Rosenthal: Swapping Figgins for Ichiro at leadoff could revive Mariners’ offense

The truth, though no one dares say it around the Mariners, is that hitting behind Ichiro isn’t easy. Ichiro’s goal is not to get on base, but to get on base with a hit, collect 200 hits a season. He is unpredictable, playing at his own rhythm. And when he starts an inning with a quick at-bat — Ichiro ranked near the bottom in pitches per plate appearance among leadoff men last season — the No. 2 hitter is in a difficult spot.

At that point, a rival hitting coach explained, the No. 2 hitter is almost forced to be patient, or the pitcher will stand a good chance of breezing through the inning. Someone has to work counts, especially in the first inning when pitchers often are at their most vulnerable. And that task shouldn’t fall to the No. 3 hitter.

...The numbers indicate Figgins has lost his way. He is chasing more pitches out of the strike zone than he did with the Angels, and his walk rate declined markedly in each of his first two seasons with the Mariners. Yet, Figgins maintains he still isn’t aggressive enough.

“Being in that spot and understanding that Ichiro is an aggressive player — that’s what makes him great — I need to understand that when he is aggressive, I need to be aggressive, too,” Figgins said. “A lot of times I get behind in the count too much.”

But isn’t patience his game?

“That’s the adjustment I have to understand and make,” Figgins said. “There were spots in 2010 and last year where I got better at it, got back on track because I was being more aggressive. I’m still having my patient tendencies. But at certain times, I have to be more aggressive. Early in the game, I have to be more aggressive.”

Thanks to Butch.

YES Commemorates 10th Anniversary with Special Logo, Programming

Guess Bob Lorenz must have celebrated early with a special head-whirlpooling Hpnotiq logo.

Next month, the YES Network, now sporting a special logo to commemorate the occasion, will celebrate its 10th anniversary with an array of appropriately-themed programming and content.

The regional sports network home to Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and the National Basketball Association New Jersey Nets, which launched on March 19, 2002, will integrate the logo into a variety of anniversary-themed content across multiple platforms. The logo will appear on-air within YES 10th-anniversary programming, including the network’s two-hour anniversary special that will premiering next month, as well as a series of vignettes.

The 10th-anniversary logo will also prominently hail a special section on YESNetwork.com, comprising Web-exclusive video clips of YES talent reminiscing about highlights from the RSN’s first 10 years, other video highlights, company milestones and facts and figures. Designed for simplicity for seamless integrations into the aforementioned platforms, the logo was created by YES’s Emmy Award-winning in-house graphics department.

The SnakePit Interview: Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers, Part 1

Gawd. I just shoved a spitting rinkhals down my pants.

AZSP: Do you think there is such a thing as a “closer’s mentality,” that makes a pitcher particularly appropriate for use in the ninth inning?

KT: No. To close is difficult. It’s very hard to get those last three outs. J.J. had had a lot of success in Seattle - though he hadn’t done it for a couple of years, he had been highly successful at one time or another. David Hernandez, he reminded me of a young Heath Bell, they had similar routes to the big leagues, came up as starters, ended up back in the ‘pen. Big, strong lower half, overpowering fastball and someone we thought had the right head on his shoulders, could handle the last frames of the game, which he did a great job of, during J.J.‘s absence when he was on the DL.

AZSP: You mentioned good clubhouse guys. When you’re adding players like Putz or Blanco, how do you assess their impact within the clubhouse?

KT: A few of those guys, I’d had in San Diego, so I knew what they were all about, what they brought to the table. With Willie Bloomquist, even though I’d never had him, I saw him a lot when he was in Seattle. We talk to players, talk to coaches: I think we did our due diligence in checking on these guys’ character as well, the type of people we brought in. J.J. was another guy I saw a lot in Seattle when he was over there, and heard a lot of good things about him. To me, the character evaluation is as important, almost more important, than skill evaluations. I think we’ve got some really good people here, that came in and really help changed that culture.

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 2-10-2012

Pittsburgh Press, February 10, 1912:

“Tub” Spencer, for a time a backstop with the Phillies after Dooin was injured last year…is now under bail for $1,000 to appear in court.

The charge against Spencer is that he tried to break into a restaurant at Eighth and Dauphin sts.

Spencer, when given his hearing, did not argue that it was unsatisfied hunger that drove him to dive through the window into the cafe. The rotund catcher, who weighs 200 pounds frankly admitted…even a plate glass barrier didn’t deter his efforts to get into the food shop.

What’s the opposite of defenestration?

L.A. Times: 11 bidders remain in running to buy Dodgers

The lineup of Dodgers bidders, as of Wednesday:

Magic Johnson/Stan Kasten: Could soon be joined by richest man in L.A., Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong.

Rick Caruso/Joe Torre: Not out of the running in the Soon-Shiong sweepstakes.

Steven Cohen/Arn Tellem: Cohen about to invest $20 million in Mets, able to spend 75-100 times as much on Dodgers.

Stan Kroenke: Owner of NFL’s St. Louis Rams could move L.A.‘s football team back home.

Peter O’Malley: Former Dodgers owner backed by South Korean conglomerate E-Land.

Tony Ressler: Minority owner of Brewers has discussed partnership with O’Malley.

Leo Hindery/Tom Barrack: New York media executive has teamed with L.A. real estate investor and sportsman.

Stanley Gold/Disney family: That’s the family of the late Roy Disney, Walt’s nephew.

Jared Kushner: Publisher of New York Observer, son-in-law of Donald Trump.

Michael Heisley: Owner of NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies hired Jerry West to run his team.

Alan Casden: USC Board of Trustees includes Dodgers bidders Casden, Caruso, Gold.

Orioles Scouts Banned from Korea

SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Yonhap)—The South Korean governing body of baseball has banned scouts from the Baltimore Orioles in Major League Baseball (MLB) from attending local games, after the Orioles signed a teenage pitcher in a controversial move.

  The Korea Baseball Association (KBA) announced Thursday it has informed the MLB commissioner’s office and the Orioles of its decision, saying scouts from all major league teams in the future signing Korean student athletes not in the final years of their schools will be banned from KBA-sanctioned games. That will include all national high school and university tournaments, often frequented by major league scouts.

  The Orioles in January acquired pitcher Kim Seong-min, a 17-year-old left-hander about to enter his final year in high school and reportedly signed him for US$550,000.

  The Orioles’ signing also stirred a controversy about major league clubs’ poaching of young South Korean players. While major league clubs are free to sign any Korean player they wish within the rules, including undrafted high school students or graduates, baseball officials here have long complained MLB clubs’ signing of players can make it difficult for South Korea to develop youth baseball programs.

Whatever Happened to the Spitball?

...doctoring pitches helped extend the careers of countless fading arms throughout baseball history. More than a simple performance enhancer, it was damn fun. Anytime a suspected scuffer or greaser came to town, local media fired off breathless “Does He or Doesn’t He?,” “Will He or Won’t He?” columns. Students of the game watched the pitcher’s every move, looking for a fishy hand movement or sleeve swipe. A batter’s dirty look as he walked back to the dugout was itself worth the price of admission. The mere threat of a spitball drove hitters batty, to the point where they’d get pissed if it wasn’t thrown, given all the waiting and anguish they went through over the course of a game.

How and why did all of that vanish from the game?

A quick history lesson, courtesy of Jonah Keri.

Jeff Sullivan: The Worst Team Ever Projected?

On the plus side for bbc chick, Kevin Bass is still very good looking.

There, at the very very bottom of the standings, are the Houston Astros. Okay, that’s not a big surprise. The Astros were baseball’s worst team in 2011. They didn’t then undergo a complete roster makeover. But their projected record - which is the average of several projected records - is 60-102. That’s 60 wins, and 102 losses.

The thing about projected standings is that they tend to miss the extremes. Standings are projected by running a hundred or a thousand individual projections and then averaging them out. By doing this, the records are kind of regressed to the mean. So when you see an extreme record, that’s pretty telling. And I think it’s fair to say that 60-102 is an extremely bad record…..

Out of all the projected records above, the worst is 60-102, belonging to the 2012 Houston Astros (CAIRO) and the 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates (ZiPS). And between those two teams, the 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates were projected to have the better Pythagorean record, based on runs scored and runs allowed.

These 2012 Houston Astros might be historically significant, in whatever way that projected baseball standings might be significant. And while it’s very possible, if not probable, that the Astros aren’t actually the worst team ever projected, that doesn’t change the fact that CAIRO just thinks they’re really gross. And CAIRO’s fair. CAIRO doesn’t hold grudges.

If you glance at the Astros’ depth chart, that they’re projected to be terrible makes a whole lot of sense. Squint and you can like a chunk of the rotation. The pitching staff as a unit isn’t a complete disaster. But I’d really prefer to just not talk about the position players. I like Jed Lowrie, but when you can make an argument that Jed Lowrie is the best position player on a team, you should be worried about that team.

Korean baseball’s governing body bans Orioles scouts in wake of Kim signing

The backlash from the Orioles’ signing of a 17-year-old South Korean pitching prospect continues.

The Korean Baseball Association, the governing body of South Korean baseball, has banned Orioles scouts from all KBA-sanctioned events, according to a report by Yonhap News Agency. This includes national high school and college tournaments that are often frequented by major league scouts.

The ban will extend to major league teams that sign Korean players before their final year of school in the future, Yonhap reported.

This all started last month, when the Orioles signed Kim Seong-min, regarded as the top left-handed pitching prospect in Korea, to a contract reportedly worth $550,000.

The move raised the ire of the Korean Baseball Association (KBO), which filed a formal complaint to the MLB commissioner’s office that the Orioles violated protocol in signing Kim. The KBO contends that the Orioles should have first inquired with the KBO about Kim’s availability before attempting to sign him.

North Korean media has spun this story into saying that the fiendish imperialist-dog south now forbids young people from being watched by birds, in fear that they may fall under righteous praise of Kim Jong Un that they sing with their every song.

Grantland/Bill James: An Open Letter to the Hall of Fame About Dwight Evans

Let the arguments begin!

“Let us start with the proposition that Dwight Evans is one of the most underrated players in baseball history. There are certain things that make players underrated. The most important of these is that a player who does several things well will always be underrated compared to a specialist, just because of the way the human mind works. We absorb simple concepts more readily than complex ones. If a player hits .325, if he hits 40 homers, if he steals 70 bases, we get that immediately. If a player does many things well but no one thing spectacularly well, he may have equal value but it takes longer for the public to catch on.”

WHYGAV: Burnett to Pirates a Good Idea?

Pat Lackey thinks about a new way to share the Yankees’ revenue.

So would it be a good trade for the Pirates? It’s hard to say from here without knowing what the details would look like. The Pirates would be insane to pay Burnett more than $8-10 million per year for the next two years. They’d be insane to give up more in value for him than they gave up for, say, Yamaico Navarro or Derrek Lee…

Strange Times in Baseball: 1891-1895

A brief visit through the end of the 19th century when men were men and baseball was serious business.

April 29, 1892:

  “Cleveland Spiders SS Ed McKean accidentally shoots himself through the ‘fleshy portion’ of his finger with a revolver. He will recover within a week and go on to drive in 93 runs, albeit with the lowest batting average and HR total of his career to date.”

ESPN: Law: Top 100 Prospects (paywalled)

#2 Bryce Harper: Harper’s calling card remains his 80 power to go with an 80 arm from right field, but he’s a better overall athlete than he’s given credit for.  ... His light-tower power produces incredible BP sessions and mammoth in-game shots; he has as much leverage from his lower half as a human can achieve without dislocating his spine midswing.

#3 Matt Moore: If I had a crystal ball that could promise me Moore would stay healthy for the next decade, he’d be even higher on this list. Instead, he’ll have to settle for third place and predictions of Cy Young contention by his third or fourth year in the majors.

#7 Jurickson Profar:  Profar is a plus-makeup, plus-feel, plus-instincts guy who breaks the mold of that type of player by also having tremendous tools.

#9 Jesus Montero: As a catcher, Montero is not a catcher. He’s slow behind the dish, poor at receiving and throwing—despite some arm strength, he takes a year and a half to get rid of the ball, so the arm doesn’t play. The bat is too special to put at risk of injury at the catcher’s spot or to omit from the lineup 25 times a year because of routine rest days. Let Jesus hit.

RICH HARDEN TO MISS 2012 DUE TO SHOULDER SURGERY

It happens every spring….

According to MLB Network and NESN analyst Peter Gammons (via twitter), right-hander Rich Harden underwent season-ending surgery to repair his right shoulder. Gammons tweeted: After 5 years of ‘always being hurt’ with a torn capsule, Rich Harden last week had surgery, aiming to come back in 2013–healthy. Finally.

The development offered a reminder of the trade to which the Red Sox and Athletics agreed on July 30 (one day before last year’s trade deadline) only to have the Sox call off the deal upon reviewing Harden’s medical records. The deal would have sent Harden to the Sox for first baseman Lars Anderson and a player to be named (both Raul Alcantara and Brandon Workman were on a list of players from which the A’s could select a player).

Harden, who turned 30 following the season, was 2-1 with a 4.30 ERA, 30 strikeouts and 10 walks in 29 1/3 innings at the time of the almost-trade. Though the Sox thought that he was unlikely to make more than a handful of starts down the stretch, Harden remained healthy enough to make 10 starts over the final two months of the season, albeit with mixed results. He struck out an impressive 61 batters (and walked 21) in 53 1/3 innings, but went just 2-3 with a 5.57 ERA while averaging 5 1/3 innings per start.

Your move Nick Johnson.

Yankees TV host Bob Lorenz charged with drunken driving; cops found YES anchor passed out in car

Passed out? How could they possibly tell the difference?

YES Network television host Bob Lorenz has been charged with drunken driving in Connecticut where police say he was found passed out in his car in his hometown of Westport.

The 48-year-old Lorenz was arrested early Wednesday morning. Police say they found him slumped over the wheel of his car and when they woke him up he drove away slowly and nearly hit a utility pole. Officers say his speech was slurred and he smelled of alcohol.

Lorenz hosts pregame and postgame shows for the New York Yankees and New Jersey Nets. He was arraigned Wednesday at Norwalk Superior Court and his case was continued to Feb. 29.

NY Daily News: Brian Cashman’s accused stalker says Yankees GM misled feds on steroid probe

From Rikers Island, Louise Meanwell claimed Wednesday that Cashman told her he misled federal investigators over what the Bombers’ brass knew of steroid use by players.

Meanwell, who claims she had an affair with Cashman, told the Daily News that Cashman confided to her that he was grilled in June or July by “the feds.”

She said Cashman told her he made it seem like the Yankees had no knowledge of players’ steroid use when, in fact, they did.

Cashman’s spokesman Chris Giglio vehemently denied the accusations.

“These claims are complete and utter fiction, the latest installment of a carefully concocted campaign of harassment now spewing from a jail cell by a person who is being held on serious criminal felony charges of harassment and extortion,” Giglio said.

Yawn.

Berkman and Pettitte team up for Men’s program at Second Baptist West

It was a First Baptist Church…but Pettitte has admitted to a Second.

The Waco-born Berkman, now age 36, will report in the coming days to training camp with the St. Louis Cardinals, a team that he signed with as a free agent following the 2010 season. Berkman played the last two months of that season with the New York Yankees following a trade that took him away from the only professional organization he had ever known.

“The hardest time in my professional life was when I was traded to New York. I had been in Houston a long time. I was very comfortable, played at Rice, a native Texan, so it was like a dream come true,” Berkman said. “For the first two weeks (following the trade) I literally wanted to cry. I felt so bad. I was having a bad season, and was in a completely new and alien environment. I just felt overwhelmed. Fortunately, I did have one friend in New York, and that was the main reason I waived my no-trade clause and went up there because Andy (Pettitte) was there.”

Berkman was joined on the stage Tuesday with the former Yankee and Astro pitcher Pettitte, as well as former Astros shortstop Craig Reynolds and Yankees shortstop Bobby Meacham. Reynolds is currently a pastor with Second Baptist and Meacham is the first-base coach for Houston.

The Book Blog: MGL: Today on Clubhouse Confidential

Everything we had hoped for from the MLB Network…save a cucking stool ride for Kevin Millar, of course.

Or as Ozzie Guillen tweeted about this fantastic slice…“all gm in baseball please give mitchel litchman a job or bench coach he is good hahaha wow.”

Stiglich: Lew Wolff touches on San Jose ballpark, revenue sharing and playing waiting game

I attended a Q&A session involving A’s co-owner Lew Wolff this afternoon hosted by the Rotary Club of San Jose. It’s interesting to see Wolff operate in that kind of environment. He represents the bad guy to so many A’s fans. But he was on friendly terrain Wednesday, speaking in the same downtown area where he hopes to build his new ballpark someday – and he drew laughter with a few sharp one-liners. You can’t help but wonder how he would have been greeted in Oakland for a similar function.

–If the team does indeed move to San Jose, they will be called the “San Jose A’s,” which has been assumed. Wolff pointed out how the franchise has moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City to Oakland, always keeping the “Athletics” label. There was a stuffed Stomper on hand at Wednesday’s event, with the A’s mascot wearing a “San Jose Athletics” uniform.

–Getting an answer from MLB on the stadium issue “in the next couple months would be great,” Wolff said. Someone asked how long he might wait for an answer before throwing in the towel on building a ballpark. “I’m not going to continue this much longer,” he said. “What we want is an answer. We want a ‘Yes, you can relocate and share the territory,’ or ‘You can’t.’ But not having any answer is difficult not just for me, but for the 130 people that work for us, for planning, for our baseball team every year.” So what happens if his timeframe expires and there’s still no answer? Would Wolff and his fellow owners sell? He said he’s not entertaining that option yet.

–Despite the trades of three All-Star pitchers over the winter, Wolff thinks the A’s will field a quality team this season. “We’re going to fool a lot of people with our team, I think,” he said.

Throws (in) towel.

Oil Can Boyd says he used cocaine with Red Sox

He said Oil Can!
Oil Can what?

Dennis “Oil Can’’ Boyd’s new tell-all book, “They Call Me Oil Can: My Life in Baseball,’’ which hits bookstores in June, should be a blockbuster if the stories are similar to what the former Red Sox pitcher told WBZ’s Jon Miller yesterday at JetBlue Park.

Boyd, who spent eight of his 10 major league seasons with the Red Sox, admitted he was under the influence of cocaine two-thirds of the time he was on the mound.

“Oh yeah, at every ballpark,’’ he said. “There wasn’t one ballpark that I probably didn’t stay up all night, until four or five in the morning, and the same thing is still in your system. It’s not like you have time to go do it while in the game, which I had done that.

...Boyd, who will paint a picture of support and disdain for some of his former Red Sox teammates in his book, said, “All of them didn’t rally around me. All of them knew and the ones that cared came to me. The Dwight Evanses and Bill Buckners . . . it was the veteran ballplayers. Some guys lived it; they knew what you were doing, and the only way they knew was they had to have tried it, too.’’

Boyd contends he was blackballed from baseball and his career cut short because he was different. “The reason I caught the deep end to it is because I’m black. The bottom line is the game carries a lot of bigotry, and that was an easy way for them to do it,’’ Boyd said. “If I wasn’t outspoken and a so-called ‘proud black man,’ maybe I would have gotten the empathy and sympathy like other ballplayers got that I didn’t get; like Darryl Strawberry, Dwight Gooden, Steve Howe. I can name 50 people that got third and fourth chances all because they weren’t outspoken black individuals.’’

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 2-9-2012

El Paso Herald, February 9, 1912:

After signing his contract and promising to hit nothing but pitchers, Sherwood N. Magee, the Philadelphia outfielder, chirped as follows: “We’ll cop the gonfalon this year sure. The Phils would have won last year had it not been for Titus’s and Dooin’s broken legs. I have always tried to be a modest youth, but it might be asserted that my 33-day suspension was scarcely a boon to the club. We will never have tough luck like that another year.

Yes, Sherry, it was horrible luck that you decided to punch an umpire in the face and knock him unconscious.

Red Sox Sign (Australian) Daniel McGrath

Later that year [2010], McGrath made history when at just sixteen, he was named to the Melbourne Aces roster mid-way through the inaugural Australian Baseball League.

In his League debut in late December, McGrath was called on to close out the game and he proceeded to retire six of the seven hitters that he faced in an impressive outing. He still holds the record for the youngest player to have played in the newly formed ABL.

Most recently, McGrath returned just this week from representing Australia in the recent Oceania AAA Championships held in Guam where Australia won gold and secured their berth in the 2012 IBAF U18 World Championships.

McGrath was superb in his two outings, striking out nine over five innings in the gold medal game against New Zealand, while collecting eight strikouts across four innings in game one versus Guam.

But can he throw a gyroball? No? How about a Geelongball? Whatever, sign him up!

Guelph Mercury: Argos will likely be turfed out of Rogers if Jays get grass

TORONTO — Not long ago, Paul Beeston more than hinted to Blue Jays subscribers that the team was noodling the idea of installing grass at the Rogers Centre.

It sounded like an easy answer to an annual question, but they are serious about it and possibly as early as 2013. The Jays are kicking tires now on what is involved and the costs.

The Argos’ lease and the five-year deal with the Buffalo Bills are both up this year, giving the Blue Jays the freedom to do as they please with Rogers Centre.

Justice: 5 things that could make the 2012 season a successful one for the Astros

6. A special Day for William Irving “Colt .45s” Neder (and half of the 3-block radius famous Neder-Bancroft comedy team!)

5. .Getting third baseman Chris Johnson and first baseman Brett Wallace on the right track would be a pleasant surprise. Both were handed jobs when 2011 spring training opened, and both ended up being demoted to the minor leagues. At the moment, the Astros have no idea what they can expect from either of them. They’ll need to play their way onto the team in spring training.

4. Second baseman Jose Altuve, third baseman Jimmy Paredes and outfielder J.D. Martinez showed some nice spurts after being summoned to the big leagues last summer. If at least one of them could have a solid sophomore season, it would be hugely important for the future of the franchise.

3. Luhnow’s most attractive trade assets are Wandy Rodriguez and Brett Myers. If he can get a single prospect for each of them by the trade dealine, he will have continued strengthening the organization.

2. To get productive seasons from center fielder Jordan Schafer and shortstop Jed Lowrie.  They were once highly regarded prospects with the Braves and Red Sox. Now they’re getting a fresh start in Houston. There’s no question they have talent, but so far have been unable to stay healthy or make the necessary adjustments every player must make. If just one of them ends up being a contributor over the next few years, it would be significant.

1. To have a bunch of young players take positive steps up the ladder. If Wade’s four No. 1 picks–catcher Jason Castro (2008), shortstop Jiovanni Mier (2009), second baseman Delino DeShields (2010) and outfielder George Springer (2011)–all have good seasons, it would be a huge boost for the timetable.

NYT: Alderson Remakes Needy Mets From Bottom Line Up

Phillips, Duquette, and Sirius checking in.

Since he came aboard in October 2010, Alderson has been obligated to take a payroll that was over $140 million and cut it to about $90 million. You can make that kind of huge and swift reduction only if you repeatedly acquire players who will cost very little.

“I don’t think people really understand how constrained he really is,” Steve Phillips, a former Mets general manager, said of Alderson. “There’s no team in the last year and a half that’s been as affected by financial challenges as the Mets.”

...“They’ve been in a bottom-feeding mode when it comes to the free-agent market,” said Phillips, who is now a host on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Radio channel. “They are trying to catch that lightning in a bottle, that diamond in the rough.”

...Jim Duquette, who served as the Mets’ general manger in 2004 and now works as an analyst for SiriusXM’s MLB Network Radio, said Alderson was in a tough spot.

“I can’t see how he or even the team’s ownership could have predicted beforehand the extent of the financial issues they currently face,” he said.

Alderson and his deputies have shown some willingness to be assertive with the resources they have available to them. Breaking with the team’s previous stance, they bypassed the essentially unenforceable guidelines set forth by the commissioner’s office for signing bonuses to sign several draft picks last summer.

MLB: Hall of Fame worthy? Furthest thing from Schilling’s mind

Schilling: Fehler im System.

Schilling already knows what the theme of the 2013 ballot, results of which will be announced in January, will be.

“The guys who cheated and the guys who didn’t,” Schilling said.

...Though he vows to have never taken any type of PED, Schilling doesn’t absolve himself from blame for what happened during his years as a player.

“A lot of that is on us,” Schilling said. “It’s on us as players. It absolutely falls on guys like myself and other guys who didn’t cheat to not doing anything about it. We’re a players’ union. We could have done something about it. We chose not to. That falls squarely on us.”

...While anyone would be thrilled to receive the Hall of Fame honor, Schilling says he accomplished everything he wanted to in baseball.

“I’m proud to have done what I did,” Schilling said. “In ‘92, my wife and I were talking about what I want, and for some reason we had a conversation then about aspirations in baseball. I said, ‘When I retire, I want the 24 guys who suited up with me to say, “Life or death game, who do you want to have the ball?”’ I wanted that to be me.

Fangraphs: Cameron: The 10 Worst Transactions Of The Winter

How did Ned Coletti avoid this list?

#2 – Tigers Sign Prince Fielder for 9/214M

Prince Fielder is a good player, but this is three years and about $70 million too much for what he brings to the table. Yes, the Tigers are in win-now mode, and yes, Fielder makes them better in the short term, but the reality is that if the Tigers had this kind of payroll flexibility, they should have simply been far more active earlier in the off-season, as they could have improved their roster significantly more by spreading the cash around to bring in multiple players and fill a number of holes. Instead, the team overreacted to the Victor Martinez injury and compromised the long term health of the organization for a short term gain in the standings. The fact that Mike Illitch might not be around to see the end of the contract doesn’t make the deal any less damaging to the Tigers franchise – it just means that the current owner is borrowing from the next owner’s pockets in order to achieve his own personal goal. Of all the moves made this winter, this is the one that has the potential to really cripple a franchise – they need it to pay off in 2012, because the long term costs of this deal are going to be extremely harmful to the organization.

Knobler: Stay away from steroids—but vote how you want

BASE (Be a Superior Example) (Bonds and Steroids Election).

This summer, the Hall of Fame will ask kids to pledge to stay away from steroids.

Next winter, the Hall of Fame will send out a ballot that includes Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro.

A contradiction? A message to voters?

Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson insists that it’s neither one. Idelson said Wednesday that the Hall has always been an education center, in addition to being a baseball museum and a Hall of Fame, and that the new BASE (Be a Superior Example) program fits in with that.

He also said that the Hall isn’t—and won’t—tell anyone how to vote, and that the new education program should not be read as a directive to eliminate steroid users.

“We believe in allowing voters to use their own value judgment,” he said. “We’re very comfortable with the rules for election as they stand.”

In other words, it’s my problem. Mine, and the other 500-some Hall of Fame voters.

Great.

Andrus, Rangers agree to 3-year, $14.5 million extension

A source confirmed that the Rangers and shortstop Elvis Andrus have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a three-year contract extension worth approximately $14.5 million. The deal is pending Andrus passing a physical.

The deal wipes out all three of Andrus’ arbitration years but does not include any option years that could prevent him from becoming a free agent before 2015.

RLYW: CAIRO 2012 v0.5 and More Somewhat Useless Projected Standings

These look more realistic to me than the last set I ran with Marcel.  Probably a bit high on the Yankees, but since CAIRO was created to make the Yankees look better than they are that stands to reason.