Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

I've never understood the appeal of Pirates shortstop Jack Wilson. He's the highest paid player on the Pirates and yet his career OPS+ is just 79 (an average player would be at 100). Pirates management even saw fit to give a player who has a career batting average of just .270 a limited no-trade contract. Maybe this, in a nutshell, explains why the Pirates suck... At one point Edwin Jackson was the highest regarded pitching prospect in baseball. The Dodgers wouldn't trade him for anyone. Then Jackson's decline came. Last year I pretty much took the over in any game Jackson started for Tampa Bay and I must say that was a nice little run for me. This season Jackson started out with a 7 1/3, one run no-decision for the Tigers and you have to wonder if he's finally put it together. Today's start against Kevin Millwood and Texas should go a long way in answering that question... The Cleveland Indians sport a league-worst 9.86 ERA and their pitching staff has allowed opponents to hit .357. That's beyond putrid... I've said it before but I expect Matt Holliday to be a bust in the American League. I wish there was some place that would take a prop bet that at least one Rockies outfielder will have as many or more HR than Holliday this season. I'd guess that two Rockies outfielders will out-homer Holliday... 17 years ago today Boston's Matt Young pitched eight no-hit innings at Cleveland but lost 2-1 in the opener of a doubleheader. Young was not officially credited with a no-hitter because he did not pitch a full 9 innings... Pick of the day - Atlanta (-$200 - meaning you would have to risk $200 to win $100) with Jair Jurrjens starting over the Nationals (and yes I know the odds are steep but they are steep for a reason)...

Baseball Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous baseball thoughts and observations.

Going into the season many thought that offense would be a problem for the Padres but going into today San Diego holds the best team batting average in the NL with a .282 mark. In fact the top 5 hitters in the Padres line-up are all over .300. San Diego just needs to convert those hits into runs - the Padres are 13th out of 16 teams in runs scored.... 16 years ago today Boston's Matt Young pitched 8 innings of no-hit ball at Cleveland and still lost 2-1. Matt Young wasn't Chan Ho Park or Mike Hampton bad a s a free agent signing but he's up there in terms of the worst free agent signings by the Red Sox... Speaking of bad free agent signings - Barry Zito is now 0-3 for the Giants... Sophomore slump? Colorado's Troy Tulowitzki is hitting just .175 for the Rockies... The adult thing would have been to ignore the story. It was stupid to begin with... Symmetry - both Orlando Cabrera and Miguel Cabrera are hitting .182 for the season. Orlando has more RBI though. That has to be making fantasy baseball owners who took Miguel with their first pick real happy...