Conquering the World (Wide Web) - 3/29/2009

March Madness is in full swing. The NBA regular season is winding down, headed for the playoffs. Baseball is also ready to get underway. While you watch the lack of underdogs in the Dance, notice the lack of parity in the NBA this year, and warm up to a long summer of scandal-ridden baseball here are some great links from around the web to keep you satisfied.


Alyssa Milano, Author and Scholar:
Friend of the Cartel, Alyssa Milano, has decided to take her love of the game of baseball and her love of its stars and turn it into a book. [Moon Dog Sports]

Brilliant Speech, But To No Avail
What if the coach from Hoosiers had spoken to the Boilermakers prior to Thursday's game against Connecticut? [Boiled Sports]

Bulls Finally Get Sidekick for Rose
John Salmons hasn't been in Chicago long after being traded from the Kings, but he has made the most of it so far and is putting up some solid numbers. [Pippen Ain't Easy]

Durant is a Beast, Says He Likes Oklahoma
Superstud Kevin Durant is pleased with the direction that the OKC franchise is taking. He sees a bright future, and as long as he wears one of those atrocious OKC unis, the Thunder could be dangerous.[The Boston Globe]

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Gold Stars for All (Except Gagne)

Baseball movings...

With the NFL season coming to an end, the NBA and college hoops in full swing, and the ongoing A-Rod scandal it can sometimes be hard to figure out what's going on with your favorite baseball teams and players. Here's a quick recap of some of the bigger moves that have occurred recently.

2/21/09 - Twins sign Joe Crede to 1 year deal. Crede had previously been with the White Sox.

2/20/09 - Braves resign Tom Glavine to a 1 year deal. Glavine was 2-4 with a 5.54 ERA last season. He is still recovering from the elbow injury that cut that season short.

2/19/09 - Mariners sign Ken Griffey Jr. to a 1 year deal. Griffey is returning to the team that he started his future HOF career with. He played with the M's from 1989-1999 prior to leaving for Cincinnati.

Brewers resign Eric Gagne to a Minor League deal. Gagne will also not be wearing his trademark goggles after having laser eye surgery.

2/15/09 - Angels sign Bobby Abreu to a 1 year deal. Bobby was one of the few people in baseball to not be offered a fat contract by the Yankees, though he put up a .296 average, 20 HR and 100 RBI in 2008.

2/12/09 - Nationals sign Adam Dunn to a 2 year deal. Dunn had been with the Diamondbacks at the end of last season after being traded by the Reds.

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Other than the Gagne deal (Gagne hasn't mattered since his days with the Dodgers), I give all of the GMs that made these deals gold stars.

Dunn, Abreu, and Crede are going to improve the rosters of the teams that they head to. The Nats and Angels get sluggers (LA working to replace the power they lost in Teixeira) and the Twinkies get a solid all-around player in Crede (assuming he can stay healthy for once).

The Griffey and Glavine deals are more sentimental than practical, but I applaud them nonetheless. Griffey has only one more year in him, and it's nice to see him head back to the Emerald City rather than add another cap to his closet. Since he will likely don a Mariner cap on his HOF plaque, it's good to see him end his career there. Glavine is equally washed-up. However, if he is able to return to the Bravos, then perhaps he can end on a solid note for the team that he helped turn into a powerhouse of the 90's.
[Editor's Note: Braves are often considered the team of the 90's; Braves titles: 1 Yankees:3, including 2 over Braves...hmm?]

The nicest thing by far about all of these deals is that they are short-term. Rather than the long term contracts that the Yanks, Mets, and others were throwing around like candy this year these teams have chosen to play it conservatively and sign big names to short contracts. We all know that players play harder in a contract year. It's a fact. It looks like these GMs pay attention.

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Conquering the World (Wide Web) - 10/27/2008

It's here. Actually it's been here for awhile now, I just write articles too sporadically. The it that I am referring to? The Fall Classic of course. So in today's installment of the best of the web, we look exclusively to that greatest of pastimes and take one final look at what's being said about baseball on the internet this season.


A Braves' fan rooting for the Phils? Next you'll tell me that Guy Ritchie has season tickets next year for Yankee Stadium along the third base line. Actually this is one extremely well written piece if you are a National League enthusiast, hate indoor ballparks, or just like your franchises to be old enough to vote. [The Launching Pad]

Counter the above article with a Rays' fan who has conceded defeat, but doesn't regret a thing. [DraysBAY]

Could ESPN be breaking up John and Joe on Sunday Night? Whether you love them or hate them (or hate how one always compares every great team to the Big Red Machine), there is no denying that it would be weird to see a change after almost 20 years. [NY Daily News]

It always amazes me how when there is a big name on the market, everybody (and this article proves that I mean everybody) feels they have a shot. Guess what? Johnny Damon wasn't leaving the Red Sox to go to Minnesota, Santana wasn't going to play for the Nationals, and Peavy will not have a KC on his hat come April either. [Royals Mailbag]

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Yankees Should Make Like Preston Waters and Spend Their Blank Check

Macintosh!

All I ever read these days from baseball columnists is that MLB teams should stress youth, stockpile draft picks, trade for the future, and play youngsters over free agents. It gets on my damn nerves, I suhwear. Sure Billy Beane is a (Money)baller and plays that theory to perfection, but he does it out of necessity. And for every Billy Beane, there are five Steve Phillips.

For the Yankees, money ain’t a thang. Pretending that it is has come back to haunt them this season.

Go back to last offseason and re-examine their refusal to include Phil Hughes in a deal for Johan Santana. I understand that they considered Hughes a top prospect, but he wasn’t special in his cameo last season and certainly couldn’t hold a candle to Santana’s flame.

Santana was as ready-made for the Yankees as any player in baseball; young, super successful, healthy, left-handed, and a good guy. Yes, he had high monetary demands, but Steinbrenner just wants to win. Don’t listen to all the baseball writers puckering up to GM’s, Brian Cashman in this case; fiscal issues don’t apply to the Yankees. They crashed-and-burned in passing on the Santana deal.

If Hughes and Ian Kennedy could’ve been packaged with other supposed supreme prospects in deals for Santana and Dan Haren, how could they pass? The Yankees should always target the top proven starting pitchers in baseball, acquire them at all costs, and build from there.

Tim Hudson, Carlos Zambrano, and Roy Oswalt are a few other prototypical, once available pitchers they missed out on in the past.

The Yankees starting staff is just the beginning, though. The entire roster is beginning to look like a wreck. And it will be worse in a few years as players signed to long-term deals age.

This offseason Brian Cashman should stop straining his brain. The Yankees holes are glaring and the free agent class is ready-made to fill them.

Here’s a position-by-position analysis:
C- Jorge Posada- Posada is overpaid, but they’re okay here
1B- Jason Giambi if they pick up the option- A long-term problem, must be addressed
2B- Robinson Cano- Set
SS- Derek Jeter- Set
3B- Alex Rodriguez- Obvious
LF- Johnny Damon, Xavier Nady- Damon’s playing center now, Yankees have an option year on Nady
CF- Damon
RF- Bobby Abreu- Free agent-to-be
DH- Hideki Matsui- Set
Rotation- Crudely assembled mishmash of garbage

What to do, what to do… WWPD. What Would Preston Do? Buy an eight-gallon bucket of ice cream, of course. In other words, spend that money like it's going out of S-T-Y-L-E!

At first, Mark Teixeira is 29, one of the best defensive first baseman in baseball, and a proven hitter. Sign him up and the infield is set for the next five years at least (although Jeter’s slipping play may make me revisit that statement).

In the outfield, the Yankees are already loaded with talent, but it doesn’t all fit together defensively. Ignore that, sign Manny Ramirez in left and re-sign Abreu. The troika of Ramirez, Damon, and Abreu will continue to hit well even as they age as they all have great eyes at the plate and power ranging from pretty good to ungodly. Taking a flyer on Rocco Baldelli would be good business, too.

Now the real problem, the rotation…

Right now, Joba Chamberlain and Chien-Mien Wang are the only sure things for 2009 (health permitting).

Behind those two, Kennedy, Hughes, Mike Mussina (if re-signed), Andy Pettite (if re-signed), and Darrell Rasner (if desperate) are all candidates, none ideal for a team searching for perfection at any cost.

Once again, Cashman should consult Mr. Waters.

With two of the top young pitchers in baseball available in CC Sabathia and Ben Sheets, the Yankees should move quickly to sweep them up.

Then, the Yanks should package one of Kennedy or Hughes, plus Austin Jackson and other top prospects for another superstar young pitcher. Chad Billingsley, Felix Hernandez, Tim Lincecum, and Brandon Webb should be targeted here.

Finally, I’d suggest signing Mussina to a one-year deal.

That’d leave the Yankees with a starting five of:
Sabathia
Sheets
Wang
Mussina
Superstar young stud
Joba and Hughes/Kennedy

Oh, wait, that's more than five...

That's because acquiring so many elite starting pitchers would allow the Yankees the flexibility to move Joba back into a set-up role where he can once again be the dominant bridge to Mariano Rivera.

And the Yankees would still have Hughes or Kennedy to plug into the rotation should someone get injured.

That Yankees team would be among the greatest of all-time, Preston Waters would be proud, and Cashman and Steinbrenner might have the following classic exchange.

GS: OK, just tell me where the money is.

BC: I, I spent it.

GS: All of it!?

BC: All of it.

GS: How'd you spend $500 million dollars in one offseason!?!?!?!?

Juice: You must not have been shopping lately!

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