Jeff Bagwell on Steroids???

There is a lot of talk currently on whether or not Jeff Bagwell was on steroids during his career and another wave of voters that want to all out boycott anybody that played the last 25 years from futher entry into the Hall of Fame.  Obviously that would be a travesty in the highest degree, along the lines of the one Tucson, AZ HOF writer that would not vote for Rickey Henderson (which kept him from a unanimous vote) because, "I never liked the guy." 

So take a minute to read this article.  http://itsaboutthemoney.net/archives/2010/12/31/the-problem-with-believing-everything-our-eyes-see/

And then this one.  http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/12/30/how-about-this-no-one-from-the-past-25-years-makes-the-hall-of-fame/

This is going to be quite the topic for the next few years as one player after another becomes eligible for the HOF voting.  Griffey, Thomas, Gwynn, Jeter, Arod, and all the "Greats" we've watched for the last twenty years.  Proof or no proof the last 20 years has a dark cloud of disgust over it and even players that were honest all along are questioned. 

So read these two very short articles and let me know what you think on the subject.

Greatest Hitter

Red Sox fans, and other deluded people, like to say that Ted Williams was the greatest hitter ever.
But is he?
Really?
And what is the criteria? How is this determined?

Brandon Webb to Rangers?

Rumors are the Rangers, Cubs, Nationals and maybe now the Brewers are interested in Webb.  Might be a minor league contract only which would give him an invite to Spring Training and given his veteran status probably only a couple million a year if that.  If he would not make the team after ST he could have a clause put in that would release him from team control and put him back into free agency to possibly get picked up by another team.

He'd most likely make a veteran minimum contract and get incentives based on Games Started and IP. 

He also could get a Major League contract that would put him on the 25 man roster even after Spring Training but that team would not be able to send him down to the minors if he started really struggling unless Brandon Webb actually consented and approved that move.  Which he wouldn't.  With a minor league contract he can be optioned to AAA without his consent. 

It'll be interested to see what kind of structured contract and clauses he gets signed with.  Also interesting to see if he can throw more than 83 mph by Spring Training (that was the fastest radar time in the Instructional League this year).  83 MPH just doesn't cut it. 

He was a Top 3 pitcher in the league keep in mind.  All of 2009 and 2010 were completely lost but in 2008 he won 22 games and was barely over 3.00 ERA.  He was a shut down 8IP guy.  The reward is HUGE on him and now that he appears to have come down off his $8 million a year guaranteed nonsense on his contract demands he is a lot more appealing to teams.  I hope he succeeds.  Just in the American League.  I can't bear the thought of him shutting down the Dbacks while on the Cubs or Brewers while he's making 2.8 million a year or something. 

Either way it'll be an interesting Spring Training.

Spring Training

Is it too early to talk about Spring Training? I don't think so. The winter meetings are over, and everyone has made the moves they wanted. What's left, salary arbitration meetings? Check the link for the 2011 Schedule. I'm excited for this spring training season. The cactus league has a new team, The Reds, and the Diamondbacks and Rockies have a new home in the Valley of the Sun. Opening Day for this stadium is Feb 26 with a match up between the two teams. Should be lots of fun and you know I will be there. After a miserable season for D-Backs, well there's only room for improvement. Rumor has it Xavier Nady and Henry Blanco are on the way here. Lets see, Blanco: .215 Avg, 8 RBI, 2 HR last year. (he'll fit in nicely) Nady: .256 avg, 33 RBI, 6 HR Can anyone else smell the championship??????

Can the Yankees compete with the Phillies or Red Sox Rotation?

CC
Hughes
Burnett
... Pettitte??
...Nova??

Versus:
Beckett
Lester
Dice K
Buchholz
Lackey

Or the Phillies new Rotation of:
Halladay
Lee
Oswalt
Hamels
Blanton/Kendrick

Of course the Maddux/Smoltz/Avery/Leibhardt didn't exactly cover the walls with Championships but Lee going to the Phillies and a healthy Red Sox rotation is pretty dangerous.  Red Sox are also close to signing Bobby Jenks as their new closer.  Does that mean Pap's is going elsewhere in a trade?  They still have Daniel Bard too...

Not saying the Yankees are lost without Lee but banking on Andy Pettitte to come back to MAYBE pitch 20 starts is not exactly matching the Phillies/Giants/Red Sox in pitching.  They do still have Rivera though. 

Read a few things on Bleacher Report that the Yankees could possibly go after a David Price/Clay Kershaw type person in the league using Jesus Montero as trade chips.  That would be interesting...

Side Note:  Check out the career stats of the 2011 rotation for the Phillies.  I think people overlook how good they are after Halladay and Lee, the "Superstars."  Oswalt is still wicked good and so is Hamels even if he had a so-so year in '09. 

Halladay, Lee, Oswalt and Hamels are ALL 200 IP, 200K guys that could easily win 20 games each if they stay healthy.  Ridiculous.  Amazing what a switch to a good offense will do for a pitchers stats and "W" colomn...

HALLADAY:

Pitching Stats: Next Stats >> SEASON TEAM W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV SVO IP H R ER HR HBP BB SO 1998     Toronto Blue Jays 1 0 1.93 2 2 1 0 0 --- 14.0 9 4 3 2 0 2 13 1999     Toronto Blue Jays 8 7 3.92 36 18 1 1 1 1 149.1 156 76 65 19 4 79 82 2000     Toronto Blue Jays 4 7 10.64 19 13 0 0 0 0 67.2 107 87 80 14 2 42 44 2001     Toronto Blue Jays 5 3 3.16 17 16 1 1 0 0 105.1 97 41 37 3 1 25 96 2002     Toronto Blue Jays 19 7 2.93 34 34 2 1 0 0 239.1 223 93 78 10 7 62 168 2003     Toronto Blue Jays 22 7 3.25 36 36 9 2 0 0 266.0 253 111 96 26 9 32 204 2004     Toronto Blue Jays 8 8 4.20 21 21 1 1 0 0 133.0 140 66 62 13 1 39 95 2005     Toronto Blue Jays 12 4 2.41 19 19 5 2 0 0 141.2 118 39 38 11 7 18 108 2006     Toronto Blue Jays 16 5 3.19 32 32 4 0 0 0 220.0 208 82 78 19 5 34 132 2007     Toronto Blue Jays 16 7 3.71 31 31 7 1 0 0 225.1 232 101 93 15 3 48 139 2008     Toronto Blue Jays 20 11 2.78 34 33 9 2 0 0 246.0 220 88 76 18 12 39 206 2009     Toronto Blue Jays 17 10 2.79 32 32 9 4 0 0 239.0 234 82 74 22 5 35 208 2010     Philadelphia Phillies 21 10 2.44 33 33 9 4 0 0 250.2 231 74 68 24 6 30 219 Career Totals 169 86 3.32 346 320 58 19 1 --- 2297.1 2228 944 848 196 62 485 1714 LEE: Pitching Stats: Next Stats >> SEASON TEAM W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV SVO IP H R ER HR HBP BB SO 2002     Cleveland Indians 0 1 1.74 2 2 0 0 0 0 10.1 6 2 2 0 0 8 6 2003     Cleveland Indians 3 3 3.61 9 9 0 0 0 0 52.1 41 28 21 7 2 20 44 2004     Cleveland Indians 14 8 5.43 33 33 0 0 0 0 179.0 188 113 108 30 11 81 161 2005     Cleveland Indians 18 5 3.79 32 32 1 0 0 0 202.0 194 91 85 22 0 52 143 2006     Cleveland Indians 14 11 4.40 33 33 1 0 0 0 200.2 224 114 98 29 8 58 129 2007     Cleveland Indians 5 8 6.29 20 16 1 0 0 0 97.1 112 73 68 17 7 36 66 2008     Cleveland Indians 22 3 2.54 31 31 4 2 0 0 223.1 214 68 63 12 5 34 170 2009     Cleveland Indians 7 9 3.14 22 22 3 1 0 0 152.0 165 53 53 10 3 33 107 2009     Philadelphia Phillies 7 4 3.39 12 12 3 1 0 0 79.2 80 35 30 7 2 10 74 2010     Seattle Mariners 8 3 2.34 13 13 5 1 0 0 103.2 92 31 27 5 0 6 89 2010     Texas Rangers 4 6 3.98 15 15 2 0 0 0 108.2 103 53 48 11 1 12 96 Career Totals 102 61 3.85 222 218 20 5 0 0 1409.0 1419 661 603 150 39 350 1085

OSWALT:

Pitching Stats: Next Stats >> SEASON TEAM W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV SVO IP H R ER HR HBP BB SO 2001     Houston Astros 14 3 2.73 28 20 3 1 0 0 141.2 126 48 43 13 6 24 144 2002     Houston Astros 19 9 3.01 35 34 0 0 0 0 233.0 215 86 78 17 5 62 208 2003     Houston Astros 10 5 2.97 21 21 0 0 0 0 127.1 116 48 42 15 5 29 108 2004     Houston Astros 20 10 3.49 36 35 2 2 0 0 237.0 233 100 92 17 11 62 206 2005     Houston Astros 20 12 2.94 35 35 4 1 0 0 241.2 243 85 79 18 8 48 184 2006     Houston Astros 15 8 2.98 33 32 2 0 0 0 220.2 220 76 73 18 6 38 166 2007     Houston Astros 14 7 3.18 33 32 1 0 0 0 212.0 221 80 75 14 7 60 154 2008     Houston Astros 17 10 3.54 32 32 3 2 0 0 208.2 199 89 82 23 10 47 165 2009     Houston Astros 8 6 4.12 30 30 3 0 0 0 181.1 183 83 83 19 8 42 138 2010     Philadelphia Phillies 7 1 1.74 13 12 1 1 0 0 82.2 53 18 16 6 3 21 73 2010     Houston Astros 6 12 3.42 20 20 1 1 0 0 129.0 109 52 49 13 2 34 120 Career Totals 150 83 3.18 316 303 20 8 0 0 2015.0 1918 765 712 173 71 467 1666 HAMELS:

Pitching Stats:																		Next Stats >>
	SEASON		TEAM		W		L		ERA		G		GS		CG		SHO		SV		SVO		IP		H		R		ER		HR		HBP		BB		SO
	2006		Philadelphia Phillies		9		8		4.08		23		23		0		0		0		0		132.1		117		66		60		19		3		48		145
	2007		Philadelphia Phillies		15		5		3.39		28		28		2		0		0		0		183.1		163		72		69		25		3		43		177
	2008		Philadelphia Phillies		14		10		3.09		33		33		2		2		0		0		227.1		193		89		78		28		1		53		196
	2009		Philadelphia Phillies		10		11		4.32		32		32		2		2		0		0		193.2		206		95		93		24		5		43		168
	2010		Philadelphia Phillies		12		11		3.06		33		33		1		0		0		0		208.2		185		74		71		26		8		61		211
	Career Totals				60	45	3.53	149	149	7	4	0	0	945.1	864	396	371	122	20	248	897