Archives › 2009 › December

Mere days after writing an article for Sports Illustrated about the Pittsburgh Pirates that he kicked himself over for being “mediocre,” Jeff Pearlman posts about what he feels to be another Pirate misstep: the July 2008 trade of of Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte to the Yankees for Daniel McCutchen, Jose Tabata, Jeff Karstens and…

I think I’ve read two dozen decade-in-baseball retrospectives in the past week, but they all seem to come back to this nugget, articulated today in the Star-Ledger’s version: The 2000s were dominated by steroids and everything we learned about them: how widespread they were, who juiced, who was responsible and how it impacted the game.…

I’ve suspected for a while that the Yankees whole “we’re going to start Brett Gardner in left field” talk was just that, and that eventually they’d sign a big bat out there.  Remember when Bubba Crosby was going to start and then they went out and signed Johnny Damon?  Yeah, that sort of thing. Not…

It’s Edgar Martinez’s first year of eligibility this year. Today Michael Weddell has a comprehensive statistical breakdown/Hall of Fame analysis of the guy at The Baseball Analysts. Weddell believes he is a Hall of Famer and makes a pretty strong case to back it up. I think I’m convinced that Martinez is a Hall of…

UPDATE:  Um, oops. Guess I was too quick to doubt Francesa. Apologies, Mike. Yesterday, WFAN’s Mike Francesa said he will give a “major, major update on the Mets,” during today’s show. Color me dubious that it will be about the Mets signing Jason Bay or even Bengie Molina or something big like that.  Heck, color…

Sharp observation by ESPN’s Jorge Arangure, Jr.:  If Aroldis Chapman doesn’t sign a deal and receive his bonus by Thursday at midnight, he’s going to get a multi-million dollar tax bill that he could have totally avoided. Why? Because, Arangure reports, signing bonuses that are received outside the U.S., by a non-U.S. resident, and in…

Last year the San Francisco Giants signed 33-year-old free agent shortstop Edgar Renteria to a two-year, $18.5 million contract, in theory, to boost their offense. Renteria, whose rapid decline had already been spotted by everyone except this guy, rewarded general manager Brian Sabean with a .250/.307/.328 line that included his fewest homers (5) since 1998,…

The Diamondbacks handed a one-year contract offer to free agent second baseman Kelly Johnson last week thought to be worth around $2 million.  According to a Monday evening report from MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert, they’re hoping to hear back from the infielder within the next few days. Johnson drew a surprising amount of interest this winter…

UPDATE: DeRosa has passed his physical, according to Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal reports that the Giants are on the verge of signing Mark DeRosa to a two-year contract. Earlier this offseason DeRosa was said to be seeking a three-year deal somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 million per season, but he seemingly…

The Cardinals are in a sort of hot stove limbo, waiting on Matt Holliday to accept or reject their rumored five-year, $80 million offer and at the same time working on a proverbial Plan B if he lands elsewhere. What “Plan B” involves isn’t exactly clear.  We know the Cards have been keeping tabs on…

While we all grouse about how much money the Yankees have, Sports Illustrated’s Tim Marchman reminds us why, exactly, they have so much money: According to the measure used by the Office of Management and Budget, the New York metropolitan region numbers about 19 million people. In other words, New York has one MLB team…

I’m pretty sure that this is the slowest news day in baseball history. As such, I surfed around for some random Bert Blyleven facts that speak to some of the criticisms and/or put some of his accomplishments in perspective. Yes, there is an undeniable element of cherry picking to this — like I said this…

The first alphabetically of the 26 players on the 2010 Hall of Fame ballot might also be the most qualified. Even with his stunning decline during the early portion of the decade, Roberto Alomar ranks first in the group in both the Bill James HOF Monitor and the HOF Standards list. He was named to…

John Heyman tweets that, contrary to earlier reports, the Yankees are not interested in Jermaine Dye. In other words, you can stop worrying now, Jason. 

I’d like to think that the Mariners saw what the Nationals did earlier today, decided that they would NOT be outdone in the almost negligible transaction department and rushed to sign Josh Bard and Chad Cordero. Maybe this isn’t quite as minor as Washington’s deal: you actually start your backup catcher once in a while,…

The Washington Nationals have signed infielder Eric Bruntlett and first baseman Josh Whitesell. The shocking thing about this is not so much that someone managed to snatch up Bruntlett and Whitesell before the bidding wars began, as it is that we learn about it through a team press release. My guess:  Buster Olney and Ken…

Doug Glanville was merely a decent outfielder during his nine-year career with the Phillies, Cubs, and Rangers, but since retiring following the 2004 season he’s become an excellent writer for the New York Times. In the wake of the whole Tiger Woods “situation” Glanville’s latest column describes how signing a professional contract instantly transformed him…

Let’s take the lull in the hot stove season to think about available free agents. Not the best available ones. That would (a) lead to more Matt Holliday and Jason Bay talk, and who needs more of that right now; and (b) it would take some thinking, and today’s the Monday after a holiday and…

Bob Howry is apparently one of the most underrated or at least unluckiest relievers in baseball, because for the second straight offseason he’s managed only a one-year deal for modest money while inferior relievers get multi-year pacts for several times as much. Brandon Lyon got $15 million over three years from the Astros. Fernando Rodney…

MLB Trade Rumors has a nice summary of the state of Matt Holliday’s market.  The upshot: he’s gone from an offer that would have paid him $82 million over four years from the Rockies in 2008 to a five or maybe six year deal that would pay him $80 million from the Cardinals, and maybe…

I’m not going to relay every Hall of Fame ballot I see, but since we were just talking about it this morning, here’s Bob Klapisch’s: Alomar, Blyleven, Dawson, Larkin, Morris, Raines. Do I agree with it 100%? No. I still don’t think Morris belongs and I’d love to see Alan Trammell mentioned on more ballots.…

There’s an article up at the New York Times about the 2005 steroid hearings before Congress. Good stuff that attempts to put it all in perspective at the end of the decade. But I still gotta take issue with one often-repeated sentiment about those hearings: Sosa said he had never taken steroids and suggested that…

Dave O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says the Braves have $7 million to play with and still plan on making a move or two.  Possibilities: going after another bat, such as Xavier Nady, who would be useful because he could fill the hole in left and cover for Glaus if he continues to be fraglie…

It’s largely out of his control, but Sam Bordon of the LoHud Yankees blog has a Taiwanese correspondent who says that Chien-Ming Wang has no hard feelings about being non-tendered by the Yankees and would consider coming back once his rehab was over, likely by May or June. Seems to me that if Wang gets…

With the Jason Bay negotiations at an utter standstill, that whole “we think Jason Bay may be easier to sign than Matt Holliday” stuff we had previously heard from the Mets may no longer be operative. I mean sure, Holliday is represented by Boras, but at least Boras will return your calls.  Bay is apparently…