- I didn't understand the fixation on Kenny Rogers' pitching hand after the first inning Sunday night. It could have something to do with the fact that I hated the guy already. My opinion of him wasn't going to get any worse.
- One of the popular fan-originated trade speculations of the young off-season was sending Mark Buehrle to the Cardinals for Anthony Reyes and Adam Wainright. Actually, I think I saw that one, in one form or another, back around the trade deadline. Given their recent post-season performance, I think it's safe to say that we won't be seeing either of those two on the market in coming months.
- Juan Uribe has not shot anybody in at least 10 days.
- Brian Anderson arrived in Venezuela. He promptly went 0-4 with 2K and 5LOB.
- Freddy Garcia plans to open a "Gelato Sports Bar" called Paciugo in Hollywood, Florida.
- I sponsored a couple of pages at Baseball-Reference.com, one of which should surprise most of you. -- I really don't understand what the sponsor of the 2006 White Sox page is trying to say. Is that smack talk from a guy whose team has posted one 90-win season in the last 16 years?
- Baseball America says 26 year old White Sox prospect Dewon Day is a sleeper. That's what you call a 26 year old who hasn't seen action above A ball.
- Skimming through the new MLB CBA, I found a few things very interesting, most notably two changes that could change how most teams approach the draft.
The first change seems to favor those teams that have a history of drafting HS players (Atlanta and Anaheim), as they'll get to hold off on making a decision about those players for an extra year. The extra year generally doesn't effect college players because college players who aren't on the 40-man roster after 3 years in the minors are called "busts."- Period of time before a Player must be protected from the Rule 5 Draft is changed from three or four years from first minor league season to four or five years from year of signing.
- Signing deadline of August 15 for draft picks other than college seniors.
The second change seems to eliminate the Draft-and-Follow system all together. If you remember, I went on a bit of a rant just prior to the '05 draft when MLB seemed to be very heavy handed in their signing bonus recommendations for DFE players. I guess Selig and Co. really hated the Draft-and-Follow loophole.
I imagine that the collective effect of these two rules has more teams concentrating their efforts on the high school level. They also shortened time between the draft [(now about a week later (is that right?)] and the final signing date (now a hard date instead of the old "losing rights as soon as the draftee sets foot inside classes at a 4-year institution" rule), but I'm undecided as to which side the shorter time frame will favor most. Most draft picks are signed in a couple of weeks anyways.
There are other major changes to draft pick compensation for free agents lost, but those really don't effect the White Sox this year as David Riske and Sandy God I Hope He's Our Bench Coach If He's Wearing Sox Colors Alomar are the Sox only free agents.