Yardbarker: Javier Valentin

As of 12:01am ET, MLB Free Agency Season Arrives. Here's the Complete List

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:09:46 -0500

As of 12:01am ET, clubs may now negotiate with the 171 players that filed for free agency this year. Big revenue making clubs will undoubtedly throw huge sums of cash at the likes of Manny Ramirez, Mark Teixeira, C.C. Sabathia, and Francisco Rodriguez.Clubs with the most players that filed for FA? For the American League, it's Boston with 9. For the National League, it's 11 for the Mets.Here is your complete listing of all those who filed between Thursday, October 30, and Thursday, November 13, pursuant to Article XX B (2) of the Basic Agreement. The last two that filed on Thursday should be familiar: Randy Johnson of the Diamondbacks, and A.J. Burnett of the Blue Jays.AMERICAN LEAGUEBALTIMORE (4) -- Juan Castro, ss; Alex Cintron, ss; Kevin Millar, 1b; Jay Payton, of.BOSTON (9) -- Paul Byrd, rhp; Sean Casey, 1b; Bartolo Colon, rhp; Alex Cora, ss; Mark Kotsay, of; David Ross, c; Curt Schilling, rhp; Mike Timlin, rhp; Jason Varitek, c.CHICAGO (6) -- Orlando Cabrera, ss; Joe Crede, 3b; Ken Griffey Jr., of; Toby Hall, c; Horacio Ramirez, lhp; Juan Uribe, 3b.CLEVELAND (4) -- Brendan Donnelly, rhp; Scott Elarton, rhp; Sal Fasano, c; Juan Rincon, rhp.DETROIT (7) -- Kyle Farnsworth, rhp; Casey Fossum, lhp; Freddy Garcia, rhp; Todd Jones, rhp; Edgar Renteria, ss; Kenny Rogers, lhp; Vance Wilson, c.KANSAS CITY (1) -- Mark Grudzielanek, 2b.LOS ANGELES (6) -- Garret Anderson, of; Jon Garland, rhp; Darren Oliver, lhp; Juan Rivera, of; Francisco Rodriguez, rhp; Mark Teixeira, 1b.MINNESOTA (4) -- Adam Everett, ss; Eddie Guardado, lhp; Nick Punto, ss; Dennys Reyes, lhp.NEW YORK (8) -- Bobby Abreu, of; Jason Giambi, 1b; Chad Moeller, c; Mike Mussina, rhp; Carl Pavano, rhp; Andy Pettitte, lhp; Sidney Ponson, rhp; Ivan Rodriguez, c.OAKLAND (4) -- Emil Brown, of; Alan Embree, lhp; Keith Foulke, rhp; Frank Thomas, dh.SEATTLE (3) -- Willie Bloomquist, of; Miguel Cairo, inf; Raul Ibanez, of.TAMPA BAY (4) -- Rocco Baldelli, dh; Cliff Floyd, dh; Eric Hinske, of; Trever Miller, lhp.TEXAS (4) -- Milton Bradley, dh; Jason Jennings, rhp; Ramon Vazquez, 3b; Jamey Wright, rhp.TORONTO (4) -- A.J. Burnett, rhp; John Parrish, lhp; Brad Wilkerson, of; Gregg Zaun, c.NATIONAL LEAGUEARIZONA (7) -- Tony Clark, 1b; Juan Cruz, rhp; Adam Dunn, of; David Eckstein, ss; Orlando Hudson, 2b; Randy Johnson, lhp; Brandon Lyon, rhp.ATLANTA (8) -- Elmer Dessens, rhp; Tom Glavine, lhp; Mike Hampton, lhp; Jorge Julio, rhp; Greg Norton, of; Will Ohman, lhp; John Smoltz, rhp; Julian Tavarez, rhp.CHICAGO (8) -- Henry Blanco, c; Ryan Dempster, rhp; Jim Edmonds, of; Chad Fox, rhp; Bob Howry, rhp; Jon Lieber, rhp; Daryle Ward, 1b; Kerry Wood, rhp.CINCINNATI (9) -- Jeremy Affeldt, lhp; Paul Bako, c; Josh Fogg, rhp; Jerry Hairston Jr., of; Mike Lincoln, rhp; Kent Mercker, lhp; Corey Patterson, of; Javier Valentin, c; David Weathers, rhp.COLORADO (6) -- Brian Fuentes, lhp; Matt Herges, rhp; Livan Hernandez, rhp; Adam Melhuse, c; Scott Podsednik, of; Glendon Rusch, lhp.FLORIDA (4) -- Luis Gonzalez, of; Mark Hendrickson, lhp; Paul Lo Duca, c; Arthur Rhodes, lhp,HOUSTON (4) -- Brad Ausmus, c; Doug Brocail, rhp; Mark Loretta, 2b; Randy Wolf, lhp.LOS ANGELES (14) -- Joe Beimel, lhp; Gary Bennett, c; Casey Blake, 3b; Rafael Furcal, ss; Nomar Garciaparra, ss; Jason Johnson, rhp; Jeff Kent, 2b; Derek Lowe, rhp; Greg Maddux, rhp; Pablo Ozuna; Chan Ho Park, rhp; Brad Penny, rhp; Manny Ramirez, of; Mark Sweeney, 1b.MILWAUKEE (10) -- Russell Branyan, 3b; Craig Counsell, 3b; Ray Durham, 2b; Eric Gagne, rhp; Gabe Kapler, of; Mike Lamb, 3b; Guillermo Mota, rhp; CC Sabathia, lhp; Ben Sheets, rhp; Brian Shouse, lhp.NEW YORK (11) -- Moises Alou, of; Tony Armas Jr., rhp; Luis Ayala, rhp; Damion Easley, 2b; Orlando Hernandez, rhp; Pedro Martinez, rhp; Ramon Martinez, 2b; Trot Nixon, of; Oliver Perez, lhp; Ricardo Rincon, lhp; Matt Wise, rhp.PHILADELPHIA (4) -- Pat Burrell, of; Tom Gordon, rhp; Jamie Moyer, lhp; Rudy Seanez, rhp.PITTSBURGH (4) -- Chris Gomez, 3b; Jason Michaels, of; Doug Mientkiewicz, 1b; Luis Rivas, ss..ST. LOUIS (8) -- Juan Encarnacion, of; Jason Isringhausen, rhp; Cesar Izturis, ss; Braden Looper, rhp; Felipe Lopez, 2b; Mark Mulder, lhp; Russ Springer, rhp; Ron Villone, lhp.SAN DIEGO (2) -- Trevor Hoffman, rhp; Mark Prior, rhp.SAN FRANCISCO (2) -- Rich Aurilia, 1b; Omar Vizquel, ss.WASHINGTON (2) -- Aaron Boone, 1b; Odalis Perez, lhp. lhpSource: MLBPA Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey. He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus, and is available as a freelance writer.Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network.Don't forget to register and log in on The Biz of Baseball site to get updates via your in-box, and see information only logged in members can see.

Tired Tuesday's Daily Link'in Logs

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:56:42 -0500

Once again the great JT is back on behalf of the awesome staff at The Bad News Bloggers, and here are the links that have caught his eye on this federal holiday.

Something about an "NFL" game yesterday. I use the quotes because frankly the Cardinals and 49ers isn't exactly the height of competition in the NFL, or at least at the height of what the NFL would like to show in primetime. Could have been worse, it could have been last year's editions.

Apparently the game turned out fairly well, with the Cardinals winning 29-24 with the game winning score coming late in the 4th. Must be nice to play in such a shitty division (against which the Eagles are 3-0)

The big news appeared to be out of baseball; where the Rockies traded Matt Holliday to the A's for a trio of "prospects," to include Huston Street (the non-prospect ML ready Closer), Greg Smith (A left handed starter) and Carlos Gonzalez (a slugging outfielder).

Keith Law of ESPN is reporting that the Nationals have acquired Scott Olsen and Josh Willingham for, among others, Emilio Bonafacio. Law claims it was a good move, I just don't see it.

And perhaps the most interesting info was a non-move. The Padres pulled their 4 million dollar 1 year offer for Closer Trevor Hoffman (which included a club option of 4 million for 2010). GM Kevin Towers has refused comment regarding the move and Hoffman, by my account, could be miffed at the move.

ArmchairGM is having another "Hottest" competition: This one is Hottest Female Athlete. Check out Regions one, two, three and four
AwfulAnnouncing fills us in on Todd Blackledge's taste of the town tour-de-force.
The fascinating case of Daunte Culpepper's contract...
With Leather informs of us of Jared Lorenzen's competition (not Jesse Palmer...)
My life for Eyre!
And finally, we're a little late on the getgo, but this little bodybuilding thread and all that was involved made me almost complete numerous body functions (from vomiting to peeing myself from laughing so hard...no, I never did that)

And finally part II: Via MLBTradeRumors, apparently Yahoo!'s Jeff Passan 183 FAs. A fascinating endeavor that is, most likely going a bit too far...

But there were highlights (Jeff, at least you enjoyed yourself somewhat)

117) Richie Sexson, 1B: From consistent 30-homer masher to a?? below Sidney Ponson. Oy.
118) Carl Pavano, SP: Hehe.
125) Julian Tavarez, RP: Hey, he's always up for throwing at batters, if nothing else.
141) Ramon Martinez, UT: Three more seasons and he'll actually have had as long of a career as the good Ramon Martinez.
142) Mike Timlin, RP: Wait. He's really not Bob Howry's twin?
143) Josh Fogg, SP: Penance for accepting the nickname "The Dragon Slayer" is a 7.58 ERA the next season.
144) Horacio Ramirez, RP: The White Sox actually gave up a player to trade for him in '08.
150) Kevin Mench, OF: He could end up in Japan.
164) Toby Hall, C: He is better known in the White Sox clubhouse for his facial hair than his talent.
166) Javier Valentin, C: Actually isn't half-bad.
167) Gary Bennett, C: Actually is.

Me's thinks Passan had a little fun writing that past about 100. Once he got to Vance Williams (last at 183) he turned from "ok, this guy kinda sucks, but he's still better than you" to "what the fuck? This guy was in my copy of 'Triple Play '97'! and he's still showing up?"

The Breakdown: Contract Riders...

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:51:44 -0500

Now we all know the story of the so called rock 'n' rolla whom has demanded only brown M & M's. And of course that's true. But didja know that ballplayers have their own wacky demands? IT'S TRUE!

Because I typed it in all caps. So shall we look at the facts? Yes. Let's look at the facts.

Catchers
Br... ...

Rumors: Mets might be a match with Tigers for Magglio Ordonez !

Tue, 28 Oct 2008 19:28:24 -0500

A recent article in the Detroit News by Lynn Henning suggests that the Tigers might entertain the idea of trading Magglio Ordonez to free up salary.

Lynn Henning says in the article :

A critical question is whether the team can expect to achieve anything other than payroll relief if it trades Magglio Ordonez. The Tigers aren't in favor of trading a career .312 hitter on Ordonez's level, particularly one who consistently hits good pitching. Ordonez would leave a serious hole in a batting order that could be further strapped if Detroit, as expected, settles on a new shortstop known more for his defense than for his hitting.

Ordonez, however, will turn 35 in January and stands to pull $48 million during the final three years of his contract. The Tigers are staring at a potentially tough year at the box office and might need to consider trading Ordonez even if little is obtained in return.

A more realistic possibility is the Tigers would agree to absorb some of Ordonez's remaining money if they could gain a reliever, shortstop or catcher in return.

With the above being said makes me believe the Mets can be a match for Tigers. The Mets have Aaron Heilman who the Mets would love to unload, if the return is right and they also have Scott Schoeneweis who also got his ticket for dismissal this year, plus he has some value. The Mets have Brian Schneider who the Mets think a little less of because of his lacking approach at the plate and his plate calling with pitchers. I would not be surprised if Minaya who has a need for a right handed bat and a left fielder, can find himself calling for Magglio Ordonez's services. The guy hits and he hits for power, he might be the offensive player the Mets need to get them over the hump.

If the Mets were to trade Brian Schneider they can look at a Jason Varitek, Josh Bard, or Jose Valentin's brother Javier Valentin who are all free agents. It's only a amount of time to see the disappearance of Aaron Heilman or Scott Schoeneweis. The Tigers have had interest in Aaron Heilman and Scott Schoeneweis in the past. Both of them were discussed when the Mets were in the hunt for a right handed bat offensive bat in Marcus Thames.

What do you think? Make Comments!

Taking a look at the 2009 Free Agent Market..

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:34:49 -0500

Here is the complete list from MLBTRADERUMORS.COM :

Catchers
Brad Ausmus (40)
Paul Bako (37)
Rod Barajas (33) - $2.5MM club option for '09 with a $0.5MM buyout
Josh Bard (31)
Michael Barrett (32)
Henry Blanco (37) - $3MM mutual option for '09 with a $0.3MM buyout
Johnny Estrada (33)
Toby Hall (33) - $2.25MM club option for '09 with a $0.15MM buyout
Jason LaRue (35)
Paul Lo Duca (37)
Miguel Olivo (30) - $2.7MM mutual option for '09 with a $0.1MM buyout
Ivan Rodriguez (37)
David Ross (32)
Javier Valentin (33)
Jason Varitek (37)
Gregg Zaun (38)
First basemen
Rich Aurilia (37)
Hank Blalock (28) - $6.2MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout
Sean Casey (34)
Tony Clark (37)
Carlos Delgado (37) - $12MM club option for '09 with a $4MM buyout
Nomar Garciaparra (35)
Jason Giambi (38) - $22MM club option for '09 with a $5MM buyout
Eric Hinske (31)
Doug Mientkiewicz (35)
Kevin Millar (37)
Richie Sexson (34)
Mark Teixeira (29)
Daryle Ward (34)
Second basemen
Willie Bloomquist (31)
Jamey Carroll (35) - $2.5MM club option for '09 with a $0.15MM buyout
Craig Counsell (38)
Ray Durham (37)
Damion Easley (39)
David Eckstein (34)
Mark Ellis (32)
Mark Grudzielanek (39)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (33)
Orlando Hudson (31)
Tadahito Iguchi (34)
Jeff Kent (41)
Felipe Lopez (29)
Mark Loretta (37)
Nick Punto (31)
Shortstops
Willie Bloomquist (31)
Orlando Cabrera (34)
Alex Cintron (30)
Alex Cora (33)
Craig Counsell (38)
David Eckstein (34)
Adam Everett (32)
Rafael Furcal (31)
Nomar Garciaparra (35)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (33)
Cesar Izturis (29)
Felipe Lopez (29)
Edgar Renteria (33)
Juan Uribe (30)
Ramon Vazquez (32)
Omar Vizquel (42) - $5.2MM club option for '09 with a $0.3MM buyout
Third basemen
Rich Aurilia (37)
Casey Blake (35)
Hank Blalock (28) - $6.2MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout
Willie Bloomquist (31)
Aaron Boone (36)
Russell Branyan (33)
Craig Counsell (38)
Joe Crede (31)
Nomar Garciaparra (35)
Mark Loretta (37)
Fernando Tatis (34)
Ramon Vazquez (32)
Left fielders
Moises Alou (42)
Garret Anderson (37) - $14MM club option for '09 with a $3MM buyout
Milton Bradley (31)
Emil Brown (34)
Pat Burrell (32)
Carl Crawford (27) - $8.25MM club option for '09 with a $2.5MM buyout
Adam Dunn (29)
Cliff Floyd (36) - $2.75MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout
Luis Gonzalez (41)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (33)
Raul Ibanez (37)
Gabe Kapler (33)
Kevin Mench (31)
Jason Michaels (33) - $2.6MM club option for '09
Craig Monroe (32)
Greg Norton (36)
Jay Payton (36)
Wily Mo Pena (27) - $5MM club option or $2MM player option for '09
Manny Ramirez (37)
Juan Rivera (30)
Fernando Tatis (34)
Center fielders
Rocco Baldelli (27)
Willie Bloomquist (31)
Mike Cameron (36) - $10MM club option for '09 with a $750K buyout
Jim Edmonds (39)
Jerry Hairston Jr. (33)
Gabe Kapler (33)
Mark Kotsay (33)
Corey Patterson (29)
Scott Podsednik (33)
Right fielders
Bobby Abreu (35)
Casey Blake (35)
Cliff Floyd (36) - $2.75MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout
Brian Giles (38) - $9MM club option for '09 with a $3MM buyout
Ken Griffey Jr. (39) - $16.5MM club option for '09 with a $4MM buyout
Vladimir Guerrero (33) - $15MM club option for '09 with a $3MM buyout
Gabe Kapler (33)
Jason Michaels (33) - $2.6MM club option for '09
Fernando Tatis (34)
Brad Wilkerson (32)
DHs
Milton Bradley (31)
Pat Burrell (32)
Adam Dunn (29)
Cliff Floyd (36) - $2.75MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout
Jason Giambi (38) - $22MM club option for '09 with $5MM buyout
Vladimir Guerrero (33) - $15MM club option for '09 with a $3MM buyout
Raul Ibanez (37)
Manny Ramirez (37)
Juan Rivera (30)
Mike Sweeney (35)
Frank Thomas (41)
Jose Vidro (34)
Starting pitchers
Kris Benson (33)
A.J. Burnett (32) - can opt out after '08 season
Paul Byrd (38)
Roger Clemens (46)
Matt Clement (33)
Bartolo Colon (36)
Ryan Dempster (32)
Shawn Estes (36)
Josh Fogg (32)
Freddy Garcia (33)
Jon Garland (29)
Tom Glavine (43)
Mike Hampton (36)
Mark Hendrickson (35)
Livan Hernandez (34)
Orlando Hernandez (43)
Jason Jennings (30)
Randy Johnson (45)
John Lackey (30) - $9MM club option for '09 with a $0.5MM buyout
Jon Lieber (39)
Braden Looper (34)
Rodrigo Lopez (33) - club option for '09
Derek Lowe (36)
Greg Maddux (43)
Pedro Martinez (37)
Sergio Mitre (28)
Jamie Moyer (46)
Mark Mulder (31) - $11MM club option for '09 with a $1.5MM buyout
Mike Mussina (40)
Carl Pavano (33) - $13MM club option for '09 with a $1.95MM buyout
Brad Penny (31) - $8.75MM club option for '09 with a $2MM buyout
Odalis Perez (32)
Oliver Perez (27)
Andy Pettitte (37)
Sidney Ponson (32)
Mark Prior (27)
Kenny Rogers (44)
Glendon Rusch (34)
C.C. Sabathia (28)
Curt Schilling (42)
Ben Sheets (30)
John Smoltz (42)
Tim Wakefield (42) - perpetual $4MM club option
Kip Wells (32)
Randy Wolf (32)
Closers
Brian Fuentes (33)
Eric Gagne (33)
Eddie Guardado (38)
Trevor Hoffman (41)
Jason Isringhausen (36)
Brandon Lyon (29)
Francisco Rodriguez (27)
Salomon Torres (37) - $3.75MM club option for '09 with a $0.3MM buyout
Kerry Wood (32)
Middle relievers
Jeremy Affeldt (30)
Luis Ayala (31)
Joe Beimel (32)
Joe Borowski (38)
Doug Brocail (42)
Shawn Chacon (31)
Juan Cruz (30)
Alan Embree (39) - $3MM club option for '09
Scott Eyre (37)
Kyle Farnsworth (33)
Casey Fossum (31)
Keith Foulke (35)
Tom Gordon (41) - $4.5MM club option for '09 with a $1MM buyout
LaTroy Hawkins (36)
Mark Hendrickson (35)
Matt Herges (39)
Bob Howry (35)
Jon Lieber (39)
Jason Johnson (35)
Damaso Marte (34) - $6MM club option for '09 with a $0.25MM buyout
Trever Miller (36) - $2MM club option for '09 with a $0.4MM buyout
Guillermo Mota (35)
Will Ohman (31)
Darren Oliver (38)
Chan Ho Park (36)
Horacio Ramirez (29)
Al Reyes (38)
Dennys Reyes (32)
Arthur Rhodes (39)
Juan Rincon (30)
Glendon Rusch (34)
Rudy Seanez (40)
Brian Shouse (40)
Russ Springer (40)
Mike Timlin (43)
Ron Villone (39)
David Weathers (39)
Kip Wells (32)
Matt Wise (33)
Jamey Wright (34)

Thanks to Tim Dierkes for Compiling this list...

Please Keep Martin Behind The Plate

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 20:30:12 -0500

I've recently noticed some rumblings from the fans and the media about moving Russell Martin to third base permanently in the near future, and I can't help but question the sanity of those people.

For example, Peter Gammons notes that some people in the Dodgers' organization might be open to moving Martin.

"Russell Martin may have slid backward, and had his attention to the defensive preparation called into question, but he remains a tremendous talent who wants to play every day, and his workload may have impacted his attention to game preparation. There has been some talk that the Dodgers may go after a Varitek or a pitcher-oriented catcher, which would free Martin from behind the plate and take his athleticism to third base, where the coaches feel he could also be an All-Star, a move Torre, Todd Zeile and Craig Biggio all made successfully."

First of all, while even I can admit that Martin has taken a noticeable step backwards defensively, I think it's way overblown because of his caught stealing percentage. Yes, it's low, but he also has one of the worst staffs in the league at holding baserunners. There's maybe 1 or 2 guys who are below average at holding runners on. The rest? They're terrible. I'm pretty sure Ricky Henderson could steal both 2nd and 3rd off Lowe in one pitch.

Secondly, just the mention that the Dodgers might go after another old, multi-year contract seeking, broken down piece of shit is sickening. Do I even need to explain why putting a terrible hitting old motherfucker behind the plate, and moving Martin's bat to a spot where it's less valuable, is a terrible idea? For fucks sake, Varitek might end up hitting below the Mendoza Line before this year is done.

Okay, so just sign a catcher who's better than Varitek then, right? Well, as nice as that would be, please don't say that the other options available are much better.

Here's a list of the catchers who will hit the free agent market: Rod Barajas, Johnny Estrada, Adam Melhuse, Ivan Rodriguez, David Ross, Javier Valentin, Jason Varitek, and Vance Wilson.

Does anybody out there really fucking think that signing any one of those douches to the contracts they want is a good idea? Seriously, the thought of the Dodgers signing Ivan Rodriguez or Rod Barajas to a 3-year 27 million dollar contract makes me want to strangle little children.

And all of this is because the Dodgers apparently can't find a suitable option at third base, right? Well...uh...how about the guy they have now? Look, i'm no huge fan of Casey Blake and his stone golem defense. However, while he's not a great offensive third baseman, his OPS the last 3 years are better than Martin's. Also, is there any real guarantee that Martin can stay healthy at third and that his defense is going to be above average? There are way too many question marks to even consider this.

Finally, are Biggio, Zeile and Torre the best 3 examples Gammons could find? Doesn't that say something about how the moves usually work out? To quote Bill James:

"I've been a baseball fan a long time. Moves like that always fail."

To the point, Torre is the only real example of a conversion success. Yes, Biggio was a full-time catcher for about 3 seasons, but the 1-time All-Star behind the plate was pretty much a hack defensively anyway. As far as Zeile goes, I don't even know why he's mentioned. He didn't even spend one season as a full-time catcher in the bigs before he scrapped that and moved to third.

So basically, none of this should apply to Martin. Neither Zeile nor Biggio had the defensive chops that Martin does, and neither of them were nearly as accomplished at catcher as Martin is. At the very least, Martin is a top 5 catcher in the majors, and to move that kind of player anywhere else toes the line between crazy and insane.

Some people speculate that a move to third base would prevent Martin from declining so steeply late in the year, but what does that really have to do with moving to third? Instead of torpedoing his offensive value by moving him to third base, why not just find a manager with the balls to tell Martin to sit the fuck down on the bench like normal catchers do? Oh right, because it's the Dodgers.

Reds 5, Pirates 1

Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:23:05 -0500

Not exactly a perfect home debut for Jeff Karstens.
The perfect game was gone after a 5 pitch leadoff walk. Jeff Andrews was out after 7 pitches (6 balls). The no-hitter/shutout was gone after 2/3 of an inning, when Brandon Phillips smashed one into the deep left field bleachers.
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Karstens would recover and actually gut out a quality start (7 innings, 4 runs, 3 earned), but took the loss to Edinson Volquez. Volquez allowed lots of baserunners through his 6 and 2/3, but stranded nearly all of them. The Bucs hit and walked all night, but couldn't come through with 2 outs and got a tad unlucky, too. Eye Chart smashed a ball down the first base line that looked like a sure double, but Javier Valentin dove and turned it into an inning ending web gem. McLouth hit a double that would've scored a run, but it bounced into the stands for 2 bases, stopping a runner at 3rd.
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Andy LaRoche smoked two balls (1 for a double) and drove in the only Pirate run. Brandon Moss looked very bad and went 0-fer.
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Karstens also allowed a solo shot to Valentin. Volquez got his 14th win. The Reds are a bad team, but their ace was out there tonight. Gotta win the next two now, though.
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Karstens' outing made for the Pirates' 7th quality start in a row, a streak of epic proportions. Unfortuntely, the Bucs are just 3-4 in that stretch (it doesn't help that they're really pushing the definition of a quality start--3 ER or less in 6 innings or more.

BakerMetrics Alert: Dusty Is Worse Than I Thought

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:22:42 -0500

Just when Dusty was getting his act together, and was starting to figure out how to build a decent line up Dusty takes 5 steps backwards. Let me run down the play by play for anyone who didn't see it. * The inning starts off with an Adam Dunn walk * Corey Patterson comes in to pinch run * Brandon Phillips infield singles on a ball to the shortstop Then the weird shit starts. Dusty tries to have Votto bunt. Amazingly Dusty hasn't figured out that guys like Dunn, Edwin, Bruce, and Votto can't bunt by now. Of course Votto fails to do so. continued...

Fantasy Baseball Sizzlers and Fizzlers

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:58:11 -0500

In "Sizzlers and Fizzles," I will evaluate the past week's performances, injuries, and job security, and then predict which players will sizzle (do well) or fizzle (drop off) in the upcoming week. We'll get you started with Andre Ethier (OF, Los Angeles Dodgers). In probably the most shocking lineup move, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Joe Torre opted to tab Andre Ethier the starting RF over incumbent Juan Pierre. It's shocking for a few reasons: (1) It's the correct move. (2) Joe Torre tends to favor veterans. (3) Juan Pierre will make $36.5 million over the next four seasons. Ethier might be on short-leash, but at least it's a leash. Ethier is a huge talent who is finally getting a shot, so he's a good option in the fantasy world.

2008 Fantasy Catcher Rankings: NL Central

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 17:02:27 -0500

I'm almost finished with my divisional rankings of the 2008 catchers. This post includes the backstops from the NL Central.