Here's a Show of Good Faith

Well, I was just looking at Kevin's post in the chatbox from a few months back,

rumor has it, reid is planning a great return to the blog. He may say he has been "very busy" but he is lying. He has just been lazy, and has been catching up in watching The Office.

Here's the thing about that - I am busy, I am. Biochemistry is a lot of hard work. The Office is also the best show on TV, and it's also on my computer, and I like to watch it. A lot. Sue me.

What does Boston want with Todd Helton? Can someone explain this to me? Last year, Helton came this close to going dead last in my fantasy draft. Dude went from first-rounder to "Um... we'll take Todd I guess..." Like the fat kid in Dodgeball. And now Boston wants to take on this load? Big teams keep making these mistakes, and I can't figure it out. Sure, a team like Tampa Bay will bring in a big, past-his-prime star to teach the youngsters and to draw fans to the park. The Red Sox need neither of those things. The Yankees were also in need of neither when they acquired Randy Johnson. There has to be something I'm missing, right? Of course, we don't know what the Red Sox are offering for Helton. I just don't see this as a situation where Colorado no longer needs Helton, but the Red Sox are looking for just that guy. Let me know what you think.

And what's going on with Mark Buehrle in Chicago? I've long been one of Buehrle's biggest fans, and I don't know what happened last year, (ERA circa 5,) but I'm willing to write it off. Apparently, GM Ken Williams isn't. Actually, maybe he is. No one really seems to know what's going on here, least of all Williams and Buehrle. It doesn't help that this whole scene has been covered like a soap opera. For example:

The question was asked of Mark Buehrle maybe once, maybe twice, maybe even a handful of times. Well, in reality, it probably was asked about 15 or 20 times.

Apparently the question dealt with money. And from what I can gather, 'they' asked Buehrle how much he would need to stay with the White Sox after 2007. He said he wasn't looking for Zito sort of money. But he said that didn't matter because he had seen direct quotes from Williams saying he didn't want Buehrle back. And now, it would appear that Williams never said that. Or he did, and he's sorry it was interpreted that way. Does anyone notice that Williams and Ozzie Guillen seem to repeatedly find themselves in these sort of situations? What a mess.

I had an idea, something I can work on before Spring Training. Maybe I'll try to do a quick run down of the free-agent deals. This is a win-win situation for everyone. This way I know who is where before the season starts, and so do you. It's not too original, but I think it will work. I'm really going to try very hard to keep up for this season. Leave your thoughts. Wait, I still don't have this out of my system... this is really going to bother me for the next five years. "What do you mean, Dusty Baker's out?"

On top of that, I would like to hear from any of you regulars that are still out there - just to see who we have left. Thanks.

Buehrle, others talk money at SoxFest (MLB.com) - January 27, 2007
GM Williams clarifies Buehrle situation (MLB.com) - January 27, 2007
What do you mean, Dusty Baker's out? - October 17, 2006

I'm still alive, I promise

Things have been pretty weird around here lately. There have been a few things that I wanted to write about but didn't really have the chance to. Also, it's the off-season so no one really reads this thing anyway. But I'm just gonna bring up a few free agent issues, if anyone is around still reading, talk amongst yourselves...

Randy Johnson traded to Diamondbacks
I can't be the only person who thinks this is hilarious. Now, granted the Diamondbacks didn't give up a whole lot to get Johnson, but on the same token... what are you getting with this guy? Randall just celebrated his 43rd birthday at the end of last season. A season in which he finished with an ERA of 5.00. Randy's struggles during his first year in New York could have been at least partially ascribed to him getting used to a new team, a new league, that whole 'New York media' and the like. He still finished with an ERA of 3.79. But last year, he was just bad. There's nothing left in the guy. I thought the Yankees, (or rather, Steinbrenner,) were foolish for acquiring Johnson. And the Diamondbacks are not getting back the guy that left after finishing with a 2.60 ERA and 290 K's, (you may also recall that he won only 16 games that year.) Of course, the Diamondbacks are not a stupid organization, otherwise they would not be playing baseball. We know there are other forces at work here. I think that, despite his apparent hesitation, Johnson wanted out of New York, and into Arizona. And of course, the Yankees needed to get that guy out of New York. I'm sure you can figure that part out for yourself.

Octavio Dotel to the Royals
Well, shoot. What did this man give the Yankees in his one year? People were excited about him before the season started. We knew he was sick. But when he 'healed' he put in 10 innings, and allowed 12 runs. 10 innings is hardly a long enough time to judge the guy, it's just interesting to see his final contribution. In any case, he's on to the fighting Royals.

And there's another hilarious note, and you regular readers know where I'm going with this. PFC Mark Grudzielanek ended up losing his war. Of course, the Royals lost 100 games again, finishing behind every single team in the league - except the Devil Rays, who managed 101 loses. Another interesting note - because it's funny, and so weird - is that the Royals managed to go 2-4 against the Cardinals. You know how when you're in little league, and you get knocked out in the first round of the playoffs, you root for the team that beat you - that way you can say you got beat by the Champions. In other words, you weren't bad, they were just good. Well, this is kind of like that, except that we're not talking about small children. I had to find something nice to say though.

Sheffield to the Tigers
This is one of the first trades that I have ever found myself undecided about. I know it's good for the Yankees. I wrote that Sheff was out of there as soon as they got Abreu. But is he good for the Tigers? Obviously, the Tigers were overachieving last year - not by much, but they were really streaky. Really good teams play well most of the time. The Tigers managed to get farther than any other team in the AL by playing lights-out baseball for most of the season and playing like the Royals -- literally -- for a few small stretches. I'm assuming Sheffield was brought in as a way to keep the boys alive when they decide they don't want to hit for a week. I can't imagine that he'll hurt us -- the thing with hitters is that you can always take them out of the lineup, unlike pitchers -- but I don't think he will have as big an impact as people expect. I could easily be wrong on this, though. *Edit: 11-16-08: I was not wrong.

I'm not sure what's going to happen for the next couple months. I hope I can get something in here whenever something interesting happens, at least once every week or two. So we'll see. Feel free to leave comments if you want me to hit on something, because I'm looking for ideas. I've been trying to keep on top of stuff, so I'm not completely clueless. I hate waking up on opening day, or the day of my fantasy draft, and finding that 50 players aren't were they "should" be. That's why I got creamed in my last two fantasy leagues. *Another edit, 11-16-08: Won my fantasy league in 2007.

NL West: Citizenship Revoked - March 19, 2006
It seems the Royals are bad. Really bad. - May 2, 2006