New York Nine

With changing of ownership and front office guys the Padres were the talk of the early off-season. Indeed, when "fire sale" popped up everyone assumed this was a total makeover for the team, ditching their high priced players and hoping to rebuild their anemic team and farm system. Well its March 31st and Jake Peavy and Brian Giles are still in Padres uniforms, and with some the exception of a few bargain bin pickups their offseason was remarkably quiet and ineffective.

The biggest loss of the season was undoubtedly the loss of Mr. Padre, Trevor Hoffman the career leader of saves. After a very messy divorce and refusal to pay him, he went off to the Brewers, leaving their so-so bullpen in even worse shape. This puts the burly rights Heath Bell into the closer job and its not looking so good. After an electric year in 07 where he struck out 107 in 93 innings and a stellar 2.02 ERA he plummeted to a 3.58 ERA with his strikeouts way down to 71. While he wasn't awful and he supposedly is in "the best shape of his life" just like half of guys out there in spring training, its no longer a lock in the ninth inning and more importantly they need to find someone to replicate his innings in the 7th and 8th innings.


The Padres also traded away Khalil Greene to the Cardinals, but as I have mentioned before this is pretty much addition by subtraction, with Greene taking his obscene .260OBP to greener pastures. However they did nothing to replace him despite the fact there were many cheap middle infielders like Orlando Hernandez and Orlando Hudson available for next to nothing. Indeed, the Padres added nothing of worth to their remarkably awful offense, leaving Brian Giles and Adrian Gonzalez with a bunch of stiffs in the lineup. They have another year of star prospect Chase Headly and Jody Geruit after a rebound year, but there's no sure bets here, its going to get even worse before it gets better at the plate for this team.


Finally the biggest move was really a non-move, that being keeping ace Jake Peavy. A great pitcher in his prime still, but after him it gets pretty dicey. Chris Young is back in the rotation after being out all of last year, but he has looked very bad this spring with an ever diminishing fastball and after him it gets even worse. Kevin Correia was picked up from the giants to start, but used primarily as a reliver he wasnt very good last year with a 6.05 ERA or 72ERA+, Josh Banks from the blue jays the year before is equally pitiful as well. They have Cha Seung Baek back from injury who proved to be effective at times and they have the incomprable Mark Prior, but god only knows what you'll get from him at this point.

This is a team that is bad and getting worse. Instead of trying to trade their valuable assets like Peavy to start rebuilding they held onto him and continue on their path to replicate their 99 loss season. CHONE projections have been rather kind to some of the new guys in the rotation, but that lineup is still pretty suspect. I give them a D for the off season, getting nothing of value accomplishing and destined for the bottom of the standings.

Its almost hard to believe that this team was in the world series two years ago, I mean even then that team wasn't THAT impressive and now they've only gotten worse. Indeed, after making the first big move of the year trading Matt Holliday to the Oakland A's of all teams, and since then they've only seemed to get weaker, whether that be through injuries, trades or free agency.


Easily the biggest move as I said was the trade of Matt Holliday early in the off-season. Headed for free agency next year and poised to lose their star player for nothing, Dan O'Dowd shocked the baseball world by trading for Huston Street, Carlos Gonzalez, Greg Smith and a host of other prospects. I can't say much about the other guys because I dont know a whole lot about them, but with the guys they got aren't stars but solid contributors to say the least. Street, coming off an awful year has been one of the better young closers in baseball with electric stuff. That said he's coming off a lousy year with a pretty pestrian 109ERA+ that he lost the closer job, but there's hope that he'll rebound with similar numbers striking out 69 in 70 innings and still only giving up 6 home runs with a slight jump in walks from a paltry 12 to 24. Going to a weaker league may help Street rebound and become the replacement for the newly departed closer Brian Fuentes.


Carlos Gonzalez is also a solid pickup for the team a young and very talented centerfielder with great range and promise behind the plate posting a career minor league line of .286/.340/.473. now that's not exactly great and he didn't do that well as a rookie, but when you consider he's replacing automatic out willy taveras's line of .250/.308/.296 i mean thats pretty putrid. Take that out of the lineup is addition by subtraction at the very least.


The rockies also made some additions in their rotation, although they're not exactly great. Greg Smith came in the trade, a young promising lefty who in 190 innings struck out 110 but aside from that he had his problems, giving up 21 home runs and walking 87. You figure him moving from an extreme pitchers park to the hitters park, coors i see those numbers only getting worse. Jason Marquis another marginal player with a 99ERA+ in 167 innings for the cubs also doesn't bode well for the Rockies. Add in losing Jeff Francis for the year, that staff is looking pretty bad right now.

Considering that they were in position to get nothing for Holliday, I'd say the Coors made off pretty well all things considered. They got cheap young players to replace their closer who they were able to get a first round pick compensation and a superior centerfielder, but Holliday's production will be seriously missed. PECTOA predicts rebound years from Atkins and Tulowitski as well as more from Chris Ianetta and Ian Stewart, but its a big hole to fill. Either way that rotation is crappy at best, awful at worst so no matter runs they score i dont see them making much noise this year. I give them a solid B on the strength of the trade, but this is a team that needs more still.

Onto the San Francisco Giants, a team with some bright spots but a lot of black holes that are going to be a lot to compensate for. Indeed, as you can see on the cover of MLB 2k9, ESPN the magazine, Sports illustrated and countless other media outlets Tim Lincecum brought national interest to a team that is pretty godawful aside from him. As they had in the past Brian Sabean have made some pretty dubious moves, and while there were some bright spots, it leaves the giants much where they were last year, near the bottom of the NL west looking up.


Arguably the biggest and most awful signing of the Giants made was for the incomprable Edgar Renteria for two years 18million. Going into his age 33 season after last year you have to question why they'd give him big money in a market that superior players like Orlando Hudson and Orlando Hernandez are getting less. I meant the guy hit .270/.317/.382 with subpar defense, what's is there to like? He's probably a better hitter than Omar Vizquel at this point, but not a whole lot, thats pretty putrid, and that is in the formerly vaunted Tigers lineup in a far more hitter friendly park, how do you think he'll do in a pitchers park in a really shitty lineup?


This is not to say they did nothing good, as they were able to sign Randy Johnson to be their very capable third starter. Getting pretty old at this point 45, last year Johnson proved to be still a pretty capable starter tossing 184 innings striking out 173 and only walking 44 with an ERA+ of 117. Not great, but you could do a lot worse on a medicore team for your third starter. Add him in there with Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, and the incomprable Barry Zito as your five, thats a pretty good staff, now if only they they had anyone who could hit it out of the infield.


Sabean also made considerable improvements in the bullpen as well, signing Jeremy Affeldt and Bob Howry to two and one year deals respectively. Affeldt esepcially, has proven to be a very capable and useful lefty, tossing 78 innings and striking out 80 with a very nice ERA+ of 135 and ERA of 3.33. Howry, coming off a down year at 35 I would still consider a good signing considering its price and the fact that prior to that last season where he was pummeled for an ERA over five, the four seasons before that were all featuring ERA+ of over 140, thats pretty good buy low.


Despite this nice cost effective pitching moves by the Giants, this is a team with a whole lot of holes in their lineup. With an outfield that no one had an OPS over .700 and your catcher is your cleanup hitter you're going to have some serious problems scoring runs for a pretty formidable pitching staff. Pablo Sandoval the new third baseman is being hailed as a new slugger, manning the third spot in the lineup will probably give them a bit of a boost, but I dobut it will make much of a difference, this is a team still a long ways to go. I begrudingly give their offseason a B, but this team still sucks pretty bad. Don't hold your breath for an above .500 season on the strength of Lincecum, there's just too much sucking going on there for him to make that much of a difference.

Aside from the Yankees the Dodgers were the winners of the sports back pages this off season by a long shot. Manny, Manny, Manny is all you ever heard, will he sign? For how much? He finally did sign for the same stinking deal of 45 million that he was offered originally with the opt out clause, putting their spending second on the list this year. Its been a busy offseason for the dodgers lots of new faces and faces leaving, but with Manny re-upping many critics have made them the resumptive NL west champion before the season starts, but I find this claim to be dubious at best. While they've become better behind the plate they've lost their two best starters and their closer and I find this to be quite troublesome.


As I said they lost their two top starters Brad Penny and Derek Lowe to free agency. Granted, Penny wasn't exactly great for them in an injury riddled year, but when you line them up in from of Kiroda, Billingsly, and Kershaw that's a damn good rotation, but that is no longer the case. Indeed, with those two gone Kiroda, a very good third starter, but hardly an ace, and Billingsley, only a second year starter full time there are alot of question marks. PECOTA predicts a sophmore slump for Chad from his very impressive 207Ks in 200 innings with a 135ERA+. Add in question marks in Kershaw who's now expected to be a valuable starter while at the tender age of 21 and a bunch of question marks after that makes me think their pitching is no longer quite as dominating. What's more is Saito the closer is gone. While he was injured at the end of last year he's been an anchor for that bullpen, forcing the burly Jonathan Broxton from his crucial relief ace role to the closer spot. Losing that arm for the 7th and 8th innings will hurt, and guys like Corey Wade are unproven and thus you can't just count on him fillling that role. All of this looks to me like a recipe for disappointment for Dodger fans.


But of course they have Manny now for a full season. After his record breaking tear coming to LA its hard not to feel like they have an offense that trumps anything the rest of the NL west has to offer. In addition they added the valuable Orlando Hudson at second base, providing excellent defense, but more importantly a major upgrade from Blake DeWitt. They also re-upped Raphel Furcal for three more years who has proven to be the sparkplug of the offense and Casey Blake at third base, a pretty awful defensive third baseman who hits for very pedestrian numbers at 3rd .274/.345/.463 and an 110 OPS+ (a 100OPS+ is a replacement level player) so the're not exactly getting an allstar and they resigned him for 3 years! And to think that they traded away the ultra-talented catcher Carlos Santana who's tearing it up for the Indians right now to get him makes me cringe.


They're still a very talented team compared to some of the other teams in the divison but people seem to forget that this team was around .500 for most of the year, and even when Manny came to town they didn't do that much better. Of course their young guys Either, Kemp, Loney and Martin can always make the next step at the plate but I dont see them all making enough of a jump to realisitically challanging the Cubs for the NL crown this year. I give them a B/B- for their offseason because while getting Manny is obivously a huge upgrade and the rest of the offense should benefit from him being there, I fear that pitching staff in the not-so-trustworthy hands of Joe Torre will falter.

Well everyone's favorite loud-mouth and blogger extraordinaire has decided to hang up the cleats one last time, and already writers are already buzzing about him, is he a hall of famer? One look at his career line and its easy to dismiss him 216 wins, 3.46 ERA and so on and so forth but in truth it doesn't really tell the whole story. I feel like I'm going the way of some old baseball writers who rely on their subjective experience and intangibles like "grit" and "clutchness" instead of statistics, but those simple stats don't really tell the whole story.


To get Curt's impact you have to look at those numbers but also the context he got them, with his biggest seasons all in seasons where he was the backbone for a championship team, with four world series trips and three rings to show for it. Now you can say hey well he happened to pitch well in those spots but he didn't do it over a long peroid of sustained excellence. This is true he had his ups and downs, but its hard to argue that well into his late 30s Schilling was one of the most dominating pitchers in the game when it mattered the most especially in the postseason with his 10-2 record and 2.23 ERA. But its more than that, as even the stat-minded Rob Neyer remarks

"It's not his 216 career wins. It's not his .597 career winning percentage. It's not his 11-2 record in postseason games, or his 2.23 ERA. It's not even the bloody sock.

It's all of those things."

I feel like I'm not really explaining his candidacy very well here, but as a Yankee fan it seems like a no brainer to me. From his time with the Diamondbacks in 2001 in the World Series and 2004 in the ALCS and the goddamn bloody sock I've learned all too well to respect and appreciate the man's talents. He's on the very short list of pitchers I just do not want to see on the mound when the game matters and he always delivered. Maybe for some that isn't enough sustained excellence but nearly a decade of frustrating the hell out of me and my team is more than enough for me to see this guy is a hall of famer. I hate the guy he's an annoying fat bastard who loves to hear himself talk, but the guy can fucking hurl it with the best of them. Perhaps he isnt the best hall of fame candidate, but you sure as hell could do a lot worse.

It seemed like the perfect symmetry last season, a hundred years of losing, a few big acquisitions, a dominating regular season, the stars seemed to be finally lining up for cubs fans. However, we know that didn't happen, the lowly dodgers came into town, a team that barely was over .500 and flat out embarrassed them, sweeping the division series on the strength of Manny's ridiculous performance, hitting nearly .500 and some dominating performances by LA's pitching staff. Such sudden and profound disappointment made every self-respecting cub fan stand up and demand change, make this team better, more unbeatable so this doesn't happen again. GM Jim Hendry and Cubs's front office answered in kind with a flurry of trades and signings that gave them a lot of headlines this offseason, but I fear that the Cubs messed too much with a good thing.


Arguably the most intriguing move of the off-season was a non-move, letting the beloved Kerry Wood go. Coming off a pretty impressive campaign where Wood registered 34 saves striking out 84 in 66 innings with a 137ERA+ (or 3.26ERA for you laymen) Hendry decided to instead let the oft-injured closer go in favor of trading for the so-so closer Kevin Gregg and his 127ERA+. While its not a huge drop-off Gregg doesnt have the stuff or the pedigree of Wood. More importantly, Gregg will likely not be closing, and instead the fireballer Carlos Marmol will take over those duties. An absolutely fility pitcher who struck out 114 in 86 innings who can no doubt close out games, but I see him far more valuable as a set up man or relief ace. While not as high profile as the closer not getting the gold star known as a save, Marmol's ability to come in in the 7th and 8th innings and blow guys away when the game on the line is far more important more often than not than the 9th. I feel the Cubs will live to regret messing with one of the most dominating bullpens in the league.


The other big move was the signing of Milton Bradley. A talented and mercurial player, the guy has been an injury waiting to happen, playing only 100 games 3 times since 2000. Don't get me wrong the guy is ridiclously talented, he hit a pretty astonshing .321/.436/.536 last year, thats MVP caliber right there. The only thing is he played 141 games because he was DH for most of the year away from the field where he so often succombs to injury. Furthermore, while his numbers are sick his numbers away from Arlington are a little more pedestrian .290/.410/.462, still pretty good but not MVP. And yet for some strange reason, despite the fact the market is so bad and guys are getting shorter and more managable deals, the Cubs give the guy a 3 year deal! Who knows he could be real good, but without the benefit of playing DH I don't see him getting more durable now that he's on the wrong side of 30.


Finally one of the more underrated loses for the Cubs is the loss of Mark DeRosa via trade to the Indians. A guy who can play pretty much anywhere on the diamond 2B, 3B, and the outfield and still hit at a very respectable clip of .285/.376/.481, not bad for a super-utility guy. And even more than that he's one of those guys baseball writers love, a chemistry guy a "glue" guy who makes the team go, makes things happen, and yet they traded him for prospects, but why? Cub fans will point to Aaron Miles and say "hey he hit .317 we got a deal!" Well yeah sure that's nice but a closer look shows that its pretty damn fluky, hitting a pretty lucky .342 average for balls in play (BABIP is essentially the percentange of balls hit in the field that become hits, when you have that high of an average its just good luck and that usually isn't sustainable). He doesnt get on base or slug like DeRosa and I think they'll hurt in cruch time without him. The same goes for Ronny Cedeno who while not as talented has been one of those guys who came up big last year for them.


The Cubs made a host of other moves, including getting the Shea Favorite Aaron Heilman, Joey Gathright, and a few others but I see pretty much all of these moves as the Cubs going in the wrong direction. They'll still be pretty good as their core of guys are still there and in their prime and Bradley could possibly provide some desperately needed left handed power, but I just think they messed too much with a good thing. As the wild-card era in MLB has shown us, a five game series can be fluky, a team can get hot and win three games ina row and be done. Does that necessarily mean they're a better team? Not really, it means they were for a very small sample size. Just because the Cubs faltered in this very small sample size does not make them a bad team, but I fear with these moves they made themselves worse. I give them a C for their offseason, it still could be good and they are still the team to beat in the division, but I see a few chinks in the armor.

Well its that time of year again, for one of the best and most authentic sports video games to come out, MLB 09 The Show, which means I'm not getting much of anything else done for the next few months haha. Only available on playstation 3 and 2, this game is the gold standard for baseball games and pretty much all sports video games with an unbelievable attention to detail, ultra-realistic graphics and gameplay that can't be beat.


If you've never played the Show there are a few basic formats, quick play, season, franchise, and some other individual games like home run derby that i won't get into, but the visual itself is what makes this game a standout. From the second the game loads (it take a little while to load, but its well worth the wait) you'll be amazed at the keen sense of detail everywhere in the ballpark, from the smallest touches like the fans to the quirky parts of the park the triangle in center in fenway or the ivy in wrigley, its got it all. Even the players themselves are unbelievably realistic, from their own individual batting stances, pitching motions, even their faces, these guys look like they really look in person, its uncanny.


But more important than the visual is the gameplay which is outstanding as usual. The makers of this game clearly are determined to make the game as realistic as possible getting both the strengths and weaknesses of every player. Indeed as the commercial shows, the guys on the cover like Pedroia are great, but like in real baseball they are beatable, if you have the guile and the smarts to do it.


Franchise mode, my favorite aspect is everything a baseball fantatic craves, from an increasingly realstic trade engine (much to my chagrin it is much harder to trade for every nasty player in the game, I guess the game designers are on to my ploy) maintaining stadium upkeep and concession prices, making improvements for the players and supporting your club. In this regard they haven't changed a whole lot since past seasons, but in truth they dont really need to do much more, they've got way more than any reasonable gamer can handle.


There's more to the game which I haven't gotten to yet such as scouting, drafts or the other individual games, because they game itself is just so damn fun to play. Its time consuming and playing a whole season is a daunting task that ive never been able to accomplish without some healthy simming, but its a game that is a source of endless entertainment, difficult enough to stump the most advanced player, but not ridiclously hard to the point where its no longer fun.


To anyone who doesn't have a PS3 and are stuck with playing MLB 2K9 I am very very sorry for you because to put it bluntly that game doesn't hold a candle to this one. While its a nice game that has its strengths, the visual and functional aspects of the Show are on another level, its almost unfair to compare the two. I'm going to try to not let this game occupy all of my precious free time, but when you see this game in action, its very hard not to, its fantastic and I reccommend it for anyone who loves baseball and anyone who loves a well designed game.

This isn't entirely baseball related, but its so damn bizzare I had to say something about it. Jose Tabata, the once highly regarded yankee prospect and now Pirates just seems to be getting in trouble a lot these days and it makes you wonder what kind of man he is. For those who aren't familiar with the guy he's been a problem for the yankees ever since he signed, most recently storming off the field and going AWOL for a few days. Well it seems Cashman made the right move to ship him out in the deal for Xavier Nady and Demasco Marte, because he's embroiled in quite a mess these days.


In a storyline that reminds me of Raising Arizona, Tabata's wife Amalia Tabata was arrested in the case of a kidnapping of a two month old baby that has been subsequently returned. The baby was returned unharmed, but the baby's parents are pressing charges on the 42 year old woman, for which Tabata claims to know nothing about.


There are so many things wrong about this thing I don't know where to begin. First off, he's married to a 42 year old woman! He's 20 years old! Something must be very wrong with this dude, she could be his mother! He's closer to the age of the baby than he is own wife! Second, you know Joses had to have known something about this kid-napping, and you have to think that any 20 year old kid who's married to a old babynapping woman has some serious issues.


A strange a very sad story, and perhaps it isn't what it looks like, but I am very glad the yankees have nothing to do with this guy. At the time I was upset to see a guy so talented traded away for guys with so-so impact, but I can see why now they did. "Mini-Manny" as he is called for his immense talents and bad attitude seems to have more negatives than positives these days and while they sold low on the guy it seems he's destined to sink even lower. He's a young guy and things could turn around for him, but it's not looking good.

I realize Adam Kennedy is no longer on the team, but anytime I find a picture of a ballplayer making himself look foolish I can't help but seize the opportunity to make fun of it. Anyways, 2006 seems like a long time ago for the st louis cardinals, their star closer adam wainwright is now a promising young starter who's taking his bumps, and their stellar rotation is long gone, with even their ace Chris Carpenter being no sure thing anymore after an injury plagued 08'. For certain, since then there have been a lot of holes on the saint louis roster, but whether it be the bad economy or inability to find the right match saint louis did very little to improve what was already a rather mediocre team.


Arguably the biggest addition of the offseason was the trade for middling padres shortstop Khalil Greene. Honestly even middling is pretty kind to Greene who's coming off an absolutely putrid season of .213/.260/.339 i mean jesus christ how is he even a starter with those numbers? Granted he is a year removed from hitting 27 home runs and driving in 97 runs, i consider those numbers to be the exception rather than the rule, sporting a lifetime .304OBP; good hitters dont have on base-percentages of low .300s, sorry.


Aside from that blockbuster move there isnt a whole lot to like in the cardinals offseason, letting franchise leader in saves Jason Isringhausen walk, as well as valuable relievers Tyler Johnson and Russ Springer walk and signing the incomprable royce ring and his 8.60 ERA and lefty Trevor Miller to replace them. These moves are dubious at best, removing any remenant of any effective reliever in their place. that said, relievers are such a crap shoot, great one year and bad the next, that im sure duncan will be able to get something out of these guys, but whether they find someone to close the came remains to be seen.


If I were Albert Pujols I would not be too happy about the Cardinals decision to do nothing this offseason and neither should cardinals fans. I give them a D for this offseason letting some valuable guys walk while doing nothing to make them better. As it stands Pujols has basically no protection in the lineup and is looking at a season full of being walked a whole lot. Of course Shumaker and Ankiel at times showed to be effective hitters and the hot propsect Colby Rasmus seems to be close to hitting the big time none of these guys has a proven track record for you to be able to bet on it. Of course stranger things have happened and indeed the Cardinals stayed in contention without having much at all in the talent department, but with the cubs looking as formidable as ever I think its highly unlikely that they do.

Let me see how many hands for people who even saw the brewers making the playoffs last year, anyone? anyone? For sure it was almost as surprising as the rays to see the lowly brewers, a team who had not even sniffed the postseason since 1982 make the playoffs and subsequently be ousted in three quick games. But that was a very different team than the one preparing for the 2009 season, gone are their two aces CC Sabbathia and Ben Sheets, to free agency and injuries respectively. While still possessing a lot talented young players, much like it appeared last year this team is a ways off from truly being a force to be reckoned with.


As I mentioned the brewers rotation has two really glaring holes in it right now and its hard to see how they'll fill them. Gone are sabbathia and sheets, and instead they have Yovani Gallardo who was hurt most of the season and....i dont know, dave bush? manny parra, maybe? Indeed, between those three and jeff suppan and seth mcclung there isn't exactly a whole lot milaukee fans can be real happy about. no one in that list instills any sort of confidence and while gallardo is unquestionably very talented, he has proven to be quite injury prone thus far. With these collection of bums you'd think that Milwaukee would try to make a move for a quality arm, such as matt cain whom was tied to a trade rumor with prince fielder, but instead they did nothing to quell these fears. Instead, their answer is signing the closer-turned-starter braden looper, while his 4.16 ERA and 199 innings are not terrible and if he can repeat it he's at least useful, but as Jeff Suppan has already demonstrated, Dave Duncan's reclaimation projects very seldom continue their success upon leaving st louis. Regardless, even if he did, he's no CC Sabbathia.


The only addition worth even mentioning was the signing of the all-time saves leader trevor hoffman. a great closer in his day, hoffman at this stage in his career can hardly be considered an impact signing, posting a fairly putrid 3.66ERA as a closer in the best pitchers park in the league. While Hoffman at this point is certainly better than last year's alternative, the pitcher formerly known as eric gagne, this move hardly cements the still very unstable miluakee pen.


While the Brew Crew still have a grat deal of talent position player-wise, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder are obviously two very talented young hitters and they are surrounded with good players in Corey Hart, Mike Cameron, JJ Hardy and a host of other guys it would be hard to argue that they're even half as good as they once were. I give their offseason a solid F for letting their two biggest assets go and basically doing jack shit to replace their production. Unfortunately for milaukee fans it seems as though they are going to be waiting for another long time before they taste the postseason again unless they do something about their current situation.

Cincinnati hasn't exactly been a team people talk about in recent years in baseball circles. Indeed, aside from their bambox of a park that hitters use as a launching pad for inflated power numbers, there hasn't been much of a "team" to speak of in the last decade or so. But it seems through some deft drafting on the part of former GM Wayne Kirvinsky and patience by current GM Walt Jocketty it seems there be the foundation for a team that will be damn good for some time.


Like many teams this offseason amidst the economic recession, the reds were very quiet in moving players. with most of that being done at the deadline last year by dealing ken griffey and adam dunn. for the first time in many years the reds will be without their slugging outfielders, but they have emerged as a much younger, cheaper and atlethic team perticularly in the outfield. Replacing the lumbering Dunn and the slipping Griffey are chris dickerson and wily taverez, two far superior defensive outfielders with speed to spare. however these two are hardly the same caliber hitters as their predecessors so it remains to be seen whether than either of them, perticularly taveres and its absolutely pathetic .302OBP can be worth a lineup spot. But in right field they feature a year older verison of the ultra talented jay bruce. power, speed, jay's got everything and a burgeoning talent in this league whom we should be hearing a lot more about.


On the infield, the reds acquired veteran backstop ramon hernandez from baltimore, a sure boost to their now questionable offense. possessing above average defensive skills to go along with his power at the plate they are a stronger team up the middle while giving up very little in return.


However the big concern for the reds as always is the pitching, especially in that park. featuring two seasoned veterans in aaron harang and bronson arroyo and two emerging dominican pitching stars edinson volquez and johnny cueto. they certainly are not lacking in talent but whether the two young guys can continue to progress and the veterans can continue their consistent play is a concern in such a hitters park.


I give the reds offeason a C if only because they did very little to improve themselves in an siginificant team altering way but it is hard not to like the existing talent they have here. between Joey Votto at first and Bruce in right and volquez and cueto in the rotation they possess an embarassment of riches in regards to young talent. of course their potential is exciting and gives reds fans hopes for success in the future it has yet to be fully realized and will take some time to materialize. Regardless, unless Dusty Baker really fucks it up (which I am not ruling out) this should be a fun team to watch.

While its true that I'm not the biggest fan of the World Baseball Classic, I'm a baseball fan first and foremost and moments like these are why I love this game. If you haven't heard the Netherlands, the freaking Netherlands, beat the Dominican Republic, not once, but twice to sweep the highly favored team out of the competition and back home, astounding.


If you want to talk about a collection of nobodies, the Dutch are your team. I mean really look at their roster, I'm crazy about baseball and I could name maybe three players on that team before the WBC and one of them was Sir Sidney Ponson, that fat piece of shit who masqueraded as a pitcher for the yankees last year. Aside from him and Vanden Hurk of the Marlins, they've got nobody that even really looks like a baseball player on that team. I mean the guy Eugene Kinsale who singled in the tying run and scored the winning run had the physique of a 12 year old boy, complete with the chicken arms. In the inning prior he allowed the ball to get by him and let Jose Reyes score but at the plate against the unhittable Carlos Marmol he grinded it out and delivered.

And the team they faced was an all-star team for the ages. Yes they didnt have Pujols and A-Rod, but damn what a roster, Ortiz, Hanley Ramirez, Reyes, Cano, Edinson Volquez, Ublado Jimenez and Pedro to name just a few. And they they were shocked twice by this team of bums. But these bums came to play, play with intensity and heart and they whipped them in an epic game that went 11 innings.


I think the Domincan Republic should really be ashamed in a lot ways, they played carelessly, three errors in the game, but the game belongs to those pesky Dutchmen. Great job and I wish them all the luck in the world, they're going to need it.

What a hypocrite I am I start this site saying oh I'll post everyday, at least and here I've let so many days pass and now its Thursday, for shame. But oh, there was a reason for my brief hiatus, a book by the late, great David Halberstam, Summer of 49'. If you haven't heard of him, Halberstam since the early 60s has been regarded as one of the preeminent journalists in America, covering topics all over the cultural landscape, from politics, war, culture, and my favorite, sports. He has since died in the last year very suddenly and it is truly a great loss for journalists everwhere of every ilk. Indeed, even blogger-extraordinaire Bill Simmons credits him as one of him as one of his greatest influences as a writer. Covering the epic 1949 pennant race between the joe dimaggio's yankees and ted williams' red sox, Halberstam not only tells a story of a great summer of baseball, but gives the reader a glimse of a very different America, altogether simpler and yet simulateously perplexing.

Better than any other writer, Halberstam truly gives remarkable insight into the players and how the game was played all those years ago. It was a time where the media was far less omniprecent but still managed to shape how America viewed some of its greatest stars. The Yankee Clipper, Joltin' Joe was as Halberstam notes a Hemingway Hero come to life, unbelievably powerful and talented, seemingly everything looking positively elegant and regal. He captured the hearts and minds of fans everywhere as the embodiment of the American dream, born of a poor immigrant fisherman, Joe ascended to the heights of fame and fortune through his stoic and and soldierly demeanor. But yet beneath the public view was a man tortured by demons, smoking and drinking coffee to the point of giving him uclers and a penchant for being a hermit, he was as a teammate remaks, leading the league in room service.



In contrast you have the great Ted Williams, a player with seemingly boundless talent and ability to disapoint in the eyes of many Bostonians. Indeed, he was a brash and extroverted man, unwilling to take criticism lying down he fought every battle and in turn lost a nation of fans's hearts. He would curse them out, flip them the bird, and famously never tipped his cap, never giving an inch, never comprimising. And yet he was a player who dedicated his entire being to his craft, hitting. He praticed it everywhere in the outfield on trains, wherever and whenever, constantly worrying about bat speed pitch selection and everything under the sun. But this was a side many never saw, and instead people focused on the negative, his "un-clutch" ness, his surly demeanor, and anything else to gloss over his greatness.



What also struck me about this book was how very different the lives of these players were. Long before the days of Scott Boras and mega TV deals players fought for every dollar because they were at the mercy of owners who could buy them and sell them as slaves. Indeed, it is said the yankee teams of this era were so ferocious because the veterans depended on those world series checks to live as they were accustomed to, and as a result they rode rookies, even the great yogi berra, especially hard. There was no margin for error, their goal must be met. but this simultaneously made them all the more human, none of them playing for millions upon millions of dollars like the current players do, and lived "normal" lives. They had part time jobs in the offseason, they worked for every penny they got.


But with the simplicity, also came the prejudices of the time. Indeed, Jackie Robinson had already broken the color barrier, but the race wars were hardly over. Perticuarly with established clubs like the yankees and red sox, ownership felt it was beneath them to have to stoop to the level of needing african-americans to make them better. In truth, both clubs had first cracks at signing the great Willie Mays, then with a Negro league club, but both said no! Steeped in prejudice ownership by both teams deemed the Say Hey Kid "Not Yankee material" or "Not Red Sox material." It is easy to make this era into a perfect storytale, but as Halberstam so defty demonstrates, this was a time like any other, possessing both good and bad.


For anyone looking for a great read about an exciting time in baseball history, or just history in general I highly reccommend picking this up. With unconvential candor and elegance, Halberstam gives the reader a convincing and enticing portrait of a game and a nation in transition. From his exciting play-by-play description of big games, to even the simplest anecdote, Halberstam keeps the reader riveted throughout. Like no other book about baseball, this one shows us how things have changed so much, the game of baseball, remains constant, as engaging and thrilling since the days Joltin Joe and Teddy Ballgame stepped into the box.

Not that I'm saying he deserves a ton of sympathy, he's the highest paid player in the game, a world-famous douchebag and a steroid user, but you have to almost feel bad for the guy with all the bad shit that's been happening to one Alexander Emanuel Rodriguez. Of course you could say its just karma, retribution for disrespecting the great game of baseball by cheating and being a general asshole, but that's up for you to decide. Indeed, as many already know, A-Rod is going under the knife tomorrow for surgery on a bone cyst and will be out until May. Suddenly the yankee lineup isn't looking quite so potent.



There's been a lot of talk as to whether he was going to play through it and the length of the injury recovery time, some saying as long as four months, but it appears Alex opted for the surgery now and surgery after the season and try to salvage the season. It will be very interesting to see how the yankees deal with his loss in the lineup I have heard some trade ideas thrown around but it remains to be seen. But the big question is how will he be received after this injury, will the boos be worse or will the public's angst soften? Time will tell.

Especially for anyone under the age of 30, its very hard to imagine that the Pirates, on the verge of the most consecutive losing seasons in the history of baseball were once a proud and historic franchise. Honus Wagner, Pie Traynor, Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente, Barry Bonds and countless others left an indelible mark on the game as all-time greats, but those days are long gone. Indeed, since that final out of the 1992 NLCS its been pretty much all bad for the pirates, finding new and horrifying ways of sucking and alienating their fanbase. But in the last year there have been signs of life, beginning with new managment Frank Coonelly, MLB's chief labor lawyer and Neal Huntington of Cleveland came in as new executives and have made stries to improve the fortunes of this forlorn franchise with some prudent trades, this is a team still a long ways away from winning again.


There really isn't much to say about the off-season of the pirates, but instead the most important move happened last year with trading away xavier nady, demaso marte, and jason bay. trading away their best assets they made themselves better in the future acquiring prospects jose tabata bryan moss and a host of others. Tabata, long considered the prize of the yankee system drawing comparisions to Manny Ramirez has had his share of problems, getting out of shape having fights with managment and finally walking off the field. but his talent is prodigious and as soon as he left the yankee system he took off hitting .348/.402/.562 in AA as a 19 year old! Needless to say as a yankee fan i'm not too happy to see him gone but things look very promising for him and the pirates in the future.


However, this doesnt help the pirates in the short term which is where the problem is. while they added the reliable eric hinske to play the outfield they have some talented guys who are still a ways off leaving them pretty thin at the major league level. They did very little to improve themselves and the pieces they have up there now are less than satisfactory. I give them a C- for their offseason but pirates fans can hope that the trades last year are the beginnig of something real and good to hold onto.

It's really not fair to compare this incarnation of the Braves to the heyday of the three headed monster of Maddox, Smoltz, and Glavine in the 1990s, but its hard not to. A decade plus of excellence and domination seems but a distant memory to Braves fans so management has tried to do something about it. Indeed, making one of the bigger splashes of the off-season with Derek Lowe and Javy Vazquez but one look at their lineup and its clear these Braves are not ready for the big time.


With Smoltz and Hudson found to be unreliable Atlanta needed a replacement for both and they went out and did that with the big trade for Vazquez and the Lowe signing with some moderate success. For sure, while perhaps not being the flashiest or wow me type of pitchers, these two have been the model of health and consistency for years, Lowe giving 30 plus starts for seven years and Vazquez pitching at least 198 innings for nine, it doesnt get much more reliable than that. These guys along with Jair Juirgens who won 14 games as a rookie and Japanese import Kenshin Kawakami they are poised to have one of the more durable and dependable staffs in the division and indeed the league.



But where the problems arise is the rather punchless lineup. Sure Chipper Jones at the tender age of 37 had another great year leading the league in batting average on on base percentage, and Brian McCann is arguably the best hitting catcher in the National League but after that it gets dicey. Indeed, the whole Braves outfield last year hit 27 home runs, 27! You've got to be kidding me! Former "The Natural" Jeff Francoeur hit only 11 and the rest didn't fare well either. To make matters worse they traded Mark Texiera and replaced him with Casey Kotchman, a solid player who proceded to do jack shit when he came to Atlanta hitting two measly home runs with the club. While its true they added Garrett Anderson to the mix, a good veteran hitter from the left side, he hasn't proved to be durable not even playing 80 games in the field and hasn't seen a pitch he doesn't like, with a career OBP under .350. This, my friends, is not a recipe for a winning ball club.


I give the Braves a B- for their offseason, addressing their pitching needs very astutely but not bringing enough to the table at the plate. The addition of Anderson is a smart and cost effective one, but its not enough to make this team any more than a fourth place team in a very competitve division. Of course as the saying goes pitching and defense wins championships and they have a durable staff and a top flight defensive squad to back it up its going to be hard for them to muster the runs to back these guys up. They're on their way and the Braves are absolutely loaded with talent on their farm that will be making an appearance real soon (remember the name Tommy Hanson) but not now, not yet.

Okay I have to confess, I hate how the Marlins do baseball. Not the players, but management, seemingly willing to just trade away everyone they don't want to pay for prospects, absolutely suck for several years only to just shock everyone with their immense talent and make a run deep into the playoffs and win it all. Seriously if you've watched baseball for the last decade they've done this twice now and it seems they're about due. Say what you will about the Marlins, but their baseball people know talent when they see it and they're absolutely stacked with it right now. The National League is officially on notice.


There's really not much to say about what the Marlins did this offseason to improve themselves, they mostly traded away guys who are arbitration eligible because they didn't want to pay them for prospects, but the pieces they have in place are there and a year older and a year better. They'll have the ultra-talented Cameron Maybin in centerfield this year, most recognized for getting his first hit a home run off of Roger Clemens two years ago. I remember that hit at Comerica Park he absolutely crushed it to deep center which for those of you who dont know is about 420, ridiclous for a kid who had no business being up yet. He brings an insane amount of speed and power to the lineup along with a healthy amount of strikeouts. The talent doesnt end there, Dan Uggla at second, a rejuvinated Jorge Cantu at 3rd, the ultra-talented Jeremy Hermedia in left and of course the God of Fantasy Baseball, Hanley Ramirez. All of these guys can flat out hit and with the emerging John Baker at catcher (a .392 OBP last year) and either Gaby Sanchez the Southern League MVP or Dallas McPherson, who hit 42 home runs in AAA last year at first base they won't miss Mike Jacobs a whole lot.


The pitching is similarly stacked, with elder statesman Rickey Nolasco at 26 heading the staff coming off a 15 win season, Josh Johnson, a young pitcher with improving control and Ace-stuff, fire-baller lefty Andrew Miller, and oh a healthy Anibal Sanchez as the number 5. you might remember him he threw that no hitter a few years ago and he's not even 25. God how do they have so much talent?


I'm not saying this is the year that the Marlins "shock the world" again, but they're damn close to it. While their offseason was forgettable the talent in their lineup is anything but. They're stacked from top to bottom with youth and their poised to be a major pain in the ass for prennial contenders Philly and New York for the NL east. I'll give their offseason a C, but that team is A+ talent, don't say I didn't warn you if and when they win the NL east this year.

Okay okay lame headline, but if you're a met fan its really not to far from the truth. Indeed, the last two years have been excruciating for the Mets fans to say the least, wrought with two consecutive September collapses, fans are looking for SOMETHING to be happy about. Well they didn't exactly light the world on fire this off-season, a lot of very valuable free agents were there for the taking and for the most part the Mets did not bite, GM Omar Minaya addressed the most glaring weakness and made it a strength.


If you want to make any Met fan wince in pain just mention the names Heilman and Schoenwies and they'll be in tears in seconds. Okay, maybe not but these two and many others in that disaster of a bullpen really ripped the heart right out the Mets and into second place pretty quick. Indeed, especially in the second half the Mets bullpen was to put it bluntly, absolute shit. Consider of the six relievers Jerry Manuel has called upon most frequently, five have second-half ERAs above 4.90: Ayala (5.54, including his Washington stint), Pedro Feliciano (6.38), Aaron Heilman (6.75), Duaner Sanchez (6.00), and Joe Smith (4.91); Scott Schoeneweis (4.50) is the exception. When Schoeneweis is the leader in the clubhouse with a 4.5 era you've got some serious problems.


So Omar said you want a bullpen, I'll give you one, signing the single season saves leader K-Rod and then subsequently trading for the stellar JJ Putz to set up. While K-Rod had a record breaking year his numbers last year were a down year in stats that matter, namely strikeouts per nine innings walks and WHIP, but when you consider who he's replacing, well he's not too bad. In addition Putz is brought in to set up for him and you could argue he's better than K-Rod posting more impressive stuf and the control to back it up. In this regard I give the mets very high marks, you could argue that this was what kept them from winning the division and they went out and made their bullpen an asset.


However while this was a big problem this was not the only problem of the Mets. Indeed, while their roster is quite star-studded they also have a great deal of lineup spots that are pretty much automatic outs (I'm looking at you Luis Castillo and Brian Schneider). Especially in a National League lineup where you have the pitcher hitting if you have two or three guys out there that you have no faith in to be productive you're going to be exposed, which is what happened. In addition, the Mets got no real production from the corner outfield positions, two spots that are usually very productive, getting virtually nothing from Ryan Church after his two concussions and not much at all from Fernando Tatis, Trot Nixon, and pretty much any other replacement-level player they threw out there. While there's a lot to like in David Murphy and you can hope that Church comes back thats a lot of if's and when there are proven guys like Bobby Abreu, Adam Dunn, Ken Griffey, Garrett Anderson and a host of other solid corner outfielders available for very cheap you have to wonder why they didn't improve themselves.


I'll give the Mets a B/B+ but it could have been a solid A had they just got a decent bat in that lineup to compliment Wright, Reyes and Beltran. They're solid players for sure, some of the leagues best but that's not a team and unless some guys step it up or have some serious bounce-back years I dont see this team being actually better than the Phillies. While their starting pitching is strong and the bullpen is looking real solid, you'd have to be pretty foolish to think that judging from last year that this lineup is as good as the Phils. Time will tell on that and stranger things have happened, but its going to be a fight to the end with the Phillies.