Hot Stove League, baseball’s off-season fix

If you are a baseball fan—even a St. Louis Cardinals fan—the fact that a team with 83 wins, the lowest total in the history of the sport, captured the Fall Classic has to make you wonder: Just what the heck just happened, anyway?

Most mid-Missourians are happy, of course, that the near-hometown team nailed the big prize, beating the Detroit Tigers handily 4 games to 1 to claim the so-called World Championship.

Excited as they were, it was obvious even to many Cardinals fans that what transpired last month was hardly a classic—and, given the weather, barely fall at that. The Tigers’ pitchers’ five errors, combined with third baseman Brandon Inge’s three errors, made for some sloppy anti-climactic defense and a bunch of non-dynamic World Series scoring. Further, the Tigers’ other miscues—outfielders miscalculating angles to catchable fly balls and falling down in a rain-soaked outfield—added to the insult. Let’s face it: Detroit didn’t exactly offer viewers crisp play.

Some within both the Tigers and the Cardinals organizations were blatantly annoyed with the media’s characterization of this “all-Midwestern World Series” as kind of ho-hum.

Well, sports fans, hate to break it to you, but the numbers say just that: Television ratings during this series were the lowest ever. While geography may have come into play, the multiple rainouts throughout the playoffs, combined with the less-than-tingling suspense in the finals, made us all think: “Just how long does this thing go on, anyway?”

Hey, but that’s baseball. And we did get some good stuff. On the field there was New York Mets leftfielder Endy Chavez’s truly remarkable theft of Scott Rolen’s home run in Game 7 of the NLCS; and, in the stands, let’s not forget the guy at Busch during the World Series holding up the “Hit It to the Pitcher” sign. Nice touch.

Going cold turkey

From the World Series’ conclusion until New Year’s Day, baseball fans suffer deeply. (But, what about the visiting major leaguers in Japan sweeping the home All-Star team five straight, you say? Kind of reminds me of the NFL’s post-season Pro-Bowl. Who really cares?)

Somehow, though, there’s more hope during this baseball off-season. First, there are only six weeks until 2007. Second, that means there are only 13 weeks until spring training.

Something else, too. The “Hot Stove League”—the team-by-team off-season strategies and media-driven rumors—seemed to be heating up earlier this off-season cycle. There’s so much potential movement that I’m sure this article will be outdated right after press time.

On Nov. 12, free agency entered its active stage. Any of the 312 major or minor league players who declared can negotiate with anyone they want to, including their old teams. The precursor of things to come arrived Nov. 10 when, a few days after the New York Yankees picked up soon-to-be 38-year-old Gary Sheffield’s one-year $13 million option, the team traded him to the A.L. champ Tigers for three prospects.

The Cubs meanwhile cut to the chase with Aramis Ramirez, their talented third baseman; the team initiated the first “why-can’t-we-all-get-along deal” of the off season. The team wanted him to stay, and he wanted to stay; he accepted a cool five-year, $73 million offer. We should note that those Cubbies re-signed—for only one year, mind you—pitcher Kerry Woods at a bargain basement $1.75 million plus incentives.

My favorite off-season trade to date is the Cleveland Indians’ acquisition of second baseman Josh Barfield from the Padres. The not-yet-24-year-old displayed speed, some power and solid defense; he surely would have looked good in a Mets—or, for that matter, Cardinals—uniform. The Kansas City Royals had another dismal season. However, they don’t need a second basemen; a year ago they signed a two-year deal with former Cardinal and now Gold Glove winner Mark Grudzielanek, who made all of four errors during 2006. Hmm. Think the Cards should have kept him?

Speaking of those World Champs, would someone please tell me just what the strategy for corner outfielders is next year? Personally, I was stunned when they picked up Jim Edmonds’s option plus an additional year at a total of $19 million. Still, the rest of outfield, like it was last season, seems up for grabs. There’s relatively light-hitting So Taguchi (given his name, I still want to see him develop a line of clothing), the recently acquired Preston Wilson, former free agent Juan Encarnacion and fan favorites Scott Spezio and Chris Duncan. Duncan, the son of the team’s pitching coach, Dave Duncan, can hit, but it’s safe to say the natural first baseman, who has no place to go on the team with some guy named Pujols on it, can’t really field. Remember those World Series escapades?

Turning Japanese

Speaking of Japanese baseball, the whole “posting” deal, in which teams bid for the right to sign a foreign player by paying a his team a whole bunch of money, kind of intrigues. It smacks of being hip legal blackmail. This year, it’s all about two—or maybe three by press time—Japanese players of note. The centerpiece, though, is Daisuke Matsuzaka, the 26-year-old power pitcher who hurled his team, the Seibu Lions, to the World Baseball Classic championship last March.

The whole idea of “secret” and “sealed” bids to the Lions to gain the rights to negotiate with Matsuzaka is actually pretty cool. Here’s how “posting” (which, by the way, is how the Seattle Mariners ended up with Ichiro Suzuki six years ago) works:

First, Commissioner Bud Selig informs the Japanese commissioner’s office of the amount of the winning bid. Reports say the Boston Red Sox put in close to $45 million, but at press time no one’s saying for sure just yet. The process is open to every Major League club, but it has a limited time frame. The Japan office then tells the Japanese team, which then has four business days to accept or reject the bid. If it accepts—they would have to be nuts not to—the “winning team” is notified and the club has 30 days to negotiate a contract with, in this case, Matsuzaka’s agent, who is—surprise, surprise—the nefarious Scott Boras. If no agreement is reached, Matsuzaka returns to the Lions. Seems like the Red Sox are going to take another crack at The Evil Empire, a.k.a. The New York Yankees.

There have already been some managerial changes. Bud Black, the former standout Royals hurler and more recently pitching coach for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (can we please figure out what to call this team?) landed the gig at San Diego; in an awkward twist, Bruce Bochy, the long-time Padres skipper, bolted to take the job with the San Francisco Giants, vacated by Felipe Alou. Meanwhile Manny Acta, now formerly the Mets third base coach, is going to run the Washington Nationals. You may recall that Frank Robinson was ceremonially dumped at season’s end. Former Oakland A’s coach and player Ron Washington became the Texas Rangers field boss. And let’s not forget that “Sweet” Lou Piniella will try his hand running the North Siders; we can only hope he’s better at managing then he is at being a television analyst. If we’re really lucky, we’ll get to see him headlock one of his players as he did to Rob Dibble during his tenure as the Cincinnati Reds manager.

Finally…

In the words of the late Mel Allen, how about the A’s announcing in a few years they will move down the road to Freemont, Calif., just outside San Jose? And then there’s the Mets, who move into a new stadium in 2009. In the Mets case, instead of Shea Stadium (name for William Shea, the guy who brought National League ball back to New York), we have Citi Field. It was almost going to be Jackie Robinson Ballpark, which would have been the right thing to do. Then again, the naming rights came in at a reported $20 million for 20 years. That buys a lot of pitching. Take note, however: The rotunda area near home plate will be named for the legendary second baseman, and the Mets will support new scholarships for the Jackie Robinson Foundation as well as help create a museum in his honor in Lower Manhattan. v

Jon W. Poses, executive director of the “We Always Swing” Jazz Series, says there are two national pastimes – jazz and baseball. E-mail him at [email protected].