Baseball Hall of Fame - Thought One

Here's a thought I had immediately after seeing that Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz and Craig Biggio had been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame - combined the four players made a little over $539 million during their careers.

The most controversial quartet of players on the Hall of Fame ballot associated with PED's - Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa combined salaries came close to almost the exact same amount ($537.5 million). The question that keeps popping up is if this group didn't do PED's would they be in the Hall of Fame today? I think the more accurate question is - if this group didn't do PED's would they have been paid like Hall of Famers? More than two-thirds of Roger Clemens money came after he left Boston in the "twilight of his career". The majority of Barry Bonds money was made after he left Pittsburgh. In Bonds last six years he made more in a single season than he made his whole time with the Pirates.

These guys cheated (allegedly) to get paid. Good.

They don't get Hall of Fame induction too. They made their choice and got their big money. They don't also get to enjoy something that Dale Murphy or Don Mattingly will never get close to. That's not right and that's something many sportswriters don't seem to understand.

John Smoltz

The way the schedule and the rotation is currently set up - John Smoltz will pitch against the Tigers at Fenway on the 11th and then against the Rangers on the road on the 16th. He needs at least one quality start in one of those games or he's done in Boston.

There is no way the Red Sox can afford to start him the 22nd against the Yankees if he hasn't pitched at least one quality start. No way.

Keep an eye on Michael Bowden in Pawtucket. The Red Sox may alter his schedule to be able to step in and take Smoltz' rotation spot.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

Really? Roy Halladay's real name is Harry Leroy Halladay. Harry Halladay? Yeah really... How funny is it that PhilliesNation.com sponsors the Johan Santana page on baseball-reference.com? I find it very funny!... With his loss today - John Smoltz of the Red Sox tied George Bradley for 154th place on the all-time list with 151 losses. George Bradley once lost 40 games in 1879 playing for the Troy Trojans. Wow - 40 games! Times sure have changed.... If John Smoltz happens to ever win another game for the Red Sox - he'll tie Chief Bender for 88th place on the all-time wins list with 212 wins. Though John Smoltz is widely acknowledged as playoff tough - Chief Bender pitched 3 complete games in the 1911 World series. That's playoff impressive... I don' understand that KGB service. Is it for people too stupid or lazy to use Google or Bing?... The Tigers Edwin Jackson needs just 4 more to match his total from last season. Truly a tale of two seasons...

I Love Gay Head

I was unable to post yesterday because business took me over to Matha's Vineyard. The above is a picture of the cliffs at Gay Head and the Aquinnah lighthouse. I stopped by there yesterday because it really is a beautiful place.

Since I didn't have a chance to post yesterday - I didn't have the opportunity to post my Pick of the Day (POTD) which is just as well because I really didn't have one (no time to study the matchups, etc.). One thing for sure - I wouldn't have picked the Red Sox. There's no way to know how John Smoltz was going to perform his first real start back. A final pitching line of 5 earned runs in 5 innings could have been predicted. Personally I don't think Smoltz's poor performance yesterday means much. If he doesn't show improvement after his third start - then that's another story.

I also didn't have an opportunity to update the Red Sox magic number - which now stands at 87. If I did have a chance I would have noted that 87 equals four-score and seven and I would have made some comments about Abe Lincoln and the Gettysburg Address.

One final note - I'm guessing the title to my post will get my blog some interesting visitors. It will be fun to what watch types of searches pop up.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I didn't realize until this morning but Mine that Bird was Calvin Borel's only mount yesterday. That's unusual... On this day in 1892 Benjamin Harrison became the first President of the United States to attend a baseball game... According to Stats Inc - Mariano Rivera of the Yankees has already allowed 10 runs this season. In the entire 2008 season, he allowed just 11 runs.... Today would have been Dean Martin's 92nd birthday. Martin was always my favorites among the Rat Packers. Martin had a license plate DRUNKY which I'm guessing you couldn't get away with today... Exhibit A why people are going away from traditional print sportswriters. Mark Bradley writes a column / blog post - I don't what to call it other than crap - regarding John Smoltz's criticism over the way the Braves let Tom Glavine go. Bradley consciously or unconsciously makes the column all about Mark Bradley. He uses a variation of the word "I" and "me" close to 30 times in the article which ends in Bradley trying to make a joke by calling John Smoltz a dog. Here's the thing a guy like Bradley doesn't get - nobody gives a rats ass about you and how you deemed it OK to congratulate John Smoltz on his 200th win. This was the first time I read something Bradley wrote and it will be the last if I can at all help it. Sportswriters who think they are the story - is there anything more ridiculous?... Happy 58th birthday to Terry O'Reilly...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

One of the arguments made for the releasing of Tom Glavine is that he was reaching just the mid 80's on his fastball. Jamie Moyer is 46 and his fastball is slower than what Glavine's tops out at. Moyer has been 45-38 since he turned 43-years old... John Smoltz weighs in on Glavine being released... Am I the last person in the country to know (or in my case - not know) who Jon and Kate are? I still don't know and I could care less... As noted before, "If Tom Glavine's career is over, he'll end his final season with a 2-4 record and a 5.54 ERA. In his first season in 1987, Glavine was 2-4, 5.54"...

June 15th

June 15th is the day when MLB teams can trade free agents they signed in the offseason. There is no "sign and trade" in baseball. Instead they have sign and wait period. I have to wonder if Jon Garland may be dangled to teams than need a 4th or 5th starter who can eat innings. Garland signed a one-year deal with the Diamondbacks for $7.25 million. For that kind of remaining money on the contract - if I were a GM - I think I'd rather take a gamble signing Pedro Martinez.

Brad Penny is another guy who could be available on June 15th but I'm starting to doubt the Red Sox will dangle him. Penny has had 4 quality starts in a row and is a favorite of owner John Henry. The Red Sox would probably only move Penny if they are 100% on the health of John Smoltz or if he can get a shortstop ready to help this season in return.

Speaking of Brad Penny - today's his 31st birthday.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

John Smoltz is scheduled to make his first rehab start of the year on Thursday at Sing;e-A Augusta. I have to think that if Smoltz re-signed with the Braves that he would have felt compelled to have been back to the big team by now. Red Sox fans are in no rush. We want Smoltz for September and October... Today was Kyle Eastwood's 41st birthday. Two quick thoughts about that - wow - Clint has a kid who is 41? You sometimes forget how old Clint is. Second - it must have been tough growing up with everyone picturing your dad as the epitome of manliness for his generation. It looks like Kyle Eastwood is pretty well adjusted though (of course I really have no idea though)... Interesting Red Sox tidbit from Jim Dawson,

"Casey Kelly (Sarasota HS), the #1 pick by Boston in last year’s draft, is 5-0 with a 0.96 ERA at Single-A Greenville. Kelly, the son of ex-MLBer Pat Kelly, will be allowed to play SS after he reaches 100 innings pitched. Brother Chris is pitching in the TB minors."

The Red Sox Casey Kelly is not to be confused with the Angels' prospect who never made it past Single-A Cedar Rapids in 2000... I think it is safe to say that Raul Ibanez has done a good job replacing Pat Burrell's bat in the Phillie line-up. Ibanez is leading all of baseball with a 1.132 OPS. He also has 13 HR on the season (which is 13 more than David Ortiz). It should be noted that Ibanez' OPS is more than 300 points over his career average - so you fantasy baseball players may want to trade Ibanez now before he drops back to earth...

Red Sox - Orioles Flotsam and Jetsam

Sci-Fi Connection: Pretty amazing game tonight. Brad Penny gives up 7 runs in the 2nd only to see the Red Sox came back to eventually take a 10-8 victory. The start by Penny made me wonder if the Red Sox front office is employing the Harkonnen Strategy. In the book Dune - the Baron Harkonnen first sends his ruthless nephew Glossu Rabban to rule Arrakis with the idea that he'd be so bad that the people would automatically welcome and love the Baron's nephew and heir Feyd Rautha. In this scenario - Brad Penny is playing the role of the grossly overweight Rabban and John Smoltz is being poised to look like a savior. Brad Penny's season ERA now stands at an even 11.00.

Playing the Role of Andruw Jones in 2009?: In the 7th inning with runners on 1st and 2nd with none out - I swear the Orioles pitched around Dustin Pedroia (4 straight balls) to get to David Ortiz. How the mighty have fallen. Ortiz then quickly struck out. The Orioles then got out of the jam by getting Kevin Youkilis to ground into a double play. I know its early but Ortiz is eerily reminding me of Jack Clark in his final year in Boston.

Because John Wasdin is not on the roster: Javy Lopez is really my least favorite player on the Red Sox roster right now. I get ill every time he comes in to pitch. Mike Timlin might be a better use of a roster spot - at least Timlin could get the bullpen guys doing that stomp-type music.

Prediction watch: I predicted that Coco Crisp would have as good or better numbers than Jacoby Ellsbury. Right now Crisp is hitting .235 but has 2 HR while Ellsbury is hitting .220 with no HR. Still a good trade for both teams - the Royals got a Gold Glove centerfielder and the Red Sox got Ramone Martinez who has been great in the bullpen for Boston.

My wallet thanks you: Just as impressive was the San Diego Padres come back from a 5-0 deficit after the 1st inning on the road to beat the Phillies 8-7 in Philadelphia. The Padres were part of a improbable 4-team parlay with the Red Sox (coming back from 7 runs down), the Marlins (coming back to win in 10 innings) and the under in the Atlanta game. Woo-hoo! Did I mention I'm going to Vegas next week?

HOF Class of 2014

Tom Glavine just had surgery and could be ready in time for spring training. It is assumed to be better than 50/50 that he'll retire instead. If he does - then it got me thinking how chocked full the first year eligible players for the Hall of Fame Class of 2014 could be (a player is eligible 5-years after retirement).

Just from the Braves you could have both Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. Both players should be locks. Of course both players could try for a last hurrah and try to come back for 2009.

From the Red Sox you will have Curt Schilling - a player whose less than a lock case will probably be hurt by the number of sure-fire HOF players in 2014.

Frank Thomas - I can only hope doesn't try and hang on for one more year. If he quits after this season then he's a lock for the Class of 2014.

Ken Griffey Jr. is another player who should retire and if he does is another lock for the Class of 2014.

Pedro Martinez? Absolute lock in my book if he decides to call it a career. My guy says that Pedro tries for one more contract but I could be wrong (and often am).

Will Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux both be back for another year? Both have been effective enough to pitch for almost any team's rotation and both are sure fire first ballot Hall of Famers. My guess is they both come back (Johnson is closing in on 300 wins and Maddux still seems to have lots left in the tank).

It will be interesting to see what happens with the candidacy of Ivan Rodriguez. On paper Pudge should be a lock but stories of steroids have dogged him through the years. My guess is if he gets in but the glut of players eligible for the first time in 2014 may force him to wait a year.

Trevor Hoffman is in the last year of his contract and at 41 years old he may be done. If he is then you would think that the all-time leader in saves (550 and counting) would be a lock for the Hall of Fame. The question will be whether he's a first ballot lock (there's a number of voters out there who are biased against closers).

Another interesting case will be Jeff Kent. Objectively - he's perhaps one of the top 3 offensive 2nd basemen in history but he's been such a prick that my guess is that he's made to wait. Especially in a year with so many great first year eligible players. My guess is that Kent is smart enough to realize this and thus comes back next year with some team desperate enough to take him in.

What about Gary Sheffield? He still has a year to go on his contract but he may be cooked. He quit on the Brewers and now on the Tigers. What team would want this guy? I hope he never makes it to 500 HR.

Finally you have the case of Omar Vizquel who deserves induction as one of the greatest defensive shortstops in history (11 Gold Gloves). It can be argued that Vizquel was the better all-around player than Ozzie Smith but my guess is if he tries to go in with all these other greats then unfortunately he gets greatly overshadowed.

The voting for the Class of 2014 is shaping up to be very interesting. You could have as many as 7 locks going into the voting and lots of interesting cases who in any other year may be at the head of the ballot. Like I said - it will be interesting to watch.

Excellent Point

David Pinto makes an excellent point:

Something I've talked about before is the more often a manager changes pitchers, the more likely he's going to find one having a bad day. If a reliever is brought in and pitches well, and hasn't reached a credible pitch limit, why not let him continue?

Sadly - I can see two reasons why the status quo is not broached. First - the manager would be accused of messing with the confidence of the closer in the media and on talk radio. Second - the manager would be accused of attempting a "closer by committee" set-up which has become three most misunderstood dirty words in baseball today.

It will take a manager secure enough in his position with a closer secure enough in his confidence and who puts team wins above personal numbers to make this happen.

The current situation in Atlanta may prove to be the perfect setting to break the now traditional role of a 3-out closer. When John Smoltz and Rafael Soriano are both healthy - the younger Soriano will defer to the Hall of Famer Smoltz who is not a fragile ego guy in the least. Smoltz for his part will not mind if Soriano is cruising along and stays in for the 9th inning for the save. Smoltz wants to "conserve the bullets left in the gun" and he and Bobby Cox have seen too many blown saves in Atlanta to care about orthodoxy.

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

It's not so much that Detroit is 0-6 to start the season. It's that they are already 4 games back in the standings... Many Red Sox fans are frustrated with Coco Crisp and would like to see him traded already. But Terry Francona has shown an ability to get bench players their at bats and Coco at the least makes the best late inning defensive replacement in the game (moving Ellsbury to left for Manny Ramirez). However, the frustration Red Sox fans have with Crisp's situation must be nothing compared to how the Dodgers fans must be feeling about Juan Pierre. Both Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier deserve to start and both of those players make the Dodgers a better team than what Pierre brings to the table. Yet there's Pierre continually trotted out to take up valuable AB from Ethier and Kemp. Here's the catch - both Crisp and Pierre are light hitting defensive specialists but Pierre has $36.5 million left on his contract that runs through the 2011 season and the contract includes a limited no-trade clause. Meanwhile Crisp is a better defensive player and his contract calls for only $4.75 million in '08, $5.75 million in '09, with a $8 million club option in 2010. My guess is that it will be very tough for Ned Colletti to trade Pierre for any sort of value while Coco Crisp is also available on the market... It very could be that Derek Lowe will be the best free agent pitcher available after this season. Lowe has had two real solid starts to begin the season. It could also very well be that Lowe ends up trade bait for the Dodger since the Dodgers are pretty deep at starter if Estaban Loaiza remains steady and Jason Schmidt comes back healthy. Lowe could be traded mid-season for the simple fact that Scott Boras is his agent and Lowe will probably be going to the highest bidder at the end of the year... The season is less than 10 games in and already Oakland's Joe Blanton has two 2-1 losses on his record. I feel bad for the guy... My early season fascination with David Murphy continues as the ex-Red Sox farmhand had another 2 hits last night and is now hitting .409 on the season... The Colorado Rockies have only scored 10 runs so far this season and are only hitting .209 as a team. Yet it is the Cubs fans you hear complaining... Who knew? Gabe Kapler (2) now has more HR than either Manny Ramirez (1) or David Ortiz (1). I guess that year off really helped. Just the same - I wouldn't rush out to pick up Kapler for your fantasy baseball team nor would I drop either Manny or Big Papi from your line-up... John Smoltz just needs 19 more strikeouts for 3,000 in his career. Smoltz should be a first year selection for the Hall of Fame when he's done....

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

It will be interesting to watch how the Atlanta Braves starting rotation shakes out. John Smoltz could be an ace on any team if he remains healthy and avoids arm trouble. Tom Glavine is going to be a great story going back to Atlanta and he's almost guaranteed to give you 200 IP. Tim Hudson seems to have rebounded last year and looks like an ace again. Mike Hampton? Well the thing the Braves have going for them with Hampton is the fact that this is a contract year for Hampton (no way the Braves pick up the $20 million 2009 option) and its funny how a player always seems to come through in his option year. Chuck James is an interesting player. Can he be a frontline starter with a sub 4.00 ERA or will he devolve into a long relief man? If Jair Jurrjens gets a nod in the starting rotation and performs like some people think he can - then the Edgar Renteria deal could be a real steal for the Braves. Yes - the Braves starting rotation will be very interesting to watch this season... When the Angels traded for Jon Garland and then signed Torii Hunter people were "crowning their ass" as the defacto AL West champs. I'm having my doubts. I don't think John Lackey can repeat his 2008 performance. Maybe its just how poorly he's done against the Red Sox that colors my perspective but I just don't see him as a team ace. Then you have Kelvim Escobar's pitching shoulder issues which will keep him out the start of the season. You can almost feel the snowball going down hill for the Angels... Speaking of John Smoltz - it will be interesting if he and Curt Schilling are up for the Hall of Fame at the same time. Both pitchers will have over 200 wins and 3,000 strikeouts and a resume of being two of the best postseason pitchers in history. Smoltz probably has the better shot since it looks like he will outlast Schilling and besides probably having more wins at the end of his career - Smoltz will also have those 154 saves... It seems everyone is saying how the Orioles duped the Astros by trading them Miguel Tejada right before the Mitchell Report came out and I have been one of the people who have been more than willing to point out Tejada's decline over the years and question whether his peak was due to "enhancers". Having said that - I can see Tejada coming back with a 30+ HR, 100+ RBI season this year. He'll be facing NL pitching and Minutemaid Park could be just what the doctor ordered for his HR totals...

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

He may be going under the radar of most but Tiger 2nd baseman Placido Polanco is having a heck of the season. He's currently 4th in the AL in batting average at .360 and tied for first for hits with 31. What's really amazing is the fact that he's only struck out twice in 86 at bats. He's by far been the hardest player to strikeout this season in the AL... The hardest player to strikeout in all of baseball has been David Eckstein - who has only struck out once in 75 at bats... The bloody sock crap that has been in the news has been the biggest non-story that I can recall in a long time. And if we are honest with ourselves - then we have to say that Gary Thorne comes out of this looking like a moron. A moron not to catch the humor in Mirabelli's comment in the first place, a moron to invent from whole cloth that it was paint and not blood and a moron for saying this all on a major league broadcast... John Smoltz has signed a contract extension that should keep him in Atlanta for his whole career. He'll need those extra years if he is to catch Tom Glavine for 4th place in wins all-time for the Braves. Smoltz has 195 wins for the Braves while Glavine had 242. There is no way Smoltz moves any further up the list than 4th since Phil Niekro is 3rd with 268 wins (I guess if Smoltz turned into Nolan Ryan and pitched till he was 45-years old he'd have a chance), Kid Nichols is 2nd with 329 and Warren Spahn is 1st with 356. Smoltz should take over the all-time lead in strikeouts this season though since he's just 112 behind Niekro for the top honor in Braves history...