MLB Hot Stove

With officially 150 days till 2015's Opening Day here's the first of what I'm sure will be many Hot Stove thoughts.

- I wonder if the Nationals would entertain an offer of 3-years of Clay Buchholz for free-agent to be Doug Fister? I think Buchholz would benefit from a change of scenery.

- Speaking of Boston trade targets - how about Jeff Samardzija of the A's? It would be just like Billy Bean to flip an asset like that. What does Oakland need?

- Troy Tulowitzki's agent comments on the Rockies potentially trading Tulo. Read the comments. Never realized the venom some Colorado fans have towards Tulowitzki. And comparing him to Gretzky, Shaq and Joe Montana? Jeez.

- I would agree with this sentiment.

- For the record - I am sick of stories on A-Rod. To paraphrase Jason Varitek "I don't read about .240 hitters."

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Now whenever I hear that Clay Buchholz is pitching for the Red Sox - my first thought is "take the over!"... Given his sexual conquests - the phrase "Jeter in the two hole" always cracks me up... Ernest Hemingway reacts to Jon Lester being traded... Part of me wonders if the Red Sox are tanking just so they can get the first pick in the NBA draft... What did Al Gore say about the Arctic Ice melting again?... Is the name Edmonton Eskimos that much less racist than the name Washington Redskins?... 19th century dude pranks 21st century guy...

Red Sox Medical Care

Jon Heyman speculates that Carl Crawford's injury may have been mishandled by the Red Sox medical staff. Well duh!

Carl Crawford, Dustin Pedroia, Clay Buchholtz, Jacoby Ellsbury, etc., etc., etc. How many players have to join this list before people see there's an issue?

I've made this point before.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

The world is a poorer place today with the passing of John Wooden. He was truly a class act. I think it says a lot about the state of college basketball today that a man of Wooden's character probably wouldn't be able to compete against the John Calipari's of the NCAA world if Wooden was to have started his coaching career in this day and age... I find it hard to believe that Clay Buchholz has just 2 career shutouts. I don't find it hard to believe that both of those games came against the Orioles (no hitter on 9/1/07 and last night's 5 hitter)... 5 Hot Wheels/Matchbox Cars Worth Crazy Money... Heh heh - Tweet of the Day: @OldHossRadbourn Hoss would be really quite content if S. Waldman never again mentioned how much she loves N. Swisher "in the 2-hole"... Possible Signs of Methane-Based Life on Saturn's moon Titan... I am so sick of these commercials for the movie Splice but yet oddly curious if the beast breast feeds. Also is there still a 7-Up clone called Splice out there? What's next - a horror movie about a deranged surgeon called Dr Pepper?... I did not know this. According to Mental Floss "In 1946, Boston owner Walter Brown chose the nickname Celtics over Whirlwinds, Olympians & Unicorns." I did know that Red Auerbach's brother is the one who designed Lucky the Leprechaun... The world would have been a much better place if John Wooden started a religion instead of L. Ron Hubbard...

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

I think CC Sabathia will be traded but I don't think the Red Sox will be involved. Why give up a Clay Buchholtz or a Justin Masterson for potentially only half a season of Sabathia? Starting pitching is not a major concern for the Red Sox anyway with a front four of Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield and Jon Lester followed by a pick your choice of Clay Buchholtz, Justin Masterson and Bartolo Colon as fifth starters. I think if the Red Sox do trade for pitching - then it will be for bullpen help and they won't be giving up too much in exchange. I'm guessing that just in the AL you'd have either Chad Bradford of the Orioles or Ron Mahay of the Royals available for the right price... Speaking of Clay Buchholtz - it looks like he's being very effective at AAA Pawtucket. He's 3-1 with a 1.87 ERA in 7 starts. It looks like he's also on a pitch count since he hasn't pitched past the 7th inning in any of his starts despite the low runs allowed. The idea is probably to keep him fresh for the second half of the MLB season. An idea I agree with... Is Jeff Kent a Hall of Famer? With one more RBI he will break his tie with Dave Parker and have 48th place on the all-time RBI list all to himself. Unless I'm mistaken - Kent has the most HR and RBI of any second baseman in history... If Kent sticks around for another year or two - he will most likely catch and pass Harmon Killebrew who is tied for 34th on the all-time RBI list with Rogers Hornsby (both players have 1584 RBI). Passing Hornsby would be important for Kent because Hornsby is considered the best offensive second baseman in history (although he played over 600 games at other positions - thus the reason Kent has more RBI as a second baseman). I won't argue that Kent was close to Hornsby with a bat (Hornsby had a career .358 BA and an OPS+ of 175) but passing Hornsby on the RBI list will be significant for Kent nonetheless... Speaking of Harmon Killebrew - today's his birthday! Happy 72nd birthday Killer. How screwed up is the Hall of Fame voting? Consider that Killebrew has 573 HR and in his first year of eligibility for the Hall he only got 59.6% of the votes. Killebrew had to wait 4 years to be voted in by the gasbags who call themselves baseball writers...