What's under the tree ?



Hope you got what you wanted for Christmas



I got 4 new shirts for the office, plus some Blue rays, but did get 2 baseball related items.

2 baseball books, " A Lefty's Legacy", a biography of Sandy Koufax. Also a novel by Stephen King called "Blockade Billy".

No stat books yet, but will order 1 or 2 in a few days for the 2011 season.

I was also please to get my Doctor Who cookie jar, and an album of " A Charlie Brown Christmas"..

So I was very pleased and am looking forward to turning the page of 2010, which saw none of my four fantasy baseball teams make the post season. 

What do you think some teams were hoping they would have for Christmas ?

Toronto - Octavio Dotel signing a contract...geez I would have hoped for more like Adrian Beltre at 3rd myself.
New York Yankees - somebody to pitch in the 4 slot...instead they are back to begging aging Andy Pettitte to come back, don't leave us with Ivan Nova, or Sergio Mitre.
Tampa Bay - just money this year, maybe a few gift cards..
Phillies - good health for our "super rotation " maybe peace on earth, but the good health is paramount
Mets - A new division, cause we're screwed here in the NL East
Angels - a clean up hitter who won't break the bank, the aforementioned Beltre would be better than another year of the Brandon Wood saga.
Texas Rangers - Progression of all their young players, and another Josh Hamilton clone.
Washington Nats - Oh c'mon...this is easy...Starsbourg arms to heal, maybe some socks and underwear.
Chicago Cubs - Maybe this year... Nope...curse continues..goats..Bartman...all gone to hell now.
SF Giants - Still smirking thank you, heck would Prince Fielder take a huge paycut and come here...stop laughing.....LOL

In 2011 we could a few interesting things develop.

1. The Rocket goes to court, we hope, and will capture the attention of the baseball nation, or be the best reality TV since Season One of Survivor.

2. The Dodgers sell the team to Warner Brothers, and the McCourts can divide the spoils.

3. More stolen bases, higher batting averages, and the leveling out of more power hitters, the juice is drying up, and the ERA's might still see a drop.

4. Albert Pujols signs his last contract with St.Louis, the question will become, is it a 10 year mega deal, or 2 year mini deal, and then bolt the midwest. 

5. The Fresh Prince of Milwaukee, will he get dealt at the deadline, or will the improved Brewers with Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke roll the dice and keep Fielder for a pennant chase.

6. Will the Rays descend in the standings without Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, and their entire bullpen.
decimated

7.  What rookies will impress, Desmond Jennings, Bryce Harper, Jeremy Hellickson, Sherman Ogando, or JP Arrencebia.

Happy New Year All !!!

2011 is just around the corner, but don't peek

The good folks at TSN have posted the projections for hitters and pitchers and for the top 5 staring pitchers, I would not go there, it is not for the faint of heart. No Jay starter is projected as being under a 4.00 ERA, and 5th man Jesse Litsch is well over 5.

The consensus is that Romero, Morrow, Cecil, Drabek, and Litsch will win 14,11, 10, 10 and 5 respectively. No one hazards a guess as to what the bullpen can add to that total, but that's 50 wins, but the rotations combined ERA is around 4.45, give or take.

The hitters project to mostly do what they did last year, with Lind and Hill's batting averages ascend to the .260's, while Mickey Bautista is expected to drop 20 dingers. Snider and Arrencebia are expected to mature, and Wells to slide back a bit. All tolled, about the same overall batting average, no .300 hitters, no 100 rbi guys, but just solid decent expectations.

Just based on these ZIPS Stats and Bill James editions, ir appears that Anthopolous is a genius, we are not ready for prime time yet, so that 2012 expectation looks better.

A crack bullpen, of Frasor, Purcey, Camp, Richmond, Carlson, Janssen and Octo Man, and well, I agree, just will not say how many wins this squad is capable of.

My opinion is that TSN does not see a repeat of 2010 any time soon, so 85 wins in their minds is a stretch, but nobody gave last years team much of a chance, and there were some 100 loss comments in March.

Marcum gone, Gregg and Downs gone, Lyle's defense gone, no Fred Lewis, and the 4rth starter has 3 games under his belt, that's the downside.

The upside is still Yunel Escobar, a better Aaron Hill , JP Arrencebia, and some speed from the Rajah.

The keys to 2011 are as follows;

1. Aaron Hill returns to 2009 form

2. Romero wins 16 games, his ERA at 3.65

3. Dotel saves 35, keeps his ERA under 3.00

4. Travis Snider......

5. Lind can play defense

6. CC Sabathia breaks his hip and missed 4 months

7. The Red Sox all watch the solar eclipse without eye protetcion.

8. Tampa declares bankrupcy

9. The bullpen blows less than 10 games

10. John Farrell knows where to bat Vernon Wells, and gets Snider 500 at bats.

As we inch closer to 2011, a few topics we will explore.

The deals we made and how they worked out.

Are the Rays pulling a Florida Marlin act.

Big Red, is he closer to induction

Roger's trials and tribulations

Which way is Andy Pettitte leaning today, money, money, money, or a rocking chair.

Closing the deal on the closer

And no, it's not Kyra Sedgwick !

It's Octavio Dotel, and he has to pass his medicals first, then Alex can present him with a jersey, smile nice for the cameras, and looky here, we signed a real live major leaguer, who has closed games in past in Pittsburgh ( they still have a team ?? ) and years back in Colorado and Houston, and various other tranquil stops along the way to his retirement ( very soon coming ). The new Kevin Gregg comes with baggage, and make no mistake, he is signed as the closer, and John Farrell is aware how you treat a veteran pitcher in that role, and one who needs to be stroked and cajoled, and pampered, and well you get the picture.

The Octo man has one pitch, a fastball, and the good thing is, when he locates it, he generally has good movement, it sinks, and away from righties, so he gets ground outs and strike outs. The bad thing happens when his control goes wonky, because his ball flattens out, he presses, and tries to steer his pitches, and hitters know this and they sit on that 3-1 pitch, and well they hit a long way. He has worked on his off speed stuff for years, and has just not harnessed it adequately. This leads to blown saves, hurt feelings, catchers staring at him in disbelief, and managers pulling their hair out. Back in his early years in the Astros organisation, he backed up "lights out" Brad Lidge, not Fragil Lidgey, one hit and he melts or cracks, but the Brad Lidge who was automatic. Well Octo Man was no slouch himself. He recorded back to back years with his strikeouts well exceeding his innings pitched. He was high Octane Octavio !

Now he wavers between unleaded and propane, the propane is the risky stuff that blows past batters, is hit over the right fielders head, and they show the runner slapping hands with coaches, and serve dinner on those flights. I have always liked Dotel, he is quirky, energetic, moody, and surly all in the same day, a poor man's George Bell.  Dotel will save ( if healthy ) 30 plus games, and will blow a dozen, or come damn close to it.

He will approach games in Fenway and New York like Roberto Duran entering a title fight. Honor at stake, and will enter each game with a bullfighters mentality to beat the odds, but he finds Tuesday nights in Oakland, or KC too dull to pay attention, and this is when it gets ugly.

Keep the Purcey kid handy, and Frasor will get some chances, as Octo will not go very often 2 games in a row, and when you tempt fate, you will wind up the the horns of the bull up your a**.  Could be kid's reading this, so keeping it clean. So for John Farrell , just fair warning, this is not the 1999 Dotel, this car has miles on it and you have to check the brakes work, but he'll get you through the season, and that is what he's here for, the next Kevin Gregg, until this magical 2012 season when all this stuff culminates and we win the division, and white puffy clouds will fly over our beautiful pennant flag.

Welcome aboard Octo, what say we sail once around the American League in 2011, and back to port !

We lost some friends in 2010

Sparky Anderson, Manager ( Tigers and Reds ) aka Captain Hook
Jim Bibby, Texas Rangers , starting pitcher, pitched a no-hitter
Mike Cuellar, Baltimore Orioles left handed pitcher, great screw ball, multi 20 game winner
Willie Davis, LA Dodgers outfielder, great talent, wasted most of it
Bob Feller, Rapid Robert, Cleveland Indian Ace, pitched at 16, a HOF'er
Al LaMacchia, Scouting Director Toronto Blue Jays, great smile, found Gruber, Clancy and Stieb
Robin Roberts, Phillies 1950's Ace, The Whiz Kids leader
Tommy Underwood, ex Jay, Phillie, amongst other teams, good lefty
Bobby Thompson, "Shot heard round he World" 1951 - hits a game winning home run off Ralph Branca
in a Giants-Dodgers 3 game playoff. It was later made know that he knew the pitch.
Branca remarked, "well, he still had to hit the damn thing"...

Never saw Feller, but before the speed gun existed, his ball was reported to explode into the catchers mitt, and players backed off for fear of getting hit.

I grew up watching Sparky running the Big Red Machine, and if they had the Orioles picthers, they would have rivalled the Yankees for dominance.

I have watched the Thompson home run many times, and still get excited, and I know the pitch that he hits, and it is still a great moment in history.



Four Horseman of the Apocolypse

With the news that Cliff Lee had joined the Philadelphia Phillies, and joined a rotation that currently includes Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt, Joe Blanton, Kyle Kendrick or Jamie Moyer, it occurs to me that their 2011 rotation will rival some of the best ever assembled.

Think 90's Braves with Maddux, Smoltz and Glavine, or A's Hudson, Zito and Mulder, or harken back 40 years to the 4 man rotation of the early 70's Orioles of Mike Cueller, Dave McNally, James Palmer, and Pat Dobson, each won 20 games that season, but had 36-37 starts in those days.

Even the A's of that era had Catfish Hunter, Vida Blue, Ken Holtzman and Blue Moon Odom, not shabby or Tigers of Lolich, McLain, and Earl Wilson were dominant, but then pitchers were dominant then, ballparks were bigger, hitters were smaller ( No PED's yet ).  Reggie was still swinging for the fences, but 47 homers was a lot in that era.

This new rotation sensation startled the baseball world Tuesday because we all were expecting a New York Yankee cap, or a return to home spun Texas Rangers, and be close to the home base for Lee in Arkansas.
Nope, we were wrong, and they both got punked by maybe the "LeBronian" approach of the super rotation.
Despite the Phils scoring dipping in 2010 , they still were a dominant team down the stretch and won the NL East going away.  How much are they prohibitive favourites now with Cliff Lee back ?

Many have had 3 excellant starters, but the rotations don't always stay together lately, salaries, free agency and egos pull them apart.  Even the Braves rotation could not withstand the dollars and sense of moving to greener pastures, so keeping these 4 happy is going to be fun to watch.

Is the over under on Phils wins 100 ?  have read that too, and think they top 100 easily, there run production might dip even lower without Werth, but their ERA just dipped a third of a run, and these are all competitve guys, and there certainly be a " watch what I can do " attitude as they try and out do each other.

2 lefties , 2 righties, very similar to the Orioles 4 man squad, and while I won't quibble that the 2011 Phils 4 dudes are maybe more impressive as a group, remember that in 71', the Orioles starters did their deeds on 3 days rest, these 4 have the luxury of that additional day off.

A reminder that when Lee was asked in 2009 to perhaps pitch on short rest, he grudgingly said " I guess so", but it was evident he did not want to, the 70's Orioles did not have that luxury. Earl Weaver would just ask Boog Powell to remind the guys what the playoff bonuses meant, and they all sucked it up.

I will cast my vote for the O's 71' rotation until I see how the 2011 Phils perform, but I suspect the division was decided by a stroke of the pen, not a fastball on the inside corner.

Twas the night after the Winter Meetings

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the Nation,


Finger pointing, frustration… the Shaun Marcum situation;

Our Blue Jays were hung by the Yanks and Rays last year,

Now Cashman’s wheeling and dealing for another title next year;

Anthopolus was nestled all snug in his bed,

While visions of low risk, short-term deals danced in his head;

Beeston in his ascot, and John Farrell in his old Sox cap,

Had just settled their brains for a long winter’s nap,

When out on the ice there arose such a clatter,

Public skating today?… Did a scalper’s wallet get fatter?

Away to Blu Jay Way we flew like a flash,

Tore open the gates, …then we heard a big crash.



The Rogers sign on the crust of a 4-day-old snow,

Gave luster to the fallen object by the blue line below,

When, what to our wondering eyes should appear,

Paul Beeston, with skates on, but sprawled out toe to ear,

Watching was his wife, so lively and slick,

We knew in a moment, Paul tripped on his stick. ( Still no socks !)



Less rapid than a Zamboni, he called them by name,

Paul whistled, and whispered, he wanted the Leafs to start a game:

"Now, Dion! now, Giggy ! now, Kessel and Wilson!

On, Aulie! on, Mitchell! on, Kabby, put Burke in!

To the center ice line! And let’s see a good brawl,

Now dash away! I’ve got cash to make! Slash away all!



So how ‘bout those Blue Jays, will Romero win the Cy?

And have you seen his curveball? Rickey must be quite the guy;

But who’ll start at first base? Who’s our new guy at third?

Will we miss Johnny Buck? Should we give his agent the bird?

And then in a twinkling, we heard a fan screaming

At his prancing and pawing, she thought she was dreaming.



As she drew in her head, and was turning around,

Down the runway our new first baseman came with a bound.

Lind's hair is so long, it grew over a foot,

And his jersey was dirty with pine tar and soot;

His old jersey # was stamped on his back,

He bought it off e-bay as soon as he unpacked.

His eyes—how they twinkled! His dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard was back on his chin don’t cha know;





Then next spring in Dunedin, with his deal signed and sealed,

With new sunglasses on, he strolled out on the field;

He takes off his shirt, the girls start to scream,

He smiles just like Aaron Hill, a pink hat fan’s dream.



He spoke to the media, and went straight to his work,

He went into the cage; he worked on a quirk;

Then he turned on a ball, his arms coming around,

a loud crack of the bat, the ball took off with a bound;



It’s our old friend Hilly, Aaron’s bat was so quick,

Balls lined one by one, looks like he's made out of brick

He was signed for three more years, Alex just had to bite,

To bring back the ’92 spirit, we’ll see less idiots tonight!



And there stood Vernon, finally fit and trim,

The $125.1 million treasure found his way to the gym;

VW showed up early and looked ready to play,

He won’t make us forget Bell, he’s a fan of the K., and the DL



And then just like before, Lyle made the ball fly,

Snider grinded away, Gonzo hit hard line drives;

With Wells in center, And Esco at short,

They're fine up the middle, still need run support;

Molina had the old stroke back, when he hit ‘em they flew,

They all batted around, Arencebia too !!

The crowd sprang to their feet, to the team gave a whistle,

Jose circled the bases, Cecil threw another missile;

A new year is upon us and our Olde Towne ballclub,

"WHO NEEDS MANNY RAMIREZ! PENNANT FEVER STILL GRIPS US!"

A Winter of Discontent

Crawford signs with the Red Sox, and they also dealt for long sought after Adrian Gonzalez, and oh, will have a healthy Dustin Pedroia, and Kevin Youkilis in their line up.        So who said we have a limited window in Toronto ? 

It just shut tight, and by the way, by the weekend they will be weeping in Arlington that Cliff"the mercenary" Lee signed with the Pin Stripers of New York.

The only team that should feel worse than us is Tampa, but they believe what is left after Pena, Crawford, Soriano and Benoit have departed is strong enough to compete.

C'mon man, they had a hard time scoring with Crawford and Pena in the line up, and they just dealt Jason Bartlett to San Diego for minor league arms, to pave the way for Reid Brignac and a career average of .260 and 9 home runs.         

Turns out Reid can play defense, and Bartlett costs more to boot.

Winter meetings just concluded, but the world of blackberries buzzes onward, and signings will cresendo just about the 1st week of January, when the money starts drying up.


That should be when the street sweepers of GM's come back out, looking for what the rich free spenders did not take, and like American Pickers, they will look for bargains.

Last year, the Jays got Alex Gonzalez, and he turned in 3 wonderful months, and I expect Anthopolous and TB GM Freidman will be like others looking to table scraps after the big boys are stuffed and waiting for spring training.

I will tell all you loyal readers that you can expect the Jays to grab one reliever, maybe long rumoured Canadian Jesse Crain, and who knows Russell Martin might opt for playing time and sign in Toronto, hey that would give us 3 potential Canadians that could break camp. Scott Richmond, Crain and Martin, maybe they can create a local identity on the Jays.

Martin is a long shot, and he may not be able to catch, and he has to sell versatility, as his bat has slid south of late. Otherwise, what the Jays have with the metriculation of youngsters in the pen, we have 95 % of the players, maybe 97 %.

If you are buying the Zack Greinke crap about Toronto, I am not buying it, and neither should you. He is both expensive and has not had success playing in eastern power areas like Fenway and Yankee Stadium, so why jump to Toronto and the middle of a street fight, where your guys have sticks, and the other guys have machette's. Not quite the fair fight, better to toddle around in the Central where non descript fans in KC, Cleveland, Minny watch you play with quiet mid western family values still are practised.

To those of you still buying the Rogers bullcrap, I am sorry for you, as some of you are probably Leaf and Argo fans too. 

As read from Shakespeare,

Richard III :


" Now is the winter of our discontent

Made glorious summer by this son of York;

And all the clouds that low'r'd upon our house

In the deep bosom of the ocean buried. "

This winter may yet bring spring fruit, but expect bitter harvest...Jim McCullough,

The over under on Jays wins now stands at 79, sorry fans, a bleak house doth we now inherit......

December in Florida

Winter Meetings

It would be lovely to be in the Dolphin Hotel in Orlando this week, for all the obvious reasons. Weather is better, and the GM's are all making baseball deals, and free agents are signing. Still waiting for Cliff Lee to lift the logjam and cause all the ripple effect.

Back here in Mississauga, we just read about what the Jays are up to, or speculated to be up to, and more speculation than facts.

Young Jays GM Alex A is into his 2nd winter meeting, and has now dealt 2 opening day starting pitching. Watch out Ricky Romero, you may be next. Much baalyhoo has been made of the Marcum deal, and while I always like getting cannot miss prospects like Brett Lawrie, I am in the "show me camp" on Lawrie.  What position does he fit ? Is he a head case ?, does he have a major league bat ?.  Alex answered all those questions to his own satisfaction, and sent Marcum, a year back from Tommy John surgery, and a very fine bounce back to Milwaukee for more "future" stock pilig.

I see many agendas here, one is Rogers have told Alex to monitor the payroll and because they know they have to pay big $$ to Wells, they also see more cash going to Jose Bautista, so this saves some money from what appeared to be a $ 60 million area payroll.

No Encarnacion, no John Buck, no Lyle Overbay, no Scott Downs, and no Kevin Gregg, and no Fred Lewis.  They have been replaced by JP Arenceibia, David Purcey, Rajah Davis, and some internal candidates for Shaun Marcum's rotation gig.

I think Lind will move to 1st , and Hill may move to 3rd, and Davis is the new 4rth outfielder. Jason Fraser, Purcey and perhaps Jesse Crain ( if he signs ) are the back end, with Camp, Janssen and a lefty for the middle, with Romero, cecil, Morrow, Litsch, and Drabek or Richmond or the Zepper rounding out the rotation, or as long relief. 

I think the year Rogers will allow real dollars to be spent might be 2012, since there are not enough bums in the seats yet, and perhaps the Rogers folks have other major aquisitions on their minds ( MLSE )

Meanwhile Jays fans dig their way out of snow drifts, and ponder what is going on in Disney World, will they get all Goofy or the next deal, or are they going to get a Mickey Mouse approach to what should be division chances.

Adrian Gonzalez, plus a healthy Pedroia, and Youkilis will vault the Sox back into contention, despite Josh Beckett's arm, or Papelbon's worst season, as the Rays are in sell mode again, watch out Baltimore, they are the Rays are taking that express elevator to the basement again.

The Yanks hope to sign Cliff Lee, because honestly they have to. After Sabathia, their rotation was pretty crappy last year. Plus the re signed Pinstripe Jesus to play shortstop, until he turns gray.  I am sure at some point if the Yanks get Lee, he will ( as a ground ball pitcher ) wonder if he made the right choice. Elvis Andrus or Derek Jeter.

Jeter, according to the Yankees press machine is the best defensive shortstop, based on how many he got to that the ball went in his glove....okay..that's like saying I am best at getting on an off an elevator, it's the balls he cannot get to more and more, and sooner than later, the slower of foot speed will reduce his range to a phone booth size area.

In London, Ontario they have a job getting rid of the snow, in Florida, we are getting more a snow job from the Jays. Sorry, but I think we are not making the efforts we should right now.