MLB Columns

This National intelligence estimate is decidedly favorable
"Unless you're the Yankees and can buy titles, the core of any baseball franchise is not its starting rotation or batting order. Over time, you are your organization. Before spring training, the Nats probably will sign two free agent starting pitchers and a couple of bullpen arms. They might trade for a middle infielder, too. But from a long-term view, the Nats have signed their most important offseason class, even though the average fan might not recognize a single name. Roy Clark, Ron Schueler, Davey Johnson, Kasey McKeon, Jay Robertson, Johnny DiPuglia, Doug Harris, Bryan Minniti and Jay Sartori will change the Nats' future more than a couple of 12-game winners. When the regular season ..."
Why don't wins count anymore?
"Of all the many mysteries surrounding our national pastime, none is more baffling than the rather peculiar obsession by so many who profess a love of baseball who repeatedly try to turn this wonderfully simple game into a mind-numbing, highfalutin' brain twister. So someone is going to have to help me on this one. When did pitching victories become passé? Apparently I have been misled for all these years. Here I was thinking that guys who win 18, 19, 20 or 25 games were some kind of special. I always figured that a guy who was able to go out on the mound every five days and pretty much guarantee his team a victory was one of those Cy Young-type hurlers everyone dreams about. Now I find out ..."
Wainwright got jobbed in Cy Young voting
"Chris Carpenter was the best starting pitcher in the National League. When he pitched, he was the toughest starter to hit. That is why he won the league's earned-run average title. Adam Wainwright built the best season -- from start to finish -- so he deserved the NL's Cy Young Award this season. But Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum got it instead, to the great agitation of Cardinal Nation. What went wrong? * Many baseball writers downplayed the value of actually winning games, since Lincecum won just 15 times with a decent supporting team. * Wainwright and Carpenter split a lot of votes as teammates. Wainwright earned the most first-place votes, but still finished third in the balloting. ..."
Amazin's need to make big splash in offseason
"THINK big. General manager Brian Cashman and the Yankees got the memo last off-season and it resulted in the club's 27th World Championship. You can be sure the Yankees still are thinking big this offseason, and that they are figuring out ways to sign Matt Holliday and/or trade for Roy Halladay, a pitching deal I've been pushing since July. The Mets need to take the same approach. The player at the top of their shopping list must be right-hander John Lackey. If not, why are the Wilpons even in the game? The Mets should pull a Cashman and sign both Lackey and Holliday. Win now and the victories come in summer. Sign Lackey, at the least, and the rest of the pieces can fall into place. Sign ..."
This National intelligence estimate is decidedly favorable
"Unless you're the Yankees and can buy titles, the core of any baseball franchise is not its starting rotation or batting order. Over time, you are your organization. Before spring training, the Nats probably will sign two free agent starting pitchers and a couple of bullpen arms. They might trade for a middle infielder, too. But from a long-term view, the Nats have signed their most important offseason class, even though the average fan might not recognize a single name. Roy Clark, Ron Schueler, Davey Johnson, Kasey McKeon, Jay Robertson, Johnny DiPuglia, Doug Harris, Bryan Minniti and Jay Sartori will change the Nats' future more than a couple of 12-game winners. When the regular season ..."
Gordon Beckham will bridge language barrier with Alexei Ramirez
"Unless Gordon Beckham improves his Spanish, or shortstop Alexei Ramirez expresses himself better in English, the biggest challenge for the White Sox's new double-play combination might be communication on the field. "We're going to have to talk about that," Beckham said Wednesday from his home in Atlanta. "From what I have heard from (former Sox second baseman Chris Getz), it is kind of difficult to communicate with Alexei. I will make sure we know the signals we can give each other, or different words we know in each other's language so we can figure out who is covering the bag." General manager Ken Williams announced Beckham will be switched from third base to second after the White ..."
Wainwright got jobbed in Cy Young voting
"Chris Carpenter was the best starting pitcher in the National League. When he pitched, he was the toughest starter to hit. That is why he won the league's earned-run average title. Adam Wainwright built the best season -– from start to finish -- so he deserved the NL's Cy Young Award this season. But Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum got it instead, to the great agitation of Cardinal Nation. What went wrong? * Many baseball writers downplayed the value of actually winning games, since Lincecum won just 15 times with a decent supporting team. * Wainwright and Carpenter split a lot of votes as teammates. Wainwright earned the most first-place votes, but still finished third in the balloting. ..."
Infielder Mark DeRosa's glove could be good fit for New York Yankees
"Is Mark DeRosa headed for a happy homecoming? DeRosa, 34, hails from Passaic, N.J., and was a standout at Bergen Catholic, but his career has never taken him back home, as he has played for the Braves, Rangers, Cubs, Indians and Cardinals over his 12-year career. Yankees brass met in the Bronx yesterday for their organizational meetings, which are scheduled to continue today as the team considers its 2010 roster. If the Yankees bring back Johnny Damon, DeRosa would be a good fit because he could play left field on days when Damon serves as the designated hitter. DeRosa, who has started 212 games in the outfield, 311 at third base, 304 at second base, 139 at shortstop and 23 at first ..."
Homeless Gillick could settle in nicely with Blue Jays
"Pat Gillick sold his house in Toronto a couple of years ago, so by Gillick's brand of logic, it makes perfect sense for him to rejoin the Blue Jays as a wise old head. The word is out that Gillick might well latch on to a senior consulting role in Toronto similar to the one he took when he retired as GM of the Philadelphia Phillies after they won the 2008 World Series. Or put it this way: The Jays would love to have him – as much as tampering rules allow. Two things about this make excellent sense. The first is that Paul Beeston believes in having experienced executives around to help reveal baseball's many ingrained truths. Bobby Mattick filled this role in Beeston's first term as team ..."
Scioscia is Angels' natural-born leader
"Moose Stubing, the Angels' former third base coach and now a Washington scout, stopped by Mike Scioscia's office in August. Stubing managed El Paso when Scioscia was a Double-A catcher for San Antonio. The two reminisced about the Texas League, and Scioscia rattled off the players: Stubing's players. He talked about Bobby Clark and Mark Clear "and a little lefty, Daniel Boone, right?" Right, Stubing said. This was 1978. There was another day when someone remembered that Ron Washington, the Texas manager, played very briefly for the Dodgers. Scioscia said it couldn't have happened because Washington suffered a terrible knee injury in the minor leagues. Someone actually had a media guide ..."
A's hope to find an Andrew Bailey on offense
"What the A's need is a hitting version of Andrew Bailey, someone to come from virtually nowhere and do for Oakland's lineup what Bailey did for the bullpen. It would be a long shot, but so was Bailey, who won the American League Rookie of the Year Award one year after losing his job in the Double-A Midland rotation. Bailey helped solidify the bullpen as an All-Star closer, and now the offense needs its own boost after ranking last in the league in home runs, total bases and slugging percentage. "We want long-term answers, guys similar to Andrew who'll be here for a number of years," general manager Billy Beane said after Tuesday's news conference at the Coliseum to acknowledge Bailey's ..."
Oakland A's hope Andrew Bailey just the first sign of youth-driven success
"If you're going to tout yourself as an organization committed to player development, it helps when you can trot out a fully developed player. So it was that the A's flew Andrew Bailey in from the East Coast for a 6,000-mile-round-trip media hit and run, then filed the expenses under Money Well Spent. Bailey, you may remember from about 36 hours ago, was voted the 2009 American League Rookie of the Year. That developed enough for you? "We've always been proud of our player development history here," general manager Billy Beane said. "Really, if you look at when the club has been good, this has been a precursor to many of those good years. This is the fourth (Rookie of the Year) we've had ..."
Rockies' Jim Tracy is the real deal, on and off the field
"When people find out I write about the Rockies, they invariably ask me, "What is 'so and so' really like?" For most of the Rockies, I can offer only a sketch. Professional athletes lift the veil only so far, even for baseball beat writers who are around them from spring training to October. That being said, I believe I can provide a pretty good personality profile of Jim Tracy, who today, I have no doubt, will be named National League manager of the year. Tracy is, first and foremost, a gentleman. He takes time for everyone around the team and treats all with respect. He's a genuinely kind person. He's laid-back and softspoken. But he'll also talk your ear off. I once listened to Tracy ..."
Four more years, Felix, and then ...
"A few weeks after Felix Hernandez was snubbed by his major league peers – he didn't rank among the top three American League pitchers in the Players Choice awards – the Mariners ace got what he deserved Tuesday. He finished second in the Cy Young Award voting, behind Kansas City's Zack Greinke. And though Greinke won in a landslide, accumulating 25 of 28 first-place votes, at least Hernandez was in the conversation for the most prestigious of pitching trophies. The baseball writers did more than identify Hernandez's breakout season as Cy Young-worthy. They dispelled the myth that players on the cusp of superstardom can't gain national attention outside such major markets as New York, ..."
Rockies' strategy with Betancourt risky, yet clever
"Didn't agree. Not one bit. When the Rockies declined reliever Rafael Betancourt's $5 million option last week, making him a free agent, I cringed. Betancourt was a stabilizing force in the bullpen, pulseless under pressure, the man responsible for the biggest outs of the season in a Sept. 16 victory over the Giants. Betancourt, not a Rockie? I don't like it. But here's what's different from in years past. General manager Dan O'Dowd is Major League Baseball's executive of the year. Living in the present, he deserves the benefit of the doubt. He's taking a calculated risk, one that has worked for him during the past 12 months. Exactly 12 months ago, he shipped off Matt Holliday, the team's ..."
Chicago White Sox have new 3rd baseman of future
"Brent Morel has shot past Dayan Viciedo as the White Sox's third baseman of the future. He's a natural hitter, which he showed when he joined the Arizona Fall League at midseason and hit .372 in his first 12 games, including an 8-for-11 showing in three games last week. ... Red Sox owner John Henry says his team will not be affected by the finances of his Boca Raton, Fla., investment company, which recently fired eight of its 28 employees. ... A's GM Billy Beane is encouraged by pitcher Fautino de los Santos' recovery from Tommy John surgery. De los Santos, a headliner in the deal that sent Nick Swisher to the White Sox, was throwing 95 mph in the Instructional League, according to ..."
Lidge's patched-up elbow could patch up record
"Last week, after doctors mended the torn flexor tendon in his right elbow, Brad Lidge returned to his Colorado home with a clear mind and, at last, a sound body. "He actually was very upbeat after the surgery," Rex Gary, Lidge's Delaware County-based agent, said by phone. "I think he expects to be ready at or near the very beginning of spring training, but most important, he thinks he's going to feel a lot better next year." The assumption, of course, is that Lidge didn't feel particularly good this past season. Surely, that would explain a lot, specifically the 0-8 record, the 7.21 ERA and the majors-leading 11 blown saves that rendered his 2009 season an utter nightmare. But if the elbow ..."
Expect the Nationals to improve, not perform miracles, in 2010
"The Nationals have a small checklist for 2010: 1. Beef up front office staff. Check. 2. Remove "interim" tag from manager. Check. 3. Upgrade roster: catcher, middle infield and pitching staff. Now comes the hard part. Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo has his work cut out for him between now and mid-February when pitchers and catchers report to Viera, Fla., for the start of spring training. The task should be a lot easier than it was when he took over as GM last March; now, at least, he has his own support people in place. He made it clear in October that he'd do what he could to strengthen -- or fix -- the club's most glaring weaknesses. It's not going to be as simple as just writing a ..."
CARP: Why Wainwright should win Cy Young
"Look at his body of work. Just start with that. What Adam Wainwright did this year, he did all year long. He was consistent through the whole season. Look at whatever number you want. Wins, ERA, strikeouts — he's at the top of them all, and he took the ball every five days. That's most important. I've been able to do that a few times in my career. But I've also been a guy who hasn't done it. That's why I know how hard it is to do. It is hard to be that guy who goes out there and takes the ball every day, strikes out 200 guys and always gives your team a chance to win. Maybe, for one year you can do it. Possibly. But it's a hard thing to do again and again. And it gets even harder when ..."
WAINO: Why Carpenter should win Cy Young
"What Chris Carpenter did to deserve the Cy Young Award sort of speaks for itself. He went 17-4, had that 2.24 ERA, missed six weeks of the season and still had as many wins as everybody else. The discussion really should be over there. Chris Carpenter, besides maybe Tim Lincecum, has the best stuff of anyone in the major leagues that I have seen. He is, really, an amazing specimen of a pitcher. He has missed years of his career with shoulder and elbow issues, then he had the nerve trouble, and he pitched most of this season with an oblique strain that probably no one knows about. But there he was wearing these patches for every game and just going out there and battling through it, ..."
The World Series is over, but baseball buzz is still prevalent as ever in New York
"First, folks, about last Wednesday's cartoon saluting all Americans who wore a uniform in defense of our country in all the wars, including the current one. Some of you were offended because I did not list all the sports names who served. It was impossible to list them all - I would have to use three pages to include everyone. "Where was Hank Greenberg's name?" phoned an angry man. All day long, I'd get, "Where was this guy and where was that guy?" I'm sorry to those who have been offended, but you must know that there's a list of more than 500 professional athletes who took time out from baseball fields, football fields, ice rinks, basketball courts and boxing arenas to don uniforms in ..."
One-time wild child became one tightly wound Bomber
"CLOSERS as a genre tend to be flaky and wild. But even for the species, John Wetteland was different. He drank coffee obsessively, roller-bladed maniacally in the bowels of the old Yankee Stadium -- much to the chagrin of Joe Torre -- and at a time when computers were rare in the clubhouse, Wetteland often would flip open a laptop to read inspirational scripture. Wetteland admitted to drug use as part of a wild youth that included few rules set down by his musician father. But no Yankee of the mid-1990s wore his religion more openly than Wetteland. His Bible was always handy, and he would shoo away reporters (particularly female reporters) as he tried to dress, barking that his body was ..."
The right man for the plan
"The Nationals hired Jim Riggleman as their permanent manager on Thursday in what they hope will be another step in the construction of a baseball franchise that will someday rival the excitement that the Capitals now create for their NHL fans. For the Lerner family, especially principal owner Mark Lerner, who's on the board of the Caps, a friend of owner Ted Leonsis and a rabid Caps fan, the comparison is seldom off the radar screen. To the Lerners, the Nats' 102 and 103 losses the last two seasons have simply been their version of the dark days of tearing down and rebuilding a franchise that their friend Leonsis endured from '03 until '08 with the Caps. Joke to genius: it happens. Time ..."
Rizzo's choice feels right now - but later?
"The most important decision a general manager in baseball can make is choosing a manager. That's the kind of decision someone who aspires to be a GM thinks of when he dreams of running a baseball team. Somehow I doubt Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo used to think to himself, "When I become a general manager someday, the guy I am going to hire is Jim Riggleman." But that's who Rizzo hired. Riggleman isn't the dream candidate for this nightmare of a franchise. The hiring simply might be explained this way: It seemed like a good idea at the time. And maybe it is a good idea, but the decision still has a white-flag feel to it. It feels like the Nationals are saying this to their dwindling ..."
Re-signing Joe Mauer will drive Twins' payroll into orbit in 2011
"The magic number is a secret. Bill Smith knows what it is. Dave St. Peter knows what it is. So do Jim Pohlad and Jerry Bell. As for everybody else, we're just guessing. All we know for sure is that the Twins' payroll is going to get jacked up next season. Way, way up. "I can't comment on anything relative to Joe Mauer and his contract status," said St. Peter, the team president. I know, Dave. "I'm not going there." No problem. "I can't comment." Fair enough. Besides, the Mauer signing won't affect the 2010 payroll because it will take the form of an extension that begins in 2011. But the payroll still is going to balloon next season. Consider this: The Twins opened last season with a ..."
Prospects for a deeper hole very real for Mets
"Understand that what is at stake for the Mets is not just Omar Minaya's job or the franchise's status in 2010. To say that the Mets are at a crossroads is to undersell this moment in time. It is not just that the Yankees have won another World Series, giving them an upper-hand on influencing another generation of New York fans to join the pinstripe nation. It is not even that the Phillies have won three straight NL East titles, two straight pennants and one title. What is most dangerous for the Mets is that they teeter above a potential precipitous fall they might not get up from for years. I asked five executives from outside the NL East to rank the NL East in order by best major league ..."
Minnesota Twins' Jerry Bell says 'we'll see' if team can afford to keep Joe Mauer
"As the Twins' top executive under the Pohlad family ownership, Jerry Bell has helped negotiate and approve the biggest player contracts in team history. The Twins and representatives for catcher Joe Mauer, who can become a free agent after next season, have begun talking about a new deal. "Everything in time ... it'll work out — I hope, and I'm pretty sure," Bell said Wednesday. "I feel good about it because I think he wants to stay here and we sure want him to be here, and all of his teammates want him to be here." Can the Twins afford Mauer, 26, who on Nov. 23 is expected to be named the American League's most valuable player? "We'll see," Bell said. Bell said he's not nervous about ..."
The lighter side of Sammy Sosa
"Happy 41st birthday, Sammy Sosa, or however old you really are. We send only our best wishes for you to stay young long after the tubes of anti-aging cream are squeezed dry. That's what all this silliness is about, folks -- a harmlessly vain Sosa feeling as equipped as Kevin Gregg for the late inning of life. Years in baseball's spotlight damaged Sosa's ego more than his skin. The skin-lightening product Sosa is believed to be putting on his face twice a day is best known throughout the United Kingdom for its anti-aging effects. So the creepy picture of Sosa at the Latin Grammys looking like the latest addition to Madame Tussauds wax museum has little to do with too much day baseball at ..."
Chicago Cubs must pursue Curtis Granderson
"On the third day of the general managers' meetings at the O'Hare Hilton, as executives were fleeing for flights home, something truly fascinating finally happened. The New York Post's Joel Sherman reported the Tigers' financial problems are so serious they are shopping center fielder Curtis Granderson, the Thornton Fractional South and Illinois-Chicago product. Hours later, there had not been a peep out of Detroit to knock down the report. Oh, really? Maybe Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski was too worn out from beating his head against a wall to slow the runaway speculation. But if the Tigers really are willing to trade the 28-year-old Granderson, a guy with old-school baseball skills and ..."
Crawford unlikely to agree to a long-term contract with the Tampa Bay Rays
"The early reports certainly sound promising. The Rays would like to talk to Carl Crawford about another long-term contract, and Crawford seems willing to listen to what the team has to say. So it would seem the franchise's all-time leader in most every significant offensive category has a chance to become one of those iconic players who comes up through the farm system and spends the better part of a career in one uniform. It all sounds grand except for one tiny detail. It will probably never happen. It isn't that I doubt the sincerity of either side in wanting to get a deal done. It's just that circumstances will likely get in the way. Some of it is practical. Crawford already signed away ..."
Dodgers put a low price on decades of experience
"After spending the last couple of weeks choking on the McCourt divorce numbers -- $6,000 a year for birthday parties? -- Dodgers fans can finally relax. Your favorite team has figured out how to pay for it all. They're taking it out of George Genovese. "I was like, 'What did I do?' " said Genovese, 87, a crooked grin rising from beneath his thick glasses and shock of gray hair. Genovese, perhaps baseball's most notable living amateur scout, was sitting in the aging easy chair in his tiny North Hollywood home recently when he received a solemn phone call from one of his Dodgers bosses. He was thereby informed that his annual part-time salary was being slashed. From $18,000 to $8,000 -- a ..."
Dodgers' Hudson disappointed in how season ended
"Dodgers second baseman Orlando Hudson collected the fourth Gold Glove of his career Wednesday. You remember Orlando Hudson, don't you? Don't you? All-Star second baseman, arguably the Dodgers' best player through the first half of the season. Then, poof, he disappeared, the victim of an ill-timed September slump and Joe Torre's decision to ride the hot hand of Ronnie Belliard late in the season. By the playoffs, Hudson was little more than a late-game defensive replacement and pinch hitter, hardly the role anyone could have imagined for the energetic veteran in April, May and June. Hudson never publicly complained about getting benched, and his silence was taken for acceptance. That all ..."
Yanks en-title-ed to take it slowly
"It is not in the Yankees' payroll, history and, thus, organizational DNA to do anything but pursue a championship year after year. So they will assemble a team this offseason capable of revisiting the Canyon of Heroes in 2010. But what their parade last week provides the organization is some cover if they want to be a little more cautious about spending and/or adding/retaining older players at a time when strategically they are looking to get younger and more athletic. In many ways, this is a 180-degree turn from last offseason. The Yankees failed to make the playoffs in 2008 and were opening a new stadium with historically high ticket prices. They were incredibly motivated, therefore, to ..."
New Jays GM offers hope
"Alex Anthopoulos has been talking 10 minutes straight. Now, the Blue Jays rookie general manager hits another gear. "We have the best house on the nicest block in the best part of town," Anthopoulos said metaphorically about the franchise he has been entrusted to operate. "Ownership has given the president complete autonomy and Paul Beeston has given me complete autonomy. I don't know of another franchise in baseball that operates this way." The Jays are not the Milwaukee Brewers (firing Ned Yost with 12 games remaining in 2008). They aren't the Pittsburgh Pirates or the Oakland A's when it comes to attendance."
Mets must make splash with free agents Matt Holliday and John Lackey
"It was a little more than a month ago that Jeff Wilpon told everyone how committed Mets ownership is to rectifying a disastrous season by putting a "championship-caliber" ballclub back on the field as quickly as possible. But is he willing to spend what it takes to back up that kind of talk? There doesn't seem to be any other way to make it happen quickly. For that matter, considering the Yankees and Phillies proved to be the two best teams in baseball in 2009, the Mets need to spend big just to make themselves relevant again. Even if all their injured players come back healthy next season, the Mets aren't even a lock to finish third in the NL East, ahead of the on-the-rise Braves and ..."
If Jays ship Doc, it had better be out of the East
"Every fan probably understands the Blue Jays may need to trade Roy Halladay, sooner or later. Alex Anthopoulos, the new GM who was, presumably, kicking tires in Chicago on several possible deals this week, wisely is not playing his cards face-up here. With a free-agent pitching class headed by John Lackey and not a lot of dazzle behind him, the market for a standout starter of Halladay's level should be substantial."
Small-market GMs searching for way to level playing field
"Baseball executives have learned their lesson. Twenty years ago, a postseason like the one that just ended -- one with the Yankees winning it all and all four teams winning playoff series coming from the top third in salaries -- would have sent angry owners scurrying to the commissioner to order the labor negotiator du jour to force the players' union into a salary cap. But not anymore. Baseball fans need not fear another of those fights, at least not until the sport's collective memory gets a little rustier. Baseball is the only one of America's four top team sports without a salary cap. And as Athletics general manager Billy Beane was saying Tuesday at the GM meetings, that all-for-one ..."
It's time for DH in the NL
"AS AN AFFRONT to the natural order of the universe and the laws of man, the Designated Hitter Rule is up there with the national health-care bill, a legislative dose of castor oil about to be stuffed down our throats, hate it or despise it.I'm sure if the DH had been in existence when Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy was playing God, he would have attacked it as un-American even before he went after all the Com-Symp-Pinkos in Hollywood.The DH is an evil invasion of the purity of a game invented by ancestors who rode to games in horse-drawn conveyances. It was played in daylight, but rarely on Sunday, by hard-drinking, gambling and unsavory members of America's vast post-Civil War underclass. Irish ..."
Braves should pursue a trade for Adrian Gonzalez
"The last time the Braves made one of those, "The future is now," trades, John Schuerholz sent a bundle of prospects to the Texas Rangers for Mark Teixeira. Didn't work out. Teixeira wasn't the missing piece for a World Series team. He wasn't even the missing piece for a second-place team. Here's another chance to get it right. I don't know if the Braves are one player away from playing for a championship. But Adrian Gonzalez gets them closer than any other player they could acquire. Economics may force the San Diego Padres to trade the All-Star first baseman. There is no downside to getting Gonzalez, other than whatever/whoever it is the Braves would have to send San Diego in a trade. But ..."
Doc trade made easy
"Trade Roy Halladay? For Blue Jays rookie general manager Alex Anthopoulos it will be easy, says one of his counterparts. "I don't know where he's going or when he's going," a National League general manager said yesterday on Day 1 of the annual general managers meetings. "But the former GM (J. P. Ricciardi) was looking for a bank heist, a lopsided trade to save his job. J.P. wanted an arm and two legs. Too much. "For Alex this will be easier, he's making a baseball deal." Past GMs meetings we've been at have been at the Ritz in La Guna Niguel, Calif., overlooking the grand Pacific, or The Phoenician, a luxury resort in Scottsdale, Ariz. with its 27-hole, palm tree-lined golf courses, ..."
Losing Holliday makes no sense
"So here we are again, stuck at the crossroads where frustration meets failure, where your wildest baseball wishes clash with your worst nightmares. Welcome to baseball's hot stove season, where all the good Cardinals offseason shopping sprees apparently go to die. This winter, we are waiting to see how quickly Matt Holliday will spurn the Cardinals, or more accurately, how ownership will come up with another reason why it can't (or won't) pay the asking price for a player who clearly fits all their needs. This is not crazy speculation. This isn't even reasonable or even slightly arguable conjecture. This is fact, pure and simple. Holliday came to the Cardinals after the All-Star break and ..."
Strategy split hangs over Omar's survival
"You remember the Mets, don't you? Opened a new park last year, too; run by the owner's son. There was something about a lot of injuries, but it was so long ago, who can remember? Recently, the Mets have had the visibility of the New York Liberty, going into hibernation while their best of enemies, the Phillies and Yankees, played in the World Series. They are now back in a season that matters. Omar Minaya arrived yesterday at what very well may be his final GM Meetings unless he figures out a way to address the club's needs adequately enough to push the Mets into the postseason next year. And right now the Mets have what even one of their executives described as "a split camp." One ..."
Phils' GM looks to fill in the blanks at meetings
"Ruben Amaro Jr. arrived at the annual general managers' meetings late yesterday afternoon and listed his priorities for upgrading his team this off-season."Third base, bullpen, bench," the Phillies' GM said in the lobby of the O'Hare Hilton, where the meetings run through tomorrow.What about starting pitching?"We're more bullpen-intensive than anything else," Amaro said.The Phils' attempt to build a better bullpen this winter apparently won't stop them from trying to strengthen their starting rotation.More than one baseball official with knowledge of the Phillies' off-season plan said yesterday that the team remains very much in the picture to acquire Toronto Blue Jays righthander Roy ..."
All Feliz ever did for Phillies was show up for work every day
"WHEN I'M KING of the world . . . The Phillies will give Pedro Feliz a little more respect than being tossed onto the market like a Cash-for-Clunkers auto . . . OK, I get it. General manager Ruben Amaro is probably making a shrewd business move by hoping there won't be a lot of clubs lining up to offer a big number - or even a low-medium number - to a 34-year-old player who just happened to play third base for a back-to-back National League pennant winner. Sign him on the cheap after the big spenders have tapped out on the high-ticket guys.Maybe I'm soft on players who show up for work every day carrying a lunch pail, keep a low profile and drive in 82 runs batting in the No. 7 spot most of ..."
Why I'm feeling better about Edgar Martinez's Hall of Fame chances than I used to
"I've written numerous columns over the years on Edgar Martinez and Cooperstown, and I promise I'll write many more, because the magic moment is coming: Edgar has had his requisite five years out of the game and will be on the ballot for the first time in December. Next month, in other words. Results will be announced in January. It will be an uphill battle for the reasons that we all know: Edgar was primarily a designated hitter, and a prejudice against DHs remains with some Hall voters; Edgar didn't get 3,000 hits, or anywhere close (largely because he didn't get a regular job until his mid-20s, an injustice that still haunts hard-core M's fans); and Edgar played in relative obscurity in ..."
Rockies, most other teams deal with economics in free-agency market
"A year ago, baseball's general managers gathered at the cushy St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, Calif. This year's GM meetings, running today through Wednesday, are at a hotel near Chicago O'Hare International Airport. The message is obvious: The World Series champion Yankees' $201.5 million payroll notwithstanding, tough economic times have hit major-league clubs hard. A conservative, watch-your-dollars mentality permeates baseball. That's just fine with Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd, who will approach free agency with the same skeptical eye he has for the past decade. The last time the Rockies made a big free-agent splash was the winter before the 2001 season, when they spent $175.3 ..."
Rivera adds to his large legacy
"You can run down the list and see the difference. Start with Joe Nathan and Jonathan Papelbon. Move to Ryan Franklin and Huston Street. Then came Brian Fuentes and Jonathon Broxton. Throw in a smidge of Brad Lidge. What's the connection? Every main closer in the playoffs had a major blowup that cost their team at least a late lead, if not the game itself. Every one, that is, except Mariano Rivera. No coincidence it was the Yankees hoisting the World Series trophy Wednesday night. Rivera is the greatest relief pitcher in history. Period. No one has saved more games in the postseason or the World Series. He has thrown the final pitch of four Series clinchers — and it probably would have been ..."
It looks as if Joe Torre wants more
"Two days at Santa Anita for the Breeders' Cup, and of all places providing a sports memory of a lifetime in addition to a hot tip that finally pays off. I hear Joe Torre is talking about extending his contract as manager with the Dodgers and remaining beyond next season. "Where did you get that?" Torre says, the first time all weekend he seems to care where I'm getting my inside information. But it's true, Torre says, "we're talking about it." We know this, he's not chatting with Jamie McCourt about it."
Gibson has the tools to be a manager Tigers Baseball
"Kirk Gibson wants to be a major league manager. "I love challenges," said Gibson, 52. "It seems like the ultimate challenge." Gibson, bench coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks, has six years of major league coaching experience: his Tigers homecoming in 2003-05 under manager Alan Trammell and the past three seasons in Arizona under managers Bob Melvin and A.J. Hinch. He recently received a two-year contract to continue as Arizona bench coach. In a telephone interview, Gibson said that in his six years as a coach, he has learned a lot he'd apply as a manager. "I understand now how important relationships with the players are as a coach, and even more so as a manager," Gibson said. "I've ..."
'Good old days' weren't always so great
"Well, the Yankees just won the World Series the old-fashioned way: by spending $50-some million more than anybody else, including $30 million for one player, Alex Rodriguez, who has admitted using steroids for at least three years. It is enough to make you long for the good old days. And that's why I'm writing this. For the most part, the "good old days" were fiction, and two new pieces of nonfiction should emphasize the point. One is "The Machine," Joe Posnanski's New York Times bestseller about the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, and "The First Fall Classic," about the 1912 World Series, by Mike Vaccaro. (I should say here that both authors are friends of mine. Because I'm a writer, I have a lot ..."
Ranking the Yankees' 27 titles
"CHAMPIONSHIPS are like children: you're supposed to love them all the same. Still, the Yankees have 27 of them, and every time they add to that pile it is a reminder of just how rich and how vast their pedigree truly is. And it is only natural to wonder where the latest addition — and edition — ranks with all that came before. A million people probably would come up with a million different orders. Here's one: 1. 1927 Hard to top a 110-44 record, a four-game sweep in the World Series and a heart of the order, 3-6, of Ruth-Gehrig-Meusel-Lazzeri. 2. 1998 Nobody ever has won more than the 125 games this bunch did, and it was done without anyone hitting more than 28 homers. 3. 1961 Maris and ..."
Figgins a tough decision for Angels
"On July 14, 2001, the Register reported the Angels had traded Kimera Bartee to Colorado for an infielder named Desmond Figgins. Desmond DeChone Figgins, to be precise. None of his three names seemed destined for fame. Figgins had spent two years in the Carolina League. He did have a fanciful 34 triples that second year, but he was in Double-A when the Angels got him. It was hard to imagine that he would ever be a tough decision for the Angels. He is now. Assuming that he files for free agency, Chone Figgins is fixing to find out how much he is loved and, more important, valued. He is one of the best offensive players in this class. Even the most critical Angels fans must admit that Figgins ..."
New York giddy
"You heard it, wave after wave of it Friday afternoon, a million voices scraping against each other, reaching for the sky, reaching out for the Yankees, serenading them, saluting them, sustaining them. You saw it, the thousands of pounds of confetti that fell on the Yankees as they eased their way up the Canyon of Heroes, the tens of thousands of freezing fans who stayed late at Yankee Stadium after Game 6, the way it seemed that three-quarters of the city showed up for work on Thursday morning with dazed, delighted expressions on their faces and all manner of Yankees gear on their backs. It was something beyond glee, something beyond giddiness, something well beyond he normal civic ..."
Yanks have issues to dodge in quest to repeat
"Before the confetti was even falling in the Canyon of Heroes, the subject already had switched to 2010. Could the Yankees become the first repeat champion since their 1998-2000 three-peat forerunners? Of course they can. They have a strong nucleus and a deep war chest. But there was something about Cole Hamels that made me both have greater admiration for the dynastic Yankees and have more questions about the 2010 team. Hamels was the ace when the Phillies won in 2008. But his effectiveness dropped during the 2009 regular season and he became a detriment in these playoffs, completing a hero-to-goat journey in 12 months. Phillies officials cited two reasons for Hamels' sagging results: 1) ..."
No Papi jinx for Yanks
"I'm in depths of a silent Yankee Stadium, standing by the hole where they dug up that David Ortiz "curse jersey" from out of the cement in April 2008, only 35 steps from the visiting clubhouse. The hole is two feet deep and three feet wide with three pieces of rebar crisscrossing the space. There is a guard rail set up so visitors can take a peek, making this a miniature Grand Canyon, Yankee Stadium style. Everyone knows the story: A Red Sox fan who was working construction buried the jersey, thinking it would put a jinx on the new Yankee Stadium. Mystique and aura were not going to make themselves a home here like they did across the street. The curse never set. The Yankees found out ..."
It's time for the Nationals to take the interim tag off Riggleman
"OK, OK. The Nationals' new front office brain trust seems to be in place. Mike Rizzo has his own team of faces ready to create a championship-caliber roster. Why waste any more time before removing the interim tag from Jim Riggleman? C'mon now, the winter meetings get underway in Indianapolis on Dec. 7. It makes no sense to fritter any more time away on what ifs and howzabouts. Do the right thing. Manny Acta finished 35 games under .500 during his time as Nats' skipper is 2009 -- and could've had either of the other two open jobs, opting to accept a 3-year deal with Cleveland, one more than he got when he took the job here. Riggleman finished 9 games under after he got the gig following ..."
Phillies' future hinges on Hamels
"If the Phillies are going to get back to the World Series in 2010, they will need Cole Hamels to pitch like Cole Hamels and quit channeling his inner Tyler Green. The front office believes that Hamels will return to form and is risking a great deal on that belief. General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Friday that acquiring another top starting pitcher during the off-season is "unlikely," so those who want the Phils to go out and finally land Roy Halladay are going to be disappointed again. Amaro expects the Phillies' payroll - it finished just below $140 million for 2009 - to remain at about the same level for the coming season. The team drew 3.6 million fans and played to 102 percent of ..."
After World Series victory, New York Yankees will now deal with 'budget' concerns
"For any other team, even a team like the 2009 Yankees that finished 101-48, you would say now comes the hard part, deciding which players they should keep and which they should let go. But these are the Yankees, who have a $100 million payroll with just four star players Jeter, A-Rod, Sabathia, Teixeira that most teams in baseball can't match with their entire rosters. Everything came together with this team, a great New York Yankee team, the way it usually does with teams that win it all in sports, that have a dream run like this. But this team is the one that was able to commit $425 million in long-term contracts to three players last winter: Sabathia, Teixeira, Burnett. The Yankees did ..."
MLB Forum Top 5
  1. Worst Contract in Baseball History
    Last post:Gym Class Hero
  2. Game of the Year?
    Last post:MooseWithFleas
  3. MLB FA Market opens which Big FA signs 1st
    Last post:todu82
  4. Crawford wants out of Tampa
    Last post:FWBrodie
  5. Lincecum wins 2nd straight Cy Young!
    Last post:GimmeAD
ProSportsDaily Fantasy Sports
play PSD fantasy sports

Pick winners and win cash! Double your points with confidence picks. Click Here

play PSD fantasy sports

Your quick fantasy football fix! Pick a new QB, RB and WR every week. Click Here

play PSD fantasy sports

Pick the weekend winners and win! Join a public league or create your own. Click Here

play PSD fantasy sports

Show off your hoops knowledge and win! Play for a chance at a PS3. Click Here