I guess that I am not too surprised by this. I honestly thought that The Yankees were going to make a serious go at it, and I suppose in some respects they did, but they made the right decision by holding on to youth rather than chasing after a veteran. Although I write that with some pause since truthfully I would have loved to get Santana (who wouldn't). But the practice of swapping youth for veterans needs to be put on hold. Sure, Santana isn't nearly as old as Randy Johnson was when we acquired him, doesn't share the same penchant for punching walls as Kevin Brown, but frankly the memory of those debacles and of course the memory of a certain pitcher with the initials CP makes me feel ok with not picking up Johan. In hindsight all the posturing from The Yankees and Boston over Santana turned out to be just another tactic in the battle of the bulge (by that I mean bulging wallets) between American sports greatest rivals.
Now of course every arm chair analysts and ESPN columnist will question if this a winning deal or a losing one for the Mets. Personally I don't think that it is a question at all. Let's face it, the Met's have been unraveling at the seams this off season, making lamebrain trades to the Nats and not getting much in return. This is the only decent thing they have done since mid September. With Santana the Met's get a sure fire lefty and only give up four (unknown to me)prospects and $140 million, ten million less than the rumored going price. Certainly an upgrade from Glavin who probably has "Wake Me When September Ends" on permanent repeat on his ipod. So good for the Mets because frankly if the Yankees can't have Santana, and he isn't in Boston, the Met's could certainly use a B-12 shot right now. Plus, going the National league means we only have to face up against him a few times during inter league play.
*Full disclosure, I do not hate or love the Mets. To me I could really care less about them.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Closer By The Day
With 20 odd days until pitchers and catchers report to training camp I'm starting excited. This year is going to be great, not just because of names like Chamberlin and Hughes, but also because the Nat's new stadium is almost finished!!! Since the ground breaking I have been diligently checking the Clark Construction Cam daily to check on the progress of the new home of the Nationals. To some this may seem like watching paint peel, but for me it makes me feel that I have had a role in the construction(I can't even begin to tell you how excited I was the day they laid the sod). Here are today's pictures:
I may have written this once before but the Nat's are really starting to pull things together. They have made some pretty decent trades thus far in the off season and I would be willing to predict that they finish 2nd in the NL East this year. This new stadium is going to be icing on the cake. Anyone out there who thinks that the Nat's aren't in DC to stay is delusional.
(4:15 pm update from Nationals Website)
As part of its soon-to-be-released 2008 Prospect Handbook, Baseball America ranks the Washington Nationals minor-league system No. 9 among Major League Baseball's 30 clubs. Washington's No. 9 ranking stands in stark contrast to last season, when the Nationals' system ranked 30th in baseball. The Nationals' ranking leap of 21 slots was the second-largest this decade, or since Baseball America began producing its Prospect Handbook in 2001 (Texas leapt 24 slots, from No. 28 to No. 4, in 2008).
Prior to 2008, neither the Nationals nor Expos had ranked higher than 16th in BA's organizational rankings.
Six of the Nationals' top 11 players, as ranked by Baseball America, are products of Washington's 2007 First-Year Player Draft, which was rated as the "best in baseball" by BA in its November 5-18 issue. According to BA, 17 of the Nationals' top 20 prospects were either drafted or acquired since the Nationals moved to Washington in 2005.
By the way, if anyone has tickets for opening day that they are looking to unload let me know, maybe we can make a deal!!!
I may have written this once before but the Nat's are really starting to pull things together. They have made some pretty decent trades thus far in the off season and I would be willing to predict that they finish 2nd in the NL East this year. This new stadium is going to be icing on the cake. Anyone out there who thinks that the Nat's aren't in DC to stay is delusional.
(4:15 pm update from Nationals Website)
As part of its soon-to-be-released 2008 Prospect Handbook, Baseball America ranks the Washington Nationals minor-league system No. 9 among Major League Baseball's 30 clubs. Washington's No. 9 ranking stands in stark contrast to last season, when the Nationals' system ranked 30th in baseball. The Nationals' ranking leap of 21 slots was the second-largest this decade, or since Baseball America began producing its Prospect Handbook in 2001 (Texas leapt 24 slots, from No. 28 to No. 4, in 2008).
Prior to 2008, neither the Nationals nor Expos had ranked higher than 16th in BA's organizational rankings.
Six of the Nationals' top 11 players, as ranked by Baseball America, are products of Washington's 2007 First-Year Player Draft, which was rated as the "best in baseball" by BA in its November 5-18 issue. According to BA, 17 of the Nationals' top 20 prospects were either drafted or acquired since the Nationals moved to Washington in 2005.
By the way, if anyone has tickets for opening day that they are looking to unload let me know, maybe we can make a deal!!!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Eye of the Hurricane
This is the center of the storm for me which means instead of leaving at midnight or 1 am every night, I can leave at a relatively early 8-9 at night. There is nothing like sleep deprivation and no spare time to really make you want to punch someone in the forehead. It is particularly amplified by the fact that I have been given a blackberry which means that even my spare time is constantly interrupted by the earth shaking rattle of that little grey slice of hell (it is going off now even as I write this). The upside to all of this madness is that with part of the extra proceeds I am going to buy a flat screen 1080p television. Sure, I could probably spend my money in better ways but everyone needs to reward themselves every once and a while, and considering I never make big purchases I'm not going to worry too much about this. Plus, the thought of being able to watch nine innings in high definition makes me (for lack of a better word) giddy. But I digress with all of this talk of work, that isn't what this blog is about, this blog is about baseball. Since I am still honoring my moratorium on all things relating to Roger Clemens I would like to give some preliminary thoughts on the 2008 season, these by no means are my final predictions but instead just the players that I am most excited about, and worried about. Here we go:
Joba Chamberlin - I don't think that it comes as any big surprise that I am more excited to see Joba throw than to see any other player this year. Hank has hinted that Joba will be in the starting rotation which personally I think is a good idea. He at least deserves a shot at a role in the front five, worst case scenario he doesn't work out and settles into a role as a closer and becomes the next Goose or Rivera...pretty good company to keep if you ask me. However, even with Chamberlin the fact of the matter is that while the rotation looks pretty darn solid next year, you still have to give pause to the fact that three of the potential starters are all hovering around 22 years old and have limited experience in the majors.
Phil Hughes - After being injured for a large part of 2007 and then dealing with some spotlight issues I'm looking for Hughes to come back strong in 2008. He has some games under his belt now and presumably he has a better understanding of his body to know when he needs to slow it down so that he doesn't reinjure himself. Of course there is still the slight possibility that he could be in Minnesota next year, but at this point I am putting the chances of the Santana trade at less than 5%
Joe Girardi - Ok, he isn't a player but that doesn't mean I can't get excited for him to arrive in the Bronx. I've been arguing that he was the perfect man for the job for a long time and I am anxious for him to prove himself to me and the rest of the Universe. This Yankees team isn't going to be the 1996 - 2000 Yankees. This team will require micro management for the youngsters, and respect for the veterans. Certainly not an easy task, but look what he did with Florida!
Mike Mussina - Mussina tops my list of players I am most concerned about going into 2008. Last August Mussina officially jumped the shark. It remains to be seen if he can muster the strength and control to be the number 4 or 5 man for the duration of the season, but since he has a year left on his contract he is at least going to get the nod for the first month or two. It will be interesting to see how Girardi handles a flailing Moose.
(sigh) As much as I would like to keep going with this post, duty calls. My imp-Berry just won't stop vibrating. Just keep in mind, only 22 days until pitchers and catchers report (and until I can take that God awful countdown timer off my blog).
P.S. Any interest in a blogger trip to a baseball game this summer? Just throwing that out there.
Joba Chamberlin - I don't think that it comes as any big surprise that I am more excited to see Joba throw than to see any other player this year. Hank has hinted that Joba will be in the starting rotation which personally I think is a good idea. He at least deserves a shot at a role in the front five, worst case scenario he doesn't work out and settles into a role as a closer and becomes the next Goose or Rivera...pretty good company to keep if you ask me. However, even with Chamberlin the fact of the matter is that while the rotation looks pretty darn solid next year, you still have to give pause to the fact that three of the potential starters are all hovering around 22 years old and have limited experience in the majors.
Phil Hughes - After being injured for a large part of 2007 and then dealing with some spotlight issues I'm looking for Hughes to come back strong in 2008. He has some games under his belt now and presumably he has a better understanding of his body to know when he needs to slow it down so that he doesn't reinjure himself. Of course there is still the slight possibility that he could be in Minnesota next year, but at this point I am putting the chances of the Santana trade at less than 5%
Joe Girardi - Ok, he isn't a player but that doesn't mean I can't get excited for him to arrive in the Bronx. I've been arguing that he was the perfect man for the job for a long time and I am anxious for him to prove himself to me and the rest of the Universe. This Yankees team isn't going to be the 1996 - 2000 Yankees. This team will require micro management for the youngsters, and respect for the veterans. Certainly not an easy task, but look what he did with Florida!
Mike Mussina - Mussina tops my list of players I am most concerned about going into 2008. Last August Mussina officially jumped the shark. It remains to be seen if he can muster the strength and control to be the number 4 or 5 man for the duration of the season, but since he has a year left on his contract he is at least going to get the nod for the first month or two. It will be interesting to see how Girardi handles a flailing Moose.
(sigh) As much as I would like to keep going with this post, duty calls. My imp-Berry just won't stop vibrating. Just keep in mind, only 22 days until pitchers and catchers report (and until I can take that God awful countdown timer off my blog).
P.S. Any interest in a blogger trip to a baseball game this summer? Just throwing that out there.
Monday, January 14, 2008
A Brief Hiatus
Since my work load is exploding right now I don't anticipate being able to write much in the coming weeks. I have to say that I am not a big fan of the count down clock on the top of this page, but my time being at a premium right now I just don't have an opportunity to look for a better one. So, for the next couple of weeks I'll be pretty sporadic, but the good news is that every day we get closer to the first pitch of the season.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Congressional Hearings, BALCO, PED's...blah blah blah
Remember when all you had to keep track of in baseball were statistics? Now you need to be a pharmacist and a statistician to keep track. But honestly, enough is enough, I am finished with the steroid debate for at least the foreseeable future. The whole thing is turning into a media and political circus where everyone feels they need to chime in (I suppose I have to include myself in that category). I'm tired of hearing Roger Clemens deny using steroids while at the same time acting shocked that his best friend Andy Pettitte used. I would like to say that if it weren't for Clemens adamant denials this whole Mitchell report controversy would have starting to fade by now. Unfortunately the truth is no matter what Roger says or does, when spring training starts up again you can bet that there will be a whole new slew of who took what, when, etc etc. I just want to watch baseball.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
It's about time!!!
"Goose" gets the call to the Hall
Former Yankees closer Rich Gossage was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame today by the Baseball Writers Association of America, leading the ballot with 85.5% of the vote.
Former Yankees closer Rich Gossage was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame today by the Baseball Writers Association of America, leading the ballot with 85.5% of the vote.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Really Roger...Really
"Never happened," Clemens insisted. "Never happened."
Are you serious? All that I can say is that Clemens had better be telling the truth because he isn't you can bet that he won't even be able to take a bus to Cooperstown. Roger and his big mouth have also landed him a special invitation to appear before Congress. Will he testify? Depends, is Mike Wallace on any special committies?
Are you serious? All that I can say is that Clemens had better be telling the truth because he isn't you can bet that he won't even be able to take a bus to Cooperstown. Roger and his big mouth have also landed him a special invitation to appear before Congress. Will he testify? Depends, is Mike Wallace on any special committies?
Thursday, January 3, 2008
HGH, GET YOUR HGH HERE!!!*
As any baseball player can tell you, getting your HGH has become a little more tricky thanks to that pesky Mitchell Report. Well look no further players because here comes Biehealth US in conjunction with Continental Airlines magazine to solve all of your Human Growth Hormone related needs!!! That's right, no more back alley transactions, no more rookie whistle blowers, and no more Senators to bother you in the locker room!! Biehealth US even offers plenty of legitimate excuses should those bastards actually find out how to test for HGH....choose from any of the following:
Hemorrhoids
Multiple Sclerosis
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Macular Degeneration
Cataracts
Cloitus
Fibromyalgia
Angina
Chronic Fatigue
Diabetes
Hepatitis C
Rheumatoid Arthritis
High Blood Pressure
Sciatica
But that's not all!!! You can also say that you were just using HGH to help with Kidney Dialysis, and heart and / or stroke recovery!!!
Don't believe us, well take a look at this quote from one of our satisfied customers:
"I started taking HGH from Biehealth to help with a nasty hemorrhoid problem. Not only did the hemorrhoids disappear, it worked so well I was able to win 7 Cy Young awards!"-Roger Clemens
So call us today before that bitch Mitchell starts knocking on your door!
*Sorry for the lame parody today, my friend gave me this ad this morning and I just couldn't believe that any company would advertise this. Happy New Year everyone!!!
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