Player Comparison

Here's a comparison that had me thinking today:

Player A - 746 R/ 232 HR/ 813 RBI/ .267 BA/ .817 OPS/ 114 OPS+

Player B - 944 R/ 242 HR/ 795 RBI/ .278 BA/ .873 OPS/ 125 OPS+

Let me also note that Player A Played 14 seasons and won 6 Gold Gloves but was never an All-Star. During his career he made a little over $75 million. Player B also played 14 season and was named to 1 All-Star game but made over $94 million in his career.

Player A was probably the better defender while Player B has a slight edge offensively. Both players could have easily changed their first names to "Often Injured". Pretty similar over-all.

Player A is Eric Chavez while Player B is JD Drew. Both are probably retiring - JD Drew will just be retiring with a little more scratch in his pockets.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Happy Birthday to Henry Aaron! Hammering Hank, one of the classiest guys in baseball, turns 77 today...Very cool pictures of the world’s biggest cave which was discovered in Vietnam. I'm proud of myself that I didn't make a Madonna crack but I do have to question the timing of this with James Cameron's movie Sanctum just being released... Hah hah - this woman is awesome... According to reports - the Yankees have signed Eric Chavez to a minor league deal. Normally I'd think of this as a low risk high potential reward move but honestly this move has me scratching my head. On the Yankees end do they do this because they have questions about Alex Rodriguez's health? On the A's end - why didn't they offer Chavez a minor league deal? It would make more sense for him to stay with that organization unless the A's have just had all they wanted out of Chavez and didn't see the point... It turns out that the guy who robbed the Bellagio of an estimated $1.5 million was caught basically because he's an idiot... As a Red Sox fan I am please to hear that Robinson Cano has hired Scott Boras as his agent. Boras will really stick it to the Yankees and as great as I think Cano is I have to wonder if he'll keep his drive once he gets his huge contract... A new report suggests that polygamous mice have more "agile" sperm. I really don't care about the science here - I was just amused by the phrase "polygamous mice". That would make a great name for a band... Hah hah - ESPN's Buster Olney: "The Mets' best defense in Madoff suit: We signed Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo to $60m deals-and WE were supposed to sniff out Ponzi scheme?"... So wrong but so funny... Amused to think that people who run into him on the street will now tell Rob Lowe to "stop pooping" because of his role on Parks and Recreation. They used to say "stop filming underage girls"... With all the waivers being given to opt out of Obamacare isn't next step to just offer waivers to the states and let all 57 just opt out too?

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Supposedly the Braves are looking at trading for Mark Kotsay of the A's. I say supposedly because the linked article smells more like an advertisement from Billy Beane that says that Kotsay is available to any team that missed out on signing Mike Cameron (who just signed with the Brewers). You would think the Braves would be better off giving prospect Jason Heyward a shot than trading for Kotsay and taking on both his salary (at least a few million worth of it) and the risk he'll hurt his back again... Wow! Robin Ventura had an ankle transplant. Read the whole thing - very interesting story about one of my favorite players of the 90's... As I mentioned earlier - Mike Cameron has signed to play with the Brewers. I like this move by the Brewers... Oakland Athletics third-baseman Eric Chavez thinks he'll be traded. Chavez with 3-years plus an option year at an average of about $11.5 million a year is the biggest contract left on the A's payroll. If Chavez was to be traded - my guess it would be to one of these four teams:

Phillies - they could use a 3rd baseman and could easily afford the $34 million over the next 3-years due Chavez. Probably would require the Phillies parting with a Carlos Carrasco or a Josh Outman (what a great name for a pitcher!) or some other highly thought of pitching prospect to get it done.

Giants - they need a 3rd baseman and solid bat in the order but would the Giants make a deal with the cross bay A's?

White Sox - they could use a 3rd baseman but they emptied the cupboards to trade for Nick Swisher. Josh Field will probably take over for Joe Crede. Low probability but who knows what the crazy White Sox GM will do?

Twins - 3rd base has been a sore spot for the Twins for years. Beane is the master of the 3-team trade so maybe Chavez is worked into some sort of Mets / Twins / A's deal? Chavez does have the Twins listed as one of the teams he doesn't want to be traded to in his limited no-trade clause which dampens the prospect of this happening.