Those who can, play. Those who are too fat to, talk.
Am I the only one who still remembers that Randy Johnson is 41 years old and has a history of back problems? I totally understand wanting him for 2005, but to give him a 2-year extension with crazy money? My favorite thing about this Johnson deal is playing the odds on how much money the Yankees will pay Johnson to sit on the bench, injured. Read the rest of this entry »
The Dodgers have lost Adrian Beltre, Steve Finley and today Jose Lima. Meanwhile they dumped Alex Cora and haven’t picked Odalis Perez back up. DePodesta says starting pitching is priority 1, but the team didn’t get Tim Hudson, and is now after Derek Lowe, or Esteban Loaiza or Shawn Estes. Getting Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew should improve the offense, slightly.
Meanwhile the Giants got a closer, Moises Alou, Omar Vizquel and Mike Matheny. The Giants have to be considered the favorite, unless the Dodgers can pick one or two solid starters.
The Giants got better today by signing Moises Alou. Then again, this is a guy who got beat out for a fly ball by Steve Bartman.
The BIG DEAL between YANKEES, INC., (actually, maybe I’ll start calling them the Trumpees, since the team’s hubris would be a nice fit with that name) and the Cubiczirconiumbacks (win more than 51 games this year and maybe I’ll call you by your correct name) is back on the table. Of course, Vazquez is still part of the deal, which means the part about the Dodgers being genuinely concerned about Vazquez’s desire to stay on the East Coast because of his family is something that doesn’t matter to the folks in NYC and Phoenix. Slime. Look, I know the game is a business, but it was nice that at least one organization (The Dodgers) was willing to show some class, as pointed out in the Peter Gammons story I referenced in an earlier post.
Three things about myself that never cease to amaze me: how cute I was as a kid, how small my size 13 feet look compared to the rest of my body, and the lengths I will go to to prove Joe Morgan wrong. Today’s lesson in The Idiocy of Joe Morgan 101 is entitled, “Things Joe Morgan says because he is an ‘expert’ and he is pretty sure no one will take the time to check his facts.” Read the rest of this entry »
Peter Gammons has a good column on the BIG TRADE here. It makes me respect Vazquez, and the Dodgers.
I guess YANKEES, Inc. are mad at the Dodgers over backing out over the deal. Whaaaa.
This from the Detroit Free Press:
“The Dodgers reneged on the deal that was agreed to last Friday, unequivocally and with no contingencies except for a window for contract extensions and physicals,” Yankees president Randy Levine said. “For some reason, the Dodgers over the weekend started to backpedal. It sure is disappointing, and we’ll have to think long and hard before ever doing business with the Dodgers again.”
Hey New Yorkers, I got a message for you in language you can understand. I got your deal right here. Stick it. Up yours. Trade THIS. Fuhgeddaboutit. Hey Levine, YOU SUCK!
It’s not the Dodgers’ job to make YANKEES, Inc. better. I used to not hate YANKEES, Inc. Now I do. So much hubris. So much entitlement. Freakin’ morons.
Hey New York, nice job in the playoffs. I bet it sucks to see guys from Boston wearing jewelry.
At first I thought this was the Dodgers going after a guy who’s a lot of hat and not much cowboy. He was a prized prospect seven years ago, rejecting the Phillies in favor of the Cardinals (C’mon, do you blame him?) But looking at his career numbers, he’s a solid player and last year was fourth in on-base average and runs scored and fifth in triples and walks. He came in sixth in the MVP voting. It doesn’t make up for losing Beltre, but it ain’t bad. Ironically, this was apparently the missing piece to the deal involving the Cubiczirconiumbacks and the YANKEES, Inc. (who are close to signing Carlos Beltran and are certain to still get the BIG UNIT). Read the rest of this entry »
So the D.C. city council backed off its private financing stipulation and will now let the Expos move to Washington.
Michelle Malkin and anyone else who has the sense to think these stadium deals are a rip off won’t be happy, but I gotta tell you I’m not so smart when it comes to matters of baseball and my ability to have a team close to home.
Read the rest of this entry »
The Dodgers apparently pulled out of a deal that has been rumored for days. The deal would have sent Shawn Green, Yancy Brz(some vowels and stuff) and Brad Penny to Arizona. The BIG NEWS would have been the BIG UNIT going to the BIG APPLE, where he would have raised expectations yet again, only to see them dashed. (It is my theory that Alex Rodriguez will never win a world championship because his $252 million contract was so offensive that whoever was responsible for the curse on the Red Sox let that one go and focused their efforts on A-Rod.) Read the rest of this entry »
According to ESPN, Adrian Beltre has signed with the Seattle Mariners. This makes me very, very sad. Read the rest of this entry »
To understand the fallout from cheating, you need look no farther than where I’m writing this right now–Bainbridge Island, Washington.
In 2001 a group of 11- and 12-year-old boys from Bainbridge made it to the Little League World Series, beat a team from Iowa in their first game, then lost to teams from Florida and New York.
So now it appears the Montreal Expos’ move to DC to become the Washington Nationals is in jeopardy.
Read the story here.
So the Angels get Steve Finley and I couldn’t be happier. I’m not particularly an Angel fan, but I don’t hate them or chuckle about them the way I used to. Winning a World Series will earn you some respect, I tell you, especially when you keep the Giants from winning one. Read the rest of this entry »
Not surprisingly, George Will addresses my own attitudes about the steroids issue better than I do.
“To understand the damage that the steroids scandal is doing to baseball, consider this: Probably sometime late in the 2005 season or early in the next one, Barry Bonds, who already has 703 career home runs, will begin a game with 754, one short of Henry Aaron’s record. Would you cross the street to see Bonds hit number 755?”
See the entire column here
During this past season I went to three games at Safeco Field in Seattle. They lost all three, which was a pretty safe bet for the M’s this year, but one game stands especially in reference to what everyone has been discussing lately. Cleveland hit eight home runs. Maybe it was a good night for the clear and the cream. On one of the other nights I saw Manny Ramirez hit a grand slam home run, and it was a beast of a homer, for the Red Sox. I was thrilled.
It’s been tough to come up with a reason to write about steroids, and furthermore I’ve had a difficult time figuring out why. Shouldn’t I be crushed? Mortified? At least a little disappointed? Read the rest of this entry »
By now, everyone in the world has heard about the leaked grand jury testimony from Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds. What everyone has known for several years is now a confirmed fact: some professional baseball players have accomplished great things with the help of illegal substances. So where do we go from here? Read the rest of this entry »
The Los Angleles Dodgers signed free-agent second baseman Jeff Kent to a two-year, $17 million contract today, in the first big move of the winter baseball meetings. As a Dodger fan, it is exciting to see a player with Kent’s offensive ability come to Chavez Ravine, but it leaves a huge question: What position will he play? Read the rest of this entry »
[Originally written on June 2, 2004.]
I was watching SportsCenter a few weeks ago, and there was (of course) a story about Barry Bonds. The Giants were in New York to play the Mets, so they had a reporter from one of the New York newspapers on to discuss the Bonds hype. Naturally, discussion of Bonds led to discussion of steroids, and the reporter said, “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: steroids did not turn Barry Bonds into a great hitter. Steroids may help the home run totals, but they don’t do a thing for batting average, and they can’t turn a man into a natural hitter as great as Barry Bonds is.”
It’s a great theory, and it makes sense. Unfortunately, the numbers don’t back it up. Let’s take a look at the facts, shall we? Read the rest of this entry »
[Originally written on May 21, 2004.]
ESPN.com put up a poll today (link) about Alex Rodriguez. The first question on the poll is: “Why have the Mariners and Rangers thrived after A-Rod has left?” There are five options:
As of about 12:33 this afternoon Utah time, 52.9% of voters have chosen the trendy fourth option. This vote make me wonder if the people voting actually know anything about baseball (or even follow it at all), or if they saw the link on ESPN’s site (with the title, “Is A-Rod Greedy?”) and clicked on it because they hate him. I think I know the answer. Read the rest of this entry »