Hot Stove Thoughts
I haven't posted about baseball in a while, mainly because whenever I do my hands start shaking and I start foaming at the mouth with my usual mid-winter case of Baseball Withdrawal. But a lot's happened in the weeks leading up to the Winter Meetings and so far at the meetings themselves, so here goes:
Cubs sign Bobby Howry. In 2000, Bobby Howry and Kelly Wunsch were the keystones of the White Sox bullpen on their way to the division title. In 2005, Bobby Howry and Bob Wickman were the keystones of the Cleveland Indians bullpen on their way to their close-but-no-cigar run at the AL Central. In between, Howry managed to pitch his way into being traded by the White Sox and then released by the Red Sox before working his way back through AAA to a roster spot with the Tribe. When Howry's hot, he's hot with his 97 MPH fastball. But when Howry's off, well, let's put it this way...Sox fans took to calling him "gascan" in 2001.
White Sox trade Aaron Rowand and Gio Gonzalez to the Phillies for Jim Thome. We all know about Kenny Williams' philosophy of "Grinderball." It won the White Sox a World Championship for crying out loud. In the eyes of many Sox fans, Rowand was grinderball personified with his heart and hustle in the outfield, complete with becoming very acquianted with the centerfield wall at US Cellular. Rowand was a fan favorite and a hell of a guy, but experienced a seriously nasty drop in power in 2005. Thome's been referred to by many as "oft-injured" and "aging" because of a back muscle issue that limited his playing time in 2005. If Thome gets back to his 2004-previous form, watch out world. We're looking at a guy with a career OPS of .025 less than Frank Thomas and 9 30 HR+ seasons.
Blue Jays sign B.J. Ryan to 5-year deal. During the course of my weekly poker games, I'll invariably go all in with a stupid hand and get all kinds of "WTF are you thinking" looks from my fellow players and then wind up kicking myself. I'm going to go ahead and boldly predict that J. P. Riccardi's gonna be in much the same situation next time he and his fellow GMs plop down for a game of Texas Hold 'Em when Ryan's blowing games left and right, relegating the Jays to another third place finish. On the other hand, if I ever spawn a boy, I'm gonna forcefeed him nothing but corn and red meat and make him throw left-handed so he can get mad money like this.
Mets raid Marlins pantry and sign Billy Wagner. Carlos Delgado and Paul Lo Duca join the Metropolitians in exchange for some 19 year olds and a couple bags of baseballs. Wagner comes to the big city from the Phillies. With the NL East by far the division in MLB where parity is most prevalent, you've gotta think the guys in orange and blue might have a shot at ending Atlanta's run this year.
Blue Jays sign A. J. Burnett. A dominating righty, the other AJ in professional baseball was on the short list of just about everyone since season's end. Burnett's been touted as a can't miss kid since 1999. In spite of never having an ERA below 3.30 and a career losing record, he gets a 5 year deal with the Blue Jays at 11 million per. Riccardi is REALLY laying it all on the line.
I haven't posted about baseball in a while, mainly because whenever I do my hands start shaking and I start foaming at the mouth with my usual mid-winter case of Baseball Withdrawal. But a lot's happened in the weeks leading up to the Winter Meetings and so far at the meetings themselves, so here goes:
Cubs sign Bobby Howry. In 2000, Bobby Howry and Kelly Wunsch were the keystones of the White Sox bullpen on their way to the division title. In 2005, Bobby Howry and Bob Wickman were the keystones of the Cleveland Indians bullpen on their way to their close-but-no-cigar run at the AL Central. In between, Howry managed to pitch his way into being traded by the White Sox and then released by the Red Sox before working his way back through AAA to a roster spot with the Tribe. When Howry's hot, he's hot with his 97 MPH fastball. But when Howry's off, well, let's put it this way...Sox fans took to calling him "gascan" in 2001.
White Sox trade Aaron Rowand and Gio Gonzalez to the Phillies for Jim Thome. We all know about Kenny Williams' philosophy of "Grinderball." It won the White Sox a World Championship for crying out loud. In the eyes of many Sox fans, Rowand was grinderball personified with his heart and hustle in the outfield, complete with becoming very acquianted with the centerfield wall at US Cellular. Rowand was a fan favorite and a hell of a guy, but experienced a seriously nasty drop in power in 2005. Thome's been referred to by many as "oft-injured" and "aging" because of a back muscle issue that limited his playing time in 2005. If Thome gets back to his 2004-previous form, watch out world. We're looking at a guy with a career OPS of .025 less than Frank Thomas and 9 30 HR+ seasons.
Blue Jays sign B.J. Ryan to 5-year deal. During the course of my weekly poker games, I'll invariably go all in with a stupid hand and get all kinds of "WTF are you thinking" looks from my fellow players and then wind up kicking myself. I'm going to go ahead and boldly predict that J. P. Riccardi's gonna be in much the same situation next time he and his fellow GMs plop down for a game of Texas Hold 'Em when Ryan's blowing games left and right, relegating the Jays to another third place finish. On the other hand, if I ever spawn a boy, I'm gonna forcefeed him nothing but corn and red meat and make him throw left-handed so he can get mad money like this.
Mets raid Marlins pantry and sign Billy Wagner. Carlos Delgado and Paul Lo Duca join the Metropolitians in exchange for some 19 year olds and a couple bags of baseballs. Wagner comes to the big city from the Phillies. With the NL East by far the division in MLB where parity is most prevalent, you've gotta think the guys in orange and blue might have a shot at ending Atlanta's run this year.
Blue Jays sign A. J. Burnett. A dominating righty, the other AJ in professional baseball was on the short list of just about everyone since season's end. Burnett's been touted as a can't miss kid since 1999. In spite of never having an ERA below 3.30 and a career losing record, he gets a 5 year deal with the Blue Jays at 11 million per. Riccardi is REALLY laying it all on the line.
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