Friday Morning Closer

Here is my five-pitch outing for the day:

The Gonzo Situation

Many people give Mark Cuban hell for speaking his mind.

In my mind, Diamondback Ken Kendrick should get more criticisms for violating one of the cardinal rules in baseball.

Don’t #### off your franchise player.

Luis Gonzalez is still awaiting a personal apology from Kendrick, after the managing general partner inadvertently linked the star left fielder to su####ions of past steroids use during a conversation last week with Arizona Republic columnist E.J. Montini.  Kendrick addressed the team as a whole back in Phoenix before Thursday’s game against the visiting Giants, telling the group he was sorry for any embarrassment his words may have caused.  But Gonzalez has since indicated he would have preferred an explanation and apology to his face.  Gonzalez’s former agent, Jeff Moorad, doesn’t escape the scrutiny either, especially now that Moorad is a general partner in charge of baseball operations for the club.

In my opinion, the Arizona ownership needs to kiss as much #### as possible to please Gonzo. 

The long-term impact of this could be fan backlash against ownership, which would hurt ticket sales and other revenues that are in or around the ballpark.  Gonzalez is enormously popular and has the support of the fans, especially when Gonzalez could have easily left the team instead of staying in Arizona.  And with Gonzalez in his walk year, this could be a factor in Gonzalez’s decision on whether or not to re-up and retire with the team. 

And not only would this result in further fan backlash, but it would hurt the Diamondbacks both on and off the field.  First, Gonzalez still has a potent bat and offense is one of the things that is keeping the Snake sin contention.  Second, a ownership group that has little respect for it’s players hurts their reputation in the free agent market, causing some players to look elsewhere when they are looking for a home.  And that’s not a good thing for a team that needs pitching.

Just one more thing to lay on the feet of Jason Grimsley.

Matsui Could Be Back…Key Word Is Could.

Kaz Matsui, who was dealt earlier from the New York Mets to the Colorado Rockies, then sent to the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, has thus far played in six games for the Triple-A Sky Sox hitting .364 with eight hits in 22 at-bats, including a double, with four runs scored, and he drove in his first run with a single in Sunday's 8-1 loss to Tucson.  While his offensive numbers are impressive, his deense has been less than impressive, as he has also committed three errors.

Many in the Rockies organization attribute this to Matsui’s limited playing time and his transition to second base.  Also helping his cause has been Matsui’s new determination to return to the Major Leagues and live up to the great fanfare that came when Matsui arrived to New York from the Seibu Lions of the Japanese Pacific League, where he was an all-star seven times and compiled a lifetime batting average of .309.

The pressure should also be off of him now that he’s in the relatively easy going clubhouse of the Rockies, but more importantly, the media circus that surrounded is arrival to New York and chronicled his failures will also be history.  With that #### off his back (a #### roughly the size of King Kong), Matsui should loosen up and could do very well.  Still, all of this is hypothetical. Matsui needs to do most of the work on his own.  If he’s successful, Ma tsui would easily rank as one of the best mid-season pickups by any team due to the fact that he cost virtually nothing.  And that would be important in possibly him extracting a long term contract team from the Rockies.

It Still Counts!!!

Apparently, winning the All-Star Game will still be worth something.  The owners and the players agreed Tuesday to extent the agreement that the World Series Home Field Advantage will again go to the league that wins. 

Am I down with this?

Sure am.

While I do think home field advantage should be granted to the team with the best record, I do like this experiment of making the All-Star game more interesting.  Things have gotten better now that there is actually something on the line in the All-Star game.  I see no reason why to change it, so let’s keep it going.

John Smoltz Available?

John Smoltz's recent comments were blown out of proportion perhaps, but the possibility remains that the Braves, out of the race and in need of bolstering a farm system that lacks great talent at the very top, could trade their veteran starting pitching this summer.  He makes $6MM this year and has an $8MM club option for next year, a very club friendly deal.  He’s also 39, but has post-season experience and electric stuff.  With that in mind, Smoltz is a very attractive option for a contender.

As a side benefit, the Braves also have other options available at the starter.  If they deal Smoltz, they would still have Tim Hudson and Mike Hampton, and Kyle Davies, Chuck James, and Anthony Lerew or Jorge Sosa or Horacio Ramirez.  It would still be a very competitive rotation, though there are intangibles with Hampton’s Tommy John surgery at this stage of his career and depending on a bunch of youngsters.  But at the very least, the Braves have nothing to lose.

If Smotlz were traded, the contenders that I could see getting him would be the Tigers, Rangers, and Red Sox, all of whom have deep farm systems to make a deal if necessary.  But the fact that complicates matters is that Smoltz, along with Chipper Jones, is the Braves and has been the one lasting thread that’s lasted through the ages.  And if the Braves were to trade him, it would probably mark the end of an era.  And though Smoltz said he’d try to return to Atlanta to finish his career if he was traded, in today’s free agent market, it’s not a guarantee.

One place that he will not end up is the Mets, despite Tom Glavine’s wishes.  The fact of the matter remains that the Mets used up most of their valuable trade chips in the off-season in the deals that brought Carlos Delgado, the bullpen, Paul Lo Duca and Xavier Nady to New York.  At this point, the Mets are going to need what few prospects they have in order to groom new heirs to the throne.  Plus, really, do you think that the Braves would trade Smoltz within the division?

I didn’t think so either.

The End Of Tiger Stadium

Tiger Stadium will be demolished to make way for homes and stores under a plan that will save parts of the historic baseball venue.  A portion of the field, including the diamond, will be kept as a Little League diamond along with part of the stadium.  The decision to demolish the stadium follows years of intense efforts to find a developer who would refurbish it or convert it to other uses. It has been largely vacant since the Detroit Tigers moved out in 1999 in favor of the new downtown Comerica Park. 

It’s sad to see another one of the classic baseball stadiums go.  Hell, Tiger Stadium is probably one of the most beloved stadiums by the fans.  It was second to last stadium to put in lights for nighttime baseball, home of Babe Rut’s 700^th career home run, the stadium where Lou Gehrig finally ended his consecutive game streak, ending it at 2,130, and home of the 1941, 1951, and 1971 All-Star Games.  Tiger Stadium was also in several films, Raging Bull and 61* being the most notable.

What’s happened in our culture, where we decide that a part of our history is no longer worth keeping around in favor of installing more housing and more commercialization.  What’s happened in our culture where places of our youth, places of our history, places of ourselves are deemed to be an obsolete, because the structure sits on prime land.

More important, what’s happened to us?

Can anyone tell me?

Email is on the side.  I’m suddenly feeling very down…

Thoughs on the Kaz Matsui trade to the Rockies

The Mets erased one of their free agent mistakes when they sent Kazuo Matsui, the first foreign pro to flop in Major League Baseball, to the Rockies with cash for utilityman Eli Marrero.  Matsui, a star in Japan, has not been able to handle the transition into the American Game and because of that, he wasn't able to reach his potential with the Mets.

That doesn't mean that he might not be bad for the Rockies.  In fact, this deal has a lot of upside, much like the Byung Hyung Kim deal did when the Rockies picked him off the Red Sox last year.

Matsui would greatly benefit from playing in Coors Field, a hitters paradise and would be away from the intense media microscope that is New York.  Here, he has the time to be able to work on his improvement and not let the relentless pressure of the Mets hammer away at him, causing him to regress further.

Matusi was optioned to Triple A Colorado Springs, where he will probably not only spend some time working on his swing and his confidence, but also work on returning to his natural psotion: shortstop.  It's been widely speculated that the Rockies were interested in Matsui to play shortstop, where he would hopefully be an upgrade over the maddenly inconsistent Clint Barmes.

If Matsui can get it together down in a limited stay in Triple A, then this deal will come up roses for the Rockies.  If not, they they took a chance on a nearly paid for player and came up empty.  No harm, no foul.

As for the Mets, they add some bench depth with Marrero.  He hasn't battled all that well this season, though his line of .217 with four homers and 10 RBIs is certainly better than what they got with Matsui.  The real value in Marrero is that he can player right field, left field, first base and catcher.  It also means that the Mets will no longer be obliged to play Matsui and will now have a pretty good tandem of Chris Woodward and Jose Valentin.

Well, have a good weekend all and talk to you guys on Monday.