Around The Horn 3-12-10

Nomar
No-Mah retired Wednesday. Now I can stop feeling bad. The last few years have been really tough on me, perhaps even on Mr. Garciaparra himself. Everyday I saw him try to hit the ball with power or play first base with seriousness I lost a little of my soul. No-Mah was a Hall of Fame talent with a brittle body. Imagine what he could have done had he taken steroids. He may have hit 8 home runs last year. The world will always wonder.

Baseball Injury
Every year we are treated to a baseball injury. A player might sneeze to hard or dream about spiders and then wham, 15 day disabled list. Now Jose Reyes may miss eight weeks because of elevated Thyroid levels. He may have to cut down on his seafood intake but that’s about it. The great thing is it is not career threatening, not that any baseball injury ever really is.

Duh
Cubs GM Jim Hedry lambasted Milton Bradley this week. His sentiment was basically that Bradley needed to look into the mirror to find all his problems. He then relayed that his signing of Bradley was “a mistake.” The GM’s of the Expos, Indians, Dodgers, A’s, Padres, and Rangers were heard to yell “No, Shit” immediately. Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik was quoted as saying “oops” to the signing of Bradley.

What gets me is how many teams Bradley has touched with his awesome craziness and superhuman ability to deteriorate team morale. Yet he keeps getting passed along to the next sucker. Why not send him to MLB oblivion, or are the Royals all set in the outfield?

A’s Prospect Headed To The Padres?

Some of you may have heard that one of the top prospects of the Oakland A’s, Grant Desme, has retired from baseball. It’s not that Desme wasn’t good enough to play in the majors.

No… he was good all right.

In fact, this past year, Desme was the MVP of the Arizona Fall League, hitting .315 with 11 home runs and 27 RBIs in 27 games.

No, the reason the 23 year old outfielder is laying down his bat is because he’s being called up to an even bigger league than the “big leagues.”

Grant Desme is retiring from baseball to enter seminary school. That’s right… he’s going to become a priest.

Which, if that’s the case, I can’t help but wonder why the A’s wouldn’t trade him to the San Diego Padres?

Hot Stove League Updates 12-10-09

Roy Halladay
Winter meetings continue with absolutely no information as to where and to whom Doc Halladay will go. He is like that really hot girl that everyone wants to take to prom. But she is waiting to see what car the boys are driving before she chooses a date.

Granderson
The Yankees take a step closer to repeating. Some are saying that it’s a bad trade with Granderson’s plummeting OPS. My take is he is as good as or better than Johnny Damon. The Yankees will be fine. Also, if he doesn’t work out, they will just buy someone who will.

Angeles Lose
Success for Mike Scioscia’s Angels has always been predicated on their ability to get on base and steal. Chone Figgins was the catalyst to that. Anyone they can muster to take his place will be a significant downgrade.

Wolf Pack
Randy Wolf will move once again from the friendly confines of Dodger stadium. The Brewers get a quality starter that will eat innings. Watching Dodger games all year I am particularly aware of what Wolf brings to the table. Brewer fans will enjoy two to three runs being given up in the first three innings. This will be followed by lights out artistry that will have you questions who the guy pitching the first three innings was.

Rangers Deal
The Texas Rangers have just made one of the smarter moves this off-season. By saving money on a trade of Kevin Millwood, they were able to sign under-achieving Rich Harden to a one year deal. Harden has tremendous upside when healthy. He probably could have squeezed a three year deal from somewhere. But unless your name is Hank Blalock, no one wants to be a Ranger for more than a season.

Atkins Diet
It seems the Colorado Rockies are having a wee bit of difficulty trading their very expensive 3rd baseman. It seems there is no market for Garrett Atkins, a power hitting 3rd baseman that has trouble um, hitting.

Pull Your Head Out, Bud Selig!

After the post season we’ve had in Major League Baseball, the time has clearly come to expand the use of Instant Replay. Yet Commissioner Bud doesn’t think so.

ALDS Preview: Red Sox vs. Angels

Let’s disregard the fact that the Angels have three division series losses to the Red Sox. This is a new year and what’s striking is that these two teams are pretty close images of one another. Take away the ability of both Jon Lester and Josh Beckett to turn into K machines every so often, the Angels and Red Sox are pretty much split down the middle talent wise. The regular season record illustrates this with the Angels taking five of nine.

Both squads have extremely talented hitters throughout. What both lack is a step-up stud of a hitter. Neither has the one guy who pitchers would rather pitch around than put anything near them. This has not deterred either from being extremely potent on offense. Rather, the hits are spread out all over. This is a pick em’ series that should go all five.

To pick the winner of this one I flipped a coin nine times and the Angels won. However I remember that I still can’t stand the Rally Monkey so I switched to the Red Sox. Monkeys should be lauded and laughed at for their comical behavior not invoked to spur on a rally. That’s right the Red Sox win because Angel fans worship monkeys. You heard it here first.

NLDS Preview: Cardinals vs. Dodgers

With Torre and LaRussa at their respective helms, the Dodgers-Cardinals series will be an interesting exhibition in strategy. And we all know how exciting baseball strategy exhibitions can be.
The Dodgers come in with the best record in the National League but may just be the underdog in this one. Both teams tout a stunning lineup of speed and power. The Cardinals have a lethal combo of Pujols and Holliday. Either of which can turn the game around in one swing. The Dodgers counter with Manny Ramirez whom the Dodgers are confident will turn things around for the series. They also feature one of the best hitting center fielders in Matt Kemp. He is not only adept in the batter’s box but also on the base paths. Oh, I almost forgot the stunning contribution Jim Thome brings to the table for the Dodgers. His ability to fly out in crucial situations may prove vital in the week ahead.
The game changer comes in the form of the starting rotations. St. Louis has two of the best in baseball in Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter. The Dodgers have used the entire season to piecemeal a consistent rotation together. With Billingsley unable to throw anything but fastballs down the middle, Joe Torre will call on Randy Wolf to lead the Dodgers in game 1. The only confidence this brings LA fans is that Wolf is left handed and the Cardinals seem befuddled by those types this season. This will be a close series if the Dodgers take game 1. However if they lose home field advantage you can buy tickets for St. Louis in the League Championship series.

NLDS Preview: Rockies vs. Phillies

The Rockies are as enigmatic as the division in which they play in. Touted as a young team on the rise, the Rockies started the season as underachievers.

I would also like to take this time to throw a special shout out to my boy Garrett Atkins whom I drafted in the 7th round of my fantasy league this year. Atkins was supposed to be the slugger the Rockies desperately needed this season. He is now backing up Ian Stewart at third base. Let me put this in perspective for you Garrett, Dexter Fowler is getting more hacks then you right now. Dexter weighs a little more than a fat infant and he is getting the nod over you in crunch time. I hate you. I’m sorry – I just really could have used the power from that position this year.

Anyway, they would hit their low point of 12 games under .500 in the beginning of June. Management felt not enough was being done with the talent on the roster and manager Clint Hurdle was fired. That being said, the Rockies have been the hottest team in baseball since the break. Jim Tracy has brought back a sense of calm to the young dugout. Starters such as Troy Tulowitzki feel at ease knowing that their skipper has faith in them. The players have dutifully rewarded him with solid defense, consistent hitting, and a playoff berth. If Jorge De La Rosa can be fit to pitch in this series Colorado’s chances skyrocket.

Please don’t misconstrue me. The Phillies should win this series. They have a better roster and won it last year. That should be the end of the argument. But what fun would sports be if great teams didn’t have at least one fatal flaw? The problem for Philly is in their bullpen.

While the Rockies are trying to maintain their heat, the Phillies are trying to return to postseason form. Last year Philadelphia had a seasoned and lethal bullpen. They played with a confidence after the seventh inning not many could. Unfortunately for the defending Champions Brad Lidge has gone from a lights out solution in the ninth to a shaky proposition. There is no doubt that Philly touts a better lineup and starting rotation in a short series. They have the power to make short work of the Rockies. The only caveat will come when Hamels, Lee, or Blanton have to surrender the ball to the bully.

Baseball Bits 10-2-09

And by that we mean “bits of information about baseball.”

We are at that funky time of the season where a lot does not matter. Most teams are locked into early winter breaks or about to make a run at a World Series title. There may be a nice race in Minnesota/Detroit but since neither is representing the American League in late October let’s just ignore them completely:

Kip Wells the Human Pitching Machine
Kip Wells finally got the Cardinals back on track today… Too bad he pitches for the Reds. Both he and reliever Micah Owings combined to give up nine runs in a little over four innings. I don’t know what it takes to be a pitcher in Cincinnati, but I am pretty sure it consists of an ERA above five and a penchant to throw the ball over the plate.

Chris Carpenter chimed in with six RBI’s including a grand slam off of Wells in the 2nd inning. Troy Glaus got into the mix with his first RBI this season. Yes, the Cardinals starting pitcher and ‘fresh off the DL’ third baseman combined for 8 RBI’s today off what the Red’s are calling pitchers now-a-days. I am seriously considering hiring Kip Wells to throw me batting practice when I am having a bad day. I hear he might be available soon.

At least they aren’t the Orioles
The Mets will be damned if they have anyone healthy to end the season. Jose Reyes was threatening to end September with a fully healed hamstring. The Mets staff quickly nipped that in the bud and ran Reyes in practice until he was good and re-injured. He is now out for the remainder of the season… All three games. Most would have opted to sit Reyes down and avoid pesky distractions the off season can bring like surgery on an injured hamstring. Such is not the way of the Mets. This news was followed by the revelation that ticket prices for the Mets will be down 20% next year. I feel this was necessitated by the fact that their best players this year were Angel Pagan and Luis Castillo. You can’t charge big league prices when best and healthiest mean the exact same thing in your organization.

Any day now
I have a sneaking suspicion that the Dodgers believe the National League will clinch itself. Watching Mark Loretta try to field a ball last night, I could come to no other conclusion. Much like Manny running down a routine fly ball in left field, the Dodgers will make clinching their division look as hard as possible. I don’t like Los Angeles’ chances as their rotation has looked surprisingly like the ‘quality staff of arms’ they have over there in Cincinnati.

Billy Wagner Allows Trade

So if you turned on the World Wide Leader or your local sports radio station at any point today, then you most likely heard the news about the Mets agreeing to trade Pitcher Billy Wagner to the Red Sox for a couple of players to be determined later. Apparently the deal got done because Wagner waived his no-trade clause after the Red Sox agreed not to exercise the $8 million dollar club option next year (he really wants to be a closer again, not a set-up guy). They do, however, reserve the right to offer arbitration, which Wagner certainly won’t accept.

So the Sox get a proven left arm for the stretch run this season, and when Wagner signs elsewhere as a free agent during the winter, they’ll get draft picks as compensation. Sounds like a win for everyone, right?

Well this is where I’d normally say something smarmy, like “Wrong, the verdict is still out! No one knows how effective Wagner is going to be! He could re-injure his arm! One solid inning last week shouldn’t spur this kind of deal! Etc., etc., etc.” I would say some or all of those things, but I just can’t get past how much Wagner resembles Simon Pegg. It’s uncanny, and frankly, quite distracting for me.

I can see it now… Francona approaches the mound and asks for the ball.
Wagner, in a thick Scottish accent, tells his skipper “I’m giving you all I got Captain!”
See what I mean? How am I supposed to tell whether it’s a good deal or not with those thoughts running around in my head!
Impossible!

Bronson Arroyo… Kid in a Candy Store!

Bronson Arroyo is either one of the bravest or craziest men in baseball. To be honest, I haven’t really decided yet which way I lean.

For starters, I love his devil may care attitude. He’s going to do what he wants to do, and to hell with those who disagree with him. He has a battery of pills and supplements he takes every day, many or which can not be found on the approved list of supplements endorsed by Major League Baseball. But he doesn’t care because he’s never failed a drug test, so he figures it must be alright.

That being said, there is a fine line between being your own man, and just being indignant. As such, I hate the fact that, at his disposal, is an approved list of supplements and drugs which he could take without any repercussions, now or in the future. But he refuses to play along. Thus, if the day ever comes where he does fail a test, he’ll have no one to blame but himself.

The other thing I like about him, though, is how candid he is about the 2003 anonymous drug tests. With David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez both having their names leaked, Arroyo openly admits that his name is likely on the same list. And that is something I applaud. I wish more players would come out and say the same.

But really, who out there is that brave… or crazy?

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