Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Good morning to everyone! Well, it has been a full week since I have written anything, so if anyone is still out there, let me know! I hope to write a more full article for tomorrow, but tonight, I just wanted to touch on a couple of things and then post the results of our Week 16 football picks and our updated standings. We have just one more week to go, and unless there is some strange event, Kyle Waldrop will be our winner! So, thanks for continuing to stop by the site. I really appreciate it!

President Gerald Ford passed away yesterday at the age of 93. He was the President when I was born, so I really do not know a lot about him. I understand that he took over the presidency under some unfortunate situations, yet he pardoned Richard Nixon which created a lot of controversy.  He was only President for four years. He was known as a great guy, but he lost to Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election. Maybe some of your know more, and if you want to share any thoughts, please feel free to.

Be sure to head over to Pat Neshek's site as he continues to give away some of his game-used Twins and minor league things. All you have to do is go to his Guestbook and make him a trade offer and he will decide who wins each item.

However, the reason for the congratulations is that he will be getting married on Saturday! Best Wishes to both Pat and Stephanee!

The Twins announced that 14 non-roster players will be invited to spring training. Of course, that number can, and likely will, increase in the next month as more players are signed to minor league contracts. The big name on this list is pitcher Kevin Slowey who has been nothing be spectacular since the Twins drafted him in the 2nd round of the 2005 draft. Others that may be considered for a Twins roster spot include DH Ken Harvey and lefty reliever Mike Venafro. Josh Rabe is also invited, as is infielder Glenn Williams. Tommy Watkins, who enjoyed his best season in his eight pro seasons in the Twins organization, will be in Ft. Myers for spring training as well.

There hasn't been a lot of action on the free agent signing front in the last week, but there have been a few of note:

• Jeff Suppan, who was excellent for the Cardinals in their World Series run, stays in the NL Central as he signed a four year, $42 million deal with the Milwaukee Brewers. His addition gives the Brewers arguably the best starting five in the National League.

• You have to wonder how much money Shea Hillenbrand cost himself with his antics in Toronto last season. I mean, whether he takes a walk or not, he can hit and in this market, he could have made some money. Instead, he signs a one year deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for $6 million with an option year. Not bad money, without question, but he could have made much more.

• Last year, the Cleveland Indians had one of the worst (if not the worst) bullpens in baseball. So what has Mark Shapiro done this offseason? Well, he is adding depth to their bullpen. It appears that Keith Foulke will be the most recent addition, joining the likes of Roberto Hernandez, Aaron Fultz and Joe Borowski in the Tribes' pen. Now, there are major question marks with each of them, but that is why all the depth.

• To no one's surprise, the San Diego Padres signed Marcus Giles to a deal allowing him to play on the same team as his older brother Brian Giles.  

• Rod Barajas got a one year, $2.5 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. Now, I am more than a little biased, but I think that this is a horrible signing for the Phillies. Barajas is a career .240 hitter whose 'big' offensive seasons came with the Texas Rangers. He is also an average at best defensive catcher. The Phillies had Chris Coste and Carlos Ruiz as catchers. Either of them could provide as much offense and as much defense as Barajas will and combined they will make maybe $850,000. I don't disagree that the Phillies needed to add a catcher, but I think they would have been wiser to get a veteran, defensive minded catcher for about the league minimum to back up Coste and Ruiz and provide insurance. For Chris Coste, he will now be essentially the 25th man on the roster. He will be the 3rd catcher as well as a backup at 3B and 1B (although, I think that being the backup 1B for the Phillies will be very similar to being the backup QB for the Packers the last decade.)

• I see that the Chicago White Sox traded righty Brandon McCarthy and a minor league OF to the Texas Rangers for lefty John Danks, righties Nick Masset and Jacob Rasner. Now, McCarthy has some big-time potential as a starter. However, I believe that Danks has almost as much potential and Masset is another guy believed to be very close. So, this is an interesting trade in that it was all about prospects on both sides and the 'winner' may not be determined for several years. 

Well, that is it for today. As I said before, I hope to be back tomorrow with another article. Thank you again for stopping by the site. Please feel free to e-mail me or leave some Comments below.