Philadelphia Phillies Acquire Lidge For Who??

Brad Lidge has not recovered from that big home run that Pujols hit off him. His stock has dropped to astronomically low levels but I still believed he would fetch more then he did already.

Lidge was traded with Eric Bruntlett for Michael Bourn, Geoff Geary, and Mike Costanzo.

Let's look at what Philadelphia gets. Lidge is coming off a season where he had a 3.36 ERA with a K rate of 11.8. His WHIP of 1.25 is a lot higher then desired but he seemed to be on track. He has one year at 5.35 million this season and will likely see a pay raise if he has a successful season. Either way he once was one the league's best closers and still probably can provide for Philly. Bruntlett looks like a utility player at best. He's already 29 so I doubt he is worth much.

The Astros get a CFer, a decent prospect and a bullpen arm. Bourn is arguably the key to the deal. He is has speed and will probably feature as a leadoff type guy, like Taveras who they traded away. He did hit .277 and he will likely improve on that but I can't be too excited about Bourn. Geary is a righty-reliever who does not strike out much and had a terrible whip of 1.44. Being 29 I don't think he is worth much. Costanzo is a decent prospect with a TON of power. Hitting .270 but also striking out 157 times going forward, there are some question marks but will likely at least be a left-handed bat off the bench if not a starter.

I believe the Phillies won this trade easily. They didn't give up much to improve their ball club. I certainly expected a bigger haul to trade Lidge. I would've expected at least a better prospect or another prospect... We'll see how this one pans out since Lidge is a risk. Trading Wheeler looks even more stupid.

Is Instant Replay Finally Here in Baseball?

I have always personally asked, what was so special about baseball that they did not want instant replay and technology as part of their game?

Some argued that if they add one small thing, why not have a computer dictate the strike zone?

In the end it's about getting the calls right regardless of what sport you're in. I have experience in refereeing (albeit on a volunteer level) as does a friend in umpiring. We know that some calls are just impossible and some of the calls are just so close if you blink you missed it.

Instant Replay has not been officially added to MLB but generally managers did resounding approve it 25-5 for home run calls. This is a GREAT step forward to getting the call right. I think we may still have controversy as sports always do but that's unavoidable.

I probably would institute the challenge option for plays at 1st base, it would reduce the amount of possible hostility between players and managers. It seems like home run balls most of the umpires seem to get it right anyway (to my surprise).

Either way, I've always been a fan of getting the call right. It's a shame for a team to lose on a botched call.

History is Not in Favor of Joe Girardi

Joe Girardi did an excellent job with the Florida Marlins, they were a mess this year and that could be him riding the young arms too much or him knowing how to handle them. Being a catcher I think it's the latter but Girardi is following one of the greatest manager's ever, can he live up to it?

If history is any indication, definitely not in 2008. With the help of Baseball Reference, I looked at recent moves where a manager left a team despite making the playoffs. This could be for any reason, whether it's a personal resignation, firing etc. I am going to look at success as improving their standing in the playoffs. Most managers are fired due to not winning the big one after years of playoff success.

Failures with Managerial Changes:

Baltimore Orioles - Davey Johnson replaced by Ray Miller in 1998. Johnson led team to divisional series, Ray Miller finished 4th in the division and Baltimore has been looking for a manager since then.

Cinncinati Reds - Davey Johnson(again) replaced by Ray Knight in 1996. Last year they made the playoffs? With Johnson.

Cleveland Indians - Charlie Manuel replaced Mike Hargrove in 2000 to miss the playoffs. Cleveland would make the playoffs again in 2001 but it helped kick start the rebuilding of the Indians.

Houston Astros - Larry Dierker replaced by Jimmy Williams in 2002. Astros failed to make to the playoffs until Williams was replaced by Phil Garner.

Oakland Athletics -actually successful too. Replaced Ken Macha with Bob Green. Finishing out of the playoffs this year. Ken Macha did replace Art Howe successfully.

San Diego Padres - Bud Black replaced Bruce Bochy for this season and just missed the playoffs after winning their division for two straight seasons.

San Francisco Giants - Felipe Alou replacing Dusty Baker. Baker brought the Giants to within one game of winning the world series but left to manage Chicago. Alou actually improved on the season winning 100 games but bowed out in the divisional series. Since it's all been downhill with SF being bottom dwellers.

Toronto Blue Jays - Bobby Cox was replaced by Jimmy Williams. Williams makes his 2nd appearance here luckily for us he was replaced by Cito Gaston.


Successful Managerial Changes
Boston Red Sox - Replacing Grady Little with Terry Francona in 2004 - got over the curse against the Yankees and the rest is history.

New York Yankees - Joe Torre replacing Buck Showalter. We know how this one ends.

As it stands it's 8 to 2 for a team to actually improve this standing by making a managerial move after the team has made it to October. Torre and Francona seem to be exceptions to the rule and likely going to be hailed as HoF managers. Girardi? Eh.....Wouldn't bet on it.

Detroit Tigers Acquire Renteria for Two Prospects

The Detroit Tigers made a big splash yesterday to kick off the off-season with a big trade. The trade was Edgar Renteria from the Atlanta Braves for Jair Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernandez.

Edgar Renteria has 2 years and 20 million left on his contract (last year is a club option) and Renteria provides league average defense with an excellent bat. This is regarded as a hole for Detroit as they moved Carlos Guillen to 1st base.

Jurrjens doesn't look like an a future ace but looks like a solid starter based on his stats and peripherals. He throws between 90-93 but the main issue for him is health (like a lot of prospects). Pitching is a need for Atlanta so I like this move.

Gorkys Hernandez is said to have star potential as he has put up some nice numbers at the lower levels of the minors. He's entering his age 20 season so he has a lot of time to be groomed.

I like this trade for Atlanta. They bought low on Renteria for Andy Marte who is going through his struggles and sold high on him. For Marte, Atlanta got two very excellent prospects that will look to contribute on the ML team in the future and in Jurrjens case 2008. This trade does fill a need for both team as Detroit had a "hole" in the SS stop.

But here is where I feel they are losing. Technically they didn't have a hole until management decided that Carlos Guillen was a better fit at 1B. Guillen instead of being a top SS with his bat is now a league average 1B. So theoretically they should keep Guillen at SS and acquire a bigger hitting 1st basemen. So yeah sure Renteria fills a "need" a self-imposed need that doesn't look good in the long run giving up two prospects. As for Renteria expect him to struggle a little bit with the bat, he is on the wrong side of 30 and his OPS has been above his career average the past two seasons.

Who Will Win the World Series?

I can't make an unbiased pick. I have to choose the Colorado Rockies. Why? Well I hate the Boston Red Sox.

Here is my reasoning to seem "unbiased".

1. Can Boston win at a higher altitude at Coors field?
Measuring how teams simply just suck when they go to Coors (especially pitchers) this home field type of advantage may loom very large. Add the fact if Boston loses one of their first two games, they will have 3 games in a row where the series may never return to Boston.

2. Managerial advantage: Clint Hurdle vs. Terry Francona
Hurdle has seemed to be making all the right decisions. From pulling his pitcher early when seeing an opportunity with 2 outs to start a run he made a BALLSY move. Francona on the other hand has had some heroic pitching performances. He FINALLY removed Crisp from the lineup but about time eh? The way the bullpen has been used has been at head scratcher at times. He sure didn't do Eric Gagne any favors by pulling him out early and Javier Lopez doing a disaster of a job. Gagne deserves some blame but now all of Boston doesn't trust him to pitch in a close game. Way to give your players confidence.

3.Keys to the 21 out of 22 run
One of the important things in both the playoffs and regular season that Colorado has displayed in the big games was their ability to win the close games or win by coming from behind. It's not the actual run that I'm looking at. Winning streaks are overrated because it can easily go the other way. It's just that their players have rose the occasion when it was needed.

With Boston it feels like they are killing their opponents in the game they win but losing on the games that feel close.

We'll see how I do. But I definitely have a good reason to pick the Rockies. Go Jeff Francis

MLB Championship Series Predictions

First off, I am glad the Yankees are out! Woot one less enemy, now time for Cleveland to help out a Jays fan again. I am hoping the Yankees fire Torre and lose A-rod because that means the Yankees are going to suck :P.

Anyway getting off topic, let's go with picks.

Cleveland Indians vs. Boston Red Sox
Winner: Cleveland in 7 games.
Analysis: This should be a great series. You have great pitchers on both sides each with the propensity to get blown out (Shilling, Sabathia, Byrd, Dice-K). The hitters should prove to be exciting though I would give a slight edge to Boston as they are betting clutch players. I like Cleveland's group of 4 solid pitchers and I think this one is a toss up. Some games will be of the edge of the seat variety others will be blow outs. Go Tribe!

Arizona Diamondbacks vs. Colorado Rockies
Winner: Colorado in 6.
Analysis: Arizona proved most people wrong by easily beating the Cubs. This one should be a great battle. I do give a lot of points for Arizona beating Colorado in their biggest game of the season but the Rockies are in a Cinderella type of story and I don't want to pick against it. I have give the edge of pitching and hitting to Colorado.

Minor League Splits Ripped Me OFF! Boycott Jeff Sackmann!

Earlier this year, in February and March I decided to sponsor some of my favorite Blue Jay Prospects which linked to this site.

The prospects I sponsored for Minor League Splits -MinorLeagueSplits.com (not deserving of a link) were Travis Snider, Curtis Thigpen, Ricky Romero and Brandon Magee. Each were highly rated entering the season and I figured other Blue Jay fans would stumble across my site.

Recently a topic has come up where we wanted to sponsor Blue Jays to promote out site Bluebird Banter from the income we have generated. Suggesting that I have already sponsored some members of the Blue Jays it would be a good idea to include them.

However, I found out the sponsorships were REMOVED without notice. I have no idea how long they were removed for but the term of the sponsorship was supposed to be a full year and I am obviously screwed out of my money. Whether it is $20 or not MinorLeagueSplits.com doesn't deserve another dime from anyone.

I had contacted owner of MinorLeagueSplits, Jeff Sackmann where he is refusing to respond. I indeed know that he is capable of answering his e-mail as he updates for the Milwaukee Brewers's Brew Crew Ball a sister site of Bluebird Banter (that I write for) on SB Nation. I have yet to try this e-mail but I already tried his main email so I've done what I can.

You can also do me a favor and BOYCOTT Jeff Sackmann and Minor League Splits or help spread the word. I had a lot of respect for him but no longer anymore as I've gotten cheesed.

I understand I may be a smaller blogger here and have less of a pull among the internet but who gives a shit? I was screwed and I have a right to be pissed!

Edit: He found this post and did give me a refund. I asked him if he would like me to take down this post but he's a jerk. Saying this "poorly reflects on me". Right.

MLB Divsional Series Playoff Predictions

Last year, my predictions for the MLB playoffs SUCKED. I did horrible and I believe I read into it and trusted "authority" figures and yeah so that's where I faulted.

I am going to do it round by round because I don't want to make a fool out of myself (cheating in a way).
One thing I did learn: momentum is OVERRATED. Doesn't matter who's September was better it's a meaningless measurement.

Colorado Rockies vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Winner: Colorado Rockies
I can't pick against a fellow Canadian in Jeff Francis. I also believe the Rockies are clutch which is needed in the playoffs. They proved while being down in the 13th inning they could come back regardless of who is pitching. I don't want to take the Rockies based on their momentum but I believe their team is good enough. I don't like Philadelphia's rotation.

Chicago Cubs vs Arizona Diamondbacks
Winner: Chicago Cubs
I just don't believe the rest of the rotation of Arizona has much of a chance. The first game of the series is probably the most important as Webb NEEDS to win or else Arizona is in trouble. This is more of a lesson like last year with the Twins and Santana. Doug David...doesn't impress me.

New York Yankees vs Cleveland Indians
Winner: Cleveland
This has come down to pitching once again. The Indians have a great rotation that they can rely on deep into games. Carmona has been awesome as well. I really think some of the bats who have struggled during the season can break out. As much as I doubt Wang, he does struggle from time to time and when he does it's huge. Otherwise it's basically a toss u for me.

LAA vs Boston Red Sox
Winner: Boston Red Sox
No real logic put in here. Kind of a guess and I'm on the fence on this one. I don't know LAA well enough.

Heartbreak for Mets Fans

Right now I would hate to be a Mets fan. My condolences to Hugo of Bluebird Banter who has taken a charge of the Bluebird Banter website and made it successful. He is a Met fan first and foremost. Not sure if he will see this but I definitely don't want to remind him. This downright BLOWS.

I probably would be in tears if my favorite team had a historic collapse due the emotional rollcoaster that the Mets have put their fans through. After first losing a 7 game division lead and giving up the lead only to come back and tie up the Phillies heading into yesterday's game.

The sad thing is that they controlled their own destiny and all they had to do was win against the Marlins and then pull out a win against the Phillies. They failed and while it's historic and all, it's times like these when your loyalty is tested.

Congratulations to the Phillies and the only reason why the Mets fans get my sympathy is because they aren't Yankee fans!!!

Have You Voted on 756?

Marc Ecko is crazy but who am I say? Ecko a popular fashion designer who spent a little bit over $750,000 on Barry Bond's 756th home run ball. What has he planned to do with it?

Well he is letting baseball fans vote on what to do it on his website Vote756.com. There are 3 options, give it to the hall of fame and bestow it, brand it with an asterisk and then donate it to the hall of fame or three send it to space.

Voting ends on September 25th. I've personally voted to asterisk it because that's the only real entertaining way.

It's a nice thing Ecko is doing for the fans simply because he can (he is a millionaire). I really didn't realize who he was until I slipped on one of my ecko shirts and made the connection....

SF Giants Used Bonds for Homerun Record

It was announced yesterday on Barry Bond's website that Bonds would not be returning to the San Francisco Giants.

This comes to me as no surprise. Why? Because I believed the Giants only wanted Bonds to get that elusive home run record. Now that he has had the record, they want nothing to do with him and his "baggage". Granted they shouldn't go with Bonds as they are going with a much needed youth movement.

It's clear they used him to be that team Bonds got the record with. Isn't that unfair to Bonds that the Giants used him despite all the hate towards BB?

Ottawa Lynx Leaving Doesn't Bode Well for Canada

Sunday usually isn't an eventful day but it time to do a rant.

Specifically about our progress in the sport of baseball. The Ottawa Lynx played their last game against the Syracuse Chiefs fittingly which was the Toronto Blue Jay's AAA Affiliate.

Basically in Canadian baseball terms, there is no longer any team above the A ball minor league level other then the Toronto Blue Jays.

This is terrible news for Canada as a whole. While it's great we have a major league team we did lose the Expos a few years ago. A lot of our major leaguers come from all over the country.

I am not sure how interest in baseball will continue since baseball probably takes a back burner to sports like hockey, basketball and football.

Baseball will ultimately not progress in Canada due to the lack of exposure in the smaller areas of our country and Toronto being so far away.

We will still have talent displayed with some upcoming young Canadian talent but when we have very few Canadians from 10-15 years in the majors we can look at this event as the reason as why.

Glaus Implicated with Steroids

Troy Glaus just went down a few notches in respect with me when a Sports Illustrated source leaked out information that Troy Glaus received steroids from 2003 to 2004.

This is huge news surrounding the Toronto Blue Jays and Hugo from Bluebird Banter dedicated a very long post to Glaus situation.

On the steroids situation, I do condone the use of it to heal injuries. Glaus was indeed injured around the time the steroids were purchased but it no way did he need to buy steroids from one of those phony clinics.

The main issue here is that Glaus, violated the MLB drug policy and should be suspended on review.

Despite not physically testing positive or actually catching him with the steroids, his name will always be tarnished from this point on.

Glaus seems to have benefited from the use of steroids. After the 2004 season he signed a 4 year 45 million salary. He certainly has lost my respect despite my ease on the stance of steroids (he did cheat under MLB rules).

Clay Bucholz Another Young Pitcher in the AL East

The AL East has seen a face lift when it comes to pitching. Out go the veterans in come the young guns. Generally I have known this would happen as the Yankees and Red Sox had much better farm systems then the Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays started the youth movement a lot earlier with the addition of Marcum, McGowan and Litsch into the rotation. While most of these guys were not considered top prospects they were very underrated.

The Yankees probably had the best outlook at the start of the season with top pitching prospect in all of baseball Phil Hughes. They also had Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy who were absolutely killing the minors. The reason Cashman deserved his job still was his rebuilding of the farm team and it has paid off for this season.

The Red Sox have their own top prospects but have been the slowest to get them going. Mainly because they have been so good that they didn't need any young pitchers to step up. They got Jon Lester back, they have Bowden and Hansen still in the minors. Buchholz may have proved he is here to stay as doing it in your second start is simply magical.

Having one of these guys pull a no hitter shouldn't even be a surprise. Phil Hughes had a no hitter before pulling his hamstring. Marcum was pulled after the 6th inning due to being on a pitching count after having a no hitter. Marcum also took a no hitter in the 7th before succumbing to a calf injury.

I am very jealous that the Yankees and Red Sox had top prospects but I know the Jays did alright.

Esteban Loiaza claimed by LA Dodgers

Esteban Loaiza currently has 1 million this year left on his contract and he gets 7 million next year.

Basically Oakland dumps this salary on Los Angeles. I like this move a lot by Oakland as they were selling high on Loaiza after his continued dominance against the Blue Jays. Loaiza shouldn't be worth anything since he was injured all year but LA bit on him.

Loaiza may end up being a useful piece in the NL but I don't think he'll be that good nor healthy enough to warrant taking $8 million. He definitely won't do as well as his flashes of "brilliance" against the Blue Jays.

Looking at the Wily Mo Pena Trade

Wily-Mo Pena was traded to the Washington Nationals in a 3-way trade. He was eating pine all season but he is just 25 years of age and has a lot of potential.

The Red Sox didn't need a guy like Pena and certainly gave up on him as there was no spots for him on the major league roster with Manny in left. The Sox got back prospect Chris Carter from Arizona. Carter was blocked by Conor Jackson and probably didn't have a future with Arizona. He was rated as a C+ prospect by John Sickels. From his statistics he has done well at all levels hitting .312 in his minor league career. He will definitely get a chance to play in the majors in this year or next as he is currently hitting the cover off the ball in AAA.

It's hard to review this trade for Arizona but they may get a reliever.

The Nationals get a 25-year old player who has been in the majors since he was 21. All he needs is playing time and from what I've seen, he has a nice power bat but he shouldn't be playing CF like he was in Boston. If he plays LF I expect him to be a very good major leaguer. He looks like he was rushed from the minors to the majors but every time he sent back to AAA, he hits well so I hope he does well with Washington who is stockpiling talent.

Great trade for Washington, not a bad trade for Boston who gets a decent prospect but not sure how well they would benefit. I like these low-risk high reward trades by these MLB rebuilding teams. Even if it doesn't work out it doesn't hurt to try.

Rick Ankiel - Hollywood story?

Rick Ankiel has made his return to the majors recently and has been on fire. He had a 2 home-run night in his 3rd game and his is getting media attention.

If you remember him he was Baseball America’s #1 prospect and in 2000 he had a very fine rookie season at age 21. After control problems he could never repeat the success of his rookie season and he was even released. Due to his problems as a pitcher, he decided to become an outfielder and it looks like a great move. This season in AAA he hit 31 home runs to a .270 line. He looks like a power hitter who may hit for a low average but chicks dig the longball and everyone will love him. I am rooting for him big time and it’s such a great story that he has worked so hard to get back to the majors. He probably just loves the game of baseball for trying so hard.

Is this a Hollywood story? You could easily make it into one with his struggles, being released to doing something special even if he doesn’t end up being too good in the majors. This story would make a great movie and wouldn’t you want to watch it?

Rick Ankiel from young 21 year old touted as the “next one” to sucking and then even being released then changing positions and where everyone doubted him to major leaguer again. He has my respect.

Looking at the Kyle Davies for Dotel Trade

The Braves traded for more bullpen help at the trade deadline in the name Octavio Dotel for struggling youngster Kyle Davies. I promise this to be the last trade deadline analysis and I expect to move back to hockey and basketball. I hope that there is more news upcoming so I don’t run out of things to blog!

The Royals acquired Octavio Dotel by signing him to a 1 year deal with 5 million and a player option worth 5.5 million. Everyone figured they would use Dotel at the trading deadline and they did so. For the Royals to receive anybody seems like a win as they acquired a commodity for nothing. Davies was an absolute stud in the minor leagues with a career ERA of 2.94. However, he had hit a wall upon entering the majors. He is still just 23 years old but it’s a huge question mark if he can fulfill his perceived promise. Possibly sending him down to AAA to work on his repertoire or his control may be wise for the Royals.

With Dotel, he is a very good reliever but I am sure he is good as a setup guy for Wickman. He has so far struggled for Atlanta and while statistically he looks great on paper I just have a feeling he will struggle. It was a good move on Atlanta’s part as they attempt to improve their team anyway anyhow but I am not sure how effective it will be in the end.

Bonds Finally Hits 756

Now we can move onto another subject in sports.

I don't really like record following such a distraction to the important things about a game. Yep it is an important record but I don't care and people can shut up how they hate him so much.

I need studying to do so nothing special today.

Pittsburgh Pirates trade for Matt Morris, WTF?!

The Pirates made an eyebrow-raising move by acquiring veteran starting pitcher Matt Morris for Rajai David and a player to be named later.

Pittsburgh has an opening day payroll of $38.5 million so for them to acquire a player who is being paid $9.5 million this year is almost laughable. Why couldn’t they spend their money wiser? Matt Morris is not going to help sell more tickets and salary is only a number. People only care if you win and the Pirates have not been doing that.

They are probably the worst team to root for as they don’t have much of a farm team (unwillingness to spend) , they haven’t made the playoffs in ages, they aren’t winning and they don’t seem to have a future. Their ownership group only cares about making money and they have literally traded away stars like Aramis Ramirez for nothing just to save a dollar. With this move they aren’t even going to win more games but also they are probably saving less money. I have no idea what Pittsburgh is thinking. I would hate to live in Pittsburgh right now that’s for sure.

Rajai Davis isn’t bad for a salary dump as he’ll be a 4th outfielder at best who can hit for average but not much power. I feel really sorry for Pittsburgh fans because the ownership group in Pittsburgh = retarded and I’d probably die from a high blood pressure if I grew up in that area.