The Game of Baseball: January 2007

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Bonds Circus to Continue In San Fran

Is there any wonder that there is going to be an issue when it comes to the outrageous $15 million dollar one-year deal that Barry Bonds got from the Giants? First off, why would the Giants, after basically declaring that they were tired of the circus that goes along with Bonds - even bring him back? They must have realized that he is one of the few reasons why fans come out to the games anymore in the Bay, and that its almost like going to see the woman with the beard at the local fair. Almost a sense of curiousness more than an appreciation of the game from fans anymore. Most just want to be able to say that they saw Bonds before he imploded, and saw him in his quest to reach Hank Aaron.

Of course the news now out of San Fran is that the deal that Bonds got could be voided if he gets indicted. The language of the deal was done on Monday night and was designed to protect the Giants if Bonds is charged, which I think in the long run he will be, in the federal government's steroid investigation. This is a smart move in a dumb deal for the Giants, who should have cut their ties with Bonds at seasons end when they declared that the team had to rebuild. Giants owner Peter Magowan stated the day after the season ended that the team needed to "go in a new direction," as well as "get younger and healthier." The perfect way to do that would have been to send Bonds packing, not bring him back with a one-year deal that will cause more headlines and focus than anything else on the team this year.

Bonds was at AT&T Park on Tuesday to visit the Giants staff, probably to try and mend fences and repair relationships that he knows that he has destroyed over the last few seasons. I'm sure that it will be all smiles for now until something does not go his way, then in one of his famous tirades he will state he won't talk to the media for the rest of the season and will start to alienate himself from the team, just like he has done in the past. This was a chance for the Giants to start anew. They already have a new manager, and could have made a statement about the person that Bonds' is/was with not offering him a deal. Instead, get ready for the same old in the Bay. It's a move that long term the Giants will regret.

Posted by Matt Loede at 8:27 AM | Permalink | Comments

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

White Sox Taking a Shot on Erstad

The White Sox Tuesday made a solid move in filling a hole in centerfield by signing free agent Darin Erstad to a one-year deal. The move is good since the Sox were in dire need of a centerfielder with the recent surgery to Scott Podsednik. He is expected to miss about six weeks after having surgery on his groin. Podsednik has been dealing with the groin issue for the past two seasons, and reports say the inital injury took place four seasons ago when he was with the Brewers.

Erstad comes to Chicago after a solid 11-year stint with the Angels in which he compiled a career batting average of .286. Last year he was hurt by bone spurs in his right ankle, and played in just 90 games, hitting .221 with no homers and five RBI. For now, if he can stay healthy I don't think this move does anything else but help the Sox with depth in the outfield, and gives them a player that has the potential to be a spark plug in their lineup.

The biggest concern for Erstad as well as Podsednik is the thought of neither being ready to go with these lingering injuries. If both are sitting on the bench, that does the Sox no good. It's a chance that a lot of teams have to take these days, that is signing a player coming off of an injury that can turn out to be a diamond in the rough if they stay healthy. Its a chance the Sox are taking, and one they hope will pay off.

Posted by Matt Loede at 8:42 AM | Permalink | Comments

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Moves Galore Around the Majors

A couple of big MLB signings over the past few days, the biggest of which was the Phillies getting 2B Chase Utely signed to a new 7-year deal worth $85 milion. Utley hit .309 last season with 40 doubles, 32 homers, 102 RBIs and 131 runs. He also had a 35-game hitting streak that tied for the 10th-longest in major league history and longest by a second baseman. The only other player to get a seven-year deal after three years of service was the Cards Albert Pujols.

"We view Chase as not only a great second baseman but also one of the top 10-15 players in the game," Philadelphia assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "He's a hard-nosed, full-throttle player who exemplifies the spirit of Philadelphia. He is tailor-made for this city and we couldn't be happier to lock him up for years to come."

The Cubs inked A 21-year-old right-hander Jeff Samardzija, their fifth-round pick in last year's amateur draft. He has a 2.70 ERA in seven starts for their Class A teams at Boise and Peoria. His deal includes a $2.5 million signing bonus and the Cubs hold options for a sixth and seventh seasons in 2012 and 2013. If the options are exercised, the deal would be worth $16.5 million over seven years. Last year he was back on the football field at Notre Dame, where he caught 78 passes for 1,017 yards.

Often injured outfielder Trot Nixon came to terms, a one-year deal with the Cleveland Indians. Nixon was sidelined from July 31 to Sept. 4 because of a strained right biceps, which he first hurt in June, and a staph infection. Nixon has gone on the DL in each of the last three seasons, including two stints in 2004, and has not had 500 at-bats since 2002.

During 11 seasons with the Red Sox, Nixon hit .278 with 133 homers and 523 RBIs in 982 games. In 2001, he was selected the club's MVP after batting .306 with 28 homers and 86 RBIs in 134 games.

The final signing of note is not a big one, but of a player of big size, that being pitcher David Wells, who signed with his hometown Padres. The Padres and Wells' agent agreed in principle Friday to a $3 million, one-year deal that gives the 43-year-old left-hander the chance to make another $4 million in incentives. Wells can earn $1 million in active roster bonuses, meaning he must avoid time on the disabled list, and another $3 million based on making starts 11 through 27.

Posted by Matt Loede at 4:52 PM | Permalink | Comments

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Rangers Making Weak Move Signing Sosa

So the Texas Rangers have become "that team." You know, the team, is naive enough to give former substance abuse slugger turned shadow of himself player Sammy Sosa a deal to come to spring training. Sosa gets a minor league deal that could give him a shot to make the major league club according to ESPN. Sosa, who didn't play last year, hit just .221 with 14 homers in a stint with the Orioles in 2005. For his career, much of which is discredited due to the substance allegations, Sosa has hit 588 homers.

It seemed like his career starting really going downhill after an incident in Chicago with the Cubs in June of 2003 where his bat split in an at-bat and it was discovered that there was cork inside of it. Upon the incident, the national and even Chicago media went after Sosa hard, making sure that each and every time he hit a homer, the cork incident would be remembered. Of course Sosa denied that it was his bat, and said that he just grabbed it from the rack.

Nevertheless, the seeds of cheater are embetted in Sosa, and even if this comeback with the Rangers turns into a spot on the Major League roster, it is unlikely that without the help of an illegal substance that he will ever regain the form of years back when he had three 60+ home run seasons. This seems like a desperate attempt by the Rangers to being a player in that could put a few curious butts in the seats, but once the lure is gone, Sosa should become nothing more than an afterthought to the Rangers and the rest of the league.

"I am not retired. I am waiting for my time, to see if it is a chance for me to come back next year. I am always ready," Sosa stated. You may be ready Sammy, but the rest of Major League Baseball could really care less about your weak attempt to relive the glory days of substance abuse homers gone by.

Posted by Matt Loede at 8:20 PM | Permalink | Comments

Monday, January 15, 2007

McGwire Speks out About Hall Snub

Following the first of what should be many snubs by the voters of the Hall of Fame, former A's and Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire gave his first public comments about being shut out of the Hall. McGwire talked to a small time paper while he signed autographs for charity, and defended his career, which many say is tainted with the allegations that he took performance enhancing drugs. "I had an absolutely wonderful career that I am very proud of," Mcgwire said. "I'm not in control of what happens, I was in control of hitting the ball."

McGwire only got 23.5 percent of votes to be in the Hall of Fame, and was far short of the 75 percent needed to reach the Hall. Many voters will use McGwire as the standard as to how the modern day players that have been accused, some rightfully so, of using steroids or other drugs will be judged. With all the hype about the claims that continue to come out about Barry Bonds, it is clear that the game of baseball continues to hide away from the problems today that exist with performance enhancing drugs.

There is no way with the current state of the game, nor with the tainted past that will forever haunt McGwire that he should ever be allowed to enter the Hall of Fame. He, along with players like Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Rafel Palmerio, and others should be punished for cheating, and despite that fact that some say that players have cheated in baseball for years and years, never has there been such a case as this one for players like those on drugs to be kept from the hallowed halls.

McGwire is just the first step for voters, and you can bet that they are making a statement to the current players of today that if there is a cloud of drug use in your history, that you are going to sit on the sidelines no matter what your numbers say for a chance to have a bust in the Hall.

Posted by Matt Loede at 8:16 AM | Permalink | Comments

Friday, January 12, 2007

Mega-Cheater Bonds Back in the Headlines

Playing the role of victim yet again, Barry Bonds is back in the headlines, now telling the media that teammate Mike Sweeny did NOT give him any substances that has led Bonds to test positive for amphetamine use. This claim came just one day after the New York Daily News reported that after Bonds' test came back positive, he told the players union that it was Sweeny who gave him substances that led to the positive results of the test. Can someone please tell Barry to get his lies straight and stop dragging innocent teammates into these allegations?
It's amazing to me in some respects after all the stories, claims, and now tests, that Major League Baseball is not taking more aggressive steps to finally uncover the truth about Bonds and trying to shut him down once and for all. He, along with Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, Sammy Sosa, and Rafael Palmeiro have tainted the game so badly over the last eight years with the substance use that has led so many other players to cheat, that something, anything, must finally be done.

If Major League Baseball was smart, they would finally put together some group that would finally get to the bottom of the crimes that Bonds has committed, and once those crimes come to light, take every step possible to shut him down. So many things have gone against Bonds to show that he is a lying, cheating, abuser that it's almost comical that he is still allowed to take cuts at the plate. I can't imagine what the Giants are thinking as they are close to bringing him back for another season? Have they not had enough distractions with this brash, crude player that they would be happy to finally see him go and take his luggage, and trust me there is a lot, elsewhere?

If the Giants and the league were smart, they would look at the upside of keeping this man off a baseball field, and making him responsible for the crimes that he has committed. Yes, Bonds has committed crimes, and someday he will be held for what he has done, not only to the game that he has tainted, but the lies that he has spoken will catch up to him. After this latest round of lies and saga around Bonds, one has to think that D-Day is finally getting close for this mega-cheater.

Posted by Matt Loede at 7:04 AM | Permalink | Comments

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Bonds Substance Blame Game Continues

One day after fellow roid abuser Mark McGwire was shut out of the Hall of Fame, Barry Bonds was back in the news on Wednesday with a report from the New York Daily News that he failed an amphetamines test. The report says that Bonds failed the test, then turned around and blamed teammate Mike Sweeney for giving him the substance. What a great out for a guy that just continues to shift blame from himself to everyone else. Sweeney's agent came out after the report hit the newsstands and said that his client never gave Bonds anything. "There was nothing he could have given Barry Bonds," agent Barry Axelrod said.

Another in a long line of lies that has come out of the 42-year-old Bonds' mouth about his years of substance abuse that has allowed him to make a run at the home run record. Bonds from day one, despite his appearance and size gain over the last 15 years, has stated he has never tested positive for illegal drug use. He is already in hot water with the feds, and continues to be under investigation for lying about steroid use.

At this point, Bonds' career is so tainted that something will be done in the record books if and when he does pass Hank Aaron. It simply has to. Too much has gone on, and as each lie comes out of his mouth, his legacy becomes more and more tainted. Maybe they can delete the records all together, or when they have his name mentioned, they can put a sign after it that represents that the mark was achieved by cheating.

The best thing, and best PR move that Bonds can make right now at this point in his career is simply hold a press conference to admit his guilt. America loves nothing more than to forgive someone, and in this case, Bonds can come out, shed a few tears, and then within a matter of months he will be getting standing ovations from every city in America. Instead of that though, he looks like he is going to try and do it the hard way, lying in each and every case that he is innocent about taking substances to enhance his game. Its a cowards way out, and Bonds will get no sympathy from the baseball fans of America and worldwide when the wrecking ball comes crashing down.

Posted by Matt Loede at 7:24 AM | Permalink | Comments

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Hall of Fame Votes Should Send Strong Message to Cheaters

Tuesday should give fans a big clue as to if slugger Mark McGwire is ever going to make it to the Hall of Fame. The cheating McGwire received only 128 of 545 votes for the Hall of Fame, meaning that he is a long way away from ever getting into the Hall. The two men that did make it were no surprise, as Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn both got enough votes to make it on their first try. The votes give an immediate indication that people out there feel that McGwire's records are indeed tainted by the supplements that he took in the later parts of his career that helped him achieve his home run mark.

The denial of McGwire likely means that he, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds will never get a shot to stand on the steps of Cooperstown unless they buy a ticket to the Hall. They will never get in, and I think that its good for once that people are punished for the crimes that they commit. Some will say that those men did not commit a crime and that they are innocent until proven guilty, but based on Tuesday's voting, the American public in the form of the voters have spoken.

Tony Gwynn spoke out in support of McGwire on Tuesday, and was quoted as saying - "We knew, players knew, everybody knew" in reference to McGwire being on supplements that allowed him and helped him to reach the homer record. Another roid user - Jose Canseco, got just six votes, and will not be on future ballots, again showing the disdain that voters and fans have for those that cheated to reach the marks that they achieved in the game.

At this point, I would rather see Pete Rose, who got four write-in votes, get into the Hall before McGwire, Sosa or Bonds. At least Rose ended up admitting his guilt and has since tried to rehab his life. As for those super roid sluggers, they just keep stating that they have never taken anything to help them reach the next level, even though its oh-so obvious that they have. Now that McGwire is being punished for his actions, maybe those players out there that are thinking about cheating will think again.

Posted by Matt Loede at 7:41 AM | Permalink | Comments

Thursday, January 04, 2007

D-Backs Deal to get Johnson Back a Risky One

It's pretty obvious from the deal that the Arizona Diamondbacks are willing to pay for to get 43-year old Randy Johnson back in the fold, that the team fully expects him to regain form from the glory years of when the D-Backs were a powerhouse in the Naional League. Johnson is not that pitcher, and the physical toll that his body has taken over the past couple of seasons is a sure sign that this trade to Arizona is a last go-around for the once mighty lefty. Don't forget it was not that long ago that Johnson underwent surgery to repair a herniated disc in his back. I wouldn't doubt that he wouldn't have trouble passing the physical that he would need in order for the deal to go through.

The D-backs will send veteran reliever Luis Vizcaino and a pitching prospect in exchange for Johnson, with that prospect being either Ross Ohlendorf, Micah Owings or Dustin Nippert. The bigger deal is that the Yankees will pay some of the salary that Johnson is due in 2007, which is $16 million. Arizona had better re-take a long look at the past two seasons that Johnson has pitched in New York, where under the spotlight he went 34-19 with a 4.37 ERA.

Face it D-Backs, you may be getting a Hall of Fame pitcher, but not a Hall of Famer right now. 10-12 wins and an ERA under 4 would be a great way for the lefty to go out. Can that happen? Yes. Will it, only time will tell.

Posted by Matt Loede at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments