Archives › Craig Calcaterra

There are a lot of reasons why the NL has been getting its butt handed to it by the AL in recent years. Money is one, the DH is another. Matt Klaassan of FanGraphs has another theory:  better GMs in the AL than in the NL. He doesn’t rank them, really. He simply creates two…

Dave O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution spends some time imagining Johnny Damon in a Braves uniform, observing that Atlanta could afford to sign him if they could do a one- or two-year below $10 million. And he thinks that Damon would consider it because (a) he hasn’t received better offers; and (b) he’s told some…

As reported by Troy Renck last week, the Colorado Rockies finalized their agreement with Miguel Olivo yesterday: one year and $2 million, with a club option for 2011. Good for the Rockies.  Even if the Rockies exercise Olivo’s option — which is $2.5 million — they will have saved $1.5 million over what Yorvit Torrealba…

And with this quote from Ron Gardenhire about Francisco Liriano, we officially begin to transition from the hot stove season to the “Player X is in the best shape of his life” season: “I just got a report that he’s throwing the living fire out of the ball down in the Dominican (Republic). He threw…

The first thought in most people’s minds after the Adrian Beltre deal was reported last night was what the Red Sox were going to do with Mike Lowell. OK, my first thought was “wow, Boras really misread the market for his dude,” but my next thought definitely was what to do about Mike Lowell. Almost…

Joe Strauss of the Post-Dispatch reports that Cardinals’ Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. and GM John Mozeliak met with Scott Boras over the weekend, and that the team and Matt Holliday are “on the brink of a deal.” Tony La Russa acknowledged that a deal should be done this week, though he did say “At some…

It’s probably rather galling to the rest of baseball that, in addition to being able to outbid just about everyone for any free agent, the Red Sox also get big discounts on guys who simply want to go there. That seems to be the case with Adrian Beltre: Beltre turned down more money from at…

Peter Gammons tweets:  1 year deal for $9 million and a player option for $5 million. There’s also a $1 million buyout, presumably so everyone can say he got $10 million. Physical pending, announcement to come later. Gut reaction: something of a comedown for the Boras-represented Beltre who, in addition to wanting $10 million, most…

Normally if you get an unsolicited package in the mail from a group called “The National Ethnic Heritage Foundation in partnership with the Order of Sons of Italy in America,” you’re going to want someone else to open it. I got such a package today, but figuring that I have neither told anyone what I…

7:51 P.M.: OK, now we do know what the hell is going on: Beltre to Boston, one year, $9 million, with a player option for $5 million. 5:37 PM: First the Sox were in, then out, and now they’re apparently in again, as Gordon Edes at ESPN Boston is reporting that the Sox have actually…

MLB Trade Rumors passes this one along: The Royals signed lefty John Parrish to a minor league deal, according to a team press release.  Parrish, 32, missed all of ’09 with a shoulder injury . . . He has not had success against lefties in recent years. Hurt lefty who can’t get lefties out? Go…

Unlike Heyman, Dan Shaughnessy admits that he just goes with his gut when it comes to the Hall of Fame: Each Hall voter applies his own standards, and mine often references the famous line that Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart applied to pornography. Stewart argued that he might not be able to define what was…

New Nats’ closer Matt Capps, in an interview with the Washington Post, talking about offseason conditioning: I try not to put too much emphasis on weight. A lot of it goes on how I feel. I’ve had two pretty rough years in my career, one in 2004 and one last year. And the one common…

Last week I mentioned the little tweet-storm Jon Heyman set off when he announced his Hall of Fame ballot.  To review, he had Robbie Alomar, Andrew Dawson, Barry Larkin, Dave Parker, Jack Morris and Don Mattingly.  Many people took issue with this ballot, myself included. It’s a pretty awful one all things considered. Parker? Morris?…

SNY has learned — shocking, seeing as though they are owned by the Mets — that Jason Bay has passed his physical and now nothing aside from the creeping realization that he’s going to spend the next five years in New York stands in the way of him finalizing his deal.  But he’ll probably get…

Not sure who died and made Jim Bowden smart, but he tweets “The Holliday may be over for most, but not St.Louis……Cards – Holliday closing in on 98.5m dollar deal.” We will update when the story is confirmed by persons who are not Jim Bowden.

Buster Olney doesn’t actually endorse Dave Parker’s Hall of Fame candidacy, but he does throw out a morsel to chew on, courtesy of the ESPN stats department: If you go on the idea of a player being a dominant player in his era being an important qualification: Dave Parker finished in the top five of…

You’ll recall Ronan Tynan, the Irish tenor who used to sing “God Bless America” during the seventh inning stretch at Yankee Stadium.  You’ll also recall that Tynan ran into some trouble back in October, getting sacked from his Yankees gig as the result of some comments he made to a realtor about Jews looking at…

Gonna buy tickets to the Twins’ new ballpark? Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to plan: The old Metrodome may have had questionable sightlines, but at least the ticket pricing was simple. The new Target Field, meanwhile, has 120 single-game ticket variations–more than five times what was available in the old park. The…

Colby Lewis, a former first round draft pick for the Rangers, had an undistinguished stint in the majors.  OK, that’s putting it a bit lightly.  He had a 6.71 ERA, splitting time between starting and relieving over five seasons. He then went on to Japan for a couple of years where he seemed to find…

It was just a winter league game in Puerto Rico, and he went a mere 1 for 4, but given how long it’s been since Carlos Delgado picked up a bat in anger, it’s something.  For what it’s worth, Delgado said he felt fine, though he didn’t go overboard with it. In all likelihood he’ll…

It’s a nauseating prospect for just about anyone who isn’t a Yankees fan, but Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune played the speculation game yesterday regarding Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer, Adrian Gonzalez and other monster stars who could become available in the next couple of years: Pujols is talking a good game with the Cardinals.…

Padres’ General Manager Jed Hoyer on the incessant Adrian Gonzalez speculation: “There’s certainly been a lot of interest. A number of teams have inquired about him. I think we’re obviously willing to listen on anything, but he’s a great player, he fits our team, he fits our payroll structure very well. So he’s certainly not…

I’d say “only in New York,” but I spent a fair amount of time in my legal practice doing construction law, and I learned that this kind of thing happens in lots of places: The Mets shelled out $51.6 million in taxpayer money to contractors shunned by the city for their ties to the Mafia,…

Buried at the bottom of this piece in the New York Post about Jason Bay’s impending physical is mention that Omar Minaya “has turned attention in recent days to a starting pitching pool that includes Ben Sheets, Joel Piniero and Jon Garland.” This is good news for Mets fans, especially if it distracts Minaya from…