Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Under the radar - Baltimore's first three in the batting order are all in the top 11 in batting average in the AL - Brian Roberts (.356 11th), Adam Jones (.359 10th) and Nick Markakis (.381 3rd). That's quietly impressive... I get confused - is I Want Revenge the name of the Kentucky Derby favorite or the name of the Selena Roberts book on A-Rod?... I feel bad for Pittsburgh's Ian Snell. In his last three losses he gave up a total of just 6 earned runs. Why is it that some pitchers always seem to have bad luck when it comes to their team's offense always taking a day off when they start?... There are still 4 players who have as many or more home runs as individuals than the Oakland A's have as a team total... People in Boston are very worried about David Ortiz. I imagine that people in Chicago may be similarly concerned about Derrek Lee and his single HR and .200 BA... Not for nothing but if A-Rod had 3 HR but was hitting just .197 - he'd be booed both at home and on the road. Those are Mark Teixeira's numbers so far... Is Julian Tavarez really the Nationals new closer? Wow - things are worse in Washington than I thought.

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Interesting analysis of Bartolo Colon's start for the Red Sox last night. Bottom line? It looks like he still has his fastball and that's the pitch he needs to be successful... Everyone is making a fuss out of the Tampa Bay Rays and their turnaround but the bigger story may actually be the rebuilding job done by the Oakland A's. The poster boy for the A's resurgence is probably Dana Eveland who was acquired in the Dan Haren trade and who is currently 4-3 with a 2.90 ERA in 10 starts for the A's (compare to Haren who is 5-2 with a 3.14 ERA in 9 starts for the Diamondbacks).... Speaking of the A's - Frank Thomas seems to be doing a decent job since his signing (3HR / .282 BA / .855 OBP). I guess I may have been incorrect with predictions of his demise. Frank Thomas also needs just 2 more HR for 521 to tie Ted Williams and Willie McCovey for 16th place on the all-time HR list... Mike Piazza may have been pretty one-dimensional but he's a first ballot Hall of Famer nonetheless... Happy 35th birthday Julian Tavarez - for your birthday the Red Sox are sending you to Pawtucket... Today also would have been Hall of Famer Al Simmons (real name Aloys Szymanski) 106th birthday. Simmons had a run of over 100 RBI in 11 of his first 12 seasons in the major leagues. His career total of 1827 RBI is good for 16th place all-time (just ahead of Frank Robinson but just behind Dave Winfield)... If Willie Randolph thinks of himself in the same vein as Herm Edwards and Isiah Thomas - then he should be fired. Edwards and Thomas are perhaps the worst coaches in their respective sports. I don't care about skin color. I do care about what expectations a professional sets for himself. If Randolph is thinking "I want to do as well in this city as Herm Edwards did" then he should be fired... Omar Minaya is the real problem with the Mets. However, if a manager change is inevitable - I think Tony Pena would do a great job for the Mets...

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

There are only 4 teams in the AL who haven't scored 100 runs as a team yet and there are only 4 teams that haven't allowed 100 runs yet. Somehow both Oakland and the White Sox have managed to be on both lists... The New York press is into protecting Joe Torre mode and shifting the blame for the Yankees bad start onto GM Brian Cashman. Before blaming Cashman for the poor state of the Yankees pitching - let's look at who the Yankees signed this offseason and who they could have signed. They signed Kei Igawa (who came up big for them yesterday), brought back Andy Pettitte (a very good move) and re-signed Mike Mussina (they pretty much had to do that - 2-years $23 million). When you look at the free agents who could have made a significant impact - only three stand out (Barry Zito, Jason Schmidt and Randy Wolf) and all three of those signed deals with West Coast teams because they wanted to be in California. Realistically there wasn't much else Cashman could have done except for out-bidding the Red Sox for Daisuke Matsuzaka. If Cashman has an off-season sin - not getting Dice-K is it but I don't think that sin will cost him his job... It will be interesting to watch the Kirk Radomski situation unfold. Radomski admits dealing steroids from 1995 to 2005 but that's not something you just fall into. You don't just leave college and immediately start dealing cocaine (for example) without first being exposed to cocaine. It seems a rational assumption that Radomski was exposed to steroids use while working in the Mets clubhouse. Look for additional scrutiny to start falling on players like Jeff Kent, Bobby Bonilla and Howard Johnson who were three of the big sluggers during Radomski's time with the Mets... Julian Tavarez starts for the Red Sox today against the Yankees. I wish there was some place I could bet that Tavarez hits either Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez. If there was a place that took such bets - I'd probably parlay that he hits them both... I think Nick Cafardo is right on in his analysis of the A-Rod out clause in his contract:

Understanding the way Scott Boras operates and the inclusion of an out-clause in Alex Rodriguez's contract, I'm one of the few who believe A-Rod will stay with the Yankees. He'll stay with some enhancement to his contract, despite the current insistence of Yankee management not to tinker with the deal -- of which Texas is footing $21 million (of $81 million) over the final three years from 2008-10. Boras has perfect leverage in this case. Never mind the Angels, the leverage comes in the possibility that the Red Sox would be interested. The Yankees didn't want Gary Sheffield going to Boston, so they picked up his option and dealt him safely to the Tigers.

Only a couple of teams could afford A-Rod (the Red Sox, Mets, Yankees, Cubs, Dodgers and Angels). You can probably take the Mets off the list because they have David Wright at 3rd and Reyes at SS. You can also probably take the Dodgers off the list because they have Furcal at short and prospects like Andy LaRoche and Brandon Wood for 3rd. Couple that with the fact that the Yankees won't want A-Rod going to the Red Sox plus the fact that there really aren't any big name free agents next year (assuming the Cubs get a contract done with Carlos Zambano) - Carfardo is correct in that the Yankees will re-tool A-Rod's contract and he'll be in pinstripes next year.

Ripples from a Non-Trade

The recent non-trade of Todd Helton to the Red Sox is one of those rare instances where both teams are better off having announced trade talks but not actually making the trade. Don't believe me? Take a look at how just talking trade may have affected the players and teams involved:

Red Sox Players

- Kevin Youkilis was affected because he would have had to move from 1st to 3rd and probably would have dropped from #2 in the order to the bottom third. He probably ended up taking an emergency number of ground balls at third once the talks were announced. Jelly (Youkilis' initials are K-Y) is probably the least affected by the talks but look for him to be better prepared to play 3rd than he would have been.

- Mike Lowell is a veteran and I'm sure used to trade talks. But it should be pointed out that he played Gold Glove defense at 3rd last year but also tired at the end of the season. This year I expect the defense to be just as good but I also expect Lowell to post better offensive numbers for two reasons:

1. This is his contract year and players almost magically always post better numbers in their contract year.

2. The Red Sox will need to get Wily Mo Pena and Eric Hinske at bats and that means Lowell will probably get more rest this season and hopefully that means he'll be more fresh at the end of the season. (Note - Lowell was second on the team in AB with 573 last year - he should still get over 500 if he stays healthy but cutting down 25-50 AB should help the 33-year old Lowell.)

- Julian Tavarez was perhaps the Red Sox' best starter last September. With two starters over 40-years old, one starter new to the rigors of starting in MLB, one starter coming off the only 200 IP season of his career and the last starter converted from closer because his arm hurt - I think it is a good bet that the Red Sox will need another starter at some point this season. Tavarez went 3-0 with a 3.52 ERA in 5 September starts. That's great insurance but that may only be the icing on the cake. It should be remembered that Tavarez is perhaps Manny Ramirez's best friend on the team and keeping Manny happy may also help keep Manny productive.

- Manny Delcarmen is the local boy living the dream of playing for the local nine. The saying goes, "You don't know what you have till you lose it" and MDC almost lost his dream job. He'll probably savor every game and make sure he doesn't falter. Manny Delcarmen just got a wake-up call.

- Craig Hansen can now tell his grand kids that the Red Sox thought so much of him that they wouldn't trade him for a Hall of Fame first baseman. Perhaps Hansen's biggest problem last year was confidence and this non-trade had to have been a tremendous shot of confidence to the young Hansen.

The Red Sox as an Organization

In the week before the Super Bowl the Red Sox dominated the local sports news with this non-trade, Curt Schilling announcing he would pitch in 2008, and the Roush Racing NASCAR arrangement. Could it be a coincidence that their tickets also went on sale this week? The Red Sox are proving to be PR masters and it is no coincidence that news of the potential trade leaked when the MO for the Sox is to play things close to the vest in trade negotiations.

The Rockies

The Rockies almost pulled a reverse Ray Bourque - sending a beloved veteran player from Colorado to Boston so that he could have a chance at a championship. They were just doing this for the player who had given so much to the organization. They too got some pretty good PR out of this whole affair. What they also did was set the price for a contending team to acquire Todd Helton at the trade deadline. Now it is known throughout MLB that the Rockies will pick up half the contract of Todd Helton in exchange for a top pitching prospect from a contending team that Helton will agree to be traded to.

All's well that ends well I guess.