"Competitive balance highlights MLB's first half" from Yahoo!

Competitive balance highlights MLB's first half

Where you at, Yankees?

It's Braun Time - Ryan Braun

This '05 1st round pick from The U has been a stud ever since playing 3B full time in Brewers town. He's hitting almost .400OBP & .350AVG &.600SLG with 8HR's, and this kid can run, too, 8SB's in 36gms. Alex Gordon & Ryan Zimmerman (both 3B, coincidentally) were drafted before this 5th overall stud in '05. So much have been expected about Gordon's full-time playing time & Zimmerman has proven his franchise value in his rookie year last season. Where were the buzz about Braun? Maybe again, it's gotta do with small-town media coverage. Money is on this The U product to be a favorite to win ROY. Not sure about his fielding yet (7 errors in 36gms already), but he's got a good bat and anchor that 3rd spot ahead of Prince Fielder for the Brew Crew. Braun & Fielder are forming a solid 1-2 punch in the NL quietly. It's neat to see so many young stud 3B's rising up in the last couple of seasons.

You don't know Jack - Jack Cust

A 28-year old career minor leaguer, former 1st round pick, Jack Cust who was traded for the bare minimum (player to be named later, PTBNL or cash considerations) to the A's from the Padres now leads his new team with 14 HR's & hits .281 with .400+OBP & .611SLG. How the hack did anyone miss this guy? Other 29 teams didn't pick up on this guy, in fact, Jack Cust played for 4 teams (ARI, COL, BAL & SD) before ending up as an everyday hitter in Oakland this season. Shouldn't the scouts from other 29 teams be embrassed (especially the staff of the four teams Cust played for previsouly)?!

Cust is no 5-tool guy. A high schooler drafted out in the 1st round, he must be thought of being a solid everyday player. Average height but with a nice build at 230lbs, this guy (he's no longer a kid at 27) can hit. Who cares if he can't throw out the guy at home from the warning track or climb the wall to rob homers. So what he runs like almost a catcher. He's a professional hitter! It may sound like a hindsight 20/20, but Cust was solid hitting prospect in the minors to say the least (he hit over .400OBP & almost .550SLG in 'o6 at AAA and a decent '05 for A's AAA team). San Diego, please tell me that you don't want to play this guy everyday this season over Terrmel Sledge & José Cruz. It's different on a NL team, understandably, because the lack of DH and the need for utility defense skill. Still, Sledge & Cruz can't hit for jack. However, how could other 13 AL teams don't even want to give up almost nothing (maybe a bucket of balls and a couple of bats) for Cust??

Cust may not be an All-Star just yet, nonetheless Oakland picked up on this guy & paying him only minor league money, this is the dictionary definition of Moneyball. It really makes you wonder what these Major League teams pay their scouts for. Every ordinary fan can point out past All-Stars and recent top draft picks as their next solid picks for this year's studs. If a Major League team can't pick up a guy who's put up convincing numbers at a the high minor league level and opt for some other scrubs, that's a major offense of running its team to the ground.


Good for Jack. He's hitting 4th in the lineup, playing everyday in the Bigs. If you haven't heard of Cust, you really don't know jack. He will be an All-Star someday.

Miller Time - Andrew Miller, DET

22-year young pitching stud, Andrew Miller of the Tigers made his Major League debut last year immediately after being drafted 6th overall out of UNC (he pitched 3 short games on DET's high-A team after being drafted). Many discussion about his quick call-up to the Majors were made last year. DET had a very good rotation and sensational bullpen last year. They wanted to see what Miller was made of after being a stud at UNC. This year, due to Kenny Rogers' injury, Miller is in the strong Tigers rotation.

After seeing him pitching today at the almost mid-season point, some good and bad things can be said of this Tar Heel alum:

-Very good, live fastballs, can hit 97mph & consistent ~92-94mph
-3 types of fastballs: 4-seam, 2-seam & cutter
-Average slider, which he throws when ahead, it's decent enough to throw hitters off & made them miss
-Below-average curveball, which he throws sometimes to mix in with his 90+ fastballs
-Needs a change-up and a steady slower pitch (e.g. splitter or change-up), to get the most out of his heat
-Smooth, quick 3-quarter, left-handed delivery comes right at the hitters from his lean 6'6 frame that is deceptive
-Needs to control his pitches better and lower his BB's

Miller can definitely become an ace of any rotation with a better off-speed pitch and more Major League experience. The question really is should be be developed at the Majors level or in the minor league. He looks confident at this point and as long as he doesn't blow up at some point while pitching in the Majors, any strong competitive experience can only help his career.

Year	Team	Lg	Age	Org	Level		W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SH	GF	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	SO	WP	BK	H9	HR9	BB9	K9	WHIP
2004	North Car.	NCAA	19		NCAA		6	3	2.93	18	15	1	0		0	89.0	64	40	29	5	48	88	8		6.47	0.51	4.85	8.90	1.26
2005	North Car.	NCAA	20		NCAA		8	4	2.98	16	16	2	0		0	96.2	78	45	32	4	52	104	8	0	7.26	0.37	4.84	9.68	1.34
2006	North Car.	NCAA	21		NCAA		13	2	2.48	20	18	0	0		1	123.1	100	50	34	4	40	133	9	0	7.30	0.29	2.92	9.71	1.14
	Lakeland	FSL	21	Det	A+		0	0	0.00	3	0				0	5.0	2	0	0	0	1	9	1	0	3.60	0.00	1.80	16.20	0.60
	Detroit	MLB	21	Det	MLB		0	1	6.10	8	0	0	0	3	0	10.1	8	9	7	0	10	6	1	0	6.97	0.00	8.71	5.23	1.74

Yankees got two more ching chong's

Yankees sign two Chinese prospects
Yankees sign Chinese pair

"We have scouts worldwide and we have seen both players in the past," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said.

Only the Evil Empire with a douchebag GM would say something like that. Duh, other teams have scouts worldwide, too. Other teams may just not have all the money in the world to sign a couple of unproven teenagers from China. This is almost as bad as the Jose "Family Guy" Contreras bidding & singing a few years back. Let's hope that these two fresh-off-the-boaters are the next Chan Ho Park & Kaz Matsui.

Clemens may be the biggest douche of all time

... it's a toss-up between Rocket & Bonds for the biggest douchebag award in baseball history...

Clemens has decided to pitch for the Bronx Buttholes this season along with his buddy (it's probably more than just sharing family vacations together), Pettitte.

Remember couples years ago when Roger was supposed "retired", only to come out of retirement to pitch with his homie, Andy in Houston? All the talk about being close to his family and his son (who is in Houston's minor league organization) is just the same ol' bologna he tells everyone.

Roger's got some impressive career achievements of going to Toronto for money, going to Chokees for championships, then going to hang out with his loverboy in Houston. This guy always got some bull for you. More reasons for any douche to cheer for the Yanks.

Happy Belated April Fool's, A-Fraud

Mr. Slappy, aka Purple Lips had one of the best April in baseball history. Not many arguments could really be made against his case. Just a quick look of his April production strongly indicates this season is a big one for him. Not only he might get booed out of New York if he doesn't put up Babe Ruth/Hank Greenberg numbers, it's his CONTRACT YEAR!!!

Regular Season																Season to Date
Date	Opponent	Score	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS			AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Apr 29	BOS	L 4-7	4	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0			.355	.415	.882	1.297
Apr 28	BOS	W 3-1	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0			.348	.412	.899	1.311
Apr 27	BOS	L 4-11	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0			.365	.429	.941	1.370
Apr 26	TOR	L 0-6	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0			.378	.436	.976	1.412
Apr 24	@ TAM	L 4-6	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0			.385	.444	1.013	1.457
Apr 23	@ TAM	L 8-10	5	4	4	0	0	2	3	0	1	0	0			.400	.453	1.053	1.507
Apr 22	@ BOS	L 6-7	4	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0			.371	.432	.986	1.418
Apr 21	@ BOS	L 5-7	4	0	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0			.379	.434	1.030	1.465
Apr 20	@ BOS	L 6-7	5	3	3	1	0	2	4	0	0	0	0			.371	.431	1.048	1.479
Apr 19	CLE	W 8-6	5	1	1	0	0	1	3	0	2	0	0			.351	.418	.965	1.383
Apr 18	CLE	W 9-2	4	2	1	0	0	1	2	0	2	0	0			.365	.435	.981	1.416
Apr 17	CLE	W 10-3	5	1	2	0	0	1	3	0	1	0	0			.375	.448	.979	1.427
Apr 15	@ OAK	L 4-5	3	1	2	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0			.372	.453	.977	1.430
Apr 14	@ OAK	W 4-3	5	1	1	0	0	1	1	1	3	0	0			.350	.449	.975	1.424
Apr 13	@ OAK	L 4-5	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0			.371	.465	1.000	1.465
Apr 11	@ MIN	L 1-5	3	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	2	0	0			.355	.447	1.065	1.512
Apr 10	@ MIN	W 10-1	3	1	1	0	0	1	2	2	1	0	0			.357	.471	1.107	1.578
Apr 9	@ MIN	W 8-2	4	1	1	0	0	1	2	1	0	0	0			.360	.448	1.080	1.528
Apr 8	BAL	L 4-6	3	1	1	0	0	1	2	1	0	0	0			.381	.458	1.095	1.554
Apr 7	BAL	W 10-7	4	4	3	1	0	2	6	1	0	0	0			.389	.450	1.056	1.506
Apr 6	BAL	L 4-6	4	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0			.286	.333	.643	.976
Apr 5	TAM	L 6-7	5	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0			.300	.300	.700	1.000
Apr 2	TAM	W 9-5	5	2	2	0	0	1	2	0	1	1	0			.400	.400	1.000	1.400
Total			93	27	33	7	0	14	34	9	23	2	0			.355	.415	.882	1.297

Merely mentioning A-Fraud's HR numbers is not a complete picture of his "achievement" (can such word be properly used for him?). His .882 SLG & 1.297OPS are just outright HOF-class. He also hit .355 (33 hits in 23gms) to begin this '07 season.

Let's just say Scott Boras is printing that leather-bound A-Fraud almanac to get his next team to pony up a 7-year, $280 mil. contract. (Mr. Fraud can opt out of his 10-year $252 mil. contract at the end of this season at his wish. Predicting from Boras' clients' past opt-out contract option history, A-Fraud will OPT-PUT certainly.)

Putting the contract issue aside, the April production A-Fraud had was simply sensational. Too bad he can't take 5 out of 6 gms against Red Sox with his individual numbers. Oh, right, baseball is a team sport. Take that $25 million salary and get some new shade of lipstick, A-Fraud. It won't matter that you hit 25 HRs and drive in 75 runs in a single month, if your team can't win with you on the team, you will go down in history as the greediest and most selfish player, ever.

FOX just can't get it right

Joe Buck just called Dustin Pedroia, "Justin" after he announced his team's lineup!?!?

GET IT RIGHT, FOX douchebag announcers! (McCarver can never get it right. Remember the "Brandon Arroyo" name-calling back in '04?)

www.shutuptimmccarver.com

Francoeur got his 1st BB of the season tonight!

He didn't draw a walk until 5/9 of last season...

He's a true free-swinging stud hitter, who just doesn't wait for pitches. He could be like Nomar or José Hernández.



P.S. Jeff's got a new sponsorship deal from UA this season (switching from Mizuno). He makes those gears look good.

'07 Preliminary Payroll Bumbers

Yahoo! article, "It pays to wear pinstripes"
USA Today article, "More baseball clubs joining spending spree"

NYY tops the list (what a surprise) with ~$195 mil. BOS is turning itself into a free-spending machine (without much expectation management) with a ~$143 mil. budget.

With inflation (more like costlier free agency, really) accounted in, more teams have payroll over $100 mil. in '07. Teams are finding more budgets out of their grand daddy's trust funds to spend.

There is parity in MLB. Teams like Cubs & Astros unexpectedly spent some big-time dough on free agents to improve their lineups this off-season show the new payroll trend. Teams are willing to spend (more) and compete (or at least appearing so), rather than just packing it in by the time spring training wraps up(okay, TB & WAS still stink). Hey, there are no clear most-talented teams to win it all on opening day. It's great to see more balance in team strengths in both NL & AL.

Free Agent Contracts

Free Agents Contracts
Reference: Boston.com
(great details on how many dudes got rich this winter)

Another questionable move by Red Sox

2B Mark Loretta has signed with Astros for one-year, $2.5 mil. Red Sox let go of a good fielder & a career .299 hitter in Loretta. It's a significant risk to bank on rookie, Dustin Pedroia to be an everyday 2B and not an automatic out at the bottom of the lineup. For the price of >$4mil., Red Sox should have kept Loretta, who is a likable guy in the club house, too, and hope to grow Pedroia into a full-time 2B over a full season at the big-league level. Another thing about "team chemistry", wasn't there a rumor about bringing back Kevin "Karaoke Guy" Millar and build the World Championship-grade club house atmosphere again? They should have got Millar for a cheap pocket change of $2.75mil. as a DH/1B/cheerleader. Red Sox is using the "Evil Empire" model of club house style now with all the free agents and hot shots. Boston need the blue collar dirtdogs, like Trot & Millar!!

As a Boston Dirtdog, I'll miss Trot (da original dirtdog, drafted & been with BOS longest up to '06) & Mr. CowboyUp, Millar.

Why do the Yankees need Mientkiewicz?!

Doug, aka "the ball-stealer" or "WHIPPED", is a gold-glove 1B who doesn't have much pop and average OBP at this point of his career. NYY already has a decent 1B fielder in Andy Phillips and Mr. All-Bat, No-Glove, Jason "Juice" Giambi-(no). New York must doesn't like or expect much from Phillips to sign a defensive 1B who can't even provide much offense in Mientkiewicz. Other teams should inquire about Phillips, whose OBP is an attractive tool (proven at the AAA-level, at least), although, all these years he wasted in the Yankees organization makes him no longer a young man at 29. All the Mientkiewicz signing was just a waste of $1.5 mil. Yankees could have used that money to upgrade their men's rooms (trust me, they need that "clean-up")...

Year	Team	Lg	Age	Org.	Level		Pos	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	HBP	IBB	SH	SF	DP	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
1999	Staten Isl	NYPL	22	Nyy	A-		3b	64	233	35	75	11	7	7	48	3	3	37	40	3	1	0	3	4	.322	.417	.519	936
2000	Tampa	FSL	23	Nyy	A+		3b	127	478	66	137	33	2	13	58	2	0	46	98	2	0	0	8	9	.287	.346	.446	792
	Norwich	East	23	Nyy	AA		3b	7	28	5	7	2	1	0	3	1	0	3	11	0	0	1	0	1	.250	.323	.393	716
2001	Tampa	FSL	24	Nyy	A+		2b	75	288	43	87	17	4	11	50	3	3	25	55	3	1	1	10	6	.302	.353	.503	856
	Norwich	East	24	Nyy	AA		2b	51	183	23	49	9	2	6	25	1	0	21	54	0	2	0	2	6	.268	.340	.437	777
2002	Norwich	East	25	Nyy	AA		2b	73	272	58	83	24	2	19	51	4	3	33	56	3	2	0	4	6	.305	.381	.618	999
	Columbus	IL	25	Nyy	AAA		2b	51	205	32	54	11	1	9	36	0	1	10	46	0	0	1	1	8	.263	.296	.459	755
2003	Columbus	IL	26	Nyy	AAA		2b	17	67	7	14	4	0	2	5	0	0	5	17	0	0	0	0	4	.209	.264	.358	622
2004	Trenton	East	27	Nyy	AA		3b-1b	10	42	8	15	2	1	4	16	3	0	3	1	0	0	0	2	0	.357	.383	.738	1121
	Columbus	IL	27	Nyy	AAA		1b-dh	115	434	83	138	19	6	26	85	2	1	51	60	2	5	1	5	18	.318	.388	.569	957
	NY Yankees	MLB	27	Nyy	MLB	log - sp	3b	5	8	1	2	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	.250	.250	.625	875
2005	Columbus	IL	28	Nyy	AAA		3b-1b	75	300	60	90	14	1	22	54	2	0	36	61	3	3	0	1	15	.300	.379	.573	952
	NY Yankees	MLB	28	Nyy	MLB	log - sp	1b	27	40	7	6	4	0	1	4	0	0	1	13	0	0	0	0	1	.150	.171	.325	496
2006	NY Yankees	MLB	29	Nyy	MLB		1b	110	246	30	59	11	3	7	29	3	2	15	56	0	0	0	2	9	.240	.281	.394	675
Major League Totals - 3 Season(s)								142	294	38	67	15	3	9	35	3	2	16	70	0	0	0	2	11	.228	.266	.391	657
Minor League Totals - 7 Season(s)								665	2530	420	749	146	27	119	431	21	11	270	499	16	14	4	36	77	.296	.363	.516	879

Red Sox STILL needs a closer

Joel Pineiro?!

He is NOT the answer for a team that is serious about making the playoff. C'mn, BoSox!!

Red Sox should have taken a chance on Gagne for cheap (considering their payroll & how much they spent on Matsuzaka & other questionable FAs).

Boston needs to look into some bottom-level arms like
Felix Rodriguez,
Chris Reitsma,
Cliff Politte,
Matt Mantei (whom BOS may not be interested realistically),
Dustin Hermanson &
Matt Herges

And DON'T even think about the remote possibility of young Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarman turning into K-Rod this season; they have much work to do in the minors before becoming solid relievers.

Off-season Thoughts on Blue Jays

Yahoo!'s Tim Brown sums up off-season moves by teams:

Quick look of Blue Jays' off-season move thus far:

Big Additions:
Frank Thomas, DH
Greg Zaun, C
(Vernon Wells, OF --resigned BIG TIME for BIG MONEY)

Big Losses:
Ted Lilly, SP
Justin Speier, RP

Like Brown mentioned, TOR didn't do anything to improve its rotation and lost much strength overall with Lilly & Speier's departure. Signing Wells to a long-term extension was rather their 3rd option on their priority list. Losing bid of Meche & Zito (whom TOR wasn't very interested in, but they should have been) hurt a lot. There are some 2nd-rate scrubs in the free agents pool for Blue Jays to improve their rotation & bullpen. However, most big-name pitchers are signed. Blue Jays may be looking at another ~85 wins season in '07 missing the playoff, unless Halladay & Burnett are healthy all-season and perform at All-Star level.

CowboyUp's original plan for Blue Jays in the off-season.