Baseball Historians

Albert Pujols recently implied that he should have won the MVP award and not Ryan Howard because he played for a playoff team.  Obviously Mr. Pujols counting skills aren’t very good because the Phillies actually won two more games then the Cardinals did and they won those extra games playing in the toughest division in […]

The Tigers signed utility infielder Ramon Santiago to a one year, $500k deal yesterday and in effect, avoid arbtitration.  Unless we pick up another infielder via trade, Santiago may be the odd man out unless a deal is made because the Tigers already have backups in Omar Infante and Neifi Perez.  Man it’d be nice […]

The Orioles reinked fan favorite Kevin Millar to a one year, $2.75 million deal.  Millar was okay in 2006 and never lived him to his declining reputation but for this price, I like the deal.  Millar can play first and he’ll find some time at DH.  He can take a pitch and draw a walk […]

The Orioles signed two more relievers in what’s been pretty much a complete revamp of the bullpen.  Chad Bradford (best known for his part in the book Moneyball) signed a three year, $10.5 million deal and the injury prone Scott Williamson got a one year, $900k deal.
As far as value, I like these signings a […]

Not to be outdone by the Red Sox, the Yankees spent upwards of $25 million for exclusive negotiating rights for Japanese pitcher Kei Igawa.  Igawa is only 27 yet he’s an eight year veteran of the Japanese league.  If the Yankees can ink Igawa, he’d probably fit into a rotation that includes Mike Mussina, Randy […]

I heard a radio report that the Cubs might be close to signing Jason Schmidt to some big money.  This would be huge and would definitely shore up the rotation a bit.

MLB.com beat writer Mike Scarr recently answered fan’s questions in a mailbag column.  In the column he talks about the Gary Matthews signing and the chances of Dallas McPhereson or Casey Kotchman breaking out.

MLB.com beat writer Marty Noble recently answered readers questions.  In the column he talks about the Mets rotation and the chances of Cliff Floyd returning to the Mets.  Good stuff as always from Mr. Noble.

Gload was arbitration eligible so this is one more guy the White Sox don’t have to worry about.  Gload signed for $625,000 and he hit an impressive .327 in 156 at bats.  He can play outfield and first base and he’s one of those multidimensional guys that Ozzie Guillen likes to have around.  Not a […]

For whatever reason, the Reds signed Chad Moeller to a one year deal.  He’ll fall in behind Javier Valentin and David Ross and makes you wonder what Wayne Krivsky has in store.  Moeller’s a pretty mediocre hitter and he’s pretty much been a career backup. 
Moeller is another guy Krivsky is familiar with because he started with […]

The Cardinals picked up Adam Kennedy to fill their hole at second base.  He’s a slap hitter who you’ll never expect to hit for much power but he’s a career .280 hitter and he should do fine down in the bottom of the lineup.  He’s a left handed bat, which is nice as well.  They […]

The Detroit Independent Baseball Scribes announced their 2006 award winners today.  You can check out the full story at Detroit Tigers Weblog.
No major surprises.  Carlos Guillen got my first place vote and Pitcher of the Year was close with Kenny Rogers edging Justin Verlander.  Even though Jeremy Bonderman didn’t have a great win/loss record, those […]

I recently penned column taking a look at Harmon Killebrew’s 1967 season over at the 1967 AL Pennant Race site.  Man this guy was good.

A lot was made about Justin Morneau’s 2006 season and while Morneau definitely got it done, what he did in 2006 would have been an average season for Harmon Killebrew in his hey day.  Prior to 1967, Killebrew blasted 40 homeruns in a season five times and he did it again to help bring the Twins […]

Randy Wolf came back from Tommy John surgery last year for the Phillies and had mixed success.  He was 4-0 but he had his ups and downs.  The Dodgers look like they’re set to give him a chance to prove his stuff and the team is looking to pay him $8 million for a one year deal.  […]

Detroit Tigers Weblog did a nice job breaking down Baseball America’s Top Ten Tiger Prospects so be sure to check out his commentary.  Cameron Maybin tops the list with Andrew Miller coming in second place.
I’m really interested in seeing where Maybin starts at in 2007.  His West Michigan Whitecaps coach, Matt Walbeck, is now the […]

The Pirates solidified their bullpen today when they re-signed Damasco Marte to a two year, $4.7 million deal.  Normally this would be a lot for a middle reliever but this year, getting anyone for less then $3 million a year is a bargain.
The Pirates picked up Marte in a trade with the White Sox last […]

The Phillies signed right handed starter Adam Eaton to a three year, $24 million deal.  There’s a $9 million mutual option for a fourth year that could potentially make it a four year, $33 million deal.
Eaton was actually drafted by the Phillies way back in 1996 and since then he’s played for the Padres and […]

The Orioles signed right handed relief pitcher Danys Baez to a three year, $19 million deal yesterday.  Baez is 29 and he’s a good but not great relief pitcher so once like Jamie Walker, I think the Orioles really overpaid for Baez.  Then again, this is a very strange year.  I guess the “former closer” […]

I picked this up at Baseball Musings, but the Red Sox are apparantly close to signing J.D. Drew.  This would be huge because J.D. Drew is one those rare power/on-base machines that the Red Sox could really use in front of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez.  On top of that, Drew is pretty much past […]

Lou Brock came in late in the season in a trade with the Cubs to help the Cardinals win the 1964 season and in 1967, he put together one of his best seasons to help the Cardinals win it again in 1967.  Brock was a prototypical lead off hitter in that he got a bunch […]

I try not to be too much of a baseball snob, but when it comes to Brandon Inge, it’s hard not too.  I’ve probably had a particular conversation with over a dozen people about Brandon Inge and I’ve never gotten anyone to agree with me.  That conversation is about how good of a fielding third baseman […]

This is the first of my analysis of the major players of the 1957 Braves and who better to kick things off with then the Hammer, Hank Aaron.  1957 was Hank Aaron’s first big year as a major league player.  After having solid seasons in 1955 (27 homeruns) and 1956 (26 homeruns), Aaron busted out […]

It’s hard to believe that Pirates actually have a shot at winning a post season award but to get on the “This Year in Baseball” ballot doesn’t take too much.  Salomon Torres is going up against the likes of Joel Zumaya and Adam Wainwright for Setup Man of the Year while Mike Gonzalez has to […]

Ninety two years ago, the late, great Yankee Clipper, Joe DiMaggio was born.  Man we could use a guy like DiMaggio, with a career OPS+ of 155, right now. 

I started a new website called Yankees History.  It’s pretty self explanatory, but I wrote up the plans for the site.  Hopefully you’ll stop by that one as I develop the content.

No MLB team has as rich of a history as the New York Yankees.  Several of the best players to lace up a pair of spikes have played for the Yankees and the team has won a record 26 World Series and they’ve won 39 pennants.  So when I took the task of writing about […]

I picked this one up on Baseball Musings but it looks like there’s some speculation that Joe Crede could be traded for Angels utility man Chone Figgins.  Seems the Angels are in the market for some power since they were rebuffed by Alfonso Soriano (and now Carlos Lee) and without a legitimate starter at third […]

By Thaq Diesel
10.  The fact that they’ve turned over a lot of talented players who show up on other teams (despite the fact that the main reason is that they couldn’t \ wouldn’t afford them).  It’s just cool to say - hey, that’s an ex-Reds player in almost every game the Reds play. 
9.  Aaron Harang
8.  […]

John Sickels recently threw out a preliminary list of the Yankees Top 20 prospects.  Phil Hughes tops the list and he’s listed as the best pitching prospect in baseball.  Like Sickels says, the Yankees have some arms (thankfully) but they lack position players (only one in the top ten).  Anyway, the Yankees have seven players […]