Thursday, July 17, 2008

Roberts still on trade block

The Baltimore Sun lists the Orioles trade candidates for the rest of the season today, and Brian Roberts' name is still there. Roberts candidacy is attached to several teams from both leagues, including the Brewers, Cardinals, Dodgers, Indians, Mets, Twins, White Sox.

After looking at the list, I think the only team unlikely to make an effort for Roberts is Chicago. Alexei Ramirez has blossomed into an every-day player, and he's holding down second pretty well of late. The only way the White Sox go after Roberts is if they get desperate over their need for a true leadoff man.

The Indians are potentially the most intriguing team in the Roberts sweepstakes. If Cleveland decides this year was a fluke and does not rebuild in the wake of trading CC Sabathia, they've got the prospects to lure Roberts. Cleveland's needed a serviceable second baseman for years, and if they can reacquire Sabathia in the offseason that's a pretty formidable team for 2009. If the Tribe can nab Roberts without giving up Matt LaPorta, things get very interesting for next year.

No more Nomo

Congratulations to Hideo Nomo on his career. Nomo announced his retirement from professional baseball today, which makes sense considering he was no longer effective. Nomo had a pretty good career which included two no-hitters, but his greatest contribution might have come as one of the earliest Japanese players give it a try in MLB. Nomo arrived for the 1995 season and won Rookie of the Year with the Dodgers.

Sexson on Saturday?

According to Ken Rosenthal, the Yankees are close to signing Richie Sexson. Sexson will play first base against lefties, and the Yankees will hope his abilities against southpaws is enough to help them down the stretch. It sounds like his relationship with the Mariners was either strained or odd.
The Mariners released him after he spent time during a game in the bullpen with the team's relievers instead of sitting on the bench.

"Having him sitting in the bullpen didn't help his case any," manager Jim Riggleman told reporters. "The question is, 'Why did he go down there?' It's happened before with other guys, and usually it's just a playful thing. But you have to wonder, didn't he want to be on the bench with us?"
Nonetheless, Sexson is going to have pressure to perform in the Bronx. Sexson hit .344 against lefties this season compared to .178 against righties. The Yankees will face lefty Greg Smith and the Oakland A's on Satuday, so that might be Sexson's first shot with New York.

Playing their own cards

The St. Louis Cardinals continue to alter their approach from the Walt Jocketty days into a new Moneyball-ish era. "Building assets" will be the primary goal of the ballclub in the years that lay ahead.

Olympics might alter MLB season

I thought this news was a few days old when I stumbled on it earlier today, but now I've come across it again from a British source. MLB is considering releasing players from their teams mid-season in future years, hoping it makes the sport relevant again for future Olympic games. The game is going to be left out of the 2012 games due to MLB's previous reluctance to allow players to participate.
MLB vice-president Bob Watson, who also serves as the general manager of the American national team, revealed as part of the American squad announcement on Wednesday that talks are ongoing between MLB, the IOC and International Baseball Federation.

"I believe they are trying to work up something, you have a few years to get a plan. There are a lot of moving parts but don't rule it out," Watson said in a conference call.
The previous article I referred to, however, says baseball is considering an overall work stoppage for future Olympics.
Major League Baseball opened the door to allowing top players to take part in future Olympics on Wednesday and said the league would consider shutting down mid-season if Chicago or Tokyo were selected as host of the 2016 Summer Games.
Hopefully the IOC asks MLB to drop the All-Star game winner decides home-field advantage in the World Series debacle, too.

In all seriousness, though, a work-stoppage would be a better way of going about business than removing the top players in season, and asking their teams to play on without them. If baseball needs to start two weeks earlier in an Olympic year, so be it. Play the early-season games in warm-weather cities or domes, and return the two weeks of road games to the cold weather cities once things warm up.

The new Frontier

The Frontier League gets it. They've gotten it for years, and just like MLB it happened again Wednesday for the independent baseball league; they couldn't complete an All-Star game in nine innings. For the fourth time in seven years, the Frontier League All-Star game was decided by a home run derby. Imagine that. No extra innings, no stretching pitchers beyond their reasonable limits. No squirming from the commissioner's seat.
The Frontier League came up with the concept of a Home Run Derby to decide the All-Star Game after the 2002 MLB game was declared a tie. It also helped to avoid a long extra-inning affair, like Tuesday's version of the midsummer classic ended in 15 innings.

"In a lot of ways, the way it ended was better than winning 2-0 in nine innings," said Kalamazoo's Fran Riordan, manager of the East squad. "The crowd was into it. I've never seen two teams more into a Home Run Derby to decide an All-Star Game.

"It was real exciting and fun to be a part of." The extra swings -- with three hitters representing each side -- were necessary after the West team scored two in the top of the ninth inning off Kalamazoo closer Brandon Parillo.
If the World Cup of soccer can be decided on penalty kicks, then an All-Star exhibition can certainly be decided on a home run derby.

I do, however, want to say that I'm not in any way for the All-Star game determining home-field advantage for the World Series. That is a total farce. The league that wins interleague play should have home-field in the World Series.