White Sox going shopping on the Far-East Side...

Well I'm back from Christmas holiday after a two week break or so and it appears that some things have happened around MLB, including my last post not happening at all....or is some of it still happening. Well let's start off with the White Sox taking a look at the land of the rising sun to shore up their infield by expressing major interest in 2B Tadahito Iguchi of the Fukuoka Dei Hawks of the Nippon Professional baseball league. One of at least three teams to contact him about coming over for next season (the Red Sox and Yankees also showed interest), the Japan Times is reporting that owner Jerry Reinsdorf wants to meet with the 30 year-old before entering serious negotiations. The Sox have reportedly offered at 2yr/$4 million contract while Iguchi himself is looking for something more along the lines of what Mets SS Kaz Matsui received during last offseason (3yr/$20 mil.), although with the relative bust Kaz Matsui was last season Iguchi will probably have to take a flyer on a contract till he can prove he belongs in the major leagues.

As for the player that Iguchi is, well let's take a look. You never know how a player from Japan will adjust to MLB (Ichiro, Hideki Matsui, Hideo Nomo, some others fairly well....Kaz Matsui, Hideki Irabu, some others fairly bad) but Iguchi has done pretty well the last few years. He began his career as SS with defensive prowess but little offensive punch 8 years ago, but changed positions to 2B in 2001. Since the change his offensive numbers(stats) have come around (though not consistent) and his glove has gotten better, posting a .990 fielding percentage over that time. He was the Japanese Gold glove in 2001, 2003, and 2004 and was an all-star all four years. He has some decent pop in his bat, but the parks are much smaller in Japan and I wouldn't expect much more than 10-15 HR's from him in MLB. Iguchi also led the league in SB in 2001 and 2003, but this starts some the points of inconsistency he has had over the last 4 seasons. Over the last four years his steal totals are: 18, 42, 21, 44. Two decent years and two excellent years. Now lets look at his last four batting averages: .333, .340, .259, .261. Again, two decent years and two excellent years. Now one more time, this one is OBP: .394, .438, .317, .346. See a trend here. If you can get him to come over to the majors and take walks like he does in his high OBP years, bat around .270-.280, and get at least 30 steals a season, then you can talk about him being a legitimate leadoff man in MLB and a very solid pickup for any team, especially they way he can throw around the leather. Now the question comes down to, is he worth the risk of signing him. If it was to a Kaz Matsui type deal, i would say no. He is 30 years old, will need an adjustment period to playing defense on grass, and the power numbers will not translate over to MLB. However, he can be a high OBP guy since he has shown he can walk a lot in some years, he will only need to hit the gaps for whatever team signs him as a potential leadoff man and not for power, and has shown some speed in the recent past. These things will make him a good risk in a smaller deal. My guess is if he signs with the White Sox it will be for a little more than they offered, maybe a 2yr/$5.5 million deal with an option for a third year at a higher price tag (maybe $6 million). This could be a potentially great pickup for Sox GM Kenny Williams who can have Iguchi fill in at SS if Juan Uribe cannot get the job done or take the place of 2B Willie Harris, who hasn't yet 'got it', and it seems as if the GM has grown impatient waiting for him to come around.

I still believe that the Sox will end up with former Dodger 2B Alex Cora, who will reunite with his older brother, Sox 3B coach Joey Cora.

A.J. Coming to Town...
The Southsiders have decided to offer free agent catcher A.J. Pierzynski a contract after a face to face meeting between himself and GM Kenny Williams. Williams initially had reservations about the former Twins and Giants catcher but decided that he would be worth the offer. Great at game-calling and decent offensively, Pierzynski has a reputation of upsetting the staffs he's with because he appears to be more concerned about preparing offensively than setting up game plans with the starters. Pierzynski does however have one intangible that the Sox appeared to have been lacking the past few years, heart and fire. He comes to play and is a big game player as well. The Palehosers have had a lack of those type of players for many years and Pierzynski might be able to help change the clubhouse atmosphere even more this season after the already drastic changes made to the roster. The contract offered to Pierzynski is not known, but it is supposedly less than the $3.5 million a year he made last season.

El Duque joins the staff...
Orlando Hernandez is back for his second stint with the White Sox after two seasons away. Technically he was with the team for less than a day after being obtained from the Yankees and turned right away from Bartolo Colon, but that still counts, doesn't it? What the Sox get here is not the number three pitcher they say he will be but a good no.5 pitcher who will be fantastic if they make the playoffs. Hernandez cannot start 35 times a year like a no.3 would, but more like 20-25 starts, which is more easily attainable when allotted the extra days inbetween needed starts for a no.5. If the Sox plan on actually using him like a no.3 they better be prepared to shut him down for a couple months at some point or risk burning him out before the end of the season nears. In his six MLB seasons he has only pitched two seasons that could be considered 'full': 33 starts in 1999 and 29 starts in 2000. The next year he hurt his arm and in 2003 he missed the entire season with an injury. When Hernandez gets overworked he has to shut it down, and the Sox better take that into account when using him the next two years. If they use him sparingly its a good signing, but two years might still be a tad much.

Randy Johnson finally heading to the Dark Side...

Barring an unforeseen disaster (although that already happened about two weeks ago) the deal to send Randy Johnson to the Yankees is finished, with only a negotiation window for an extention being used before the trade becomes complete after commissioner Bud Selig approved the deal today. In return for giving up the most dominating pitcher in baseball the Diamondbacks will get in return RHP Javier Vasquez, LHP prospect Brad Hasley, Minor league catcher Dioner Navarro, and $8-9 million in cash over a three year period.

On top of this trade the Diamondbacks have also agreed to a deal with the LA Dodgers that will send OF/1B and Des Plaines native Shawn Green and $8 million in cash to Arizona while the Dodgers get Catcher Dioner Navarro (if the Yankee deal falls through, then other catching prospect Chris Snyder will be sent) and pitching prospect William Juarez. This deal is pending a contract extention for Green. I cannot imagine how difficult it is right now though, with the man who got Green's current contract for him, Jeff Moorad, now the chairman of the D-backs.

Also stemming from this trade there are heavy rumors that Arizona will turn around and peddle Vasquez to another team after the Yankee deal is completed. Philadelphia and Baltimore are the leaders according to the East Valley Tribune (Arizona), with the White Sox, Detroit and Rangers also interested, although the White Sox found out after doing some research that Vasquez wants to go back to the NL and stay there after one season in the AL.

Anyway you look at it however, the D-Backs seem to be getting screwed over in this deal. Giving up the best pitcher in the game and getting only two mediocre prospects and a high-priced no.2 starter in return?? Please. Even the swap for Green only makes this a bit more palatable for Arizona, unless they can turn Vasquez into a heaping pile of gold, which would be the opposite of the heaping pile of something else this deal is for them right now.

The Yankees get what they want in this deal without giving up too much, but sometimes what you get isn't exactly what you want. Johnson will turn 42 in September of next season and has had knee and back problems in the last few years. Historically very few pitchers have held up at that age besides knuckleballers and giving Johnson the 2yr/$32 million extension he wants might be the final nail in the Yankee dynasty coffin. Is it possible that Johnson will hold up for 3 years at close to the same caliber he has pitched in his career, possibly. Is it likely that he will not, probably.

After backing out of the three-way deal a few weeks ago the Dodgers seem to make out like bandits in this one. They obtain a decent catching prospect to fill their void there, plus they get rid of a player who wanted out of town, all while saving a whole load of salary for next season. This will allow them to go out there and get Derek Lowe and also puts them in the front for Carlos Delgado, who wants to go to LA, to replace Green at 1B while staying under the imaginary line management has put at the $100 million payroll mark. However if they do not get the pitchers and Delgado, this move will turn to bust for them as Navarro is not a can't-miss prospect, and they will lose yet another bat from their lineup without replacing it adequately.


The Reds are wastin' a lot of Money...

The Cincinnati Reds have finally done something in free agency, unfortunately it was mostly money spent unwisely. Over a couple week span they added David Weathers, Ben Weber, and Kent Mercker to their bullpen, Joe Randa to play 3B, Ramon Ortiz as their no.3 starter, and Eric Milton as their new no.1 starter. You look at the names and you say, 'hey, nice players to add to a team with a few holes,' but only if those holes were middle relief pitching a no.8 hitter and a no.4 or 5 starter - not the kind of holes that Cincinnati has. Then to top that off they severely overpaid for all these players except for Weber.

The relievers will be decent pick-ups, especially since they already have their closer in Danny Graves, but we all know the clubhouse cancer that Kent Mercker was for the Cubs this past year. They handed Joe Randa, a guy who is slightly above average at best, a $2.15 million deal to play 3B, effectively ending the Austin Kearns at 3B experiment and forcing the Reds to trade someone among their four starting OF's (Griffey Jr., Dunn, Kearns, Mo Pena) or 1B Sean Casey (then move Griffey to 1B. Unless the Kearns transition was going very poorly this does not make any sense. Ortiz is a guy who has had one pretty good year, one decent year, and a bunch of bad years pitching for the Angels. He is a no.4 starter at best and will make more than the $2.5 million he made last season. As for Milton, he has had one decent season, and a bunch of mediocre seasons, and for these non-accomplishments he earned a 3yr/$25.5 million deal. Moving from Coors-East, Citizens Park, might make him a slightly better pitcher, from a no.4/5 quality pitcher to a solid no.4, but by no means is this paying for quality here historically speaking. Cincinnati would have been much better off keeping Corey Lidle than picking up Milton, which is probably why Philadelphia did that exact thing. These deals seemed to have moved the Reds further down the spiral and will improve the team only minimally. But then again, if it helps the Cubs win an extra few games a year, I'm all for it.


Peein' in the Wind...

Moises Alou is officially gone from the Cubs, singing a 2 yr/$13.25 million deal with a player option for a third year. Alou, who will be 39 next season, helps the Giants create the all-social security team I dreamed of in the beginning of the offseason. They now only need to replace youngsters 2B Ray Durham, 33, and 3B, Edgardo Alfonzo, 31, and every starter will be older than 35 next season. Hopefully this happens sometime soon as there are a few guys on the market that can fill this need.

I really liked Alou on the Cubs and hope he does well in SF, but I am very glad he was not resigned this offseason by Jim Hendry. At his age and with his past injuries this signing is a major risk for the Giants. I would cringe every time he dived for a ball in the OF and I'm still amazed that he made it the last two years injury-free.



Jay Mariotti Fired by WMVP ESPN1000....

Although this isn't a purely baseball topic I'm going to talk about it because of the long-standing feud between the self-proclaimed 'King of Chicago Media' and the owner of the White Sox Jerry Reinsdorf - as well as the team in general (especially 'Hawk' Harrelson). For many years the two sides have despised oneanother and it got especially viscous when Mariotti got his own radio talk show about a year ago. The feud even got to the point last season when himself and White Sox announcer Ken 'Hawk' Harrelson nearly got into a fistfight in a Minnesota press box during which it is rumored that Harrelson was held back by multiple people while Mariotti ran away.

Mariotti then got his show coincidentally on the same station that airs Reinsdorfs Sox and Bulls games. He claims that Reinsdorf strong-armed the station into firing him and that he got a memo a month before to stop telling his listeners to 'not buy tickets to White Sox games' among other things along that line. He then claims he told the station that he would not sacrifice his principles and the mutually agreed to part ways. Way to try and save face pal. This is the problem I with Mariotti - he is a pompous ass who creates his own story out of opinion and passes it as fact. And frankly thats a major problem now in all journalism, especially sports journalism. First of all, if he had any integrity, the day he got that memo he should have brought it out to light. But he waited till he was actually fired to say anything because he was almost due for an automatic six-month extension in his radio contract. If this was the real reason he was fired, then I would be upset right along with him, but this by now means was the only reason he was fired.

Now Reinsdorf probably did say that getting rid of him would help in the upcoming negotiations with the station, but the facts are that Mariotti deserved to be fired on his own merit without that outside influence. He was unprofessional in his reporting, he wouldn't let callers get their points in before cutting them off, he even berated his co-host Marc Silverman on the air stating that he had 'no right to question me' and was serious about it, he would routinely leave the show early to prepare for Around the Horn, and to top it off he had bad ratings. The fact that he went to the Tribune with his sob story should say enough. It's sad, and pathetic actually that he still finds the work he does.

The other sad fact is that many more like him exist in the world of journalism and the power of the pen isn't a myth, it is quite real. Yet more and more people are abusing this power and I'm wondering what it's going to take to have this trend stop - before its too late and renders print the way that television's credibility has gone.


Other notes....

- The Cubs re-upped Todd Hollandsworth to a 1yr/$900,000 deal with incentives for starting and staying healthy. I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes a starting LF in a platoon this season the way things are looking.

- The Yankees brought back Tino Martinez to play 1B for 1yr/$3 million with a $3 million option year. He most likely be the starter in the field for the Yankees unless they sign Carlos Beltran, which would push Bernie Williams to DH and Jason Giambi to 1B.

- The Cardinals are about to sign 2B Roberto Alomar to fill the hole left by Tony Womack. I hope that this deal happens because Alomar is way past his prime and anything that weakens the Cardinals is good to me.

- The Cardinals also picked up SS David Eckstien after the Angels dumped him, signing the former Halo to a 3yr/$10.25 million deal. Nice little deal for the Cardinals as Eckstien is a hell of a player who plays hard, but he is nowhere near the talent level of Edgar Renteria. Combined with the loss of catcher Mike Matheny and 2B Tony Womack the middle of the infield for St. Louis this season will be much weaker than the past few seasons.

- While researching for the Iguchi piece I came accross an interesting item, 3 former Cub OF's were in the Japanese leagues: Tuffy Rhodes, Rosevelt Brown, and Julio Zuleta - who is on the same team as Iguchi. I also found a note that said Raul Mondesi is very interested in signing with a Japanese team since he cannot find any work here in the US.

Q' o' the P

In honor of the Mariotti story, here's a quote from Plato on the dangers of what can happen when writers can go unchecked and the power they wield.
"....One man has the ability to beget arts, but the ability to judge of their usefulness or harmfulness to their users belongs to another; and now you, who are the father of letters, have been led by your affection to ascribe to them a power the opposite of that which they really possess. For this invention will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practice their memory. Their trust in writing, produced by external characters which are no part of themselves, will discourage the use of their own memory within them. You have invented an elixir not of memory but of reminding; you offer your pupils the appearance of of wisdom, not true wisdom, for they will read many things without instruction, and will therefore seem to know many things, when they are for the most part ignorant and hard to get along with, since they are not wise, but only appear wise. "