We needed another one

by Shawn Hoffman

Small-market teams love salary caps. Or rather, they think they do. At least on paper, caps stop teams in New York, Boston, and Chicago from oligopolizing the free-agent market, and should therefore help level the economic playing field. And, to a certain extent, they do; a small-market team in a capped league is more likely to acquire or retain top-tier talent. But there’s a catch. That same small-market team will need to win, and keep winning, just to stay financially viable. And sometimes, winning might not even be enough.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=8409

Just another chance at getting injured.

Does anyone really care who the WBC champ is?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/jon_heyman/01/09/manny.giants.dodgers/index.html?eref=writers

I would certainly try to acquire Freddy. He looked pretty good in that game vs. the Sox and they say no damage was reported on his latest MRI….. I would go get em’. Looks like it’s down to us and the Rangers.

that’s how they roll in small markets.

http://blogs.tampabay.com/rays/2009/01/rays-claim-rhp.html

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/hof09/news/story?id=3819625

about Levine reporting that Texas and Chicago had spoke briefly about Dye and Michael Young. What’s up with that?

‘08 Sox draft pick (didn’t sign) Kyle Long, son of NFL HOFer Howie Long arrested on DUI charges.

He didn’t throw a pitch at FSU before transferring to JuCo, which means he’ll be eligible to be drafted again this year, I believe.

For the second time in a week, White Sox general manager Ken Williams is denying rumors his team is close to making what would be considered a blockbuster deal.

Williams, via e-mail, said he “would not waste” time chasing rumors the Sox might re-sign starting pitcher Jon Garland, a free agent, or have a big deal working with the Rangers involving All-Star shortstop Michael Young, veteran outfielder Jermaine Dye and top pitching prospect Aaron Poreda.

Earlier this week, Williams denied a report in a Baltimore blog that the Sox were pursuing second baseman Brian Roberts for young starter Gavin Floyd.

While he may be shopping Dye, Williams does not seem willing to part with young pitching, especially such top prospects as Poreda, Floyd and John Danks, all of whom may be in the 2009 rotation.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/whitesox/chi-10-basebitsjan10,0,685585.story

Robert Stavins, a professor of business and government at Harvard University, predicts a drop in single-game sales but not a decrease in season-ticket sales. “Generally speaking, sports are not a necessity of life,” Stavins says, adding, “There’s a family that’s going to go to one game a year” instead of two.

With that prospect in mind, wary owners, fearing half-full stadiums, are scouting less expensive talent. Many older pitchers may enter spring training without a contract and, although the league is well past winter meetings, the free agent list is still well stocked. “I’ve been doing this 30 years and I’ve never seen it this slow,” Nero says.

Big-name players like outfielders Adam Dunn, Bobby Abreu, and Derek Lowe would probably agree. This winter, all three stars have been hanging around like kids at a pickup game, hoping to land a suitable deal. Chicago White Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera is sprucing up his résumé by offering to play second base. Rafael Furcal, who earned $15 million last year as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ shortstop, swam out into the free agent waters, found them frigid, and returned to L.A. with his blue hat in hand, taking a $5 million pay cut.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jan2009/db2009019_042316.htm

http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/prospects-in-proper-context-pt-2-high-a-carolina-league/

http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/newsstand/discussion/alberto_gonzales_baseball_commissioner/

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2009/1/10/716370/early-projected-standings

put that in your pipe and smoke it

regards

Tim Raines, first base coach on the White Sox’s championship team in 2005, is going to try managing with Newark in the independent Atlantic League.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-11-rogers-whispersjan11,0,409695.story

The Yankees still have interest in acquiring Brewers centerfielder Mike Cameron after talks broke off in late December. They recently floated the idea of swapping first baseman/outfielder Nick Swisher for Cameron.

Acquired earlier in the winter from the Chicago White Sox, Swisher was targeted to play first base for the Yankees before they signed Teixeira. He has approximately $21 million left on his contract over the next three seasons and is not considered a top-notch centerfielder despite seeing considerable action there last year in Chicago.

Having lost two strikeout pitchers in Sabathia and Sheets, Melvin figures more balls will be put in play off the Brewers’ staff this year. Thus, he’s inclined to keep Cameron despite his $10 million price tag.

“I’m not motivated to move him,” said Melvin, who promised Cameron he would only trade him to a contender. “Having a good defensive centerfielder is valuable.”

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/brewers/37363469.html

http://hotstove.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/01/nationals_interested_in_nady_a.html

I’ll blow a gasket if the Nats trade Milledge for Swish… Thankfully, the yankees are looking to unload a OFer not maintain the status quo. Still, I imagine any deal that involves Nady/Swish will make the Sox haul appear even worse

we’re now the worst team in the AL

http://www.replacementlevel.com/index.php/RLYW/comments/extremely_early_2009_projections_marcel_edition

JUST BECAUSE SOME ASTROTWAT TOLD YOU THERE IS ANOTHER PLANET DOESNT MEAN ITS TRUE. IM FREEZING MY TATERS OFF HERE, NO ONE CAN DENY THIS!!!!!!

http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/cws/downloads/y2008/stbroadcasts.pdf

i propose a SSS meet-up on march 14 to watch the game. definitely should be in a bar in the loop.

finally got around to finishing this, after about five years of it being on my desk. kind of an uneven effort but enough interesting stuff in it to justify the price.

Dan Plesac – Discussion: My first "Sack" memory came in Milwaukee in the late ’80’s. He was throwing a pen coming off an injury and they had a gun on him. He was throwing his fastball from 96-99 and mixing in a 92 mph slider … He didn’t remain a closer long enough to merit HOF votes I don’t think but if there was a HOF for awesome teammates with great senses of humor this guy is a first ballot HOF’er. Sack could make you laugh until you cried, funny as hell and a fantastic teammate who I wish I’d been able to play longer with. I still remember walking into the bathroom in Arizona and I hear "GO TO THE WHIP! GO TO THE WHIP!!" and I’m thinking "What the hell?" only to see him come out of the stall. He is HUGE into Horse racing and breeding and has been for a long time.

http://38pitches.weei.com/baseball/hof-2009/

http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/oracle/discussion/royals_signed_bloomquist/

http://bacolicio.us/http://www.southsidesox.com/

Q. How can someone — in this case, the Dolphins’ Chad Pennington — be the NFL Comeback Player of the Year twice in three seasons? (Daniel Stone; New Kensington, Pa.)

A. Obviously, you’ve never been married.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/othersports/394753_chad05.html

I interviewed him for SI two years ago when he was playing w/ the San Diego Surf Dawgs. The man was in awesome shape. And such a little shit… Wonder if he really raped his half-sister…

The Sox, meanwhile, are, at least for now, done with Boras. One well-placed source said the club will never deal with him again unless it can be guaranteed that talks are being conducted honestly. We would take that threat a little more seriously if Boras’ clientele list were to shrink dramatically, but since that is not realistic, we will take it as a sign of just how badly the club felt it got stung by lies from Boras. They are in a "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" mode right now, with the Teixeira talks feeling like the last straw to them.

Before Teixeira, it was the failed negotiations with another Boras client, right-handed high school pitcher Alex Meyer, the Sox’ 20th-round draft pick this past summer, who came close to signing but ultimately turned down what was estimated to be a $2 million signing bonus. Before Meyer, it was some needless and excessive behind-the-scenes drama in the Daisuke Matsuzaka [stats] talks in December 2006, the Johnny Damon talks a year earlier and of course the Alex Rodriguez talks after the 2003 season.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1144536&srvc=rss

http://sullybaseball.blogspot.com/2009/01/sully-baseball-honors-horrific-white.html

mlbn is showing one of the great cubs collapses right now until 11pm. good bullpens are a fucking valuable thing.

According to Rosenthal, Young was “absolutely livid” that the Rangers would request such a move just months after he was awarded his first Gold Glove. The team was simply hoping to clear a spot for top prospect Elvis Andrus, but now they’ve got a real problem on thier hands. GM Jon Daniels is expected to explore trade opportunites, but a deal really seems unlikely. White Sox GM Ken Williams has already said the he “would not waste time” discussing the possibility.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/01/michael-young-r.html