Happy Halloween...

Not much for me to say...

Carlos Delgado's option gets picked up...

Tim Wakefields option gets picked up...

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Who is Junichi Tazawa...

In recent weeks we've heard alot of hype around Junichi Tazawa, whether or not he would be drafted by a Japanese team and be eligible to sign with a team in the MLB.

Well, today Tazawa got his wish, as Japan's 12 proffessional teams passed on him. I was curious to see what this guy could do, because when the Yankees got Kei Igawa, i'd actually never seen him pitch, well for any of you who are just as curious as I am about Tazawa... here you go:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxRKY_Xg5tQ

an article i found on ESPN.com has Tazawa throwing 97 MPH, where if you watch the video i posted, you can clearly see his fastball topped out at 148 Kilomters per hour, which is 92 MPH (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3672409&campaign=rss&source=MLBHeadlines)

watching the video of Tazawa, i noticed his poor location of his breaking ball at times, having it hang often, ofcourse the hitters in Japan are not as talented as the ones in the MLB, but a hanging breaking ball is a hanging breaking ball. You should have also seen some very generous calls by the homeplate umpire, those pitches would not be called strikes in the Major leagues.

Don't get me wrong, Tazawa should be a solid pitcher in the majors some day, but for those of you who think he is the answer to all of your bullpen problems in 09, you are very wrong, Tazawa is only 22, and needs more time to develop.

ESPN sees the suitors for Tazawa as: The Angels, Royals, Blue Jays, A's, Rays, Braves, Mets, Reds, and Giants

MLB trade rumors (www.mlbtraderumors.com) reports that other teams such as: The Red Sox, Dodgers, Tigers, Pirates, Cubs and Mariners have scouted Tazawa

Congratulations...

To the Phillies and Brad Lidge for a truly amazing season. Now the offseason fun truly begins! Stay tuned these next few weeks for news on the arizona league, free agent signings, and updates on the GM winter meetings.

On a boring day in baseball...

Here's something i know all yankee fans who watch the games will enjoy...



Oh Michael Kay.. you're one crazy kid

The importance of a Closer...

The closer, the most coveted role by any relief pitcher in baseball. Often times the most dominant pitcher on the team. To be an effective closer coming into the game the opposing team should not expect to get on base let alone score, you should strike fear into the opposing fans. Two of the best examples of that this year are K-rod and Mariano featuring an era of 2.24 and 1.40. But just how important of a role does the closer play on a team?
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In reality a good closer on a decent team will only pitch around 60 or 70 innings a year as opposed to the anticipated 150 to 200 of a starter. Yet some closers earn upwards of 10 million dollars with Mariano Rivera being the highest paid closer at roughly 15 million dollars a year.
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This upcoming offseason K-rod and Brian Fuentes will be looking to cash in, with K-rod apparently seeking a 4/15 or greater deal. Again I have to ask the question is it worth it? Let's take for example the Mets, who have been rumored to be in either the K-rod or Fuentes sweepstakes. Coming into this offseason the Mets are in need of a starting pitcher, a left fielder and a second baseman, as well as any bullpen help they can get (it really can't get any worse).

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Is it really worth it to spend all that money on a closer who will pitch 70 innings at most, as opposed to a starting position player who will play every game or a starting pitcher who will pitch more than twice the innings? It's also not like one pitcher will be able to salvage the bullpen on its own. Can they really argue they would not be better off signing a multitude of decent relievers and trying to establish some bullpen depth?

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Now don't get me wrong, I'm not going to deny what all-star closers such as Brad Lidge, Trevor Hoffman, or Mariano Rivera have done for their teams, but in reality a closer in today’s market is more of a luxury than anything.

Cy Young or MVP?

What would you rather build your team around? a Cy Young or an MVP?

This question was brought to my attention durring the middle of the season, when all the buzz was surrounding Cincinnati Reds pitcher Edinson Volquez and Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton (both players were traded for eachother in the previous offseason). Ofcourse both players cooled down and both fell out of the race for their respective awards toward the later part of the season, but the question still remains: Cy Young or MVP?
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Now, there are 162 games played every season, and if your 'Ace' was to start once every five days, he would only pitch in 32 of those games. An MVP however, has the oppurtinity to play in all 162 games, and help you win everyday.
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While Cy youngs are hard to come by, MVPs can appear out of no where. Just take a look at Boston's Dustin Pedroia, most people outside of the New England area had no idea who this kid was, now he is strongly being considered for the MVP.
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For the past decade, the Cy young has come from the ace of a teams starting rotation i.e Roger Clemens, Johan Santana, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez (Ofcourse now Cliff Lee is trying to become the first pitcher in 10 years to come from no where and claim the Cy young award).
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When you take a look at past MVP award winners such as Jimmy Rollins, Justin Morneau, Miguel Tejada and Ichiro Suzuki, you wouldnt normally picture them as candidates for that award, yet they won it (Ichiro doing it in his rookie season).
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Now, Cy Young or MVP?

Verdict: If i was to build a team today, personally i would build it around an MVP, a guy who always comes through in the clutch and can carry teams through rough stretches. I.E Alex Rodriguez of 2007 (in the month of April) and Ryan Howard of 08 (in the month of September). Now, i'm not saying Cy Young's arent important, because this was a closer race than i may have made it seem, but i would see my chances of winning the world series far greater with an MVP, rather than a Cy Young.

As if these athletes needed MORE money...

If you haven't already watched the video, enjoy the patheticness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAgj5eKm8kg

Mr. Rodriguez... you've stooped to a new low...

(saw the video first on 3:10 to Joba's blog)