A return to school and an increased workload at work due to sick leave has cut into my blogging time.  Not cool.

Ah well, time for a collective group of thoughts about baseball.

Scott Rolen and Troy Glaus Traded For Each Other

Kinda a odd deal, considering that both are high priced deals with huge landmines attached to them (Health) but overall the deal does work to the favor of each team in one way or another.

WIth Rolen, the Blue Jays gain a Gold Glove defender at third base, which would help compensate for the lead glove of David Eckstein, at the cost of some offense.  However, Eckstein is better than the shuffle at short the Jays had and there is the off chance that Rolen can prove himself to be semi-adequate with the bat.  More than anything, however, the Jays need some type of return from Vernon Wells, who disappointed last season after signing for superstar money with the Jays. 

In Glaus, the Cardinals get a big bat that is needed to help bolster the offense, which is, to be frank, pathetic outside of Pujols.  More than anything, however, the Cardinals needed to diffuse the situation between Tony LaRussa and Rolen, which was made all but irreparable after LaRussa poured gas on that particular fire this off-season.  The signing of Cesar Izturis does help improve the defense enough where the Cardinals can suffer through Glaus' hands of stone, and the move to natural grass and away from Toronto's turf should prove to be beneficial in the long run for Glaus.

All in all, it's a good gamble for both sides, but more importantly, it clears up some potential locker room disaster that would have exploded during the season had either player remained with their former teams.

Grade For Both Sides:  B

Thoughts On The Kotsay Trade

I was going to rant about how the Braves should have just offered Andruw Jones arbitration, keeping him around for one more year, as he would have accepted, and keeping the offense together.

Instead, they pull this trade.

To be honest, I gotta give Billy Beane all the credit in the world on this one, as I think Kotsay is done.  He's not the defender he once was and in terms of offense, he's not going to give you much in return.  In all honesty, the Braves would have been better off just giving the job to Josh Anderson for the season and just gone with it from there.  At least he's mostly paid for.

Oh wait.  Oakland got two prospects, one of which, Joey Devine, the Braves' first round pick from two years ago, will likely help out Oakland in the bullpen this season.  And they also got Jamie RIchmond, a right hander that could be a fifth starter.  That's quite a haul for a broken player.

Anyhow, that's my take on that.

Oakland Grade - B

Atlanta Grade - D

Lost A Bet

To my friend, who's an Astros fan, on the Cowboy Game on Sunday.

So, expect the first (and only) Astros Report sometime this week.

Ugh...

The problems with rushing draft picks, Southside Eckstein, Pods Back On The Market, and the Price On Dontrelle Willis.

The Problems With Rushing Draft Picks

One of the things that I’m noticing in recent years is the rushing of draft picks.

Usually, this is done with relievers, who are viewed to be almost ready made, a practice that has gone back since the Nationals brought up Chad Cordero months after being drafted.  However, this practice is taking it's toll on the prospects, mostly because teams feel that these college kids should be ready to start immediately.

This has recently been found out the hard way by the Detroit Tigers, who are now paying the price of rushing Andrew Miller, who has been awful his last few starts.  The warning signs were there with Miller, who has walked more batters than he struck out and was regarded to be still raw coming out of college.

A better example would be Craig Hansen and Joey Devine, two players selected in the 2005 draft that were called up to the Majors quickly.  Too quickly.

Devine was destroyed in limited time with the Braves and only recently has begun to show signs of coming out of his shellacking.  Hansen isn't as fortunate and is in danger of possibly being dealt or cut by the Red Sox, who made the mistake of calling him up too soon.

Often times Clubs will be a bit overdependant on their system to provide them with help in their hours of need, oftentimes too soon for the kids to do much good.

And often times, those kids may never recover.

So, let it be a lesson, even a cautionary tale, of why sometimes you might need to look elsewhere rather than within, less you render your own internal asset useless for the rest of the future.

Eckstein Southside?  Sounds Like A Disaster.

According to Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times, shortstop David Eckstein has become the top off-season target of the White Sox, who are now tired of Juan Uribe’s lack of production (is it possible to be out hit by Adam Kennedy?  It’s starting to look like it.) 

I’m not sure if that’s a great idea, even if the shortstop market is looking dismal.  Eckstein will be 33 heading into next season, and he’s begun to break down, with more and more time on the DL due to injuries.  Big money would be a mistake, especially when you consider that Eckstein lacks lower and as a leadoff man is very depended on slapping the ball and hoping his speed will let him beat it out.  That’s not going to last much longer, especially as he begins to lose speed next year.

Another nugget to consider is that Eckstein may be classified as a Type A Free Agent, and would warrent the White Sox surrendering their Second Round Pick, something that the Whtie Sox may give pause to, especially as they begin what is likely a rebuilding process that will require all the high picks it needs.

The White Sox, really, should begin to look around at the various farm systems in the league (Kenny Williams has scouted several systems and knows the prospects he wants from each one religiously) to see if there is any way to net a shortstop prospect that is near ready, but blocked.  A young player would be much better as it would give the White Sox payroll flexability and the potential to groom another face of the franchise around them.

Pods Back On The Market

Scott Podsednik is going to be available soon.

The White Sox have begun playing Josh Fields in left field.  This likely means that

Joe Crede will be brought back for his final season.

Podsednik is out of a job, as the White Sox have fallen in love with Darin Erstad (big mistake) as their fourth outfielder.

Does Pods have any value?

Some, but not enough to start him.  He'd make a decent fourth outfielder on a team that has several established ones and he's got the speed to be a decent pinch runner.  With his stock down, his price will be cheap as well.

Pods has really had only one good year, but beyond that, he's prett y much useless as a starter.

And to think, I got the most hate mail over my view of Pods as a backup.

Heh.

The Price On Dontrelle

Dontrelle Willis has had a difficult season in Florida, and with his price increase coming in arbitration, followed by Miguel Cabera's impending raise, Willis could finally be out there for the taking.

The Marlins have kinda messed up this situation a bit, as Willis was at the peak of his value last off-season and would have netted a nice haul.  However, Willis has lost some of his luster and teams may be less willing to give up the farm for him.

However, there still will be a great deal of suitors, as Willis is a power pitching lefty on the right side of 30 and has a reputation for being a horse as well as an innings eater.  Someone will bite.

The Marlins have indicated that they want pitching and catching in return in exchange for Willis.  Is there a match?

Somewhat.

The Mariners have catching prospect Jeff Clement to offer up and potentially Wladmir Baltentin, a centerfielder, that they could offer back, but no real pitching of consequnce.

The Mets could offer up an outfield prospect and potenitlally Philip Humber and Mike Pelfrey, but no real catching prospects exist in that organization.

The Rangers could offer back Gerald Laird, who has been displaced by Saltalamacchia, but the Marlins would demand Salty instead, along with top prospect Eric Hurley, a package that would scare off the Rangers.

The Yankees will likely be mentioned, but will only offer up end of the rotation starters such as Tyler Clippard and Jeff Marquez, while the Marlins would demand either Ian Kennedy or Joba Chamberlain.

The Dodgers could be interested, but their only real prospect of value of Clayton Kershaw and he's untouchable.

Perhaps the Rockies and Diamondbacks, teams in need of starting pitching, could make an offer with some of their depth of positional prospects, but no pitching options are available to make a fit possible.

The Marlins are thus in a touchy spot.  They could let Willis leave after this year and reap the two comp draft picks, but if he's signed by a crappy team, all they'll get is a second rounder and a sandiwch pick.  If they trade him, they'll want to get what Willis was worth last season, and not what he's worth then.

So, it's going to be interesting to see how the Marlins operate this, to put it lightly, delicate situation when they've handled so many of their public relations issues with bazookas.