The guy convicted in the Nick Adenhart death gets 51 years to life.

Sox picked up another RP: Bobby Jenks. Wow!

How old is he?

I'm REALLY liking the Red Sox.

That Red Sox vs Phillies World Series is going to be awesome.

Aren't you a Yankees fan?

mid 20's

He has a history of felony DUIs

No. My favorite team is the Chicago Cubs, but we all know they're going nowhere this year.

Ahhhhh well you never know. Let's see if all the Cubs needed is a new manager. I mean let's look at the O'S and how well their second half was because they changed managers. This is baseball anything can happen.

But, yeah with the Cards hitting and now Greinke on the Brewers the Cubs are gonna have a real hard time staying in second or third.

But, like I said anything can happen. With the Mariners off season they had last year I thought they'd be shoo in's to be in at least second place. If everyone stays healthy on the Phillies and the Red Sox it is going to be a tough ride.

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/show...408-245417.jpg

My doppleganger will lead them to the World Series Championship!

or not, for the 103rd straight year.

I still don't understand how this guy beat Ryne Sandberg for the job as Cubs Manager. There's GOT to be something else. Maybe Jim Hendry just doesn't like Sandberg or something. It boggles my mind. If you're going to rebuild, it doesn't matter if it's with Sandberg, or the bald version of Gary Busey...so why not give it to Ryno?

Quade drinks vanilla coke. That's gotta be worth a couple karma points.

INNO FACT: Inno's high school a cappella group sang at the opening of Vanilla Coke.

Nationals are out of the Brandon Webb sweepstakes. It's down to the Rangers and a NL Central team not named the Cubs.

Well, it's surely not the Pirates. B-Webb actually has some talent left in his body.

Brandon Webb to the Rangers. 1-year deal pending physical. The Reds were the mystery team all along.

Blue Jays and Octavio Dotel are close to a 1-year deal.

DANG

IDK if pitching in Arlington is the best thing for a pitcher trying to make it back from injury.

With some pitchers you gotta take a chance and plus it's only a 1 year contract.

That and he had that big sinker when he was in Arizona. If he can get that back, he shouldn't have too much to worry about ballpark wise.

Takashi Saito to the Brewers, one year deal. His fourth team in as many seasons.

J.C. Romero stays with the Phillies, also a one year deal.

Angels only team left going after Adrian Beltre since the Rangers bailed out due to asking price of 5-year $85 million and the need to move Michael Young to DH spot or trade him. The Angels could get Beltre cheap if nobody else joins and a few more weeks pass by to lower his value.

11 teams in the bidding war for Brian Fuentes with the asking price of at least 3-years $15 million. The Blue Jays, Rays, Rockies, Mariners, Twins, Pirates, Phillies, Brewers, Yankees, Red Sox, and Mets all are in the race to get him.

If the Red Sox get Fuentes then Papelbon is gone, sooner. I mean you guys all ready have Jenks being the 8th inning guy. I don't think Fuentes would settle for anything less then an 8th inning guy. And switching the 8th inning between Fuentes and Jenks might get a bit dicey. So if the Red Sox pick up Fuentes it is nearly 100 percent sure that they have a trade place for Paps.

I wonder what team will get him. The Jays did just get Dotel right? But would they consider him a closer? He strikes me more as an 8th inning guy. I think the Jays might go hard after him. But, I could say that about all of the teams here.

The Jays don't really need to lock up a closer for 3 years. They need to put money elsewhere and maybe find a closer within the organization. Personally a closer that eats up a lot of salary on a rebuilding team is wasteful.... but it's a sign of willing to spend some dough-ray-me, so I'm happy about that. AS LONG AS they don't turn around and say they can't sign or extend *player X* because of budget concerns.

Palmeiro still insists he never used steroids

Rafael Palmeiro is sticking to his story that a tainted vitamin shot caused his failed drug test five years ago, and hopes Hall of Fame voters will overlook the mistake and honor him for his 3,020 hits and 569 homers.

A week before the Baseball Writers Association of America announces its inductees to baseball’s Hall of Fame, Palmeiro told SI.com in a phone interview posted Wednesday that he never used performance-enhancing drugs in his 20-year career. As he asserted in 2005 after he was suspended for failing a test, Palmeiro again insisted the anabolic steroid was in a B-12 vial given to him by Baltimore Orioles teammate Miguel Tejada(notes).
[...]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_yl...-palmeiro-peds

####

Finger wagging at Tejada
*tsk*

-surely this clears his name!

Harmon Killebrew has esophageal cancer :(

You never know with those guys from the 90's and early 2000's...there's no way to know who was clean and who wasn't. I have a tough time believing Rafael Palmerio knowingly took Steroids, but that's just me.

Anyway, whether you take Steroids or not, being able to hit a 95MPH Fastball 400 Feet, or a Breaking Curve to the opposite field, takes skill, hand eye coordination, and if any of us took Steroids, it doesn't mean we will be able to go to the Major Leagues and hit 40 Home Runs.

So I believe they should vote in the guys who have the numbers, and leave it at that. What are you going to do...

LMFAO! Sure they are. I've got a bridge to sell you if you believe that.

<font color=goldenrod>If Fuentes' price drops down to say 2 years, $10 million I'd LOVE for the Mets to jump in. Parnell-Fuentes-K-Rod would be a decent late inning punch.

Even better - they could give Fuentes a few chances to close out games and keep K-Rod from getting that 55 games finished option from vesting. I'm pretty sure the Players Association is gonna file a grievance if that option doesn't vest, so the Mets would need a really good excuse.</font>

I doubt he's going to drop either in years or price since he wants a 3-year deal and all those teams in the hunt means good news to his agent since he's going to go well over $5 million per year in the original request.

I'd be more worried about the Yankees boosting his price more than the Phillies since its been pretty disappointing off-season and no way they let the other New York team have the media focus and a "win" in free agency for a player.

You make it sound so black and white.

You leave it how it helps recover from injuries quicker, builds muscle just to name a couple things.

Guy that already have baseball skills are able with 'drugs' to take themselves to a higher level, play longer, recover faster. Those are advantages based not on God given gifts but on chemicals.

just saying...

If steroids didn't help, people wouldn't use them.

If they weren't a problem, they wouldn't be illegal.

http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/12/29/j...is-hall-voter/

<font color=goldenrod>It disgusts me that douchebags like this are allowed to vote for the HOF.

"Yeah I don't know that he did steroids and there's no evidence that he did, but I'm not gonna vote for him anyway!"

That's almost as bad as the assholes who send in blank ballots every year to prevent there being a unanimous HOFer.</font>

You mention, the guy has to have the baseball skills in the first place.

If it was all about the drugs, Arnold Schwarzenegger could've played in the Majors and hit 50 Home Runs.

A few teams just made some moves.

O's and Derrek Lee agree to a 1-year deal worth about $7.5 - $8 mil.

Hideki Okajima goes back to Boston on a 1-year deal.

Nationals offer Adam LaRoche a 2-year deal after the O's picked Derrek Lee.

The 1 year deal for Lee to me means the Os are gonna go hard after Fielder next offseason.

What makes you think it's Fielder and not Pujols? Pujols would be a equally good guy to have short term at least.

I am REALLY liking the Orioles. I'm not saying they're going to win the AL East, but I believe they can finish above .500.

That pissed me off too. And this:

Made him sound like even more of a jerk.

Makes it seem like he is going to point the finger (or is already doing it) at players who took steroids if Bagwell doesn't make the Hall. Unreal.

Writers irk me. They think they know it all. They haven't played in the MLB yet they think they know what it takes to be a Hall of Famer.

I think the only people who should get to vote for who gets in the HOF should be those IN the HOF. I would have the Hall of Famers vote, since they know what it takes to be a HOF'er, and see things from a different perspective...that of a player.

I totally want Jeff Bagwell in the Hall, by the way.

Just sayin...

If I remember correctly, the idea behind the veterans committee was to try to get players into the Hall that the writers either ignored or forgot about.

The big problem was the veterans committee is even more stingy in voting since a lot of them don't want to expand the membership or only cared about themselves once they actually got inducted.

What qualifications must a writer have in order to have a vote? I know some writers vote, others don't.

Need to be part of the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA) for 10 years as the minimum requirement and its possible to lose the ability to vote if the employer is upset at a writer or doesn't want to be involved in the BBWAA or Hall of Fame.

The writer himself/herself also has to be part of an approved list of companies and newspapers to be eligible as well. Also have to be at a certain number of games each year in person as part of reporter part of the requirement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basebal...ion_of_America

I think it has to be 10 years straight but doesn't have to be about the same team or same company for a writer to be eligible.

No writer should vote for who gets into the HOF. I don't think it's fair. I'm still upset Roberto Alomar didn't make it last year. It should be up to the players already in the HOF.

It's douchebags like that who try to make themselves bigger than the players.

Lee is one player that would have filled a need in Toronto. I was hoping the Jays were in talkes with Lee is silence.

The Jays should sign Carlos Delgado once he is healthy again. It could be to a Minor League contract or whatever.

or Jose Canseco!

Jose Canseco is in talks with the Puerto Rico Baseball League about coming down here and playing.

of course it's not all about the drugs. no one has ever in the history of intelligence argued it was.

You'd be surprised at how much "power" some people will give to Steroids.

fangraphs is predicting the Os upgraded lineup will produce 5 runs a game (800 runs total) this year, up from 3.3 last year. Only two AL Teams scored 800 runs last year, and unfortunately they were both in the AL East.

Probably due to the fact that Albert Pujols is going to be buried in some sort of St. Louis Cardinals memorabilia. Few and far between are the athletes in this day and age that will be borne to and die with the same franchise, but he's pretty clearly one of the few.

Jeter and Mariano are probably some of that few.

Os reliever Alfredo Simon main suspect in shooting

way to start 2011..ugh

main suspect in killing, not just shooting.

Wow, Alfredo Simon actually blew someone away.

If only he had that kind of accuracy with a breaking ball.

Wow, I never expected to hear this. I'm kinda shocked.

Adrian Beltre close to a deal with Texas since Oakland dropped out and Angels lowered its interest in him. The deal is expected between a 5-6 year and $90-$96 million range.

If Rangers get Beltre, Young most likely gets traded if he agrees to waive his no trade clause. Neither Rangers nor Young feel he would fit in their DH spot.

<font color=goldenrod>Mets sign Chris Capuano and Taylor Buccholz to 1-year contracts.

No idea what they are getting paid but it can't be much. Fine by me, both are low risk, high reward bullpen picks (maybe even starting for Capuano).

Hope they still go after Chris Young though.</font>

Do you think Beltre would DH if it meant keeping Young on the team?

Young might go to 1st base

one thing that can't be argued is Adrian's defensive ability. GG

I don't think Beltre would be a good fit for a DH spot and Rangers have shown no intention to move him there since all the talk has been about Young possibly being moved as a DH.

Like Your Hero has said, Rangers are trying to get him for a defense upgrade more than power or offense upgrade. Rangers might end up just keeping Young but they want to see if there is any real interest for Young that benefits the Rangers enough to trade him.

I could easily see Young going back to Toronto for a catching prospect.

I know, but if the Rangers wanted to keep both of them it could be an option. Putting Young at first would probably be a better plan, though if he doesn't get shipped somewhere else.

Carlos Gonzalez getting close to a 7 year contract to stay here

:heart:

Tulowitzki and Cargo are gonna get sick of each other by 2020.

Amazing offseason for Colorado's future.

I'm fairly certain Dan O' Dowd is some sort of wizard

Colorado's track record when giving players big money isn't great.

Unless something drastic happens today when Beltre arrives to sign the contract, Rangers get Beltre on a 6-year, $96 million deal with the last year being an option year at $16 million. Since Beltre was a restricted FA, Red Sox get a 1st Round draft pick from the Rangers.

Dan Uggla agrees to 5-year $62 million extension deal with the Braves.

Today all us Puerto Ricans SHOULD get the news that our fellow countryman, Roberto Alomar, has been elected to the Hall of Fame.

I'm guessing Blyleven goes in too.

Yankees looking at Jeremy Bonderman.

Adam LaRoche to the Nationals. 2-years, $15 mil. with an option for a 3rd.

Blue Jays sign Ocavio Dotel. That's his 11th team in 12 seasons.

Also signed Chad Codero to a minor league deal.

Both positive moves for Toronto who just can't ever seem to find a reliable closer.

Reds are looking hard at Scott Podsednik, which is fine with me because I'm assuming Scott Podsednik's wife would come too as part of a package deal.

<font color=goldenrod>Just want the Mets to lock up Chris Young and then probably call it an offseason. Maybe get either Scott Podsednik or Fred Lewis, but if that doesn't happen they have enough backup OF options anyway.</font>

Lol someone hacked the BBWAA website last night.

My guess is it was Alan Trammell. Or maybe Dave Parker. Cobra.

<font color=goldenrod>Alomar and Blyleven are in the HOF.

Jeff Bagwell was picked on only 41% of ballots, which is ridiculous. Gotta figure he'll get in eventually.

Mark McGwire was picked on 19%, Rafael Palmeiro on 11%. I figured many of the steroid guys would get in eventually but now I have my doubts about the writers ever allowing them in.

Juan Gonzalez - 5.4%

Barry Larkin - 62%

Kevin Brown didn't get enough votes to stay on the ballot at all.

Zero votes (aka why the fuck are they even on the ballot?):
Raul Mondesi
Kirk Rueter
Charles Johnson
Bobby Higginson
Lenny Harris
Carlos Baerga

BJ Surhoff also got 1 pity vote.</font>

<font color=goldenrod>The fact that Bagwell, a guy with no steroid implications outside of the fact that he happened to play in the era, only got 41% of the votes - leads me to believe that Mike Piazza is going to be screwed in his first elibible year in 2013.

In fact, the 2013 ballot is going to be fucking crazy - Clemens, Bonds, Sosa, Piazza, Schilling, Biggio. Dare I say only Biggio is a first ballot lock due to the 3,000 hits. Schilling may get in on the first try due to postseason.

Whatever. Fuck the writers.</font>

<font color=goldenrod>John Franco - 424 saves. Only on 4.6% of the ballots so he's gone.

Christ. He's more of a Hall of Very Good type guy, but still no reason he should have been one-and-done.</font>

Nah. Piazza was the greatest offensive catcher of all time. While Bagwell got screwed pretty royally here today, he doesn't have any such claim that makes him a first ballot lock.

Blyleven will probably shut up now. Always bitched and moaned each year after they announced who was going in.

Looks like Larkin will make it in next season

I'm actually going to miss that a bit, because at times he came off genuinely crazy and it always made for some great soundbytes.

Roberto Alomar made it, baby...Puerto Rico is in PARTY-MODE! We only have two Hall of Famers, Orlando Cepeda and Roberto Clemente...so now we have a third.

Also, I knew Blyleven would get in.

About Bagwell, voters have to understand it's not their job to make "statements". They're there to look at the statistics, and vote. If they want to make a "statement", then they should call somebody or write an email. It's stupid.

Also, how Fred McGriff doesn't get more support sucks, too.

Absolute dark horse candidate with no real chance of getting in here, but how is it that some Mets fan somewhere hasn't at least come up with a pamphlet trumpeting John Franco's credentials? His closest career comparison is Lee Smith, who always gets people shouting their support for him.

Beltre gets 6 years and 96 million from Texas.


Salaries are out of control. Last contract Beltre got - after a 48 HR year was about 40 millions less.

5 years 80 million - there's a vesting option for a 6th year.

The deal with Seattle was 5 years, 64 million.

Raul Mongedesi

Bagwell isn't a first ballot hall of famer anyway, but he deserves to make it eventually. Blyleven started with only 12% of the vote, so it seems Larkin and Bagwell will get in soon enough. Especially considering next year's class is pretty wekasauce.

Roberto Alamor Starting Lineup gets added to my HOF SLU shelf.

Can't for the life of me see why not:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/pl...agweje01.shtml

If measured by WAR, a very good statistical device in debates such as this, the only more productive offensive player than Bagwell over the course of his career was Barry Bonds. Bagwell doesn't have so much as a single legitimate juicing allegation hanging over his head. Batted nearly .300 for his career. He's got the 40th highest on base percentage in the history of baseball, the 35th highest slugging percentage, the 34th most home runs and the 21st highest OPS, all of which ranks him well ahead of literally dozens of those who have already been enshrined. Also, while it's a bit less important, it's worth noting that no one has yet been enshrined to the HOF as an Astro; this guy clearly deserves to be the first.

I'm just struggling to find any of these reasons that exist amongst the voters as to why he's not a first ballot HOFer. Far worse have gotten in their first time out.

This is just baffling considering Beltre was 26 when he came off that monster season in LA. It shows how the free agent market fluctuates each offseason since he can land an even larger contract when he's probably past the peak of his career.

I think the voters are going to limit 1st time inductees as a way to keep part of the Hall special since the last few votes involved players from the steroid era.

Last year Roberto Alomar was punished from being a first ballot winner due to playing during the era and the excuse of an off-field issue from the 1990s as a reason why.

Its a stupid reason but the last few years when ESPN and other places gets articles on why people voted a certain way, it sort of hinted at the voters believing in that mentality now.

FUN FACT: I share a birthday with Adrian Beltre

Bagwell was never even one of the 5 best players in the league at any point in his career.

I think he is a HOFer, but not a sure 1st ballot player. All of your reasons why he is, are actually just signs of his 2nd tier greatness.

HOLY BALLS! 35th HIGHEST SLUGGING! Thats a stat of someone in the hall, but not someone that must be.

If you aren't a first ballot Hall of Famer you shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame. The whole thing doesn't make sense.

Right...it's not like Blyleven picked up any more wins or strikeouts during these 14 years...

...and Alomar certainly didn't hit more Home Runs or get more hits from 2010 to 2011.

It's all these voters making stupid "statements" with their votes and stuff. The voting process is a joke.

Well, except for that one year where he unanimously won the MVP award, the other seasons where he finished top 5, and several other seasons where statistically speaking he clearly should have but was penalized by voters for playing on a bad team.

Other than that, though, never.