Archive for November, 2005
Jeff J. Snider
Sports
Is this what we can expect for the next three months? We all knew there would be more trades than usual due to the dearth of quality free agents, but did anyone really expect that Josh Beckett, Carlos Delgado, and Jim Thome would all get traded in the span of two days?
The Beckett and Delgado deals are obviously intertwined, both tied to the fact that the Marlins are starting from scratch for the second time in seven years. Do you realize that in the 15 years the Marlins have existed, they have been terrible, then won the World Series, then had a fire sale, then won the World Series again, then had another fire sale? So anyway, Beckett, Delgado, and Mike Lowell are gone, and Juan Pierre, Paul LoDuca, and anyone else making more than $1.98 next year is likely to follow. Why did baseball expand into Florida again?
As for Thome, this is great for the Phillies. The common assumption was that the Phillies would be unable to move Thome’s contract until he had proven he was healthy, which wouldn’t happen until spring training, at which point no teams would have money left for him. So for the Phillies to get it over with so early is great for them, for Thome, and for Ryan Howard. And if Thome can regain form, it will be great for the White Sox, too. If nothing else, it got one of their creepy white guys off the team.
I can’t wait to see what else goes down this winter.
November 23rd, 2005 at 03:04pm
Jeff J. Snider
Sports
I just read a nice little article by Tim Kurkjian about the Washington Nationals and their lack of an owner. Now, I am not an expert, and I don’t have any inside knowledge, but I don’t see any possible good reason why it has taken so long for Major League Baseball to pick a buyer. When the Expos finally got out of Montreal, it looked like they were going to have a chance to be competitive again, and they were for about four months in 2005. But by failing to get this sale done, Bud Selig has hamstrung the team again and given them absolutely no chance to improve their team for 2006. I wish all eight ownership groups vying for the sale would collude and cut their offers in half at the same time, because let’s face it, every day that the Nationals aren’t improving their team, they are getting worse, which means the value of the team is going down. This is ridiculous, and Bud needs to make a decision now.
November 16th, 2005 at 02:28pm
Jeff J. Snider
Sports
According to anonymous sources, Major League Baseball and the Players Association have agreed to a new steroid policy, which calls for a 50-game suspension for the first positive test, 100 games for the second, and a lifetime ban (appealable after two years) for the third offense. The new agreement also included testing for amphetamines, with different consequences. The first positive test results in an automatic second test. A second positive calls for a 25-game suspension, with 80 games for a third positive. The consequences for a fourth positive test are left to the commissioner’s discretion, with all decisions reviewed by an arbitrator.
I think this is a positive step for baseball, especially if it will get Congress off its back. But after reading all the reports in ESPN the Magazine, I still can’t help thinking that the issue here isn’t as much in the penalties as in the actual testing. According to BALCO head-weiner Victor Conte, the current testing system is very easy to beat. As long as that is the case, it won’t matter how tough the penalties are, because only the stupid people will get caught anyway.
So yes, this is a good step forward, but until there is an effective (and flexible, to account for new technology) testing plan in place, there is still work to be done.
November 15th, 2005 at 01:39pm
Jeff J. Snider
Sports
UPDATE: I’m glad to say that Albert Pujols won.
Okay, I am going to make this quick. I wish I didn’t think Andruw Jones was going to win this award today, but I do. Should he? Absolutely not. Let’s look at the statistical categories in which he led Albert Pujols and Derrek Lee: home runs and RBI.
Home runs are nice, but really, the point is to score runs, and it doesn’t really matter how you do it. A better indication of a player’s power contribution to his team is slugging percentage, because it gives credit to hits of all kinds, with more credit going to the bigger hits (like home runs). Andruw Jones, despite having five more home runs than Derrek Lee and ten more than Albert Pujols, still trailed them in slugging percentage by 85 and 34 points, respectively. A lot of that comes from the fact that Jones had many fewer extra-base hits that weren’t homers (27, compared to 40 for Pujols and 53 for Lee). You also have the fact that Jones had far fewer singles (76) than Pujols (114) or Lee (100).
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November 15th, 2005 at 10:16am
Jeff J. Snider
Sports
WWE wrestler Eddie Guerrero was found dead in his hotel room Sunday morning. Security at the Minneapolis hotel called his nephew, Chavo Guerrero Jr., when Eddie failed to answer his 7:00 a.m. wakeup call. Chavo went to Eddie’s room with security and found him dead. Eddie was 38 years old and leaves behind his wife wife Vickie and daughters Shaul, 14, Sherilyn, 9, and Kaylie Marie, 3.
As a wrestling fan and a huge Eddie Guerrero fan, this news breaks my heart. Eddie had struggled with alcohol and substance abuse in the past, but Chavo said in a news conference that Eddie had told him Saturday night that he had just celebrated four years of sobriety. According to Chavo, it is doubtful that recent substance abuse led to Eddie’s death, but there’s no way to know at this point what damage previous abuse might have done to his body.
Eddie was a great athlete, remarkably fun to watch. I don’t know what else to say, but this makes me very sad.
November 14th, 2005 at 01:53pm
Jeff J. Snider
Sports
UPDATE: The votes are in, and A-Rod won.
Well, the AL MVP award will be announced in about 12 hours or so, so here are my final thoughts.
It obviously comes down to Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz. They both had absolutely great years. I will tell you up front that A-Rod is still my pick. Here are some important stats for both of them:
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November 13th, 2005 at 11:47pm
Jeff J. Snider
Sports
Over on ESPN.com, former Mets GM and current ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips has posted his report on the top 50 free agents this offseason. Included in the report is his guess as to where each free agent will end up. I want to talk about it, but I have to warn you all that this is one of those posts that reminds the reader that while I love baseball in general, I am a Dodger fan first and foremost.
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November 11th, 2005 at 02:28pm
Jeff J. Snider
Sports
ESPN.com has a remarkably in-depth and enlightening report on steroids in baseball. I believe it will be appearing in the newest ESPN the Magazine, which I haven’t gotten in the mail yet. I have read all four parts of the actual report, and I am about halfway done with the “Special Features.” I can’t recommend this report strongly enough.
In reading it, I had a whole bunch of thoughts on a whole bunch of topics. My number one thought: Bud Selig needs to be replaced. By me.
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November 10th, 2005 at 02:46pm
Jeff J. Snider
Sports
UPDATE: The voting is in — Carpenter wins, Willis second, Clemens third.
It’s time for my thoughts on the National League Cy Young Award, just in time for the official announcement on Thursday, November 10.
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November 9th, 2005 at 11:29pm
Jeff J. Snider
Sports
Manager of the Year Awards are announced later today, November 9. There is no way in the world Bobby Cox isn’t winning the National League Manager of the Year award, and rightly so. As for the American League, it pretty much comes down to Ozzie Guillen and Eric Wedge. If the Indians hadn’t choked the last week of the season and the White Sox hadn’t stopped choking at the same time, the award would be Wedge’s, but they did and they did, and the award will go to Guillen.
UPDATE: It’s official, and the voters got it right.
November 9th, 2005 at 01:56am
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