Sele signs
Check it out here, and elsewhere.
It’s not a big signing, so I’ll save the 1,000 word essay for something else. Sele hasn’t been effective in a long time– the last time he posted a good strikeout rate was 2000. That’s a long way from today. He just doesn’t have the stuff any more. I think the injuries have clearly taken him down. Disturbingly for the “innings eater” label, he had problems with “shoulder fatigue” and “dead arm” last year, which is never good.
I don’t see a lot of upside here, and if they’re bringing in guys to challenge Franklin for the 5th starter job, I’d rather see them take bizarre gambles on… Steve Sparks, say, a knuckleballer who might do well in Safeco (who knows?). Someone who might turn out to be a significant upgrade on Franklin if it works out.
Dave adds: I really like the Reichert signing, and think this is a great example of that. Reichert is every bit as good as Franklin and could be an effective swing man for nothing. It’s a pretty good group of NRI’s, much better than what Gillick usually brought in.
New comment spam deterrent implemented
You may not have seen it, but we’ve been getting slammed by a new wave of difficult-to-defeat comment spammers. They’re leaving innocous comments and then linking in the text and using the URL field to point somewhere that offers some… product that has to be spammed, I guess. They’re coming from many different IPs, probably on end user hacked PCs, so it’s been hard to stop with filtering or my secret anti-spamminator technology, which relies on knowing that.
So anyway, I’ve implemented a tweak courtesy of one Dave Pease that should entirely knock out automated comment spammers and huuuuuuuuuuugely reduce the amount of time we spend keeping the comments clean.
Bad part is, it requires an extra keystroke/mouse move for every comment submission. Compared to the burden of registration, it’s no big deal, but I wanted to point it out.
Also, I know we’ve been having sporadic site outages — can’t connect, database didn’t serve a page up. Apologies, as always. I’m still working on finding better hosting.
Anyway, back to the grind.
[update: I want to also say that if this proves effective, I plan to scale back some of the back-end restrictions that result in moderation for many AOL users]
Easterbrook’s eye-roller
Today’s Tuesday Morning Quarterback contains this lovely tidbit
In the National Football League, which elaborately tests for steroids and many other drugs, including many supplements. NFL players get their physiques the old-fashioned way. Those who get their physiques through chemical shortcuts may end up with long-term health consequences — Major League Baseball better have a good health-insurance plan for retirees, because there are going to be some very sick former players.
I should put a [sic] in there for the first part, but anyway.
I used to read Easterbrook regularly. I’ve read his books. But many of the things that turned me off to his stuff come forth here. You can find other people harping on his poor fact-checking elsewhere, and his run in with ESPN over some bizarre things he said about some Jewish guys got more attention than it probably deserved, so — I’ll skip those.
This statement of his is the most close-minded, simplistic thing I’ve ever read from him. I’ve endured his derisive comments about baseball before, but this — this is too much. This opinion defies logic.
If you believe that there are MLB players are on steroids, say on the basis of the leaked evidence in the BALCO case — then you should recognize Bill Romanowski was one of those named.
If you believe that MLB players are on steroids because you’re suspicious of their body types and performances, then how can you look at football players and not have those same thoughts? Does Easterbrook really believe that none of those NFL players takes steroids? That they’re all on Carnation Instant Breakfast, which he recommends in this column? That alllllll those 300-lb guys who run a 40-yard dash in under 5 seconds do so on extra-hearty soup and a good workout regimen?
And if he believes that, why not give baseball players the same benefit of the doubt?
Villone signs
Throwing good money after bad, the M’s gave Ron Villone a two year contract worth $4.2 million today.
Say hello to Shigetoshi Hasegawa, part deux.
Benji Gil
The Mariners signed veteran UT Benji Gil to a minor league contract with the NRI tag, which means he’ll be headed to spring training with everyone else, but won’t be on the 40-man for now. Gil’s a lot like Bloomquist, actually, except older — he’ll be 32 this season, doesn’t hit much at all, can play the infield positions decently. He’s not a good glove, though, so you’re giving up offense and defense for versatility.
Last year he spent a little time in the minors, started the year with the rockies, got released, signed with Chicago to play in Iowa (AAA) and then ended in July the Cubs released him and he played a little with Toledo (also AAA). He didn’t hit in either of those places either.
While a strong spring training might win him the veteran UT spot on the team, even I’m going to say they’re likely to be better off with Bloomquist. I’d say it’d be worth it to end the Bloomquist fixation, but with the ex-Angel former World Series champion aura, I’m afraid Gil addiction would be even worse for the team.
Cool Bryan Price article
Submitted first by long-absent super-reader Aditya Sood:
“How I learned to pitch“. It’s an interesting read, worth checking out.
Comment comments
Top 5 non-link-spammers, discovered while hunting down link spammers early this morning.
(tie) Mr. Corcoran & myself, both with 546 comments
eponymous coward, 410
Dave, 409
Evan, 334
HM: Jim Thomsen, 324
Just thought that was funny
Historical tidbit for Jan 13
I believe this was the June 20th, 1886 game between Detroit and Chicago. I found this cool for a couple reasons. From the Sporting News account, which quickly gets into
… the manifest unfairness of Umpire Gaffney, particularly in the last game of the series. His fining of Anson was unjustifiable. He imposed the first fine, $10, before the big Captain was half way in from first base, and he raised it fifty before Anson had time to open his mouth. Directly the Captain started talking Gaffney went fifty better.
How crazy is that they could levy fines like that? But it gets better. The writer speculated about whether or not the umpire was affected by “the good feeling which Gaffney received at the expense of the admirers of the Detroit club” (I have no idea what that means, but from the rest of the article it sounds like Gaffney stayed in Detroit during the season, lodged by team supporters) and by accepting a flower boquet given to him before the game.
Anson refused to pay, saying “Not I, not a dollar, not a penny. If Gaffney does not remit the fines I’ll have him fired, or my name’s not Anson.”
And the other players complain that he’s for Detroit and the fans cheer for him (“Every time Gaffney came on the grounds the crowd cheered him until the windows rattled a half-mile away. He’s for them every time and they know it, too”).
So you get umpires with the power to fine players random amounts of money, allegations of bribery or at best partisanship, the threat of firing an ump if he doesn’t relent from his fines — and it’s all in the game story. They wrote about this stuff. Also on that front page is a story about the court troubles of some players accused of throwing games, and a notice that “An individual named A. Markworth has been obtaining certain goods about town on the statement that he is an employee of the SPORTING NEWS. Markworth is a forger and beat, and has no connection with this paper whatsoever.”
Really, though, $110 was a huge amount of money to a player in 1886. I’m surprised Anson didn’t beat the guy up on the spot and incite a riot.
MLB new drug policy
Details on ESPN, elsewhere.
Highlights include a suspension for first time offenders, random repeat testing (so it’s not one test and that’s it for the year), expansion of banned drugs, and whatnot.
I have to applaud, again, MLB and the union for their reasonable, rational approach to this problem. I know from the polls that the majority of people disagree with me, but both sides have approached this even in the face of government threats and public cry looking to strike a reasonable and workable agreement. Given the contentious history between these two, this is cause for hope for the next CBA negotiations.
And yet, I wonder if even this is going to be enough. People who believe that baseball is riddled with steroids and that it has destroyed the game, are they going to be satisfied with anything short of lifetime bans for first-time offenders? Can a reasonable, mutually-agreeable approach to working on this issue ever placate the irrational gut repulsion some feel about the whole issue?
This is good news.
[comments off, based on historical precedents]
Mike Cameron
So I haven’t posted yet this year, mostly because Dave and Derek have covered it all, but also because there just hasn’t been that much to talk about. KJR (local sportsradio, for those of you who might be out of the area) was all abuzz today, however, with talk of Cameron making his way back to Seattle. The host in question was sure to point out that it was just idle speculation on his part, not any sort of even decent rumor.
Cameron makes ~$14M over the next two seasons, and I’d take him back in a heartbeat. Rather than focus on the things he can’t do, as people have done the last two years or so, look at what he can do: play a tremendous defensive center field, take walks, steal bases at a good clip, and hit for power. Even injured and appearing in only 140 games last season, he managed 30 homers; nearly 54% of his hits went for extra bases, and Shea plays as a pretty solid pitchers’ park.
With Beltre and (gulp) Sexson on board, Cameron wouldn’t need to be the third-best hitter on the team. You hit him sixth, maybe seventh, something in there, he plays good defense and whatever offense you get is gravy. Sure, he “strikes out too much,” whatever. He also will hit one out now and then.
Look, I don’t think he’s coming back, because there’s still the matter of Randy Winn and the $14M owed Cameron. Might be worth seeing what the Mets would want, though; perhaps even Winn, for left, with Beltran in center and Cliff Floyd sliding over to right. If there was money to offer Odalis Perez, there’s money for Mike Cameron.