Category: Uncategorized

Ted Lilly

All the HOOPLA is about the Cubs spending BIG MONEY on Ted Lilly, a four year forty million dollar deal. HELLO, WAKEUP, Ted Lilly is a pitcher who, because he was two games above last year with the Blue Jays, is now one game above .500 for his career. Dunno if this is money well spent, not in my book, but I’m not a win starved Cub fan who hasn’t won in championship in nearly a century.

Tom Glavine

The NY Mets decided to keep Glavine in their rotation and more importantly Tom decided to stay. It was rumored the Atlanta Braves were going to try to lure the veteran lefty back where he started, but they never stepped to the plate to make an offer. Glavine said, he’s grown comfortable in NY and has fallen in love with the fans of Shea. He is only ten wins shy of 300 wins and is still going strong at 40 years of age.

I drafted Tom Glavine for my Chicago Champions of the Illowa APBA League way back when, he was selected, after posting a 2-4 record with a 5.54 ERA over nine starts. But then I was silly enough to trade Glavine along with Melido Perez for an aging Kirk Gibson & Pete Smith. The Baseball Zealot & his Twin City Thunderchickens benefitted greatly because of this bad trade.

JD Drew

The Los Angeles Dodgers have practiced addition by subtraction, with the exits of JD Drew, Greg Maddux, & Julio Lugo. I don’t know if there’s any truth to the rumor that LA’s GM actually kissed Scott Boras (Drew’s agent) when JD opted out of his contract. While Drew did drive in 100 runs for the Dodgers last year, he’s a career .286 hitter who always seems to be down with some type of ailment. Now he’s signed a HUGE deal with the Bosox. The funny thing is that the Bosox will be replacing rightfielder Trot Nixon with Drew. When you lookup Drew, the player who he most resembles is Nixon. I guess the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence.

It looks like the Dodgers will replace Greg Maddux, who has signed with the Padres, by signing Jason Schmidt. Although it’s not a done deal, it’s reported that Schmidt has told his Giant mates he’ll sign with LA. Maddux was a nice stretch drive pickup last year, but letting him go seems to be best for LA, especially if Schmidt’s brought on board.

The loss of Lugo, also going to Boston, doesn’t seem to warrant a comment. I mean, Julio’s pretty much a dime a dozen. Hey, what do you think of Lugo?

Aaron Rowand

It’s not a done deal, but it would be if I were the White Sox GM. Rumor has it the Phils might be willing to send Rowand back to the South Siders in exchange for starting pitching. It’d be great if the Sox could get Aaron back for #5 starter Javier Vazquez. That would save some Sox cash and allow Brandon McCarthy to move into the rotation. C’mon Kenny, Pull the trigger!

Joe Crede

Here’s the deal that’s on the table according to the Chicago Tribune article. The White Sox would send Joe Crede & Freddy Garcia to the Halos in exchange for Ervin Santana & Chone Figgins. This is not an old fashioned trade, but rather a trade based on salary. Joe Crede will soon be a free agent and the Sox don’t want to lose him, but there is more than just money.

The Angels could really use Crede’s bat & glove at 3B, they just signed Gary Matthews, Jr. to play CF, so Figgins’ isn’t as important as he once was. Also Bartolo Colon won’t be ready for the start of the 2007 season as he’s recovering from a partially torn rotator cuff. LAA would love to have a big time pitcher in Garcia at the front of their rotation.

Back in the Windy City Chone Figgins would fit right into the lineup at leadoff & CF, with just signed leftfielder Scott Podsednik dropping to 9th. Josh Fields looked like he was ready during a September callup to step into the everyday lineup at thirdbase. The 23 year old right hander Santana would be a welcome member of the Sox rotation, the staff is loaded with veterans, and some vitality might be just what is needed.

Any way you look at it, it’s interesting to check out the Hot Stove League to see what’s cooking. The Winter Meetings start up soon, which means spring time is just around the corner. Looks can sometimes be deceiving, as can the snow & ice on the ground, as I await the crack of the bat.

I love baseball trades! There is something exciting about seeing which team got the better of the deal and debating the strengths/weaknesses of the players involved. It kinda takes me back to when I was a kid and I would swap baseball cards with my buddies (although doubles were normally figured into which cards to swap). This trade between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Arizona Diamondbacks is particularly interesting as it really wasn’t made for financial reasons. One of the strengths of the Brewers is their starting rotation and lefty Doug Davis pitches alot of innings. Even though Milwaukee is giving up Davis, and not much else (Dana Eveland & David Krynzel), they are receiving righty Claudio Vargas. Vargas had a breakout year last year for the D*Backs and should be able to step into the void left by Davis. The Brewers also received offensive backstop Johnny Estrada. Estrada is a switch hitter who hits for a high batting average and has good double power, but is one of the weakest defensive catchers in the game. That will be quite a contrast from last year’s starter behind the plate Damian Miller, who excels defensively, but is not much to write home about with the stick. Milwaukee also got some bullpen help in the person of Greg Aquino. Here is what MLB had to say about the trade.

What are some of your favorite trades? Being a Chicago White Sox fan & a Tommy John fan, I still remember when the White Sox traded John to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Dick Allen (the quickest bat I’ve ever seen). This trade kept the White Sox from moving to St. Petersburg, FL.

Carlos Lee

El Caballo has decided to stay in Texas, but not with the Rangers. Carlos Lee will be taking his act to the Houston Astros for really big money. Lee is a career .286 hitter with 221 homers, as a leftfielder, he’s a pretty good hitter. In fact I don’t know if there is a worse fielding outfielder in baseball, although three years ago he didn’t commit a single error. That said Carlos seems to have gotten worse in the field as his girth has increased, he is a big man. It seems in life timing is everything, he inked a six year $100 million dollar deal, after putting up a .300 average, with 37 homers, and 116 RBIs last season for the Milwaukee Brewers and the Texas Rangers.

A side note is that Carlos Lee also plays for my Chicago Champions of the Illowa APBA League. Michael Point & Jim Pierce of Baseball America have invited me to come to Texas in 2007 for my yearly baseball trip. Now with Lee in Houston it looks like a more viable option, CLuke has indicated he’s interested in joining NickyV and myself.

Justin Morneau – 2006 AL MVP

Minnesota Twins firstbaseman Justin Morneau won a tight vote for 2006 AL MVP over NY Yankees SS Derek Jeter. Don’t get me wrong Morneau put up some very good numbers, but I’m not sure Justin was even the MVP on the Twins. Certainly he provided the power, but Joe Mauer, with his breakout season, might have been Miinesota’s MVP. In either case, Jeter, IMHO, deserved to win the this year’s Most Valuable Player Award. While Derek didn’t hit for the power that Justin did, he had an outstanding year with the bat, played outstanding in the field at shortstop, and was the leader of the NY Yankees.

Trevor Crowe

I’m heading west November 13-16 to watch some baseball, Arizona Fall League style. Then gonna roll some dice in Vegas over the weekend, before giving you a full baseball report when I get back to Chicago. I’ve been doing my homework on Who’s Who in the AFL and one player I’m very psyched to see is Trevor Crowe.

Trevor Crowe was a star outfielder at the University of Arizona before being selected by the Cleveland Indians in 2005, 14th player chosen. Trevor’s a switch hitter, who’s shown good speed, the ability to draw a base on balls, as well as hitting for a high average in the AFL.