8. Texas Saves The Season

The first major blow in the Major League Baseball trading deadline happened over the weekend when the Seattle Mariners dealt Cliff Lee to their division rival the Texas Rangers for Justin Smoak and three other prospects. This is a good decision and a potentially really bad decision. 

The Rangers are currently bankrupt without an owner and need money very bad right now.  So they turn their prized prospect for one of the front-runners for the AL Cy Young. This will bring in ticket revenue and every start by Lee will probably be a sell out a lot like C.C. Sabathia for the Milwaukee Brewers. Then you add if they do make the playoffs, which they probably will means even more money for them.  A franchise who hasn't seen October since the early 2000s had to make a move, but who would have thought it would be probably the biggest one? 

I sure as hell didn't and I didn't think the Minnesota Twins would be able to land him either.  Then as the LeBron saga is going on and I am getting ready for Mitch-a-Palooza, SportsCenter said the New York Yankees were getting close to landing Lee.  I thought, "Shit, here we go again and Lee-Sabathia-Hughes will be unstoppable."  But Texas came in hot and had to offer their best offensive prospect. But this doesn't compare to the Sabathia-Milwaukee deal for a big reason. 

The Rangers gave up too much in hopes of making a decent playoff run unless Texas knows something we don't about Smoak or they believe it's possible to re-sign Lee at the end of the year.  The Brewers made the big splash because management realized how important a playoff berth was to this city. I don't know if that's the same thing for Arlington right now, but it might have just been a way to halt the New York Yankees too. 

The Yankees had they got Lee could have guaranteed themselves a World Series berth and probably back-to-back titles. I have to think Texas believes that with Lee they can play with the Yanks, Tampa Bay Rays/Boston Red Sox, and White Sox/Twins/Tigers when it comes to the playoffs. If they can add another mid-level pitcher with not giving up much (you want Doug Davis or Randy Wolf?), the Rangers are the second best team in the American League. They have arguably the best lineup in baseball with Josh Hamilton/Ian Kinsler/Vlad Guerrero, etc. and then add Lee, a clutch pitcher in postseason and another pretty solid pitcher they might be a force to be reckoned with.

-Charlie.

Thanks Junior

On a crazy Wednesday night of sports, one of the best players in baseball retired from the Major Leagues and rides off into the sunset. That man is Ken Griffey Jr.  He is probably one of the best cases in baseball of asking ourselves "what if?" because his career obviously was hindered by all of the injuries throughout the years. 

I am glad that he finished his career with the Seattle Mariners and not the New York Yankees or the Los Angeles Dodgers. He did it the way that everyone envisions their personal hero to end their career, I mean in the perfect world for me, Brett Favre would have retired on March 4th.  The Ken Griffey Jr. everyone has etched in their minds is the guy who made spectacular catches at the Kingdome plus his monster home runs to all fields with his perfect swing.  Other than the Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball game for SNES I played religiously, my childhood memories bring me back to his backwards hat.

It might sound funny to you, but as a kid, I always remember him in the backwards hat and found it to be the coolest thing (same goes for Deion Sanders and his bandannas). I thought that Griffey obviously was cooler than the other guys who wore their hats the right way and why couldn't he wear like that the whole the game. If you were a kid growing up in the mid to late 90s you wanted to be Griffey Jr.

Granted, a few impact players of the 90s are still playing but most of the guys I grew up and whose baseball cards I have are long gone from the game.  Griffey Jr. was one of the remaining hold outs from that group and I believe he will remembered highly as the years go on because when people look back at the steroid era, they will look for the best player who did the right way... Ken Griffey Jr.

-Charlie.

AL West Preview

Finally finishing up the American League, I think the AL West could probably be won by any of the four teams that are in the division.   But here is who I think will be the winner...

1.) Texas Rangers- KEY ACQ: DH Vladimir Guerrero, SP Rich Harden   I LIKE: Josh Hamilton- I think Hamilton will bounce back nicely from struggling last season and will have a productive year, I don't know about an All-Star yet still good year.  I HATE: Harden- I cannot see that going well for him, he pitched fine in the AL but he always gets hurt. Big red flags for me.  PREDICTION: They will win by a rock of Ron Washington's cocaine, it should be battle all year long. I think the Rangers bullpen will be the difference for them.

2.) Los Angeles Angels- KEY ACQ: OF Hideki Matsui SP Joel Pineiro I LIKE: Kendry Morales- I think he will be a bonafide stud in 2010 and will dominate for this team this season.  Morales should be an All-Star this season.  I HATE: Brian Fuentes- I think he is probably one of the shakiest closer in Major League Baseball with more than forty-five saves. He is a headcase waiting to happen.  PREDICTION: Another team that could make the playoffs if the chips fall right. They need a good year out of Fuentes, and their pitching staff has potential, the question is will they capitalize on this? 

3.) Seattle Mariners- KEY ACQ: 2B Chone Figgins OF Milton Bradley SP Cliff Lee  I LIKE: Lee- Despite his early injury, he has shown to be one of the best pitchers in the Majors and proven it in both leagues. King Felix and him back-to-back is tough as hell.  I HATE: Bradley- He is a cancer to almost all team he has played for but I will say Ken Griffey Jr. might be a guy to settle him down, still I think he will have another down year.  PREDICTION: They have the ability to be a playoff team but they need a big year from a lot of guys, which seems a lot of ask from guys like Jose Lopez, Ian Snell, and others.

4.) Oakland A's- KEY ACQ: SP Ben Sheets, 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff I LIKE: Andrew Bailey- He is an upcoming closer for the A's and I think he will be a force in the bullpen.  I HATE: Sheets- I cannot believe he is their number one, and he really hasn't pitched well this whole spring so I worry he breaks down by June. PREDICTION: They have a ton of youth that are starting or ready to go in their minor leagues so if the develop quickly they could contend for the AL West.  I also really like Brett Anderson too.

-Charlie.

Is Halladay > Than Lee

The Philadelphia Phillies made the big trade of the baseball offseason by getting the one guy they have wanted since the month of June... Roy Halladay.  Last year, they brought in pitcher Cliff Lee who dominated in the National League and in the playoffs therefore they decided to trade him away... I do not understand why this had to happened. 

If you are curious about the trade, Halladay is dealt to the Phillies for a couple of the prospects and the Seattle Mariners get Cliff Lee while the Blue Jays also get some of Seattle's prospects.  We still do not know which prospects will be landing in Toronto. Sports Illustrated has some of the possible prospects that could be dealt in the deal.

I realize that Halladay is a great pitcher and the fact that he is going from the American League to the National League is obviously going to help out his stats.  He dominated the Yankees and Red Sox seemed to love big game pitching atmosphere but he didn't play in a hitters ballpark like Citizen Bank Ballpark.  Halladay always seemed to have one injury that nags him a bit throughout the year as well. I think it will work out for Philadelphia BUT...

I would never had traded Cliff Lee because of what I stated before in the first paragraph. Lee looked so good against the National League last year that why would you even consider getting rid of him?  Lee is a left-handed pitcher which makes him more attractive than Halladay in my personal opinion and he hasn't been bitten by the injury bug more so than Halladay.

The Mariners are the top team in the AL West right now with Lee and Felix Hernandez leading their rotation could be one of the best one-two punch in the big leagues.  Plus the addition of Chone Figgins and Jack Wilson on the left side of the infield makes them one of the stronger defensive team as well. I really like their chances for next season.

-Charlie.

Pittsburgh Trades Again... This Time They Win.

Once again the Pittsburgh Pirates have decided to trade one of their cornerstones of their franchise. This time its shortstop Jack Wilson whose been dealt to the Seattle Mariners along with disgruntled pitcher Ian Snell for prospect Jeff Clement, Ronny Cedeno, Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin, and Nathan Adacock. I know this probably upsets Pittsburgh but I really think you will like this deal in the long run.

Now Snell was a guy who asked to be sent down because he didnt want to play with the Pirates (I wish Bill Hall would do that) and he was guy that was expected to get traded. The Bucos were working on a deal for Wilson but they couldnt come to agreement on an extension due to the fact that Wilson didnt like that guys like Nate McLouth and Adam LaRoche was traded. He didnt trust the management wouldnt trade him if he signed a long term deal.

I would vote that the Pirates this time unlike the first two trades of the year won this deal. The Marniers gave up their top prospect for Jack Wilson? He is going to be a huge upgrade in defense but he has never been a big time hitter for Pirates. In addition, he will have to adjust to the American League. The only way I give Seattle the edge is if Snell turns out to be the stud that we all expected. I am curious if they will move Garrett Jones back to left field when Clement is ready to come out. Once again, it looks like the Pirates could be knocking on the door but who really knows with Pittsburgh.

-Charlie.

Backwards Hat Back in Seattle

It seems like all is well again. Ken Griffey Jr. is back in Seattle.

Griffey made his career in Seattle where he was the biggest kid on the field in the Kingdome. He was hitting home runs to the left, center, right field just watching it go by with his classic swagger. Griffey had a perfect swing, no PEDs involved there when you saw Griffey hit a home run or just a double to deep center.

In addition, watching Griffey play defense in Seattle was something else. He would make all sorts of catches that you didnt think were possible. I remember being an AL Brewer fan where a ball would be hit to center and think it was hit until Griffey found a way to run it down.

When all of us watched him in Seattle; we believed that he would surpass Hank Aaron as the all-time home run winner.. until he came back home to Cincinnati where he would just dominate heading into the prime of his career. That didnt happen because he has a slew of injuries and many people didnt think he had it anymore.

Now he is back with Seattle where it all began. No city in America deserved this more than the city of Seattle. They got screwed by losing their NBA team to Oklahoma City, their promising NFL team folded like Sergio Garcia on a back nine of a major on Sunday, and the worst MLB team. They need something to lift their spirits and trust me Junior could do it. No doubt, Junior is on the "Mount Rushmore" of Seattle sports stars and if I were a Mariner fan, I hope be buying so many tickets to see Junior for just one more time.

I hope he hits anywhere from 20-30 home runs and keeps the Mariners at least at a decent standpoint. With having Jack Z from the Brewers and now Junior, the Mariners are definitely team I hope for much success this year.

-Charlie.