24 Carats And Then There’s A Baseball Diamond And A Game That’s Still Flawed In So Many Ways !
By tophatal ……..
So pitchers and some outfielders are now starting to report for Spring Training . And it’s pretty safe to say that as both the Citrus League and Grapefruit Leagues set about starting their respective schedules the fans within the states of Florida and Arizona as fans descend upon both states to see their favorite teams . As a resident here within the state of Florida I will try to do my utmost to see a number of preseason games and quite possibly gauge the teams to see where they stand at this point early in the season .
As a die-hard fan of the Atlanta Braves’ fan I’m hoping to see whether or not Fredi Gonzalez can lead a young robust but notably a spirited team to some much-needed success . Led by seasoned veterans Tim Hudson , Chipper Jones and Brian McCann this should be a roster that’s capable of breaking the dominance of the Philadelphia Phillies and their stranglehold on the NL East over the last two years .
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Slide show for your perusal .
My own feeling will be that the Phillies will have something of a down year , and I firmly believe that the loss of Ryan Howard and the offense of the team will indeed see a drop off from last season ! And even though manager Charlie Manuel will be able to count on the likes of Raul Ibanez , Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino will jointly have to see that the Phillies’ offense is a well oiled machine until the return of Ryan Howard recuperation from his injuries . That being said if the Philadelphia Phillies are to survive for any prolonged period without the first baseman then the pitching rotation of Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee will have to be at their leveled best for the team’s season . Granted , during the Phillies’ pitching simply wasn’t where it need to be in order to overcome the wiles of the St Louis Cardinals .
From my own standpoint I view this season as a “ must win” for Charlie Manuel and GM Reuben Amaro Jr , as failure to do so , could see this multimillion dollar roster being imploded at the behest of managing partner and principal owner David Montgomery . At the same time both Amaro and Manuel could very well find themselves out of a job at year’s end which would obviously predicated upon the success of the team.
The reigning World Series champions the St Louis Cardinals are now without All Star first baseman Albert Pujols who has now found himself a new home having been acquired by the Los Angeles Angels and signed to a lucrative multi-year contract . From my own perspective I do not believe that Pujols’ agent Dan Lozano was asking for an extortionate deal on behalf of his client but herein lies the idiocy MLB and the fact that team owners and their front office executives don’t tend to be all that bright. Cardinals’ GM John Mozeliak signed Matt Holliday to a 7yr $119 million deal somewhat bloated when you consider the lack of real productivity from Holliday over the past two seasons . So unless team owner Bill DeWitt overnight became something of a cheap skate , I can only presume he felt the team’s needs were elsewhere , rather than retaining one of the most productive first baseman in the NL and the game altogether . Someone explain that to me please as to the mindset behind the thinking of the St Louis Cardinals’ front office ?
I’m no great admirer of the NL West but I’ll give credit where it’s due because much like its NFL counterparts within the AFC West and NFL West the brand of being put up for public display can be best described as being dire . And it has been no different within the division that just happens to be the home of the Arizona Diamondbacks , Colorado Rockies , Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants .
The Giants had something of a down year year in 2011 , unable to make a successful defense of their 2010 World Series title . And the team’s failure to win either the division or at least be in remotely of a chance of gaining the wildcard berth last season . That being said Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy and his coaching assistants will be looking to redeem themselves this upcoming season .
As for the Los Angeles Dodgers given their present situation of seeing the organization still without an owner as the ball-club remains within bankruptcy proceedings while a new owner is sought via a sealed bidding process. ________ it will be interesting to see what transpires between now and the end of the whole episode . It would appear that Bud Selig’s ass might just be saved after-all, given his whole blundered handling of this rather asinine episode when one bears in mind all of the danger signs were there to see concerning the willful and malevolent dealings of Frank McCourt and the most senior executives of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ organization ! And to think that there some rather idiotic individuals who claim to be knowledgeable as to the inner workings of a baseball organization were proffering up some rather inane advice concerning what they deem to be pertinent to this matter . At one point would it occur to these assholes that simply transgressing the bye-laws of the game as laid out by the league hierarchy is actually OK ? But then again these very same morons would willingly come out and support the players who have actually used steroids , other PED’s and would suggest that it has actually benefited the game of baseball , while actually defrauding the fans and essentially hurting the integrity and image of the game ! Furthermore , it’s not as if the league hierarchy have seen fit to actually be proactive from the very beginning as to the actions of Frank McCourt , much less the whole steroid abuse era !
Arizona Diamondbacks’ manager Kirk Gibson and his team had an improbable season in 2011 having parlayed their play into a division title and an appearance in the postseason . And with the moves made by the front office led by GM Kevin Towers and senior managing general partner Ken Kendrick . It will certainly be interesting to see how the team in its current guise will look regroup itself and play themselves into contention over the course of the regular season. At the same time with their depth on the roster along with the cursory invitees Gibson and his coaching staff will indeed have enough time to assess the overall make-up as of the team at large . Will there be a place for perhaps some of the organization’s top prospects ? Well this is where the preseason schedule will tell us a great deal about those aspirants will be looking to play their way unto the team.
The Arizona Diamondbacks will open their regular season schedule with a three game series at home against the San Francisco Giants starting on the 5th April 2012 that will be played at Chase Field in Phoenix , Arizona . Justin Upton , Ryan Roberts and Chris Young will need to show the same sort of productivity on display last season if the Diamondbacks are to be successful this season. And much of that will be predicated upon the maturity and quite possibly the leadership expected to be exhibited by Upton . Meanwhile the team’s pitching rotation led by Ian Hughes , Daniel Hudson and Joe Saunders will also be asked to replicate the form shown in 2011 .
It now appears that time cannot not heal all wounds and the New York Yankees now seem to be finding that once again to their cost repeatedly over the years. As it appears that they are now looking to unload the burdensome and unproductive …… A J Burnett and his rather inflated contract . If the rumors are to believed then the front office of the organization are willing to pay at least 60% of the player’s remaining contract while he plays elsewhere . Kind of reminds me of the same role reverse model that in essence kept the Texas Rangers from being competitive during and immediately after Alex Rodriguez’s tenure there , leading him to being shipped off to the Bronx Bombers several years ago. For the final seven years of Rodriguez’s original 10 year $252 million contract that was negotiated on the player’s behalf by none other than that ” vulture “ known as Scott Boras !
The Texas Rangers somehow agreed to swallow the greater part of that inflated contract that had in part left them in a precarious financial situation. So much so , that then team owners Tom Hicks and Ken Gillette said to be acute businessmen then had to place all of their sporting interests ( Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars ) into Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection . That same fate also befell the English Premiership (EPL) soccer team Liverpool FC that the duo purchased several years later. Now out of the receivers’ hands under UK bankruptcy laws the team is once again competitive , relevant and is now under the ownership of the Fenway Sports Group who just also happen to own the Boston Red Sox . Far be it for me to suggest but I find it ludicrous for anyone to suggest that the MLB team owners are even in the slightest bit astute in terms of their presumed business acumen ! Simply look at the likes of David Glass , Frank McCourt , Bob Nutting , Stuart Sternberg , Lewis Wolff , Robert H. Castellini and Tom Ricketts . These individuals may well have made their millions elsewhere but without the subterfuge and the complete idiocy under which baseball operates with the owners in subjugation in part to the league hierarchy led by Bud Selig , I seriously doubt that their respective organizations would be seeing the light of day as a viable going concern !
Yankees’ GM Brian Cashman is simply proving to my mind that while having a treasure at his disposal he is not that great a front office executive much less that a general manager to begin with . Without the millions afforded him by way of the YES Network there is no way in hell that he would be allowed to get away with such an exercise were this not the New York Yankees’ organization . Consider the trades and players that have come and gone during Cashman’s reign and the leading front office executive in charge of making the personnel decisions for the organization ? And in large part were you to go down that list reel off their names and I can assure that you more likely than not consider at least 55% of those players to have been major busts or ” marginal busts ” !
In large part I do hope that the preseason as well as the regular season will be something that offers the fans and public alike some enthralling . Given the events of the final month of the regular season and that of the final day itself . Who would have thought that crescendo would have been surpassed by the exploits of the teams participating in the postseason itself ?
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Picture gallery for your perusal .
What if anything are you most looking forward as the MLB season approaches and do you believe that this season can surpass not only the events of last year but also the unlikely success attained by a number of teams that perhaps many of us didn’t view as being on the radar ? Simply leave a comment as to your thoughts and once again thanks as always for the continued support as it is greatly appreciated !
Picture and slide show details below .
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(1) Buster Posey (28) of the San Francisco Giants hits a two run home run in the fourth inning outfield their game against the Atlanta Braves at AT&T Park on April 24, 2011 in San Francisco, California. Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images ….
(2) Pitcher Roy Halladay (34) (right) , and Cliff Lee (33) of the Philadelphia Phillies sit in the dugout during the Major League Baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on April 26, 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images ….
(3) Michael Bourn (24) of the Atlanta Braves steals second base during a game against Chase Utley (26) of the Philadelphia Phillies at Turner Field on September 28, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty Images / Scott Cunningham …..
(4) Martin Prado (14) and Dan Uggla (26) . of the Atlanta Braves sit in the dugout after the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Turner Field on September 28, 2011 in Atlanta, Georgia. Getty Images / Scott Cunningham …..
(5) Willie Bloomquist (18) of the Arizona Diamondbacks misplays a ball in the infield against the Milwaukee Brewers during Game Two of the National League Division Series at Miller Park on October 2, 2011 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. ……
(6) Manager Kirk Gibson of the Arizona Diamondbacks talks with former Major League Baseball’s Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Joe Torre before Game Three of the National League Division Series against the Milwaukee Brewers at Chase Field on October 4, 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona. …..
(7) New York Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett throws in relief during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2011, in St. Petersburg, Fla. AP Photo/Mike Carlson …….
(8) General manager Brian Cashman of the New York Yankees speaks to the media after the game against the Tampa Bay Rays was postponed due to rain on July 8, 2011 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. Getty Images North America / Jim McIsaac …….
(9) General manager Dayton Moore (R) of the Kansas City Royals and owner David Glass watch batting practice before a game against the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium on September 21, 2011 in Kansas City, Missouri. Getty Images / Ed Zurga ……
(10) (L-R) Bob Castellini the CEO of the Cincinnati Reds and Pete Rose share a laugh during the ceremony celebrating the 25th anniversary of his breaking the career hit record of 4,192 on September 11, 2010 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio. Rose was honored before the start of the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds.
(11) Theo Epstein , the new President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs, speaks during a press conference as Chairman Tom Ricketts listens at Wrigley Field on October 25, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. Getty Images North America / Johnathan Daniel …….
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MLB wildcard standings final day 2011
MLB Spring Training Schedule (Opening Day) 29th February 2012
MLB Schedule (Regular Season Opening Day) 5th April , 2012
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Keeping the bare necessities covered Merilyn Sakova
Nice-n-easy does it as Ms Sakova’s assets get your attention . Those have got to be real haven’t they ? Or perhaps not …… your thoughts ?
tophatal
Alan Parkins
18 Comments
Any takers for Burnett’s contract ? C’mon now there has to be someone willing in part to take the player even if the Yankees are willing to eat at least 50% plus of his yearly salary over the remainder of the contract’s life ?
Cashman has never been that great a GM in spite of what the idiotic Yankees’ fans may well believe because without the YES Network he would not have been able to pay these bloated salaries to the likes of Pavano , Randy Johnson and others over the years whom he’s either traded for or drafted .
The Steinbrenners may well have been able to use rather envious tax loopholes in order to write off losses for the baseball operations as programming losses but that’s simply is what makes the commercial operations of baseball such a damn joke to begin with besides the antitrust exemption granted to the MLB hierarchy by the Congress and Senate .
Less we forget also the team owners ram-rod their way through municipal governments across the country getting them to use much needed public resources to finance their stadiums that in large part many of these cities never truly recoup anything tangible that is long term and of benefit to them ! Just ask Michael Bloomberg how Citi-Field is working out for his city and specifically for the Mets’ organization in terms of yearly attendance since that “bitch “ was opened to the public ? $755 million down the ###king drain all because Selig , Saul Katz and Fred Wilpon made Bloomberg bend over and take one for the team !
‘nough said on the matter !
As a booby prize perhaps the Mets can have some fun with Ms Sakova ?
tophatal ……………
I don’t know that I agree with you about the Phillies, man.
After technically underachieving last year, I think they’ll be back to easily winning 90+ games.
I mean, with that rotation, how could they not?
Chris Humpherys
That Phillies’ team after last year’s debacle are treading on thin ice along with Charlie Manuel his coaching staff and GM Reuben Amaro Jr ! Don’t believe me , just ask sportsattitudes and see what he thinks about the Phillies as a whole ? For the money being spent that team has underachieved !
And based on their postseason stats that is definitely borne out in terms of last season
Don’t forget they’re also losing Ryan Howard for the first two months of the season and what he brings to the table in terms of team offense . They may well win 90 games but I believe they’ll be hard pressed to do so this season especially in light of what the Marlins and Braves and Nationals have done in improving their rosters as well as the other NL teams . You're over-reaching on that wins' total I believe ! .
You’ll not that I didn’t mention the Mets as I believe that the organization . is now a lost cause !
tophatal ……………..
Regardless if the Phillies have a down year, I can’t see Philly not coming out first in the National League East. The team is just too good. Kind of excited that the MLB is right around the corner.
Blog Surface /CDR
If the Phillies fail to make the playoffs then heads will role amongst the players on the roster as well as amongst the coaching staff with Reuben Amaro Jr ultimately losing his job as the general manager . Mark my words there’s only so much that the owners can tolerate considering the team payroll and the monies being paid to Halladay , Hamels , Lee , Ibanez and Ryan Howard collectively .
Are the Phillies too big to fail ? You tell me ?
tophatal ………….
I have no idea how this season is going to shake out, but I will tell you that I’m looking forward to heading south to the Rays spring training complex and enjoying some baseball south Florida style.
Cheers!
aero
All I know is that the AL East is now ripe for the pickings and it is all now down to how voracious the appetite of the Rays just happens to be . The team’s offense and specifically their pitching will have to be top notch if they’re to reign supreme within the AL and MLB as a whole .
I’ll try to take in a number of their preseason games as well as several of their regular season games just to see the makeup of this new team . I’ll glad that the front office extended Maddon’s contract for a further three years !
tophatal ……….
With the key free agents all pretty much setting up shop in the AL, I think the general interest fan has their eye on that league more than the NL. That might be a mistake if you are looking for competitive races because I believe ultimately those “super teams” in the American League might be so very dominant there might not be any home-stretch excitement of note…even if Bud Selig manages to get his sickening one-game Wild Card playoff implemented. The National League may very well offer the most compelling day-to-day, nail-biting competition come September. Maybe not the best teams in the sport, but likely the best return on investment for entertainment.
sportsattitudes
The free agents of 2011 are one thing but this year in 2012 especially amongst the pitchers I think that the GM’s and owners will have to resort to E Bay to place their bids for the talent that comes to the market . Front and center amongst the MLB agents will be Scott Boras forcing the teams to overpay inflated prices for marginal talent at best !
sportattitudes
If the wildcard mandate that Selig wants to initiate isn’t installed this season then it’ll happen next season for sure .
To my mind , that premise will add to the excitement but in no way does it address the most inherent issues which address the game and that’s the equal sharing of all revenues that comes into baseball . Until some sort of compromise is reached this will be a game about the have’s and have nots and that is something that the purists simply don’t want to address ….. even in the midst of the stark financial realities that face more that 75% of the teams within the game of baseball .
tophatal …………..
With Spring Training about to get going, I’m starting to get excited for the season. I don’t see how the Phillies don’t have a good year, but I guess you never know!
I think the NL West is up for grabs, but if I had to make a prediction, I’d say the Giants win if Posey stays healthy…
chappy 81
Yep that’s so true with regard to Spring Training . I’m taking some time off as the girlfriend has a timeshare in the Tampa / St Pete area . So I’ll take advantage of the situation to take in a few games !
I think that the NL West should be a two horse race between the Giants and D’backs . Kirk Gibson is pissed after his team’s early demise in the playoffs last season .
The Giants’ pitching is scary when it gets going and as you’ve so rightfully said a healthy Posey adds to that offense as well .
tophatal …………
I think A.J. Burnett could potentially be a solid starter for a smaller-market team. The pressure of being in NYC seems to claw at him at times, but he’s got a true talent, and he will shine.
Sam’s Sports Brief
The day AJ Burnett is a solid starter for anyone in the NL or AL will be the day that Rosie O’Donnell changes her sexual orientation and as we all know she’s sworn off men and that is not about to change anytime soon !
Roise the riveter ……… I bet she wanted to “punch” Madonna’s ticket during the making of the movie !
Burnett is a spent force as a pitcher and was vastly overpaid and overrated to begin with !
tophatal …
The big hit guy howard we might have a down year. We have the pitching but let’s see what happens
Bobby Gee
The Phillies no doubt have the pitching but with the loss of Howard for the first two months of their season in 2012 and now Raul Ibanez going to the Yankees I think that the offense will definitely see a real downturn this year !
Bobby Gee
With the injury there’s no doubt that Howard will probably having something of a down year based on his annual productivity since he entered the league . But as you say with the Phillies’ pitching that should keep them in the hunt within the NL East and the league as a whole .
Sam Brief
The day that AJ Burnett becomes a solid starter in MLB will be the day that 99.995 of all heterosexual males will find a female like Rosie O’Donnell attractive . ‘nough said on the matter , as neither will ever come to fruition !