Signs of life

Sorry for the issues lately, most of those should come to an end in the new year - and chances are that if you're reading this, they are fixed for good.

Anyways, as Wrigley's playing surface is prepped to host a hockey game tomorrow, the front office personnel must have decided to come in for a half day on New Year's Eve, pulling the trigger on a deal that sends Mark DeRosa to the Indians in return for pitching prospects.

Smart money says this is groundwork for a Jake Peavy deal in early 2009.

From the Trib:

After spending much of the last two winters wondering about his job security in Chicago, Mark DeRosa was sent to Cleveland today following the signing of second baseman Aaron Miles. The Cubs acquired three pitching prospects from the Indians for DeRosa -- left-hander John Stevens, who was added to the 40-man roster, lefty John Gaub and right-hander Chris Archer.

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)

They're taking our jobs!

I'm catching a few innings of the White Sox and Indians game in Cleveland tonight during dinner and noticed a strange ad placed on the backstop.

Just to the left behind the plate, on the rotating marquee is an ad for border patrol officers. Apparently they're hiring, so there's a web site for you if you really have an ax to grind with Mexicans who are crossing illegally.

Is this the best audience to be flashing that ad in front of? Especially considering that of all sports, baseball (probably) has the largest percentage of Latinos? Tell me that the border patrol is all about keeping terrorists out of the country and not the Mexicans and I'll stop listening to you, because you are a liar.

Or running for office in a Latino district.

* Off topic, but worth updating is the little typo problem with the Ernie Banks statue at Wrigley, which was apparently fixed this morning.

I assumed it was an April Fool's joke, so I was letting it be until I went to the game today, but the story was apparently legit.

Well, OK, then. I'm sure someone's third-grade teacher is very, very proud this morning. That and it just goes to show how observant and intelligent TV news reporters are... or not.

(Images taken for Siberian Baseball)

Welcome back, Lester

The Red Sox and Indians are getting ready to start in Cleveland in about 10 minutes.

If you're looking for a ballgame tonight, check out ESPN2.

If you hadn't heard yet, here's why.

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)

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)

Week's end wrap up

I was really excited Thursday morning after a big night of moves in the hot stove league. Better yet was Steve Phillips chasing Barry Bonds around like Carl Monday, asking who he was talking to, if he was staying with the Giants and if he was jacking it.

Bonds told him his testicles were too far gone to even consider the last option. Not really, but in the television of my mind it was awesome.

The biggest, but least shocking moves were today, with Andy Pettitte going back to the Bronx and bringing rumors of a return of Roger Clemens with him. Bonds is also returning to San Francisco where he'll be hated the least.

Other big moves:

Jason Schmidt - Dodgers - Headed to the Dodgers, the biggest free agent arm (tied with Barry Zito this year) undercuts the Giants and helps Los Angeles which has a much better rotation on paper now (Derek Lowe, Brad Penny, Schmidt, Randy Wolf and any number of arms looking to take over the five spot.)

Being able to beef up your team while draining a division rival is a nice bonus, but these moves put the Dodgers as the early favorites in the NL West next year.

To his credit, Drew has defended himself a bit to the media, but given that it's Boston, this could get ugly in a big way. We'll see what happens, but this could be a train wreck right out of the gates.

Seriously, you can't trust LA, but who else is going to step up? In other words, business as usual in the NL West.

JD Drew and Julio Lugo - Red Sox - Here's what worries me. Five words in 20 years: The Curse of Johnny Damon. Expect JD Drew to get a lot of face time with Joe Buck's kid and AJ Pierzinski if this becomes a story line of my future nightmares.

Bad attitude and injury prone? Where do I sign?

To his credit, he's defended himself to a point, but it's still Boston and it's not out of the realm of possibility that this could be a train wreck out of the gates.

As much as I'm skeptical of Drew, I like the Lugo signing.

Not as much as I'd like Damon and Orlando Cabrera, but still...

(The best part of the Cabrera Era was screaming, "Welcome to the O.C., bitch!" every night.

Ted Lilly - Cubs - Please, oh please can we get at least a half-powered Bronson Arroyo factor here?

He was 15-13 with a 4.31 ERA in 32 games for the Blue Jays last season.

I can't lie, I was awake after I turned off the TV the other night asking over and again if Ted Lilly was worth $10 million per year. My gut reaction is no.

Hope it's worth hospitalizing a GM over, but this deal isn't as exciting as it should have been. Yes, Cubs front office, we get it, you're trying to win now. There's still no need to try and spend 15 years worth of surplus cash in one mediocre off-season for talent.

Mike Piazza - A's - It's about time, huh? Maybe they'll give him Frank Thomas' old locker.

Freddy Garcia - Phillies - I'm with Frankie on this one who sent me an e-mail when this signing was confirmed. In an off-season where Lilly gets $10 million per, the White Sox give away a very, very durable pitcher for peanuts?

I thought this would be a move to bring Aaron Rowland back, but was surprised when he was left out east.

Still waiting to get word back on whether or not Kenny Williams is still a genius. That said, I'm getting a Billy Beane vibe off Willaims still where no matter how ridiculous the signing or free agent drop is, you can't help but wonder what he's up to.

This is a direct turn around from the Williams we were given in Moneyball where he was emasculated and painted as too dumb to grasp the finer points of a simple multi-player swap.

More from Frankie on this subject can be found here.

Joe Borowski - Indians - This guy keeps finding work and he always seemed like a good enough guy, but I can't help but wonder how he keeps signing contracts.

He's never very good, but never very bad, either. I think this is indicative of the season Cleveland can expect next year.

Gil Meche - Royals - Good for you, Royals!

Aren't they cute everyone? Yes, they are! Yes, they are!

Cute little ballclub you got there, KC...

For more of the same, jump over to ESPN.com where Jayson Stark has a similar breakdown, but with, you know... facts and stuff.

Not to pile on or anything...

So, ESPN has a quick hit piece today about the"Five teams that failed in 2006" targeting the Indians, Red Sox, Angels, Braves and Cubs as losers for the season that's wrapping up.

The Indians young team fell apart, the Red Sox were decimated by injuries, Angels couldn't field the ball, Braves couldn't pitch well enough to contend and the Cubs were crushed by the weight of Cubdom.

Uh? What about the Champs? Not even a mention?

I'm more than willing to accept the list at face value for teams that didn't achieve as much as conventional wisdom would have suggested they might in May, but just because it was a late-season collapse does that make it any less of a failure in expectations?