye, J.D. Drew and your brittle bones! Go back to your agent! Goodbye, Jeff Kent and your pickup trucks! Goodbye, Hee Seop Choi and your bad swing! And goodbye to all those awful starting pitcher. You chumps couldn’t hold Don Drysdale’s jock strap’s jock strap! I’d keep Jason Phillips, Ceaesar Iztouriz, and Scott Erickson, because they’re gamers and they play the game right. I’d also talk to Eric Gagne about sucking it up and taking one for the team - you can’t have your best pitcher sitting on the sidelines with an injury while the rest of the team’s out there trying to win a World Series! That’s not how it works!

I didn't know Drysdale' jock strap had a jock strap! :-)

I made a brief apperance on Sports Bloggers Live the other night. You can listen to the segment here.

Soxblog defends Larry Lucchino in his Farwell Theo post. He believes the top of the pyramid is more important than the GM:

REGARDLESS OF WHY EPSTEIN LEFT, the franchise will be okay. What made the Sox special the last few years wasn’t Epstein as much as it was the guys who had the sense to hire Epstein. Ultimately the people at the top determine the long term direction of any organization. Theo Epstein did a great job here and will doubtlessly be missed.

But the principal difference maker in this franchise has been Larry Lucchino. He’s not going anywhere, and as a consequence all will remain well in Red Sox Nation.

I agree to a certain extent. With John Henry owning the team, we're likely to see someone with the same philosophy as Theo take over the team (as opposed to what will probably happen with the Dodgers). I have no doubt that Lucchino's a smart guy, but if he knows so much about running a baseball team, why hire a GM? Why not just do it himself? Call what was Esptein's job assistant GM, have him do the same work, make the phone calls, negotiate the trades, but the give the final approval to Larry. Then the guy knows where he stands, and won't insist on having the power that goes with the position. And you won't need to pay him like Brian Cashman.

Phillies Nation links to an Inquirer article indicating Pat Gillick will be the new GM of the Philadelphia National League franchise. Let's hope the Inquirer is doing a better job than the Globe. :-)

This is excellent news for the Phillies. Gillick does a good job of combining talents into a winning unit. He sees strengths and weaknesses and is able to trade or sign players to improve the team. Phillies phans should be very happy at this development.

Chad Finn posts his take on Theo Epstein's departure, and finishes with what it's like to be a Red Sox fan:

Today, sadly, we saw, and now the Red Sox are scrambling to recover. Maybe it's the first step of a public relations campaign geared toward saving face, or maybe they simply fear that a tar-and-feather-toting mob might be gathering outside of Fenway at any moment, but word is that Red Sox management - the remnants of it, anyway - is devastated by the turn of events. Really? Devastated? Well, now I feel better. I mean, c'mon, they'd damn well better be upset. Maybe now they'll understand that being a Sox fan isn't all about patronizing membership cards and getting a chance to buy used sod and bleepin' Stones concerts during the stretch run and milking every last nickel out of the old ballyard.

Maybe now they'll realize that being a Red Sox fan too often comes down to this: Recognizing the right thing to do, believing it to be so obvious that not even the biggest numbskull in a suit could screw it up - then being overwhelmed with shock and anguish when those in power do just that.

Congress is racheting up the pressure on sports and steroids:

"We have heard a lot of talk from professional sports leagues that they would do something to clean up this mess, but so far it has been just that: a lot of talk," Bunning said Tuesday during a conference call with reporters. "Hopefully Congress' action will light a fire under their feet to come to an agreement before we do it for them."

It's such a huge mess, too. Ten whole players suspended this year! What is the world coming to!

And since politicians are making the rules, they'll do their best to protect incumbents:

The new Senate proposal has a provision urging leagues to erase records achieved with the help of performance-enhancing drugs.

They can call it the Henry Aaron Record Protection Act of 2005.

Amid all the firings, someone actually was rewarded for his success. Phil Garner's contract was extended by the Astros:

With his trademark mustache and occasionally unexpected moves, Garner has guided the Astros to a 137-99 record over 1½ seasons, plus two major postseason feats. Houston won its first playoff series last year and then made it a step farther by reaching the World Series this season.

The Astros hope the progression continues.

Sheriff Sully presents his take on the Theo Epstein resignation, and Dan Shaughnessy and the Globe comes off pretty badly.

You can participate in the Ford Frick Award for broadcasters. The Hall of Fame has an on-line ballot that will decide which broadcasters are included on the final ballot.

This comment at Soxaholix is the best fan reaction I've seen so far:

God Damn! They are now just another team. Here's the thing, kids. Here's what's different about Boston. Yankee fans are frontrunners, we all know that. They root for the 27 World Championships. Angels fans want to play with their thunder stix and Rally Monkey(r). Cubs fans want a party; the team is the medium for that. Sox fans aren't fans of the team. Rather, every Sox fan thinks he/she is ON the team. Theo was our guy who was ON THE TEAM. They could sell dirt from the '04 field, or blow up Fenway Park,or sell those silly membership cards, we didn't care. They could jam that effin' Sweet Caroline down our gullets every day (twice on the split admission day-nighters).

We didn't care. We were ON THE TEAM. Theo was our surrogate. He got Papi; he had dinner with Curt; he got rid of that pain in the ass Nomar.

We have all been kicked off the team. God Damn.

In reading the news stories and opinion pieces about Theo Epstein's departure, fathers keep popping up. Tony Massarotti uses the simile in his takedown of Larry Lucchino.

So now Lucchino, like Lucille Ball, has some serious ’splaining to do. How could you let this happen, Larry? How could you chase away one of the best things to happen to Red Sox management in its frequently misguided history? How could you take a young man with so much energy and passion and competitiveness and destroy his spirit like some unrelenting, overbearing father? Tell us, Larry: How did you do it?

As it turns out, Theo didn't need another overbearing father (quote here on page 3):

''We were in the playoffs every year," Ortiz said. ''He put the pieces together. They should iron things out with Theo. He's the man, bro."

That was an opinion shared by many in Boston. Epstein, though, has long considered his twin brother, Paul, a social worker, the real success in the family. The day Epstein was announced as GM his dad, Leslie, said, ''Whatever Theo accomplishes, even if that includes winning the World Series, cannot equal what Paul already has accomplished. He has saved lives."

That comment undoubtedly stuck with Epstein, who has indicated that the possibility of taking a year off entirely would allow him to do less glamorous but potentially more fulfilling work.

Theo's dad is a jerk. When your children accomplish something great, you should be proud of that. Instead, the elder Epstein fuels sibling rivalry? So he's getting, "Theo, you're not good enough," from his father and "Theo, you're not good enough," from his mentor. It appears the younger Epstein found it necessary to turn one of them off.