Uncategorized News & Rumors

AllCubs.com discusses the Mark Prior saga.  It was interesting to see two very similar articles in two different newspapers this morning (Mariotti and Ladewski).  Of course, the Sun-Times and Daily Southtown are owned by the same company, so maybe it was a corporate mandate.  I don’t understand the argument for the Cubs to cut ties with Prior and/or Wood.  Because they remind you of 2003?  These guys aren’t expensive right now, so if there’s a 10% chance they help you, you keep them around.  The Cubs aren’t poor.  Any argument to release or trade these guys at 0.50 on the dollar so we can all "move on" is just irrational.

The big story today is Pete Rose admitting to betting on the Reds every night as their manager.  He’s pretty careful to make sure we realize it was every single night.  If he took even one night off from betting, his gambling had a detrimental effect on the team overall.  That’s because you’d expect him to save his players for the games on which he did bet.  For me, it’s not just the gambling with Rose…it’s all the lying.

RotoAuthority remembers 2005, which may help you find some undervalued players for your draft this Sunday.

Ken Rosenthal is in vintage form, cranking out the spring rumors and inside tidbits.  Check out his latest at FOX Sports.  Notable trade rumors within:

• Akinori Otsuka could be a target of the Cardinals, but they haven’t discussed it with Texas and the Rangers need to have faith in Gagne and other relievers before dealing him.  I don’t know if any team really has a "surplus" of relievers, but the Nats have a couple of good ones they might want to peddle.
• Chances of a Helton to Boston deal appear slim.  Many had speculated the two teams would revisit talks about now.
• The Diamondbacks will probably look to trade Scott Hairston and/or Dave Krynzel, with no chance of Hairston hitting waivers.  I’m rooting for Hairston, a talented player who has endured some terrible luck and timing.  I think Kenny Williams should get on the phone with Josh Byrnes.  They’ve completed several deals in the past together, and Hairston is a perfect fit for left field on the Sox.
• Rosenthal says the Dodgers are looking for bullpen help, though he thinks Marcus Thames or Kevin Mench would make sense for them.  Personally, it seems they already have a logjam of corner guys.  Rosenthal also thinks the Padres would do well to deal for Thames or Reggie Willits.

This spring has already brought about two weird, out of touch anti-blog columns from old guys. 

First there was this Patrick Reusse piece, beautifully torn apart at Fire Joe Morgan.  Reusse accentuates how easy it is to start a blog by concocting a hilarious scenario where a homeless man blogs the Twins.

Then today Steve Kelley really took bloggers to task.  This column strikes me as especially strange because the most popular Mariners blogs – U.S.S. Mariner and Lookout Landing – operate on a higher plane than any newspaper.  Kelley envisions his bloggers (or is it a chat room?) as "passionate, well-intentioned, if not quite well-informed." 

What blogs are these guys reading?  When I want the news, I pick up the newspaper.  Well, yesterday’s news at least.  But when I want intelligent analysis, I check out blogs and some select online columnists.

It feels like Christmas morning, opening the Amazon.com box when the latest Baseball Prospectus Annual arrives.  I’ve been poring over this massive tome of baseball knowledge since Sunday and I’m still only on the Red Sox.  There is a stat for every occasion, and more player profiles than is healthy.  I can’t even imagine the amount of work that went into this.

At just $12, I highly recommend buying Baseball Prospectus 2007, even if you are not stat-obsessed.  I just spent $12 on a buffalo chicken sandwich and curly fries.

And while I have you, check out my website AllCubs.com if you haven’t lately.  We’ve ramped up with quality content and more authors and I think it’s excellent.

Just to get all of my plugs out of the way in one post, check out my 2007 RotoAuthority Fantasy Guide.  600 player projections with comments, weekly updates, and cool draft tools for only $9.99. 

A common refrain in my recent survey was the need for some moderation of the comments here at MLBTradeRumors.com.  No one is interested in childish or profane comments.

My policy has typically been one of minimal censorship, so this is new for me.  I do see the need at this point.  Back in the day, I didn’t even require logging in – it was ten times worse under that structure but I fought logging in for a while anyway.

Drop me a line at mlbtraderumors@gmail.com if you would like to be the comment moderator.  I’m just looking for one person who can use good judgment but not over-censor things.  You would have to read every comment.  You would then have power to delete comments as well as ban people if necessary.  If this interests you please email me and let me know why you’d be the best choice.  Thanks. 

Made a minor change to the site today – the front page will now always the 15 most recent posts instead of 10. The Recent Posts section of the sidebar will still contain links to the last 10.  It’s not quite a More>> button at the bottom of the page, but it should be an improvement.

Also, you’ve probably noticed the reader polls and Tim’s Take features; I hope to keep those up if the response is positive. 

I would like to share the results to this question from my recent reader survey:

Do you like the white on black color scheme of MLBTradeRumors?

I would have guessed it would be about 70/30 with the majority against the current colors.  That’s because I get a couple of emails a month about how it’s hard to read.

However, 67.3% of you said yes, you like the current color scheme.  Personally I think it distinguishes the site a little bit.  We’ll stick with it.

There were a lot of related comments about the sub-par layout and bland look of MLBTradeRumors.  Can’t argue that – I have embarrassingly little in the way of web design skills.  I use TypePad as an easy way to create blogs.  One of these days I may get around to paying someone to make some improvements for me, but it’s not my top priority.

Recently at AllCubs.com: how Felix Pie is different from Corey Patterson.

We’ve got a piece on one way to determine True .300 hitters over at RotoAuthority.com.  And don’t forget to pick up your copy of my 2007 RotoAuthority Fantasy Guide for just $9.99.  About 600 players are projected.

Tim Lincecum compared to Bob Feller and Sandy Koufax as a part of Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects.  BA has a cool new feature this year called Risk Factor.

D-Rays Bay recently interviewed Devil Rays owner Stuart Sternberg.

Murray Chass has had enough.  Enough of Roger, Bernie, and A-Rod.  Me too, despite the generation gap between Chass and I.  Still, I know that 70 year-old guys and 25 year-old guys are going to have different takes on the game of baseball.  This is only logical.  But to create this divide between those who like stats and those who don’t is silly.  If I brought up VORP to my grandpa or the guys at work the baseball conversations would die pretty quickly.  There are many different ways to appreciate the game.

Chass, however, comes out firing against "new-age" statistics. Baseball Prospectus keeps its cool and would just like to talk. Meanwhile, Fire Joe Morgan shot back with the venom I was craving.

Jon Heyman has a new Daily Scoop up over at SI.com.  Much of it is informed speculation, but it makes for an interesting read.  The highlights:

Heyman believes that Manny Ramirez‘s recent antics could spark trade talks once again.  He names the Rockies, Dodgers, Angels, Giants, and Mariners as teams that have had past interest.  Heyman thinks the Red Sox and Rockies could re-engage talks regarding a Manny for Todd Helton trade.  The main issue, of course, would be money.

Heyman also thinks the Cubs will lock Carlos Zambrano up to a five-year deal worth $80-85MM.  I think that is the general feeling in Chicago as well.  Cubs fans are not panicking about losing their ace, yet.  Right now is a time for the typical unmatched Cubs fan optimism.  Prior’s throwing baseballs instead of towels and Wood actually pitched off a mound.

Apparently Billy Beane was asking for three top prospects for Dan Haren or Rich Harden.  He wanted three of Lastings Milledge, Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber, Carlos Gomez, and Fernando Martinez.  Two of ’em plus Aaron Heilman seems more reasonable, if the return is Haren.  I can’t shake the feeling that Harden is going to need Tommy John surgery within the next year or two.

The Red Sox could still give Curt Schilling a contract extension before the season starts if he looks good in spring games.

The Padres could cut Todd Walker, stomaching a $650K fee given the utility man’s arbitration win.