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Odds and Ends: Colon, Koskie, Atkins

By Tim Dierkes [January 28, 2008 at 7:00am CST]

We take a break from your regularly scheduled Erik Bedard drama to bring you some random links.

The White Sox made an incentive-laden offer to Bartolo Colon, but Colon apparently physically disappeared at the thought of it. There's a joke here, somewhere. Kenny Williams also almost kind of hinted at implying that he made some kind of effort to acquire Bedard.

A brief note from the Sun-Times - outfielder Brian Anderson may be traded to an NL team (Marlins?).

It's possible that Corey Koskie makes another comeback attempt. He's gone through a postconcussion syndrome nightmare.

The Denver Post's Troy Renck is always going over to Rockies players' houses and chilling in their living rooms. This time, it was Garrett Atkins. Atkins says the Rox made a multiyear offer to him a year ago more similar to Jeff Francis' (4/13.25) than that of Aaron Cook (3/30) or Troy Tulowitzki (6/31). That offer was to cover Atkins' three arbitration years and have a club option for his first of free agency.

I recently did a Q&A with Science Fiction Baseball.

Website note: I am leaning toward doing a full redesign. New logo, widen this baby, brighten her up, increase the font size, and yes, do away with the white on black type. Lots of room for improvement with this clunky old design, we all know it.

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Comments

I dont about everyone else but I really like the plain design of this site. Nothing fancy just straight baseball...

-Eric

Posted by: Filtermyhead | January 28, 2008 at 07:06 AM

I agree. Keep the white on black! It's one of the things you're known as =)

I'd keep it too cause it doesn't take 5 minutes to load up with extra garbage - just keep it straight baseball talk.

Posted by: Jay107 | January 28, 2008 at 07:17 AM

The design isn't horrible but I definitely think it could use some sprucing up.

Posted by: Game555 | January 28, 2008 at 07:17 AM

Sun-times story this morning suggests that Brian Anderson is on his way to a NL team. They don't have any details, but they also make it sound like this is a deal that is pretty much done.

Posted by: Andrew Cabiness | January 28, 2008 at 07:18 AM

Agreed Eric,

The crisp, simple design of MLBTR is one of it's most attractive features. It would be tough to improve.

Posted by: sparker | January 28, 2008 at 07:19 AM

Maybe instead of a FULL re-design just re-build a little bit to have some different features & maybe a different navigational setup.

Posted by: ksesxe | January 28, 2008 at 07:22 AM

haha free pizza tuesdays at the office. i have a question though tim was it good pizza or the crappy pizza.

Posted by: Donny A | January 28, 2008 at 07:24 AM

It's a good idea to widen the text part of the page, but keep the white on black.

Posted by: johnsonburbank | January 28, 2008 at 07:25 AM

Change the white on black, it so hard to read, it gives me a headsche trying read it. Add some colors, and a logo would be awesome. Great Site!

Posted by: derek | January 28, 2008 at 07:37 AM

It was good pizza.

It may take getting used to for some people but for this site to be seen as professional for first-time visitors the white on black needs to go. Let's face it this is a boring, hard to read design even if we are used to it and it has grown on us.

Posted by: Tim Dierkes | January 28, 2008 at 07:39 AM

While I agree tha white on black has become a part of ur branding, it is kind of rough on the eyes when starting at it for a while.

Yellow font on blue back ground would be far easier to read. It's also scientifically proven, that yellow font on blue back ground is the most effective combination at keeping readers attention.

It's a good balance of keeping readers awake, while allowing the human eye to relax when reading.

Posted by: bsox21 | January 28, 2008 at 07:40 AM

if ur gonna change it, dont just swap white on black to black on white. it will look like every other website out there.

Posted by: Donny A | January 28, 2008 at 07:40 AM

well thats good to hear tim. what good is free pizza if its not any good? lol.

Posted by: Donny A | January 28, 2008 at 07:43 AM

I wonder how much home/road splits in Colorado play a role in decisions in arbitration.

Generally speaking, part of what goes into arby rulings is ur performance relative to ur peers by position and age.

Surely Colorado numbers cannot be treated the same as stats in San Diego. I would love to hear just how much and how.

OPS+ doesn't tell the whole the story. I'd like to see what mlb uses to even the playing field.

Posted by: bsox21 | January 28, 2008 at 07:43 AM

although yellow and blue makes it easier to read, it probaly would be a little to loud. i suggest not considering yellow as a font color. maybe like black on red or something cool like that.

Posted by: Donny A | January 28, 2008 at 07:45 AM

tim,

is there any timetable on when u expect
to "renovate" the site?

Posted by: Donny A | January 28, 2008 at 07:47 AM

Within a month maybe.

The site itself will have some color but it will most likely be black on white. I know the unconventional is kind of cool but the site will not get to the next level if I use weird colors for the part that people read.

Posted by: Tim Dierkes | January 28, 2008 at 07:50 AM

"I know the unconventional is kind of cool but the site will not get to the next level if I use weird colors for the part that people read."

I disagree. I think it would be quite refreshing.

Yellow font is not "radical" by an stretch. I work in finance and presentations are global investment banks are given with yellow font on blue back ground.

The blue back ground isn't loud, as the other reader commented. It's actually quite soothing to the eye. The yellow makes it easy to read, while being just loud enough to keep u awake and attentive.

I've seen presentations given to CEO's with yellow on blue.

Posted by: bsox21 | January 28, 2008 at 07:56 AM

Hey Tim,
Gotta go with what works - and what works is...
a little blue - a little white and a whole lotta red.
That's right it works for the Sox why not spread a little RS nation love on your website.
now that's straight baseball!
Your hits will double. ;-)

Posted by: marchand30 | January 28, 2008 at 07:56 AM

some things i would keep in mind is designing it with mobile devices in mind - they're only going to become more ubiquitous, especially in the sporting and media fields.

Posted by: el clash combo | January 28, 2008 at 07:56 AM

tim , you're not going to sell the naming rights are you ? i saw how the tribune redid their site and at first i thought ,"oh brother ." it's growing on me now but it took a week or so to get used to .

Posted by: wj | January 28, 2008 at 07:58 AM

"some things i would keep in mind is designing it with mobile devices in mind - they're only going to become more ubiquitous, especially in the sporting and media fields."

Very good point. If you make your site black berry friendly, it will most certainly increase ur hits.

Posted by: bsox21 | January 28, 2008 at 07:59 AM

please dont change the colour. white on black has to be the easiest to read. there is no other colour combination that is as opposite as white on black. any other colour combination whatever colour the font is would not stand out as much on whatever colour the background is except for white font on black background. yellow on blue? please not even close to simple white on black. do whatever test you want, a dark background with light font has to be the easiest to read, and thre is nothing darker than black and nothing lighter than white. so its settled, white font on black background IS the best and easier for readers.

font size is easy, anyone can change the font size. just hit Ctrl and + and that increases the font size. Ctrl and - makes the font smaller aswell.

i also would be against any additional images that take time to load.

Posted by: SpecialFNK | January 28, 2008 at 07:59 AM

"and thre is nothing darker than black and nothing lighter than white. so its settled"

heh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPgI-7hTZkQ

Posted by: ArodSucksAtLife | January 28, 2008 at 08:06 AM

I really like the simple design as well. I don't mind the white on black, but it seems many do. Like you plan, I would just go with black on white.
People are going to complain no matter what, people don't like change, lol.

Posted by: juiced | January 28, 2008 at 08:11 AM

Tim, please PLEASE don't change the color scheme. It is a lot easier on the eyes when reading. If first time visitors judge the site's professionalism on appearance only then they are missing the point of the site and don't deserve to read the content. PLEASE LEAVE THE WHITE TEXT AND BLACK BACKGROUND!

Posted by: jimmywallaby | January 28, 2008 at 08:12 AM

Exactly - people are going to complain no matter what. I just have to do what I think looks great and is functional as well. I want an amazing-looking design to help hook new people.

It is a goal of mine to make it mobile-friendly, yeah.

Posted by: Tim Dierkes | January 28, 2008 at 08:13 AM

what is darker than black?
what is ligher than white?
the only other thing i could see is black font on white background, but thats done in some many places its stupid.

i can see businesses using colours other than black and white, because black and white is boring. it may be boring, but it is the easiest for reading.

Posted by: SpecialFNK | January 28, 2008 at 08:14 AM

Zero chance of white text on black background staying. It is time to start saying our goodbyes and preparing for a completely new look. I hope you will all stick with it, the content is not changing.

Posted by: Tim Dierkes | January 28, 2008 at 08:17 AM

"Hey Tim,
Gotta go with what works - and what works is...
a little blue - a little white and a whole lotta red.
That's right it works for the Sox why not spread a little RS nation love on your website.
now that's straight baseball!
Your hits will double. ;-)"

hmmm sounds more like the Cubs to me =)

Posted by: Jay107 | January 28, 2008 at 08:27 AM

I'm 100% for a change of color scheme.

Posted by: Game555 | January 28, 2008 at 08:27 AM

dont worry tim. im pretty sure i can speak for most people when i say that a new look wont keep me from coming to this site.

Posted by: Donny A | January 28, 2008 at 08:27 AM

I'm going to have to agree with the majority here. the setup is simple to navigate through information. I feel like you miss alot on other sites because everything is links and stuff that you just might not normally read.

Even if you do away with the black and white please try to keep the layout somewhat similar. I dont think anything needs to be changed. You do an awesome job Tim.

Posted by: Santana/Beckett FTW | January 28, 2008 at 08:28 AM

Whatever you do though. I will remain a regular at MLBTR.com because its amazing!

Posted by: Santana/Beckett FTW | January 28, 2008 at 08:29 AM

P.S. Anyone else besides me not giving a crap about any other sports this year? my 2 favorite teams are in the superbowl and i'm more focused on whos gettin santana/berdard and sabbathia's contract extention.

Posted by: Santana/Beckett FTW | January 28, 2008 at 08:31 AM

I'm sure it's been said, but I prefer the simplicity of this site and the white on black makes it easy on the eyes - there's a joke in there somewhere.

Posted by: borninmainelivinginexile | January 28, 2008 at 08:32 AM

Tim, obviously you do not need an award winning design to attract a lot of readers and gain incredible credibility and popular recognition. I am sure what ever you do will be top notch but I hope you aren't receiving ridiculous pressure to compete or attract... i think word of mouth and popular recognition will do way more wonders than a sleek redesign. These are words of encouragement not protest... i like that you are redesigning but know you don't HAVE to.

Posted by: Jacob E. | January 28, 2008 at 08:34 AM

FTW - I feel the same way!

Posted by: Jay107 | January 28, 2008 at 08:37 AM

I think by far the biggest improvement would be a full-fledged message board.

One post on the message board for each post you make here.

The upside, of course, is that the comments (many readers' favorite part) are much easier to follow, and the post/thread with the latest comment will move to the top of the list. A self-selecting posting popularity contest, if you will.

And I don't like the facebook forum because I don't want everyone know to know I'm a baseball dork :)

Posted by: bobo | January 28, 2008 at 08:39 AM

Hey Tim,

I could really care less about design. This website is very functional from a user standpoint. As far as I am concerned, its to content that matters, and easy access to said content. Make whatever changes you like, as long as those don't change I think everyone who reads your site will be happy.

Posted by: Andy Braves Fan | January 28, 2008 at 08:41 AM

A redesign would be great. The white on black is so hard to read. I use this photoset on flickr all the time for design ideas:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/splat/sets/981332/

Also, maybe an update on the comment system to ignore users would be useful.

Posted by: Dan Stabbingworth | January 28, 2008 at 08:49 AM

Tim,

For what it's worth, I agree that changing the look is a good idea. The "keep your identity" aspect of staying white-on-black is appealing, but a clean professional look will be really helpful, I think.

Aside from look, though, I really would love to see the navigation and feature set improve. In my opinion, the commenting system is way too vanilla and feels unprofessional - replying to posts is a must for a site this popular. I also think one page dedicated to "all the ways you can use mlbtr" would be great - links to RSS feeds, ways to subscribe to emails, facebook links, etc. It could be a tiny page, but quite helpful for newbs. Having specific sections with hard links to your features would be great also - free agent classes, GM profiles, and maybe contests. All of that would keep traffic coming back to the site, IMO.

This is all just my opinion, of course, but I wanted to toss it out there. I love the site and have been reading it for a long time, glad to see you going full-time on it and excited to see where you take it.

Posted by: trilambda | January 28, 2008 at 08:55 AM

I think a sleek redesign would only help more people see the content. I can't see how it would be bad. I wouldn't create a new design that was harder to navigate. The site right now isn't easy to navigate.

Many of the sidebar links could be little buttons right under the banner.

ABOUT could be a single little button instead of what I have now.

Easier RSS/Email list signup - that would be up top.

A button that says TEAMS and is a dropdown to all 30, instead of listing all 30 like I did.

Site search box up top.

Widen the site to 980-1000 pixels, use that real estate.

Easier to read font and color, easier to see hyperlinks.

Date, time, and author more clearly marked for posts (under post headlines).

Improved archives instead of listing out each month like I do.

Important posts fader up top, so you don't miss anything.

These are all improvements to me.

Posted by: Tim Dierkes | January 28, 2008 at 08:55 AM

The Sun-Times article mentioned Crede to the Giants along with the Brian Anderson rumor. I know this is a rumor that's been out for awhile. I've heard Crede for Noah Lowry. FYI.

Posted by: White Sox 05 | January 28, 2008 at 08:59 AM

There really wasnt anything new on Crede in that article. Nothing that's not in the archives here.

Posted by: Tim Dierkes | January 28, 2008 at 09:10 AM

You don't have to change anything about the content of the site, Tim, but it would really make my day if you brightened it up a bit.

Posted by: IowaCubs | January 28, 2008 at 09:11 AM

There will be color. I am going to start with a new logo. Not sure if I want to go with blues or a dark red type of thing.

Posted by: Tim Dierkes | January 28, 2008 at 09:16 AM

Tim, was wondering in your list of improvements if you couldn't add an "about me" section for your new writers similar to the one you have for yourself?

Posted by: Jacob E. | January 28, 2008 at 09:31 AM

bsox, please show me this scientific study that shows yellow text on a blue background is the easiest to read. 15 years in graphic design, more than 5 of those doing user interfaces, and i've never seen any study that supports that.

i'll be sad if the white on black goes away, but i know that's just a personal preference. black on white would be the best alternative and *IS* the easiest to read, with the best contrast level.

i'd hate to see the font size change. i find the current size easiest to read. anything larger would look horsey.

Posted by: greg | January 28, 2008 at 09:36 AM

Man I love white on black. Easy on the eyes! But wider and bigger would be much nicer.

Posted by: Victor | January 28, 2008 at 09:36 AM

I would love to see Anderson get traded. CHW has long since given up on him and aren't even trying to give him another shot. Really think he can become a decent player if given a chance.

Posted by: jimmywallaby | January 28, 2008 at 09:48 AM

Well, it was only a matter of time. Once I heard about Peter Gammons being a regular, I knew it couldn't last. Anything good and high quality in this country is usually immediately ruined by going "Big-Time." If the white on black goes, so do I. This will be my last visit; not that it matters to anyone else.

This was a great website. Tim, you are a very good writer. Best of luck. I'll just be sticking to RotoWorld from now on, I guess.

Posted by: DFA Nomar | January 28, 2008 at 10:01 AM

wow, the "white on black" issue is what your continued visitation hinges on?

i'm sure tim is sorry to lose readers in general, but i have to think that if this is the only reason why, he won't lose much sleep over it.

damn that peter gammons for ruining the black on white format!

Posted by: greg | January 28, 2008 at 10:14 AM

Noooo!!!!

I'd redesign some things, but keep the white on black. It will make the updating a more smooth transition. I like the idea of a wider view and the logo could use some updating, but the white on black is your brand.

Seriously, keep it for a little while after the rest of the update, then if you still need to change it then we'll cope I'm sure.

Posted by: 007 | January 28, 2008 at 10:18 AM

When you posted all of Gammons blog sites. I checked many out that I had not seen before.

This website bland as it is, was much easier to read then any of the others. I keep coming back because of how it is, now how it could be.....

Posted by: 100YearsAndCounting | January 28, 2008 at 10:20 AM

White on black should stick around. I'm not sure that the color dictates how easy it is to read - I could see it needing slightly bigger font. White on black is also more environmentally friendly.

Posted by: ARLWarriors | January 28, 2008 at 10:36 AM

The louder the design design is, the harder it is for people to pop on at work. I'm a fan of the current design and if you're heart pressed on an overhaul with the free time and all now - keep it darker - charcoal, gray, etc.

The one thing you can lose is the Cheung Sae Baek picture up top.

Posted by: PhilsPhan | January 28, 2008 at 10:52 AM

I like this design... you could add a few more things in the link part but the black with white is simple and easy to read. everything is right in front of you to read quickly. just my opinion

Posted by: Jays09 | January 28, 2008 at 11:09 AM

Now that you have decided to redesign the site, I would ask only one thing. Please keep it easy to navigate! Perhaps I am the only reader who is closer to 60 than 30 on this site. I realize that some of your younger readers are probably a lot more internet savvy than some of us older guys, but please, please, make sure the MLBTR remains a user friendly site! You've done a great job so far; I try to check MLBTR several times a day and always enjoy keeping up to date. THANKS!

Posted by: bernie | January 28, 2008 at 11:21 AM

Most feedback is that readers can't look at the current site at work because white on black is pretty clearly not "for work."

As I said I really don't think it is user-friendly right now and I will only make changes with improvement in mind.

Posted by: Tim Dierkes | January 28, 2008 at 11:37 AM

I would miss the white on black. And I read it at work too.

Posted by: NoProblemPablo | January 28, 2008 at 11:48 AM

I find the white on black works better with me at work. Less flashy and easy to load, nothing 'giving it away' as if you were on mlb.com for example

Posted by: Jay107 | January 28, 2008 at 11:54 AM

"Website note: I am leaning toward doing a full redesign. New logo, widen this baby, brighten her up, increase the font size, and yes, do away with the white on black type. Lots of room for improvement with this clunky old design, we all know it."

...like, say, getting rid of Type-Key?

***oh please, oh please, oh please let it be getting rid of Type-Key!***

Also, is it possible to not completely dump the *Choo / ??? / ?Edmonds?* banner? It’s such a great little image and leads to quite a bit of pondering over who those damn guys must be…

Posted by: darkstar1661 | January 28, 2008 at 12:38 PM

I would like to see a link where you have the About Tim Dierkes for each of the authors.

I would also like to have an easy search engine. Just in-case I do not see anything about Johan Santana for 2 days I can easly search without going to the January folder and scrolling down. (

Posted by: Bleacher_Buddha | January 28, 2008 at 01:01 PM

There is a search box on the sidebar, give it a try.

Posted by: Tim Dierkes | January 28, 2008 at 02:19 PM

Go ahead with the overhaul but it'd be nice to have some sort of button where you could change it between white on black and some other combo. It really has become the MLBTR trademark.

Posted by: johansantana17 | January 28, 2008 at 03:42 PM

I agree with johansantana17

Posted by: Joe | January 28, 2008 at 04:10 PM

NO CHANGES! This is a GREAT LAYOUT. I don't see improvement being that easy. I do think you should create a 'home' page link in the left margin where people can find a more user friendly table of contents in addition to having links on the left of this main page.

Posted by: ChiSoxSLIM | January 28, 2008 at 07:04 PM

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Odds and Ends: Colon, Koskie, Atkins

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