Well, this sure surprised me. Jose Vidro just signed a 4-year, $30 million contract extension with Montreal, taking one of ’04-’05’s hottest free-agent commodities off the market. There’s a message here, I think, but I’m not sure what it is. Vidro’s theory? “By signing me, it’s a sign we are going to have a home […]

First of all, all stats ‘n graphs are updated with games through May 14th. Check them out in the Stats section. In keeping with the spirit of Bryan’s and Craig’s All-Star teams, here are my National League nominations, based on total Win Shares per position. C: Estrada/LoDuca (6) 1B: Sean Casey (9) 2B: Mark Loretta […]

I thought Bryan’s idea was really cool (see below), so I decided to copy him. Here’s how I punched out my most recent All-Star Ballot: AL C- Javy Lopez 1B- Jason Giambi 2B- Orlando Hudson 3B- Hank Blalock SS- Miguel Tejada OF- Manny Ramirez OF- Carlos Beltran OF- Vladimir Guerrero DH- Frank Thomas NL C- […]

With Aaron talking about 20% of the season being completed, I thought I’d share the group of players I would currently vote for in the Midsummer Classic. Without comment… AL C- Ivan Rodriguez 1B- Jason Giambi 2B- Brian Roberts SS- Michael Young 3B- Troy Glaus LF- Manny Ramirez CF- Carlos Beltran RF- Vladimir Guerrero NL […]

I’ll wager that no player has ever had a stretch of games with the following batting totals: 20 At-Bats 1 Hit (a double) 12 Walks 1 Strikeout .406 OBP .100 SLG Those are Barry Bonds’s numbers for May so far. After an unbelievable April, Bonds missed a few games with a sinus condition and has […]

Dave Stewart was on ESPN’s “Outside The Lines” last night, implying that wasn’t hired as General Manager of the Blue Jays in 2001 in part because of the color of his skin. Minorities are not equally represented in the ranks of baseball management, largely because of cronyism. Baseball people have tended to go forward with […]

Runs scored compared to runs allowed is a good predictor of a team’s win-loss record. The theory goes that teams can have a run of good or bad luck in close games, and that means that their runs scored and allowed totals are a better reflection of their ability. If that’s true, then it would […]

Graphs and stats were updated this morning, and are current through Sunday’s games. I noticed a few things while pulling the stats together: – You probably know this, but Boston’s pitching has been seriously good. Their team ERA, 3.24, is more than a full run better than the second place team (Anaheim). – The leading […]

James Baldwin’s return to the big leagues was not a good one. He was yanked after after giving up six runs in two innings, including a pair of homers by Luis Gonzalez. Dan Wheeler relieved Baldwin and Gonzalez took him deep too. As I write this, it is the bottom of the fourth and Luis […]

In Bryan’s Comings and Goings column, which he wrote yesterday, he kidded about the Mets recalling James Baldwin from Norfolk. Or maybe he was serious. The Mets recalled Baldwin late yesterday, sending down the younger Tyler Yates. Maybe the Mets want to put all these old pitchers together so they can help each other register […]