Around the horn
Weaver Watch
I know, I know. After getting my reply from Rob Neyer and my report that the deal with the Angels was a fait accompli, you thought you were finished reading my unhealthy obsession with Jeff Weaver. As it turns out, he’s “holding out”:
According to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News, the Angels have increased their offer to Weaver to a one-year deal with an option for a second year. The newspaper speculates the pitcher likely will command about $9 million per season.
Today is the Angels’ deadline, and the LA Times claims that Weaver has been “courted by several teams, including the Rangers and Cleveland Indians” (but not Cardinals).
[update: Okay, it's over. No more Weaver Watch. I promise.]
Rising: Larry Bigbie
Foxsports.com’s fantasy writer Mike Harmon names Larry Bigbie as one of the Cardinals whose stock is rising, noting that “he’s shown power potential in the past and will fit in well with the Cardinals.” I take it he means that Bigbie would be a good sleeper pick and not necessarily someone you want to draft ahead of, say, Miguel Cabrera.
Speaking of sleeper picks, TSN’s Rob Hurtt considers David Eckstein an “underrated threat.”
Survey Says: Carpenter
ESPN has a fun little poll on Team USA and the WBC. Most poll questions that ask voters to predict outcomes are lame, but I occasionally like to see “preference” questions, like “Which pitcher not on the final roster would you have most liked to see in the WBC?” (With 6400 votes cast, here’s a midday update):
- 36.8% Chris Carpenter
- 20.6% Roy Halladay
- 18.6% Tim Hudson
- 13.0% Andy Pettitte
- 11.1% Dan Haren
Mad props to Carp, for whom it’s good to see some national fan recognition. Earlier in the day, Haren was actually ahead of both Pettitte and Halladay, with around 4500 votes cast. Not too shabby for a guy has played one full season and toils in a relatively low-profile market. Just imagine if they included the Dutch vote…
Maybe that MLB Drug Policy is working
Sammy Sosa is evidently mulling retirement, rather than “humiliate himself to keep playing,” according to a source. That Sosa would look at his options in this false dichotomy shows what kind of a player he is: There are countless examples of players — even former stars (see Rickey Henderson) — who suck it up and sign a minor-league deal (and actually play in the minors) in an effort to prove themselves back on the major-league stage (the Chicago Tribune’s Phil Rogers has another option). When you stink as badly as Sosa did in 2005, you have to figure that a minor-league deal is the best option you have (right, Jose Lima?)
Sosa is either too proud to put his legacy and the few fans he has left above his ego, or he — not being anywhere close to the same player he once was, for whatever reason — knows that he really would humiliate himself by playing. Either way, retirement is probably best for him and for baseball. If his 2005 numbers — and his congressional “testimony” are any indication, perhaps MLB’s new drug policy is actually having some effect, after all.*
On the other hand, perhaps Sammy has a right to be insulted by the Nationals’ non-guaranteed, one-year pact for $500,000. After all, they did pay shortstop Cristian Guzman $4.2 million last year to put up similar numbers:
| G | AB | R | HR | RBI | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | |
| Guzman | 142 | 456 | 39 | 4 | 31 | .219 | .260 | .314 | .574 |
| Sosa | 102 | 380 | 39 | 14 | 45 | .221 | .295 | .376 | .671 |
Can Sammy play shortstop?
*As for the possibility of him subjugating himself to the WBC’s drug testing, Sosa is on the Dominican Republic’s preliminary roster although he did not fill out the letter of intent to participate in the World Baseball Classic.
As others see us
Add OnMilwaukee.com’s Tim Gutowski to the list of pundits picking the Cardinals to repeat in 2006:
Plus, 3B Scott Rolen should be healthy this year, which is bad news for division foes. Encarnacion was solid in Florida last year (.287 BA, 16 HR, 76 RBI) and figures to post big numbers for the Cards. St. Louis probably won’t run away from the division as they have the past two years, but they appear primed to three-peat.
Is anyone not picking St. Louis to win the Central this year?
As others see themselves
For anyone who questioned Cardinal ownership this offseason, I invite you to read this dose of reality, compliments of Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle. Justice makes an excellent point that applies to the Cardinals as much as to the Astros:
If a team is good enough to make the postseason tournament, it’s good enough to win a championship. If the Marlins and Diamondbacks can win one, then the Astros certainly can. That they haven’t doesn’t reveal a flaw in their thinking.
Add that to TLR’s recent comment — “I don’t see anybody that’s got a better chance than we do, and that’s enough for now” — and we can begin to see how the Moneyball tenet that “playoff results are essentially random because of a small sample size” impacts the way teams are built.
Oh, and the Cardinals are “the logical favorites”
At present, Sox, ‘Stros not built to succeed – ESPN headline
Celestial messengers unchanged after thousands of years
Angels essentially the same, even the name - AP headline
Probably because he counts arbitration decisions in his win-loss record
Lohse beats Twins in arbitration for second straight year – AP headline
Last Call
The Cardinal bloggers fantasy league has one more opening left in its 16-team league. Jump in — the draft is next Monday!
Eckstein with the pile-driver!
If you thought the idea of Albert Pujols playing football was scary, consider this possible two-sport athletic fantasy: David Eckstein as wrestler. Like Pujols, Eck was merely a spectator at a quasi-sports event, NWA World Heavyweight Championship Match.
The article mentions that “Eckstein is a lifelong wrestling fan who admitted that he travels with wrestling DVDs.” I guess that’s better than traveling with a full-time nurse or even a “security” detail.