1 Down, 1 Up in the Air

The A's and Padres finally closed the deal on Kotsay for Long & Hernandez, but the Red Sox and Diamondbacks are still waiting on Curt Schilling's decision for their deal to go through. The word is that he'll make his decision on FRIDAY, which is also when the deal must be finalized by (5 PM EST specifically).

When Bad Articles Start Great Debates

David Pinto has the makings of a great debate over at Baseball Musings regarding the theory of "Productive Outs".

Check it out.

Lee to Chi-town

Sacramento Native Derrek Lee was traded to the Chicago Cubs yesterday for Hee Seop Choi and a PTBNL (Player To Be Named Later, in case you didn't know).

The Cub Reporter likes the deal, and has some speculation about the PTBNL here.

For another cub-fan response, Bryan Smith has his take over at Wait 'Til Next Year.

Even non-fans like the deal, as I think they should.

David Pinto thinks it's an excellent trade all around, and while Aaron Gleeman agrees he also thinks that the Marlins may fair better if Choi pans out the way many expect.

Two for the Road

Jayson Stark's got a great column up in which he talks about a lot of Free Agent and Trade Situations that are out there right now.

Of note is that Boof Bonser isn't high on scouts lists any more ("He's just a mediocre Triple-A pitcher right now."), but [Merkin] (incorrectly listed as Melvin) Valdez is ("[H]e hit 98 on the gun and lit it up. This kid has a big arm").

Editor's Note: I hope that's not the same 98 that Foppert was lighting up in the minors.

And you can read Rob Neyer's take on the 2 (if Kotsay's MRI is acceptable) Billy Beane trades here.

Happy Birthday to The (real) Southpaw!

26 years in this world and I still don't understand salary arbitration.

Editor's Note: I forgot to mention this last week, but we've had 3D confirmation that there will indeed be a Southpaw Jr. You can see 3D Ultrasound pictures of my unborn son here (click MORE for the whole gallary of pictures).

Just so it's clear, the GENDER is what was confirmed (and the health, he's healthy as can be).

Tino to Tampa

The St. Louis Cardinals have shipped 1B Tino Martinez to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for minor league pitcher Evan Rust and a PTBNL. Following recent MLB trends, the Cardinals are paying $7 million of Tino Martinez's contract ($7.5 million this season, $1 million buyout next) for him to play on another team.

This is a good move for the D-Rays as they'll be on the hook for $1.5 million for Tino Martinez, who will bring a familiar name to their lineup, and possibly some decent production. FYI, Tino and his family LIVE in Tampa, FL . . . so he's a hometown guy.

A Fitting Anniversary, Really

Well, thinking I'd be all ready to celebrate The Southpaw's first full year today . . . I completely missed it, as the first post went up on November 14, 2002.

Thanks to everyone who's visited, and double-thanks to everyone who's e-mailed or linked me over the last year.

I've got some big plans for the 2003-04 season, so we'll see where we end up in Year 2.

If you have any suggestions, comments, or slander . . . E-MAIL ME!

A Second Move, or Another First?

The A's have traded SP Ted Lilly to their annual trade-partner, the Toronto Blue Jays, for Bobby Kielty.

I like this move. The A's have got pitching to spare, Lilly's inconsistent, and they've needed more bats for some time now. I just hope that Kielty can improve upon what he does if given 500+ ABs.

And if history's any indicator, pencil in Ted Lilly to have a good year in which some point to him for the MVP.

I kid, I kid.

In related news, it appears that the "Long Gone" trade isn't so finalized. It seems as though they're trying to work out an extension for Kotsay before closing the deal.

An Obvious Throw-In

According to ESPN.com, the A's have agreed to send C Ramon Hernandez and OF Terrence Long to the Padres for OF Mark Kotsay.

I wonder what the Elephants will think of this one . . . Long is gone.

Should be 8

Barry Bonds easily won his sixth MVP today. Even counting the Pendleton and Kent debacles, Barry Bonds has twice as many MVPs as any player in the history of the award.

Bonds received 28 of the 32 first place votes, with Pujols getting 3 and Sheffield 1.

Congratulations Barry.

Mass Linkage

First and formost is the big trade . . . the Giants have aquired catcher A.J. Pierzynski from the Minnisota Twins for RP Joe Nathon and minor leaguers RHP Boof Bonser and LHP Francisco Liriano.

Namesake Waiting for Boof checks in with a positive outlook and a hope that this is the first move of many. I guess Boof never DID show up . . . so the name was fitting. (In other WFB news, check out his various off-season plans for the G-men)

For the other end of the deal, check out Aaron Gleeman . . . as he's got a (Gleeman-length) breakdown of Pierzynski and his take on the trade as well.

For a plethora of related links, check out Steve Shelby's SF News Diary. If it's out there, he's probably linked it.

And don't forget these two from Peter Gammons...

The first is about the new Bill James Handbook 2004, and the other is about the Winter Meetings. In my opinion, the offseason is when Gammons is at his best.

23, 32, and 51?

ESPN.com has a list of the Top 50 Free Agents along with predictions on where they'll end up signing.

According to these predictions, the Giants will sign 1/25 of these free agents.

23. Rich Aurilia SS
32. Raul Mondesi RF

I guess they'll be filling out the roster with number 51 on.

Irony and Memories

The Gold Gloves have been announced for both leagues in the last two days, and I can't help but think that this is all so familiar.

2003 NL Gold Glove winners
P: Mike Hampton, Atlanta Braves
C: Mike Matheny, St. Louis Cardinals
1B: Derek Lee, Florida Marlins
2B: Luis Castillo, Florida Marlins
3B: Scott Rolen*, Cardinals
SS: Edgar Renteria*, Cardinals
OF: Andruw Jones*, Braves
OF: Jim Edmonds*, Cardinals
OF: Jose Cruz, Jr., San Francisco Giants


2003 AL Gold Glove winners
P: Mike Mussina, New York Yankees
C: Bengie Molina*, Anaheim Angels
1B: John Olerud*, Seattle Mariners
2B: Bret Boone*, Seattle Mariners
3B: Eric Chavez*, Oakland Athletics
SS: Alex Rodriguez*, Texas Rangers
OF: Mike Cameron, Seattle Mariners
OF: Torii Hunter*, Minnesota Twins
OF: Ichiro Suzuki*, Seattle Mariners

* 2002 winner


For those who weren't around a little over one year ago, one of my VERY FIRST posts was about last year's Gold Glove winners in which I posed the question, "Are Gold Gloves Contagious?"

Once again this season, a few select teams domintated the ballots. In the NL, 8 of the 9 winners were from 3 teams (Atlanta, Florida, & St. Louis).

The difference was in the AL, where one even though team (Seattle) had 4 winners, the remaining 5 were from different teams.

With 3 Gold Glovers (Castillo, Lee, & Mussina) playing in the World Series this year, our World Series running totals are now 11 teams in 21 years, or 10 of 20 series' with at least one team void of a Gold Glover. And as you should notice in my past Gold Glove entry, I only went back to 1980.

OH, and Jose Cruz, Jr. just BARELY beat out Steve Bartman for the final OF spot (rimshot please).

Let the Rumors Begin

It seems as though Todd Helton is available for trade.

Unfortunately, at $16.4 million per, he's out of reach for the G-men.

If they can spend THAT much, expect Vlad the Impaler to be roaming around near the arcade at Pac Bell (yes, I called it Pac Bell).

...And Boy Are My Arms Tired

In case you didn't catch it, I was part of Wait Til Next Year's Organizational Meetings.

Editor's Note: Please disregard the error in which I referred to Nen's final two contract years as 04-05 (should read 03-04).

Sad News in the Baseball Blogging Community

Christian Ruzich, A.K.A. The Cub Reporter, has lost his home in the Southern California fires.

Please be sure to send him your thoughts and prayers.

More news I missed

The big story last week was that the Boston Red Sox put Manny Ramirez on "irrevocable waivers" last week. That means that anyone claiming him would get him outright, without any compensation to the BoSox. Not paying much attention to it, I didn't notice that it was "irrevocable waivers", so I didn't look into it further.

Aaron Gleeman has a great breakdown, but to spoil the ending, no one claimed him.

Theo Epstein is quickly becoming one of my favorite GMs. At 27(?), he's the guy most every baseball blogger secretly wishes to be.

Wagner to Philly

It's funny how you find out about trades sometimes. I started my morning as I do most mornings with a stop at ESPN's website to see if anything happened on the East Coast while I was busy sleeping, and moved on.

As I got to my morning break, however, I checked out some blogs to see what was out there to read, and while visiting Baseball Musings I see that Billy Wagner has been traded to the Phillies. At first I thought I somehow missed this news when checking ESPN's site, and then realized that it just happened.

And that's another reason why I love blogs. If I wouldn't have been reading blogs, I probably wouldn't have continuously checked ESPN or any other sports-related "news" sites for updates, and I might not have known until tomorrow morning.

Thanks David, as well as all the other baseball bloggers out there.

OH, and Wagner was sent packing for Brandan Duckworth, minor league right-handers Taylor Buchholz and Ezequiel Astacio, and $8 million worth of wiggle room for the 2003 Free Agent class . . . in case you were wondering.

Editor's Note: It's funny how this is the first thing I wanted to post today, and yet it got bumped down BECAUSE it was the first thing I posted today. Ah, Mondays.