fat EMO kid baseball blog

The title says it all, Sergio Meat-tray is very frustrating to watch. This guy has great stuff, just doesn’t seem to have any idea where it’s going. Maybe he should talk to the opposing hitters, they seem to be figuring it out just fine. Oh, and these fans dressed up like umpires, again? It was funny for about 5 minutes. I’m just glad I didn’t pay $2500 for the seats behind them.

The Yankees need another starter – I am now officially the last person on earth to write about this. Names to keep in mind? Not much. Jon Garland, Doug Davis, Livan Hernandez? Who knows, suddenly the Yankees are payroll-conscious, so maybe we wont get to enjoy this year’s version of Cecil Fielder or Jose Canseco.

Another big Boston/New York series this weekend. If you need a cheap win for your fantasy team, I recommend you pick up John Smoltz, who I’m sure will have no trouble striking out about 12 Yanks, in a 13-4. Or so it seems to go this season.

I didn’t post at the trade deadline because, well, if you are reading my blog for your trade deadline news, then it might be time to turn off the PC. Anyway, still trying to make sense out of this Scott Rolen to the Reds trade. I have never liked Edwin Encarnacion, but getting him and two other young guys? You have to like this from the Blue Jays side, considering Rolen didn’t want to be there anyway. Encarnacion is a bum, but still, he might be somebody someday.

Finally, since I promised I would…

You may or may not have seen the news recently about the disasterous train wreck in Indiana. In case you missed it,
here is an image that describes the horror much better than words ever could.

Congratulations Artie Lange, I think the torch has been passed.

Amazing how the Yankees can look so good and then so bad. Sabathia has been good, but shouldn’t he be better than this? Throwing balls away, swisher doing tricks out in RF, making a watered-down Scott Kazmir look like CY Young…get this out of your system now before the playoffs, because when you lose, you lose ugly. The Rays have some incentive now to add Cliff Lee. The AL East Race is far from over….

-Bitter Yankee fan who is convinced the world will end tomorrow

What a year it’s been for the Mets, 10 guys on the DL, a dropped popup to lose a game against the Yankees, a big contract for Oliver Perez, and now this (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4359215), a GM accusing a beat writer of getting the VP of player personnel fired.   Classy, Omar.   So, by Minaya’s logic, I am going to write a negative article about Derek Jeter, hoping that the Yankees cut him so I can finally play shortstop in the bigs. 

Well, I guess we shouldn’t be too hard on him, considering his other recent episodes of incredible judgement.  Lets not forget this is the guy who brought in 900 year old Moises Alou, and then did the only thing that could be possibly make the Mets outfield worse:  replace 900 year-old Moises Alou with NOBODY.   This is the same guy who signed Oliver Perez to a long-term contract, passing on much less incompetent pitchers such as Derek Lowe and well, everyone else.  This is the same guy who has left the Mets with such a watered-down minor league system that their second best option at first base this season is a AA outfielder. 

So, rather than manning-up and firing this fellow in the first place, Omar let it drag on for a week, then finally called a press-conference (after days of pressure from the media and fans) only to basically blame the situation on a writer.  I guess the order of things goes players -> coaches -> managers -> front officer -> sportswriters??  Make sense.  Too bad Phil Rizzuto isn’t still around.  A few “holy cows” and he could clear out the whole Yankees front-office. 

Needless to say, it has been a great week to be a Yankee fan.

Tomorrow is the annual induction ceremony at Baseball’s Hall of Fame and it got me to thinking about who we’d see making speeches on this weekend ten years from now.  Aside from the obvious suspects, Albert Pujols, Derek Jeter, A-Rod (Steroid Argument Aside), this generation of stat-inflated players may produce a surprisingly small amount of hall-of-famers.  Being as objective as possible, I took a quick look at each AL team’s current roster for possible HOF candidates.   If I care enough (doubtful) I’ll do the NL Teams in an upcoming post. 

Baltimore – Baltimore has assembled a nice group of young hitters, Nick Markakis is putting up nice numbers, maybe a few batting championships would help his case but right now he’s a younger Paul O’Neill.  Adam Jones is a great young center fielder, but it’s just too early to tell.  The hype would have had you believe the Matt Wieters was a lock, but check back in five years.  Who’s In?  none.

Boston Red Sox:   A roster full of solid hitters, but none of Hall Of Fame cailber.  You could make an argument for Ortiz, but his peak was relatively short, and he has the disadvantage of being a full-time DH.  On the pitching side, John Smoltz should be a lock at this point with over 200 wins and over 150 career saves.  Josh Becket has had a nice career, and is still young, but will have to put together a really good next 10 years.  Who’s in?  Smoltz

Toronto Blue Jays:  Halladay seems like a potential hall of famer, but a look at the numbers shows he is 32 and hasn’t reached 150 wins yet.  He could easily reach 250 if he stays healthy, but as of now, he’s not in.  No one on the offensive side has a shot, unles Aaron Hill keeps putting up huge numbers at second base.  Who’s In?  None

Tampa Bay Rays:  A roster full of nice young talent and guys like Evan Longoria and David Price who could be great for a long time, but as of right now it’s too early to tell. Carl Crawford has put up some nice stats and is still only 27, but we’ll see what he looks like when the legs start to go.  Who’s In?  None

New York Yankees:  A few locks here, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, and A-Rod.  Some other still-young guys who have a chance at their current pace include Texeira and C.C. Sabathia, but neither has been the best in the league at their position for more than one season.  Jorge Posada is borderline, and still putting up solid stats at the catcher position.  He will end up with 250 HRs and over 1,000 RBIs and was a plus defender during his prime.  Missing most of last season hurt his cause, and he’s no longer a 6 game a week guy.   He will probably be on the ballot for a few years, but ultimately fall short.  Who’s In?  Jeter, Rivera, A-Rod.

Cleveland Indians – At one time I would have told you Kerry Wood was a lock, but injuries killed his chances.  Grady Sizemore should have a nice career, but not HOF-worthy.  Who’s In?  None

Chicago White Sox – Mark Buehrle has a nice Tom Glavine – like career, and should end up with 200 wins, along with having both a perfect game and no-hitter on his resume.  If Mike Mussina doesn’t make it, he shouldn’t, but at least deserves to be in the conversation.  500 Homers should be a lock, but Jim Thome has two early strikes – he played during the steroid era, and played lots of DH in his career.  He is still productive and could end up with 600 HRS, he’s at 558 today.  I say he’s in.  Who’s In?  Thome

Kansas City Royals – Not Worth Mentioning

Minnesota Twins – Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau both have a great chance.  Barring injury, Mauer should be a lock.  Morneau has to keep it up for 10 more years, but he is putting up Mattingly-like numbers (yes, I said it).  Who’s In?  Mauer

Detroit Tigers  – Magglio Ordonez has had a nice career, but doesn’t make the cut.  Justin Verlander has HOF-type stuff but will need another century of seasons like this one.  Miguel Cabrera is only 26 and already on the verge of 200 HRs.  He’s not been injury prone and his numbers have been scarily consistent.  The only question for him seems to be if he cares enough to play another 10 years.  Who’s In?  None. 

Oakland A’s – Lots of good young talent here, check back in 10 years.  Sorry Nomar, 10 years ago I would have called you a lock. 

Seattle Mariners – Regardless of long Griffey feels he needs to stick around, he’s a lock.  At his current pace it doesn’t look like he’ll get to 650 HRs (621 currently) but he’s only 1 RBI away from 1800.  It’s all gravy now.  Ichiro is an interesting case, being that his career will be relatively short, but you can’t ignore the .332 career average, and 300 career steals.  Last year he showed signs of slowing down – just ask my fantasy team – but he’s back on track this year. I say he’s in.  Who’s In?  Ichiro, Griffey

Texas Rangers – Omar Vizquel has an outside shot in an Ozzie Smith kind of way, but I’m going to say no.  Had the Rangers had betters teams in recent years, we might think more highly of Michael Young and Ian Kinsler who put up nice numbers at middle infield spots.  Who’s In?  None

LA Angels – Vlad Guerrero has deterorated, but is already close to 400 HRS, and is only 34.  It doesn’t appear he will ever be “Vlad” again, otherwise he’d be up for discussion.  Torii Hunter has made some great catches over the years and will end up with close to 300 HR’s…but just not going to make it. Who’s In?  None

In case you missed it, former White Sox pitcher Jim Parque sent a letter to the Chicago Sun Times admitting his use of HGH.   The story is long, but worth reading, especially if you are like me, have no life, and actually remember this guy pitching.  While I applaud Parque for his honesty, I really don’t understand what he was going for here.  Half the letter he sounds like he is trying to defend his drug use, half of it sounds like he is saying there is no defending what he did.  I can’t tell if he is trying to encourage other players to speak out, or defend those that have been accused.  This whole thing gets even more confusing when he had gone on record in 2007 denying any drug use.   Someone please tell me if this is supposed to be an admission of guilt, a defense, or what.  Either way, what’s the point?  It appears he’s doing fine in life now, was hardly one of the names on the Mitchell Report that anyone cared about.  I’m all for having a clear conscious, but then why now?  Was enrollment in the baseball camp starting to fall?  Is he planning another comeback?  I guess I just don’t get it.   

I’ve read it twice now, and the most memorable part of this for me is the paragraph where he described how the stuff actually worked.  If HGH could make a weiner like this throw 10 mph faster, just image how much better it made Manny, Bonds, Sosa, etc. 

Lets hope that some new side effect is found, and 5 years from now, everyone who took this stuff will have their left ear fall off so we can tell once and for all who did what, and get them and their tainted records out of the game forever.