Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Jason Stark has a recap of the winners and losers of the baseball winter meetings. When he talked about Toronto being a winner - he should have mentioned that JP Riccardi also got a 3-year contract extension during the week. Ryne Sandberg also had a similar winners and losers column (which I won't even bother to link to). Comparing the two efforts is educational on the work done by a professional (Stark) vs that from a former jock (Sandberg). From beyond the grave Howard Cosell can be heard shouting "I told you so"... Am I the only one who read that the Mets had signed the ageless Franco and thought they had brought back reliever John Franco instead of 1st baseman Julio?... Don Banks talks about Leinart vs Bush in terms of the NFL draft. Not sure if he sees the irony in him writing about how which of the two should go first in the draft is a media driven controversy. Banks then goes on to discuss the merits of both players... Word has it that Bill Mueller will be signed by the Dodgers. Mueller's nickname in Boston was "the Pro" because everything about him was professional. He came to play every day. His hustle, grit and the fact that over the past three years he hit .308 with RISP and a blistering .367 with the bases loaded proved he was a money player and made him a player every Boston fan rooted for. Bill Mueller's simply a good guy... SI's John Donovan also has a winter meeting winners and losers column From the column:

"It's not the anxiety of not knowing who's on your team. The anxiety is I don't have my wife a Christmas present right now. A lot of anxiety about that. I'm open to suggestions. I did the microwave one Christmas. [Here, Showalter shook his head slowly.] Don't do the appliances, I'm going to tell y'all right now." - Rangers Manager Buck Showalter

Excellent advice Buck [learned firsthand after my wife unwrapped a vacuum cleaner one Christmas morning]... Howard Dean hits bottom - keeps digging... I don't root for many Yankees but I'm happy that Bernie Williams may have a deal in place to bring him back to the Bronx for one more year. Williams is a good guy just like Bill Mueller (but with better guitar skills)... Ladies and gentlemen - I present to you one of the seven wonders of the world - Jessica Alba's ass....