So Bud’s great “Steroid Investigation 2006″ has begun. Whoopdi-damn-do. Allow me to address the parties responsible in an open letter.
Dear Bud, MLB, and the national sports media:
NO ONE CARES! Start testing from this point forward, and we’ll just ignore the fact that the last 15 years have been a little statistically inflated. OK?
Sincerely,
Baseball Fans
Time to drop my 2006 predictions so that you guys can remind me how wrong I was come September.
AL East:
Yankees
Red Sox
Devil Rays
Blue Jays
Orioles
The DRays can mash, and they might get some pitching. Maybe. Probably not though. The Yanks and BoSox are both good teams, but are missing a couple of parts. The Yanks need some pitchers that don’t have an AARP card, and the BoSox need a SS. The Blue Jays free agent spending spree was fun and all, but I don’t expect to see results on the field.
AL Central:
Indians
White Sox
Tigers
Twins
Royals
The Twins are going to start Tony Batista at 3B. If Tony and his .298 career OBP are in the lineup 150 times, the Twins will be lucky to finish ahead of the Royals.
AL West:
A’s
Angels
Rangers
Mariners
The A’s have a really good, deep team. I have visions of the World Series dancing in my head.
NL East:
Braves
Phillies
Mets
Nationals
Marlins
I will not pick the Braves any lower than first until they don’t actually finish first. The Phills could be pretty good–I thought the Rowand for Thome trade was a big win for them. The Mets have a bunch of names, we’ll see if they can play together. The Marlins may actually finish ahead of the Nats if Bowden keeps doing dumb things like keeping Royce Clayton in the majors and sending Ryan Church to AAA.
NL Central:
Cardinals
Brewers
Astros
Cubs
Pirates
Reds
Cardinals are good. They have lots of age and injury potential on the roster and it will have to be revamped soon, but I think they have another run in them. Brewers could be even better. They have lots of young talent, and while they may not have a star player now, they have lots of future stars on that team. The Cubs have become a mess as they try and get Dusty the kind of players he wants. Players like Neifi Perez. Enough said.
NL West:
Dodgers
Padres
Diamondbacks
Giants
Rockies
I don’t really like much of anything the Dodgers have done lately (cutting Choi, extending Kent) but they still look to have the best team is a mediocre division.
I didn’t put a ton of thought into these rankings, but here they are anyway.
Cleveland Indians sign Felix Heredia to a minor league contract – Proof that if you are left-handed and alive, there will always be a place for you either in MLB or in AAA until you are about 45-years old.
Transactions are trickling out today. I may post later if there is any other moves of note.
A’s trade Juan Cruz to the Diamondbacks for Brad Halsey – Cruz was one of the big parts in the Tim Hudson trade last year. He had a 7.44 ERA in 32 2/3 innings. Needless to say, that didn’t work out so well. His career has been plagued by inconsistency and flashed of brilliance, so it looks like the D’backs are banking on potential. He should be a useful bullpen part, but if he ever gets himself together he could be a huge steal.
Halsey is a middle / back-end rotation guy, probably a #4 or #5 guy. He is cheap and left-handed, and those are both great qualities in a MLB pitcher. The A’s have a ridiculous deep pitching staff this year, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see Halsey start off the year in AAA.
Dodgers release Hee-Seop Choi, BoSox pick him up off waivers – And the DePodesta era is officially over in LA. *sigh* I wish some team would just let Choi play 150 games and leave him alone. He is never going to be a high BA guy, but with his strike zone judgment he will still have a good OBP. He has decent power, and could be a 25-30 HR guy. I’m not sure who the Dodgers are planning to play at 1B when Nomar gets hurt in mid-April. As for the BoSox, they have a logjam at 1B, so I’m not sure what they are actually planning to do. It’s a no risk move for them though. They will get him into camp and have a look at him, and he has options so Pawtucket is an option as well.
I’ve already touched on the Soriano situation here, but let me expand a bit now that he has both refused to play LF and accepted a move to LF this week.
First of all, the idea of the Nationals playing him in LF is stupid. LF is where you hide the nonathletic player who can’t run. The guy with the lousy arm. The beer-league softball looking guy. Not a speedster with a good arm. If they really want to move him to the OF, why not in center? This is all assuming that he can catch the ball, which I’m not sure he can. By several eye-witness accounts, he is really bad at going after pop-ups. That doesn’t bode well for his pop-fly chasing ability.
What about his bat? Well, it is overrated. At 2B, he is a plus offensive player. At LF, he is average. His .821 OPS last year would have ranked 10th in the NL among LF. Between Jason Lane and Luis Gonzalez. Which is OK, but it is not OK at $10M per year. He also put up last years numbers in the Texas home ballpark, which inflates everybody’s stats. Now, he will be playing the graveyard known as RFK. José Guillén led the Nats in HR last year with 24. Soriano hit 36 in Texas, but I’m guessing he will be under 30 this year if he actually finishes out the year in Washington.
Now, was he right to sit out when he was penciled in to play LF? Probably not. But I can see where he is coming from. All of his value is wrapped up in the position he plays, and he will become a free agent after this season. He wants to be a top offensive 2B going into free agency instead of an average LF. I understand that. But you are under contract, and that means you do what the bossman says. Even if he is an idiot. Like Jim Bowden is.
This was a bad trade from the very start. I would have made the trade for Wilkerson straight up, and the Rangers got a 4th OF and a pitching prospect in addition to salary relief from that big contract. Bowden was trying desperately to add some star power in hopes of impressing the new owners (who the team STILL doesn’t have) and keeping his job. Now he has this controversy, and looks like a fool.
I still don’t understand why they don’t try and talk him into playing SS. He has good range, lousy hands, and a good arm. Everyone has been grousing over his .970 fielding percentage from last year. Christian Guzman had a .973 FP. Looks about the same to me.
Bronson Arroyo to the Reds for Wily Mo Pena.
The Red Sox get a 24-year-old kid who never got to spend enough time in the minors because of a weird contract he originally signed with the Yankees, so he has been riding the bench and spot starting for the last couple of years. Ridiculous power. Strikes out a TON. Walks almost never. Stiff defensively, but has some tools namely OK speed and a big arm. If he were still 21 and had minor league options, I’d like this trade a lot. But he is 24, can’t be sent to the minors without having to clear waivers, and probably will never learn the plate discipline needed to be a star. HOWEVER, if he ever does learn to be selective at the plate, he is Sammy Sosa. THEN it would be a great trade.
The Reds get a major league starter with a relatively inexpensive contract (3yr $11.25M.) He is probably #4-type guy, but with the Reds will be a #1 or #2. Unless they flip him within the next year or so for some other talent, he won’t help the Reds much. They are an average team with some horrid pitching, but he is not a difference maker.
I’m a little confused as to what the Red Sox have tried to do this offseason. When the won the World Series, they did it with having runners all over the bases all the time. Now, they are have Pena with his career .303 OBP as a spot starter, Coco Crisp and his .332 OBP leading off, and Alex Gonzalez with his .291 OBP(!) starting everyday. If Kevin Youkilis (the Greek God of Walks) gets a lot of playing time, it will help offset some of that. So will Mark Loretta and J.T. Snow (so long as they don’t let him hit against lefties.)
Now, if Theo flips Wily Mo to some salivating tools-obsessed GM (I’m looking at you Jim Bowden) for a star player or a prospect haul, then all is forgiven. But for now, I’m left scratching my head.
We have six spots open in our Fantasy Baseball league this year. If you are interested in playing, email me at angryblogo+baseball@gmail.com.
OK, now I’m pissed. From ESPN.com: T.O. to tell Philly story in book, disses Eagles in rap
We know Owens is an ass. No surprise there. He has “released” a derogatory rap song on his website. No surprise there. Now he is writing (I’m sure he is typing away at the computer right now) a book, “Ineligible Receiver: The Real Story of My Journey from the Super Bowl to the Sidelines.” No surprise there. But here is the part of the story that got me riled up:
“Finally, the real T.O. story can be told,” Simon & Schuster executive David Rosenthal said. “It’s an important chapter in the long-term struggle for players’ rights in the NFL.”
Now I’m one of the people who feels that the average NFL player totally gets jobbed money-wise. They have short careers, non-guaranteed contracts, and teams have the ability to cut guys for any reason they feel like without having to pay off their contracts–which they do constantly. Sure it counts against the cap, but the player never sees the rest of the money from his “contract.” However, T.O. is not a guy for who I have sympathy for. He has no concept of team. He has no desire to do anything that isn’t advantageous for him. He ruins lockerooms. He attacks his QB no matter who it is. He has managed to undermine a trade in order to play for the team of his choosing. He then signs a big new contract (with a big signing bonus–the only guaranteed money NFL guys normally get) with that team and plays for a year, then tries to renegotiate that contract in order to get another bonus. This guy isn’t some crusader for the common NFL player. He is a smug, selfish ass.
I will be tuning in to the first Cowboys / Eagles game this year for sure. What do I hope to see? I hope to see Donovan McNabb take his helmet, run onto the field, and start repeatedly smashing T.O.’s knee until the joint is just a bloody, pulpy mess. Jeff Garcia could help too, since he is with the Eagles now and was also a target of T.O.’s criticisms. Then they could go to work on the other knee. All the while, BOTH teams stand with their arms folded across their chests and nodding to themselves in an unspoken acknowledgment that he is getting what he deserves. Then McNabb would urinate on T.O.’s writhing body. That’s what I hope to see.
Dare to dream…
Terrell Owens signs with the Cowboys. Talk about a match made in heaven: He finally gives the Cowboy organization the classless ass they have been missing ever since Michael Irvin quit.
Owens has all the talent in the world. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him have a huge year on the field for several reasons. #1, he can flat out play. #2, he is motivated to prove that he can play. #3, he needs the star spotlight, and won’t have it if he doesn’t play well. #4, Bill Parcells probably still has the phone number of L.T.’s coke dealer, so they can get him all hopped up before game time.
The problem with Owens is that he is a chronic malcontent. He is the Rodman of the NFL. He has to do his own thing, he has to say whatever he feels like saying, and he has to point fingers at everyone else in the world and say it is their fault whether he is successful or not. It isn’t a matter of if he will behave, it is a matter of how long until he blows up. Maybe the Cowboys don’t care, or they can handle that kind of distraction, but it isn’t a chance I would want my team to take.
On the field, I’m not sure what it really does for the Cowboys either. Bledsoe has a miraculous bounce back year, but I’m not sure he is good enough or young enough to really be the answer at QB. He always has the big numbers, but he just doesn’t seem to manage the game very well. Seems like his bad plays always come at critical times. Julius Jones hasn’t sold me yet. He has had some big games, but whenever I watch him he always seems to gain all of his yards on draws and misdirection plays. Plus, he hasn’t proven to be very durable. I will say the Fabini signing does give the OL a significant upgrade. He is only 31, and will be back at the RT spot that he excelled at with the Jets. So maybe there will be bigger lanes to run through this year. At WR, you now have T.O. and Terry Glenn. Glenn has problems staying healthy, and I like him a lot more at a #3 than a #2. Someone who can stretch the field and play in space, but he just doesn’t seem like a guy who is going to fight off a bump and get open. We’ll see what the draft holds for the Cowboys. They have to upgrade the FS spot, and some more help at LB would be nice too. I’d also like to see them get some more bodies for the OL, but they haven’t had a lot of recent success with that position.
On a personal note, let me just say how thrilled I am that the Jets didn’t sign Owens. I will not root for a team that runs him out there every week. I probably should be above this sort of petty hatred, but I’m not. I hate him, and I don’t want him on my team. But even more than I hate him, I hate that Drew Rosenhaus scumbag that represents him. Other agents think that guy is scum. I hold him up as an example of the worst humanity has to offer, just a complete and utter jackass. So all you Cowboy fans, enjoy your time with T.O. and his agent. Time will tell if it is the piece that puts you in the Super Bowl, or the piece that caused Bill Parcells to actually have an embolism on the sidelines and die.
Patrick Ramsey to the Jets for a 6th round pick. Whew! As recently as this week, I had been hearing things as crazy as a 2nd round choice going to the Redskins for Ramsey. I would have been ok with anything lower than a 4th, so a 6th is just perfect. After suffering through Inceptiverde and Bollinger last year, I welcome the sack & interception prone Ramsey. There is no possible way he can be a downgrade for the Jest backup QB position.
Right? Oh crap, this is the Jets we are talking about. They’ll find some way to screw it up.