The Mitchell Report...So What?

His year-and-a-half investigation is over and according to some, he's going to call out 60-80 former and current players for using steroids. But what I want to know about former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell's report is this: what happens next?

What if one or more of those 60-80 broke a single season record? An all-time record? Won an end of season award? Have since been voted into the Hall of Fame? Are still playing today? Are now managing a team? Are now working in a front office? Are now working as an analyst somewhere? What, if anything, happens to these people? Is the fact that they've been named as part of this probe punishment enough? And perhaps most importantly, is being named in this report sufficient proof that said player did, in fact, use steroids?

Commissioner Bud Selig never addressed these issues during his press conference on March 30, 2006, when he first announced what Mitchell would be doing. I would imagine he can't hide from these queries after today, though. Mitchell will announce his findings at 2 this afternoon, and Selig will follow up with his own newser at 4:30.

Let's just say it should be an interesting day for the game of baseball.

Rowand On The River (Or Bay)

Aaron Rowand is headed west. The All-Star centerfielder signed a 5-year, $60 million dollar deal with the Giants today, saying he wanted to be in one place for a long time. That's fine. But it does not appear the team in that one place is going to be particularly competitive any time soon.

Yes, the Giants have a decent rotation with Cain, Lincecum, and Zito. But their offense, even with Rowand, remains thin at best. Bonds is gone, Pedro Feliz is a free agent and the players that remain (Vizquel, Aurilia, Winn, Dave Roberts, Bengie Molina) are all at least in their mid-to-late 30s. And let's not forget they play in the same division as the NL champion Rockies, the NL's best regular-season team (Arizona), and an LA club that's added Andruw Jones and might not be done wheeling and dealing.

That's not to say Rowand won't win at all in San Fran. If they add a few bats in a few places, they have the staff to be dangerous. But don't expect that to happen in 2008.

Welcome To The Orioles, Troy Patton!

Upon learning he'd been traded from Houston, along with four other members of the Astros' organization for Miguel Tejada, the 22-year-old lefty pitching prospect and top prize of the deal for Baltimore told the Houston Chronicle...

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Keep waiting...

Okay, now!

"It's true. It's kind of sad really."

I don't know about you, but I think the O's have found a guy they can put on the front of their 2008 media guide. This kind of enthusiasm just screams 20-game winner, doesn't it?

In addition to Patton, a fireballer who had a solid cup of coffee with the big club in '07, the O's got outfielder Luke Scott, pitchers Matt Albers and Dennis Sarfate, and minor league third baseman Michael Costanzo (I can hear the "can't stand ya!" chants already).

The addition of Scott in this deal is kind of puzzling. He'll turn 30 during the middle of next season and has seen time with Houston for each of the last 3 years. The lefty outfielder put up a really promising '06 with a .336 average, and 10 homeruns in 214 at-bats. But last year he hit just .255 and struck out 95 times in 369 at-bats. How he helps the Orioles now, or ever, I don't know.

Matt Albers will turn 25 in a month. Last year was one to forget for the righty who bounced back and forth from the rotation to the pen. He posted a 4-11 record, 5.86 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, and 1.42 K:BB ratio. He supposedly has a great arm and closer stuff, but needs to learn how to harness it. Sound (Daniel Cabrera) familiar?

Dennis Sarfate is another reliever, turns 27 in early April, and appears to be a big strikeout guy. He had 14 of them (and just one walk) in 8 1/3 last year for Houston. The Orioles will also be his third team in as many years, though. In 2006, he struck out 11 in 8 1/3 for Milwaukee. A 9th round pick in 2000, he's averaged just about a strikeout an inning for his entire pro career.

And finally, Michael Costanzo is a 24-year-old slugging third baseman from Coastal Carolina. He was the 65th player taken in the 2005 draft and hit 27 homeruns last year at double-A Reading. He bats left, throws right and was Carolina's closer in 2005.

So all told, the Orioles got two pretty solid prospects (Patton and Costanzo), two more "maybe" pitchers (Albers and Sarfate) and a "help-you-now" throw-in (Scott). O's fans should be glad they finally traded Miggy, but they would have been able to get a whole lot more for him an offseason ago. They can only hope Bedard and Roberts go next, and that the team gets more in return for them.

As for Houston, it would appear exciting times are ahead for this bunch, as they are now the team with the best chance of supplanting the Cubs atop the NL Central. Their opening day lineup might look something like this...

CF Michael Bourne
2b Kaz Matsui
LF Carlos Lee
1b Lance Berkman
RF Hunter Pence
SS Miguel Tejada
3b Ty Wigginton
C Brad Ausmus

That's a lot of speed at the top, and a lot of pop in the middle. We'll see if they have enough pitching to be competitive.

Lost In Translation?

Kosuke Fukudome is slated to become the latest Japanese position player to cross the Pacific and play in the majors next season. He just signed a 4-year, $48 million dollar deal with the Chicago Cubs, where he'll be the starting rightfielder and provide, the Cubs hope, some left-handed pop and protection for righty sluggers Alfonso Soriano, Derrick Lee, and Aramis Ramirez.

His 2007 season was shortened due to elbow surgery but back in 2006 he was the league MVP, hitting .351 with 31 homeruns and 104 RBI. He throws right-handed, turns 31 in late April, and at 5-11, 187, he's not a particularly big fellow.

I've heard Fukudome compared to J.D Drew on more than one occasion. Hopefully for Cub fans, those comparisons are based on talent and ceiling, not passion for the game or durability.

Like with most far east imports, it will be interesting to see how Fukudome's numbers translate against big league pitching over the course of a 162-game season. Ichiro has most certainly been as good as advertised, although it's interesting to point out that after 7 full seasons in the US, his batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, homerun, RBI and walk totals are all lower than his Japanese numbers after 7 full seasons. He's still a Gold Glover, perennial All-Star, and Hall of Famer in the states, you just won't see him flirt with a 1.000 OPS here like he did in Japan.

Hideki Matsui is probably the second-best of the recent imports, and even he hasn't hit for the same power he did in Japan. He averaged a homerun every 13.8 at-bats for the Yomiuri Giants between 1994 and 2002. With the New York Yankees, he goes yard every 24.8 at-bats. His career OPS is also about 140 points lower in the US than it was in Japan although he has cut down on his strikeouts in the Bronx (one every 7 AB's compared to one every 4.9 in Japan). Again, Matsui is a fine player, a tough out, and by all accounts, a good teammate. He's just not an elite slugger here. He's never hit 32 homeruns in a season for New York even though he averaged 37 a year for 9 seasons with Yomiuri.

Then there's the other Matsui- Kazuo. According to an article on ESPN.com dated December 7, 2003, Matsui "is a rare talent with power, speed, and great defense up the middle." It goes on to say how he might be faster than Ichiro, how the Mets are now going to shift Jose Reyes to second base so Kaz can play short, and how he was coming off a .305/33/84 season with Seibu. Fast forward 4 years and 5 days later, and "Little Matsui" is now on his 3rd team, has 17 homeruns, 131 RBI, and a .712 OPS in 1380 career at-bats. In his one season playing short, he made 23 errors and is now a full-time second baseman, although he's never played 115 games in a season. Some baseball fans might not have realized he was still around until his grand slam against the Phillies in Game 2 of the NLDS. To his credit though, he did have a nice season as Colorado's second baseman in 2007 (.288, 84 runs, 32 steals, and 4 errors in 104 games) and parlayed that into a 3-year, $16.5 million dollar deal with Houston.

My point is this. Don't expect Fukudome to hit .350 next season. Don't expect him to hit 30 homeruns. And don't expect him to drive in 100...not in his first season anyway. Realistically, the Cubs got him to generate a little buzz, perhaps bring in some Japanese advertising dollars, and most importantly to replace Jacque Jones, who's now with Detroit. Last year, JJ hit .285 with 33 doubles, 5 homeruns, and 66 RBI in 453 at-bats. My guess is, Fukudome finishes a lot closer to those numbers than he does to his 2006 numbers in Japan.

A Hypothetical Question

If an aging catcher, past his prime, goes to one of the worst teams in baseball, does anybody care?

Paul LoDuca signs a 1-year-deal with the Washington Nationals, terms undisclosed, but likely in the neighborhood of $5 million.

Would they please hurry up and get the Santana deal done?

This Time, He Deserves It

MLB.com is giving out its annual awards right now, as voted upon by nearly 10 million baseball fans worldwide. Today, it was Josh Beckett winning a "This Year In Baseball" award for being the Top Starting Pitcher.

I know it's not nearly as prestigious as the Cy Young, but I also think that because this award encompasses the entire season rather than just the regular season, Beckett was the right choice. In my opinion, the difference between Beckett and C.C. Sabathia during the regular season was so small that Beckett's dominance in the postseason (including two wins against Sabathia, specifically) was more than enough to make him the best starting pitcher in the bigs this past season.

Tomorrow, MLB.com announces the award for closer, an honor which should go to J.J. Putz (1.38, 40 saves, 82K, 49 baserunners in 71 2/3 IP). The day after that, it's best manager (has to be Clint Hurdle, right?), then performance of the year (another one for Beckett?), rookie (let the Braun/Tulowitzki debate begin again), hitter (A-Rod), setup man (Cleveland's Rafael Betancourt), defensive player (Tulowitzki), blooper/play (no idea, maybe the ALDS bug attack in Cleveland or the entire 30-3 game at Camden Yards?) and finally moment/postseason moment (the Rockies beating Trevor Hoffman in extra innings of an extra game to go to the playoffs).

Can Somebody Please Explain This To Me?

The Milwaukee Brewers and reliever Eric Gagne have agreed to a 1-year, $10 million dollar deal. The team says it needed help in the bullpen after losing Francisco Cordero to the Cincinnati Reds earlier this offseason for $46 million over 4. Let's not forget Gagne will compete with Derrick Turnbow to be Milwaukee's closer. He's not been handed the job yet. And let's also not forget this happened just hours before the New York Yankees signed reliever LaTroy Hawkins to a 1-year, $3.75 million dollar contract.

Here's why I'm so perplexed. First, how on Earth is Eric Gagne worth $10 million dollars right now? Yes, he turns just 32 next month. And yes, at one time he was arguably the most dominant closer in the history of baseball. But this is also a guy who's been with 3 teams and recorded 17 saves since June of 2005. This is a guy whose right arm looks like it's been stolen from the Frankenstein monster and then attached to his body. This is a guy who was so bad for Boston down the stretch that he was relegated to mop-up duty late in the season and in the playoffs. This is a guy who had only 5 appearances out of 25 with the Sox where he didn't allow a baserunner and not once did he retire more than 3 batters. How does that make him worth an 8-figure salary, especially considering he could end up being Derrick Turnbow's set-up man?

Second, supposing Gagne is worth $10 million, how is LaTroy Hawkins worth only $3.75? Hawkins has appeared in at least 60 games for each of the last 8 seasons. During that stretch he has had at least double digits in holds, or double digits in saves every year. He posted a 2.90 ERA and held opposing hitters to a .228 average after the All-Star break and allowed just 3 baserunners over 5 innings in the 2007 playoffs for Colorado. The only way Hawkins will close for the Yanks this season is if Mariano Rivera misses the team bus or takes a liner off the noggin, but still, New York's backup plan could be much worse.

Perhaps Gagne regains his previous form from earlier this decade. After all, I'm sure the Brewers would take even 75% of his '03 season (55 saves, 1.20 ERA, 137 K's, 57 baserunners in 82 1/3 IP, plus a Cy Young Award). But in my opinion, the odds of Gagne being worth more than 2.5 times what LaTroy Hawkins is when '08 is in the books, are not good.

The Bonds Market

His arraignment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges stemming from the BALCO investigation is tomorrow, but Barry Bonds says he wants to play baseball next season. For argument's sake, let's assume he avoids jail either via an acquittal or thanks to an exceptionally light sentence. Which teams, if any, would be a good fit?

Well, I think you can all-but-eliminate every single National League team because he just can't play the field any more at an acceptable level. Plus, at this point in his career, he is so much more valuable as a power hitter that it's not worth having to give him a day off so often because of his having played the field the night before. That leaves 14 teams (by the way, why does the NL have two more teams than the AL? Why not move Houston from the NL Central to the AL West? That way, every division in baseball would have 5 teams). Anyway, of those 14 teams, Boston (Ortiz), New York (Giambi), Toronto (Thomas), Chicago (Thome), Cleveland (Hafner), Detroit (Sheffield), Seattle (Vidro), and Oakland (Cust) already have designated hitters who are serviceable or better. That leaves as few as 6 or as many as 8 if you include Seattle and Oakland that would potentially have room for Bonds- Baltimore, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, Minnesota, LA, and Texas.

With the Orioles seemingly trying to get younger rather than older, I just don't see Baltimore being the least bit interested. After all, they already went through Palmeiro-gate once before.

It's probably the same story with Tampa Bay. They have a bunch of young and (in theory) up-and-coming players so I don't see how Bonds would mesh with guys like Upton, Kazmir, Crawford, Longoria, Garza, etc. Let's not forget, the Rays just got rid of Delmon Young who was seen by some as a guy with attitude issues. He's Mr. Congeniality compared to BB.

Kansas City, like Tampa Bay and Baltimore, is a long way from winning or even being competitive in their own division so I don't see Bonds wanting to go there, notwithstanding the fact that the Royals probably wouldn't want him or be able to pay him what he would want, especially considering they just signed Jose Guillen to such an absurd deal.

The Twins are interesting. The odds of Bonds winning a ring there aren't great now that Detroit is so stacked, but he would give them a nice boost in the middle of their order with Morneau, Young, Mauer, Cuddyer and whoever else they get for Santana (I'm still convinced this deal will get done).

LA is also interesting. He could stay out west, give Vlad and Hunter some nice protection and would have the best chance of winning a World Series there than with any other potential suitor.

Texas might be able to pay him and might be willing to take a chance on him (they did the whole Sammy Sosa thing and that actually worked out okay for both sides) but they are not going to finish above Seattle, let alone LA next season, so I doubt Bonds would be too enamored with this team, although given his "situation" (said in a Dane Cook voice), he probably can't be too picky.

Seattle might not be a bad option, although Jose Vidro did have a pretty nice season for the M's last year (.381 OBP, more walks than K's, 600+ plate appearances) and he definitely can't play the field any more so Bonds might not be worth the hit you'd take by losing Vidro in the process.

And in Oakland, Bonds would definitely be a Billy Beane guy...aka a member of the Island of Misfit Toys. But with Dan Haren and Joe Blanton rumored to be on the block and the A's looking to get young again and wait for LA to get old, Bonds just doesn't seem to make as much sense as he did a few months ago.

All that said, I don't think Bonds ever will play again. I have no idea how his trial will play out but will a majority of baseball fans ever actually accept it if he is acquitted? I doubt it. And for that reason, I don't see a big league GM being brave enough to offer him a contract.

Andruw's Nuw Bluw Cruw

It's the LA Dodgers who have decided to take a chance on Jones, who's coming off his worst season in the bigs. Last year, the 30-year-old winner of 10 straight Gold Gloves hit just .222 with 26 homeruns and 94 RBI. His OPS fell 170 points as well from 2006, which fell 30 points from his career high in 2005.

The move is somewhat surprising considering the jogjam it creates in the LA outfield. They have speedster Juan Pierre in center, promising young bat Andre Ethier in right, another promising (and younger) rightfielder in Matt Kemp, Jason Repko can also play the outfield but was slowed by a foot injury last year, Delwyn Young played sparingly in 2007 but made the most of his 34 at-bats (he hit .382 with an OPS over 1.000) and their leftfielder last season, Luis Gonzalez, remains an unsigned free agent.

So where does Jones fit in? Well, conventional wisdom would say AJ, now their highest-paid outfielder, is going to shift JP, now their second-highest paid outfielder, to left because of his defense. But who plays right- Either, Kemp, Repko, or Young? The answer might depend on a yet-to-be-completed trade. I have to imagine there's plenty of interest out there in Kemp (and third baseman Andy LaRoche for that matter). Does LA now enter the Johan Santana sweepstakes, or go after somebody like Erik Bedard or Dan Haren? Seems to me they should because there just aren't enough ABs to go around for Ethier and Kemp, the two most talented of the group.

As for the specifics of the Jones signing, his 2-year $36.2 million dollar deal is hardly the pay day he (or agent Scott Boras) envisioned after his monster '05 season. And it's actually a bargain considering the Kansas City Royals just gave Jose Guillen the same amount of money, but for 3 years.

Overall, I think this is a shrewd move on behalf of the Dodgers. If Jones' career keeps going south, at least you've upgraded your outfield defense significantly and he's gone after 2009. But if Jones resurrects his career and rediscovers his stroke, then they've just added the bat they were missing all of 2007 and potentially opened the door for a blockbuster deal. With a healthy Rafael Furcal and decent pitching, LA should be in the mix in a tough NL West.

Detroit's Dynamic Duo

While we're all waiting for news on Johan Santana, it's Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis who are on the move to Motown, instantly making the Tigers the favorite to win the AL Central next year.

The Marlins get Andrew Miller, a 6'6'', 22-year-old lefty who was the 6th overall pick of last year's draft. He's had some control issues at the big league level- 49 walks in 74 1/3 IP, but his upside is huge. He's definitely the centerpiece of this deal. Also included in the deal...Cameron Maybin a 20-year-old outfielder who was the 10th overall pick of the '05 draft. He got a cup of coffee in the big leagues last year and looked overmatched, punching out 21 times in 49 AB's. But he can hit, hit for power, and run. I read one website that said he was the most exciting position player to come through Detroit's farm system since Kirk Gibson. On top of that, the fish get Mike Rabello, a catcher who turns 28 in January and has just 169 big league at bats, with all but one of them coming this past season. He hit .256 with 13 extra base hits but also struck out 41 times. On top of those 3, the Tigers are also reportedly sending 3 other minor league pitchers south, including a 23-year-old fireballer named Eulogio De La Cruz. He threw 6 2/3 innings for the big club last season.

Now for Detroit. They get one of the best hitters in the game in Cabrera, who's only 24, and the get Willis, who turns 26 in April and already has 68 career wins including a 22-win 2005 season. On the flip side, D-Train's hit totals and walk totals have gone up every year he's been in the league and he's coming off of what was easily his most disappointing season (10-15, 5.17 ERA). Cabrera's defense has been much-maligned as well. He had the 3rd worst fielding percentage out of all big league third baseman last year, and only Ryan Braun had more errors than his 23. His weight issues have never hurt his bat and he's reportedly on a new off-season conditioning program designed to keep him slim.

Now let's examine what this deal does for Detroit. Their opening day lineup would look something like this...

CF Curtis Granderson
2b Placido Polanco
RF Magglio Ordonez
3b Miguel Cabrera
DH Gary Sheffield
1b Carlos Guillen
LF Jacque Jones
C Ivan Rodriguez
SS Edgar Renteria

And their rotation...

RHP Justin Verlander
LHP Dontrelle Willis
RHP Jeremy Bonderman
LHP Kenny Rogers
LHP Nate Robertson

The Tigers finished with 88 wins in '07, but were still a full 8 games back of the Tribe. Next year, the Cenral could be nearly as top-heavy as the AL East.

They Want Lester And More

Would you give up Jacoby Ellsbury and Jon Lester, plus a minor leaguer to land Johan Santana? Apparently, that's the dilemma facing Theo Epstein and the Boston Red Sox.

Initially, they told the Twins they could have either guy, plus mid-level prospects, but not both. Based on Boston's current situation, I'm inclined to think they should cave and give Minnesota what they want. And here's why.

As Curt Schilling wrote on his blog, a 1-2 punch of Santana and Beckett would give the Sox a feared, dynasty-worthy rotation for the rest of this decade and well into the next one. Johan turns 29 in March and Beckett turns 28 in May. These guys are in the midst of their best years right now. As for the short-term, you also have Schilling coming back for one more year, plus the ageless Tim Wakefield at the back end of the rotation. And in the long-term, Dice-K turns 28 next season and even if they give up Lester, they still have Clay Buchholz, who turns just 24 late next season (he's actually 8 months younger than Lester). In other words, their rotation could be Santana, Beckett, Dice-K, Buchholz until 2010, or beyond. There are exactly zero other teams whose pitching outlook would be as promising for the rest of the 00's.

That's not even factoring in the added bonus of keeping Santana away from the enemy- New York. Needless to say, this would be huge as well. And offensively, while there's no question Ellsbury provided Boston with an offensive spark late last season, let's not forget he only had 116 AB's in 2007. The Sox won a bunch of games without him and without a healthy Manny Ramirez or a productive Kevin Youkilis. With the emergence of Dustin Pedroia and a bounce-back year from Youk, the top of their order would be just fine and so would the middle.

A lot can happen in the days ahead and I wouldn't be at all surprised to see the Yankees flip-flop on their already-passed "Monday deadline" if there's still a chance they can land, arguably, the most coveted pitcher in baseball history. I just don't see how the Sox pass on this offer.

They're Bringin' Andy Back (Yea)!

That's what Yankee fans are likely saying after hearing the news that one of their best pitchers from 2007 and their only effective playoff hurler, Andy Pettitte, will be back in 2008.

This does change my views of what a Johan Santana trade would potentially do for the Bombers' staff. For good reason, a rotation of Santana, Wang, Pettitte, Mussina, and Kennedy sounds a lot more stable than one that does not include the 35-year-old, 201 game winner.

Unfortunately Pettitte and the others (Santana included or not) are still going to have to pitch with that defense.

The $antana $weepstakes Part II

The gauntlet has been thrown down and the Red Sox have answered, now saying they will include speedster Jacoby Ellsbury in a deal for Johan Santana. But interestingly, the Sox are not willing to deal Ellsbury and pitcher Jon Lester in the same trade. The Sox had previously put Lester and Coco Crisp in a package offer that also included a minor leaguer, but understandably, the Twins want Ellsbury. Coupled with the newly-acquired Delmon Young, Ellsbury would give Minnesota a really talented, really young outfield.

Now, the question becomes, whose offer is better? Is it New York's with Phil Hughes, Melky Cabrera, and others? Is it Boston's with Ellsbury, a pitcher, and others? Or are they better off seeing what else is out there?

Personally, I think there are advantages and disadvantages to both deals. If the Twins go with New York's offer, they can potentially replace one ace with another, and pick up a solid defensive outfielder too, shifting Young to right. But if they go with Boston's, they will have an offense that's arguably the best in the AL Central with Ellsbury setting the table for the likes of Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer and Young. The only downside is, they will have traded their two best starting pitchers to do it and without getting much in big-league-ready-pitching in return.

The one thing I don't see happening is Minnesota holding onto Santana, because once the season starts, I doubt they'll get many offers with this much young talent.

The $antana $weepstakes

The New York Yankees are prepared to offer the Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Phil Hughes, outfielder Melky Cabrera, and a second tier prospect for the right to then sign Johan Santana for something in the neighborhood of 6 years, $150 million.

First, I have to wonder how New York can afford to do this financially after re-upping with A-Rod for as much as $305 million over 10 years, re-signing Posada for $52.4 million over 4, and Rivera for $45 million over 3 years. Let's not forget, this team also has Giambi, Jeter, Abreu, Damon, Matsui, and Mussina signed to very lucrative deals as well. Unless the Yanks are minting their own money in the home team dugout, conventional wisdom would tell you the well has to run dry at some point, right?

Next, money aside, I have to wonder if Santana would really make the Yankees that much better of a team, i.e. a team that can beat the Boston Red Sox and go to the World Series. If they were to send Hughes and Cabrera to Minnesota, and assuming Clemens and Pettitte retire, New York's starting rotation would still be very front-heavy. Santana and Wang would be as good a 1-2 punch as anybody, although in the playoffs, the Sox would arguably still have the upper hand with Beckett and Schilling. And after their first two starters, New York would be in basically the same situation they were in last year. Who's their number 3? Ian Kennedy? Yes, he's good and he's young, but he's thrown 19 innings in his big league career. There's simply no way of knowing how he'll hold up over 30+ starts. Is Mike Mussina their number 4? He turns 39 in a week and people hit .342 off him in the second half. Again, what will he be good for over 30 starts? And then who's the number 5? Carl Pavano? Jeff Karstens? Kei Igawa? Matt DeSalvo? Chase Wright? Like Steve Perry once sang, the list goes on and on and on and on. The only difference is, I have stopped believing.

All that's not taking into consideration the defensive hit New York would take by losing Cabrera in center and having to play Johnny Damon there. Unless they signed Aaron Rowand or Andruw Jones (neither of whom would be cheap) their starting outfield would feature a trio of 34-year-olds by the All-Star Break with Matsui in left, JD in center and Abreu in right. Add to that a catcher who allowed an AL-worst 102 steals, a very average left side of the infield in Jeter and A-Rod and a gigantic question mark at first and this isn't exactly a contact pitcher's dream.

Personally, I think they'd be better served going after somebody like Dan Haren. He won't cost you as much in prospects or cash and all the sudden, you have a deeper pitching staff and a better defensive team. The Red Sox are good because they're holding onto their young talent- the same reason why the Yanks were good in mid-to-late 90's. I know there's a lot of pressure on them to one-up Boston in the Santana Sweepstakes, but there's a pretty good chance he won't be worth what New York will have to pay to get him...not like that's stopped them before.

A Headscratcher

Not to sound like Mel Kiper Junior, Draft Expert, or anything like that, but this trade kind of makes me realize why the Tampa Bay Rays (minus the Devil) have a high pick every year.

They just swapped Delmon Young, Brendan Harris, and minor leaguer Jason Pridie for Minnesota's Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett, and minor leaguer Eduardo Morlan.

Young, who just turned 22, was considered a major Rookie of the Year contender entering 2007 and had a solid, albeit unspectacular year for Tampa, going .288/13/93 with 10 steals and 38 doubles. Garza, another promising youngster who just turned 24, went 5-7 with a 3.69 ERA from July on. Of his 16 starts, just 6 were quality starts, mostly because he didn't often pitch 6 innings.

Not that I'm a Rays' fan or anything like that, but it seems to me they got taken. Young was the first overall pick of the '03 draft and I don't think there's any question his ceiling is significantly higher than Garza's, not to mention he's 2 years younger. I know Tampa wants to straighten out its pitching staff and Garza will be a nice compliment to Scott Kazmir, but they gave up too much here.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Young be a younger, more potent, less-inclined-to-be-a-regular-on-web-gems version of Torii Hunter, and soon. As for Garza, who knows what his ceiling will be? Is he a perennial 17 game winner? I think the odds of that are a lot lower than the odds of Young making Minnesota fans forget about Hunter in 2008.

Joe Kennedy Dies Suddenly

It's always sad, and to me, scary when something like this happens. He just collapsed in the middle of the night.

I'll be very interested to see what the medical examiner says about a cause of death and you certainly have to feel for his family.

You also can't help but think about Darryl Kile whenever you read something like this.

Rollins Vs. Holliday

I know the award was given out a few days ago, but I'm inclined to think the BBWAA got it wrong when Jimmy Rollins edged out Matt Holliday for the 2007 NL MVP. Here's why...

First of all, both players were clearly the MVPs of their own teams, both of which came back from the dead in September to make an improbable playoff appearance, so that's a push. It's not like one guy's team made the postseason and the other's didn't.

With that said, here are there basic numbers from 2007. Holliday hit .340 with a .405 OBP, 36 homeruns, 137 RBI, 11 steals, and 120 runs scored. Rollins hit .296 with a .344 OBP, 30 homeruns, 94 RBI, 41 steals, and 139 runs. Just looking at that, I don't think there's any question Holliday's overall offensive numbers were better. He also outslugged Rollins by more than 70 points, had more walks, and a few more extra base hits.

I know a lot has been made of Rollins' defense and that's certainly a factor to consider in all of this. J-Roll won his first Gold Glove in 2007 after committing just 11 errors at shortstop and turning 110 double plays. Here's the problem. Two other NL shortstops finished with higher fielding percentages (Tulowitzki and Vizquel) and two other NL shortstops (Tulowitzki and Wilson) turned more double plays. Rollins finished 6th in the league in "range factor" which is putouts plus assists divided by innings, and he finished 6th in the league in "zone rating" which is some STATS, Inc. measure of the batted balls a player reaches. In other words, Rollins won the award after having an excellent, but not necessarily a "clearly-best-at-his-position" kind of year. And you know what? Matt Holliday did too, albeit at a much easier position. His 3 errors were second among NL left fielders, his 7 outfield assists were seventh, he had the second best fielding percentage, the 5th best range factor, and the best zone rating. He also had 20 more total chances than any other NL left fielder. But he didn't win the Gold Glove because the voters chose 3 center fielders (Beltran, Rowand, Jones) and a right fielder (Francoeur). So perhaps the defensive gap between Rollins and Holliday has been overstated. You still have to give the edge to Rollins, but it's not a complete cakewalk.

Now let's look at a few splits. To me, these numbers are more telling than any others when it comes to a player's true "value" to his team. These are the numbers that show whether a player came up big when it counted (late in games, late in the season, with men on base, with 2 outs), or whether he just padded his stats once the game was already decided. Holliday hit .330 in August, .367 in September, and .407 the last week of the season. Rollins hit .296, .298, and .375. In terms of OBP over that time period, Holliday went .403, .448, .515...Rollins went .371, .333, and .400. With men on base, Holliday hit .332 with 119 RBI. Rollins hit .314 with 74 RBI. With men on and 2 out, Holliday hit .337 with a 1.026 OPS. Rollins hit .261 with an .842. With runners in scoring position, Holliday hit .333 with 94 RBI and a .947 OPS. Rollins was .272, 64, .877. "Close and late," which is defined as 7th inning or later and either up a run, tied, or with the tying run on deck, Holliday hit .295 with a .935 OPS, Rollins hit .255 with an .808 OPS. And while half of Holliday's homeruns were solo shots, two-thirds of Rollins' round-trippers were.

I could go on, but I think you get the picture. Matt Holliday was the most valuable player in the National League in 2007, but for some reason, Jimmy Rollins was voted the Most Valuable Player.

Little Sarge No Longer In Charge Of The Outfield

It appears Gary Matthews Jr.'s days are over as LA's center fielder now that the Angels have signed Torii Hunter. Hunter has won 7 Gold Gloves in a row and the Angels openly admit Vladimir Guerrero will be their right fielder (duh) while Garrett Anderson will start in left. In addition to Matthews they also have Juan Rivera back from a broken leg, who hit .279 in 43 AB's at the end of '07 after a .310/23/85 performance the year before...and Reggie Willits who stole 27 bases and had a .391 OBP last season, even though his second half was poor.

LA says Matthews will spell Vlad and Garrett and see some time at DH in '08, which doesn't seem to justify the 5-year, $50 million dollar deal they signed him to last year, although they're paying Hunter almost twice that ($90M over 5). Matthews came back to Earth last year going .252/18/72 with 18 steals after a .313/19/79 year with 10 steals in 2006.

Clearly, LA has to trade somebody out of this group of 6 and you can bet it won't be Vlad or Hunter. They're better off keeping Anderson considering what they'd be able to get for an aging, injury-prone corner outfielder and they'll have an equally difficult time getting a team to take on Matthews' absurdly large deal especially because he turns 34 next August (I had no idea until I looked it up). That makes the most likely trade candidates Willits or Rivera (or both).

LA's already made one trade this offseason, so don't be surprised to see another, soon.

What A Snoozer!

So much for this being a mix-'em-up, re-establish-the-balance-of-power kind of offseason. So far we've seen Curt Schilling and Mike Lowell re-sign with the Red Sox, while the Yankees have kept Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera and A-Rod (who was robbed of a unanimous MVP selection by two writers from Detroit, according to Rob Neyer). Those guys were on a short list of the most sought-after players and they're not going anywhere. Neither is Mets second baseman Luis Castillo (not that anyone cares all that much).

Barry Bonds has a better chance of playing for the same California Penal League team Charlie Sheen pitched for in "Major League" than he does of finding a suitor in the AL or NL. And Tom Glavine is going back to the Braves for one year and $8 million dollars. Who said pitching was going to be hard to come by this year?

The biggest "bombshells" so far have been Edgar Renteria to the Tigers and the Orlando Cabrera/Jon Garland deal. And unless a big name gets traded between now and spring training (Miguel Tejada?, Miguel Cabrera?, Johan Santana?) the most we have to look forward to is where Torii Hunter and Andruw Jones end up and for how much.

Thanks a lot guys. What happened to greed and testing the market?

INDICTED!

On a day when it looks like A-Rod is returning to the Yankees and Jake Peavy unanimously won the Cy Young, Barry Bonds managed to steal the spotlight. After reading the indictment against him, I have a few thoughts and a few questions. But first, here's a basic summary of what the indictment says. And here's a terrific summary of this entire 9-year nightmare.

Count One: Perjury, 5-Year Maximum Sentence
As a result of the federal government's steroids and money-laundering investigation into BALCO, evidence was seized, including drug tests failed by Bonds. So, he was required to testify before a grand jury on December 4, 2003. During that testimony, Bonds was asked if his ever took any steroids that his trainer and friend, Greg Anderson (who worked with/for BALCO) gave him. He was asked, point blank, if he had taken steroids, testosterone, flax seed oil, the cream, or any other steroids. Each time Bonds said, "no." So there's the first charge - perjury - lying while under oath.

Count Two: Perjury, 5-Year Maximum Sentence
Bonds was also asked if Anderson ever injected him, or ever gave him anything that required a needle/syringe to use. Bonds also replied, "no." That's the second count of perjury.

Count Three: Perjury, 5-Year Maximum Sentence
Bonds was asked if Anderson ever gave him human growth hormone or testosterone. Again, Bonds answered, "no." And again, that's another perjury charge.

Count Four: Perjury, 5-Year Maximum Sentence
Bonds was asked about a lotion/balm Anderson gave him. Bonds claims Anderson told him it was flax seed oil. Bonds said he used the substance about once a home stand and didn't start using it until the 2003 season. As the prosecutor referenced a calendar from December 2001 with a "BB" on it, Bonds was asked if he had taken any of those items (the cream, the clear, flax seed oil) prior to 2003. He was asked several times in several ways if he had taken any of those items from Anderson prior to 2003 and each time he replied, "no," and thus there's the fourth perjury charge.

Count Five: Obstruction Of Justice, 10-Year Maximum Sentence
Based on the information above, Bonds is accused of intentionally giving false, misleading and evasive answers to a federal grand jury.

With all that understood, here are my thoughts/questions.

(1) Regardless of the result of a trial/plea deal, this is the end of Barry Bonds' baseball career. He's a free agent on the tail-end of his playing days anyway. No team in the league is going to offer someone facing these kind of charges any kind of deal, especially considering he could end up in jail as a result.

(2) The fact that a federal grand jury has filed these charges is as close to iron-clad proof as we've seen to date that Bonds did, in fact, cheat his way into the record books. Only an actual plea deal or conviction would be more convincing.

(3) Former Commissioner Fay Vincent said this is worse than Pete Rose getting caught betting on baseball, and similar to the 1919 "Black Sox" scandal. I would still argue the Black Sox case was worse because they were trying to lose, but there's no question the Bonds case is worse than Rose.

(4) If he is found guilty, what happens to all of his records, most notably single-season homeruns, and career homeruns? I would imagine Hank Aaron would be "re-crowned" the all-time king, but would the single-season record revert back to another suspected cheat, Mark McGwire? I don't see how that's much of a solution. If not Mac, is Sammy Sosa the single-season champ? Or do we dip all the way back down to Roger Maris' 61, which is now 7th on the list?

(5) Will Bonds get into the Hall of Fame if he is convicted? If he is acquitted?

(6) Will Bonds' attorneys advise him to accept a plea deal, a-la Michael Vick, or will this case go to trial?

(7) Will Bonds roll over on former teammates or opponents in an effort to get his sentence reduced?

(8) What, if any impact will this have on the game of baseball in 2008 if the case does go to trial?

Bonds is due in court December 7. One of ESPN's legal experts seems to think if Bonds is convicted, he won't serve more than a year or two in prison. Still, what a mess.

Miggy On The Block?

Yes, he is. It seems the Baltimore Orioles, after amassing a .447 winning percentage (or .553 losing percentage) over 10 straight losing seasons (the 3rd longest active streak in baseball) are finally coming to grips with the fact that big changes need to be made.

In addition to getting whatever they can for Tejada, which will be significantly less than what they would have received a few years ago when they weren't winning either, I think they should look to deal Brian Roberts and Erik Bedard too. And here's why.

Roberts just turned 30. He's completely healed from that horiffic shoulder injury that ended his 2005 season and he posted a career best 50 steals in 2007. In other words, his best years are right now. There's a good chance he will never be more valuable and he is a free agent after 2009 not 2008, so he wouldn't be a "rent-a-player" in the eyes of suitors. There's no reason to think they wouldn't be able to get 2 or 3 significant prospects for him.

Next to Bedard. This is a tougher pill to swallow because he looked like the best pitcher in baseball from May through mid-August and he'll turn just 29 in spring training. But he's arbitration-eligible after 2008, eligible for free agency after 2009, will cost a boatload to resign, will be looking for a long-term deal, and then you'll have him in his early-to-mid 30's, rather than mid-to-late 20's. I'm inclined to think there aren't many teams out there that wouldn't give up their top prospect to get him. If you were the New York Yankees, would you part ways with Phil Hughes if you could get Erik Bedard? That's an instant upgrade if you're New York, and that's a team that's built to win yesterday, not now. Imagine who else they might be able to get. Justin Upton? Andy LaRoche? Homer Bailey? Yovani Gallardo? I don't think any of those offers would be laughed at.

Add up the prospects you'd be able to acquire for Tejada, Roberts, and Bedard, combine them with Nick Markakis, Matt Weiters, Chris Ray, Adam Loewen, Pedro Beato, Freddy Deza, Hayden Penn, and subtract the fat you'd trim by cutting ties with guys like Melvin Mora, Kevin Millar, Jay Gibbons, and others and you know what you have? A team that can actually compete with the Yankees and Red Sox in 2010. It might not be a popular decision right now. But fans would forget quickly once they start winning.

To All The Sox Fans C.C.ing Red Right Now...

Yes, your boy Josh Beckett lost out in the Cy Young voting to a guy he beat twice in the ALCS and he did so by a surprisingly large margin. But let's not forget you just won your second World Series title in 4 years, swept the hottest team in postseason history, had the AL Rookie of the Year and two more of your rookies get votes in the category, and your arch-rival just lost their best player to free agency.

Things could be worse. You could be any other team in baseball.

Hip-Hip, Overpaid!

Yankee fans are likely excited that Jorge Posada is staying in the Bronx for the foreseeable future. He reportedly agreed to a 4-year, $52.4 million dollar deal with the club. I know he's coming off of arguably his best season in pinstripes (.338, 20, 90) but will the Yankees (and their fans) be as excited about this deal in 4 years when JP is 40 and making $13.1 million? To me, it seems like a high risk offering a catcher on the wrong side of 35 a contract that long and that lucrative.

Since turning 36, Mike Piazza hasn't had 400 at-bats in a season, hasn't hit over .285 and hasn't topped 70 RBI. Ivan Rodriguez turns 36 next month and is coming off a season where he posted some of the worst offensive numbers of his career (11 HR, 9 BB, .294 OBP, .420 SLG). Johnny Bench retired after the 1983 season, most of which he spent as a 35-year-old hitting .255 with 12 HR and 54 RBI. Carlton Fisk is really the only catcher in this class to post moderately good numbers after turning 35. In 1985 as a 37-year-old with the White Sox, he hit won the Silver Slugger after going 37/107 with 17 steals. But he only hit .238 and wouldn't top 500 AB's again in his career.

My guess is, this deal won't look so hot a year or two from now.

(With One Exception) They Got It Right

Dustin Pedroia was named AL Rookie of the Year today, and Ryan Braun, NL Rookie of the Year. I've given both these awards a good deal of analysis, and while I'm sure Rockies fans will be singing the "Tulowitzki Got Robbed" blues, you can't argue with Braun's offensive prowess.

Pedroia, one of three Red Sox to get ROY votes, finished with a huge margin of victory over Tampa's Delmon Young, while Braun beat Tulowitzki by just 2 points which is the closest vote in 27 years.

Braun had 17 first place votes, 12 seconds, and somehow, one third place vote. The guy who put him third shouldn't be allowed to vote on any baseball award ever again. Whoever it was, picked Kyle Kendrick second, and Braun third. Kendrick went 10-4 with a 3.97 ERA for the Phillies in 20 starts from June 13 on, while Braun had the best slugging percentage for a rookie in baseball history, while hitting .324 with 34 bombs and 94 RBI.

I'm really not kidding about that guy. He shouldn't be allowed to vote for a baseball award ever again. This year couldn't have been more cut and dry- it's Braun or Tulowitzki first, the other guy second, and then Hunter Pence, Kendrick, Chris Young or possibly James Loney third. All but one of the 32 voters understood that. The one guy who didn't should be asked politely to excuse himself from future voting.

Tomorrow, the AL Cy Young award winer will be announced and the vote between Josh Beckett and C.C. Sabathia could be as close as the Braun/Tulowitzki balloting. If Dan Haren somehow ends up with a second place vote, we'll know who cast it.

Both Managers of the Year will be announced Wednesday, followed by NL Cy Young, Thursday. Then next Monday, they do AL MVP, followed by NL MVP, Tuesday.

Kyle Kendrick. Give me a break.

Trying To Exorcise The Demons

The Devil has been given his walking papers in Tampa. Next year, Florida's American League franchise will be known only as the "Rays."

Unfortunately, the Tampa Bay Rays are now the only rhyming team in all of baseball, and of course the reality is, they could call themselves the Tampa Bay Red Sox, the Tampa Bay Canadiens, or the Tampa Bay Silly Nannies (Family Guy reference) but until they get some pitching to compliment Scott Kazmir, they're not going to get any better.

I do see what Tampa is trying to do though, and I must admit, I don't hate it. They're trying to start fresh...trying to reinvent a team that doesn't have much of an identity yet. Will the new hats and jerseys work? Not by themselves they won't. But at least the team isn't content to idle along.

This is the only franchise in baseball with a winning percentage below .400. This is a franchise that in 10 seasons, has lost 95 or more games a total of seven times, has never finished higher than 4th in the division, and has never won 71 games. They can only go up from here.

And there are teams with a more bleak outlook for 2008. In addition to Kazmir, the Rays will return Carl Crawford, promising up-and-comers B.J. Upton and Delmon Young, closer Al Reyes, and likely, newly anointed Silver Slugger winner Carlos Pena. They might not be a playoff team any time soon, but they won't be this bad for too much longer...no matter what you call them.

M-Cab...The New A-Rod?

Apparently the Marlins and Yankees are talking about it, although given that New York doesn't appear to be interested in parting with Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain, I don't see why Florida would trade their 24-year-old superstar to the Yanks, even though he is a free agent at the end of '08.

There's no question this guy is a franchise cornerstone, though. In four and a half big league seasons, he's already a career .313 hitter with 138 homeruns, 523 RBI, and an OPS of .930. If he stays put and Johan Santana does too, the '08 trading deadline has the potential to be absolutely nuts!

Is He Worth The Weight?

Curt Schilling resigned with the Boston Red Sox today for $8 million dollars plus a lot more, potentially, in incentives. He turns 41 next week, so in that regard, $8M+ seems like the Sox got ripped off. But given that he is (a) no ordinary 41-year-old, (b) clearly still a dominating postseason performer, and (c) easily the best free agent starter on the market, I'd say the Sox did just fine.

What I find, curious I guess, is one particular clause in Schilling's deal. It says he can get an extra $2 million dollars next season if he successfully passes 6 monthly weigh-ins.

My question is, why would a veteran starting pitcher, who clearly needs to rely on conditioning, endurance, and location at this stage in his career, need financial motivation to stay fit?

The story I saw didn't say what Schilling needs to weigh to earn his bonuses, but on his ESPN.com bio page, he's listed at 6'5'', 235 pounds. It also says his middle name is "Montague." Who knew?

First Team, All-Free-Agent

The deadline to file for free agency is November 13 and many players already have. Here's a look at some of the top names.

Catcher: Jorge Posada, Paul LoDuca, Michael Barrett, Yorvit Torrealba

First Base: Sean Casey, Brad Wilkerson

Seconod Base: Luis Castillo, Kaz Matsui

Shortstop: David Eckstein, Mark Loretta

Third Base: Alex Rodriguez, Pedro Feliz, Corey Koskie, Mike Lamb, Abraham Nunez

Outfield: Torii Hunter, Andruw Jones, Aaron Rowand, Barry Bonds, Mike Cameron, Corey Patterson, Shawn Green, Cliff Floyd, Geoff Jenkins

Designated Hitter: Mike Piazza, Mike Sweeney, Sammy Sosa

Starting Pitcher: Curt Schilling, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Livan Hernandez, Josh Fogg, Kenny Rogers, Tom Glavine, Jeff Weaver, Kip Wells

Relief Pitcher: Mariano Rivera, Francisco Cordero, Todd Jones, Eric Gagne, JC Romero, Kerry Wood

Based on that, I would have to say the starting lineup of best available free agents would look something like this...

SS David Eckstein
LF Aaron Rowand
CF Torii Hunter
3b Alex Rodriguez
C Jorge Posada
RF Andruw Jones
1b Sean Casey
DH Mike Piazza
2b Luis Castillo

SP Cust Schilling
SP Bartolo Colon
SP Freddy Garcia
SP Livan Hernandez
SP Josh Fogg
SU JC Romero
CP Mariano Rivera

Aside from A-Rod and Hunter, there is a whole lot of risk in this year's crop, and not many sure things.

Hello Joe: Part II, And More

Joe Torre will manage the LA Dodgers this coming season, setting up the all-important question: does this mean Alex Rodriguez will follow? It sure would make sense because he would give LA a big bat in a lineup that desperately needed one last year. After all, the Dodgers' leading homerun hitter (Jeff Kent) had 20 and their leading RBI man (Russ Martin) had 87. If they did get A-Rod, the new LA lineup look something like this...

CF Juan Pierre
SS Rafael Furcal
C Russ Martin
3B Alex Rodriguez
1b James Loney
2b Jeff Kent
RF Andre Ethier
LF Matt Kemp
P Derek Lowe

Funny how adding one of the best players in baseball history makes a team look pretty damn good.

It's hard to say how LA will do before we know where A-Rod will land. But there's no question Torre is an improvement over Grady Little. I would imagine the Dodgers' win total should follow suit.

Hello Joe

Joe Torre is out and Joe Girardi is in as the manager of the Yankees. The deal is reportedly worth $7.5 million a year- 50% more than what they offered the guy who took them to the playoffs 12 years in a row and won 4 World Series titles.

Somebody asked me today if I thought the Yankees would make the playoffs and at this point it's really hard to know because we don't know where free agents like Alex Rodriguez, Torii Hunter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, Barry Bonds, Mariano Rivera, Curt Schilling (or so it seems), and others will end up.

Pitching help, which the playoffs clearly showed us they desperately need, is just not there this offseason. So if they lose Pettitte and if Clemens retires for good, Wang will be about the only sure thing in their starting rotation. Phil Hughes certainly shows signs that he is ready to be a productive big leaguer, but it will still be his first full season, so counting on him for much more than 14 wins is a stretch. And let's not forget about how difficult it will be to replace A-Rod and (potentially) Jorge Posada.

So basically they're looking at question marks at catcher, first, third, starting pitchers 3, 4, and 5, plus they need to find a closer (is Joba Chamberlain ready now?), all with a brand new manager. And it's not like Boston, Cleveland, Detroit, LA, or Seattle will be getting significantly worse.

That's why my answer was no.

One Busy Day

For the first day of the offseason, there sure is a whole heck of a lot going on. We'll start with the Red Sox, who are scheduled to have their victory parade today and it's certainly well-deserved. Their 29-10 margin of victory in the World Series was the biggest ever for the fall classic.

Next, it seems (and rightly so) that Major League Baseball is not particularly thrilled with Alex Rodriguez or his agent, Scott Boras, for upstaging the Sox Sunday night with his "opt out" announcement. And yet he wonders why some people don't like him (this could apply to A-Rod or Boras, frankly).

A-Rod's former team, the New York Yankees, are said to be close to signing Joe Girardi to be his manager after making him an offer yesterday (and in doing so, losing bench coach Don Mattingly, who also interviewed for the job). It's so premature to speculate about whether Girardi will get the Yanks in the playoffs next year, it's silly. We don't know who is going to end up on this team, come opening day.

The man how used to manage the Yankees, Joe Torre, could be in line to succeed Grady Little as manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. As if Game 7 of the '03 ALCS wasn't punishment enough for Little, now the man who clearly outmanaged him from the opposing dugout could be taking his job. Repeat after me..."WHO'S YOUR DADDY?!?! clap, clap, clap-clap-clap."

And oh, by the way, Torii Hunter and Barry Bonds are officially free agents, along with A-Rod. And the Braves dealt Edgar Renteria to the Detroit Tigers for a couple of minor league prospects.

All this, and the winter meetings are still weeks away!

My BWSC's Understudy On Game 2, Now That The Season Is Over

The story of Game 2 starts in Maryland at 8 in the morning when I picked up BWSC's dad (Mr. P for the sake of brevity throughout this post). From the time I picked him up, through the rest of the trip, one of the two of us would periodically comment how we couldn’t believe we were doing this. We stayed outside of Boston in Waltham in what was probably the last hotel room available in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. I’m not kidding… our room didn’t even have heat.

We took "The T." I believe it stands for “Transit.” Buses and commuter trains also go by “The T.” Why they chose to further abbreviate MBTA to "T" is beyond me. It’s sort of like referring to a strike out as a “K,” but I digress. We went to Fenway to meet Brian and (not Joe) Morgan for lunch and do some souvenir shopping. And for the record, they stayed at their friend, Monica's (not Geller) place. She went to high school with the Baseblogger and the BWSC.

Anyway, when we got there at 2, there were already fans milling around the streets and shops and the buzz only built from there. There was a line of fans waiting for the game-day release of tickets that stretched all the way down Lansdowne Street. We’re talking thousands of people taking part in what was probably a futile exercise unless you were in the first 100 feet of the line, if that. From this point on, my excitement started to skyrocket. BWSC did a pretty good job of describing the scene around Fenway so I’ll just jump to 6 pm, when we entered the stadium. Here are the highlights:

They opened the gates early enough for us to see the Sox take BP. It’s a rare treat to get to watch the home team hit and it leads me to my first real baseball observation of the post. As BWSC mentioned, the Rockies put on quite a show. The Sox, however, probably disappointed a few casual fans. Sure Big Papi put a couple in the seats, but I don’t remember anybody else hitting one out, even Manny. The hitters were working on going the other way and hitting solid line drives. Guess which approach translated to a World Series title (actually it was a 2-1 game with very little action so this will probably be my only real baseball observation)?

The media frenzy is outrageous. Pretty much every inch of foul territory was taken up by some sort of news set-up. I have never seen anything like it and I spent most of BP waiting for somebody to hit a frozen rope off of Leyritz’s stupid leather golf cap. He was far enough down the right field line that it was a distinct possibility. Nobody did. It also gave me a chance to see some of my favorite baseball personalities up close including Gammons, Kurkjian, and Harold Reynolds (who, despite my "moobs," did not hit on me). Also Mr. P walked headlong right into Buck Martinez in the concourse behind home plate (we found this funny, but we were pretty giddy by this point).

I grew up going to Fenway, but I haven’t been in a few years due to the fact that I moved halfway down the east coast. I sort of forgot what it was like to go to a game there. BWSC touched on the fans and how they live and die with every pitch, but I think it is worth repeating. When the Rockies scored first you could hear a pin drop, it was almost scary (as opposed to, say, Camden Yards, where unless the place is filled with Yanks or Sox fans you can always hear a pin drop...sorry, had to). On the flip side, if things are going the Sox way it can be deafening in there, without any prompting from the scoreboard. Maybe the Nation has become diluted by bandwagon jumpers, but for a guy like me it was refreshing to be part of the crowd in Game 2. There was one guy who, despite being obviously pumped to take in a World Series game, was not particularly interested in the outcome and was actually playing Tetris on his Blackberry while Papi was batting with 2 guys on in a tie ball game. Mr. P and I considered lobbing his BB over the back wall of the stadium. We refrained, but the more I think about how many people would kill for that seat and it was occupied by that effer… man, it fires me up.

Finally, late in the game I started to get a little tense because of the close score, but instead of dreading them blowing the game (which I would have been doing pre-2004) I was thinking of what they need to do to win it. As a Sox fan, realizing this change in thought was very liberating.

There is a lot more that I can write about (Okajima’s warm up song, how loud the bullpen band was, what it was like to have “Shipping up to Boston” playing while Paps warmed up, watching what was probably Schill’s last game with the Sox), but this thing is long enough (that's what she said). Combine that with the fact that I’m pretty sure words can’t accurately describe the experience I had on Thursday night or what it meant to me (literally, a lifelong dream come true) and I think I need to stop here. Congrats to the Sox and my fellow fans on another championship. Here’s to many more (preferably without A-Rod).

One Bad Night For The Yankees

I hereby proclaim Monday, October 29th, 2007 "Hug a Yankee Fan" Day.

Let's face it, it's the right thing to do.

Not only did the Bronx bombers and their faithful have to watch their arch rivals sweep the Colorado Rockies in the World Series, but then they learned their best player, Alex Rodriguez (in the minds of some, another arch-rival) is leaving.

I think most people saw these things coming, but c'mon- both on the same night?! That's just mean!

First, to the Red Sox. Back of another strong showing by rookies Jacoby Ellsbury and Jon Lester, they held off the Rockies last night, 4-3. Mike Lowell was named World Series MVP after hitting .400 with a homerun (in the 7th inning of Game 4, no less), and 6 runs scored. Personally, I think Jonathan Papelbon should have earned the honor for his 3 saves, 0.00 ERA over 4 1/3 critical innings pitched, 3 K's and just 2 baserunners allowed. If it had gone to a 5th game and Josh Beckett dominated again, it would have been his honor. Either way, the Sox played some of their best baseball this October and look locked and loaded for 2008. For the record, Colorado hit just .218 in the World Series as a team, and scored a meager 10 runs in the 4 games.

Now to the whole Alex Rodriguez thing. Much to the delight of the Texas Rangers who no longer have to pay him, agent Scott Boras says A-Rod is going "A-Way Rod" (clever nickname copyright 2007, Baseblogger) because he's not sure how good the Yankees are going to be next year. We already know Joe Torre's not coming back. Now, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, and Jorge Posada may leave as well. It's funny to think A-Rod's leaving because of them, and now they may leave because of him.

I'm proud to say I saw this coming back in February, and I'm still inclined to think the Chicago Cubs are the front-runners to sign him. A-Rod would be the man, the Cubs offense would be the best in the league, and he and Lou Piniella are boys. I don't see how he'd fit in as a New York Met because they already have David Wright and Jose Reyes on the left side of the infield. The LA Angels would be interesting though- they could certainly use the offensive help and protection for Vlad. And what about A-Rod to the Red Sox?

Theo Epstein: "Thanks for winning the World Series MVP, Mike Lowell, but we're going to go in another direction at third next year."

Mike Lowell: "Isn't A-Rod hitless in his last 18 October at-bats with men on base?"

Theo: "..........."

Mike: "Theo, you there? Theo?"

I suppose they could flip him back to shortstop and part with Julio Lugo's .295 on base percentage, but I just don't see Red Sox nation welcoming this guy with open arms- something A-Rod clearly wants and needs.

The worst news of all for Yankee fans is, most bad things happen in threes, meaning (a) A-Rod is going to sign with Boston (b) Derek Jeter is about to be indicted on federal catfighting charges, or (c) New York is set to introduce John Rocker as their new manager.

So if you see a Yankee fan, give them a hug or a heartfelt clap on the shoulder because it's shaping up to be a long winter.

Will Baseball Season End Tonight?

It's sure looking that way.

The Boston Red Sox have found just about every way to win so far in the 2007 World Series. They've had great pitching, great hitting, and even great hitting pitchers. Their superstars have played well, and their role players have played well. Their veterans have come through in the clutch, and so have their rookies. They've handed the Colorado Rockies more losses in the last 4 days than they'd had in the previous 39. And in case you're keeping track, the Sox haven't lost a World Series game in 21 years.

If the Rockies have any saving grace at this point, it's that rookie Jon Lester is trying to close out the series for the Sox against veteran Aaron Cook, at Coors Field. But if the World Series play of rookies Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Daisuke Matsuzaka is any indicator, it won't matter that Lester is still a freshman.

Let me be, not the first, to say this Boston team is going to be awfully good for an awfully long time.