Category: MLB (Page 439 of 448)

      Lots of action from the Winter Meetings

      December 8, 2005 /

      Just to give you a quick rundown of Wednesday’s crazy happenings:

      Alfonso Soriano was traded to the Nationals for Brad Wilkerson, Terrmel Sledge and a PTBN.

      The Padres and Red Sox swapped Mark Loretta and Doug Mirabelli.

      The Astros elected to not offer arbitration to Roger Clemens, preventing the future Hall of Famer from re-signing with the Astros until at least May 1.

      The Cubs picked up Juan Pierre for a trio of minor league pitchers.

      Trevor Hoffman turned down more money from the Indians to re-sign with the Padres, so Cleveland turned around and inked Bob Wickman to a one-year deal.

      The Blue Jays dealt three minor leaguers to the Brewers for Lyle Overbay.

      The Pirates traded Mark Redman to the Royals for a minor league reliever and a PTBN.

      The Devil Rays got Sean Burroughs from the Padres for Dewon Brazelton.

      There are also trade rumors swirling around Edgar Renteria, Bobby Abreu, Barry Zito, Hank Blalock, Javier Vazquez, David Wells and, yes, Manny Ramirez, while free agents like Johnny Damon, Nomar Garciaparra, Matt Morris, Frank Thomas and Kevin Millwood remain unsigned.

      For all the headlines, go here.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Here he goes now, down to the South Side

      November 24, 2005 /

      Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Let’s talk baseball.

      So Jim Thome’s a South Sider now. Huh. The sox gave up Aaron Rowand and two top pitching prospects to get Thome, who’s coming off his worst season, a season cut short by elbow surgery.

      This isn’t to say that the White Sox were nuts to go after Thome. The guy’s good for 40 dingers and 100+ walks a year, and he’s one of the nicest guys in baseball. But the White Sox were nuts for going after him so early. There were not many teams that were even interested in taking on that contract, and the Sox surely could have cut a better deal had they waited a little bit longer and sweated the Phillies out a little bit. On the other hand, this makes Frank Thomas completely expendable, and provides insurance in case they don’t re-sign Paul Konerko. But come on, are they really going to keep Thome and Konerko? Paulie’s as good as gone for Anaheim.

      As far as trades go, this is not one of Ken Williams’ best, falling somewhere at or below the trade with Pittsburgh that netted Todd Ritchie but cost them Josh Fogg and Kip Wells. Still, it’s more than the Cubs have done. Juan Pierre is a nice addition and all, but it’s hardly enough.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Florida Marlins: best snake oil salesmen ever

      November 22, 2005 /

      If I’m a GM, I’m wary of dealing any prospect the Marlins are interested in, the same way I’m wary of dealing a prospect that Billy Beane is interested in:

      The Red Sox and Marlins have come to a tentative agreement on a trade that would send Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to Boston for shortstop Hanley Ramirez, right-handed prospect Anibal Sanchez and a minor-league pitcher.

      Whoa. Rotogeeks have been hearing about Hanley Ramirez since the days before they ran Nomar out on a rail. This Anibel Sanchez is supposed to be no slouch, himself. And yet, the Red Sox are giving them BOTH up for a corner infielder due $18 million (actually, he’s due more than that; Boston is on the hook for $18 mil) whose 2005 line was .236-8-58, and a pitcher who has hit the DL about 36 times in four years. Are these two guys worth mortgaging the future?

      On the other hand, Sanchez and Ramirez are just prospects at this point. They could turn out to be nothing, we’ll just have to wait and see. Still, this is a mighty big gamble. At least in the rumored deal with the Rangers, the Marlins were getting a young, healthy third baseman in Hank Blalock. In Lowell, they get a Gold Glove, but the guy is two seasons removed from flexing any kind of power. Still, I suppose he’s an upgrade over Bill Mueller.

      One can only wonder what Theo Epstein thinks of this. Are we going to see WWTD bumper stickers popping up in the Boston area? And how pissed are NL-only keeper league managers at the moment? To just lose a guy like Beckett like that…tough luck, dudes.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      A-Rod named MVP

      November 14, 2005 /

      They got it right.

      Anyone who thinks David Ortiz deserved the AL MVP award over Alex Rodriguez is either insane, a Red Sox fan, or an insane Red Sox fan. Ortiz had a phenomenal season at the plate, no question, but he’s a DH. Some of you are rolling your eyes right now, saying that argument doesn’t hold any water, but you’re mistaken.

      First, let’s look at the numbers:

      Rodriguez – .321, 48 HR, 130 RBI, 124 runs, 21 steals, .421 OBP, .610 slug
      Ortiz – .300, 47 HR, 148 RBI, 119 runs, 1 steal, .397 OBP, .604 slug

      A-Rod beat Big Papi in every single category except for RBI (and doubles, 40-29). Had Ortiz topped Rodriguez in any of the other categories, perhaps a stronger case could’ve been made for the Boston slugger, but the numbers, while extremely close, favor A-Rod.

      Of course, numbers don’t always tell the whole story, and nobody in baseball drove in more clutch runs for his team in 2005 than Ortiz. I’m not going to deny that. It seemed like every other night on SportsCenter, I watched Papi knock a two-run homer out of the yard in the ninth, or lace a run-scoring double into the gap in the eighth to lead the Sox to a key victory. For that reason alone, Ortiz certainly deserved consideration for the award, but it’s impossible to ignore that he essentially was a part-time player for Boston, picking up a bat every few innings and riding the pine for the rest of the game.

      Did he rob anybody of a double down the line with a runner on second? Was he out there starting pivotal double plays for his pitcher, or barehanding a slow roller and gunning to first for the out? Ortiz was great for his team when he had a bat in his hand, but that’s it, which means he could only affect the outcome of a game three or four times a night, generally speaking. A-Rod, meanwhile, hit for a higher average, hit more homers, scored more runs, got on base at a higher percentage and also carried a better slugging percentage than Ortiz, plus he played 1,391 Gold Glove-caliber innings in the field. Ortiz, meanwhile, logged 78 innings at first…and committed two errors.

      Ortiz is a stud, no doubt, and he may have gotten my vote for Most Valuable Hitter. But A-Rod clearly was the league’s MVP, and now he’s got the hardware to prove it.

      MLB

      Shocker: MLB players juiced for years, and everyone knew it

      November 10, 2005 /

      This is not to belittle the exhaustive report that ESPN ran today on the steroid issue and how deep it goes. It’s actually refreshing to get bits from guys like Wally Joyner on trying ‘roids and hating himself for it, or Rico Brogna popping the pills (he hated needles) even though he knew they were killing him. But hey, he wouldn’t have scored his two biggest paydays from Philadelphia without the juice. Way it goes.

      Anyway, the article itself won’t shock and appall anyone, though MLB officials should be embarrassed by the fact that it widely known that the players were using a good six years before Sosa and McGwire led the Andro Parade.

      MLB

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