Manny, Boras, and Free Agency

 

With the Manny market ready to bust into the limelight as soon as the likely overpaid Mark Teixeira finds himself a new home, this Bill Simmons article serves a great read:

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=manny

 

In other news, this is my first post since the summer.  I am thinking of narrowing down the focus of this blog so that I can keep myself centered and provide more than just some BS to pass the time, or read from iPhones and iPod Touches while sitting on the throne (they both have definitely surpassed magazines as the most-have accessory while on the toilet).

Not that anyone still reads this, but if someone does, should I focus solely on baseball (something I actually know a lot about) or sports in general?  It’s likely it will take only 1 vote to win this poll, so choose wisely.

epic failure

Well the Major League Baseball Amatuer Draft signing deadline has officially passed, and only three 1st rounders went unsigned:  Aaron Crow (Missouri), Josh Fields (Georgia), and Gerrit Cole (Lutheran HS – pictured above).

Seattle has until a week before the 2009 Draft to come to terms with Josh Fields because he was a college senior, and there’s a 90% chance that he signs on the dotted line in the next few days. However, the Nationals failure to sign Aaron Crow over a gap of less than an extra $1 million in bonus demands is inexcusable.

It is equally as bad for the New York Yankees to have lost Gerrit Cole, although no one saw this coming. The tall right-handed pitcher from California evidently had a change in heart and was unwilling to sign for any amount of money, as he wanted to attend UCLA this fall. Unfortunately for the Yankees, Cole made this decision just days before the signing deadline, rather than in early June.

In the next couple of days I’ll sort through the names and see what team had the best draft, and what team had the worst.

why don’t you use terry crowley as a DH all the time?

Earl Weaver.. classic.  Apologies for the language.

harden trade update

Remember the young catcher, Josh Donaldson, who I remarked could be a gem in the Rich Harden deal? Well, small sample size aside, he’s been absolutely raking in High-A Stockton of the CAL. All he’s done over there is hit .362/.429/.638/1.077 with 5 HRs and 8 walks versus 13 strikeouts in 58 ABs.

Even though Rich Harden has been mowing down batters in the NL, Billy Beane may have done it again. Stay tuned.

why don’t you and i

Mark Shapiro continues to amaze me. He is as smart as Ned Colletti is dumb. While Cleveland hoped to be in a pennant race, they are not, but that doesn’t mean their front office is just going to stand-pat. Having already obtained one of the best bats in all of the minor leagues in Matt LaPorta, Mark Shapiro went at it again this weekend.

The Indians shipped off Casey Blake and Luis Perdoma, a minor league relief pitcher. Perdoma brought Anthony Reyes over from the Cardinals, who was once a top pitching prospect but never quite put it all together in St Louis. A change in scenery may be all he needs. However, the real coup was the deal involving Casey Blake.

Blake went to the Dodgers in exchange for Carlos Santana (explaining my obscure post title) and Jonathan Meloan. Carlos Santana is a young catching prospect signed as an IFA back in ’04. He has the arm strength to remain at the all important catcher position, just needs to improve his receiving skills. If he can remain a catcher, this is a great acquisition because he can absolutely rake. He currently sports a .323/.431/.563/.993 line at Advanced Single-A.

Then there’s Mr. Meloan. He’s been the single best reliever in the minors over the last couple seasons, however his interest is in a starting role. His control has been suspect, so many have doubts about his ability to be a starting pitcher at the major league level. It remains to be seen how the Indians will want to use him, but if they wanted to he could end up with the 9th inning role as early as September this year. Meloan sports an electric fastball, with two above average breaking pitches: a mid 80s slider and a pitch I’d classify as a knuckle-curve of sorts that sits in the high 70s. An absolute gem of an arm, providing further evidence of Ned Colletti’s stupidity.

Mark Shapiro on the other hand, is nothing short of brilliant.

Indian fans, you have a lot to look forward to.

i am pretty awesome

While almost everything ESPN broadcasts these days is unclever, unoriginal, and overly saturated with shameless advertising (this means you Sportscenter), they do still put out great commercials every now and then.

no tiger? no problem!

Well with the PGA Tour being such a drag to watch without Tiger Woods in the mix, I present to you reasons #1 and #2 to watch the LPGA tour instead:

crackin’ fingers… all the time

USA! USA! USA!

The USA Olympic Baseball was recently announced, a collection of the nation’s best Triple-A and Double-A talent (one Single-A player is on the roster). However, one college pitcher was selected, soon-to-be college junior Stephen Strasburg of the San Diego State Aztecs. Strasburg gained national recognition after his 23 strikeout performance this past April.

The USA Baseball team hopes to capture the gold medal, this after failing to even qualify for the 2004 games. The roster is stacked, so it is certainly possible.

Full roster:

Pitchers: Brett Anderson, Jake Arrieta, Trevor Cahill, Geno Espineli, Kevin Jepsen, Brandon Knight, Mike Koplove, Blaine Neal, Clayton Richard, Jeff Stevens, Stephen Strasburg, Casey Weathers.

Infielders: Brian Barden, Matthew Brown, Jason Donald, Mike Hessman, Terry Tiffee.

Outfielders: Dexter Fowler, John Gall, Matt LaPorta, Colby Rasmus.

Catchers: Lou Marson, Taylor Teagarden

For those interested in seeing some of what the young Strasburg has to offer, here is a clip of him warming up in the bullpen. Even just getting loose you can see he has electric stuff.

like totally awesome

So the 2008 MLB All-Star game went 15 innings and lasted 4 hours and 50 minutes. The AL won on a sacrifice fly by Michael Young. Big deal, who cares.

The real story is whoever was in charge of cranking out the at-bat music at Yankee Stadium that night. Now I have no idea if this is his regular AB music or not (any Brewer fans out there, can you confirm or deny?), but Corey Hart strolled to the plate at the All-Star game to the epic 80s tune “Sunglasses at Night.” Classic!!! Corey Hart the 80s pop “legend” singing as Corey Hart the Allstar OF prepares to hit.

That was an absolute home run by the PA guy/gal at Yankee Stadium. That was the real unforgettable moment over the All Star Weekend.