This season promises to be a continuation of the exciting baseball we saw in the playoffs last fall. I thought that last year’s playoffs would be the most competitive in years because just about every team, perhaps other than the Twins, had a legitimate shot to get the world series.

This year not only does baseball have the usual suspects listed as favorites in the spring, but some other teams will be strong contenders from day one.

Improving clubs are the Phillies, Cubs, Marlins, Padres, Blue Jays, Orioles, Devil Rays, Royals, Tigers, Angels, and the Diamondbacks.

Throw these in with the Braves, Expos, Astros, Cards, Giants, Dodgers, Yanks, Red Sox, Twins, White Sox, A’s, and Mariners and you have 23 of 30 teams that can give you trouble in any series.

The also rans aren’t hopeless either see Cleveland, the Rangers, Mets, Reds, Pirates, Brewers, and Rockies.

There is much more balance throughout baseball and you will see it as the winner in the AL East won’t get over 95 wins.

Had an opportunity to see some of the the A’s and Giants players this week in Phoenix and Scottsdale.

Click below and I’ll bring you up to date. [Read more →]

Marty; There is an article in today’s Chronicle which describes “an abiding sense among fans, fueled by the press and talk radio, that the Giants have not done enough this winter to improve the team and place themselves in position to contend for a championship.” Sabean disagrees, while acknowledging that his optimism is in large part dependent on the return to productive, good health of Nen and Schmidt.

Click “Read More” for Ed’s expert analysis. Look forward to a reading your excellent commentary again this season Ed…thanks,
Marty [Read more →]

It was a foregone conclusion that Vladimir Guerrero did not want to sign with the Baltimore Orioles. The powerful rightfielder continuously looked the other way as the O’s waved 65 million dollars under his nose.

Art Moreno the new owner of the Angels has nerve and vision, and more importantly money.

When I wrote last month that Moreno owned about one million acres of real estate in Goodyear Arizona and he was moving the Angels spring training facility to a soon to be developed new complex in Goodyear, I realized that Moreno was a big time money man who would not be intimidated by the salaries paid to the brightest stars in the game.

Goodyear will be the home to the spring Angels as well as a new burgeoning community in the desert, all of which will make Moreno one of the wealthiest owners in the game.

Now with Tom Hicks in Texas, the Nintendo folks in Seattle, and Moreno in Anaheim, the A’s will be hard pressed to keep up with the Jonses of AL West baseball.

So, just what does the Guerrero signing do to the West?

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I’ve seen the Pete Rose issue bandied about by some of our finest baseball minds this week including the inimitable Peter Gammons, former commissioner Fay Vincent, Bob Costas, and many well known columnists.

I’ve read and listened to enough on Pete Rose to tell you this.

For years many knowledgeable writers, broadcasters, or former teammates of Pete’s have urged that, if Pete would just tell the world that, yes, he did bet on baseball all would be understood and he would then be eligible to join the greats of the game in the Hall of Fame.

So, Pete told the world that he did bet on baseball.

Guess what happened?

Peter Gammons hit the ceiling when Pete somehow besmirched the reputation of former commissioner Bart Giamatti who passed away shortly after suspending Rose in 1989, during his statements this week. Gammons has even gone as far as linking Giamatti’s death to the stress caused by the Rose case, ignoring the fact that Giamatti, a wonderful man, was very much over weight and smoked like a chimney, those factors medically contributing to his death more than Rose’s gambling habits.

This faux pas has convinced Gammons that Pete is no longer worthy in his eyes to be voted into Cooperstown, even though Gammons was the one who urged Pete to make his admissions to clear the air, Gammons then saying he would vote for Pete once he did that.

When Rose said he bet on baseball did it matter where he placed the bets, whether he bet on the Reds, where he got his information for the bets, or how many times he did bet while manager of the Reds?

No, it didn’t. The fact is that he bet on baseball games while a manager, the gory details of how it happened should come as no shock.

Everyone is freaked that Rose bet from the clubhouse. Would it be any better if he bet from his hotel room? Would he be less cuplable if he placed his bets on the internet?

John Q. Public asked him to admit that he gambled on baseball, he has now done that, why is everyone so upset and ready to lynch Rose for confirming the facts we all knew were coming?

His timing? His television interview? Is that what pushed the deserters over the line?

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Heard a good rumor today about the A’s, tell me what you think.

A’s will trade Scott Hatteberg and Eric Byrnes to the Brewers for Junior Spivey, then sign Travis Lee to play first base. Spivey would play second with Mark Ellis shifting over to short as the A’s break Bobby Crosby in.

Click below and I’ll give you my take.

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So, Pete Rose has finally admitted that he bet on baseball games while he managed the Cincinnati Reds.

What does this mean to the average baseball fan today?

Rose has been out of the game for a long time, most fans probably cannot remember how his teams finished when he managed the Reds or unbelievably how he stood in the batters box.

How does his admission that he bet on games effect his status in 2004? Is his mea culpa enough to lift the cloud over his transgressions?

The question becomes would any owner bring Pete Rose back into the game in any on field or front office capacity if he was reinstated by the commissioner? What would Tom Hicks do? George Steinbrenner? Peter Magowan? The group that owns the Mariners? Steve Schott? Art Moreno in Anaheim? The AOL folks in Atlanta?

Baseball has had its share of publicity stunts over its long history. Babe Ruth coaching for the Dodgers, Satchell Paige pitching for Kansas City in 1964, Dizzy Dean leaving the broadcast booth to pitch a game for the St. Louis Browns at the end of the 1947 season (he lasted four innings, if I’m not mistaken), Minnie Minoso getting into a game when he was 60 years old and of course Bill Veeck’s stunts (midget in the game) when he owned the Browns and White Sox.

Pete Rose is a novelty in today’s world, a short range publicity stunt if hired, and I don’t see any team giving him the reigns to a multi hundred million dollar franchise just to draw some fans, even if reinstated to the game by the commish. It would be risky business at best.

Because he bet on the game, the biggest no no in baseball, he should never step foot inside a dugout again in an active capacity, even if Selig gives him the green light to be part of baseball again.

That’s my opinion.

Should he be enshrined in Cooperstown?

Click below for the answer! [Read more →]

Marty; good to have you back. Glenn Dickey wrote a few weeks ago that “Giants have dealt themselves into corner”. Some of his observations are well taken; others are open to dispute. Open to no dispute is his reference to the Giants pitching problems and their, impossible to justify, giving up of Ortiz, a 22 game winner and Ainsworth for the dubious privilege of having the services of Moss and Ponson for a few months. Sabean, and particularly management which thought it was a good idea to give up Ortiz in order to save a few bucks, have much to answer for.

The Giants won 100 games last year and left the rest of the division far back in the pack. If they can come up with at least one respectable starter, if their closer situation doesn’t become a disaster zone, they should do as well as they did last year. However, Dickey says that the team now faces a “serious power shortage”.

In support of that contention, he points to the loss of Cruz, Aurillia and Santiago. These three don’t bring to mind Mays, McCovey and Cepeda. One finds great difficulty in locating the power these three abysmal hitters provided. Cruz was an absolute disaster for the better part of the year, Aurillia had his career year in 2001 and hasn’t been a productive hitter since then, and Santiago is way over the hill, as both a catcher and a hitter.

Not only has Aurillia deteriorated as a hitter but his fielding has always left much to be desired. Teams considering him today are talking about playing him at third and one even mentioned playing him at second. When informed of these attitudes Aurillia was quoted as saying,” Am I really that bad?” The answer is “yes”.

It is true that the team could use a right fielder who can hit meaningfully behind Bonds. However, the team last year started with an outfield which had as their 4th and 5th player Bernard and Rivera. One outdid the other in futility. For much of the time they played with the three starting outfielders and Feliz, an infielder, their fourth fielder, and, it should be kept in mind, the third player in the outfield was Cruz, who couldn’t buy a hit for most of the year.

They have added Pierzinski, a move Dickey rightfully describes as “great”. In addition, Alfonzo should play as well as he did the last half of the year, including post season. He was feeling his way the first half of the season. Their outfield is much stronger with the addition of Hammonds, Tucker and Mohr. It is a better team than last year’s if the pitching comes around and we are still to hear from Sabean on that score. Not the least of the improvement will come from the defense, notwithstanding the loss of Cruz as a fielder.

The shortstop position will be fielded far better than it was with Aurillia. Snow has been retained, a wise move. He can hit well in the 2nd slot and still fields better than almost any other player at first.

Arizona and LA have been weakened. The division is the Giants to lose and it is unlikely that they will.

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Now that the dust has settled in Texas and the Rangers are slowly moving forward putting their 2004 team together one has to wonder what happened to the proposed A Rod for Manny etc. trade that was going to shake the baseball world.

Most curious in the whole scenario was the report that on Tuesday the last deadline imposed by Rangers owner Tom Hicks, he dropped his demand for the Sox to kick in any money on the Ramirez contract, but the Sox backed off the trade even with that concession.

It makes me think that the egos of Hicks, Larry Lucchino and others are the biggest factor in this transaction. Someone is always trying to get the upper hand the other, even at the price of killing the deal. The money is absolutley inconsequential to these people, they don’t think like you and I about money, they have loads of it, they just want to brag at the next owners meeting how they hoodwinked their fellow billionaire out of some chump change (see the Eddie Murphy movie “Changing Places” for a good example of how these folks think about money).

Anyway, until I see the Rangers spend some real dough on Sidney Ponson or some other pitchers or the Dodgers trade Odalis Perez to some team other than the White Sox or Rich Aurilia signs with someone other than Texas, I still believe the big boys will come to their senses and make this deal happen.

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The A’s won the West last season in convincing fashion only to suffer another heartbreaking loss in the playoffs.

Fans have to remember that the 2003 A’s played great baseball from August through September winning games with outstanding starting pitching, great infield defense, a sturdy three man bullpen, and some timely hitting.

So, after the moves this weekend has anything changed appreciably that would make one doubt that the A’s can win the West again?

Not really.

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It’s good to be back.

First, I want to thank Alma Chao for upgrading the software and getting us back on line before the holidays. There is still more to do and I appreciate his efforts.

Now baseball!

Will A Rod be a Red Sock before January first?

Maybe, but you can bet he will be Boston’s opening day shortstop in 2004.

Is the deal dead as Larry Lucchino, Boston Prez, says it is. Not exactly.

In “The Priness Bride” Billy Crystal tells Mandy Patankin when asked if Billy can revive Mandy’s apparently dead compatriot, “Your friend is dead, but not completely dead”, and then he goes through elaborate procedures to bring him back to life.

So it is with this deal.

Tom Hicks cannot afford to bring A Rod back under any circumstances not the least of which his manager doesn’t want the bad apple A Rod around messing with his young team’s mind.

Boston has driven Nomar crazy with all the trade talk and he really is sadly through in Boston.

Nomar isn’t Boston’s kind of guy anymore: Too sullen with big advertisers and swings at too many first pitches to satisfy the OB% conscious Sox.

The trade has many other teams waiting before tomorow night’s contract tender deadline.

It’s all about money and you know that won’t stop these guys from pulling the trigger, it’s just a matter of when.

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