Hello again, Baseball fans.  Been away from baseball blogging again for the past six days doing double-duty on 2 Israel blogs reporting on Operation Cast Lead which is now temporarily in cease-fire mode.  Those interested can follow the war news here and here.

After years of frustration, last Tuesday Baseball writers finally chose former Boston Red Sox veteran leftfielder for 16 seasons Jim Rice.  They chose 25 season veteran journeyman outfielder and base-stealing specialist Rickey Henderson in his first attempt to make the Hall.

Rice, who followed and had to fill the shoes of all-time Boston leftfielding  Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski, was part of the Red Sox teams which went to the World Series in 1975,  losing to Cincinnati who had won 108 games, and in 1986 losing to the New York Mets who also won 108 games.   In 1986, the BoSox had come painfully close to winning their 1st World Series title since the infamous “Curse of Ruth,” before 1st baseman  Billy Buckner muffed an easy 3rd out ground ball in the 6th inning as Boston went on to blow a 3 games to 2 lead and lose the series in 7 games.

Rice hit 382 career homers, drove in 1,451 runs, scored 1,249 runs, collected 2,452 hits and carried a career .298 batting average.  He and  Fred Lynn made up as potent a one-two offensive punch as you could find in 1979 each hitting 39 homers and combining to drive in 252 runs.  But despite all of that power, Boston finished 3rd in the the AL East that season.

AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum notes that:        

Yaz was the last leftfielder voted to Cooperstown (1989) until Henderson and Rice got the call Monday. Henderson scooted in on his first try, Rice in his 15th and final year of eligibility on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot.

Henderson, who holds both the MLB career stolen base record with 1,406 and the modern-day single season record of 130 set in 1982 with the Oakland Athletics actually stole 100 or more bases in each of 3 seasons — 1980, 1982 and 1983 — all with the Oakland A’s.

Henderson collected 3,055 hits in his 25 seasons hitting 297 homers and carried a lifetime .279 batting average.  He played in both the 1989 and  1993 World Series with the Oakland Athletics in ‘89 going 9-19 and hitting .474 and with the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993 going 5-22.

AP’s Blum further notes;

The pair will be inducted into the Hall during ceremonies July 26 in Cooperstown. They’ll be joined by former New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians second baseman Joe Gordon, elected posthumously last month by the Veterans Committee.

Gordon will be depicted on his plaque wearing a Yankees cap. He played seven of his 11 seasons in New York, winning four of his five World Series championships and the 1942 AL MVP award.

An exhibit on the class of 2009 will open in Cooperstown this spring, Hall president Jeff Idelson said.

One piece of memorabilia that’s missing is the home plate Henderson crossed when he scored his 2,246th run, breaking Ty Cobb’s career record. Henderson said he and San Diego Padres chairman John Moores went out to the field the following day and dug up the plate as a keepsake.

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The past few days have seen 3 major free agent pitcher signings with veteran 41 year old starter/closer John Smoltz going to the Boston Red Sox in a 1 year, $5 million deal, with another possible $5 million in incentive bonuses based on time on the active 25-man roster, and 35 year old veteran starter Derek Lowe going to the Atlanta Braves, Smoltz’s old team, in a 4 year, $60 million deal.  All-Time saves leader closer Trevor Hoffman agreed to a 1 year, $6 million deal with the Milwaukee Brewers.

AP Sports Writer Howard Ulman provides more background on the Smoltz’s deal with Boston and  leaving the Braves for Yahoo sports;

After playing all 20 of his major league seasons with the Atlanta Braves, the only pitcher in baseball history with 200 wins and 150 saves is starting over at age 41 with the Red Sox.

“I’m as determined and I’m as focused as I’ve ever been,” Smoltz said Tuesday. “The uniform has changed. The desire won’t change.”

“They were taking a different direction and, for the most part, left me with really no options,” Smoltz said. “Atlanta will always be my home. I’ve raised four children there and built a school. That won’t change.”

But, he said, “we were way apart.”

The Red Sox were much more aggressive in trying to sign Smoltz than the Braves were in wanting to keep him.

Smoltz’s actual numbers in 20 Major League seasons is 210-147 with 154 saves racked up as a closer for 3 seasons (2001-2004), 53 complete games, over 3,000 career strikeouts and a career ERA of 3.26.  He was 24-8 with the Braves in 1996, his only 20 win season.

Smoltz joins a talent-laden Boston starting rotation of Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Brad Penny and Tim Wakefield with young starters Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowden waiting in the wings.  Smoltz could also be utilized in a set-up role for All Star closer Jon Papelbon.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s David O’Brien reports on the Lowe, Braves deal;

Lowe agreed to terms on a four-year, $60 million contract with the Braves, a person familiar with negotiations said. The deal will be finalized after he takes a physical this week.

In terms of dollars and magnitude, it’s the biggest free-agent pitching acquisition for the Braves since Greg Maddux signed a five-year, $28 million contract with Atlanta after the 1992 season.

There is always risk in signing a 35-year-old pitcher to a four-year contract, but Lowe has been one of baseball’s most durable starters since moving from Boston’s bullpen to its rotation in 2002.

The sinkerballer averaged 15 wins, 208 innings and nearly 34 starts over the past seven seasons, and with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season he was 14-11 with a 3.24 ERA in 211 innings. 

Did the Braves overpay? That argument could certainly be made, and it wouldn’t be the first time a team paid more than expected for a Boras client.

The only other reported offer for Lowe was a three-year, $36 million proposal by the New York Mets, although Boras said that was never formally made and was well below market for the pitcher.

Boras wouldn’t say if other offers were made, only that there was interest from several teams including the Philadephia Phillies.

Because the Braves don’t give no-trade clauses in contracts and have missed the postseason for three years, it was believed they might have to pay more than contending teams that give no-trade clauses.

If the Braves achieve their goal of returning to the postseason, they can lean on Lowe, who’s 5-5 with a save and a 3.33 ERA in 21 postseason games (10 starts), including 4-1 in his past eight.

For Boston’s 2004 World Series champions, he was 3-0 with a 1.86 ERA in four postseason games, with decisions in three series-clinching wins.

MLB.com’s Barry M. Bloom reports on Trevor Hoffman’s deal with the Brewers and his career with the San Diego Padres;

“He brings to our club the closer we need for us to continue our pursuit of a World Series,” [Brewers] general manager Doug Melvin said.

The 41-year-old righty, who had pitched for San Diego since 1993, has 554 saves in 930 relief appearances over his 16-year career.

Hoffman went 3-6 with a 3.77 ERA and 30 saves in 34 opportunities last season. The six-time All-Star can earn an additional $1.5 million in performance bonuses based on games finished.

MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy notes the possible impact on the Brewes of acquiring Hoffman;

With one big move, the Brewers might have strengthened both their bullpen and their starting rotation.

Assuming that all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman passes his physical and finalizes the one-year free-agent contract both sides agreed upon Thursday, the Brewers have their closer for the upcoming season and thus have filled their most glaring need five weeks before the start of Spring Training.

Hoffman would remove any doubt about the closer’s role. That would move Seth McClung [from] closer to his wish for a spot in the starting rotation — giving the Brewers five viable arms there — while at the same time allowing the team to more cautiously develop Carlos Villanueva as a reliever in a seventh- or eighth-inning role.

Before the Brewers landed Hoffman, both McClung and Villanueva were being considered for the ninth-inning vacancy. Instead, the Brewers were poised to add Hoffman, who is 46 saves shy of 600 for his career.

“Trevor’s excited about a new beginning in Milwaukee,” Thurman said. “The Brewers were aggressive in pursuing him, and that ultimately made a big difference in his decision.”

Hoffman, for all of his MLB record 554 saves, has shown inconsistency in clutch situations in recent years. 

In the 2006 All Star game, Hoffman was 1 out from saving an NL victory before giving up 3 straight hits, two of them for extra-bases, and 2 runs in an 3-2 AL win.

Down the stretch of the 2006 season, Hoffman suffered another lapse in consistency in the clutch as the Padres and the Dodgers fought for the NL West crown in a mid-September game in Los Angeles.

Leading the Dodgers by 9-5 in the Dodger 9th inning, the first 2 Dodgers up in the inning homered to cut the lead to 9-7.  Enter Hoffman.  The record-setting closer’s first 2 pitches also resulted in homers as the Dodgers tied the game and went on to win it in the 10th inning.

In 2007, Hoffman again came up short - twice, against the streaking Colorado Rockies giving up the winning run in 13 innings, and in a loss 2 days before against the Milwaukee Brewers in 11 innings.

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Six days ago, former Phillies righthanded hitting leftfielder and free agent Pat ‘the Bat’ Burrell inked a a $16 million, two-year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays.

AP Sports Writer Fred Goodall reports background on the deal and Burrell’s sentiments for Yahoo sports;

The 32-year-old slugger spent the past nine seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies, who defeated the Rays in the World Series a little more than two months ago.

“At the end of last year, obviously I got a chance to know the team pretty well,” said Burrell, who hit .250 with 33 homers, 33 doubles, 86 RBIs and 102 walks in a career-high 157 games in 2008.

“Coming into free agency, the thing that was most important to me was to go somewhere I thought had as good a chance or better to repeat and go back to the World Series, or at least get into the playoffs.”

A .257 career hitter with 251 homers and 827 RBIs, Burrell has averaged 31 homers, 99 RBIs and 103 walks over the past four seasons. He was the everyday left fielder in Philadelphia, but Tampa Bay plans to use him mostly at designated hitter.

One of the Rays’ top priorities was to add a power hitter to a lineup that also features Carlos Pena, Evan Longoria, B.J. Upton and Carl Crawford.

The club looked at some left-handed hitters, including Jason Giambi, but Burrell appeared a better fit from the start, especially considering Tampa Bay struggled against left-handed pitching last season.

“He solidifies the middle of our already potent lineup,” vice president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said.

“We weren’t just singularly focused on a right-handed hitter, but it certainly is an advantage for us in terms of the way our lineup stacks up currently. We feel like any time you can add a hitter like Pat to the middle of the lineup, we’re a much-improved team today than we were at the end of last season.”

As previously stated on this blog, “Thanks for the memories…”, particularly his important winning hits in the 2008 post-season, particularly in World Series game 5.  Pat ‘the Bat’ will be missed.

While speaking of the Phils, 4 days ago veteran 2nd baseman Marcus Giles was signed to a one-year minor league contract which would be worth $600,000 if he makes the Phillies’ 40 man roster.

The AP report notes;

Giles, who was out of the majors last year after being released by Colorado in spring training, provides another option for the World Series champions with second baseman  Chase Utley and third baseman Pedro Feliz recovering from offseason operations.

The 30-year-old Giles is a career .277 hitter with 76 homers and 333 RBIs in seven seasons, the first six spent with  Atlanta and one with San Diego.  Giles’ best season was in 2003 when he hit .316 with 49 doubles, 21 homers and 69 RBIs. He batted .311 and .291 the following two seasons. Giles only hit .229 in ‘07 with the Padres.

In other Phillies news, Inquirer staff writer Jim Salisbury as well as MLB -Sports Rumors both posed the possibility that the Phils could sign veteran infielder Nomar Garciaparra as a righthanded hitter off of the bench.

MLB - Sports Rumors cites;

A team source Saturday… that said the Phillies had interest in the 35-year-old former two-time American League batting champion. The Phils have not made an offer, but may if Garciaparra tells them that he wants to play in 2009.

Salisbury notes;

Garciaparra, a 13-year veteran, hit .264 with eight home runs in 55 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season.

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An MLB rumor notes that Dodger veteran free agent Derek Lowe is still being courted by several teams including the the Mets and the Phillies.

Yahoo’s sports rumors cites a SI.com report;

The Phillies have shown interest in the 35-year-old right-hander, along with the Braves, Red Sox, Brewers and Angels. The Mets made an offer at about three years, $36 million, which Jon Heyman said Lowe “isn’t seriously considering,” leaving the door open for other suitors.

Lowe, 14-11 with a 3.24 ERA in 34 starts for the Dodgers in 2008, is said to be seeking $16 million per year — which makes the Mets’ offer a bit too low. The fact Philadelphia would come up in rumors to acquire a pricy starting pitcher is quite surprising, considering it has already absorbed most of its payroll for 2009 — expected to be slightly higher than 2008’s club-record $104 million — with current player contracts and potential arbitration cases.

But the acquisition of Lowe would give the Phillies a very potent top of the rotation, along with left-hander and World Series MVP Cole Hamels. The other three spots in the rotation will be filled by Brett Myers, Joe Blanton and Jamie Moyer.

One thing is sure, an acquisition of Derek Lowe makes the Phillies starting rotation one of the most potent in all of MLB.  The Phils are already THE TEAM TO BEAT and an acquisition like Lowe would make them even more imposing.

Granted, the team will be without its prime lefthanded set-up man in April and May with JC Romero serving a 50 game suspension for use of a banned substance (which will be dealt with in a separate post), but the Phils still have veteran lefthanded reliever Scott Eyre, who was not-too-shabby in 19 2nd half games and in the post-season and young lefthander JA Happ who can relieve in a pinch in lefthanded situational relief roles until Romero’s return.

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Happy New Year Baseball fans, particularly World Champion Phillies fans.

I’ve had a bit of a break from blogging baseball.  There’s been a lot of other stuff going on here in Israel, particularly the War in Gaza over the past almost 2 weeks.   And I’ve been doing double-duty handling two blogs dealing with the war. The war action’s been hot and heavy and you can check out it out here and here.  

But now, back to baseball.

Five major free agent deals have come to fruition over the past few weeks,  Four of them will be dealt with in this post.  The fifth one, since it relates to former Phillie outfielder Pat Burrell’s acquisition by the Tampa Bay Rays, will be discussed in a separate post.

First on the docket is 1st baseman Mark Teixeira’s 8 year, $180 million deal with the Yankees.

Teixeira, whose name congures up taste-buds longing for Tex-Mex cuisine is a 6 year veteran who has consistently been above 30 homers and 100 RBIS and lifetime .290 BA and who has struck out over 100 times in 5 of 6 seasons.

AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum notes for Yahoo sports that Teixeira and his wife discussed the deal prospects for weeks before the deal was struck.

Blum writes;

“I’d been asking her for weeks and weeks, Where do you want to go? Where do you want me to play?” he related. “And she said, `I want you to be happy. I just want you to be happy.’ And finally, she said, `I want you to be a Yankee.’ So that’s when it was done. And once we got the contract figured out, it was a no-brainer.”

“The Yankees hadn’t made their decision yet, but that’s when we made our decision,” he said with a laugh.

“He was pushing me for an answer. I gave it,” Leigh said, giggling. “I always loved New York, and I thought it would be really special for him to be a Yankee.”

But is Mark Teixeira worth A-Rod rarified air money, $22 million plus per season?  It will be interesting to watch and judge in 2009.
45-year-old veteran lefthander Randy ‘Big Unit’ Johnson, having recovered and been rehabbed after two recent back surgeries, agreed to an $8 million, one-year contract with the San Francisco Giants just before New Years.

Johnson, a veteran of 20 seasons, is a 3 time 20 game winner, 5 wins shy of 300 career wins and is high-up on the list for career strikeouts.  He sports a career 3.26 ERA.

Johnson, a 5 time Cy Young award winner, joins a Giants pitching staff, one of the deepest staffs in baseball — boasting 3 Cy Young winners, including last season’s winner, 2nd year star Tim Lincecum. 

AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley reports;

“I’m well ahead of schedule than I was the last two offseasons,” Johnson said Saturday during a conference call, noting he plans to be on the 2009 opening day roster. “It will be really nice to be in that position this year. … To some degree I have silenced the critics and shown that I’m healthy.”

The Giants are counting on that.

Giants general manager Brian Sabean believes his club could become a contender again in the NL West with the addition of Johnson. San Francisco expressed an interest in him from the start of free agency and had several productive conversations with his representatives to make it happen.

“I’m excited to come back to where I started my baseball career,” said Johnson, who still has a brother and a sister in the area. “As a visiting player with the Diamondbacks, a couple of the reporters would ask me, ‘Toward the end of your career, do you see yourself playing in the Bay Area?’ It’s always nice to come back and play there.”

He has 4,789 strikeouts, second on the career list to Nolan Ryan (5,714). The 6-foot-10 lefty made $16 million last season, when he struck out 173 and walked 44 after beginning the season on the disabled list.
Johnson, who can earn an additional $5 million in performance bonuses, went 11-10 with a 3.91 ERA in 30 starts last season.

In another pre-New Years deal, 9 year veteran Brad Penny, off of 2 brilliant 16 win seasons with the LA Dodgers followed by a 2008 season plagued by right shoulder soreness where he slumped to 6-9 and a 6.24 ERA in 94 2/3 innings, has agreed to a 1 year $5 million deal with the Boston Red Sox. 
 
Sporting News’ Ryan Fagan writes of Penny and his deal with the Sox for Yahoo sports;

Like Johnson, Penny seems like a perfect fit in his new home. Well, at least he’s a high-reward, low-risk option for his new team. Penny was injured for much of the season and largely ineffective when he was on the mound, to which his 6-9 record, 6.27 ERA and 1.63 WHIP attest. But, he’ll only be 30 this spring, and won 16 games in back-to-back seasons before his clunker in 2008.

If he has a huge bounce-back season, he stands to earn a hearty multiyear deal next offseason, which won’t have any  Sabathias or Burnetts in the mix. And it’s not like the Red Sox are counting on big things from Penny. Their rotation, with or without him, is one of the best in the bigs, and his contract is only $5 million. If he’s a bust, the team will be just fine.

The Yahoo report on the Penny deal notes;

According to the reports, Penny could earn an additional $3 million in performance bonuses with the Red Sox. He is 94-75 with a 4.06 ERA in nine big league seasons.

Finally, having lost MLB record-setting 62 save closer Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez to the Mets, the Los Angeles Angels inked a 2 year, $17.5 million deal with free-agent reliever Brian Fuentes.

The Angels are hoping that they don’t skip a beat in the closer’s spot with the acquisition of Fuentes.

AP sports writer John Nadel reports on the deal for Yahoo sports;

Fuentes gets $8.5 million next season and $9 million in 2010. There’s a club option for $9 million in 2011.

“He should solidify the back part of our bullpen,” Angels general manager Tony Reagins said on a conference call. “We pitched well last year, we expect to pitch well again.”

Fuentes, a 33-year-old lefty, was a three-time NL All-Star who went 1-5 with 30 saves in 34 chances and a 2.73 ERA for Colorado this season. He had a 1.75 ERA after the All-Star break, when he saved 16 games in as many chances.

“I’m definitely happy to have the opportunity to play for a team that I’ve watched for a long time,” said Fuentes, who grew up in Merced, Calif., and still lives there. “My 2-year-old’s excited. He can’t wait to go to Disneyland.”

Regarding Angels manager Mike Scioscia, Fuentes said: “From what I hear from other guys, he’s a player’s manager.”

Reagins said plans call for Fuentes to close, with Scot Shields or Jose Arredondo serving as the Angels’ setup man. The Angels have several other experienced relievers including  Darren Oliver and Justin Speier, who were both teammates of Fuentes in Colorado.

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