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Suitors for A.J. Lining Up

By Tom Gaffney | November 19, 2008

He sure does make an ugly bride, folks, but how many Manhattan debutantes do you know who can throw a 100mph fasball, hmmmm?There has been much debate over who the #2 starting pitcher on the F.A. market would be this year. Most initially favored the successful sinkerballer Derek Lowe, but the rumor mill seems to have recently declared fireballer A.J. Burnett the front runner for that position. At least four A.L. teams have expressed strong interest, in what could turn out to be the preeminent bidding war of the Hot Stove season. With Suitor #1,Toronto, already making a strong offer to retain their stud starter, Suitor #2, the Yankees, have been rumored to be putting together an initial bid of anywhere from 4 years at more than $54M (the pretty reliable Kat O'Brien) to 5 years at $80M (the not-so-reliable George King). Then came the news that the third Suitor,...

Discuss | Tags: MLB, Yankees

Mike Mussina to Retire :-(

By Tom Gaffney | November 19, 2008

At least he went out on a high note. This really puts pressure on the Yanks to nab at least one of their secondary arms in addition to CC. Link to Rosenthal's article is here. It's sad that he had to retire off such a great year in which he learned to pitch in a completely different style. It seems almost a surety that he would have reached the hallowed 300 win milestone if he wanted to keep going, but he's a guy with many off-the-field interests pulling at him, and he probably just couldn't see himself committing to grinding out the 2-3 more years it would take. Happy trails, Mr. Mussina....

Discuss | Tags: MLB, Yankees

Passion and Pride Pulse debuts Sunday

By Jon Burkett | November 19, 2008

After working through some technical difficulties, Passion and Pride's live radio show will debut on Sunday at 6pm. "Passion and Pride: Pulse" covers everything that is Philadelphia sports. With live callers, segments, game recaps and interviews, "Pulse" is heaven for any Philadelphia sports fan. Tune in on Sunday at 6pm for all the action via our BlogTalkRadio channel. You can leave comments live during the show via Cover It Live. Here's a sample: The call-in number for the show is (646) 478-0339. You can also reach us on Facebook or AIM. Our AOL Instant Messenger names are HiTitHard087 and JonMVNbasketball. Send you e-mails to jharrisnj03@gmail.com or jburkett@mvn.com. Let's get it on!...

Discuss | Tags: MLB, MVN Live, NBA, NFL, NHL, Philadelphia, Philadelphia 76ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia Phillies

Cubs Give Away a Ceda

By brandini | November 19, 2008

Discuss | Tags: Chicago Cubs, Florida Marlins, MLB

Scheduling non sequitur

By Matt Wallace | November 19, 2008

I'm working on a project, and in my research it dawned on me the Mud Hens play a full month less baseball than the Tigers. Obviously, that's not news but for some reason it had never struck me before that they play only eighteen less games in one less month. That means the Triple A teams are working on a schedule that could easily knock a week and a half off if applied to the majors. I know the Triple A teams don't have to do cross-continent flights and an average of 28 or 29 games a month is pretty brutal. However, if baseball wants to keep a 162-game schedule and the current playoff format and improve the conditions in which the postseason is played, something is obviously going to need to change. I know some people want neutral site World Series, but would we really prefer no more...

Discuss | Tags: Detroit Tigers, MLB, Tigers

Wednesday Morning Rangers Notes

By Joey Matschulat | November 19, 2008

Reminder: Baseball Time in Arlington is moving! Please update your bookmarks to www.bbtia.com at your earliest convenience.So, it turns out that staying up until after 3:00 a.m. Monday morning -- a by-product of working frantically to launch the new website on time -- and then getting up less than five hours later for class wasn't such a wise course of action to take after all, and I'm now grounded with some sort of virus, left with no other option but to inundate myself with vitamin C, elderberry syrup and Gatorade. Isn't the power of hindsight wonderful? By the way, I believe I've taken care of everybody who has requested a BBTiA account thus far (and thanks to those of you that have, by the way). Again, if you're interested in acquiring one, simply send your preferred login ID, display name and password (between 6-25 characters) to joey.matschulat@yahoo.com, or employ the...

Discuss | Tags: MLB, Texas Rangers

Bits and pieces

By Harper Gordek | November 19, 2008

Not a blog but MLB.com is playing up the Teixiera (and Hudson) interest. You know, if an offer isn't made all this talk will look like an elaborate smoke screen to try to convince the fans they are trying. I'm just saying, Stan, that's all. Just saying. Nats Farm Authority has a great little guest piece going about the Dominican Summer League, along with their other fantastic work. Nats 320 has Chad Cordero's wedding pictures. (While it was fun to think that he was hiding in the bushes taking pics - Chad Cordero's family gladly sent him pictures so the fans could see. Thank god the Nats got rid of that guy.) Firejimbowden gives praise where praise is do for Rich Campbell leaving Ryan Howard off his Top 10. Marc Zuckerman also put Howard down in comparison to others at #10 I understand the obsession with awarding MVP votes to those with hot finishes...

Discuss | Tags: blogs, MLB, MVP, Nationals, Washington Nationals

In search of Dodgers fans (a case for Joe Beimel?)

By Alan Smodic | November 19, 2008

Joe Beimel shows off his tattoo - Malingering/flickr.com

...because I need your help on this one. I, like mostly anyone else who will be reading this, go through the news each day and like to sort through the "hot stove" reports that every media outlet has. Today, I ran across this little bit that caught me by surprise. It's a report written by Jason Beck, who covers the Detroit Tigers at MLB.com. In it, the agent for left-handed reliever Joe Beimel claims that at least six different teams have interest in the journeyman pitcher. "Across the board, things are starting to pick up some," agent Joe Sroba said Wednesday. "That's to be expected [after the signings]."Sroba estimated that at least a half-dozen teams have had talks with him on Beimel, including the Tigers. He would not confirm whether he has received an offer from any, nor would he speculate whether Beimel could sign soon. Still, it was clear...

2 Comments | Tags: Detroit Tigers, Joe Beimel, Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB, Pittsburgh Pirates

In search of Dodgers fans (a case for Joe Beimel?)

By Alan Smodic | November 19, 2008

Joe Beimel shows off his tattoo - Malingering/flickr.com

2 Comments | Tags: Detroit Tigers, Joe Beimel, Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB, Pittsburgh Pirates

Recapping the Hawaii Winter Baseball League

By Brian Joseph | November 18, 2008

Over the years, the Hawaii Winter Baseball League has featured many young players who saw their dreams come true and find their way to the Major League. This year's HWB featured another group of four teams filled with the future young stars of baseball -- both Major League and Japanese Professional -- and capped off with a showdown between the Waikiki BeachBoys (19-17) and the West Oahu CaneFires (19-14) in the Championship game. In that game, the BeachBoys beat the CanFires 5-1 behind excellent pitching performances from Mitsuo Yoshikawa (Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters) -- 5 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 5 K -- and Steven Richard (Seattle Mariners) -- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 K. Offensively, the team was led by Buster Posey (San Francisco Giants, pictured, photo by Icon SMI) who went 2-for-3 with a three-run homer in the seventh. In addition to the Championship game, the league...

Discuss | Tags: Hawaii, HWB, MLB, Winter Baseball

Could the S.F. Giants win the division in 2009?

By Evan | November 17, 2008

The San Francisco Giants haven't been relevant since 2002 except for it's mercurial slugger, Barry Bonds.They could be relevant again in 2009.Yes, the Giants lost 90 games last year, but they were only 12 games back of the division winning Los Angeles Dodgers. Compare that to the 75-86 Oakland Athletics, which finished 24.5 games back. With a couple tweaks here and there, the Giants could win the division in 2009, and it's not as far fetched an idea as you may think it.The Giants have two young, dominant pitchers heading up their staff in 2008 Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum and his sidekick, Matt Cain. Two other young players in Jonathan Sanchez and Noah Lowry also offer promise, but Barry Zito remains the laughingstock of baseball. If Zito can ever get it together, this is one deep rotation. If not, they can still compete with the best of them.2008...

5 Comments | Tags: MLB, San Francisco Giants

Should the Yankees Hire Sabathia?

By EJ Fagan | November 15, 2008

Yesterday, I posted a report that the Yankees offered 6 years, 140-142 million to C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia is basically asking for Santana money (6 years, 137 million) with interest. Is he worth it? I say yes.The Yankees have a lot of money to spend. The Yankees could have 40 million dollars budgeted for this off-season, and made a pretty frugal move by picking up Nick Swisher. You can figure that with their new stadium, the Yankees expect The first knock against Sabathia that I can tell is the number of innings which he has pitched over the past 2 years. Few pitches in recent years have managed 240+ innings for two years in a row. The Brewers pushed Sabathia very hard in their playoff run, and it started to wear on him toward the end of the year.I am not especially concerned about Sabathia's injury situation. As a GM, I'd...

2 Comments | Tags: CC Sabathia, Hot Stove, MLB, New York Yankees

MVN Awards: NL MVP - Albert Pujols

By Alan Smodic | November 15, 2008

todonitido/flickr.com

This selection shouldn't come as any surprise.St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols continues to put together one of the best careers we've ever seen in Major League Baseball. He's become Mr. Consistency at the big league level, producing at least .300/30/100 in each of his eight seasons. And only once, last year, did he not score 100 runs -- he scored 99.In his career, Pujols has finished in the top 10 of MVP voting each year:2001 - Fourth2002 - Second2003 - Second2004 - Third2005 - First2006 - Second2007 - NinthIt's getting to the point with Pujols that when MVP talk begins, you almost either A) forget about him, because each year he quietly puts up his numbers (like A-rod) or B) you want to consider other people simply because you want others to have a shot instead of always Pujols (kind of like A-rod there,too).But the 2008 season was...

Discuss | Tags: MLB, St. Louis Cardinals

Hot Stove Dishes - November 14, 2008

By Brian Joseph | November 14, 2008

The latest buzz served up from baseball's Hot Stove League. Ten of the hottest stories, moves and rumors from the past week: Yankees out to buy back in to playoffs, offer Sabathia record deal The New York Yankees are tired of missing the playoffs. The one-year absence has driven them to offer CC Sabathia a six-year, $140-million contract to bring his talent to the Bronx. The Brewers want to keep Sabathia but can they afford the price of competing with the Yankees in the free agent market. Better yet, can anyone? Padres go one way with offering Peavy, Braves go the other At some point in the past seven days there was buzz that the Braves and Padres were very close to a deal that would send Padres ace Jake Peavy to Atlanta. After an entire offseason of talks, the Braves announced that they were calling off their pursuit of...

Discuss | Tags: Atlanta Braves, BBWAA, CC Sabathia, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, Dayan Viciedo, Hot Stove, Jake Peavy, Kerry Wood, Kevin Gregg, Los Angeles Dodgers, Manager, Manny Ramirez, Milwaukee Brewers, MLB, New York Yankees, San Diego Padres, Scott Boras, Trevor Hoffman

Yankees offer Sabathia 140-142 Million

By EJ Fagan | November 14, 2008

ESPN's Buster Olney has it today. The Yankees offered Sabathia something in the range of 6 years, 140-142 million. That's something like 23.5 million per year.Is Sabathia a good bet at that much money? SG at Replacement Level Yankee Weblog thinks so. His regression analysis pegs Sabathia at about 22-23 million per year for 4 years, and slowly less after that. Sabathia has the kind of stuff that could very easily put the Yankees over the top for the playoffs. Will another team top it? Would you take that deal if you were the Yankees?...

1 Comment | Tags: C.C. Sabathia, hot stove, MLB, New York Yankees

Yankees offer Sabathia 140-142 Million

By EJ Fagan | November 14, 2008

1 Comment | Tags: C.C. Sabathia, hot stove, MLB, New York Yankees