Wednesday, January 12, 2005
The Central's A Little Less Exciting
So, as everyone knows, Carlos Beltran is out of the Central. I do feel sorry for the Astros. They've lost Kent, Miller, Beltran, and most likely Clemens. And we thought Renteria screwed the Cardinals! I did really enjoy watching Beltran and Albert try to one-up each other last October.
(Translated from the Spanish)
"I had a first inning homerun."
"Yeah, me too."
"I slid head first into first base on an infield hit."
"But I beat you to the bag."
"Eight home runs."
"24 hits."
"Walk, stolen base, move up on a sacrifice, score on the error."
"Game 7: tying RBI, winning run."
"..."
"Well?"
"Mets."
"You're no fun."
I, along with most of the population, just don't understand how Beltran is getting $119 million. I guess stolen bases are more valuable than I thought. I know some of his stats are a function of playing for a bad Kansas City team, but for his career: .284/.353/.490. If there were any money in it, Scott Boras would make a great politician; he knows how to spin.
---
It looks like the Baby Bears are stuck with Sammy. Remember how Nomar pouted in Boston at the beginning of 2004? Sosa's going to put him to shame. He knows the team wants to get rid of him and the fans are tired of the 0-fers. But who knows? Maybe Zambrano drilled him a couple times this winter and set him straight. Sosa could actually stand in the batter's box during his at-bats (rather than the on-deck circle) and be good again.
I don't want to anger the Baseball Gods, but...even if (and it's a big if) the Cubs' rotation can stay healthy, I don't think they'll be very good. They have no closer, they lost Alou's bat. Yes, Garciaparra's going to be there the whole year, but their fifth starter is Glendon Rusch.
(Translated from the Spanish)
"I had a first inning homerun."
"Yeah, me too."
"I slid head first into first base on an infield hit."
"But I beat you to the bag."
"Eight home runs."
"24 hits."
"Walk, stolen base, move up on a sacrifice, score on the error."
"Game 7: tying RBI, winning run."
"..."
"Well?"
"Mets."
"You're no fun."
I, along with most of the population, just don't understand how Beltran is getting $119 million. I guess stolen bases are more valuable than I thought. I know some of his stats are a function of playing for a bad Kansas City team, but for his career: .284/.353/.490. If there were any money in it, Scott Boras would make a great politician; he knows how to spin.
---
It looks like the Baby Bears are stuck with Sammy. Remember how Nomar pouted in Boston at the beginning of 2004? Sosa's going to put him to shame. He knows the team wants to get rid of him and the fans are tired of the 0-fers. But who knows? Maybe Zambrano drilled him a couple times this winter and set him straight. Sosa could actually stand in the batter's box during his at-bats (rather than the on-deck circle) and be good again.
I don't want to anger the Baseball Gods, but...even if (and it's a big if) the Cubs' rotation can stay healthy, I don't think they'll be very good. They have no closer, they lost Alou's bat. Yes, Garciaparra's going to be there the whole year, but their fifth starter is Glendon Rusch.
