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Prince Fielder: king of the bottom feeders thanks to Scott Boras. Why is the consensus second best free agent for the 2011-2012 class, ranked only behind only Albert Pujols, still out there? What is keeping him from signing? He has been in contact and had contracts offered to him by what seems like half the team in major league baseball. Why isn’t he on someone’s roster yet?
Let’s look at his contract desire. He wants $25 million or more, and rumor has it that he wanted a 10-year deal, but it appears now that a six-year contract is all he is likely to get – due to his size and his mediocrity at 1st base.
Production wise Prince Fielder is worth $25 million per, but at 300-plus pounds, logic says his days at 1st base are numbered. And Fielder’s not a top 10 draw in baseball no matter how many homers he hits so, 10 years is out of the question unless you’re buying what Boras is selling, and if you are… may I suggest some Cottonelle or Charmin?
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Ray, people will come Ray. They’ll come to Iowa for reasons they can’t even fathom. They’ll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they’re doing it. They’ll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won’t mind if you look around, you’ll say. It’s only $20 per person. They’ll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they’ll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They’ll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they’ll watch the game and it’ll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they’ll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh… people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.
Field of Dreams - Dyersville, Iowa
More than a year after it was put on the market, the famous Field of Dreams set location from the 1989 movie was sold to an investment group call Go The Distance LLC. They won’t be moving into the house–rather they plan to develop the 193-acre lot into a baseball/softball training and tournament complex, including a dome for indoor training.
The famous cornfields are visited by an estimated 65,000 visitors per year–including, in 2009, by the proprietors of this site. The field itself wasn’t actually all that impressive–but the ambiance was definitely impressive, and I could easily see charities and companies wanting to hold tournaments there.
Youth leagues, though, I’m not sold on yet–and having a training facility in a town of 4,000 in rural Iowa seems like a stretch.
I hope they can make something of it–but at the same time, even more importantly, I hope they don’t ruin the feel of the actual field that made the site famous in the first place.
Bud Selig is reportedly upset and “embarrassed” that the Mets went public with the fact that they were not allowed to wear special hats to honor New York City first responders to honor the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
This is a further example of how clueless the commissioner of Major League Baseball really is–he should be embarrassed that he and his office made the decision in the first place. And he should be even more embarrassed that the hats they wore in pregame were physically taken away from the players, after it was heard that they may conspire to wear them anyway–the players had given the league an out (tell the players they can’t, players do it anyway, fine the players, donate the money to a charity supporting first responders).
And he shouldn’t be surprised–especially in today’s modern world, where players are constantly tweeting and actually interacting with fans–that the players would go public about the situation.
MLB dropped the ball on this one–multiple times now. And if Selig was smart, he would look in the mirror, and figure out a way to fix the situation.
Why do I not think that’s going to happen?
The Dallas Mavericks were hosting the Miami Heat in an NBA Finals game tonight about a half-hour away from the Ballpark at Arlington, leaving a lot of empty seats and plenty of room for me to roam about as I made my first trip to see the home of the Texas Rangers.
And plenty of roaming there is to do. There’s the suite level. On my budget nobody was going to let me in the rooms but a friendly usher did let me wander around a bit. The rooms are named after Hall of Famers and are decorated with art featuring their namesakes.
There’re plenty of restaurants and concessions stands, some fairly generic with the typical ballpark fare and others Irish pubs or wine bars.
I just read this post from Yahoo.
Wow. Another New York fan with a forum.
We’re gonna win the World Series.
Why?
Because CC is skinnier.
Because Derek Jeter has a new contract the the team didn’t want to give him.
Because we have great prospects.
BECAUSE WE ALWAYS WIN THE WORLD SERIES!
Even when we don’t.
Over the last couple years we’ve had some great debates about the inductees and potential inductees to the Pro Football Hall of Fame at our sister site, Zoneblitz.com.
We’re going to try to start doing the same thing here at Brushbackpitch.com as well, starting today.
Jeff Idelson, Baseball Hall of Fame president, announced on the MLB Network that, in his 14th year of eligibility, pitcher Bert Blyleven received the necessary 75 percent of votes to make the Hall. Blyleven’s self-promotion sometimes went over the top but his 287 wins, despite playing for some lousy teams, and two World Series championships certainly helped his argument. Nor did his career totals of 3,701 strikeouts and 242 complete games hurt.
Joining him will be Roberto Alomar, who played second base for seven teams during a 17 year career. He stole 474 bases, earned 10 straight gold gloves and made 12 straight All-Star games. He received 90 percent of the vote and, Idelson said, the third highest vote total ever.
They join Pat Gillick, who was tapped by the Expansion Era Committee.
That leaves a number of the 33 candidates on this year’s ballot still on the outside looking in, including Barry Larkin, Jack Morris, Lee Smith, Jeff Bagwell and several members of the controversial “steroid era,” which we’ve written about several times in other contexts and certainly will cover under this heading as well.
So what do you think? Are this year’s selections the right ones? Who should have gone in and who should have stayed out?
We’re looking forward to hearing from you at brushbackpitch.com.
I loved what the Texas Rangers did in 2010. They overcame near bankruptcy to contend. They sent a top-notch prospect and others to Seattle to grab Cliff Lee for a pennant chase and it almost worked to perfection, as the Rangers pushed San Francisco in the World Series before falling.
I also think the Rangers are going to be serious players for years to come. They are now well financed and a television deal with Fox Sports Southwest makes them a real, big-money player near the likes of the Yankees and the Red Sox.
But I’m stymied by the latest news from Arlington, Texas. Various reports have the Texas Rangers close to dedicating big money – about $96 million for six years, according to at least one report – toward signing third baseman Adrian Beltre.
Now, Beltre’s not a bad player, not by any stretch. By most accounts his defense at third base has always been very good, though there are also suggestions that he’s slipping a bit, and even if he isn’t yet, he’d be 37 at the end of a six-year deal.
The bigger question I have is his offense. This is a guy who has had two monster seasons out of 13 in the big leagues with the bat. He hit .334 with 48 homers, 121 RBI and a 1.017 OPS in 2004 at the age of 25. And he hit .321 with 28 homers, 102 RBI and a .919 OPS in 2010 with the Red Sox.
I hoped it was a bad idea that would fade away after the season ended but as Major League Baseball approaches its winter meetings next week it appears that further expansion of the playoffs is not only going to be on the table, but is likely to pass with little opposition.
Thus Major League Baseball will take one more step toward becoming another league that waters down its regular season in favor of a playoff format that invites too many teams to take a shot at the championship.
I initially didn’t like the expansion to four playoff teams with a wild card included but it was a necessity when each league was split into three divisions. And I grudgingly will admit that it has created some fantastic races, this year included when San Francisco, San Diego and Atlanta fought tooth and nail to the season’s final weekend over the last two playoff spots.
The Fall Classic, sans Bronx Bombers and Philadelphia Phillies, starts tonight.
Yes, the upstarts, Texas and San Francisco, vanquished heavily favored foes and the league’s two hottest teams embark on a tight matchup tonight. Here are our thoughts:
Rich:
Rangers in seven
Usually you can predict the winner of the World Series by asking a simple question, “Who’s happy to be there, and who wants to win?” That isn’t the case this year because frankly, neither team was supposed to be here. With that said, this should be a phenomenal series. The matchup is perfect. San Francisco has great pitching and adequate hitting. The starting rotation is outstanding, and the bullpen is deep. With all due respect Mr. Halladay, Tim Lincecum has become the best big game pitcher in the National League, and if Brian Wilson isn’t the best closer, he’s certainly a fair representation.
The Giants lineup doesn’t feature one great hitter, but there isn’t an easy out 1-8 in that lineup either. They also have in Pablo Sandoval a rare luxury for any NL team heading to an AL park: a designated hitter. Texas is the exact opposite, great hitting and adequate pitching. Cliff Lee is the best player in the Series, but the rotation drops off some after that. With Josh Hamilton, Vlad Guerrero, Ian Kinsler , Michael Young, etc., etc., the Rangers will show the Giants the strongest lineup they’ve seen all year. Neither team plays brick wall defense, but both feature some great players in the field.
So call it a toss-up.
I’m a Giants fan for two decades, so I really want to pick them to win. However, I think the Rangers have so much momentum heading into this series, along with Lee, I have to go with the Rangers in 7. I guess.
Andy:
Rangers in six
The pitching matchups will be fantastic. Offense will be scarce. But I think the Rangers have the potential to put up a few more runs than the Giants do.
Plus, the momentum garnered by taking out the heavily favored Yankees will keep them hot. Games will be low scoring and close. But the Rangers will prevail.
Tony:
Giants in six
Well, pretty clear whoever I pick will lose. I pick the Giants.
Pitching and homefield advantage. Should be a good series.
Major League Baseball begins the next step toward the World Series tonight as Texas hosts the New York Yankees in game one of the AL Championship series. New York publications already spent some time today talking about how important it is for the Yankees to win so television ratings stay strong but other national experts think Texas might have at least one advantage in the run game.
All three of the Brushbackpitch writers correctly predicted two of four Divisional series. Rich missed on the American League but nailed both National League series right on the nose. Andy hit Texas winning in five and Philadelphia sweeping the Reds but missed on Philadelphia’s win over Atlanta and the Yankees whitewashing of the Twins.
Tony hit the Texas and Philadelphia series but didn’t hit them squarely on the correct number of games. So … who cares? Yeah, you’re probably right.
Anyway, here are our picks for the League Championships:
Rich:
New York over Texas, six games
Philadelphia over San Francisco, five games
Tony:
New York over Texas, six games
Philadelphia over San Francisco, five games
Andy:
Texas over New York, six games
Philadelphia over San Francisco, six games
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