Even if Blagojevich hadn’t gotten all extorty with Sam Zell, the state-helping-the-Cubs-with-Wrigley thing would have been sunk by the Tribune’s bankruptcy: Before Gov. Blagojevich’s arrest, his administration and Tribune Co. were discussing a $250 million bond deal for the purchase of Wrigley Field, the chairman of the Illinois Finance Authority said Wednesday. William Brandt Jr., […]

The Daily News has the Yankees trading Melky Cabrera to Milwaukee for Mike Cameron: The Yankees have found their center fielder for 2009, as they are set to send Melky Cabrera to Milwaukee for veteran outfielder Mike Cameron on Thursday, according to two major league sources . . . Many believed Cabrera would be the […]

I was part of a 12-blogger trade late last night involving MVN, FanHouse, and Baseball Prospectus, but someone screwed up the paperwork and I somehow ended up back here. The lesson: people should just try to keep things simple. Colin Wyers wonders whether more actual butts in the seats gives the home team an advantage. […]

This is way too complicated for 5:45 AM: A blockbuster, 12-player, three-team swap Wednesday night landed the Mariners seven players, including strong-armed, fleet-footed center fielder Franklin Gutierrez from the Indians, but it cost Seattle right-handed closer J.J. Putz, who was traded to the Mets . . . . . . Besides Gutierrez, the Mariners received […]

Keith Law is a smart cookie, and today on his personal blog, he made a pretty sharp observation in connection with being admitted to the BBWAA: I am still unclear on why, exactly, I might need to be a member; after conversations with probably a dozen current members, I think the opposite is true – […]

Paul Daugherty has written the kind of column for which I have absolutely no use: Baseball has never been more disconnected. The national pastime has never been less representative of the nation. As agent Scott Boras marshals his small army of colleagues at the baseball winter meetings in Las Vegas, seeking to thin the wallets […]

I hate it when my day job interferes with my social life. Joe Torre seems to be taking it better: For the last 13 years or so, Torre has visited this gambling mecca in early December to play golf and craps and to bet on the horses with his own modern-day Rat Pack. For the […]

And directly on the heels of writing that mondo-long post about silly BBWAA voting, four people who would never employ dumbass reasoning like that are granted admittance to the tribe: Rob Neyer and Keith Law of ESPN.com and Will Carroll and Christina Kahrl of Baseball Prospectus have all been asked to join the BBWAA’s ranks. […]

‘Tis the season for ill-conceived Hall of Fame columns, and today

We’ve all made jokes about the Angels’ name, but I didn’t realize that someone was suing over it: The legal fight over the Angels’ name went into overtime on Tuesday, when a state appellate court said it would delay a scheduled ruling for as long as three weeks . . . . . . By […]