Brewers screwed, screwed again

Yes, I am aware of the Alex Rodriguez free for all that is taking place this weekend and no, I'm not planning to waste a lot of time on it right now.

I had my fill of that between the Great Barry Bonds blogger gold rush and the Mitchell Report's release last spring. Drugs are bad, sanctity of the game, rinse, repeat.

Instead, check out this MLB.com explanation of why the Brewers really didn't make out too well in their late summer fling with CC Sabathia now that he's made his jump to New York.

Understanding the Brewers' disappointment requires a primer on Draft-pick compensation. Free agents are assigned point values and letter classifications based on a system developed nearly three decades ago by the Elias Sports Bureau that considers players' performance over the prior two seasons.

Sabathia and Sheets both qualified as "Type A" free agents, and such players come at an extra price. Their new team must forfeit a first- or second-round Draft pick to the player's former team as compensation, based on the new team's selection in the upcoming First-Year Player Draft. Generally, if the player's new team finished in the top half of the standings in the previous season and thus selects in the bottom half of the first round of the Draft, that selection goes to the player's former club. If the new team selects in the top half of the first round, its first-round selection is protected but it must instead forfeit a second-round pick.

Teams that lose top-tier free agents also get a "sandwich pick" between the first- and second rounds of the draft for each Type-A player who departs.

That's where things got sticky for Milwaukee. I can only imagine it's roughly the same feeling you get when you realize that you forgot to pay taxes on a big win in Las Vegas.

Remember that other big signing the Yankees made this year? Mark Teixiera? Yeah, guess who was one of the only other players ranked higher than Sabathia in the Elias rankings?

But the first bit of bad news came on Dec. 23, when the Yankees' continued their spending spree by agreeing to terms with former Angels first baseman Mark Teixeira. Like Sabathia, Teixeira was a Type A free agent, and since his Elias ranking was ever so slightly higher (98.889, to Sabathia's 98.110), the Angels suddenly were in line to receive New York's first-round pick and the Brewers were pushed to the second round...

How's this for bad luck: Teixeira was the only free agent with a higher numerical ranking than Sabathia. In fact, only one other non-free agent owned a higher number, outfielder Matt Holliday, at 98.125.

Ouch.

Compounding the problem is Ben Sheets' elbow surgery that derailed a deal with the Texas Rangers and their associated draft picks. He's expected to be back in the middle of the 2009 season. That might not matter much to the Brewers, as if he's still floating around after June 9 (the amateur draft), Milwaukee gets nothing in return.

And they likely have to pay for the surgery, since it happened on their watch. Milwaukee trainers determined that no surgery would be needed, only rest, which was the story until the Rangers uncovered the lingering elbow issues in their physical.

So, let's recap.

The Brewers have their best season in years and make the playoffs. The best pitcher on that team then bolts for the calm of New York City (true story) and the man who has been their most-recognized pitcher for years is damaged goods and so he's worthless to the team, even as he's on the way out.

According to the team web site, the Brewers' starting rotation now looks like this: Manny Parra, Yovani Gallardo, Jeff Suppan, Dave Bush and Chris Capuano.

Pitchers and catchers report next week, Packer training camp is usually in mid-July.

(Image from: Newsday.com)

The best laid plans

So here's my question after seeing this video - found by Awful Announcing - of Corey Hart being congratulted by teammates in a postgame press conference.

When that first guy came through the door and saw the little girl on his lap, did he have instant second thoughts? I'm assuming that's beer they're dousing him with and that the child is under 21.

If I'm the first one to come barreling through to the table I'm having serious second thoughts, despite the undeniable momentum of a team of guys shoving me forward.

Corey hart
by bsap11

Stache remains unsupported

In the one part of the All-Star voting process that I wholeheartedly endorse, MLB has released the final additions to the two teams.

It's Evan Longoria from the Rays and Corey Hart of the Brewers.

I think this worked out well - I honestly thought David Wright would get the big New York push into the final slot - and think it's pretty interesting that you have representatives from two of the scariest teams heading into the second half of the season.

With the CC Sabathia addition in Milwaukee and the continued success of the Rays, Hart and Longoria are good selections, if for no other reason than the fact that it gives a good jumping off point for second-half storylines.

But first, MLB wants everyone to know that this was a record year for voting. I'm sure that makes things easier for the players that lost to know that they got their asses kicked in record-setting fashion.

Longoria drew a record nine million votes to win a close American League race over outfielder Jermaine Dye, who could have become the third White Sox player in four years to win the Final Vote. Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi, despite a high-profile "Support the 'Stache" campaign, finished third, followed by Baltimore second baseman Brian Roberts and Kansas City outfielder Jose Guillen -- all of whom finished with impressive vote totals.

Hart, with eight million votes, joined fellow Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun and pitcher Ben Sheets on the National League roster, and the way he was supported throughout the process was similar to the way fans pushed Braun from seemingly nowhere into the No. 1 outfield spot. Finishing a close second to Hart was Mets third baseman David Wright, an All-Star the past two years. They were followed by outfielders Pat Burrell of the Phillies, Aaron Rowand of the Giants and Carlos Lee of the Astros.

Let's be honest, folks - Jose Guillen didn't stand a snowball's chance of making it, did he?

(Image from: ESPN.com)

Cubs vs. Brewers - Tale of the Tape

A day after Milwaukee officially signs CC Sabathia (sorry, El Capitan Chorizo), the Cubs have returned fire, picking up Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin from the A's for Eric Patterson, Matt Murton, Sean Gallagher and minor league catcher, Josh Donaldson.

The media cycle in Chicago is playing this as an arms race - Get it? Arms race? Because they're pitchers? - where the Cubs are reacting directly to the Sabathia signing by picking up a pitcher of their own.

Certainly Chicago is using this year's current success to trade on a logjam of outfielders - moving Patterson and Murton - and Geovany Soto's All-Star season to send another young catcher on his way out west, but to infer that the move was solely motivated by Milwaukee's acquisition of Sabathia is pretty ridiculous.

Still, for the sake of argument, let's take a quick peek at the tale of the tape.

Key Player:
Milwaukee - CC Sabathia (Vallejo, CA)
Chicago - Rich Harden (Victoria, British Columbia)

Supporting Cast:
M - Matt LaPorta
C - Get: Gaudin; Lose: Gallagher, Patterson, Murton, Donaldson

Years Left on Current Contract / Age:
M - Sabathia is a free agent at the end of the season / 27
C - Harden is a free agent at the end of next season / 26

This Year to Date:
M - Sabathia 6-8 (18 games); 3 complete games; 2 shutouts; 123 K's; 3.83 E.R.A; 1.234 WHIP
C - Harden 5-1 (13 games); 0 CG; 0 shutouts; 92 K's; 2.34 E.R.A.; 1.143 WHIP

Misc. Resume Padding:
M - Sabathia won a Cy Young Award last season; Second in Rookie of the Year voting (2001); Two All-Star Appearances (2003, 2004)
C - Harden has an empty trophy case

History (Recent and Ancient):
M - Sabathia has started no fewer than 28 games in the past five seasons, with a high water mark of 34 last season. He also set a career record of 19 wins last season and has never lost more than 11 games. He has a career ERA of 3.83 and set another career record last year with 3.21. Sabathia has started 237 games in eight years.
C - Harden started 31 games in 2004 (his second year in the majors) but since then has only started 19, 9, 4 and 13 games, respectively. He has been on the DL once this season. His career ERA is 3.42 and is on track for a career year with his ERA currently at 2.34. Harden has started 89 games in six years.

Cheap Joke:
M - (As heard on WSCR this afternoon) So, does the Brewers' team pilot have to stand up before the flights and tell them, "Fielder, on the right side and Sabathia on the left," or is that something that the guys loading the plane have to worry about in terms of weight distribution?
C - Wood and Harden on the same team? Invest heavily in cheap t-shirts and cut-rate silkscreening machines in the Midwest this summer. The frat rats are going to looooooove this. Beavis and Butthead would be proud. Heh... Wood. Huh... Harden.

Final Tally:
Aside from the obvious issue with Sabathia coming off a huge year without any long-term security, there's really no way that the Cubs wouldn't switch places with the Brewers in these trades. Add to that the fact that Ben Sheets is also in a contract year and things could get dicey in Milwaukee if the team doesn't win this season. Then again, they have two shots at retaining a staff ace when the dust settles in November if deals aren't finished before the season ends.

Sabathia has proven to be more durable, has produced better numbers, has been a front of the rotation starter and provides more relief to his new team.

While Harden is a nice pickup and was acquired without any major loss to the Cubs - again, just offloading some jammed positions - he is less than a sure thing. Promising, sure, but only a year younger than Sabathia and with a history of short seasons.

No matter which way you look at it, the Brewers get the better end of the two trades.

(Apparently, I'm not the only one who wonders how the Cubs made out in this deal. Only, he looked at it from the Cubs vs. A's perspective. And spent more energy in looking at the Gallagher angle. I think I mentally blocked that portion until I'm emotionally stronger.)

(Image from: ClevelandLeader.com)

Sabathia apparently headed to the land of fried cheese

ESPN just spent a few moments to chime in on the C.C. Sabathia sweepstakes and pending deal between Milwaukee and Cleveland.

Nice try guys, but I prefer to get information from a more solid source, such as Tom Haudricourt - oh, and he posted more information a full two hours before ESPN's national broadcast.

OK, I'm done being tired of the Four-Letter Network now.

According to Haudricourt, the Sabathia deal is all but done and as soon as they can stitch his name on the back of a jersey, Sabathia will be on the field to be seen as the savior of Milwaukee's season.

Currently, the Brewers have converted 31 of 45 save opportunities, so maybe they should be trying to scrounge bullpen help while the phones are still hot. Those 45 opportunities are tied for the league lead with St. Louis, which owns a more disappointing 25 saves in the same span.

As bad as those numbers seem, they're not awful when compared the league as a whole when comparing the two sets of numbers - apparently the Brewers are just prone to very public blowouts.

Regardless, here's a slice from Haudricourt's post on the Journal Sentinel site:

I just was told by a reliable club source that the Brewers have a deal in place with Cleveland for left-hander C.C. Sabathia, contingent on the paperwork being done and medical records exchanged.

But believe me, folks, that's a deal. All that other stuff is formality.

Look for Sabathia to make his debut for the Brewers Tuesday night at Miller Park against Colorado.

Matt LaPorta and a few low-level minor leaguers are the names being thrown around as the Brewers' contribution to the trade.

Seeing as fans really enjoy cheering for athletes they can relate to, Sabathia's girth is all upside here.

(Image from: CafePress.com)

Proof Wisconsin is a fooball state

I wanted to pass along the rough transcripts that a friend of mine sent me after his trip to Miller Park last week. I wish I could say I was surprised, but it seems like he had much the same experience that I used to have at Twins games as a carousel of fans sat behind me and asked increasingly bizarre questions.

It's worth noting that the guy who sent this was born and raised in Wisconsin, so if the Sconnie accents got on his nerves, it had to be pretty bad. He's also the one who took delight in the Prince Fielder/vegetarian mini-scandal where he pointed out that Wisconsin was one of the few states where a professional athlete would be criticized for losing weight and eating healthy.

From the semi-retarded people sitting behind me last night at the Brewers vs. Toronto (who also spoke in great Wisconsin accents)

Girl 1 - "What place are the Brewers in?"
Guy 1 - "Third I think..."
Girl 1 - "What place are the Blue Jays in?
Guy 1 - "Third I think."
Girl 1 - "Oohhhhh, so this is a really important game, eh"?
Guy 1 - "Yeah"

Also, Guy 1 or 2 (hard to distinguish) couldn't stop talking about how awesome and tough Jason Kendall is - and how much he loves him - who is currently batting .259, with 1 whole HR and 22 RBIs. Lighting it up.

And again Guy 1 or 2 talking about how great Scott Rolen is (well - I guess if you think Jason Kendall is good, I could see that). Obviously he was good - this year, not so much.

With 2 outs in the eighth inning and a man on 1st and third:

Guy 1 - "I wonder if they're going to manufacture a run here" - i.e., put on the suicide squeeze like they did earlier in the game. I'm sure I don't have to point out to you the problem with that. Also, they were winning.

Retarded girl one astounded that a guy got to third from first on a hit and run:

"Oh, he was already halfway to second when he hit the ball?"

And I can't stress the accents enough. I also had to listen to a whole conversation between them and the beer man about their kids and shit, who they apparently knew - and also was semi-retarded - sounded like something straight out of Fargo.

Jesus. Christ .... I just can't do justice in an email to the general stupidity - and listening to it all in the worst Milwaukee accent you can imagine.

In situations like these, it's best to not try to find any meaning in what is going on around you. It's like sitting next to the person who can't keep track of the action on the field and ends up roaring his approval when his team strikes out only to be forced to sit down sheepishly.

I love when that happens.

(Image taken for Siberian Baseball)

It appears that the Brewers have hired a nerd

In a story that flew under my radar, Milwaukee catcher, Jason Kendall, is batting ninth to start the season in an attempt to gain a competitive edge in the National League this year. It was a little confusing to figure this out from the stands during yesterday's game.

According to the Brewers' web site, the idea was kicked around initially in Spring Training, when Ned Yost told reporters:

"We've done studies on this. It's not just that we come up one day and say, 'You know, Jason Kendall's gonna hit ninth.'

"You've had a lot of smart people looking at it and crunching numbers and seeing if, numbers-wise, it made sense."

To me, this sounds like the Brewers have a new stat nerd in house and after breaking down his numbers, they found a way to shake up the established baseball world. From the rumors I've been hearing, sabrematicians looooove shaking up baseball's old guard.

The idea is that with a contact hitter like Kendall, you double up your leadoff-hitting potential by having the catcher bat last before you hit the top of the order. That's great, but I don't quite understand the idea of taking a player who your team values for his ability to put the ball in play and moving him to a spot in the order where he'll see the mathematical minimum of at-bats.

Then again, the Brewers are 2-0 this year, so I'll just shut up now.

Update: One of the Ballhype users had this waiting for me in my inbox and it lines up with this discussion, so I'll add it here.

(Image from: about.com)

Do it all, Billy Hall

I'd like to point you to this post from a Brewer blog that does a nice job of breaking down the Mike Cameron signing in Milwaukee and how it will impact the roster.

The theory is that Cameron moves to center, Bill Hall returns to the infield and takes over third base and Ryan Braun moves to left field to minimize his impact as a fielder. That's a nice way of telling Braun to go stand out in the outfield and wait for his turn to bat.

The result of all the moves is that Hall is moved back to the infield and is asked to make another move for the Brewers. He's already done this a few times before in the past:

The biggest move of all involves Bill Hall. For a third straight year he will be expected to field a different position. In 2006, Hall played most of the year at shortstop when JJ Hardy was out with an ankle injury. Last season he transitioned to center field in anticipation of Ryan Braun being the everyday third basemen at some point. Hall struggled defensively in center which led to his struggles at the plate. All of his numbers at the plate dropped off significantly from 2006. Home runs dropped from 35 to 14. His batting average fell from .270 to .254. His on-base percentage fell 30 points and his slugging percentage dropped a staggering 128 points.

Hall was a bit of a fantasy let down last year, so this should help with that. There's an interesting point brought up in the comments section, though, regarding what will happen to Braun's numbers by going through the same juggling act.

I guess that's the downside of being a good true athlete like Hall - the team can take it as a blank check to shuffle you around at will. I'll go on record now in saying that the 2008 Brewers are officially starting to scare me.

(Image from MLB.com)

The home stretch

I'll be home this weekend for my bachelor party, which features the Cubs vs. Pirates game Saturday as the keystone event thanks to Best Man extrodinaire Frank the Tank's planning skills.

It should be a blast.

Granted, I'd love for the Cubs to be running away with the NL Central by this point in the season, but barring a major meltdown - and yes, I am aware of the past century of Cubs baseball - Chicago should have an easier road in the final two weeks of the season.

Milwaukee will face a three-game match-up with Houston and four with Atlanta on the road and finish at home with three games against spoiler-hungry St. Louis and four games to close out the season against San Diego.

Chicago sees Cincinnati and Pittsburgh three times each at home and then hits the road for three each against Florida and the Reds.

Chicago has this Thursday and next Monday off and Milwaukee plugs ahead without a break until the end of the year.

Worth noting: Atlanta is effectively out of the running, but San Diego is holding a slim one-game lead over the Phillies for the NL Wild Card spot and are two games back from the division leading Diamondbacks. The Braves probably won't take too kindly to missing the post-season two years in a row and have enough punch to do some damage.

Why am I on edge?

Because I was at the Metrodome last year, watching the Tigers piss away their lead to the Royals and allowing the Twins to take the AL Central crown on the last day of the season.

Never underestimate the ability of a team to kill itself - especially when wearing Cubbie blue.

(Image from: Vivisect.org)

Brewers get ready for kangaroo court

For those of you not watching the top of the ninth inning of a 9-0 laugher between the Brewers and the Diamondbacks, you're missing Jeff Cirillo's first major league pitching performance.

So far, he's struck out Craig Counsell in the leadoff spot and walked Bill Hall.

After getting Kevin Mench to fly out for the second out, he walked Johnny Estrada. If Gabe Gross hadn't flied out to second, Cirillo would have been pitching to the pitcher - now that would be entertaining and a little weird, frankly.

This is all kinds of awesome.

I'm not clear, but I'm pretty sure it's not a save situation.

Rich bullpen gets richer - Trading deadline 2007

It's not the wild west trading days of old, but most major league fans will take it.

With few superstars being moved this season, the headliners had to be Boston's aquisition of Eric Gagne - but not Jermaine Dye - and Atlanta's two newest Braves in Mark Teixeira and Octavio Dotel, big enough names, but nothing like the old school fire sales that used to happen.

Gagne is the talk of the telecast as the Red Sox are trailing the Orioles tonight and there is plenty to talk about there. With a bullpen that is already home to All-Stars Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon as the respective setup man and closer for the team.

The reports I've read make a point of mentioning that Gagne agreed to take a supporting role in Boston, so hopefully there won't be any turf wars over the closer's spot. Assuming that holds true and that Gagne is fine with taking it easy on his suddenly shaky arm, this is a great play by the Red Sox.

With Curt Schilling returning from the DL shortly, Josh Beckett's history of injuries and Daisuke Matsuzaka's high pitch counts this year another reliable arm in the bullpen can only help, especially if the starters need to be spelled in August as a long season takes its toll.

There's something to be said for having confidence in a deep bullpen - just ask any Cubs fans this year.

Personally, I thought the move to put Scott Linebrink in a Milwaukee uniform was interesting from a NL Central perspective. Despite his numbers, Linebrink was a bit of an untouchable player in San Diego as he was a favorite of management from everything I'd read. It seemed strange at the time, much like the unnatural attachments fantasy baseball managers seem to develop with their players, especially when they find diamonds in the rough.

For overviews of the trades made, you can check ESPN's take here or a little more blogger-friendly link here.

The Cubs decided to stand pat, with Sweet Lou Piniella opting to get a rubdown as the clock ticked down to zero on the trading deadline and the club prepares the areas around the clubhouse whirlpool tubs for Kerry Wood's return this weekend. Better put up some of those little yellow signs, too - just in case.

Knowing Wood's awful luck, there should probably be a lifeguard on duty just to be on the safe side.

(Image from MLB.com)

I know you're all sick of Yanks/Sox, bear with me

As much as I hate to admit it, there were better games that could be on ESPN tonight in the place of the Yankees/Red Sox game. For the record, yes I'm getting tired of the Worldwide Leader's decision to air any and all games between the two teams - burning fans out on the teams and their rivalry can't be any good for baseball and it can actually hurt ratings in the fall.

Piling on to the situation is the unending coverage of Alex Rodriguez being stalked by the media in Toronto as he made the rounds with a woman who wasn't his wife - a situation that I think is really out of bounds.

Say what you will about the old media being too chummy with ballplayers, obliterating the lines of journalistic integrity - teams used to foot the bill for reporters to travel on the road with the team and held sway over who each paper chose to cover the games - but there was a strong sense of what happened on the field and the personal lives of players.

I'm reading a Joe DiMaggio biography right now and there have been more than a few references to DiMaggio going in and out of cathouses both in and out of season. I can't imagine the kind of firestorm this would set off today. Whether it was politicians or athletes, there were plenty of things that were seen but not reported and I don't think that's such a bad thing.

Much has been made of social columnists covering the Rodriguez story and not being forced to be around the players and I think that there's a solid point there. While I don't condone what he's being accused of, I don't think it's the media's place to out Rodriguez on the front page.

Maybe I'm a little too old school like that.

* So, how are you enjoying suspension Sunday? Lou Piniella is out until MLB tells him he can come back and play nice after a problem with an ump bump and there were a few other guys getting run as well. None had as much fun as the Mississippi Braves manager did on his way out, though.

That's because it's impossible to have that much fun.

Michael Barrett will not be catching for Carlos Zambrano until those two can settle their differences and will likely be disciplined by the Cubs.

Anyone care to place odds on Gary Sheffield getting a call from Bud Selig's office for his comments to GQ?

* Roger Clemens is running a little late in his return to the Yankees and Barry Bonds is stalling a bit in his chase for Hank Aaron... Awesome, now what will ESPN cover for 35 minutes on SportsCenter? Oh, right... Clemens' injury and Bonds' chase and why neither is going as quickly as planned.

* It's weird to have Milwaukee ahead in the standings - though it happened last year as well - but their recent skid (4-6 in the last 10 games) hasn't done them any damage in the incredibly weak NL Central.

It's a rich get richer situation in most divisions, with the exception of the Diamondbacks who have rattled off a 9-1 streak to catch up for a three-way tie with Los Angeles and San Diego.

Man, the NL West is weird.

In the AL Central, the Indians have cooled a bit and everyone except for the Royals are within 7.5 games of them. More on the Twins mid-week, but they're showing signs of life. Not many, but two signs are technically plural and count as "signs" of life.

* And because he's fine I can say this: Hey Doug, karma sucks. Guess you should have given the ball back after the World Series, huh? Sorry about your sprained cervix.

This is the long, petty way around to pointing out that the Yankees first base problems are only beginning. With the first- and second-string first basemen out for a while, it's been pretty brutal to watch the stiffs New York is trotting out there.

Expect more than a few problems with position play there this week.

(OK, I feel better now - just saw this from With Leather.)
(Image from Boston.com)

Do you even like baseball, guys?

Last names are tricky.

I had an editor who used to go line by line through every name on the agate we'd crank out on a nightly basis looking for mistakes and jokingly calling himself "The Hawk" when he'd catch one.

"McDougal or MacDuggle?" he'd ask. "There was a MacDuggle a few years ago who played for Southern Door - is this a brother or a sister?" If we really dug in our heels, he'd toss us a phone book and tell us to prove it.

We were wrong more often than not.

We thought he was trying to be a dick. He was really teaching us how to do a better job, make better connections and learn that a solid quarterback from 5 years ago might have an equally talented younger brother or sister in the wings.

I always silently suspected that as a prep athlete, his off-kilter last name (Harty not Hardy) might have played a role in this as well. Nothing sucks like doing a great job, clipping the box score and seeing your name spelled wrong.

Even on the high school level, it became our responsibility to get the names right, and while I will never claim to be perfect here, I do make an effort and will check and re-check names I don't know very well.

I guess that's why I'm frustrated when PA announcers and radio and TV personalities get things wrong so often. The Red Sox broadcast team just referenced Andre "Ether" and not Ethier and catching the post-mortem on the Twins/Tigers series had a walk-off homer from Brandon Inge, which was masacred beyond belief (Inguh? Ingey?).

I'm not asking for much, and the media guides even have phoenetic spellings of the names, but anyone who has in interest in baseball knows those two names of hundreds in the majors. Would it kill guys to watch a few games in their downtime?

* Jonathon Papelbon has blown the save and is struggling to get out of the ninth in Boston tonight. Wow, that's weird.

He's just not locating his pitches well and hung a fastball for a two-run homer to tie the game. I can't imagine the speculation on the Sons of Sam Horn board... no wait, I can.

* Elsewhere in the East, Phil Hughes is no-hitting the Rangers (see a pattern here, anyone?) and will have a huge rush on the fantasy boards starting now and continuing through tomorrow afternoon.

There are worse guys to pick up than Yankee rookies, but I always get frustrated at premature runs made on guys in their first games.

* As much as Frankie likes to joke that the baseball season hasn't really begun until Kerry Wood or Mark Prior have hit the DL or are gone for the year, I argue the season really doesn't warm up until Roger Clemens begins his annual auction.

He's begun his annual auction.

* Watching the Brewers this weekend made me realize that last year it was the Brewers and Tigers off to hot starts and I stupidly called them both out as pretenders. There's something to be said for being half right.

Currently, the Brewers are 16-9 and 7-3 in the past 10 games in the upside-down Central Division (Brewers, Pirates, Reds, Cubs, Astros, Cardinals in order).

They are holding strong in the top third in average, OBP, ERA and earned runs. Not running away with anything, but seeing more pitching than they had before. With the young bats and the emergence of a viable pitching staff, it's been surprising, but justifies the preseason hype the team attracted.

(Photo from MLB.com)

Weekly Wrap-Up 4/8

We'll give this a short test drive to see if it's doable through the course of a baseball season. Depending on how diligent I am about keeping up during the week, it could be a simple link dump and weekend recap, but at least to get off the ground, this is a great place to start.

* We've seen nothing but parity in the 3-4-5 spots in most big league rotations this week as teams flew out of the gates only to come back to reality when their second-tier pitchers had to take the ball on Wednesday and Thursday.

This is why so much is being made of the starters and proven stars, as well as the Mets rotation shocking the National League by handcuffing the Cardinals to start the season off officially.

Watch for plenty of ink to be spilled regarding injuries to Chris Carpenter as well as Pedro Martinez and the return of Roger Clemens. It's only the first week, but it really does look like pitching will dictate who will be the major players in both leagues this year - go figure, huh?

* It'll come up in a day or so when I can post video, but Jonathan Papelbon needs to stay right where he is as the closer in Boston. He wasn't screwing around tonight when he took the mound with one out and the bases loaded in Texas.

I can't place it, but he's lost the goofy kid vibe and looked like a madman in the ninth. Needless to say, I like this turn of events.

* With the Cubs trailing 6-0 against Milwaukee, it was refreshing to see the team surge and try to make a comeback and not just because it was the third game on a Sunday afternoon on the road, but because the Cubs haven't had a lot of spark recently.

To paraphrase Ron White, "That team's got a lot of quit in it."

I'll need to see more, but the fact that the starters didn't get a 45-minute head start on the Tri-State makes me think things might actually be different with Lou Pinella in charge.

* Alex Rodriguez took Chris Ray deep to notch a walk-off grand slam and silence his critics who claim he's a world-class choke artist and that he can't deliver in the clutch.

Yeah, he sure rocked the Orioles in the fourth game of the year with his team down by three runs... That'll show 'em.

* Finally, the biggest story of the weekend is that everyone was too cold to play baseball - ask Paul Byrd how that worked out for him - and there were a few places where games were snowed out.

I'll admit that weird stuff happens when the weather goes cold like that, but it didn't provide quite the opening week we had all hoped for. Instead, we had pitchers taking it easy, players being overly concerned with pulling muscles and pitchers being given the A-OK from the umps to blow on their hands.

There were plenty of odd moments to open the season and while no team can get into trouble in just a week, it was a good enough opening act. The important thing - as I've been saying for a week - is that baseball is definitely back.

(Photo from the Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Everyone's a winner on Opening Day

Opening Day - It's like Christmas, only I don't have to put up with my family... I think it's pretty cool that you say "Opening Day" and it's pretty apparent what sport you're talking about. I'm not really sure what the NFL's Week One is known as, other than Week One.

Aside from that, who cares what you call basketball or hockey.It usually takes a few weeks for anyone to really notice those sports have started.

* The big question I have when I see pictures of Pete Rose at Opening Day is whether or not he has to watch his mouth around the ballpark - well, in public, really - when using the word "bet."

Like, let's say Adam Dunn comes up with two homers already and some know-it-all in the section chimes in with, "Dunn is automatic! Here comes the third homer, baby! Woo!"

Can Rose still say, "Wanna bet?" without serious repercussions?

I bet he can't... Damn, I would make a sub-par Pete Rose.

*One of the common refrains that I'm seeing in league previews is that the top two guys in most rotations are solid starters and the three through five guys are where you separate the men from the boys.

This is pretty self-evident as you look at the top-tier teams and work your way down to the Mariners and Royals of the world. Hell, just look at the cash commanded for very average pitchers in the offseason.

The capper might have been on-air speculation tonight about what Dennys Reyes would command on the open market. It was done in all seriousness.

My gut tells me that as we get into the three, four, five guys in every team's rotation, you'll be able to see which teams are in for a long season and which ones are ahead of the pack by virtue of having normal pitching depth.

* All told, from the highlights I'm seeing and the bits of games I caught live, it was a pretty predictable day around the league, with the top-shelf starters performing the way they're paid to and competition being pretty equal for Opening Day. The exception is the fluke blowout by Cleveland over the White Sox, which had more to do with the first game than talent levels.

I refuse to believe that the Sox are that bad or the Indians are that good, but I could be wrong.

* Ben Sheets got off to a hot start and as he goes, so goes Milwaukee - which should have been the case for years now, save for his injuries and under performing from year to year. A two-hitter out of the box certainly bodes well for the Brewers.

* Manny Ramirez apparently has a tough time getting things going every year according to the announced at the Royals/Red Sox game from Kansas City today. I'd never really noticed, I guess, but just add it to the list of Manny's quirks.

One player who has no such problems is Vlad Guerrero who until he just ripped a shot down the left-field line in his first at-bat had hit home runs off the first pitch he saw in 2005 and 2006.

OK, that's pretty cool.

* My new goal for this season is to try and get a more accurate read on which sleeper teams that start hot are for real and which ones will fall back to earth. Last year, I picked the Brewers and panned the Tigers after hot starts by both... yeah, that worked out well.

This year, I don't even need to pick the sleepers, I just want to be able to call it one way or another more quickly than I usually do.

By that, I mean before the second week of October.

(Photo from the Associated Press, via ChicagoTribune.com)

It was a joke, I swear

I was only kidding, Minnesota Twins management - by using two players like Jeff Cirillo and Jeromy Burnitz, I was saying those would be bad signings this offseason.

Still, today the Twins are set to announce a one-year deal with the man most likely to be confused with an STD.

So let's break this down so we don't have to come back to this later:

The 37-year-old Cirillo batted .317 in 112 games with three homers and a whopping 23 RBI last year. This of course, clears the way to slot Jason Kubel in as a backup to get more experience and move Rondell White into left field.

I can't see how this will fail.

I'm all for "change of scenery" moves and trades made to jumpstart a failing career, but you know how I was talking the other day about adding a big bat to the lineup in the DH spot?

Three home runs does not a big bat make. Not even close.

Cirillo has been a solid player for the Brewers for many years, but as the showcase bat in a lineup? Not so much.

Most AL teams would kill for a one-two punch like Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau and wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger on a bopper to either protect those two or to serve as a bigger catalyst in the lineup.

Not the Twins, though. They're more than happy to push whoever will sign for under $2 million a year into the on-deck circle.

How is this not a subject worth debating about for hours on SportsCenter? You have the AL MVP and the batting champ on a playoff team which has made the postseason in four of the last five years and the brass brings in Jeff Cirillo as the calvary?

It's practically a crime against humanity.

(Photo from the Associated Press)