I Just Realized I Haven't Posted Here in 5 Years!!!

Like the emoji to the right, I am totally mind blown that I haven't posted to this blog in over five years. Five years!!!! WTF!!!

I guess I've been very active on my BaseballSisco Instagram account and haven't written anything here. As of late I've been posting the results of my daily Immaculate Grid results and trying to reignite my Baseball book reading. Well its actually more listening these days since my attention span is not the same as it used to be. Plus I tend to listen to podcasts and books while sorting the mail at the USPS. 

The current reading/listening selection is Billy Ball: Billy Martin and the Resurrection of the Oakland A's by Dale Tafoya. 

Here is how the book is described by the publisher:

"There was no more polarizing manager in baseball than the hot-tempered, hard-drinking, risk-taking Billy Martin. During a time of economic uncertainty and waning baseball interest in Oakland, Billy Ball filled the stands, rejuvenated fans, and saved professional baseball in the city. Based largely on interviews with former players, team executives, and journalists, Billy Ball captures Martin's homecoming to the Bay area in 1980, his immediate embrace by Oakland fans, and the A's return to playoff baseball."

Tafoya is a journalist whose writing has appeared in a number of publications and has followed the Oakland A's for over 30 years. 

As a lifelong Yankees fan, there is nothing but love for Billy Martin. Watching him get George Brett frothing at the mouth during the infamous Pine Tar game is a classic Billy moment. I'm looking forward to hearing about Billy's escapades as the manager of the Oakland A's. 

I promise to post more about this book when I get further along. And I hope to be more consistent with posting going forward. 

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,

Baseball Sisco
#BaseballSisco
#BaseballSiscoKidStyle

Bob Welch Wins His 25th Game of the Season September 21, 1990

On this day in Baseball History September 21, 1990: Bob Welch of the Oakland A's defeats the Detroit Tigers at the Oakland Coliseum to become the first pitcher in a decade to win 25 games in a season. The last pitcher to win 25 games in a season was during the 1980 season when Steve Stone of the Baltimore Orioles reached the 25 win plateau.

Welch would go on to win 27 games with only 6 losses en-route to the American League Cy Young award. The Oakland A's would be upset in the 1990 World Series by the Cincinnati Reds. The last four pitchers to come close to the 25-win mark were Justin Verlander 24-6 (2011), Randy Johnson (2002), John Smoltz (1996) and Frank Viola (1988).

Bob Welch passed away earlier this year on June 9, 2014 at the age of 57

With Justin Verlander coming close to reaching 25 wins in 2011, will we see another pitcher come close to the 25 win plateau any time soon?

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading:
- Click here to access Bob Welch's career statistics from Baseball  Reference.com
- Click here to access the article Last 10 pitchers to win 25 games in a season by the Atlanta Journal Constitution
- Click here to access the blogpost 24-game winners over the last 24 years by Bill Chuck from the Billy-Ball blogpage on September 19, 2011

Dave Winfield Gets Hit Number 3000 on September 16, 1993

On this day in Baseball History September 16, 1993: Slugger Dave Winfield of the Minnesota Twins strokes a single against Oakland A's closer Dennis Eckersley in the bottom of the ninth inning to join the 3,000 hit club. In doing so, Winfield becomes the 19th member of the 3,000 hit club. According to the online exhibit The 3,000 Hit Club by the National Baseball Hall of Fame:

Winfield, the second member of the 3,000-Hit Club to have never played a day in the minors (Al Kaline was the first), was the first member of the Club to reach the plateau at an indoor stadium.

The boxscore of the September 16, 1993 game between the Oakland A's and Minnesota Twins  is from The 3,000 Hit Club exhibit of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Here is the 3,000 hit club at the time Winfield joined the club:

1. Unknown Cap Anson
2. 06/09/1914 Honus Wagner
3. 09/27/1914 Nap Lajoie (first game of the doubleheader)
4. 08/19/1921 Ty Cobb (second game of the doubleheader)
5. 05/17/1925 Tris Speaker
6. 06/03/1925 Eddie Collins
7. 06/19/1942 Paul Waner
8. 05/13/1958 Stan Musial
9. 05/17/1970 Hank Aaron (second game of the doubleheader)
10. 07/18/1970 Willie Mays
11. 09/30/1972 Roberto Clemente
12. 09/24/1974 Al Kaline
13. 05/05/1978 Pete Rose
14. 08/13/1979 Lou Brock
15. 09/12/1979 Carl Yastrzemski
16. 08/04/1985 Rod Carew
17. 09/09/1992 Robin Yount
18. 09/30/1992 George Brett

Winfield would finish his career with 3,110 hits and retired at the end of the 1995 season. He would be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001 with 84.5% of the vote (435/515 ballots).

Winfield was one of my favorite Baseball players of all-time and I'm glad he was able to join the greats in the Hall of Fame. In this age of super prospects, I don't think that we'll ever see a player to not play a game in the Minor Leagues before being promoted to the Majors. That might be a safe bet to make. What do you think? Agree? Disagree?

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,

Baseball Sisco

#baseballsisco

#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading:

- Click here to access Dave Winfield's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

Rickey Henderson Passes Lou Brock With His 119th Stolen Base August 27, 1982

On this day in Baseball history August 27, 1982: Oakland A's speedster Rickey Henderson steals second base on a pitchout against Milwaukee Brewers starter Doc Medich to pass Lou Brock on the single season stolen base list. Brock set his career high of 118 stolen bases in 1974. By the time the game was over, Henderson would steal four bases giving him 122 for the season. Rickey would finish the season with 130 stolen bases.

And here is where things get a little murky.

I grew up thinking that with Rickey Henderson's 119th stolen base, he became the single season stolen base leader. Getting a total of 130 steals for the 1982 season would be the benchmark that many players would have a hard time matching let alone eclipsing. Now, I'm going to ask that you go to either the MLB.com page for the Single Season Stolen Base Record or the Baseball Reference.com page for the Single Season Stolen Base Record. Who do you see listed at number 1 on that list. In case you don't want to check out the links, here are a few screenshots

Ok. Still don't believe what you see? Here's one more screenshot, this one from the Baseball Almanac.com Single Season Stolen Base list:

Some of you out there are thinking to yourselves: Who the hell is Hugh Nicol. High Nicol played for the Cincinnati Red Stockings of the old American Association (AA). The AA played alongside the National League from 1882-1891 before merging with the National League. Four National League franchises have roots in the old AA: Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates and the Los Angeles Dodgers. The article American Association remembered: MLB celebrates impact of the 'Beer and Whiskey League' by Mark Sheldon from MLB.com dated May 2, 2007 states the following which might clarify things a bit:

Only the Cubs and Braves have been continuously in the National League since its 1876 founding. The Reds, Cardinals and Pirates remain NL Central Division foes and have one of sport's longest-lasting rivalries. The Dodgers, who were formed in 1884 as the Atlantics, also started in the American Association. Like the Reds, Brooklyn joined the National League for the 1890 season.

"All of these teams have their roots in the American Association," Nemec said. "Really, the National League actually has stronger roots in the American Association in some ways than it does National League roots."

Eventually, the American Association was recognized as a full-fledged Major League and all of its players' statistics and career highlights are counted accordingly in the annals of Major League history.

So there in is the A-HA!!! moment. The AA and their statistics are recognized by MLB as being accumulated as a Major League. In addition to the AA, the Federal League (1914-1915), the Players League (1890) and the Union Association (1884) are all recognized as being a Major League. The question I have is when were the statistics of the AA formally recognized by MLB.

I sent a tweet to Mr. John Thorn who is the official historian for MLB. Here is what he said:

@BaseballSisco 1968-69 Special Baseball Records Committee ruling. But this only affirmed a view of long standing.
— John Thorn (@thorn_john) August 27, 2014

My other question to Mr. Thorn was concerning the treatment of the AA's statistics as being "Pre-Modern" in the context of today's "Modern" stats:

.@BaseballSisco Not a valuable distinction. When does one such period end and the other begin?
— John Thorn (@thorn_john) August 27, 2014

.@BaseballSisco MLB's official position is that its history and its records run seamlessly from 1876 to the present.
— John Thorn (@thorn_john) August 27, 2014

That makes perfect sense. I'm sure there will be fans that will dispute this and say that Rickey Henderson is the single season stolen bases record holder and not Hugh Nicol who played for the American Association back in the 1880's. If so, then what can you do. Based on MLB's position in terms of its history and the fact MLB has Rickey as number two on the list behind Hugh Nicol then who am I to argue that.

Many thanks to Mr. Thorn for his actually getting back to me. There are many Baseball historians and experts on Twitter whom I have asked questions of and never gotten a response, let alone numerous prompt responses. Definitely give him a follow @thorn_john.

On an aside, if you want to know more of the "Beer and Whiskey" league that was the American Association, I recommend you pick up the book: The Summer of Beer and Whiskey: How Brewers, Barkeeps, Rowdies, Immigrants, and a Wild Pennant Fight Made Baseball America’s Game by Edward Achorn. It is quite the entertaining book and provides amazing insight to the early years of organized Baseball. I think you all will like it.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

For Further Reading:
- Click Here to access Rickey Henderson's career statistics at Baseball Reference.com
- Click Here to access the article MLB's 200,000th game: How it was determined by John Thorn from MLB.com dated September 23, 2011

Nolan Ryan Strikeouts Out his 5,000 batter August 22, 1989

On this day in Baseball History August 22, 1989: Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers becomes the first pitcher in major league history to register 5,000 career strikeouts.

His victim was fellow future Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson of the Oakland Athletics who struck out in the top of the 5th inning. Ryan would finish the game with 13-strikeouts in a 2-0 loss. 

Ryan would go finish his career with a total of 5,714 strikeouts. Randy Johnson is next on the list with 4,875 strikeouts.

For video footage on Nolan Ryan reaching the 5000 strikeout plateau:

For Further Reading:

- Click Here to access the article 5, 000 K's for Ryan; Stadium erupts as he gets historic strikeout by Tracy Ringsolsby of the Dallas Morning News dated August 23, 1989

- Click Here to access the article Dissecting Nolan Ryan's One-of-a-Kind Legacy, 25 Years After 5,000th Strikeout By Zachary D. Rymer from the Bleacher Report website dated August 22, 2014

- Click Here to see Nolan Ryan's Strikeout Miletones

Why Do Teams Keep Passing on Orlando Cabrera

I've had this conversation numerous times with friends of mine and I finally decided to something. My friend Barry, who is a lifelong Boston Red Sox fan, says he wishes Orlando Cabrera would have stayed in Boston post-2004. There is no denying that Cabrera was an important part of the magical 2004 Boston Red Sox team. After coming up with the Montreal Expos in 1997, Cabrera played in Montreal for almost eight seasons, coming to the Red Sox in a pivotal four team trade.

In case there are you who aren't familiar with the trade, the Boston Red Sox sent Nomar Garciaparra and Matt Murton to the Chicago Cubs. The Minnesota Twins sent Doug Mientkiewicz to the Boston Red Sox. The Chicago Cubs sent Francis Beltran, Alex Gonzalez and Brendan Harris to the Montreal Expos. The Chicago Cubs sent Justin Jones (minors) to the Minnesota Twins. The Montreal Expos sent Orlando Cabrera to the Boston Red Sox and into the history books as being a member of the 1st Boston Red Sox team to win a World Series since the 1918 team.

So why was he not resigned? Why did the Red Sox let an important cog to their team sign a three-year deal with league rival the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim? The same can be asked about later teams who either traded Cabrera (to the Chicago White Sox for Jon Garland and to the Minnesota Twins for minor leaguer Tyler Ladendorf) or let him walk in free-agency (Chicago, Minnesota and Cincinnati). It seems to me that a player with a career .274 batting average and since 2001 has played in 160 or more five times and in 150 or more games eight times can be a productive member of any team. So why does he keep moving around.

It seems that the issues comes from management. I found a forum page from the Royal Rooters of the Red Sox Nation page. On this forum page, a few of the comments weigh in on a some points that could have led to the Boston Red Sox passing on signing Cabrera after the 2004 season. Many have to do with his extra-curricular activities. I won't go into some of them since they seem to be somewhat out there and somewhat salacious. Here is the link to the forum page What caused the Sox to walk away from Orlando Cabrera. Now I am not advocating this point of view in any way, shape or form. I'm just passing along what I've found and I'll let you make any judgments.

Maybe it was a case of going after a better shortstop in Edgar Renteria (which as we know had a horrible 2005 in Boston and was traded to the Atlanta Braves after the season). Looking back now, the move proved valuable to the Red Sox since they received two draft picks from the Angels for signing Cabrera which are now in the form of Jed Lowrie and Jacoby Ellsbury. In Chicago, Cabrera had arguments with official scorers, managers and calling out of teammates in radio interviews which I can see rubbing people the wrong way both on the bench and in the front office. But it still doesn't answer the question. Why can't Cabrera stay on from more than a year or two with a single team.

Maybe I'm reading too much into this. Maybe it is just a case of Orlando Cabrera being the kind of player that gets traded to a contender for the playoff push and/or he's a player that gets signed to play shortstop for one year until a prospect is ready to take his position. Will he play out the entire season with the Cleveland Indians or will he be traded mid-season to a contender. Anyone out there have a differing point of view on why this is the situation with Cabrera? Any ideas?

FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here to access What caused the Sox to walk away from Orlando Cabrera from the redsoxnation.net webpage
- Click Here to access Tom Fornelli's article Orlando Cabrera Feels Neglected from MLB.Fanhouse.com's webpage dated May 28, 2008
- Click Here to access Mark Potash's article Orlando Cabrera Isn't The Sox' Problem from the Chicago Herald-American weblog dated September 8, 2008

California Dreamin' 2011 Part I

During last year's free-agent's period I wrote a post called California Dreamin'...or is it where I basically noted how the California teams had seemed to be trumped by other teams in terms of free-agent signings. Now, as we saw with the culmination of the World Series, the San Francisco Giants had the last laugh on all the naysayers (including myself). So in keeping with the theme of last year's post, here I go with my California Dreaming.

- San Francisco Giants
I've got to start off with the World Series Champs who finally brought the trophy to San Francisco after 58 years without a championship. My main gripe about the Giants last season was though the team could pitch, they lacked offensive. Though they showed in the stretch run and the postseason that their pitching could offset their offensive woes, there were times during the early season that their offense was their achilles heel. This season their offense hasn't really improved, yet.

I think the Giants will feel the loss of Juan Uribe more than the loss of Edgar Renteria. While both players came up big in the postseason, Renteria was mainly a non-factor during the season while it seemed that Uribe played everywhere in the field. For now Miguel Tejada seems to be starting shortstop while a Mark DeRosa can fill Uribe's utility man spot on the roster if he can remain healthy. Pablo Sandoval's weight issues will also be a major news story especially if he fails to regain his form from the 2009 season. Aside from those two free agent departures and the Tejada signing the team is not much different offensively than last season. I think that changes in May when Brandon Belt is called up from the minors.

Belt is a 22-year old 6'5" 195lb left handed hitting first baseman who in one season in the minor leagues for the Giants hit a combined .352 with 23 HR and 112 RBI. In 492 at-bats, Belt had 173 hits (43 2B/10 3B/23 HR) with 99 strikeouts, 93 walks and 22 stolen bases. His OPS was 1.075 (.455 OBP/.620 SLG). Now keep in mind that the majority of those numbers were achieved in single A California League but having started in single A and finishing the season in AAA Belt performed at each stop. I believe that it is a matter of time before Belt joins the Giants and solidifies the lineup.

In terms of pitching, when you have a rotation Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Johnathan Sanchez and Barry Zito with a bullpen of Brian Wilson, Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo, Javier Lopez and Santiago Castilla there's not much that needs to be said. I know the talk of the National League's pitching is going to center among the fearsome foursome in Philadelphia but these guys in San Francisco have already done it together while the Philadelphia quartet has to do it together. I believe that Giants will still be the team to beat in the National League.

- San Diego Padres
The Padres are the California team that has made the most changes to its team for the 2011 season. The big move was the trade that sent All-Star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to the Boston Red Sox but it wasn't the only move made by the Friars. The Padres added the following players through trades and free agent signings:

1B Brad Hawpe
2B Orlando Hudson
SS Jason Bartlett
CF Cameron Maybin
C Rob Johnson

Both Bartlett and Hudson are signed for two years and Maybin is arbitration eligible in 2013. Add these players to Chase Headley and Ryan Ludwick and the Padres seem to have a good core nucleus to play alongside their strength which is their pitching.

The Padres rotation is made up of starters Matt Latos, Clayton Richard, Tim Stauffer, Wade LeBlanc, Adam Harang (who was signed in the offseason from Cincinnati) and youngster Cory Luebke. The bullpen is anchored by closer Heath Bell and supported by Luke Gregerson, Mike Adams, Joe Thatcher, Ernesto Fieri and free agent signing Dustin Moseley (formerly of the New York Yankees). The Padres faithful might be saddened by the loss of Gonzalez but on paper based on their offseason moves, I believe the Padres will be a threat to contend for the National League Wild Card.

- Oakland Athletics
Billy Beane has once again put the pieces together for what I believe is going to be an Oakland Athletics team that will win the American League West Division. Why? First off, their rotation is solid. Even after trading Vin Mazzaro to the Kansas City Royals for David DeJesus, they have Trevor Cahill, Brian Anderson, Gio Gonzalez, Dallas Braden, Brandon McCarthy and Rich Harden. Their bullpen might be the best in the league with the signing of Brian Fuentes who will be either the 8th inning option or the closer if Andrew Bailey has issues from his recovery from last season's elbow injury. The A's also added reliever Grant Balfour (formerly of the Tampa Bay Rays) to go along side Michael Wurtz, Craig Breslow, Jerry Blevins, Brad Ziegler and Joey Devine.

Offensively, the A's have had a year together to gel into a solid unit. The addition of DH Hideki Matsui will only help the development of players due to his veteran presence and baseball experience. The acquisition of Josh Willingham from the Washington Nationals also adds depth to an outfield that will be made up of Coco Crisp and David DeJesus. The infield of Daric Barton, veteran Mark Ellis, Cliff Pennington and Kevin Kouzmanoff along with catcher Kurt Suzuki to me is one of the best in baseball and they can only get better.

Like I said before, I think the A's will win the American League West. The Rangers are not the same team they were last season. The Mariners are in rebuilding mode and I'll get into the reasons why the Angels won't win the division in my next post. I'll also touch upon the Los Angeles Dodgers and their made for Hollywood divorce drama.

FH

Hideki Matsui and the Oakland A's

With the baseball world starting to settle down from last night's crazy flurry of excitement due to the Cliff Lee drama coming to an end there have been moves to report on. As I alluded to in one of my last posts, one of my all-time favorites would be signing with a new team. Joe Stiglich of the Oakland Tribune reports that the Oakland Athletics will hold a press conference today to announce the signing of their new designated hitter Hideki Matsui.

In 2010 Matsui, formerly of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, batted .274 with 21 HRs and 84 RBI. In 482 at-bats, Matsui had 132 hits (24 2B/1 3B/21 HR) with 98 strikeouts and 67 walks. His OPS was .820 (.361 OBP%/.459 SLG%).

Stiglich makes the following statement about the Matsui signing:

Improving an anemic offense tops the A's priority list, and with Matsui, they finally found a middle-of-the-lineup caliber hitter willing to call the Coliseum home.

How much impact Matsui can make remains to be seen, as he's certainly on the downside of his career. He's hit .290 with 161 homers over eight major league seasons -- the first seven with the New York Yankees. He was 28 when he left Japan to join the Yankees.

One major league scout, who requested anonymity, said Matsui "at one time was a very good player who could do a lot of things. He's not that guy at all anymore."

But Matsui's numbers last season -- a .274 average with 21 homers and 84 RBIs -- represent a significant upgrade over anyone from Oakland's 2010 lineup.

I remember how the Yankees were supposed to get this big slugger from Japan who hit 50 homers in his last season for the Yomiuri Giants of the Nippon Professional Baseball League. In his 10 seasons in Japan, Matsui averaged 32.8 homers a year and was seen as being the next in the line of Bronx Bombers of Yankees lore. But what the Yankees received was something better. Matsui was an all around player who was not just a bopper but a complete hitter. Matsui could drive in runs with timely hits accompanied with the occasional power hit. In 7 seasons with the Yankees, Matsui had four seasons of 100 RBI or more while he only hit a maximum of 31 homers in 2004.

Out of the many moments that stood out for me about Matsui wasn't one at the plate but rather one on the field. This was on May 11, 2006 when Matsui dove for a ball in a game against the Boston Red Sox. In diving for the ball, Matsui broke his left wrist. What impressed me the most was that instead of rolling around in the grass as you'd expect someone to do with an injury of that type was that Matsui finished the play. He caught the ball, threw it back to the infield and then motioned to the bench that he was hurt. A true professional all the way.

I believe that Hideki Matsui will be a positive force for the Oakland A's both on the field and in the clubhouse. He will bring a winning presence to a group of young players who after Cliff Lee signed with the Philadelphia Phillies might just be the favored team in the AL West.

FH

For Further Reading
- Click Here to access Hideki Matsui's career NPB and MLB statistics from the BaseballCube.com
- Click Here to access the Hideki Matsui page from JapaneseBallplayers.com
- Click Here to access Joe Stiglich's article Former Yankees and Angels slugger Hideki Matsui to sign with the Oakland A's from the Oakland Tribune's website dated December 14, 2010
- Click Here to access Susan Slusser's article A's, Hideki Matsui agree to 1-year deal from the San Francisco Chronicle website dated December 14, 2010
- Click Here for an interesting About.com page on the wrist injury sustained by Hideki Matsui in May of 2006

Winter Meetings Day Three Part Two

More signing, more signings and more signings:

- Paul Konerko re-signs with the Chicago White Sox
Not to be outdone by their Northside rivals, the Southside White Sox re-signed their captain (in a negotitation much less contentious than the New York Yankees' negotiation with their own captain. Take notes boys, this is how it is done) Paul Konerko to a 3-year $37.5 million dollar deal.

According to Dave van Dyck of Chicagobreakingsports.com Konerko, will receive $12 million in each of the next two seasons, then $6.5 million in the third year. The rest will be paid in $1 million installments for seven years.

The longtime White Sox had a very productive 2010 season. Konerko batted .312 with 39 HRs and 111 RBI. In 548 at-bats, Konerko had 171 hits (30 2B/1 3B/39 HR) with 72 walks and 110 strikeouts. His OPS was a career high .977(.383 OBP%/.584 SLG%). Konerko's effort resulted in his being voted 5th in the American League MVP race.

The White Sox look offensively impressive with Konerko and Adam Dunn sharing first base and DH duties. Look for these pair of slugging teammates to put a hurting on opposing pitching.

- Click Here for Paul Konerko's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

- Kansas City signs Jeff Francouer
Bob Dutton reports on his Twitter feed that outfielder Jeff Francouer has signed a contract for the 2011 season with the Kansas City Royals. According to Dutton, Francouer will receive $2.5M for 2011, with $500K in incentives, and a $3M mutual option for 2012.

Sharing time with the New York Mets and the Texas Rangers in 2010, Francouer batted a combined .249 with 13 HRs and 65 RBI. In 454 at-bats Francouer had 113 hits (18 2B/2 3B/13 HR) with 30 walks and 81 strikeouts with 8 stolen bases. His OPS was .683 (.300 OBP%/.383 SLG%)

- Click Here for Jeff Francouer's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

- Jack Cust signs with the Seattle Mariners
Goeff Baker reports on his blogpage that he has spoken to Jack Cust who confirmed that he in fact signed a 1-year $2.5-million deal plus incentives with the Seattle Mariners.

In 2010 Cust, formerly of the division rival Oakland Athleticcs, batted .272 with 13 HRs and 52 RBI. In 349 at-bats Cust had 95 hits (19 2B/0 3B/13 HR) 68 walks and 127 strikeouts. His OPS was .834 (.395 OBP%/.438 SLG%).

Baker attributes the following as the reason that Cust chose to sign with the Mariners:

Cust told me his priority is signing was to find a team that appreciated what he could do as a player -- make that, a full-time player.

"From what it sounds like, I'm going to be in there both way (versus lefties and righties) and that's the way I like it," he said. "I've always been able to hit lefties pretty well."

- Click Here to access Jack Cust's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

Ok folks, I guess that's enough for now. Have to get ready to head down to Rockefeller Center to see the tree and find a Santa to take our yearly family picture with. Later.

FH

Winter Meetings Day One Part Two

Here are some more baeball transactions that occured (or didn't in some cases) during Day One of the Winter Meetings:

- J.J. Putz signs with the Arizona Diamondbacks
Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal on his Twitter feed announced that the Arizona Diamondbacks have just signed reliever J.J. Putz to a 2-yr deal with club option, pending physical. Prorumors.com says the deal breaks down in the following manner:

Ken Rosenthal says that Putz will be paid $4 million in 2011, $4.5 million 2012, and there's a $6.5 million club option or $1.5 million buyout in 2013.

After having a horrible 2009 with the New York Mets, Putz returned to form with his 2010 campaign with the Chicago White Sox. Putz compiled a 7-5 record with a 2.83 ERA in 60 appearances. In 54 innings pitched, Putz struck out 65 batters while walking only 15 and giving up 41 hits for a WHIP of 1.037. Putz saved 3 games for the White Sox. The signing of Putz will bring a stable arm to a bullpen that was very ineffective for the Diamondbacks this past season.

- Click Here for J.J. Putz' career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

- Aaron Harang signs with Padres
Follow the Padres on their Twitter feed announces that Aaron Harang, formerly of the Cincinnati Reds, has signed: a One year, $3.5 million plus a mutual option. Working to get terms of option. During the 2010 season for the Reds, Harang compiled a 6-7 record 5.32 ERA in 22 games. He struck out 82 batters and walked 38 while giving up 139 hits for a WHIP of 1.585. Harang seems to have fallen off from his successful years of 2006 and 2007 when he went 16-11 and 16-6 respectively. I seem to be repeating myself but as with Mark Reynolds and the pitchers traded for him in that deal earlier today, maybe the change of scenery and some hometown cooking will do him good.

- Click Here for Aaron Harang's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

- Dan Johnson re-signs with the Tampa Bay Rays
The Tampa Tribune has reported on their Twitter feed that the depleted Tampa Bay Rays have re-signed 1B/DH Dan Johnson to a one-year contract. I believe this is an important move for the Rays since their first baseman of the last few years, Carlos Peña, is a free-agent and not seen as returning to the Rays. After spending the 2009 season with the Yokohama Bay Stars of the Nippon Professional Baseball League, Johnson returned to the Rays for the 2010 season. Spending the majority of the 2010 season playing for the Durham Bulls of the International League before being called up. (PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Nesius/Associated Press)

In very limited but important action for the Rays, Johnson batted .198 with 7HRs and 23 RBI. Though the numbers don't seem very impressive, Johnson played four positions for the Rays last year (1B/3B/LF/RF) and his versatility is needed and respected on a team such as Tampa's. I saw this kid hit two homers in a pivotal division game against the Yankees which was overshadowed by the now infamous Derek Jeter faked hit by a ball trick. This game propelled the Rays back into first place and I daresay it may have cost the Yankees the division title. I believe that we'll see more of Johnson this upcoming season in a much more expanded capacity.

- Click Here for Dan Johnson's career statistics from BaseballCube.com

- The Athletics/Iwakuma Negotiations Fall Through
In what comes to no surprise, the A's were not able to come to terms with Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma. The rights to Iwakuma go back to the Rakuten Golden Eagles and the $19.1 million dollar posting fee is returned to the Oakland Athletics.(PHOTO CREDIT http://cardsandgraphs.blogspot.com)

The story was reported by both Susan Sussler of the San Francisco Chronicle and Jane Lee of the MLBlogs network. Lee states the following as being the position of both Iwakuma and the Athletics during the negotiations:

Iwakuma and his agent, Don Nomura, were reportedly asking for a contract that would average $12 million per season over three years -- numbers that reflect the earnings of fellow Japanese pitchers Hiroki Kuroda (three years, $35.3 million) and Daisuke Matsuzaka (six years, $52 million).

However, the A's were said to have offered $15.25 million over four years -- factoring in the posting fee cost -- as a "take it or leave it" approach. By leaving it, Iwakuma will stay in Japan and become a free agent at the end of the 2011 season.

Sussler also reports in her Twitter feed that:

#Athletics made it clear to Iwakuma that they'll have interest in him next year when he is a free agent.

Whether or not Iwakuma would be interested in playing for the Athletics next season when he becomes a free agent is unknown. Without burning any bridges I would imagine that he would not want to after being quoted as saying "the Athletics really didn't want me." . This leaves a hole in the Athletics' rotation since they traded starter Vin Mazzaro to the Kansas City Royals for Jose DeJesus earlier in the offseason. We'll see where they go from here.

- Click Here for my prior post A's Win Bidding for Iwakuma. Why Bid? from November 8, 2010

- Kevin Correia signs with the Pittsburgh Pirates
According to ESPN's Jerry Krasnick on his Twitter feed, starting pitcher Kevin Correia, formerly of the San Diego Padres, has reached agreement with Pittsburgh Pirates on a 2-year, $8 million deal, pending a physical. Correia compiled a 10-10 record with a 5.40 ERA. In 26 games for the Padres, Correia struck out 115 while walking 64 and allowing 152 hits for a WHIP of 1.490.

In joining the Pirates, he joins a young rotation that is already made up of Paul Maholm, James McDonald and Ross Ohlendorf.

- Click Here for Kevin Correia's career statistics from Baseball Reference.com

That's all that I am posting on the first day of the Winter Meetings. If anything happens from now into tomorrow, I'll post it later.

FH

The Oakland A's Are Making Waves

Of all the teams that baseball fans expected to make noise this winter, the Oakland A's would have barely registered as a blip on the radar. But here we are on November 14th and the A's have made a handful of moves to in an attempt to improve their team.

On November 8th I posted A's Win Bidding for Iwakuma. Why Bid?, which briefly described how the A's won the bidding for Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma. The potential starting lineup for the Oakland A's is as follows: Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, Dallas Braden, Brett Anderson and Hishashi Iwakuma. Everyone but Iwakuma is under 27 years of age with Iwakuma being 29 years old. The A's rotation has the potential to be as impressive as the early 2000's trio of Hudson, Zito and Mulder. Time will tell for the Oakland quintet. The A's did not only work on their pitching.

In a pair of moves, the A's claimed Edwin Encarnacion off of waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays. This move seems to add some punch to the A's lineup. In 96 games, Encarnacion batted .244 hit 21 homers and drove in 51 RBI. Encarnacion hit 5 more homers than Oakland's homerun leader 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff and hit more than 2B Mark Ellis, 1B Daric Barton and SS Cliff Pennington combined. The A's also traded pitchers Vin Mazzaro and Justin Marks to the Kansas City Royals for OF David DeJesus. In 91 games for the Royals, DeJesus batted .318 with 5 homeruns and 37 RBI.

The A's did not pick up the option for expensive and injury prone Eric Chavez and have chosen not to resign free agents Ben Sheets and Justin Duchscherer. Rumors also have the A's potentially making an offer to free agent 3B Adrian Beltran so the A's might not be done making moves this offseason.

In stadium news, the A's are looking at various options for a new ballpark. One is a stadium in San Jose that the San Francisco Giants are blocking since the Giants say that San Jose is part of their fan base. Jesse McKinley of the New York Times describes the issues at play in his article Gloves Come Off in Bay Area Baseball Battle dated December 30, 2009. Another option has the Oakland Planning Commission meeting on December 1, 2010 to consider a proposal for a new 39,000-seat stadium located near Jack London Square near the Oakland side of San Francisco Bay. This proposal is being reviewed along with three other areas for a new stadium to keep the A's in Oakland.

In all, A's management is trying to improve on the 81-81 record the team posted this past season and try to pose a serious challenge to the American League Champion Texas Rangers in the American League Western Division.

FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here for the statistics on the 2010 Oakland Athletics from Baseball-Reference.com
- Click Here for MLB Trade Rumors post on the potential 2011 Oakland Athletics rotation
- Click Here for Carolyn Jones article from the San Francisco Chronicle titled Oakland proposed three sites for A's stadium dated November 11, 2010

A's Win Bidding for Iwakuma. Why Bid?

It was announced today by agent Don Nomura on Twitter that the Oakland Athletics won the bidding for the opportunity to sign Japanese pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma of the Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB). Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle puts the bid within the $17 million dollar range (according to her sources). The A's now have thirty days in which they have to negotiate a contract with Iwakuma and pay the posting fee or if they don't negotiate a deal, they don't have to pay the posting fee to the Golden Eagles. For those of you who don't know why the A's (or any other Major League Team for that matter) would have to bid for the services of a player in the NPB, the contractual issues with Hideo Nomo, Hideki Irabu and Alfonso Soriano in the Nineties led to the development of the "Posting System". The roots go a bit further into history and point to the year 1964. (Photo courtesy of http://japanesebaseballcards.blogspot.com)

There was a player exchange between the San Francisco Giants and the Nankai Hawks in the form of 19-year old pitcher Masanoru Murakami. The Giants were impressed with Murakami's showing while with the minor league Fresno Giants that they decided to sign him to a major league contract making Murakami the first Japanese ballplayer in the major leagues. After the 1964 season Murakami signed a one year deal with the Giants. Upon his return to Japan during the offseason, the Hawks convinced him to stay in Japan and Murakami signed a contract with the Hawks for the 1965 season. This left Murakami contractually obligated to pitch for two teams at the same time and the Giants had paid the fee of $10,000 dollars to the Hawks to retain Murakami for the 1965 season. After some back and forth bickering between the heads of both leagues, a resolution was found. Murakami would be allowed to return to the San Francisco Giants for the 1965 season and then return to play in Japan for the Nankai Hawks for the 1966 season. Murakami would finish his career in Japan.

Since there were tense moments in the dealings between the leagues due to the Murakami situation, the leagues adopted the U.S.-Japan Player Contract Agreement which was also known as the Working Agreement in 1966. The agreement called for both sides to respect each other's contracts, rules and agreements between the teams and their players. In essence this prohibited the raiding of players by both leagues. This agreement stood in place until the year of 1994 with the retirement of Hideo Nomo from the NPB and his signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers of MLB.

Robert Whiting of the Japan Times has an amazing four-part series on the Hideo Nomo's legacy both here in the U.S. and Japan. I'll leave it to you to read them since Whiting covers all the bases when it comes to Nomo and the factors that caused him to leave the NPB to play in MLB. What I will say is that in conjunction with Japanese-American agent Don Nomura, a loophole in the NPB player contract was exploited allowing for Nomo to become a free agent. Nomo retired from the Kintetsu Buffaloes following the 1994 season. If he chose to return to play in Japan, then the Buffaloes would still own his rights. This didn't mean that Nomo couldn't take his services to other baseball leagues including MLB. (Photo courtesy of http://japanesebaseballcards.blogspot.com)

Two other players represented by Don Nomura tested the Working Agreement and led to it being changed. In 1997 the Chiba Lotte Marines and the San Diego Padres worked out a trade for pitcher Hideki Irabu. Irabu refused to play for the Padres and insisted that the only team he wanted to play for was the New York Yankees. The Padres eventually traded Irabu to the Yankees (and we all know how that trade worked out). The second player was Alfonso Soriano of the Hiroshima Carp. Soriano wanted out of his contract with the Carp after the 1997 season and hired Nomura to get him released from his agreement with the team. Soriano would end up signing with the New York Yankees after MLB commissioner Bud Selig deemed him to be a free-agent leaving the Carp with no type of compensation.

In 1998 the system was changed by both MLB commissioner Bud Selig and NPB commissioner Hiromori Kawashima. Rob Smaal in his article Unraveling the mysteries of the posting system on the Asahi Shimbun english website describes the Posting system as follows:

Under the system, a player contracted to an NPB team, who wishes to move to the major leagues prior to reaching free agency, can request that his Japanese club post him. If--and that's a big "if"--his NPB club agrees, the MLB Commissioner's Office is informed and a "silent auction" is held.

Any major-league club wishing to attain the posted player's exclusive negotiating rights then submits a sealed bid through the MLB Commissioner's Office. Once the secret bids have been opened, the player's NPB team is then told the top bid amount, but not which MLB club made the highest offer.

If the NPB team agrees to the posting fee, the MLB club that made the winning bid is revealed and that club then has 30 days to work out a deal with the player, which is separate from the posting fee.

If the two sides can reach a deal, then the NPB club is paid the entire posting fee, which have so far ranged anywhere from $300,000 (25 million yen) up to the staggering $51.1 million the Boston Red Sox paid the Seibu Lions in 2006 for the negotiating rights to right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka.

If the NPB club is not satisfied with the bid amount, or if no deal can be worked out between the player and the bid-winning MLB team, or if no MLB teams bid on the player, then his NPB club retains his rights.

Is the system fool-proof? Absolutely not. What it ensures that the NPB is allowed to retain their best talent for a number of years before players turn their sights towards MLB. It allows for the teams to recoup part of their investment in players after the players leave for the majors. If the posting system wasn't in place, then most of Japan's best players would be "cherry-picked" by MLB teams leaving the NPB a shell of what it is now. As we've seen in the examples of Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui that the Japanese players can play and succeed in the majors.

Going back to Hisashi Iwakuma, Iwakuma in a 10-year career with the Kintestu Buffaloes and the Rakuten Golden Eagles is 101-62 with a 3.32 ERA in 1422 innings pitches and 46 complete games and 5 shutouts. He has struck out 1085 batters while walking 323 and allowing 1408 hits. Iwakuma's best season came in 2008 when he was 21-4 with a 1.87 ERA in 201.2 innings pitched with 5 complete games and 2 shutouts. He struck 0ut 159 batters while walking only 36 and giving up 161 hits. We'll see if the A's can hammer out a deal with Iwakuma's representatives within the next 30-days. If they can, the A's are lined up to have a very impressive starting rotation for the upcoming 2011 season.

FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here for Rob Smaal's article titled Unraveling the Mysteries of the Posting System from the Asahi Shimbun english webpage dated 09/30/2010
- Click Here for Rob Smaal's article titled Work in Progress from the Asahi Shimbun english webpage dated 10/02/2010
- Click Here for Hisashi Iwakuma's statistics page from the NPB english website
- Click Here for Masanori Murakami's statistics page from the BaseballCube.com website
- Click Here for Hideo Nomo's statistics page from the BaseballCube.com website
- Click Here for the Hideki Irabu statistics page from the BaseballCube.com website
- Click Here for the Alfonso Soriano statistics page from the BaseballCube.com website
- Click Here to access Robert Whiting's articles from the Japan Times website
- Click Here to access Patrick Newman's thoughts of Hisashi Iwakuma from Fangraphs.com dated 10/18/2010