SABR40: Presentation Proposals Due by Midnight PST March 21

To anyone who might be interested --- time is running out to sent this in.

Stephen Strasburg, Drew Storen to start in Class AA Harrisburg

TO HELL WITH WINNIN...oh, ok.

The inevitable became official this morning when the Nationals optioned phenom Stephen Strasburg to Class AA Harrisburg, meaning baseball’s best pitching prospect will not join the Nationals until late spring or midsummer. Joining him in Harrisburg will be closer Drew Storen, a fellow 2009 nfirst-round draft pick whom the Nationals reassigned to minor league camp.

“I felt like I had an opportunity, a chance” to make the majors out of camp, Strasburg said. But the Nationals made a prudent decision, both for his development and for the business of baseball. The Nationals will save millions by keeping Stasburg in the minors to begin the regular season.

“It’s a business,” Strasburg said. “That’s all I got to say. It’s not the perfect situation. But it’s their decision.”

Despite the overwhelming evidence, gathered all spring, that Strasburg would be headed to the minors to begin the year, Strasburg held out hope he would start in the majors.

“They didn’t tell me anything until towards the end here,” Strasburg said. “There’s always that thought in my head. Everybody is competing for a job here. I felt like I was included, but you know, it’s all good. I’m going to go down to Harrisburg and learn what I need to learn and be ready to be called up, hopefully soon.”

Nick Punto hoping ‘the cycle’ holds true for him in 2010

Plunks down “Minnesota Marv” Blihovde’s tuff cut “You’re My Everything” for no real reason.

John Dewan, founder of STATS Inc. and developer of a metric that calculates how many runs a player saves or costs his team on defense, agrees. From 2005 through 2007, Dewan said Punto was one of the major leagues’ top 10 third basemen, saving the Twins 25 runs. In that same span, Punto saved the team nine runs at second base and eight runs at shortstop. According to Dewan, Punto’s defense has dropped off the past two seasons, but that largely could be a result of decreased playing time.

Either way, Dewan said Punto’s best position is third, where from 2005-07 the infielder’s numbers “jumped off the page.” And if Gardenhire gives Punto the everyday job at third this season, Dewan said the Twins should have a “tremendous” left side. J.J. Hardy, according to Dewan, saved the Brewers 20 runs at shortstop from 2005-07 and is an upgrade from Punto (last season’s Opening Day shortstop) in the field.

..."I’ve been through a lot of struggles in my six years here,” said Punto, who batted .290 in ‘06, .210 in ‘07, .284 in ‘08 and .228 in ‘09. “You’ve heard it a million times, that defense wins baseball games, pitching and defense. When we win here, it’s pitching and defense and timely hitting; that’s what wins game. It’s a perfect marriage for me.”

Casey: An In-Depth Discussion About Bloomberg Sports With Bill Squadron

Stroboscoping is go!

PRC: Did the teams ask for such a product? Isn’t there already too much analysis of baseball as is?

Information has great value, and our mission as a company is to give people the information they need to make their work and lives better and easier to navigate. We create the tools for people to use as it best serves their needs.

The teams did not ask originally. However we have met with almost all the teams to design a system that essentially fills holes that they have been seen in statistical analysis over the years, whether that is in scouting, game situations, or talent evaluation, and created essentially a one stop shop for any possible scenario that could arise in player evaluation. It takes into account not just statistics, but any possible trend in hitting, pitching or fielding that involves a player.

We do not feel there is too much analysis and we are not creating more formulas. What we have seen in sport, much like in the financial markets, is that there is a great deal of wasted time spent coming up with potential business scenarios, and by streamlining this process using a variation of the technology we have already created, the analysis becomes, more simple, time saving and concise. In short, it takes the guess work out of analysis and frees the professionals up to do what they do best, run the business of baseball with the best possible information at hand.

Toronto Star: Cribb: Sabermetrics: Stats guru advising Blue Jays

(adjusts suddenly ramping Cosellian toupee)...Almost up close and nearly personal with Tom Tango!

The former Montrealer is a self-taught expert in the science of baseball statistics (referred to as sabermetrics), which is gaining authoritative influence in front offices and on the field.

“There’s nobody better than (Tango) in the world,” said Wayne Winston, a professor of decision sciences at Indiana University and author of Mathletics.

“He’s a genius. He knows everything about baseball. I think he’ll help (the Jays) a lot to make better decisions.”

...You can forget about divining any Jays-specific intelligence from Tango. His contract with the club includes a “non-disclosure agreement” forbidding such things, says the shadowy Tango, who operates quietly behind the club curtain.

He wouldn’t agree to an in-person or phone interview. But he did respond to questions from the Star via email.

“My work contributes far more in terms of evaluating baseball talent in terms of wins and dollars than anything else,” he wrote. “(Coaches and GMs) can still use their instincts on things that have no data, but if the information exists, then I make sure they have it, in some digestible form. This way, they can make an informed decision.”

L.A. Times: Why the Dodgers should name Clayton Kershaw their opening day starter

Now, you could make a good argument for any of the four pitchers in the Dodgers’ current rotation to get the opening day nod, but really there should be only one choice:

Clayton Kershaw.

The Dodgers lack a proven ace, but this kid is the chosen one. He has a wealth of talent. His future is all things possible.

So get it into his head right now: He’s the man. Make him start thinking like an ace. If you want to develop a stopper, feed the beast.

Yeah, he’s young. He went 8-8 last season. The Dodgers were still understandably protective of the number of innings he pitched.

But his ability is undeniable and he seems to have the composure to handle pressure. And though he won’t turn 22 until Friday, he’s been in the majors almost two years.

Last season the left-hander began to show the makings of possible true stardom. He struck out 185 in 171 innings pitched and finished with a sterling 2.79 ERA. He allowed three runs or less in 26 of his 30 starts.

MLB: Claire: Lajoie excels at scouting intangibles

As five-star turned one-all star, Omar Milton Bradley, once said..."Leadership is intangible, and therefore no damn eggheaded stat ever designed can replace it!”

One thing is for sure—there is more technology, analytics and statistical information applied to Major League teams and players than ever before in the history of the game.

I couldn’t help but think of the discussion at MIT when I discovered old friend Bill Lajoie, a former general manager of the Detroit Tigers and baseball lifer, had just published a book on his career titled “Character is Not a Statistic: The Legacy and Wisdom of Baseball’s Godfather Scout Bill Lajoie.”

... “So how does Bill determine if a young player has strong character?” writes the author of Lajoie’s book, Anup Sinha, a former Major League scout himself.

“Lajoie believed in watching a high school or college prospect in everything he did, in the dugout, on the field, interacting with his parents, essentially doing everything short of following the kid to the bathroom.

“The player will tell you if he’s determined to become a great player, if he’s motivated to succeed, or if he’s only motivated by money and attention. The way he plays when nobody’s in the stands, the way he plays ‘away from the ball,’ the way he plays hurt, in big games, all of these things collectively give an idea of what the young man is made of.”

Little fanfare, but talks progressing for Beckett, Mauer

So much silence surrounds the talks regarding Twins superstar catcher Joe Mauer that unenlightened outsiders are starting to wonder whether progress is being made. The same goes for star pitcher Josh Beckett and his talks with the Red Sox, who train seven miles down the road.

While little has become public in the case of either Mauer or Beckett, that shouldn’t be taken to mean that neither negotiation is going well. In fact, indications are strong that steady or better progress is being made in both talks. Though nothing is known to be set yet with either player, the likelihood is that both stars are likely to eventually reach deals for contract extensions with their current teams, and that neither will hit the free-agent market next winter.

Although there still appears to be work to be done, the guess here is that the two stars will end up with deals for a quarter of a billion dollars combined, or perhaps slightly more than that. The guess here is that both megadeals will be done in the coming weeks. In the case of Mauer, both sides are said to be willing to work into the season, if necessary, as each trusts the other to keep quiet and Mauer is focused enough to block out negotiation noise while playing or the Twins.

While one Boston person said “we need Beckett,’’ the Red Sox do have two more ace pitchers in Jon Lester and John Lackey. That sort of statement is even more true for the Twins and Mauer, the hometown hero whose stature has grown to the point where he’s much bigger than even Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett ever was, as a Twins employee acknowledged to me on Thursday.

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/jon_heyman/03/19/mauer.beckett/index.html#ixzz0igSrCaJM

Boras mumbles something somewhere about how wrong it is that Heyman dare to mention people who are not clients of his.

Shandler: Condemning Fantasy

Lout Wars...as Ron Shandler takes on Francesa, Chass, and Mushnick.

The insult to fantasy leaguers, though, is that we are not real fans. The truth is, we all still love the game, perhaps even more than ever. We remain as much a fan of the sport as Francesa, Mushnick and Chass are. In fact, a strong case can be made that we are better, more informed fans.

We are more knowledgeable about all teams, not just our home team. We watch every game to its end, even blowouts. We need to know how each team is constructed and what their organizational philosophies are. We know about minor league prospects and understand how each team’s depth chart impacts their potential path to the Majors. We try to understand how managers use their bullpens, the impact of lineup construction on run scoring, and the predictive value of just about every element of the game.

We still want teams to win, because when they win, we win. It’s just not always the home team we’re rooting for.

Mushnick calls us “anal retentive stat-chasers” as if these types of people never existed before fantasy baseball. For any kid who traded baseball cards, it was the sea of wonderful numbers on the back that held far more interest than the color photo on the front. And for those of us who played (and still play!) Strat-O-Matic, stats were everything. So this is nothing new.

The game has changed over the decades. The designated hitter, interleague play and the wild card were all intended to keep fans connected to the game. Fantasy baseball does the same.

Dodgers announcer Vin Scully out of hospital

Hall of Fame announcer Vin Scully was released from the hospital Friday after bumping his head, and is looking forward to broadcasting a Dodgers exhibition game this weekend.

The 82-year-old Scully went to the hospital Thursday night as a precaution after he got up from bed too quickly, fell and hit his head, team spokesman Josh Rawitch said.

Scully plans to work Sunday’s Dodgers-Indians game in Arizona, his first spring training game this year.

He is starting his 61st season with the team. He has been working on a series of one-year contracts and has said he’s not sure what he will do after this season.

Thank heavens he’s okay! Now let’s play ball!

The Biz of Baseball: 2010 MLB Home Run Derby to Be Televised in 3D by ESPN

Maury reports that..."Some guy on Twitter said, “It will appear as though balls are hitting you in the face.”

ESPN 3D has added the State Farm Home Run Derby telecast on Monday, July 12 at 8 p.m. EST to the list of events that will appear on the new network.  ESPN3D will kick off on June 11 with the first 2010 FIFA World Cup match featuring South Africa vs. Mexico. The State Farm Home Run Derby telecast will be the first event produced by ESPN 3D.

“It’s fitting that we launch ESPN 3D’s domestic programming from Angel Stadium of Anaheim, which was the site for the launch of ESPN HD back on March 30, 2003,” said Bryan Burns, vice president, strategic business development, ESPN. “Seven years later, ESPN HD is available to virtually every multichannel video household in the United States, and we’re hopeful that ESPN 3D will receive strong interest from sports fans and distributors plus consumer electronics manufacturers and retailers.”

“We are always looking for ways to augment the viewing experience for fans watching MLB telecasts,” said Chris Tully, Major League Baseball Senior Vice President, Broadcasting.  “The State Farm Home Run Derby is a unique event for a 3D telecast since it has all of the prestige of an MLB Jewel Event and the event’s format allows for more creativity in how it is shot for television.”

Stephen Palgon on “Fantasyland”:  “I was instantly intrigued…” (Watch it Now, Free)

Yes, the whole Mush Franchassa messa for FREE!

Palgon talks about the project’s challenges and how he feels audiences will take to “Fantasyland.”

I think that we had a few challenges with “Fantasyland.” One of them of course was how to get Jed to be able to talk with his players. It wasn’t often easy to get Major League Baseball teams to buy into the concept of having Jed come on the field and talk to the players on his fantasy team. Another challenge was our main character, Jed Latkin. Jed was an amazing find for our film and a terrific character for us to follow, but he definitely lives on the extreme edge of Fantasyland. As Jed says “I try to fit life and work into fantasy baseball.” It is his his top priority. The challenge was that because Jed was so extreme he would do and say things that might turn off our audience and with Jed being the main character who we wanted to audience to ideally root for, we needed to make sure that they did not tune him out and abandoned his journey. The process of making this work came largely in the editing process and deciding what moments would allow Jed’s unique character traits shine but also not overtake the film.

Fantasyland is a wild and wacky place. The world of fantasy sports is filled with unique characters who have funny stories to tell. It’s my hope that the audience can watch the film and laugh at Jed, cringe from some of the things he does, lift their jaws up from the ground when he almost misses the birth of his twins due to fantasy baseball and much more. Ron Shandler, who is the founder of Tout Wars (the league featured in the film) and Jed’s main competitor throughout the season, recently said that he believes that this film will actually be good for the wives or girlfriends of fantasy players to watch because they will see Jed and realize that their husbands obsessions are minor league compared to his and for this they will be grateful.

Remington: How long can Derek Jeter continue to defy the effects of aging?

Say-Hayflick limit be damned!

The Question: How good will Derek Jeter be in 2010 and what can we expect beyond that?

...The offensive comedown that CHONE and ZiPS are expecting is largely BABIP-driven, much like his success in 2009 (.368 BABIP) and 2006 (.391 BABIP). BABIP and batting average are famously volatile, and as consistent as Jeter has been throughout the years, he is bound for ups and downs in both. So even their pessimism is not necessarily a comment on his aging process, so much as a regression to the mean following one of the best seasons of his career. In fact, Jeter’s 2008 (.300 AVG, .771 OPS) was even worse than the systems’ projections for 2010. He wasn’t necessarily a better hitter in 2009 than in 2008 — a lot of batting average is luck, even for a hitter of Jeter’s caliber, and he was luckier in 2009 than in 2008. That luck could have a big effect on his bottom line. If he hits like he did in 2008, the Yankees will be able to offer him a whole lot less money than if he hits like he did in 2009.

Whispers suggested that he wanted Alex Rodriguez-type money, but he won’t get that. More likely, he’ll get an offer of something like $20 million a year for something like 4 more years. His 3,000th career hit will almost certainly come in 2011, as if the Yankees needed another reason to keep him in pinstripes. But it’s unlikely that he’ll continue to be a very good offensive or defensive player for much longer after that. How unlikely? There have been exactly three shortstops in history who have produced a 100 OPS+ in a full season after turning 38: Honus Wagner, Luke Appling, and Ozzie Smith. Wagner just might be the greatest player ever, and Smith is the greatest defensive shortstop ever. Great as Jeter is, it will be a tall order to expect him to remain a great shortstop into his late 30’s.

The Forecast for 2010: In 2010, he’ll probably hit much as he has in 2007, 2008, and 2009 — a batting average somewhere over .300 and an OPS somewhere over .800, though perhaps not too far above either figure. He’ll walk enough to keep a very healthy leadoff OBP, and probably remain in the double-digits for both homers and steals. At the end of the year he’ll get a Godfather contract to keep him in New York forever. But just as his average could be .295 or .325, that contract could be for $60 million or $100 million. And the Yankees will have another payout to consider because 2009 is Mariano Rivera’s walk year, too. Jeter will have to prove his worth — not just to age gracefully, but to continue refusing to age.

Alvarez, Tabata among Bucs’ cuts

The Pirates optioned top prospects Pedro Alvarez and Jose Tabata to Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday morning as part of eight cuts made by the organization.

Jonathan Van Every and Doug Bernier were reassigned to Minor League camp. Rehabbing pitchers Tyler Yates, Craig Hansen, Neal Cotts and Jimmy Barthmaier were also reassigned to the Minors, though those four will all begin the season on the disabled list.

Alvarez and Tabata arrived at camp unlikely to dent the Opening Day roster, but intent on proving that they are just about ready to make an impact in Pittsburgh. And even though management cites specific development goals for both, the two are projected to be in Pittsburgh sometime this season.

“They both showed some things to really be excited about this spring, but both also showed that there is some development left,” general manager Neal Huntington said, shortly after informing both of the club’s decision. “In both cases, [we’re] really excited about their development and they’ll show us how quickly they’re ready to go.”

Huntington also clarified that, in a perfect world, the organization would have kept Alvarez and Tabata in big league camp a while longer. Rather, it was a roster-status rule that forced the Pirates to send the pair out with two weeks left in Spring Training.

Thanks to Murtz.

ESPN Chicago: Crasnick: Still plenty of fight left in Cubs GM

From Sabedong to Sabermetrics...Hendry knows all!

“We did our work,’’ Hendry said. “We were worried about the health and the off-the-field [stuff]. But in all the discussions and months of work we did on Milton, nobody ever factored in that he wouldn’t hit. And that’s what happened.

“In hindsight, it was my mistake. But we’re chasing the ring. If we win 97 games and get swept for the second year in a row and we’re lacking some presence from the left side, I think I’m remiss if I don’t try to go out and get the best guy we can.’’

Hendry remains the slightly rumpled former Christopher Columbus High School and Creighton University baseball coach at heart, but he’s not allergic to statistical analysis. Several years ago, the Cubs shifted the capable Chuck Wasserstrom from the media relations department to baseball operations, and he churns out a steady stream of numbers to help Hendry, assistant GM Randy Bush and the front office in player evaluation.

That said, Hendry is still most comfortable picking up the phone and calling somebody who knows somebody who played Little League ball with Mike Fontenot. He might be the best-connected executive in baseball.

“Jim’s not a tech guy,’’ said MacPhail, who left his position as Cubs president to run Baltimore’s baseball operation in 2006. “He’s more of a human networker.’’

• On criticism in the Internet age: “Nobody is harder on me than I am. I don’t get hung up on a Web site or somebody yelling at me driving by at the 7-Eleven. There are a lot of people who are better than me at what they do in life who catch a lot more flak than I do.’’

Passan: Enough with WADA’s phony warnings to MLB

In a press release disguised as a concerned letter, WADA president John Fahey chastised MLB and the players’ association for not using blood testing to detect human growth hormone. Nowhere did Fahey mention that the reliability of these tests remains in question six years after WADA first suggested their use. Nor did Fahey admit the organization’s real motivation: to leverage MLB into fattening WADA’s coffers with its multimillion-dollar-a-year testing program.

... WADA blitzed the public with half-truths, knowing full well that if any sport dare argue, it would look like it was trying to hide something. An organization full of blowhards and self-important ninnies became the standard bearer in drug testing by using that scare tactic, and now, sadly, its hollow principles exist not for the good of sport but itself. No wonder WADA is so tight with the Olympic movement. They get off on the same self-serving values.

White Sox should have bigger concerns than Oney Guillen’s tweets

Too Hot To Handle! Oney, wheeler dealer!

Meet Oney Guillen, the second of White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen’s three sons—and the one making his father seem like a wallflower.

Oldest son Ozzie Jr. is considered the smart one and youngest son Ozney the talented one, especially on the diamond. As far as certain members of the Sox’ front office are concerned, however, Oney is suddenly the dangerous one.

He put his Twitter account on the shelf last season at the request of the team, and now it seems OneyRoberto—his latest account in the world of social media—is being watched by Big Brother in the Sox’ front office.

That much was obvious by a tweet he sent out Wednesday that read: ‘’I love it how people are monitoring my tweets like I’m someone important. Everyone is entitled to there[sic] own opinion.’’

So why are the Sox taking an interest in what Oney has to say? Well, he does know a little about the game, considering he was the one who told his father to put Geoff Blum in the game during Game 3 of the 2005 World Series. A Blum home run later, the Sox were on their way to a sweep and their first championship in 88 years.

But the kicker in all of this is that Oney works for the Sox on the scouting side of things.

Apparently, someone in the organization thinks trying to keep a saddle on one sharp-tongued Guillen is enough, let alone two.

Village Voice: Barra: Yankees Prospects Look Grim—Star Pollster Nate Silver

Davenport. Priority?

If Nate Silver is correct, both the Democratic Party and the New York Yankees might be headed for tough times this fall. The ace political pollster/baseball analyst projects the numbers for 1,600 major league ballplayers in the current Baseball Prospectus 2010, and things don’t look good for the Yankees’ “Core Four.” Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, and Mariano Rivera average out at 38 years of age, and no team in the major leagues is anywhere near as dependent on four aging players as the Yankees are.

Based on the study of hundreds of players in their declining years, Silver projects these slides for the Yanks’ elders in 2010:

Jeter from a 2009 batting average of .334 to .286 this year, a drop in home runs from 18 to 11, and in stolen bases from 30 to 10. Posada from a .285 BA to .263, home runs from 22 to 12. Pettitte from 14-8 and an ERA of 4.06 to 10-11 and 4.70. Scariest of all, Rivera from 44 saves to 22, and and ERA the moves from 1.76 to 3.53.

If Silver is right, the 2010 Yankees are sunk. Worse yet, Steinbrenner and Cashman seem to have no plans for how to replace the Core Four. Last year we suggested that the Yankees were going to be in trouble if Jeter played at the level of a typical 35-year old shortstop. He made us look foolish by playing way above it. But what happens if age catches up to him this season? Where will the Yankees move him to, and who is ready to step in at shortstop? The problem hasn’t gone away, it’s just gotten a year older.

Baseball Image of the Day: Must Be a Prodigy

Today’s image:

Creative Commons:

Tomorrow: Another image from College Baseball

60 Seconds with Florida Marlins reliever Burke Badenhop

More Preston Hanna-Barbera than Preston Sturges.

Staff writer Joe Capozzi spoke with Marlins reliever Burke Badenhop about his dreams of becoming a Hollywood screenwriter.

Tell me about your hobby.

(Marlins equipment manager) John Silverman is friends with Martin Lesak, who works for CAA (Creative Artists Agency). He is Will Ferrell’s agent. I got to talk with him when we were in Los Angeles last summer. He said, “Hey, if you’re interested in writing movie scripts, let me send you a couple of comedies and you can see what a good script looks like.” He sent me first revisions of Talladega Nights, Knocked Up, The Hangover.

What did you think?

One thing I found, movies are revised umpteen times. The script I got for The Hangover is literally nothing like the movie. The broad concept is the same but one of the main characters isn’t even remotely the same. There’s a lot of scenes in Talladega Nights that are not in the movie that made me laugh out loud. How did that not make it in?

How many scripts are you working on?

Nothing more than thoughts that pop into my head. I got a new laptop and screenwriting software for Christmas and I got a screenwriting book in the off-season. That kind of pushed stuff in the right direction.

WEEI: Speier: Overlooked superstar: The perception of Kevin Youkilis

Ahh...back to the ANTiSEEN days.

“Every time I go to an All-Star game, basically, I’m in shock that I’m there, that I made an All-Star team,” said Youkilis. “I always think there are guys who are ahead of me in the game. Sometimes I know that I can play at that level, but I don’t think of myself as an elite player. … I just think I’m a good player on a good team.”

...“We’re the Boston Red Sox. We play in the toughest division in baseball. And he hits in the middle of our lineup,” said hitting coach Dave Magadan. “He might be a little different animal than a lot of other teams have hitting fourth, but I’ll take him over anybody else. He gives you a great at-bat. Guys in scoring position, he’s going to grind out the at-bat, make the pitcher work. He’s going to get on for the guys hitting behind him. I wouldn’t trade him for anybody.”

...“No one took me in college because of the body type,” said Youkilis. “It’s baseball. This isn’t muscle fitness and body building. This is baseball, and if you’re a baseball player, you’re a baseball player. Babe Ruth didn’t look like much of a baseball player, but he was one of the best of all time. There’s great hitters along the way who didn’t have the bodies, but they go out and play the game the right way.

“You can’t worry about that stuff. I’ve gotten over that,” he added. “Growing up, you get a little self-conscious. … [But] you can’t change your genetics, but you can change what you can do on the field and get better at the game. For me, that’s what I did.”

Fack Youk: Sky Kalkman Suggests Jeter Should Bat 6th… CRUCIFY HIM!

Please notify the good people at MakeupAlley...Bob Lorenz’s face has slid off from non-stop shaking. Thank you.

Over ESPN’s new Insider-only saberblog TMI (which stands for “The Max Info” but was clearly named by someone who doesn’t care much for baseball’s statistical revolution and thinks they are very clever) Mr. Kalkman suggests a lineup that would surely make Dusty Baker’s head explode:

1. Nick Johnson (L)
2. Mark Teixeira (S)
3. Curtis Granderson (L)
4. Alex Rodriguez (R)
5. Robinson Cano (L)
6. Derek Jeter (R)
7. Nick Swisher (S)
8. Jorge Posada (S)
9. Brett Gardner (L)

But, but, but… Nick Johnson would clog up the basepaths!!

Seriously though, that batting order kind of blows my mind a little bit as well. In a good way. I like counterintuitive thinking and this certainly qualifies as “outside of the box”.

...Coaches in any sport are reluctant put their neck on the line by straying from the generally accepted principles and as Pinto’s projections show, there just isn’t that much to be gained by changing between two very good lineups. It would take some real courage/insanity to go with anything like the order that Kalkman is suggesting, but it makes for an interesting discussion topic at least.

Bloomberg: Scott Podsednik and Juan Pierre Are Black Sheep Sleepers

What Mush Franchassa said!

Scott Podsednik and Juan Pierre are eerily similar. The pair of early-30s outfielders share a division, an affinity for high socks and grit, past or present homes in Colorado and the south side of Chicago, and the ire of the sabermetrics community. They also own the same career OPS (.720). But it’s the two players’ ability to swipe bases which them interesting, if unheralded, options in most leagues.

Podsednik is coming off a year in which he hit seven homers in 537 at-bats. That qualifies as a power spurt; Podsednik had hit six homers in his previous 1,407 at-bats. He also hit over .300 for the first time since 2003, his breakout season with the Brewers. Don’t expect a repeat of that feat either.

He’s still a strong stolen base threat, though, especially if he sticks in the Royals’ everyday lineup. After swiping 30 bases last year, Manager Trey Hillman has Podsednik penciled in as the starting left fielder and plans to give him the green light to run often.

...It’s important to note that these players are undervalued because their flaws are well-established in real world analysis. Both Podsednik and Pierre are woefully short on power, especially playing corner outfield spots, where teams typically target far more prolific offensive players. But in fantasy baseball, both could be good targets. In fact, if your fellow league members are sabermetrically savvy, Podsednik and Pierre could be terrific win-ugly value plays.

Griffey’s latest prank targets M’s catching coordinator Hansen

Non-Speedy Graphito strikes again!

Roger Hansen was working with players on minor league fields Wednesday when he was asked to report to one of the upper fields near the Seattle Mariners’ spring training clubhouse.

“I was tipped off that I needed to head up to Field 2 to look at those players,” said Hansen, the Mariners’ popular catching coordinator who lives in Stanwood. “As I started to walk up, I saw the thing.”

“The thing” was something larger than life orchestrated by someone larger than life.

Covering the entire 60-foot-by-30 “batter’s eye” on the center field fence at Field 1 was a photo of Ken Griffey Jr. embracing Hansen along the dugout railing at Peoria Stadium.

The photo was shot early in spring training and Griffey, whose friendship with Hansen goes back to their days as minor league roommates in 1988, decided to have some fun with it. Early this month he had copies hung from the training room wall before Hansen pulled them down.

ESPN: Dodgers’ Scully hospitalized after fall

Vin Scully, the Dodgers’ broadcasting legend and a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, was hospitalized overnight Thursday but is expected to be released Friday and travel as scheduled from Los Angeles to the team’s spring-training facility in Glendale, Ariz., in time for Sunday’s Cactus League telecast.

Josh Rawitch, the Dodgers’ vice president for communications, spoke with Scully late Thursday. Rawitch said in an e-mail to reporters that Scully told him he had simply gotten out of bed too quickly, resulting in his falling and bumping his head. For precautionary reasons, Scully, 82, was taken to West Hills Hospital and Medical Center.

Victor Rojas Launches “Yakcy” Social Network Site for Sports

Hmm...I wonder if I can contact Cookie this way.

Victor Rojas, the new television play-by-play man for the LA Angels, and former MLB Network host today launched Yakcy (http://www.yakcy.com/), a site that allows sports fans to engage in Twitter-esq conversation on specific sports events, thus allowing fans to focus on specific events without the background chatter often times associated with Twitter.

Rojas, a staple on Twitter, saw the need for a sports specific social media site at one point last season.

“While I was extremely active on Twitter for most of last summer & enjoyed the interaction, I found it difficult to follow ‘conversations’ on my timeline during a game and wasn’t a fan of the hashtags,” Rojas said. “The proverbial light bulb for me occurred during the Twins/White Sox play-in game.  As I watched and ‘talked’ with friends & followers, I kept getting @mentions from other fans wanting to talk about their teams. That’s really when it dawned on me...what if I created a ‘space’ where I could talk about a specific game with fans from the two teams involved and no one else?  My lack of sleep began the next day.”

ESPN: Ron Washington reveals past drug use

I’m gonna Wash that methamphetamine right out of my hair…

A day after apologizing for using cocaine last season, Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington said that he used amphetamines and marijuana during his playing career.

Washington was randomly selected for a drug test by Major League Baseball last summer and tested positive for cocaine. After learning he failed that test, Washington told ESPN’s Pedro Gomez that he informed the Rangers of his amphetamine use.

Later Thursday, Washington told ESPNDallas.com’s Richard Durrett that he used marijuana “a few times” during the early stages of his minor league playing days.

“It was not an ongoing thing,” Washington said. “I was young and didn’t know better.”

Washington did not specify how often he used amphetamines during his 10-year career in the majors, which ended in 1989 with the Houston Astros. He spent the majority of his career with the Minnesota Twins.

“I wasn’t the only one, but I’m not going to name names,” Washington told Gomez. “Amphetamines were prevalent throughout baseball.”

MASN: Rizzo talks right field, shortstop & a deal with Dunn

HEY! I’M BLOGGIN’ HERE!.....I’M BLOGGIN’ HERE!

Welcome to the first installment of a new feature on MASNsports.com: Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo’s weekly blog.

Ben Goessling: We’ve talked a lot today already about the Nationals’ decision to release (right-fielder) Elijah Dukes. When you look at the other outfielders you have in the organization, are there guys beyond the obvious four or five in the majors that make you feel like, ‘We’re going to be okay in the outfield?’

Mike Rizzo: I think in the short-term, the four or five guys we have in camp right now are going to be in the answer. But we certainly have longer-term answers down in the minor leagues. We’ve got terrific prospects like (Michael) Burgess. We’re comfortable with our long-term situation in right field, and our short-term situation in right field will be taken care of by the four or five in-house candidates we have.

BG: We got to see Burgess and (Destin) Hood a little bit (on Tuesday against the Cardinals). Realistically, are those guys still a couple years away?

Mike Rizzo: Yeah, yeah. Burgess, I think, is much closer than Hood. I think Burgess has made great strides over the winter and this spring. But he is a couple years away.

IATMS: Bad ideas and ludicrous statements (aka: Why people hate NYY fans)

Wait! Wait!...I got two more! Wald and ling!

I like Mike Silva. I had the chance to meet and chat with him at the Bloomberg event a few weeks back. I’m not against my fellow members of the Yankosphere for taking controversial stances or putting forth creative/new/wacky ideas. But we have to expect to be called out on them, when appropriate.

That said, Mike posted a doozy today, one that had my head spinning. Let’s start here:

The Twins could get a king’s ransom from the Yankees for Mauer. Think Hughes, Joba, and Montero as cornerstones of the package. If they are concerned about development timeline of Montero, then perhaps you could add Posada to the deal since he only has a year left on his contract. If the Red Sox come calling then the package could get even better.

Let’s ponder that for a moment. Hughes, Joba AND Montero, and that’s just the opening offer?!?!?! I’m speechless On what planet would Cashman ever do this? He balked dealing Hughes, IPK, Melky and whoknowswhoelse for Johan Santana, and you know Cash’s love of ace starting pitching. Why? Well, one reason was the “double dip cost”; huge hit to the farm system AND a huge financial committment. Well, the difference between then and now is that Hughes and Joba are integral parts of the major league club, no longer prospects. They are expected to contribute in significant ways, again. And Montero is merely the best catching prospect in the game today at the precocious age of 20. There’s room for him to grow, physically, mentally, emotionally and skill-wise behind the dish. The long term “value” for those three, given their costs, is astronomical.

Oh yeah, throw in Posada and his final year as a toss-in. Never mind that his own Yankee legacy, though not Jeterrific, is pretty damn impressive.

Bobby Knight to Cox: “I hope this isn’t your last year”

I’m all neilreeded up.

So I’m standing near the batting cage while ago during the Heyward Show (aka batting practice), talking to John Schuerholz, when Bobby Knight ambles past and says hello to the Braves prez on his way to the Braves dugout.

The winningest coach in Div. I college hoops history was wearing a Cardinals cap and Cardinals warmup jacket –- he’s a friend of Cardinals manager Tony La Russa – and headed over to say a few words to the retiring Braves manager.

I eavesdropped on the conversation from 10 feet away.

“Just came to wish you well,” Knight said as Cox rose from the bench to shake hands with the much taller Knight. “I hope it isn’t your last year. I hope they offer you so much money that you have to come back.

“I’ve always been a great fan. I asked Tony if he thought you’d mind if I came over to say hello.”

The two late-60-something Bobbys talked for about 10 minutes, Knight asking about the Braves and mentioning to Cox some of La Russa’s thoughts about his Cardinals and what he liked about the team.

“But he doesn’t have any left-handed starters,” Knight said.

“Neither do we,” Cox said.