Month: January 2008

Snowy Day Links

 

–Steve Conley has a Q&A with Peoria Chiefs manager Ryne Sandberg for MILB.com on his Questioning Authority segment.

–Jacoby Ellsbury would just as soon be staying in Boston

-Now that the deal is done, it seems that Santana and Mets will have some haggling to do.  Jayson Stark of ESPN claims that discussions may last till Friday.

-Speaking of the Santana deal, former Twins pitcher Frank Viola has an opinion or two he’d like to share.

-Finally, I wondered about the possibility of Luis Gonzalez retiring in my interview with  MLBTradeRumors’ Tim Dierkes last night.  Coincidentally, I find out that Luis signed with the Marlins tonight… on MLBTradeRumors.com.

BZR Interview with MLBTradeRumors.com’s Tim Dierkes

I’ve been a fan of Tim Dierkes’ RotoAuthority.com for a couple years.  I thought I’d have Tim on Baseball Zealot Radio to talk about his other site, MLBTradeRumors.com which has been around for a little over a year now.  The way I hear it, the response to it has been overwhelming.

Anyway, it’s the perfect timing to have someone on who specializes in MLB hot stove action.  We take some time to chat with him and find out a little about him then talk some MLB.

Bonus points for Tim for being a U of I alum.

Enough jabbering… the show notes:

 

Show Notes for Episode 36:

Hosts: Tom:

Summary: Tim Dierkes is our guest for our first episode of 2008.  Tim has two web sites, MLBTradeRumors.com and RotoAuthority.com.  He talks a bit about his background and his work with both sites.

We then talk about some of the pressing hot stove issues including Johan Santana, Erik Bedard, and Joe Crede.

 

Time: 21:35

Date Recorded: 1/30/08

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Sox GM’s Q&A a little tense at SoxFest

Boy, I almost wish I was a fly on the wall at Kenny Williams’ Q&A at SoxFest last weekend.

“We want answers,” declared one fan among a crowd that swelled to about 150 during the first day of the fans’ gathering.

“You don’t have a starting center fielder” and “somebody’s got some explaining to do,” were the other declarations at the start of a scheduled 30-minute session that was extended to 65 minutes.

To Williams’ credit, he apparently handled everything calmly. 

“I will take a risk on a high-ceiling players and jeopardize my reputation if I think that player fits into the equation and leads us to a championship if things go the way we think they will,” Williams said during a five-minute reply that finished with applause.

“If you leave here today, understand this: every move, every decision we make is in an effort to win a championship.”

Thanks to South Side Sox for their round up of media links about SoxFest.  I hope everyone who went had a good time.

HOF Game: Good News, Bad News

This summer, the Cubs will be playing in the annual Hall of Fame Game against the San Diego Padres.  They will be playing at, of course, Doubleday Field in Cooperstown, New York on June 16, 2008. 

The bad news… it will be the last time the Hall of Fame Game will be played.  The tradition that has been going on since 1940 will be discontinued after this year. 

HOF prez Dan Petroskey claims that the game has befallen because of “scheduling” issues.

“We’re grateful to Major League Baseball for making an annual Hall of Fame Game possible for so many years, but we also understand their enormous scheduling challenge today, which makes continuing this exhibition game impossible.”

Scheduling seems like a small price to pay, in my opinion.

If you are interested in attending, tickets will be sold over the phone or in person on March 8.  Tickets will NOT be sold online.

Mets fans ‘ecstatic’ about Santana…

…as well they should be. 

To recap, Johan Santana has been traded to the Mets.  In return, the Twins get four prospects, Philip Humber, Carlos Gomez, , Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra. 

You can see a video of an SNY Sportsnite interview of Matt Cerone from Metsblog.com in light of this trade. 

 

Tim Dierkes from MLB Trade Rumors wonders if the Twins took the better offer.  One thing is for sure.  With the other offers out there (i.e. from the Yankees and Red Sox), it seems the Twins have chosen the path that will take more development.  The Twins had deals out on the table that would have gotten them prospects, yes, but prospects that were game-ready.  Prospects like Jacoby Ellsbury or Melky Cabrera.

Twins fans might need to be convinced that this is was THE deal.  Was this better than paying Santana what he really worth? 

Let’s end this post with a quote by centerfielder Torii Hunter who has also left Minnesota this off-season, signing with the Angels:

“I hate to hear that.  I mean, I’m happy for Johan, but he meant so much for that organization. I’m sad for the Twins’ organization and all of the fans out there. They loved Johan. This is going to be tough for them to swallow.”

Ouch.

Dempster talk

DempsterRyan I dunno… I find this comment by Cubs pitcher Ryan Dempster somewhat unsettling:

“Now I can go out there and not be afraid to give up a run because it’s not going to mean the game. You can be a starter and give up three runs in the first, and go six more innings and everybody talks about the great job you did. If you’re closing, you give up one run and sometimes they want to run you out.”

Dempster, of course, is talking about his impending move to the rotation which seems to have at least some Cub fans puzzled.  His 4.99 ERA and 51-58 record as a starter leaves something to be desired. 

With a plethora of starting pitchers coming back from 2007 and the current acquisition of Jon “Let’s get that Magic back” Lieber, Cubs management still seem determined to try Demp in the rotation. 

Lou Piniella said at the Q&A at the Cubs Convention that “there is no such thing too much starting pitching”.  Unless we dump one or two in a trade, we may test that theory.

Josh Hamilton: No Regrets?

Yesterday, the Dallas Morning News has a nice feature article on Josh Hamilton.

I was beginning to wonder if the Cubs had lost something pretty good there when we lost him to the Reds in the Rule V draft.  Then last month, the Reds traded him to the Rangers for pitchers Edinson Volquez and Danny Herrera. 

For the Reds, the trade is logical on paper but sometimes talent transcends logic.  Not to mention that he’s 6’4 and 240.

Another Top Cub List from Bleed Cubbie Blue

Last winter, Al Yellon of Bleed Cubbie Blue counted down the Top 100 Cubs of All Time.  It was a great reason to check out his site (not that you need one).  Each day was another Cub waiting for me. 

In the winter of 2008, Al has another cool list to help us count the days down to spring training.  It’s the Top 20 Cub HR of All Time. 

Today’s is #16, Larry Biitner’s game winning home run on opening day in 1978. 

Similar to the Top 100 Cub list from last year, Al’s posts are exhaustively researched and bring back a little bit of history.  Today’s especially for me brings back memories as that was when I was growing up with the Cubs. 

Once again, thanks Al!