Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

I still really want to see an Olympic ski jump event where all the participants have to make their jumps using those flying squirrel suits... US Marine attacks African immigrant and steals his lunch... Roy Oswalt announced he's retiring. It should be noted that he made $97 million in salary in his baseball career. I'm assuming his family won't go hungry... Chad Finn has a good take on how lucky Boston sports fans have been... Every time you hear a sob story about a free agent player like Stephen Drew who was offered a $14.1 million 1-year qualifying offer but has yet to sign with a team the spin of the story will somehow be how the compensation draft pick is hurting the player and a flaw in the system. What is never stressed is the fact that Stephen Drew was offered $14.1 million AND TURNED IT DOWN!... JRR Tolkien as a 24-year old in 1916 during WWI... The Olympics remind me that people flock to watch Ice Dancing but for some reason at all other times people won't flock to the Ice Capades. I think it is because of the word "capades". If they called it Ice Dancing of the Stars people would flock to it. Ice Capades not so much...

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

How can the Red Sox give new closer Andrew Bailey number 40 for his uniform. That was Calvin Schiraldi's number. Very bad juju... Insane rope swing... The things you learn on the Internet - according to Mental Floss dropping two aspirin tablets into a dead car battery might actually revive it... One big problem with Roy Oswalt that many people seem to be overlooking is the fact that he's a Type A free agent. That means the team signing him will lose a 1st round draft pick. If he wasn't going to cost a draft pick he's probably have a 1-year $10 million contract by now... I really like Dick Vermeil. I just do... I am surprised that no team has signed starter Chris Young. Sure he's coming off an injury and is not 100% yet but he has great upside and easily could be a solid number 3 starter for 20 or so starts this season... I couldn't help but laugh at this. Silly - I know - but sometimes silly is good.

EDIT: Roy Oswalt was classified as a Type-A free agent but since he was not offered arbitration by the Phillies he would not cost a team signing him a draft pick.

Flotsam and Jetsam

Miscellaneous thoughts and observations.

So Roy Oswalt has asked for a trade? Seeing how he makes $15 million this year and will make $16 million in 2011 with a club option for another $16 million in 2012 - a team would not only have to be in a position to go to the playoffs but also have large amounts of cash available to afford him. What teams fit that profile?... Makes perfect sense to me... The Yankees would be an obvious candidate to trade for Oswalt. He could easily take Javier Vazquez's spot in the rotation and his contract wouldn't really make a dent in the Yankee bank account. The question is whether the Yankees have the prospects the Astros would want in return... A list of unusual words. I had pretty much not heard of any of these words. I may be up for some abligurition today. If there are some pretty girls maybe even engage in some apodyopsis. Yup - major abligurition and apodyopsis... A real Iron Man suit. I want one!...

The All-Disappointment Team

Going into the season many fans and fantasy baseball players had high hopes for certain players but not all the big names have pulled their weight. Here's my All-Disappointment team up to this point of the season.

C - Victor Martinez Indians - 0 HR before going on the DL
1st - Richie Sexson Mariners - .675 OPS
2nd - Freddie Sanchez Pirates - .236 BA - where's the guy who won a batting title?
SS - Troy Tulowitzki Rockies - .152 BA before going on DL
3rd - Ryan Zimmerman - just a .718 OPS before going on DL (yet still leads the Nationals in HR and RBI - that's how bad the Nationals are)
OF - Curtis Granderson Tigers - just 3 SB and a .246 BA
OF - Delmon Young Twins - Just 1 HR - the Twins would have been better off trading for the power hitting of Coco Crisp
OF - Gary Sheffield Tigers - .213 BA before going on DL - may be the end of the line
DH - Travis Hafner Indians - 4 HR before going on the DL
EDIT: As Donald pointed out - Andruw Jones should have been listed. He's the worst free agent signing this year.

SRHP - Roy Oswalt Astros - 5.06 ERA - really?
SLHP - CC Sabathia Indians - starting to turn things around but still no back-to-back Cy Young Awards
Closer - JJ Putz Mariners - 7 saves and a 5.21 ERA before going on DL
EDIT: As groug (what kind of name is groug?) points out - Barry Zito should be the SLHP. Mea culpa.

Top 5 - Baseball Players Born in Mississippi

Here are who I consider the top 5 baseball players born in Mississippi.

1. Dave Parker - the 1978 MVP - his admitted use of cocaine may have kept him out of the Hall of Fame
2. Ellis Burks - over 1200 runs and RBI
3. Frank White - 5-time All-Star and 8-time Gold Glove Winner
4. George Scott - the "Boomer" was a big hitter but don't forget that he also had 8 Gold Gloves
5. Roy Oswalt - one of the top pitchers in the NL