Monday, January 31, 2005

Sunday, January 30, 2005

Saturday, January 29, 2005

According to the Baltimore Sun, Chicago Cubs outfielder Sammy Sosa will be traded to the Baltimore Orioles for infielder Jerry Hairston and minor leaguers, second baseman Mike Fontenot and pitcher David Crouthers. Sosa would take over in RF and move Jay Gibbons to 1B where he can hopefully be decent defensively. Brian Roberts gets a lot of job security.

I'm not a huge fan of this move if it involves giving a contract extension to Sosa. I have no problem with the minor leaguers given up as they don't look like anything special. I hate to see Hairston go but since the O's wouldn't play him at 2B, where he belongs, and he gets hurt all the time, I can live with it.

I don't have a problem with this move if Sosa is a one year rental. He'll bring some more fans to Camden and maybe the O's can even flip him to a contender later in the season to get prospects. That would be a wise move.

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Jerry Crasnick on the deal.
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Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Tuesday, January 25, 2005

My first fantasy baseball article of the year is live at Creativesports. It's a column for people that play in single universe leagues using only AL players. Check it out if you have a chance and please provide any feedback. Cheers!
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Monday, January 24, 2005

Sunday, January 23, 2005

Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Baseball America - Ask BA The new Ask BA has an interesting list of the 20 players have gone to the major leagues without stopping in the minors.
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Tuesday, January 18, 2005

I'm a fantasy baseball fan and I also do some writing in this area. So, I need to do a little shameless self-promotion. The Creativesports 2005 Fantasy Baseball Draft Kit is now available for pre-order. It's cheap at only $9.99 and there will be an update in mid-March (try getting that from a magazine). I wrote some of the player profiles for this kit and I will be writing an AL Only Fantasy Baseball Column for Creativesports starting sometime in the coming months. I'll be sure to post links here once I've started.
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Monday, January 17, 2005

Friday, January 14, 2005

I posted a link to Baseball Notebook's Top AL Pitching Prospects a few days ago. BN has prospect lists that compare with no one else. Sometimes David Luciani is way off (as anyone who scouts prospects can be) but other times he unearth's prospects that no one else has heard of yet (such as Jason Kubel a few years ago showing up in his top five overall when no one else had him in their top 100 or Dontrelle Willis making his top ten when he was still pitching at Single-A). So, with that intro let's take a look at the O's prospects on this year's list (number is their rank on the Baseball Notebook Top 100 AL Pitching Prospects List; all profiles are written by yours truely):

32. JACOBO SEQUEA (DOB 8/31/81) - Sequea was 3-5 with 27 saves, a 2.63 ERA and a 53/25 K/BB in 65 1/3 innings at Double-A last season. He'll likely start this year at Triple-A and looks like he could be a decent relief prospect. He might even have a chance to emerge from spring training with a bullpen spot. I asked a question about Sequea in a Baseball America chat this winter and was told by BA's Will Lingo that Sequea "is better suited to a set-up role than closing in the big leagues, though, because his fastball isn't overpowering. He doesn't have a power arm but he misses bats. His best attributes are his slider and his command."

33. SCOTT RICE (DOB 9/21/81) - Rice, a first round pick in the 1999 draft, had failed to impress until a move to the bullpen in 2003 where he was impressive at both Low and High A ball. Rice was solid but unspectacular this past year. His 61/40 K/BB isn't going to get it done in the majors. I'd like to see his minor league splits because he was a starter and a reliever last season but I can't find them anywhere. My guess is that his best bet to get to the majors will be as a lefty reliever.

40. JOHN MAINE (DOB 5/8/81) - Maine, who will be 24 this season, made his debut with the O's last season. While that outing didn't go so well he did seem to find his groove at Triple-A after a rough start. His 105/52 K/BB leaves something to be desired but his 7.9 K/9 in 119 2/3 innings at Triple-A Ottowa shows promise. It wouldn't be suprising to see him win a rotation spot out of spring training but he would likely be better off starting the year at Triple-A. If he starts strong there he'll be the first to replace an injured or ineffective starter on the major league club.

42. ZACHARY DIXON (DOB 11/29/80) - Dixon was a 22nd Round pick out of Texas A&M in 2003. He did most of his work at Low A Delmarva last season where he went 9-4 with a 2.54 ERA, a 105/65 K/BB and 97 hits allowed in 120 2/3 innings (7.8 K/9). You'd like to see better control but the K/9 numbers make it look like he could at least have a future in the bullpen. He could be looking at a cup of coffee in September with a solid 2005 season.

71. FREDY DEZA (DOB 12/11/82) - Deza, 22, originally signed with the O's in 1999 as a 16-year-old out of the Dominican Republic. He went 8-11 with a 3.31 ERA, a 93/21 K/BB and 102 hits allowed in 119 2/3 innings (7.0 K/9 & 1.6 BB/9 - great command) at Low A Delmarva last season. In August, he received a promotion to High A Fredrick where he got hit a bit but still managed to sport a solid K/BB of 20/2 in 25 2/3 innings. His best pitch is a fastball but he also has a good slider and change-up. This is a big year for Fredy as he should be moving through Double-A at this age if we are to consider him a real prospect.
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Thursday, January 13, 2005

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Baseball America has an interesting discussion on the Stats vs Tools Debate with Gary Hughes, Eddie Bane, Gary Huckabay and Voros McCracken. Read it.
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Tuesday, January 11, 2005

O's: Nats Impacting Their Offseason Plans (washingtonpost.com)

For the first time, the Baltimore Orioles publicly admitted Washington's baseball franchise has forced them to reevaluate their offseason plans.

Hoping to land a premier starting pitcher and a middle-of-the-lineup bat through free agency or a trade, Orioles Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Jim Beattie said the uncertainty of the financial effect the Nationals will have on the Orioles has caused the franchise to be outbid for players. Without an agreement with MLB on a compensation package, the Orioles are unsure how much they can spend
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Tuesday, January 04, 2005

From the Free Articles at Baseball Prospectus: Prospectus Triple Play: Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, New York Mets

Also, this will be my last post for about a week as I am off to London for a vacation.
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Monday, January 03, 2005

It appears the big deal is finished. Now we'll see if the O's really have a chance to get into the Vazquez sweeps.

Diamondbacks managing partner Ken Kendrick brushed aside rumors that the Diamondbacks were looking to trade Vazquez, who returns to the National League, where he was most successful as a member of the Montreal Expos.

"Our view of Vazquez is we're delighted to have him on the team," Kendrick said.

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Sunday, January 02, 2005

Saturday, January 01, 2005