Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Just saying but Baseball-reference.com list Kris Benson as the most similar pitcher to Carl Pavano. Not sure how I would feel about that if I were a Yankee fan. Come to think of it – I bet Benson will actually have a better year than Pavano (based upon innings pitched and ERA).... Heh heh – the Twins have a pitcher named Boof Bonser on their roster. The name just strikes me as amusing.... I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Tigers trade Carlos Pena to a team that needs a left-handed power bat off the bench. The Tigers are pretty well set at first with Chris Shelton and Dmitri Young. Of course the Tigers could keep Pena and have him play against lefties but Shelton hits lefties better than Pena does. Plus I think that Dmitri Young will need to play some first because Ivan Rodriguez may take some time at DH this year to help keep him fresh. This is just a hunch on my part but it would make sense because Pudge is getting older and he traditionally fades near the end of the season (September is by far his worst month throughout his career). Having Pudge DH every so often would keep him fresh for the stretch run.... Mike MacDougal is working on a change-up to go with his 90+ MPH fastball and hard slider. If MacDougal can control his fastball and hide his change of speed – then he could be a real surprise this year and a real steal in fantasy drafts.... I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Rockies trade starter Zach Day whose real first name is actually Stephen (Zachary is his middle name). The Rockies traded Preston Wilson and his expiring contract to the Nationals for Day last season. Now the Nationals are in a bind for starters (but this was not another Jim Bowden bone-head move – it was because Day and Frank Robinson had chemistry issues). Even though it would be funny if the Nationals traded to get Day back – that won’t happen. The Rangers could really use a guy like Day as a fourth starter and the Rockies can afford to trade Day because they have about 6 or 7 potential starters.... Even with all those consecutive NL East titles to their credit – the Atlanta Braves still have a losing record (9533-9556) in their franchise history.... Abe Alvarez pitched a little more than 2 scoreless innings for the Red Sox today. I really hope Theo Epstein can palm Alvarez off to some team because Alvarez will never make it for the Red Sox. It may be the pressure of playing at Fenway or something but one thing I’m sure of is that Alvarez will never be a worthwhile player for the Red Sox....