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Spring Snapshot: Cincinnati eyes end of playoff drought [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 12, 2010, 4:17 pm] Every day in spring training until we're finished with the entire league, Big League Stew takes a brief capsule look at each team that we visit in Florida and Arizona. Today we look at the Cincinnati Reds, who are aiming for their first NL Central title since 1995. CINCINNATI REDS'09 RECORD: 78-84, 4th in NL Central BIG ACQUISITIONS: Perhaps you heard about the Reds shocking the baseball world to sign Cuban pitching prospect Aroldis Chapman(notes) for $30 million? ... Less heralded was giving Orlando Cabrera(notes) his 34th home in the past seven years, but the shortstop should improve the Reds up the middle. BIG DEPARTURES: Are we counting Willy Taveras(notes)? No? Well, then Walt Jocketty's core remained pretty much intact for what it hopes will be a run for a division title in 2010. FIVE QUESTIONS TO ASK ABOUT THE REDS: 1. Will Joey Votto(notes) become the best first baseman in the division not named Pujols or Fielder? With Derrek Lee(notes) and Lance Berkman(notes) getting another year older, there's a good chance. Despite battling depression following his father's death, Votto put up great numbers — .322/.414/.567 with 25 homers and 84 RBI — in 130 games for the Reds. The 26-year-old is the main cog in the Reds' offense and an increase in numbers during his third full season would place him among the league's most elite hitters. 2. Can Scott Rolen(notes) stay healthy the entire season? Despite looking more like a seller than a buyer, Jocketty acquired his old third baseman from St. Louis near the trading deadline and then crowed on how Rolen's leadership was going to help a young squad in 2010. That's a fine plan, but Rolen has missed at least 30 games in four of the last five seasons and will turn 35 years old a few days before the season opener. Ken Griffey has made it fashionable to be a cheerleading veteran, but the Reds will also need Rolen to stay on the field and produce if they want the ultimate playoff payoff.&n Stew Book Review: 'But Didn't We Have Fun?' [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 12, 2010, 2:50 pm] But Didn't We Have Fun?: An Informal History of Baseball's Pioneer Era, 1843-1870By Peter Morris"But Didn't We Have Fun?" combines terrific archival history with indifferent presentation. It's a nice airplane read for someone interested in baseball's roots, but nothing more than that. It's a shame, because the material is rich and the author is well-suited to tell the story. Peter Morris is one of the preeminent baseball historians in the country — he was an inaugural laureate of the Society for American Baseball Research's Henry Chadwick Award, along with Bill James, Pete Palmer, and SABR founder Bob Davids. But his book is saddled with a bizarre thesis: 19th-century baseball players founded and shaped the modern game, he argues, for no other reason than that they wanted to have fun. "Fun" provides the book's entire structure, and it's right there in the title, but it's hard to understand quite why he thought that was the most penetrating insight to illuminate the old game. Baseball is a game. Of course it's fun.I came to the book as a lay reader, not at all versed in baseball's prehistory (except for that old Conan O'Brien clip about 1864 baseball), so while I didn't know anything about the historians who may have argued that old baseball players didn't have fun, I learned a great deal about the old game. Money has been a tension in baseball from its beginnings. Many people know that the first baseball club was probably the New York Knickerbockers, whose official rules became adopted by clubs across the country in the 1850's. (Among other things, the Knickerbocker rules specified that players had to be either "members" or "gentlemen.") Morris makes great use of the recollections of the players of that era, from diaries, memoirs, and newspaper stories. The first baseball clubs were, quite literally, gentlemen's clubs that decided to play pickup games every now and then. Many of the players had as much interest in banqu ModernTube: Dexter Fowler teaches Todd Helton about Twitter [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 12, 2010, 1:44 pm] The Colorado Rockies are always among the teams that release a great annual crop of commercials and they've just released the newest batch for the 2010 season.The most topical of the ads is Todd Helton's(notes) Twitter lesson as taught by the much younger Dexter Fowler(notes). I lurve the idea of players checking the local beat writer's Twitter account for the lineup instead of walking across the clubhouse to see it posted on the wall.But considering that Dexter Fowler isn't even on Twitter — at least not to my knowledge — I have to crown the ad featuring Eric Young Sr. and Eric Young Jr. as the best of the bunch. Maybe the presence of Boo-boo and Wooby will help Junior stick in the bigs this year. Desert Drive: Peace, ballplayers and music at Peavy's 'Woodjock' [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 12, 2010, 12:37 pm] Stew lieutenant David Brown is visiting Arizona and his swing took him to an unusual forum on Thursday night — a concert performed by several desert-dwelling ballplayers Greetings rock fans! When a reporter asked Barry Zito(notes) on Thursday night about what it's like being famous, the richest San Francisco Giant somehow delivered a believable answer without conceit."People think I'm cool, people want to hang out with me," Zito said. Yes, but is that because he's a major leaguer or a budding John Mayer? Maybe the answer is both. Instead of organizing a celebrity golf outing, Chicago White Sox righty Jake Peavy(notes) chose to put on a charity benefit concert in Scottsdale with major leaguers as the performers.Peavy called it "Woodjock" and it featured himself, Zito, Bernie Williams(notes), Bronson Arroyo(notes) (above) and others who are ballplayers first and musicians second. Usually. I headed over to the event not only because of the unintentional comedy alerts or for such offenses such as Gordon Beckham(notes) singing my favorite song by the Eagles ("Take It Easy") and Aubrey Huff(notes) channeling Johnny Cash for his own purposes ("Ring of Fire").I also went because, to paraphrase John Candy's "Blues Brothers" character, "I wanna hear if these boys can sing." Perhaps surprisingly, I found, for the most part, that yes, they can. And they can play, too. Here are some photo highlights (with a promise of video to come): • Brandon Medders(notes), a reliever for the San Francisco Giants, stole the show by playing the opening to "Sweet Child of Mine" by Guns N' Roses with his guitar behind his head. As you can see in the photo above, the dude can pick an ax. "I've been practicing a lot," he told us and it was readily apparent. • Bernie Williams, as you might know, is a classically trained guitarist. Not only did he sit in on most of the sets, he It's time to queue up a fresh set of questions for Tim Lincecum [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 12, 2010, 10:55 am] I saw the Andrew Baggarly blog post that reported Tim Lincecum(notes) was steamed at a national reporter for asking a set of questions about size. Then I read the Jeff Passan column that talked about Lincecum's size and how he doesn't use questions about his stature as motivations any more. Using my unparalleled powers of deduction, I figured it was probably time to have a talk with Passan about how we don't always remind him of the incredible odds he overcame growing up in Cleveland. And, as such, he could surely see it in his heart to cut The Stew's favorite pitcher a little slack in the future. But Jeff assured me that it was a humor writer from an outlet that rhymes with ESPN and not him who pursued the line of questioning that left Lincecum in a sour mood we're not used to seeing from the Giant.Passy's self-absolution still won't get him out of the head lock I'm planning upon my arrival in Arizona this weekend, but his tangential involvement in what passes for spring training news does raise a good question.Is this the season that Lincecum starts to feel the pressure of expectations and fame? How will he answer the questions that aren't about standing 5-foot-11? As Baggarly notes, it's a little too early to start drawing conclusions from Lincecum's first two spring training starts. Yes, his ERA is 9.82, but he's also "throwing a ton of curveballs and sliders while trying to hone location of them." These are normal March growing pains, though I'm not too proud to use them as an entry point to this discussion. As we can see from Lincecum's reaction to Thursday's question, he no longer wants to be seen as a curiosity that makes for a good odd column. He's earned as much and I think most everyone — emphasis on most — has grown so comfortable with watching his unorthodox frame and windup that such questions are the exception, not the rule. But now Lincecum now finds himself in a place where he's an established and bona fide D12: Webb creeping closer to Opening Day date with the DL [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 12, 2010, 8:58 am] Welcome to 'Duk's Dozen, a streamlined selection of 12 morning-fresh links and items to start your day. It welcomes submissions here or via Twitter. 1. Apparently the towel drill is working as well for Brandon Webb(notes) as it did for Mark Prior. Nick Piecoro reports that it's increasingly likely that Webb will start the season on the disabled list because he's running out of time to log the necessary prep innings in spring training. It'll be a big blow to the D'Backs if Webb's right shoulder continues acting up, though the team can rest a little bit easier knowing that those long-term extension talks never worked out. Arizona Republic 2. The other big DL news on Thursday came when Jose Reyes was told to rest anywhere from two to eight weeks because of his thyroid condition. That leaves the Mets' shortstop position to possibly be filled by Alex Cora(notes), the 34-year-old vet who caused about every Mets fan to grumble when the team signed him to a one-year, $2 million contract. Star-Ledger 3. The Joe Nathan(notes) mourning continues in Minneapolis, where fans are now somehow trying to convince themselves that losing the closer won't affect the team's win totals that much. They base this off Nathan's projected WAR of about 2.0, but I won't be talked into thinking it's more insignificant than we think. For one, Nathan's absence bumps every remaining reliever into a higher position in the bullpen. For two, those two wins in 2009 were absolutely necessary in forcing that one-game playoff with the Tigers. Twinkie Town 4. Back to the Mets for a second: I really enjoyed this article by R.J. Anderson that states his complete inability to trust the team in handling prospect Jenrry Mejia(notes). FanGraphs 5. After a few recent concussions, Francisco Cervelli(notes) has been talked into giving the Great Gazoo helmet that David Wright made famous a spin. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he's the first person to talk about wearing one this sp Griffey Junior still swinging for the fences, but with more comedy [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 11, 2010, 5:44 pm] PEORIA — What's the most fun Ken Griffey ever had on a baseball team?It probably wasn't when he tried out for the fictional Springfield nuclear power plant's softball team on The Simpsons."[Shoot], I must have done 2,000 takes when I did my lines, I was so nervous," Griffey said of the classic episode from — gasp! — 18 years ago.Griffey also remembers doing the Arsenio Hall show right afterward — double gasp! — but he contracted gigantism on The Simpsons thanks to some ill-advised performance-enhancing tonic supplied to him by Mr. Burns. No, not fun at all.It's been a long time since the Simpsons for Griffey, who was in his early 20s when the episode aired. But now that he's 40, he says he feels like "The Kid" again. Myriad injuries and not playing for a consistent winner robbed Griffey of the joy he had for the game. A trade from the Reds to the White Sox during the pennant drive of 2008 reminded Griffey of what things used to be like."It had been a long, long time since I had any fun playing this game," Griffey said. "Way too long. The White Sox gave me an opportunity to chase a dream and win a championship. "This here? This in here is fun, too." What Griffey lacks these days in slugging percentage, he's trying to make up with that vague quality known as leadership ... by using lots of laughs. The question isn't how Griffey fits general manager Jack Zduriencik's plan for the Mariners, but how everyone else fits around Griffey.Even at 40, with a limited ability to play the field and a pattern of dwindling production at bat, Griffey is still the center of the Mariners universe. In the clubhouse and outside in line for sprints earlier this week, Griffey never let up. Players, coaches, reporters ... no one was immune from his playful jabs, taunts and jokes. He can get away with anything, of course. I'm not even sure what he was talking about half of the time, but he was getting laughs and smile Steinbrenner smash! Yankee Stadium grandstand coming down [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 11, 2010, 4:14 pm] Maybe it's because they've been stripping the old place of all sellable trinkets for the last 18 months. Maybe it's because they've already christened the new place with a World Series.Whatever the case, I've been surprised at the relative lack of tears from the nostalgia minded as old Yankee Stadium has been dismantled and demolished since hosting its last game there in Sept. 2008. I definitely expected a lot more poems and paeans like this one — written by yours truly, a non-New Yorker who had only been there twice — last October. Now that they're finally toppling the grandstand in large sections and have set a completion date just four months away, perhaps we'll see more dark prose like the article that Richard Sandomir wrote in the New York Times on Wednesday. If you're up to the taks but need more inspiration, watch some of the most action-packed footage seen at the site below. Or check out Demolition of Yankee Stadium, which has tons of photos like the one above. Or just view this video, which may or may not feature the dude who was also trying to raze the Goonies' neighborhood to build a golf course. Is Evan Longoria 'baseball's most valuable asset'? [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 11, 2010, 3:05 pm] John Romano of the St. Pete Times recently turned in a great debate-worthy column, arguing that Evan Longoria(notes) ranks as 'baseball's most valuable asset.' Romano reached his conclusion on the hometown stud by considering a number of factors beyond performance, including salary, position and off-field marketability. Romano explains his formula further:"There is a difference between saying Longoria is the best player in the game and saying he is the greatest asset. Albert Pujols(notes) is certainly a better hitter than Longoria. But Pujols is six years older, and his salary is 16 times larger. Joe Mauer(notes) is a better hitter and plays a more critical position. But Mauer is in the final year of a contract and about to become the highest-paid catcher in history. Zack Greinke(notes) or Tim Lincecum(notes) might be more valuable today, but pitchers are far more volatile."Romano makes a good case for Longoria and if we're throwing out pitchers because they only go once every five days and are more injury-prone, it's a good choice.Admittedly, it's hard to draw a big distinction between Longoria and the other young players — Justin Upton(notes), Hanley Ramirez(notes), Troy Tulowitzki(notes), etc. — who are still performing on contracts that are relatively club-friendly. But considering that Longoria and Ramirez led that young crop in WAR with 7.2 in 2009, the Rays third baseman is as good a selection as any.Which player would you say is baseball's most valuable asset? BLS H/N: Diamond Hoggers Taiwanese are happy to fill Manny Ramirez's pockets during trip [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 11, 2010, 1:09 pm] Ever wonder how much it might take for Manny Ramirez(notes) to show up at your local ballfield and play a few innings against your neighborhood nine?If this report is accurate, it would be in the area of a cool $170,000. That's the amount a Taiwanese promoter said it's paying Ramirez in appearance and endorsement fees to persuade him to make the current three-game trip to Southeast Asia with some of his Dodger teammates. Not bad work, if you can get it, huh? There might be some critics who think Ramirez should have flown over there for free in the ambassadorial spirit of the trip. But you better believe that everyone reading this post — not to mention the other big Dodger names who begged off to stay behind in Arizona — would have cashed that same check to play against the all-star players from Taiwan.So how can you blame Man-Ram for a profitable quick trip to a land where he's loved? One thing though: Would it kill Manny to put on a smile at the airport? I know Joe Torre is collecting the bonus for James Loney(notes) and Ronnie Belliard(notes) in the form of a nice bouquet, but $170,000 still isn't anything to sneeze at. A big BLS head nod to Dodger Thoughts for the tip. Taiwanese are happy to fill Ramirez's pockets during trip [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 11, 2010, 1:09 pm] Ever wonder how much it might take for Manny Ramirez(notes) to show up at your local ballfield and play a few innings against your neighborhood nine?If this report is accurate, it would be in the area of a cool $170,000. That's the amount a Taiwanese promoter said it's paying Ramirez in appearance and endorsement fees to persuade him to make the current three-game trip to Southeast Asia with some of his Dodger teammates. Not bad work, if you can get it, huh? There might be some critics who think Ramirez should have flown over there for free in the ambassadorial spirit of the trip. But you better believe that everyone reading this post — and the other big Dodger names who begged off to stay behind in Arizona — would have cashed that same check to play against the all-star players from Taiwan.So how can you blame Man-Ram for a profitable quick trip to a land where he's loved?One thing though: Would it kill Manny to put on a smile at the airport? I know Joe Torre is collecting the bonus for James Loney(notes) and Ronnie Belliard(notes) in the form of a nice bouquet, but $170,000 still isn't anything to sneeze at. A big BLS head nod to Dodger Thoughts for the tip. ModernTube: Phils' daddy and daughter return to spotlight [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 11, 2010, 12:30 pm] You remember Steve and Emily Monforto, right? They were the daddy-daughter duo that earned Big League Stew about eleventy billion hits when video of Emily's rejection of her dad's foul ball gift at a Phillies game went viral. They then appeared on various morning shows. Proving that adorable extends the concept of 15 minutes, the Monfortos just made an appearance with Comedy Central's Tosh.0 as part of a series that allows viral video stars to earn "redemption" for their filmed mishaps. While posting this is no endorsement of Tosh's brand of humor — it's an, uh, "acquired taste" — the clip is worth the watch for another dose of Emily. Six months after winning the Internet, she's still the star of the show. A big BLS head nod to Walkoff Walk and The 700 Level for the redirect Jack of all trades: Zduriencik busy turning Mariners into a winner [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 11, 2010, 11:32 am] PEORIA, Ariz. — The preseason praise for Jack Zduriencik continues to come in waves. But instead of being swept up for a ride with the early accolades, the second-year GM of the Seattle Mariners prefers to lay low and duck under the water. His early track record has been oft-repeated in the Mariners season preview. First, the team went from 101 losses in 2008 to 85 victories in 2009, transforming the franchise's personality from surly to sunny along the way. Zduriencik then had a widely-celebrated offseason, adding Chone Figgins(notes) and Cliff Lee(notes) and managing to shed the obscene contract of Carlos Silva(notes) on the Cubs, even though it cost the addition of Milton Bradley(notes) and all he entails."Jack's a genius," many have said.So, how does the genius react to hearing that? "I probably want to go hide," Zduriencik said in a sitdown interview with Big League Stew earlier this week. "I don't see it that way."Zduriencik doesn't buy his hype because all of the positive feedback won't be worth the papers it's printed in if the Mariners don't turn it into action on the field. "It's just all of us working together trying to put our heads together," said Zduriencik (which is pronounced "Zurr-EN-sick.") "I don't think we've done anything to reinvent the wheel. I don't think we've done anything that's earth-shattering. I think we've just tried to be baseball people and make very sound baseball decisions. "And we haven't played a game yet."Zduriencik, who just turned 59, does not lack confidence in his moves because he believes in the staff he assembled. He also believes in his own abilities. And he ought to. In 1978, Zduriencik was a washed-up minor-leaguer — and a utility infielder at that — who never got higher than Class A with the White Sox organization. He was teaching school and coaching in the Pittsburgh area when he approached the scouting director of the Pirates, D12: Don Mattingly says he could be Torre's successor in 2012 [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 11, 2010, 10:29 am] Welcome to 'Duk's Dozen, a streamlined selection of 12 morning-fresh links and items to start your day. It welcomes submissions here or via Twitter. 1. Joe Torre is off spreading good will with Manny Ramirez(notes) on a trip to Taiwan, so that means Don Mattingly is running the Dodgers camp back in Arizona. It could be considered a trial run, too. According to Donnie Baseball, the team has made overtures to him about being promoted from hitting coach and becoming Torre's successor in 2012.Considering the rise of Andre Ethier(notes) and Matt Kemp(notes) the last two seasons, it would appear that Mattingly has been doing a good job in Los Angeles and he's learning managing from one of the best. Remember when it was a shock to see him in anything but pinstripes? AP2. In a similar story, Cal Ripken said he's starting to get the managing itch. That's all well and good, but I'm wondering if the Iron Man is down for putting in the time that Mattingly and Ryne Sandberg have or if he's only interested if he goes straight to the top. Bloomberg3. Terence Moore just noticed that the Dodgers moved from Vero Beach to Glendale a year ago and he's not very happy about it. Fanhouse4. Curtis Granderson(notes) is now carpooling with Alex Rodriguez(notes) and Derek Jeter(notes). NYT5. Given the way Nomar's real Red Sox career ended in 2004, Charles Pierce wasn't buying all the pomp and circumstance we saw on Wednesday in Ft. Myers. Boston Globe 6. I don't think Gene Wojciechowski really told us why Ozzie Guillen is a good manager, but I did enjoy his reported anecdotes from inside Ozzie's office. ESPN 7. If all that financial trouble wasn't enough, Lenny Dykstra is being accused of sexual harassment by his former personal assistant. The Smoking Gun 8. Matt Klaassen argues that you shouldn't factor in Zack Greinke's(notes) past struggles with social anxiety disorder when trying to determine baseball's best pitcher. FanGraphs9. This is cool: Marlins relie Why is this Cuban baseball player chasing another with his bat? [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 11, 2010, 8:21 am] Well, this viral video really got out of hand fast. You might've already seen the above clip of this huge Cuban basebrawl over on Deadspin or on your local morning news show. If you haven't, be prepared to watch a field fight that's destined to be shown alongside Rod Allen's run in Japan for eternity. Not one, but two bats were wielded during the skirmish and I have no idea how another Juan Marichal-Johnny Roseboro incident didn't go down. Most outlets have just shown the video, added a few chuckles and couple of guffaws before making a passing mention that the fight occurred during "some Cuban baseball game." But what really happened? What was the result? The answers are only a search away. According to BaseballDeWorld.com, the brawl took place during a Feb. 28 playoff game between Havana's Industriales and Sancti Spiritus. The gentleman in blue who's charging the mound, bat in hand, is Industriales catcher Lisvan Correa. He's been suspended six months for igniting the whole thing, while the object of his affections — Sancti pitcher Yasniel Sosa — received a ban for his team's next three playoff games. Noted Cuban baseball writer Peter C. Bjarkman explains the situation further:"Brushed back by one ninth-inning pitch and then hit by a second, (Correa) took matters into his own hands by charging the mound and attempting to club (Sosa) with his wooden bat. There have been a number of conflicting accounts detailing what actually transpired during the bench-clearing brawl that followed and eventually required police intervention. Later reports out of Havana suggested that local law officers overreacted and unfairly roughed up several Industriales ballplayers. "Other versions had offending Industriales athletes initially attacking the local police contingent that was struggling to restore on-field order. Details will likely never be entirely sorted out, but there remains little dispute that the unsavory mess wa Location, location, location: Lee likes where he's at with Mariners [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 10, 2010, 8:27 pm] SURPRISE! Ariz. — Cliff Lee(notes) says he already likes it in Seattle and the Mariners season doesn't even start for another 3 1/2 weeks. That's how comfortable Lee appeared Wednesday, both during and after his Catcus League debut.Five days after having an awkward performance in an intrasquad game, Lee pitched free and easy over three innings against the Texas Rangers, allowing a run and five hits with a walk in Seattle's 6-3 victory. Lee threw with midseason precision — 46 pitches, 36 for strikes — and any thought of any discomfort he might have after offseason foot surgery was set aside. Lee did so well spotting his fastball he was able to work on his other pitches, a workout that was not on his original schedule. What's more, Lee seemed happy with his location, as it refers to home plate and home. "It didn't take me long to realize that it's good people here and a good organization," Lee said. "I like where I'm at. It's not a bad thing. It's not a bad thing at all." When the Phillies traded Lee in December, he didn't see it coming, not at all. But Lee's shock has turned to aww. "It's a bunch of good guys here," Lee said. "It's not hard to fit in with this group. It's a lot of good people, from the coaches to the players to the trainers, everything."The management, they've done it right. And it didn't take long to see that. It's a good environment." Is he so comfortable that contract extension talks are underway between his agent and the club? For the moment, they aren't. But could they be? "I don't really want to have to deal with it during the season," Lee said. "That's how I view it." OK, but is Lee open to signing with the Mariners?"If I sign here, great. If that doesn't work out, that's good too," Lee said. "It's a win-win." Near-love can be so confusing.Lee probably hedged a little because he wants to enjoy the freedom, and leverage, of free agency. After Bravo! Jim Hendry tells Milton Bradley to look in the mirror [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 10, 2010, 5:26 pm] This spring, a lot of people have shared the sentiment that the Cubs simply need to move on from last season's Milton Bradley(notes) debacle and not say another word about baseball's angriest cloud.For the most part, I've agreed with that thought. The Cubs have too, with the team uttering the usual clichés about it being a new season and looking ahead. Today I'm changing my tune a bit to say god bless Cubs general manager Jim Hendry for going on a rant of sorts on Wednesday after being asked about Bradley's latest airing of grievances with the Cubs and their legion of fans.In case you missed it, the newest Mariner told ESPN's Colleen Dominguez that he "felt like a prisoner" in his own home while living in Chicago and that he was disappointed that Lou Piniella only apologized personally — not in front of the team or through the media — when the manager called him a "piece of ..." and sent him home early from a game last summer. Bradley also made the implication that some of the hate mail he received may have come from inside the organization and it was that line that appeared to finally get Hendry's goat. Here's what the Hendry said in response to Bradley: "We're all brought up in life to accept responsibility when we fail, and to judge people by how they act and how they carry themselves when things don't go wel. "Obviously (the mail implication) couldn't be farther from the truth. I think maybe it's time Milton looks at himself in the mirror. It is what it is. He just didn't swing the bat. He didn't get the job done. His production, or lack of (production), was the only negative."In a perfect world, Hendry would have told Bradley to grow up before handing him a three-year, $30 million contract. Actually, in a perfect world, he would have told him to grow up before not handing him a contract, but stick with me here ...In short, what Hendry said needed to be said. Someone in baseball need Random photos from the archives: Nomar Garciaparra [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 10, 2010, 2:37 pm] Nomar Garciaparra(notes) went through with his retirement this morning, announcing his new gig with ESPN in the process. To mark the occasion, here's a set of pictures from across his 14-year career, including shots of meetings with noted dignitaries like Tom Brady, President Bush and Joey McIntyre. If you're more into the moving memories, check out the video from Nomar's return to Boston last season. I had forgotten how cool that ovation actually was. After a big 2009, what's next for Washington's Ryan Zimmerman? [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 10, 2010, 1:25 pm] We all have questions about the 2010 season and luckily Alex Remington has some answers. The Stew's resident stats guru will address a few per week as Opening Day approaches. The Situation: Everyone knows that Stephen Strasburg(notes) is the hottest member of the Washington Nationals, but Ryan Zimmerman(notes) put up MVP-type numbers last year, hitting 33 homers with a .292 batting average, winning his first Gold Glove, Silver Slugger, being named to the All-Star team and establishing himself as arguably the best third baseman in the National League. Zimmerman had 7.1 Wins Above Replacement, essentially tied with Tampa Bay 3B Evan Longoria(notes) and far ahead of any other third baseman in baseball. It was the fifth-highest WAR mark in the National League, behind only Albert Pujols(notes), Tim Lincecum(notes), Chase Utley(notes), and Hanley Ramirez(notes). With Chipper Jones'(notes) career in its twilight and the questions surrounding David Wright(notes) in New York, Zimmerman is the surest meal ticket at the hot corner in not only his own division, but also the league. The Question: After a monster 2009, what's next for Ryan Zimmerman? The Analysis: Going forward, Adrian Beltre(notes) is probably the worst-case scenario for Nationals fans to envision. Like Zimmerman, Beltre came up to the majors at a young age and was noted for his defense before his bat really came around. When he was a 25-year-old Dodger, Beltre dwarfed his previous offensive efforts and exploded for 48 homers, a .334 batting average, second place in the MVP and signed a $64 million contract that offseason with the Mariners. Then he went to a tough hitter's park in Safeco Field and he averaged a .266 batting average and 20 homers a year over the balance of the contract. The best case scenario, meanwhile, is probably Philadelphia's Michael Jack Schmidt, who had an OPS+ of 90 at ages 22 and 23, then hit 36 homers and made his first All-Star team at 24.Zimmerman doesn Torii Hunter believes black Latino players are 'impostors' [Yahoo! Sports: Blogs: March 10, 2010, 11:52 am] Along with his ability to hit a baseball and play center field, Torii Hunter(notes) made a big name for himself by being a likable guy and dropping a few jokes and laughs around the ballpark he plays in.But after Hunter's recent comments on race in baseball, his presence may be greeted with a few less smiles.While participating in USA Today's roundtable on the state of baseball, Hunter floated a theory that baseball uses dark-skinned players from countries like the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Venezuela to give an appearance that it has more African-Americans playing the game than it really does.But, Hunter says in a controversial money quote, "they're not us, they're impostors."Here's more from Hunter in the USA Today: "As African-American players, we have a theory that baseball can go get an imitator and pass them off as us," Hunter says. "It's like they had to get some kind of dark faces, so they go to the Dominican or Venezuela because you can get them cheaper. It's like, 'Why should I get this kid from the South Side of Chicago and have Scott Boras represent him and pay him $5 million when you can get a Dominican guy for a bag of chips?' ... I'm telling you, it's sad."Hunter has long been a very vocal advocate of increased African-American participation in baseball and his voice is a valuable one. Normally it is very respected. But as Hardball Talk's Craig Calcaterra astutely points out, this was a terrible and illogical way to advance the fight. Baseball fans, on the whole, want to see the best talent on the field as possible and it doesn't matter to us what color is under the cap. The talent always rises to the top and gets paid accordingly as top African-American players like CC Sabathia(notes), Ryan Howard(notes) and even Hunter himself can attest. And it's that talent that earns big paychecks doled out in the only color that really matters in baseball — green. Twelve of the 25 highest salaries in 2009 |