11.23.05
Posted in General at 3:04 pm by Jeff J. Snider
Is this what we can expect for the next three months? We all knew there would be more trades than usual due to the dearth of quality free agents, but did anyone really expect that Josh Beckett, Carlos Delgado, and Jim Thome would all get traded in the span of two days?
The Beckett and Delgado deals are obviously intertwined, both tied to the fact that the Marlins are starting from scratch for the second time in seven years. Do you realize that in the 15 years the Marlins have existed, they have been terrible, then won the World Series, then had a fire sale, then won the World Series again, then had another fire sale? So anyway, Beckett, Delgado, and Mike Lowell are gone, and Juan Pierre, Paul LoDuca, and anyone else making more than $1.98 next year is likely to follow. Why did baseball expand into Florida again?
As for Thome, this is great for the Phillies. The common assumption was that the Phillies would be unable to move Thome’s contract until he had proven he was healthy, which wouldn’t happen until spring training, at which point no teams would have money left for him. So for the Phillies to get it over with so early is great for them, for Thome, and for Ryan Howard. And if Thome can regain form, it will be great for the White Sox, too. If nothing else, it got one of their creepy white guys off the team.
I can’t wait to see what else goes down this winter.
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11.16.05
Posted in General at 2:28 pm by Jeff J. Snider
I just read a nice little article by Tim Kurkjian about the Washington Nationals and their lack of an owner. Now, I am not an expert, and I don’t have any inside knowledge, but I don’t see any possible good reason why it has taken so long for Major League Baseball to pick a buyer. When the Expos finally got out of Montreal, it looked like they were going to have a chance to be competitive again, and they were for about four months in 2005. But by failing to get this sale done, Bud Selig has hamstrung the team again and given them absolutely no chance to improve their team for 2006. I wish all eight ownership groups vying for the sale would collude and cut their offers in half at the same time, because let’s face it, every day that the Nationals aren’t improving their team, they are getting worse, which means the value of the team is going down. This is ridiculous, and Bud needs to make a decision now.
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11.15.05
Posted in General at 1:39 pm by Jeff J. Snider
According to anonymous sources, Major League Baseball and the Players Association have agreed to a new steroid policy, which calls for a 50-game suspension for the first positive test, 100 games for the second, and a lifetime ban (appealable after two years) for the third offense. The new agreement also included testing for amphetamines, with different consequences. The first positive test results in an automatic second test. A second positive calls for a 25-game suspension, with 80 games for a third positive. The consequences for a fourth positive test are left to the commissioner’s discretion, with all decisions reviewed by an arbitrator.
I think this is a positive step for baseball, especially if it will get Congress off its back. But after reading all the reports in ESPN the Magazine, I still can’t help thinking that the issue here isn’t as much in the penalties as in the actual testing. According to BALCO head-weiner Victor Conte, the current testing system is very easy to beat. As long as that is the case, it won’t matter how tough the penalties are, because only the stupid people will get caught anyway.
So yes, this is a good step forward, but until there is an effective (and flexible, to account for new technology) testing plan in place, there is still work to be done.
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Posted in General at 10:16 am by Jeff J. Snider
UPDATE: I’m glad to say that Albert Pujols won.
Okay, I am going to make this quick. I wish I didn’t think Andruw Jones was going to win this award today, but I do. Should he? Absolutely not. Let’s look at the statistical categories in which he led Albert Pujols and Derrek Lee: home runs and RBI.
Home runs are nice, but really, the point is to score runs, and it doesn’t really matter how you do it. A better indication of a player’s power contribution to his team is slugging percentage, because it gives credit to hits of all kinds, with more credit going to the bigger hits (like home runs). Andruw Jones, despite having five more home runs than Derrek Lee and ten more than Albert Pujols, still trailed them in slugging percentage by 85 and 34 points, respectively. A lot of that comes from the fact that Jones had many fewer extra-base hits that weren’t homers (27, compared to 40 for Pujols and 53 for Lee). You also have the fact that Jones had far fewer singles (76) than Pujols (114) or Lee (100).
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11.13.05
Posted in General at 11:47 pm by Jeff J. Snider
UPDATE: The votes are in, and A-Rod won.
Well, the AL MVP award will be announced in about 12 hours or so, so here are my final thoughts.
It obviously comes down to Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz. They both had absolutely great years. I will tell you up front that A-Rod is still my pick. Here are some important stats for both of them:
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11.11.05
Posted in General at 2:28 pm by Jeff J. Snider
Over on ESPN.com, former Mets GM and current ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips has posted his report on the top 50 free agents this offseason. Included in the report is his guess as to where each free agent will end up. I want to talk about it, but I have to warn you all that this is one of those posts that reminds the reader that while I love baseball in general, I am a Dodger fan first and foremost.
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11.10.05
Posted in General at 2:46 pm by Jeff J. Snider
ESPN.com has a remarkably in-depth and enlightening report on steroids in baseball. I believe it will be appearing in the newest ESPN the Magazine, which I haven’t gotten in the mail yet. I have read all four parts of the actual report, and I am about halfway done with the “Special Features.” I can’t recommend this report strongly enough.
In reading it, I had a whole bunch of thoughts on a whole bunch of topics. My number one thought: Bud Selig needs to be replaced. By me.
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11.09.05
Posted in General at 11:29 pm by Jeff J. Snider
UPDATE: The voting is in — Carpenter wins, Willis second, Clemens third.
It’s time for my thoughts on the National League Cy Young Award, just in time for the official announcement on Thursday, November 10.
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Posted in General at 1:56 am by Jeff J. Snider
Manager of the Year Awards are announced later today, November 9. There is no way in the world Bobby Cox isn’t winning the National League Manager of the Year award, and rightly so. As for the American League, it pretty much comes down to Ozzie Guillen and Eric Wedge. If the Indians hadn’t choked the last week of the season and the White Sox hadn’t stopped choking at the same time, the award would be Wedge’s, but they did and they did, and the award will go to Guillen.
UPDATE: It’s official, and the voters got it right.
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11.08.05
Posted in General at 1:42 pm by Jeff J. Snider
Dang it, I meant to get my predictions and preferences down in writing before the official announcement. Oh well. Anyway, Bartolo Colon won the American League Cy Young Award. If I had gotten my picks in early enough, I would have predicted that, although I also would have strongly disagreed with it. My vote would have gone to Johan Santana, and I doubt that Colon would have even gotten my second- or third-place vote (Mariano Rivera and Mark Beurhle probably would have finished ahead of him). I will be posting my picks for the NL in the next day or so, including my formula and what I think is important. In summary, though, this vote for Colon was clearly based on the win/loss record, which I think is absurd. On the other hand, the only reason the award is named after Cy Young is because he had 511 career wins, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.
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Posted in General at 1:14 pm by Jeff J. Snider
The Rookie of the Year awards are announced today. If I was voting, my votes would go to Ryan Howard in the NL and Huston Street in the AL. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tadahito Iguchi win in the AL, and I wouldn’t have a major gripe if he did, but I still lean towards Street. In the NL, I think Willy Taveras has about a 60% chance of winning, but I will be pretty upset if he does. Howard was great, and while Taveras played a whole season and Howard didn’t, Taveras was nothing more than solid, and he has several large offensive weaknesses (like having absolutely NO power, striking out way too often, and lacking the ability to get on base consistently). It says a lot that Taveras might be the fastest guy in baseball but couldn’t bat leadoff on his own team.
UPDATE: Well, it’s official, and I was actually right. I wish I had as much confidence in the voters’ abilities when it comes to the other awards that will be coming in the next week or so.
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11.04.05
Posted in General at 9:45 am by Jeff J. Snider
I heard a rumor that the Yankees are going to pursue Rafael Furcal, have him play second base, and move Robinson Cano to center field. Imagine that: Derek Jeter would be the third-best shortstop in his own infield!
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11.03.05
Posted in General at 12:37 pm by Jeff J. Snider
Looks like the Devil Rays are going to hire Gerry Hunsicker to be their new non-GM. There had been some doubt that the D-Rays would be able to land a big name like Hunsicker, simply because he will not be given the title of General Manager, but is being brought in to serve as a consultant/mentor to two young bucks the D-Rays are grooming for the future. Here’s a bit from this ESPN.com article:
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