Weeee

We've added a Google search option on the right hand column. Just select EIO when you want to search this blog.


We have done a little venturing and RSVP'd for a Baseball Prospectus Pizza Feed. Luckily or unluckily it will be after Baseball Prospectus 2003 hits the online shelves. Hopefully, it won't be an evening of pointing out errors.


We have also done a little digging into who we can speak with at the A's Fan Fest on February 8th about our banner. The A's are long on tradition of having banners in the outfield, but ours is a little different.


We debated for a long time about having an Eric 'Mr' Byrnes banner with a headshot of Monty and EXCELLENT at the bottom.

Since Byrnes could play any of the OF positions, it would be pretty pointless to try and geuss where Ken Macha would play him on any given day. Which gives an opportunity to say that Eric Byrnes bats right handed and should be playing everyday. If Adam Piatt (also batting right handed) gets a decent spring in, Chris Singleton and Terrence Long could be shipped off by summer.

Sleepy, So Sleepy

Next Saturday's A's Fan Fest will feature a Draft Seminar. Hopefully the A's Coordinator of Scouting and Player Development , Danny McCormack, will be available for Q & A. In the meantime, Derek Zumsteg of Baseball Prospectus has a great article about how strategy when approaching the subject of the draft. Mind you, this isn't bunker stuff, just how to win or lose a full year of hope via the draft by being stupid.

Koch Me if You Can

The Chicago White Sox overspent $10,625,000 on Billy Koch yesterday in a move that locks him up for two years and avoids arbitration. Koch gets $4.25 million this year and an untradable $6,375,000 next year. Then again, we thought Keith Foulke was untradeable with his salary. White Sox GM Kenny Williams sure knows how to sign paychecks. We project early July will be a good time for the compalints about how New Comiskey isn't good enough for the White Sox and how they need a new stadium for increased revenue streams.


Sometimes, there just isn't anyting to write about.

Why Do Villains Always Have the Antidote?

First off, the Cibao Aguilas won the Dominican League Winter Championship. The Aguilas swept the series against the Escogido Leones. Miguel Tejada went 4 for 6 with three RBI in the final game and had a .412 batting average through the series.


Second, a lawyer for the MLBPA has filed a request for management documents which could lead to a possible greivance against the owners for collusion.


It's a decent ploy; force the other side to gather all of their documents, get them in order, have meetings discussing the issue and taking more notes and creating more documents and it looks more compelling. If you just file a greivance you lose an opportunity to let someone else do all of your work for you.


The other side hasn't had a chance to ask the great question, "can this hurt us?"


The best part is when an organization writes a series of memos detailing how this might hurt them, what they did wrong and how to hide the evidence and then start passing them around the office with 'CONFIDENTIAL' stamped all over. Basically, even if they were naive enough not to be directly involved in the first place, they step in trying to clear things up.


When you hear of lower level people getting pushed in front of the throng of microphones and being forced to testify it's usually because they were foolish enough to take part after the fact. Enron was a good example; after the big suits cashed out they brought in the little suits and made sure the smell got on all of them as well trying to clean up the mess.


All the MLBPA lawyer has to do is put on a suit, catch a cab and hand over a few signed forms; most likely pre-published and for purchase at Staples.


Why not? Last time they got $280 million similar paper pushing. The problem; GM's, for the most part, make the deals and do the negotiating? Unless an owner was stupid enough to put down on inter-office documents "Let us, as an organization, support collusion to drive salaries down" there really isn't a whole lot to go on. Sure, the agents and union can watch the market and specualte. But so can the SEC on Wall Street.


It was a rallying cry this winter to slash payrolll unless your name was Steinbrenner. There has also been an influx of new blood into the front office staffs. Further, the free ganet pool was rather shallow thise year. Just because Alex Rodriguez signed for the equivalent of six hours of the U.S. Military sitting around in Kuwait (about $225 million) a few years ago, it doesn't mean a player's agent is going to hoodwink an organization every year.


Organizations, with the exception of Arizona and Chicago, are relying on turnover and youth to be served. It's just a rend in the market; GM's aren't that stupid anymore. Add in an economy that looks like we'll be trading Pez dispensors for barter in six months and you have MLB's current economic market.


You can't blame the union. Owners are still very stupid and you can probably scare $100 million out of them by just retaining a lawyer and talking about the content of their "Nacho Cheeze" sauce.

Durazo Signs One Year Deal

The A's sort of recently acquired DH, Erubiel Durazo, signed a one year deal worth $1,065,000 to avoid an arbitration case.


Durazo will make a third of what Randy Winn makes, a fifth of what Danny Graves makes and an eigth of what Torii hunter makes. We checked; MLB has set up a listing of the arbitration and signings.

Other News

Jose, Cruz, JR signed with the San Francisco Giants for $2.8 million with a mutual club option for $4 million in 2004. The Giants now have too may players to deal with with price tags that seem a little hefty. With the infield jumble and the centerfield question the Giants need to start thinking about addition by contraction.


Neifi Perez was a ridiculous move by the Giants as was thinking Ray Durham could be their centerfielder. The Giants have signed two possible centerfielders and three possible second baseman unless Edgardo Elfonzo moves to third (which he probably will). Still that's Durham and Perez at about $10 million. Meanwhile Rich Aurilia just stands there and waits for the dust to clear.

Around The World in 15 Blogs

Over at Mike's Baseball Rants the Halls of Relief are opened to the reader. Mike is compiling a lengthy report on relievers. You have to dig a little to get the Halls in order, but it's worth the trip.


Jay Jaffe at Futility Infielder is sort of lying in the weeds and following Mike's lead on the subject of relievers. The Blog community is nothing if not flattering via assimilation.


The Blogfather, David Pinto, has taken some personal time from Baseball Musings to watch a space shuttle launch and spend time with his family. Amazing. We can't even spend time with a pet we don't own.


The Twins Geek is hit and miss throughout the month but reading an older article as reference and writing about baseball not on the field is more than worth 15 minutes. Plus, he's gone through an overhaul and the site looks purty.


With the Giants FanFest approaching (February 1st) John Perricone has taken the cautious approach at Only Baseball Matters. The Pete Rose subject is approached a few times and there is a new color scheme. The site has done a great job of not exploding...if the A's were a handful of innings from a World Series at home and lost? We would have been writing since October; non-stop.


Over at Aaron's Baseball Blog Aaron is presenting his look at the top 50 prospects in baseball. Aaron is also featured over at Baseball Primer. Aaron's site is a good catchall, but he's a Twins fan at heart.


Travis Nelson, the Boy of Summer is on sabbatical, researching the Phillies. There are still several posts to go and read withing the last month.


The Cub Reporter has posted the Arbitration Scorecard and is also following Dusty Baker's first off-season. You can actually hear him scratching his head at times while reading about the Cub's acquisitions and transactions.


The Diamond Angle has several good articles and you should check out their Hall of Fame. Chock full of players that will never be enshrined at Cooperstown but still are considered favorites, nonetheless.


Darn Sox has several humorous photos and questions to ponder. It is an interactive site which encourages the reader to post comments.


Bronx Banter, written by Alex Belth is voluminous. Alex writes a ton and delivers as much of the NY baseball world to your face without requiring to register with the New York Times.


At Home Plate has a lot of articles to read though and take notes. Also, if you're into fantasy baseball, this would be a great place to start.


Batter's Box Baseball Blog requires notes and a few gallons of coffee. The blog has several authors who seem to want to write until the keyboards are cracked. It's a 'fast' site. You need to pay attention and keep on top of subjects or they might just pass you by. They are Toronto Blue Jay based and are busy building the shrine to JPR.


We've been hit by the doldrums. We're too busy trying to get information on Barret Robbins to try and baseball things up today. If you haven't done so already, check out a few of the stories on Robbins. If you know nothing about bipolar disorder or psychopharmaceuticals you willl by the end of the day.


If you've been under the allusion that the Raiders got stomped on Sunday, well, they did. But it happened well before kickoff.


One of the amazing things about sports is how it is presented on TV and how much the average fan does not know.


Several people were clamoring that Barret Robbins was easy to replace at center with Adam Treu. Well, Robbins is an All Pro center. Treu isn't. Robbins is the starter for a reason.


Further, on the offensive line the center makes the line calls. While you see the QB barking out audibles and fake audibles, the center is down in a crouch grunting out line and split calls for blocking assignments.


Robbins was also great at double backing and chipping; when uncovered he was capable of helping on blockign assignments and chipping outside pass rushers from an inside angle.


The Raiders have had a great legacy of centers; Jim Otto, Dave Dalby, Don Mosebar and Barret Robbins. That's 43 years of snapping on one team through four players.

OAKLAND A'S FANFEST 2003

Looky what we got in the mail;

FanFest 2003, is set to take place on Saturday,
February 8, 2003. Opening at 10:00 AM at Network
Associates Coliseum, FanFest is a six-hour family
affair rich with activities, tours and player
interaction. FanFest will be the first opportunity
for fans to purchase individual tickets to all 2003
A's games.


Event highlights include:


*"Hot Cocoa Challenge" with local TV/radio personalities
and A's players pouring hot chocolate for fans


*Current and former players and coaches will sign
autographs, participate in Q&A sessions and read to
children


*A "behind the scenes tour" of both home and visiting
clubhouses, umpire's room, weight room and home dugout


*The sale of game worn jerseys of your favorite current
and past A's players and coaches


*"Oakland A's Draft Day" where fans will have the opportunity
to learn about the MLB and draft system


*"Batting Cage Instruction" with current and former A's
players and coaches


*Live music, food, and more


Admission price is $5.00, and tickets are available in
advance through oaklandathletics.com (January 2nd - 30th) and at
the A's Tickets Services (January 2nd-February 7th).


Click here for ticket information:
http://lists.mlb.com/u/56336/10573319


For complete FanFest information, please call 510.638-4900
x4040, or visit the A's website: http://lists.mlb.com/u/56337/10573319

Now, in the past, the Fan Fest has resembled Beatlemania.
Here are a few accounts of the rampant fans gone all fainty and getting the vapors...and those are the men.

Clarity

Somebody mentioned they didn't understand the Pete Rose post regarding the Hall of Fame.


We thought it was pretty clear.


According to the rules of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, "Any player who is on Baseball's ineligible list shall not be a candidate".


That's it end of story. Until Rose is off the list, he can't even be considered.


That being said, Rose can't even be considered for several more years even if he is reinstated. While Rose has been banned from baseball his 'clock' has not started. In fact, Rose doesn't even have a clock. The time Rose spends away from baseball by being banned does not count for time "out of baseball".


Sort of like the guy at work who gets fired...he doesn't rack up the vacation hours while he's gone. He can call in sick all he wants but the company will just have to remind him that he doesn't work there anymore and they don't care.

It's About Time

We've done our best to try and delay some topics to post on since the off season can be downright filled with nothing at times.


A few weeks ago Pete 'unknown source" Gammons spit out a list of things to watch for in 2003 and players who would emerge as stars. So without divulging too much on what the article blabs on and on about, we'll just post the list and add our thoughts.


Shall we begin?


Who will be the rookies that have the most impact?
1. Francisco Rodriguez, RHP, Angels. The man with 11 days of major league service and five postseason wins.
Well, if he was a rookie. He has more post season wins than the A's big three.
2. Travis Hafner, 1B, Indians.
Low expectations for the Indians mean a good chance for success. We like Hafner and think he might be very Eric Hinske like.
3. John Patterson, RHP, Diamondbacks.
Sure.
4. Hee Seop Choi, 1B, Cubs.
Doubt it. Dusty Baker will start Don Baylor before he starts Choi on a regular basis.
5. Marlon Byrd, CF, Phillies.
Byrd was the rage back in NEPA (northeastern Pennsylvania). Phillies did him a favor by waiting to bring him in this year.
6. Franklyn German, RHP, Tigers.
Ex A's farmhand. One of several Latin American players who had their age bumped a few years. Still, he throws in the triple digits. Matt Anderson is the closer in Detroit until they trade him and his salary away (Texas, anyone?).
7. Mike Cuddyer, Mike Restovich, RFs, Twins. The problem is that the Twins have so many real good young outfielders, the door may be blocked.
True, the Twins might be better served by ditching Cristian Guzman as a shortstop and just playing a shallow 4th outfielder near second base. Hey, works in softball.
8. Cliff Lee, LHP, Indians. With Ricardo Rodriguez, Billy Traber, et al, new manager Eric Wedge will have a lot of fun rebuilding the Cleveland staff.
When was the Indians staff ever BUILT?
9. Rocco Baldelli, CF, Tampa Bay. Lou Pinella wants him to open the season in Tampa, although that may be a rush.
Oh, how nice, Lou Pinella has unreal expectations for you. Get a psychologist on staff, now!
10. Kurt Ainsworth and Jesse Foppert, RHPs, San Francisco. These two, along with Jerome Williams, give the Giants a new wave of starters.
The Giants may end up putting one of these pitchers on the block with any of their salary saggers or J.T. Snow.
Honorable mention:
Mark Hendrickson, LHP, Blue Jays
Hard to call any Blue Jays pitcher an impact pitcher at this point, too many other issues;
Lyle Overbay, 1B, Diamondbacks
Mark Grace's personal valet;
Mike MacDougal, RHP, Royals
MacDougal is in the same boat as Hendrickson...except he gets onboard after the boat has already sunk.;
Miguel Olivo, C, White Sox
Former A's catcher will have his work cut out for him balancing the new arms in Chicago;
Aaron Cook, RHP, Rockies
You have to really feel for any young Rockies pitcher; like playing in a 14-15 year old league when you're 12;
Felipe Lopez, SS-2B, Reds
Uber-prospect gets to bump Barry Larkin, hard to do now that Ken Griffey, JR. has befriended Larkin;
Freddy Sanchez, 2B, Red Sox
A more volatile situation in baseball than in Beantown?;
Joe Thurston, 2B, Dodgers
How many middle infielders does one organization get to have before they are taken away for their own good?;
Kyle Denney, RHP, Indians
Jacobs field is not the kind of place where young pitchers go to thrive.


Eight more expected to impact the second half
1. Mark Teixeira, 3B-1B, Rangers
Is this his year? With Showalter breathing over his shoulder, it had better be
2. ose ReyesJ, SS, Mets; as long as his winter ball injury doesn't linger.
Never can trust an injury from winter ball, could have lingering effects all year if not treated properly. Might actually be beneficial to Reyes, the Mets mess might not be cleaned up for another 18 months.
3. Victor Martinez, C, Indians
Young catcher, young pitchers; 'Young Turks be free tonight'
4. Joe Borchard, CF, White Sox
With Aaron Rowand making motorcycle throttle noises while he recovers from injury, Borchard might steal his job. Psst, Billy Beane, trade bait.
5. Frank Beltran, RHP, Cubs
Nope. Dusty will ruin this kid.
6. Brandon Phillips, 2B-SS, Indians
Will forever be remembered for the Colon trade until he can prove he was worth the deal. Not this year.
7. Rich Harden, RHP, A's
Harden will be the first of the new class to hit the show. For the sake of all A's fans, you must hope that the A's have no need to tear him away from Sacramento until late September. We will see a lot of Harden this summer in Sacramento and report to you.
8. Jason Arnold, RHP, Blue Jays
Ex Yankee farmhand and ex A's farmhand, plus traveling companion of John Ford Thundercougarfalconbird Griffin. Arnold might be the victim of two systems that were simply overloaded with pitching.


And some names out of the blue:
Danny Borrell, LHP, Yankees
Where could they fit another pitcher?.
Matt Duff, RHP, Cardinals
Somebody keep Dave Duncan and Tony LaRussa away from this kid: see Bud Smith.


Players who may have breakout seasons
1. Carlos Zambrano, RHP, Cubs
Nope. Dusty buries him.
2. Nick Johnson, 1B, Yankees
Quite possibly for another team...Cardinals?
3. Erubiel Durazo, 1B, A's
Eh, we're happy that he's only DH'ing and not working in a glove. We'll believe after we see it.
4. Jeremy Giambi, 1B-DH, Red Sox
Sabermetric slobbering toy finally get his chance to shine.
5. Jake Peavy, RHP, Padres
San Diego's revolving door of pitchers may soon end.
6. Bobby Kielty, OF, Twins. Give him 500 plate appearances...
How about just a full time position and be done with it?
7. Carlos Lee, OF, White Sox. A ton of mentions
Carlos Lee is this generation's Ruben Sierra-a village has found it's idiot.
8. Brandon Duckworth, RHP, Phillies. Just throw first-pitch strikes
How about keep the kid in AAA to start the year?
9. Adrian Beltre, 3B, Dodgers
a year after serious internal injuries, word is he packed on a few pounds and is back to full strength.
10. Aubrey Huff, 1B, Devil Rays
How can anyone have expectations, let alone high expectations of a Tampa player? It's just so rude.
11. Casey Fossum, LHP, Red Sox
Even before he throws a pitch he's under the 'scope in 2003. The only way Fossum isn't tormented in Boston is if Colon goes Pizza the Hut and eats himself and Fossum goes 28-3.
12. Kyle Lohse, RHP, Twins
Finally, Johan Santana's name isn't mentioned in this space .
13. Preston Wilson, OF, Rockies. Light air, new start, 50 HR?
How about 180 K's and 40 homeruns?
14. Jay Gibbons, RF, Orioles
Low radar + low expectations = swing away .
15. Tony Armas, RHP, Expos
Has to anchor a sinking and already sunken ship.
16. Toby Hall, C, Devil Rays
Has a few months before people start slapping the bust sticker on him.
17. Corey Patterson, CF, Cubs
See all of our Dusty Baker comments...
18. Joe Crede, 3B, White Sox
A poor man's Eric Chavez...wait, Eric is relatively poor.
19. Danny Baez, RHP, Indians
The next Bartolo Colon.
20. Kevin Mench, OF, Rangers
Mench is a favorite of Gammons' and anyone with a good swing is going to hit in Texas. Faded in 2002.


10 players who could vault to star level in 2003
1. A.J. Burnett, RHP, Marlins
If his arm doesn't fall off first.
2. Mark Prior, RHP, Cubs
We do not like the situation in Chicago. Somebody start counting backward from 90 pitches (or three times through the order) and shoot Prior if you have to get him off the mound. If he's anything more than a third starter, expect surgery in 2004.
3. Johan Santana, LHP, Twins
Oh, here he is
4. Troy Glaus, 3B, Angels. The feeling is that he's been a star, but the adjustments he made in the postseason could lead him to superstardom
Or it could mean another year in the .250/.350./.500 area, which isn't bad'
5. Vernon Wells, Blue Jays
Toolsy, if Carlos Delgado and Josh Phelps can drive him in, he becomes all that more valuable.
6. Pat Burrell, LF, Phillies
A lot of expectations for this Phillies lineup.
7. Austin Kearns, OF, Reds
A healthy Reds outfield could solve a lot of problems and lead to a playoff run in September.
8. Vicente Padilla, RHP, Phillies
We love the support he gets at home.
9. Randy Wolf, LHP, Phillies
Billy Beane has been after Wolf for a few years, funny how much better a pitcher gets when he gets run support?
10. Derrek Lee, 1B, Marlins
Don't think so. Travis Lee has put on curse on 1B named 'Lee". Lee will miss Kevin Millar.


10 players expected to make major comebacks
1. Kris Benson, RHP, Pirates
Doubtful
2. Roberto Alomar, 2B, Mets
Doubtful
3. Jason Kendall, C, Pirates
Doubtful
4. Frank Thomas, DH, White Sox
Doubtful
5. Pudge Rodriguez, C, TBD
Doubtful, all of above have to deal with age and if you performed poorly the years beofre a 'comeback' is pretty easy.
6. Jermaine Dye, OF, A's
Really, he was back by September of last season.
7. Moises Alou, OF, Cubs
Doubtful
8. Aramis Ramirez, 3B, Pirates
Could be Brian Giles' only company at All Star game
9. Keith Foulke, RHP, A's
Foulke didn't slip last year, Pete
10. Adam Eaton, RHP, Padres
We hear the sounds of rotator cuffs popping


10 innocuous acquisitions who could surprise
1. Victor Hall, CF, Astros, Rule 5 draft
Somebody get Lance Berkman to a corner outfield spot or 1st base
2. Chad Fox, RHP, Red Sox
Red Sox pen is loaded
3. Buddy Hernandez, RHP, A's, Rule 5 draft
A's bullpen is more loaded, and cheaper, too
4. Hector Luna, SS, Devil Rays, Rule 5 draft
Can't hurt anything.
5. Jeff Tam, RHP, Blue Jays
Tam was able to fly under the radar in Oakland, if his sinker doesn't sink, balls fly out of the yard. If Tam doesn't get the double play on two pitches, start craning your neck
6. Brad Mills, bench coach, Expos
Sure, since Frank Robinson will be back in MLB Administrative offices by June or a padded room. Okay, both are the same thing.
7. Travis Chapman, 3B, Tigers, Rule 5 draft
The Tigers are like the Florida Marlins North.
8. Joe Valentine, RHP, A's
Could be the A's future closer and might be better than half of the closers in MLB right now.
9. Ramon Martinez, Inf., Cubs
Please.
10. Koufax, the band. Humorous, pop band (koufaxmusic.com is their website) that emerged at the same time that the Sandy Koufax biography was the best sports book of the year.
Sure


Along the same lines David Srinivasan lists some of the top prospects in baseball;
Jason Arnold, RHP, Blue Jays, Age: 23 (Former /New York Yankees/Oakland A's prospect)
Jeremy Bonderman, RHP, Tigers, Age: 20 (Former Oakland A's prospect-Player to be named in the Carlos Pena-Jeff Weaver deal)
Marlon Byrd, OF, Phillies, Age: 25
Jose Castillo, SS, Pirates, Age: 22
Rich Harden, RHP, Athletics, Age: 21

Harden finished second in the minors in strikeouts last season, going 12-6 with a 2.94 ERA in 153.1 innings between high Single-A and Double-A. He allowed 116 hits, including six homers, and had a 187-76 K/BB ratio. His command obviously needs work because he walked 52 in 85.1 innings at Double-A Midland. Still, Midland is a rough place in which to pitch, and Harden went 8-3 there, striking out 10.8 batters per nine innings. His fastball hits 96 mph, he has a great cutter, and his splitter and curveball all have fine potential. He has the makings of a dominant big-league hurler, but needs at least half a year in Triple-A to hone command. He could also become a dominant closer.

Jason Kubel, OF, Twins, Age: 20
Miguel Olivo, C, White Sox, Age: 24 (former Oakland A's prospect).

Isn't That Special?

“ We were dealing with a great and special opportunity to sign a special player. ... We feel like, for our team, this is a special year, and a special season, and he warrants it. ”
— Jeffrey Loria, Marlins owner, on signing Pudge Rodriguez

When the Orioles are offering $18 million for a three year deal (read: $6 million a year) to occasionally catch and mostly DH why would someone plop $10 million on the table to mostly not be available?


Whatever money Jeff Loria has, we'd like to see because it sure seems very Monopoly oriented.


After selling Kevin Millar to a Japanese baseball team, moving money around in the Mike Hampton deal and desperately trying to get rid of Brad Penny; the Marlins had their payroll in the low $30 million dollar range. Now a quarter of their total payroll goes to one player. Rodriguez will make almost three times what Luis Castillo will be paid (and even Castillo is overpaid) as well as free agent signee Juan Encarnacion (grossly over-rewarded). Fiscal responsibility isn't just a Republican catch-phrase.

Rose Bull Parade

It appears now that according to a Newsday article a friend of Pete Rose (if you're a friend of Pete Rose you're in pretty bad company) claims that Rose will admit to gambling on baseball, get a slap on the wrist, probation and then be eligible for the Hall of Fame next summer.


Not so fast there, Sparky. If Rose admits to gambling, he has to serve a one year suspension, which is the rule in MLB. Not a second of the 13 years he spent out of baseball counts toward that punishment.


Huh?


Pete Rose was not officially given a suspension by MLB for his previous acts. He agreed to a lifetime ban. These are apples and those are oranges.


Should Bud Selig go through with this, it could be the end of MLB in a very serious slippery slope situation.


Got busted for steroids? Just say you're sorry and you'll get a punishment similar to Pete Rose's new punishment. Get busted by being listed in the blackbook of a mob bookie with your information listing bets on baseball games and the NCAA Tournament? Just say you're sorry and you won't be punished. Spit on an umpire and beat him over the head and shoulder with a bat. Apologize and you'll be awarded first base.


If you say, "it's different, Pete Rose is the All Time Hit King". Funny. That's not an actual title, and even if so, that would mean giving preferential treatment to someone because of their status. Not ecatly something the public likes to see.


Pretend Rose is a convicted felon of serious crimes (we know, very creative casting), in this case murder. Actually this is comparible since very few other crimes warrant life in prison. If Rose agrees to a plea bargain for his crimes, essentially a comparison would be life in prison without the possibility of parole.


A new governor comes into town and reviews the case and decides that the plea bargain system is broken and Rose should be considered in new light. Despite the fact that while in prison Rose continued with the same course of his life he had been following and continued committing similar crimes while in prison and benefitting off of the persona created by those crimes monetarily. All Rose has to do is confess to his crimes and he'll be out on the streets next summer.


That doesn't work.


The Pete Rose investigation included over 450 accounts of him betting on baseball (not to mention all the other fun stuff Rose was into). Rose made enormous profits off of selling memorabilia and selling his image of persona non grata.


If mass murderer sits in prison for 13 years, then says he's sorry, do you want him living on your street next summer?


Change mass murder to child molestation, rape or drug dealing. It's all the same.


Further, a savvy District Attorney or IRS Agent could make a credible case that Pete Rose made a profit out of his criminal status and his crimes. Just like a convicted murderer or mob informant can not make a profit off of the suffering of others by writing a tell all book.


Even if Rose admits to gambling, he's going to get nailed by the IRS, again, and the FBI. It's like saying, "okay, I admit it, I've been committing felonies for the past 30-35 years. I'm sorry. Forgive me." You don't get a free pass.


Further; Rose would not be eligible. According to the Rules for Election to the Hall of Fame:

3. Eligible Candidates — Candidates to be eligible must meet the following requirements:
A. A baseball player must have been active as a player in the Major Leagues at some time during a period beginning twenty (20) years before and ending five (5) years prior to election. Rose does not fit this criteria.
B. Player must have played in each of ten (10) Major League championship seasons, some part of which must have been within the period described in 3 (A). Rose does not fit this criteria.
C. Player shall have ceased to be an active player in the Major Leagues at least five (5) calendar years preceding the election but may be otherwise connected with baseball. Rose does not meet this criteria.
D. Deals with death of an active player (obviously Rose does not fit this criteria).
E. Any player on Baseball's ineligible list shall not be an eligible candidate. Rose fits this criteria, but in the wrong way

This argument is so tired that we're starting to get loopy.

Over There

Over at the Offical Webiste of the Oakland A's there are a few new entries. Including Mycahel's Mailbag and a piece on Barry Zito. We like Barry Zito a lot. We'd like him even if he weren't in Green & Gold. But, writing a story on Barry is like tying your shoes...it's so easy it's hard to really screw it up. Barry is a character that J.D. Salinger would love to write a story about.

Where Does it Come From?

Pennies From Heaven
In two of the the most ridiculous transactions not revealed on April 1st the New York Money Bags have added Jon Lieber to their stable of overfed and over-valued talent. Lieber signed a two year deal, well, he had to have help since he is still rehabbing his elbow (and will be all season).


The Florida Marlins signed Ivan Rodriguez for a single year at $10 million. The contract details include; a no-trade clause and an agreement that the Marlins will not offer Rodriguez salary arbitration. There are rumors that the contract initially included clauses that Rodriguez could not sweat, catch during day games or go to a urinal without out having assistance.


If you look at it from Rodriguez's perspective, this is like having handcuffed yourself to the bed before the date arrives. Rodirguez wants a season to prove he can stay healthy.


Fine.


But you're not going to do that in Florida where the owner is a cheapskate and the training staff look at injuries like all of the players were retirees "just complaining to complain".




This does nothing to improve the Marlins and actually proves that MLB owners have only themselves to blame when shelling out money for contracts. The Marlins were a few dozen seats away from matching the EXPOS horrible home attendance figures. Signing Ivan Rodriguez, who has trouble playing in more than 120 games a season, doesn't help ticket sales. The Marlins would have been better served signing a jouneryman catcher at $500,000 and spending $4 million on promotions while sticking the other $5.5 million into player development and finding a manager who understands when a guy has had enough.


Rodriguez will be expected to educate and mature a young pitching staff that already has a needle twitching at "overuse" before spring training even starts. As a baseball player, Rodriguez is a good hitter. As a catcher he is a great hitter.


That doesn't excuse his inability behind the plate to call a game. Sure, he's got a good arm for a catcher and throws out a fair amount of base would-be base stealers. How much is that a testament to Rodriguez and how much is that a tip of the cap to the pitching staff at holding runners on?


Base stealing as an art has slipped severely in the last several years and there are precious few who know what they are doing. Some just swipe a base now and again to pad their stats. What good is stealing a base in the fifth inning if you are ahead by five runs?


The stolen base is the most over rated stat in baseball and throwing out base stealers should be second. Like a great A's pitcher said, "they can't steal anymore when the bases are loaded".


Rodriguez, should he get off to a good start in Florida, has no chance to be traded during the season to an American League team to serve as DH. Unless he waves his no trade clause, at which point, the team that trades for him will have no chance of retaining his services through arbitration. Rodriguez should be playing less than 60 games behind the plate and 90-100 at DH.


Playing in Florida for a season may actually hurt his market value more than it helps.

Do You Know What a Git IS?

We received a disturbing email from someone who happened onto our blog. He goes by the name of Mr Gitz;

While I am sorry if anyone on your staff is ever affected by an act of violence, please be careful to check your facts. Today's shooting was in Kuwait, NOT Iraq. It may seem inconsequential -- the point is someone was murdered, I see that all too well -- but this is exactly the kind
of irresponsible chatter the Internet is criticized for. And, frankly, it is deserved. If you ever want real credibility, you can't print stuff that's simply not true. Conjecture is one thing -- "The A's could use Adam Dunn" -- but there is no excuse for printing erroneous information.
I suggest you issue a correction as soon as you can."

Well, here's the problem. When we wrote the sentence on the Blog about the terrorist attack yesterday the source of information was NBC News as we were headed out the door. What were heard was, "more trouble in Iraq...a Kuwaiti assault on an unarmed vehicle leaves one dead..." We didn't know if they were reporting from Iraq, if the attack happened in Iraq or if it happened just outside of Iraq. All we know is that NBC skewed the report to sound like Iraq was involved. We didn't provide any links to any stories about it because the details were very sketchy at the time. Our first thought was, "well, what the hell were they doing in Iraq, anyway?". As it turns out the attack was in Kuwait. Just outside of Kuwait City.


There was little on the internet at the time and we are always waiting for confirmation before following a story. When the first plane hit the World Trade Center, it was just a place crash for several minutes. Then a second plane hit.


Well, Gitz, see, the thing is, this is a blog. It's not a network website and we are granted the credibility based on our opinions relative to facts. We write about what we think and read and hear and see. If we want to write a fact based piece we'll back it up with links and data.


As you can clearly see we didn't. We didn't provide links or data, we just posted what we had heard. Which is what blogging is all about. We can write about a vast conspiracy regarding the United States military without going overboard because there is no overboard. We can do this because it is what we think and what we have observed.


You mentioned; "Today's shooting was in Kuwait". Does that mean every shooting that took place was in Kuwait? We read this email on Wednesday. Does that mean there was another shooting in Kuwait today? And what do you mean by 'was'?(sic)


More to the point, do you actually believe everything that comes from the talking heads on television, radio or the print in newspaper? We don't. We question everything. Which why we wrote the sentence the way we did:

"There's been an eerily similar terrorist attack, today in Iraq, that matches the attack several months ago in Indonesia."

We purposely placed 'today in Iraq' between commas because we were not sure of exactly where the attack took place, and we can always go back and change it, which we did. Further, we stated:

"Once again, an SUV carrying American civilians was amushed and strafed with automatic weapon fire."

First, we misspelled 'ambushed' for crying out loud! We know that an SUV was strafed with automatic weapons fire because we did see pictures of a silver SUV with holes in it. We are supposing the Americans were actually Americans, though we are still skeptical. We didn't see the bodies and we didn't ID them at the morgue. We didn't even bother to check their passports or dental records.


For all we know the Americans in the SUV were performing illegal reconnaissance across the Iraqi border and were ambushed by an Iraqi patrol. Then the U.S. military had the SUV towed back to Kuwait and displayed the vehicle to onlookers. The military pushed the premise of a Kuwaiti attack to drum up sympathy for George W Bush's dying need to attack Iraq.


Even better, the U.S. military attacked the SUV and are blaming it on the Kuwaitis in a similar effort.


Or it was a car jacking gone bad by those damn gang members and their rap lyrics.


Sort of like the U.N. finding chemical warheads that are supposed to make people think of large missiles; when they were actually 122 mm shells about three feet long.


As we are writing this, Yahoo has a link on their MLB page that lists an offer was made for the Los Angeles Dodgers for $650,000. Of course, inside, the actual story lists the offer at $650 million. They were only $649 million and change off.


A few weeks ago we posted another link that had Bill Parcells 'couching' the Dallas Cowboys.


Did we print something that isn't true? If you want to debate Truth we'll put up our degrees in history and philosophy and go toe to toe with you on 'TRUTH'. However, did we make an error in posting something that was rumor and not a point of fact? Absolutely. This is a freakin' baseball blog.


Our staff member spent 78 hours straight scouring the internet after his mentor and hero was murdered. We thought it was best to just let him burn his eyes out and let him sleep for a few days. He found 7 different spellings of his last name and four different types of weapons fire being described. Further, he saw on at least several news sites that his wife was dead, in surgery, safe and missing. These reports came from the BBC, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS and the Washington Post.


His family is now viewing intelligence reports from the CIA, FBI, Congress, the U.K. and Indonesian authorities. How many contradictions do you think they found?


The facts weren't available at the time, we didn't dwell in it. We went off in another direction on the ESPN.com thing.


We just wanted to mention something that affected us, personally. We stated several months ago that the attack in West Paupa needed to be remembered as it would be a precursor to future events. Weeks later a bomb went off in nearby Bali killing scores of people.


This is a baseball blog, git, sorry, Gitz.


Oh, and thanks for reading.

Stumble

The A's signed two left handed pitchers Friday and we didn't even notice. It flew under the radar of most everyone, so we don't feel that bad. With all the other news coming from Hergenberger Road and the Raiders' AFC Championship, forgive us if we stumbled.


By the way, how cool is it that there's an all swashbuckling Super Bowl?


Raiders and Buccaneers...


The A's added possible 4th and 5th starters to a rotation that had question marks surrounding their 4th and 5th starters.


Here are some of the media reports; from the Contra Costa Times, from SF GATE, from the Official MLB A's site, from ESPN.com...which by the way never featured the signings on it's main MLB page.


The pitchers were John Halama and Ed Yarnell. By all accounts, Yarnell's contract will top out at less than $1 million if all incetives are met and Hlama's deal is probably in the $1 million area (he made $1.4 million with the Mariners last year).


Both pitchers have options left which mean that they can be on the 40 man roster and still whip the pill around in Sacramento if need be. Halama is 31, Yarenll is 27. So, not only were the A's able to grab decent young pitchers with some experience, they got them relatively cheap and have the ability to send them to the minors if necessary. Also, they are attractive trade bait.


The A's dumped Luis Lopez from the 40 man roster and designated him for assignment to make room. Lopez will most likely accept the assignment since the free agent market isn't exactly steady.


QUESTION: What about Ted Lilly?
ANSWER: What about him? Seriously, Lilly hasn't done anything with the A's to provide them with assurance he deserves the 4th or 5th spot in the rotation on merit.


QUESTION: What about Erik Hiljus?
ANSWER: Erik is in the mix, last year he dropped some weight and also stopped smoking. This latter note might have some reason for his inability out on the mound last year. Some people do not react well to tobacco withdrawl. Remember, there's lotsa fancy chemicals in cigarettes that make them super addictive, like SLURM Cola.


QUESTION: What about Aaron Harang?
ANSWER: Good question; apparently he was discussed in a possible trade with Boston for cash that fell through because of the EXPOS Conspiracy.

"Epstein made a contingency deal with Oakland to buy Aaron Harang (Beane would have used the cash to sign Kerry Ligtenberg), and package him with Shea Hillenbrand, Freddy Sanchez and the $2 million difference between the Vazquez and Colon salaries for Vazquez. Then there was a three-way trade with Hillenbrand going to the Mets that would have given Montreal Harang, Sanchez, Mike Bacsik, Timo Perez and Grant Roberts and the $2 million."
-Peter Gammons, ESPN

The EXPOS Conspiracy has started to reach simmering level and it won't be long until (after the post-super bowl wake is finished, anyone?) some folks in the media start clamoring for explanations and more congressional hearings. Baseball Prospectus has starting the churning and hopefully they can take the issue to the front and bypass the Pete Rose for Saint argument Bud has been trying to avoid with his ridiculous All Star Game Drag Queen Expose.


You can try to be something you are not all you want. Eventually realty kicks in at some point and spoils the fun. Otherwise, you have to try and create your own reality and that's when you need a support group of other people trapped trying to create false illusions.


You have to sit back and wonder why people are collectively so stupid and willing to just let themselves continue to be stupid.