Baseball Historians

No surprise here.  Johan Santana won his second Cy Young in the past three years and he did it in dominating fashion.  He walked away with all 28 first place votes.  Johan led the league in wins (19) and strikeouts (245).  I’m also expecting Johan to finish somewhere in the top five for the MVP.

No surprise here.  Jim Leyland walked away with the manager of the year after leading the Tigers to a surprising 95 wins in 2006.  He joins Sparky Anderson and Tony LaRussa as managers who have won the award in both league and he’s the first Tiger manager to win it since Sparky Anderson won the […]

The Red Sox definitely have the best one-two punch in all of baseball.  Manny Ramirez would be the best hitter on at least 20 other team but on the Red Sox, he’s met his match in David Ortiz.  Both were crediting for their offensive exploits this week with Silver Sluggers.  Ramirez won his eighth straight […]

By Thaq Diesel
It will be curious to see how much the 35-year-old Aurilia gets through free agency.  Yes he had a great year, but you have to wonder how much more he will continue to improve as he ages.  I guess we’ll see what price teams put on leadership, something Aurilia has been reported to […]

In the past two days, at least a dozen people have asked me how bummed I am about the Tigers World Series loss.  In a lot of ways, I’m disappointed that the Tigers couldn’t seal the deal although it’s hard to be so down when this team did so many things for this year.
For the […]

Alright, the Reds’ bloggers got together for another chat and I actually showed up this time.  Most of my comments revolved around how I disgusted I was with Austin Kearns and Felipe Lopez getting traded.  I have part three and I’ll post the other four parts when they come online.
Shawn: Q4:
Shawn: What offseason trades would […]

For those of you who are fans of Marcus Thames, John Sickels recently wrote a prospect retro on him.  As always, it’s a great read from prospect guru John Sickels.  At one point in 2001, he had upped his rating to a B+, which is very good.  He also did one on Craig Monroe earlier […]

By Thaq Diesel
More disturbing than seeing an Albert Pujols close up in HD (replete with larger-than-life cold sores), watching the Cardinals win the World Series was painful.  Had they made the playoffs, I doubt the Reds pitching staff would have hurt them much after seeing the games this post-season. 
At least Sean Casey played well for the Tigers.  I’m […]

Derek Jeter was given the American League’s Hank Aaron award, which is given to the best offensive player.  There’s no double Jeter had an outstanding season.  He just about did it all, at least during the regular season.
There’s little doubt that Jeter will also win the MVP this year as well.  Fat Papi might provide […]

The Cubs new bench coach will be Alan Trammell.  This wasn’t Pinella’s first choice but he’ll have a guy with big league managerial experience to help him out in the dugout.  Of course Trammell’s claim to fame is that he’s the guy managed the 119 loss Tiger team back in 2003.
Here’s an update on how […]

By Thaq Diesel
Now that I’m seeing the world series, I’m almost rooting for the hated Cardinals.  I want to demonstrate that the National League can stand on its own.  I find it telling that I want that more than I want the Cardinals or the smarmy LaRussa to lose.  It would be nice to see […]

It looks like the Phillies might be looking to deal Pat Burrell.  I’ve always been a fan of Burrell’s but this Jeckyl and Hyde, one season he’s good, one season not too good, is making it tough on the team.  The primary concern was protecting Ryan Howard, and Burrell didn’t do a very good job […]

I know, I’ve been lazy about my writing.  It’s just depressing when I have to watch another World Series without my Yankees.  Once this lame World Series is over with, I’ll probably get a bit more motivated.
Here are a few tidbits though.  Brett Gardner, the Yankees’ third round draft pick last year, is tearing up the […]

Alright, I think I’m over the Twins getting squashed by the A’s.  Okay, I’m really not especially when the A’s got swept by the Tigers.  What a weird year.
Anyway, two Twins’ prospects are blogging about their experiences at the Arizona Fall League.  They’ve been posting a little inconsistently, but it’s always interesting seeing things through the […]

I know, it’s been a while but I was in mourning.  Things improved when the Yankees got stomped but I figured now is as good a time as any to come out of hiding.
So far, the Red Sox are being quiet as to what they’ll be doing with the 2007 payroll.  Alfonso Soriano sure would […]

Man, this playoffs were a drag.  I know, eight teams get in and only one team makes it all the way but to go out looking as bad as we did was pretty disappointing.  And now the Mets and Cardinals are limping their way through the NLCS and I know the Dodgers could be doing […]

I guess I can live with the Tigers in the World Series.  We battled them for most of the season and the series with them seemed more like a rivalry then with any other team but there’s some respect.  I’m glad the Twins are done though.  They deserve a lot of credit for that comeback […]

By Thaq Diesel
I just finished reading Moneyball, the study about the Oakland A’s and their success in reaching the playoffs despite having a smaller payroll.  The book rambled at length about Billy Beane in both positive and negative light.  The main thrust of the book was that statistical analysis was more important than baseball’s conventional wisdom.
One […]

By Thaq Diesel
I just finished reading Moneyball, the study about the Oakland A’s and their success in reaching the playoffs despite having a smaller payroll.  The book rambled at length about Billy Beane in both positive and negative light.  The main thrust of the book was that statistical analysis was more important than baseball’s conventional wisdom.
One […]

By Thaq Diesel
I just finished reading Moneyball, the study about the Oakland A’s and their success in reaching the playoffs despite having a smaller payroll.  The book rambled at length about Billy Beane in both positive and negative light.  The main thrust of the book was that statistical analysis was more important than baseball’s conventional wisdom.
One […]

By Thaq Diesel
I just finished reading Moneyball, the study about the Oakland A’s and their success in reaching the playoffs despite having a smaller payroll.  The book rambled at length about Billy Beane in both positive and negative light.  The main thrust of the book was that statistical analysis was more important than baseball’s conventional wisdom.
One […]

By Thaq Diesel
I just finished reading Moneyball, the study about the Oakland A’s and their success in reaching the playoffs despite having a smaller payroll.  The book rambled at length about Billy Beane in both positive and negative light.  The main thrust of the book was that statistical analysis was more important than baseball’s conventional wisdom.
One […]

I touched on this yesterday, but I would have rather seen the Cubs go with Joe Girardi.  Regardless, Lou Pinella is the man so we’ll see how this works.  He’s the most high profile coach to take the job since, well, Dusty Baker and we’ll see how Pinella does with a decent payroll.

The A’s fired Ken Macha today after the Tigers swept them in the ALCS.  Macha had a pretty solid record in his four years with the A’s (368-280) and he did take the A’s further in the playoffs then any A’s team under Billy Beane although it looka like Macha and Beane never connected.  Lary […]

I’ve said this before, but I think Joe Girardi is the man for the job.  Lou Pinella is a good coach, but he won once, and he won that early in his career.  I’m a what have you done for me lately kind of guy and I like the job Girardi did in Florida this […]

Well, the Tigers are in and it’s between the Mets and the Cardinals in the National League.  Unfortunately, the Phillies are sitting this one out this year, again.  I’m rooting for the Tigers in this one.
The Phillies have had two deaths in the family the past week.  First there was Cory Lidle and his tragic […]

Alright, it’s been over a week since the Yankees lost to the Tigers in the ALDS.  Yes, it was disappointing.  Very disappointing.  And something definitely must be done to fix this.  I don’t think canning Joe Torre and hiring Lou Pinella is the answer though.  Pinella has one championship to his name, and that was […]

Alright, so far, so good.  The Mets took care of business last night and will now move on to play either the Padres or the Cardinals.  The good news is, the team will get three days rest so the Mets will be able to get their rotation back in the right order and give some […]

Well, this is it.  The Twins made their fourth post season appearance in the last five years and has been on par with past seasons, the Twins are done.  It’s kind of sad, but the Twins would have needed to win three straight, including two in Oakland, to pull this one out.
The Twins never had […]

By Thaq Diesel
I always seem to be distracted, feeding my face or surfing on the computer when it comes on the television, but I think, nay I’m almost certain, that a Fox baseball promo shows the Old Left-hander.  And if I’m not mistaken, Joe Nuxhall is under the sink in the kitchen.  Which means Joe […]