A Large Regular: Adam Dunn

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Really happy about Bruins going to the Stanley Cup but I am a little bit worried that the rest of the sports world will start to hate Boston for our embarrassment of riches this past decade.... The Red Sox brought up outfielder Josh Reddick which makes me wonder if Reddick on display for trade potential? Maybe Mike Cameron is on the block? It would not be unlike the Red Sox to trade a veteran to a place where he could get more playing time... Hah hah - this has to be a metaphor of sorts regarding the state of Unions in the USA. The manufacturer of the union's "Scabby the Rat" balloon is non-union... Omar Vizquel is just 181 hits from 3,000 for his career. I really hope he gets there. Guy is a Hall of Famer... Josh Reddick is wearing number 16 for the Red Sox. That brings to mind another outfielder for the Sox who wore 16 - Rick Miller. It reminds me that Angels owner Gene Autry once told his GM to get him "that outfielder from the Red Sox." The GM thought he meant Rick Miller who was a free agent but Autry actually meant Dwight Evans... Take a few minutes to listen to a really thought provoking talk... Is this the definition of awful? Adam Dunn is ZERO for 33 vs LHP this season with 15 strikeouts... Just a reminder - Bob Dylan's 1st album sold just 5,000 copies. So not only is he a paragon of success - so he's also an inspiration for struggling artists... Deal of the century? According to this article - David Einhorn will get 33% of the Mets for $200 million but he also gets the option to up his stake to 60% for majority ownership of the team. To buy-out that option the Mets would have to give Einhorn back his $200 million but let him keep his 33% ownership stake. Wow - just wow!... Some of these are more than genius. I would seriously think about buying that convertible couch... What would I do for a Klondike Bar? I guess go to a store and pay a buck and a half. That's what I'd do for a Klondike Bar.

Monday, July 06, 2009

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

If Tampa Bay's Carlos Pena is not on the All-Star team - he'll be the first player leading the AL in HR not to make the roster since Detroit's Mickey Tettleton in 1993... More than half of Washington Nationals' Adam Dunn's plate appearances do not involve a member of the other team (other than the pitcher and catcher). Close to 51% of Dunn's PA result in either a walk, a strikeout or a HR.... The Tampa Bay Rays will send 4 players to the All-Star game with all of them being under 30-years old. Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, Jason Bartlett and Ben Zobrist are all under 30-years old. Carl Crawford of the Rays won’t be 28 until August 5th. He’s been in the league so long that you forget that he’s still that young.... There's been lots of sturm and drang about steroids users Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez not making the All-Star team but what about Ryan Franklin of the Cardinals? He was suspended in 2005 for steroids use and he was named in the Mitchell Report. Has he passed some sort of probation period or do people just care about steroids users who hit home runs?

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Manny Ramirez

The Manny Ramirez situation is very interesting. I think there are several things at play here which are worth a comment:

- The one-year $25 million offer is very smart from the Dodgers point of view. The Dodgers do need offense but they can't afford to spend that sort of money on a player who could take a month off mid-season to balky knees or a troubled hammy. By making it a one-year deal the Dodgers make sure they get Manny's full attention. He needs to play to get paid in 2010. What better way to make sure Manny focus' on the 2009 season?

- The "screw you Scott Boras" aspect of this is good PR for the club. Nobody likes Boras - nobody. Making the $25 million offer public is in effect calling Boras' bluff. Now everybody knows what the Dodgers are willing to do. If another team is willing to go to two or three years for Manny - fine. The Dodgers have both shown their fans that they were willing to pay top dollar for Manny but at the same time they stood up the the man many blame for ruining the game.

- It has to be asked if the money the Dodgers are willing to pay to Manny would be better used elsewhere. They could literally sign Adam Dunn and Ben Sheets for the same money they would pay Manny (maybe even a lot less than what Manny would cost). Dunn would give them the HR bat they need and Sheets could help fill the role of the departed Derek Lowe. The problem is for the Dodgers that they can't go and sign a Ben Sheets and then have Manny accept his $25 million offer. There's obviously a limit to the Dodgers' budget.

- An aspect that is not talked about but what may be the most important consideration for many teams is the draft picks involved. The Dodgers have compensation picks coming for losing Derek Lowe to the Braves and if they lost Manny to another team - they would have more picks coming. That would allow them to sign an Adam Dunn and a Ben Sheets without impacting their farm system too much. Maybe that's another reason they have made their bids to Manny Ramirez so public - so other teams would know where they stand and thus know what the costs would be without Boras hyping it any further.

EDIT: As an aside - look for a team like the Nationals to offer Manny a two-year deal for like $50 million if the Dodgers one-year deal looks like the only offer. The Nationals draft pick is protected (because it's first overall) and the Nationals could use Manny to sell tickets early in the year and then turn around and trade him to a contender for prospects near the trading deadline.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Bob Ryan has posted sporadically (to be kind) on his new blog but I must say that I think his blog posts are actually better and more interesting than his columns for the Boston Globe (and that is saying something). Maybe it is because Ryan writes about what he wants to write about on his blog while he writes what he's assigned to write for the Globe (I know he has leeway at the Globe but he still has assignments). His latest post on the funeral of David Halberstam is very moving (and interesting)... Manny Ramirez is now tied with Fred McGriff for 37th place all-time on the RBI list with 1,550. Manny needs 15 more HR to catch the Crime Dog in home runs. McGriff has 493 career dingers which ties him for 22nd on the all-time list with Lou Gehrig. I think McGriff is under appreciated. Next up on the RBI list for Manny is Willie McCovey who has 1,555 RBI... Tiger Woods is an 11/4 favorite to win the US Open this weekend. Phil Michelson is his closest opponent according to the odds. Michelson is listed at 10-1 and Jim Furyk is at 14-1. You can find the full odds here... Adam Dunn is on pace for 38 HR but also 220 strikeouts. Are the 38 HR really worth the cost of the 220 SO? Baseball-Reference.com lists his nickname as "the Big Donkey" - is that really true? That seems a bit harsh. Baseball-reference.com lists the most similar hitter to Dunn as Ron Kittle but Adam Dunn doesn't even show up in Kittle's most similar batters (Steve Balboni is his most similar batter). I find that odd...