Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Much is being made about Manny Ramirez switching agents to Scott Boras. I don't think it's a big deal. First off the Red Sox hold the options for the next two year so there's leverage for Boras to work with. Secondly Boras has been taking hits - from the botched A-Rod re-signing with the Yankees to the Gary Sheffield legal battles. Boras does not want to alienate the Red Sox since they are home to many of his clients and a big money bidder on any future free agents. I see this move as Manny simply wanting to maximize his endorsement potential. Nothing more. With Manny most things get read too far into and that's the case here... Nomar as Alex Cora? If Nomar does take a utility role this season - I'm guessing he doesn't come back for 2009... Here's a question - is Todd Helton a Hall of Fame player? I'm assuming that you have to think about that for a minute. Consider this though - Helton's career batting average is 4 points higher than Wade Boggs and he will finish probably with 3 times the number of home runs than Wade Boggs. Yet Boggs was considered an automatic and but you have to stop and think about Helton? Oh and Helton has 3 Gold Gloves while the one Boggs won was a joke... Reggie Sanders hasn't hooked on with a club and will probably be all done for his career. Sanders is part of one of my favorite baseball trivia questions, "Name the six players who have both 300 HR and 300 SB?" Obviously Sanders is one with Barry Bonds and his dad being two others. Willie Mays is the fourth. Can you name the other two? Harder than it sounds...