The Baseball Thread

We're still talking about the Pirates? Guess we better talk about them now since nobody we'll be talking about them by May.

 

It is the same Torres: http://www.baseball-reference.com/t/torresa01.shtml - which speaks to:

1. How crappy the Pirates are that he's their closer
2. How overrated closers are

 

- As has been said, the investment in Matthews is only marginally worse now than when they signed hin. It went from being the second worst move of the off-season to the worst. Congratulations Juan Pierre, you're off the hook.

- I think the Pirates will be bad, but I'd bet it's more the lineup's fault than the rotation. A couple of those young arms (probably Snell & Gorzellany) should get better, and the lineup is really not that good. No matter how bad they are, whoever finishes last in that division will be the last place team closest (or 2nd closest - NL West) to the division leader.

- I think Delgado when he retires will have a better resume for the HOF than McGriff, but unless he is better from here on out than I anticipate, would fall just short in my book. I have no clue what the conventional wisdom will be, as he will be a better candidate than Perez & worse than Bagwell.

- On Delgado, I read the SI article on him recently, and first, I thought it was very oddly written. The passage about the fact that when he smiles you can tell he's smiling because it looks like a smile with a smily face at the end was brutal. You're trying too hard.
Also, while I had no problem with him on the whole GBA thing, and I understand why he feels the way he does, isn't he in a very literal sense anti-American? It seems somewhat disingenuous to say that he's just against the war (though if you want to split hairs, maybe that's what triggered the protest) when he really seems to be against the whole American ball of wax. He wasn't born here & doesn't live here, he's not a traitor or a bad guy, by all accounts it seems I'd enjoy a conversation with him more than most other atheletes, but if we're going to do a story about him, why are we beating around the bush (his father, who he agrees with though not as angrily, hates everything about America...)?

 

First, Delgado certainly has never struck me as a Hall of Famer. I will say, however, that writers covering the Mets tell me he's an outstanding interview and a nice guy.

Does anyone out there give Sammy Sosa a chance to make it?

And what does anyone think of Adam Wainwright as a Cardinals starter this season?

 

That Al Oliver was a hell of a hitter. Didn't get the credit he deserved, playing in the same lineup with Stargell and Dave Parker.

 

I think that Isringhausen will be done by midseason, derailing those plans for a year or two.

 

I think Sosa's chances hinge on Mark McGwire getting in. If McGwire is rebuffed by the voters - then I don't see Sosa getting any love. I think the viewpoint that Sosa made over $123 million over his career plus untold millions in endorsements is reward enough for him without giving him the honor of the Hall of Fame is a very valid viewpoint to hold. Writers kept on saying that it wasn't their job to be the police during the height of the steroids scandal and it certainly wasn't their jobs to dispense huge contracts to players with abnormally huge muscles but they do have the ability to withhold the immorality of the HoF from cheaters - that is their job.

Wainwright will be interesting to watch because of the myth that the Braves don't trade away valuable starting pitchers (Jason Schmidt being the exception that proves the rule). It is interesting that Wainwright is the only player still with the team he was traded to from the big 2003 trade that sent Wainwright, Ray King and Jason Marquis to the St. Louis Cardinals for J.D. Drew and Eli Marrero.

 

I think the viewpoint that Sosa made over $123 million over his career plus untold millions in endorsements is reward enough for him without giving him the honor of the Hall of Fame is a very valid viewpoint to hold.


What does any of that have to do with whether Sosa gets in the Hall of Fame?

 

All year long....PittsburghSportsJournalists.com,baby!

 

Of course spnited the size of a players contract or how much money they have made or make never comes into consideration when fans or writers talk about them. That's why any mention of JD Drew must also mention that his recently signed contract is for $70 million or any mention of Alex Rodriguez must also include reference to his $25 million per year contract.

If Sosa had been signed to a way below market value contract of say $1 million per year - then he would be getting lots of sympathy and probably more votes for the HoF. As it is - he made over $123 million - so the conscious or unconscious feeling is "he already got his."

To deny that the large sums of money players like Sosa, McGwire or Bonds have made by taking steroids plays a role on how they are perceived is to be naive in the extreme.

 

Tigers win another spring game ... this is not good