Friday, December 09, 2005

Lotsa Stuff

Several things to cover today as much has happened during my absence.

First, by request of a faithful reader, I need to comment on the Hot Stove League, baseball's off-season transaction circus. All sorts of interesting and befuddling things have transpired over the last couple of weeks.

The most interesting team in my opinion has been the Red Sox. They started off by trading for Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell. I really think Beckett has a chance to be a number one starter and any time you can acquire a guy like that, you have to seriously consider it. If he stays healthy, he could be the cornerstone of the Sox pitching staff for a decade. And they'll need it considering Curt Schilling isn't getting any younger and Matt Clement was a little iffy last year. Then you throw in Mike Lowell, who struggled mightily for the Marlins last year. He's past his prime, but the only was the trade was going to be made was by Boston taking on his contract. That's the luxury of having the second-highest payroll in baseball. But he could produce if he can stay on the field. (Plus, they stole Mark Loretta from the Padres for backup catcher Doug Mirabelli. Padres GM Kevin Towers: "Hmm, All-Star second baseman for a guy whose only measurable talent includes catching Tim Wakefield's knuckleball every fifth day. What the hell, gimme Mirabelli!")

If not, they picked up Andy Marte, who Baseball Prospectus considered the top prospect in all of baseball at the beginning of last season. This was another excellent transaction, sending Edgar Renteria and the majority of his contract away after a disappointing 2005. And while that may leave them thin at shortstop, they have highly-touted prospect Dustin Pedroia waiting in the wings.

That's assuming the latest high-octane rumor doesn't pan out: Manny Ramirez for Miguel Tejada. Tejada came out and said that he's unhappy with the way the Orioles have built their team and suggested that a change of scenery might do him good. With ongoing rumors about trading Ramirez and the sudden vacancy at the shortstop position in Boston, this seems like a viable trade.

But I'm not sure it's the best thing to do.

Manny Ramirez is one of the best hitters of all time. Sure, he acts a little kooky on occasion but he's never done anything but produce at the highest level. I just don't see why the Sox would feel obligated to ship him off. That being said, if the pressure to trade Manny becomes too great, at least they're getting a high-quality bat in return. And at a traditionally defensive position, to boot.

But that would leave a gaping hole in left field with no apparent successor at the ready. Add in the fact that Johnny Damon may not re-sign with the Sox and they're outfield is suddenly barren. You keep Manny and you've got Pedroia on the way. You get Tejada and Pedroia is blocked and only usable as trade bait for a left or center fielder.

I think I'd keep Manny.

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The hometown Royals have not been nearly as splashy. Check out this list of winners the Royals have acquired so far:

P Adam Bernero, signed to minor league contract
P Elmer Dessens, 2 years @ $3.4 million
P Mark Redman, in exchange for minor leaguer Jonah Bayliss
2B Esteban German, in exchange for Fabio Castro, the Royals first pick in the Rule 5 Draft.

The Bad News: The Royals have not acquired anyone that could be considered "high-impact".

The Good News: The Royals have not flushed the extra $22 million available to them down the toilet by giving in and overpaying for mediocre talent.

Allard Baird has stuck to his strengths, scouring for "piece-of-the-puzzle guys", but still hasn't made been able to land any players who can make an immediate difference. The sad thing is that he's accumulated a lot of talent and fill-in guys, but because he hasn't brought in any superstars (or even stars, for that matter), he'll likely be gone by the end of next season.

There's still time left, though. I wouldn't mind seeing him pony up some cash for Kevin Millwood. Or take a flier on Richard Hidalgo or Nomar or Byung-Hyun Kim. Instead, the ancient names "Reggie Sanders" and "Mark Grudzielanek" keep popping up. Why not get in on the Julio Franco sweepstakes? He's only 47 years old!

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Some short thoughts on other off-season activities:

Toronto signs starting pitcher A.J. Burnett for 5 years/$55 million. Toronto is trying to keep up with the Joneses, but signing an injury-prone #2 starter to that kind of contract is ludicrous. Though not as ludicrous as...

Toronto signs relief pitcher B.J. Ryan for 5 years/$47 million. Apparently the Jays took a look at fellow AL East also-ran Baltimore and decided to copy their plan. By the looks of the Orioles, I wouldn't say that was a very smart decision.

New York Yankees sign relief pitcher Kyle Farnsworth for 3 years/$17 million.
New York Mets sign relief pitcher Billy Wagner for 4 years/$43 million.
Philadelphia signs relief pitcher Tom Gordon for 3 years/$18 million.
Chicago Cubs sign relief pitcher Scott Eyre for 3 years/$11 million.
Including B.J. Ryan, major league owners have pissed away $136 million on relief pitchers who have one of the following qualities: a) have had short-term success, b) have had long-term success, but are now old enough to have grandchildren, or c) have learned the ways of hypnotism and therefore managed to fleece their current boss out of inordinate amounts of money. Look at it this way: A lot of teams would love to have $136 million to spend on an ENTIRE ROSTER, much less five relief pitchers.

Chicago White Sox acquire first baseman/DH Jim Thome. Gee, I can't wait to have this guy blast 15 homers in 18 games off my Royals.


New York Mets acquire first baseman Carlos Delgado. For some strange reason, I kind of like the Mets. But I don't think Delgado will be enough to push them into championship contender status.

Florida Marlins retain one player from last year's Opening Day starting lineup. You'd have thought they won the World Series last year...

Chicago Cubs acquire centerfielder Juan Pierre. You thought Cubs fans were whiny about Corey Patterson last year? Just wait until Juan Pierre hits .265 and completely submarines his on-base percentage. Wait 'til next year, Cubs fans. Well, I guess, wait 'til the year after that.

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Fans of Kansas basketball are officially freaking out. And, quite frankly, I'm annoyed by it.

Yes, we're 3-4.

Yes, Bill Self has used more lineups than Bob Boone.

Yes, it looks like we'll be lucky to make the NCAA tournament.

But I'll let you in on something: Bill Self did not make it this far in his career by being indecisive, unable to adjust and relying strictly on recruiting. Here is his career head coaching record:

Oral Roberts University
1993-94 6-21 .222
1994-95 10-17 .370
1995-96 18-9 .667
1996-97 21-7 .750

Total 55-54 .505

Tulsa
1997-98 19-12 .612
1998-99 23-10 .697
1999-2000 32-5 .865

Total 74-27 .733

Illinois
2000-01 27-8 .771
2001-02 26-9 .743
2002-03 25-7 .781

Total 78-24 .765

Kansas
2003-04 24-9 .727
2004-05 23-7 .766

Total 47-16 .746

Grand Total 254-121 .677

Does this look like a coach that doesn't know what he's doing? That's what many KU fans would have you think. But he made Oral Roberts a winning program in his tenure there. He won 32(!) games at Tulsa. He had one of the consistently toughest teams every year at Illinois (and his guys played for the National Championship last year).

So he's had a tough time adjusting at Kansas. Give him a break. He inherited a talented, yet disillusioned team. Gone were Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich, the best players of the young century. What he had left were guys who were good, but not as good as those who left. Wayne Simien, as good as he was, was no Nick Collison. Combine the skills of Aaron Miles, Keith Langford and J.R. Giddens and you come up with Kirk Hinrich. The guys who were left were used to running fun-and-gun basketball. Self had to implement his defense-first system and it probably cost us in the short term.

But he's got his guys in place now. And it looks like he's starting to realize that minutes for Jeff Hawkins, Christian Moody and (are you kidding me?) Stephen Vinson are getting us nowhere, if the St. Joe's game is any indication. Anyone with half a brain in his head noticed that the team played much better offensively when the four freshman were all out on the floor. Unfortunately, the defense was lacking. So that put Self in a bind: go for the short-term, feel good wins against St. Joe's and the like or continue to plant the defense-first philosophy and reap the benefits next year and beyond.

The thing is, Self's not an idiot. He's the one who put those freshman out there in the second half. He's that one who limited the minutes of our dreadful senior class. He'll get things sorted out. But we're going to have to live with the growing pains.

We've (I include myself) become spoiled beyond belief as KU basketball fans. Contending for the National Championship every year is a blessing all but a handful of teams don't receive. It's been a tumultuous couple of years in Lawrence, but things will come out looking as good or better than they ever have. A slow start and the prospect of missing the tournament is no reason lynch Bill Self.

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It's come down to the Final Four in Survivor, with the winner to be determined Sunday night. This has been an odd season for me as I never really felt like I got to know the contestants that well, even though the group included Stephenie (from last season), Danni (from Kansas City) and Brandon (from Kansas). Anyway, here are my thoughts on the chances of the remaining Survivors:

Lydia: Couldn't win because no one in the jury would respect her for sliding by the entire game.

Danni: Unlikely to win because I don't see her winning an immunity challenge and avoid being voted out before the final two.
(Side note: I'll be curious to see what she looks like on the reunion show. You know how everyone always puts on a few pounds and some makeup? It'll be interesting to see if she gains any weight. For everyone's sake, I hope so. Yikes.)

Stephenie: Could win if she continues to get immunity, but if she doesn't she'll be gone. Though, if it comes down to Rafe and Steph, I don't see all the people Steph has screwed over voting for her to win unless it's one of those backwards "I respect her for playing the game hard even though I got betrayed" votes.
(Side note: Last season, Stephenie became my all-time favorite player. She epitomized the definition of survivor, enduring the worst tribe in Survivor history, clawing her way past Bobby Jon and even spending a night alone in the wild. But her personality has taken a big hit this season. Now that she's actually had to play the mental game, she's just as conniving as the next guy. That just doesn't come off as well and leaves me mildly disappointed. Oh, well; that's what you get rooting for a reality show contestant.)

Rafe: I think he probably wins because he's strong and smart enough to win the last couple challenges and everyone likes him and will have little problem voting for him. I don't recall him backstabbing anyone, either.

When it comes down to it, though, I vote for Lydia's Hair as the "Ultimate Survivor". Have you noticed that it hasn't changed at all in 34 days, deep in the jungle of Guatemala? She ought to get a hefty endorsement contract from the hair product company she currently patronizes.

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Last and least, the Chiefs take a 3-game winning streak into Sunday's matchup against the Cowboys in Dallas. After jerking Kansas City's collective chain, the Chiefs have actually put themselves in a position to grab a playoff spot. The road ahead is still tough, though. At worst, they need to split the next two road games against the Cowboys and the Giants. And they absolutely MUST beat San Diego and Cincinnati at Arrowhead to close out the season. Of course, even if they do happen to make it into the playoffs, there's that pesky little monkey on their backs of not winning a first round playoff game since the Lincoln administration. But I suppose it's better to contend for a playoff game with a foregone conclusion than it is to have no shot at all. Like the Royals.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good insights, Nick

Anonymous said...

A very good read, Nick! At least someone from Kansas won something this week!

Anonymous said...

I THOUGHT YOU SAID DANNI COULDN'T WIN??? SHE DID TOUGH GUY--ROYALS ARE A JOKE. THE ONLY REASON THEY HAVE MORE TO SPEND THIS YEAR AND ARE WILLING IS BECAUSE ALL THE MLB TEAMS ARE GETTING MORE MONEY DUE TO MEDIA DEALS, LICENSING, ETC. THEY ARE A JOKE. GLASS IS A CHEAP S.O.B. HE MAKES IT OUT TO LOOK LIKE HE IS SPENDING MORE MONEY, WHEN IN REALITY IS THAT MORE IS COMING IN. THEN HE DOESN'T SPEND IT BECAUSE HE IS STILL TOO CHEAP TO GO OUT AND GET SOMEONE THAT IS GOOD. I DON'T KNOW WHO IS WORSE, HIM OR LAMAR HUNT

Nick said...

She did win, which is why that show is so enjoyable: You never know how it's going to turn out. I think I'll drive to Tonganoxie and see if she needs another reality-show watching chump to ask her out.

David Glass is a joke. I totally agree that he's trying to grab the credit for the supposed "spending spree" we were going to be on. Unfortunately, there isn't anyone worth a crap in this year's free agent class. Add in the fact that no one wants to play for this franchise and it just gets worse. The only hope is that all the young guys fulfill their potential and we can rebuild from the ground up.

Lamar Hunt came out and valiantly announced that he'll keep the Wizards around for another year or two. Whoopee!

Anonymous said...

The only reason Hunt did that is because he is stuck; can't sell the wizards and doesn't want to have to go out and build a stadium because he is a cheap @ss punk who believes public money should build him all his concourses so he can shove $12 nachoes and bbq sandwiches down our faces. The Cowboys are building a new stadium and J Jones is fronting like half the money

Nick said...

Mmmm...nachos...

As great as Lamar Hunt has been portrayed, he's brought us exactly 1 championship in the last 35 years. As far as I'm concerned, his foray into soccer was just another way to weasel his way into the pocketbooks of suburbia, either directly (through the Wizards) or indirectly (goodwill overflow for the Chiefs).

Our professional sports scene is an embarassment. I guess we'll have to hang our hats on the Penguins when they move to town...