Ninth inning horrors

People in Milwaukee should be feeling two different emotions over the same the situation right now. How can a guy (Eric Gagne) that they have just signed to a very large contract ($10-million US) to do a job (close games) just come out and beg his boss to not let him go out and try to do what he’s supposed to. The feelings that Brewers fans should have are right now:

A) Outrage and B) Relief.

So this guy is basically quitting and giving up on his job that he is being massively overpaid for? Are you kidding me? A little outrage should also be directed at Brewers management who signed the Canadian pitcher who was clearly on a steep down slope career-wise after last year's disastrous stint in Boston.

As for relief, here's Gagne's line so far in 2008: 1-2. 9 saves with 5 blown. 6.89 ERA with a WHIP of 1.85. 18 hits over 15.2 innings.
Is that who you want to call in to "save" the game for you? Didn't think so. Look for anybody to come out of that mess Milwaukee calls a bullpen to save games. They should really look into making a deal.

In St. Louis, long-time incumbent Jason Isringhausen isn't going to be closing games for the Cardinals any more. Having an ERA of 7.47 will cause you to lose that responsibility. Well, he had a good run for a guy drafted in the 44th round back in 1991. Ryan Franklin and Russ Springer figure to get shots in the ninth while Izzy tries to work things out.

In Cleveland, the human rain delay of closing, Rafael Betancourt had a little scare of his own. First, he was nailed just above his (non-throwing) left elbow by a come backer. Then, stayed in the game and gave up three runs in the tenth inning to the Blue Jays. And the Jays hadn't scored a run in the previous 31 innings. Well, if Betancourt can't go for Cleveland, they can always trot of save-king Joe Borowski.

The funniest part about all of this? Brad Lidge hasn't allowed a run this season and Troy Percival is lights out closing games for the Rays.

The final four and more ramblings

Since I was lazy yesterday and not much has changed today, how about some ramblings about some recent going-ons? I thought you'd say that.

There are only four teams left playing for the Stanley Cup. While I'm sure that the NHL isn't too happy the West Coast and Canada not being represented in the final four, having Sid the Kid and the Pens in is great. Matching up Pittsburgh with their natural rival. the cross-state Flyers is going to be a great series. In the West, having Dallas still playing could draw the southern markets; Detroit has always been a hockey hotbed and an original six draw. It'll be interesting to say the least.

A-Rod apparently passed out in the hospital while his wife was giving birth to their first daughter. Am I supposed to care? If an average player — say Morgan Ensberg, who's filling in while A-Rod is injured — had passed out during child birth, would anybody care. Also, this incident happened in 2004. Get over it.

Kobe Bryant deserved the NBA MVP more than Chris Paul did. Whoever is calling this a "lifetime achievement MVP" is an idiot. Bryant was by far the best player on the best team in the best conference and was playing without another all-star — unlike Paul. Don't get me wrong CP3 had an amazing season and was a very worthy candidate, but was not more valuable than the Black Mamba.

Roger Clemens. I don't even know what to think any more about the Rocket.

So Ronaldo allegedly beat up some cross-dressing prostitutes after finding out they were, in fact, men. I've seen the pictures of the prostitutes. Either Ronaldo has severely awful taste in women or he's blind. They were obviously dudes. And it's nice to see he's finding time to get in the news while rehabbing his torn ACL.

Suns coach Mike D'Antoni won't be with Phoenix for long after getting team approval to shop his services around. The best possible fit would be Toronto where his former boss Bryan Colangelo is running the show. D'Antoni could turn Jose Calderon into a surefire all-star.

Nice game, Gavin Floyd! The previously written off starter pitched 8 1/3 innings of no-hit ball before one of the best batters in the game (Joe Mauer) managed to beat him. Floyd is showing more and more this season that the Phillies were wrong to send him packing and that the White Sox were smart to take him on. And just how do you allow a run on three walks and an error in a game? I don't think the were in a row either.

A big congratulations to Big Brown for winning the Kentucky Derby. But with the second-place finisher running on broken ankles, how weak was the rest of the pack? Also, for the record, I did pick Big Brown to win, even if I am just saying it days after the fact.

And, finally, how did LeBron miss that last layup? That seemed a bit ridiculous to me and if you didn't find Game 1 boring, you must have a far better tolerance for defensive tilts than me. Spur-Celtics could be even worse than Spurs-Pistons if San Antonio makes it.

Some quick April ramblings

Jake Long's going to be the first-overall pick on Saturday in the NFL draft. Moves like these (signing no. 1 picks before the draft) takes all the suspension and anticipation out seeing the commissioner walk to the podium. The least the could do is negotiate a deal and keep it quiet.

The Seahawks did the right thing by cutting Shaun Alexander. If you watched him at all last season, you could tell he wasn't the same back that ran all the way to a touchdown record and a Madden cover shot. So is this the worst case of the Madden jinx yet?

The Sharks are lucky Jeremy Roenick didn't retire last summer. His performance in game 7 last night was off the hook and a huge reason why San Jose won.

The NHL lost out on a ton of ratings by seeing Alex Ovechkin and his Capitals lose. Had Washington beaten the Flyers, Alex the Great would have been facing off of with Sid the Kid in round two. Hockey could have gained a lot more fans watching those two go at it.

Looks like C.C. Sabathia reads this blog. He finally stepped up his game and got back to his winning ways last night. Now, I'm just going to have to wait to see if he can keep up this form against non-Royals.

The Raptors are outmatched by the Magic. They can win one game but I'd doubt if they can take two. That might have been the worst play I've ever seen drawn up to end a game last night.

The Suns had better start turning up the Heat on the Spurs if they don't want to make an early exit. They have to play as hard as they did in game one opposed to how the started to fade down the stretch in game two if this series is going to live up to its billing.

And congratulations to Jay-Z and Beyonce for finally getting married. Those two have been together for what? like ten years?

What did I do to deserve this?

I don't know how it happens, but it seems that every year I end up drafting a guy to my fantasy baseball team who should be good, but proceeds to tank awfully. This year, C.C. Sabathia is killing me.

In three starts — including a 13-2 loss to the underachieving Tigers last night — Sabathia is 0-3 with an ERA of 13.50 and a WHIP of over 2.50. He's struck out 14 batters while also walking 14. Do those sound like the numbers of a contender's ace?

How a pitcher coming off of a Cy Young award winning season goes into the gutter so quickly and sharply is a mystery to the universe. It's not like he's battling injuries either, no such concerns have risen on that front.

Even worse, his value was highly inflated because he's in a contract year! This is the season where he was supposed to be at his best and earn a nine-figure deal from (most likely) New York. They probably had a pin-striped No. 52 already made up for him.

C.C. should give fellow hefty pitcher / former A.L. Cy Young winner Bartolo Colon a call and ask him how his story went along. Colon, who's now a minor leaguer for the Red Sox is hoping he can crack Boston's rotation one day. His best chance may be through injury troubles though. Sabathia had better get back on track fast or it may not just be fantasy teams that are passing him over.

Sports debate: TV vs. Live

Having recently attended a major league baseball game, a thought came to mind: Is baseball the only sport where it might be beneficial to stay at home rather than go out to the ballpark? Out of the big North American leagues , it probably i,s which is a sad statement for a great sport.

Let's break down the sports that make up the front pages of your daily sports section — with one omission: Golf. But I'll get to that later. Also, I'm judging by my own experience having watched games from reasonable, affordable seats, not the MSG Spike Lee court-side special.

Football: There is nothing better than seeing a game of NFL football live. The experience of watching the game unfold combined with the elements of being outdoors and the "socially lubricated" fans that surround you make football the best sport there to get out to. This is probably the reason why nearly every game sells out, regardless of where you are. How do you know it's sold out? Because if it isn't, you can't even watch it on television because it will be blacked out in the area.

A game at the stadium even has most of the benefits that television would provide (replays, out-of-town updates) as well as eliminating potentially annoying commentary. And if you want commentary, bring along a radio.

Basketball: A great arena sport to watch live. Especially when the stars come out to shine. Watching Kobe Bryant play anywhere is a treat and worth more than the price of admission. Again, you lose out on annoying commentators and still have updates on televisions around the arena. But the big gain is that instead of commercials during TV timeouts, you get cheerleaders or a chance to grab another beer.

Hockey: Pretty much the same benefits as basketball, but colder. While rinks are kept at a reasonable temperature, it can get chilly for those not used to it. The NHL is fast-paced enough to be more entertaining live but is also viable to watch on TV (especially in hi-definition if you have it). The biggest benefit of watching hockey live is the lack of commentators. The NHL somehow managed to employ the worst commentators out of all sports. Watching a hockey game while listening to the commentators will, most of the time, amount to being bashed with over-the-top homerism, severely slanted points of view, people yelling points for no good reason and former players or coaches talking who are about as smart as the pucks they had played with.

Baseball: I'm a huge fan of baseball and avid supporter of the game, but even I got bored when at the game last week. This wasn't a snoozer either with a 9-7 score and several dingers. But sometimes a guy has to change the channel and sometimes a guy has to drink past the 7th inning (cut off time at most stadiums). On television, you get a better view of the field and a superior view of pitches. There is no way you can get a better angle at a pitcher’s delivery or the ball coming in than on TV. That is, unless you’re one of those goofs who bring binoculars and a glove to the game when you’re 45-years-old.

As for the fringe sports:

Autos: If you're a fan of racing — I'm not — you're going to enjoy cars going around in a circle (NASCAR) and also get to see the wrecks first-hand. But all that noise and a good view of only a portion of the track does not sound appealing to this sports fan. When I do watch races, I like to know the information I gain from TV.

Lacrosse: Nearly a combination of UFC and Hockey. Watching guys pummel each other is a great way to spend a night if you're in a city with a NLL franchise.

Golf: Has to be the worst spectator I can think of. Watching guys either tee off or putt will not draw a casual fan. That casual fan would more than likely rather be playing 18 holes than watching an event on his day off.

A Yankees-Red Sox filled weekend

With the two teams duking it out in the series rubber-match last night at Fenway, there was a more interesting story developing in New York, rather underneath the new Yankee Stadium. It turns out that a construction worker — and member of Red Sox Nation — tried to curse the new field by planting a David Ortiz jersey in the cement foundation. After hearing reports of this and getting tips on its whereabouts, workers promptly jack hammered it out to remove any potential curse. They even turned this lame publicity stunt around and donated the tattered (from the jackhammers) jersey to a charity for a possible auction. Who would've thought the "Evil Empire" would have a heart?

As for the construction worker, he may be staring down the barrel of a lawsuit from the Yankees’ empire for such negligence. This guy had better not show his face around the Bronx any time soon or he may not walk out looking so pretty.

In the game, I have no idea how these two teams can prolong a nine-inning game like they do. While it is understandable that games with higher scores tend to go longer than pitching duels, four hours for a game is a reason why casual fans get turned off of baseball. The Red Sox were able to hold on and win despite an attempt at a comeback by the Yanks after Phil Hughes looked unspectacular again.

And hey, what's wrong with Big Papi? He is certainly not himself so far this season despite having off-season surgery to correct his ailing knee. In fact, he was scratched from the starting lineup last night to get some work in with the Sox hitting coach, Dave Magadan. Ortiz has a very un-Big Papi like .070 batting average – going three-for-43 this season, even if one of those three was a home run. It's so bad that J.D. Drew is a more viable option for the three-hole in the lineup and that Alex Cora, a usual target of offence-related jokes, has as many hits as Ortiz, but in only three at bats. Now, being a Red Sox Nation hater, I couldn't be more pleased by this development, but then again, being a human being and a baseball fan, it's kind of sad seeing a big name in the game struggle mightily.

Remember folks, you have to care to hate.

Free the cheap seats!

It looks like the Toronto Blue Jays are on the road to eliminating their $2 Tuesdays offer and it's a crying shame. The promotion that lets fans buy tickets for the upper deck as well as the 200-level outfield seats for only two bucks is in danger of going the way of the dodo because some fans apparently can't hold their liquor very well. That and they're mistaking America's pass-time (Baseball) for Canada's game (the goon sport of hockey). Yep, mix alcohol and idiots with a lack of security and entertainment that is not so entertaining at times and you get fights. A lot of them too. Several broke out at Tuesday night 9-8 loss to Oakland before the flow of beer was cut off and security was positioned at every gate.

The first step that the Jays are taking is eliminating alcohol service in the entire upper bowl. Are you serious? Do they not realize that a large percentage of baseball fans may need a beer or two to enjoy the game? Also, not everyone who drinks gets belligerent after a few cold ones.

This decision may even hurt the bottom line for the organization. How much revenue do baseball clubs — or stadiums in general — make off of their over-priced beer. The fact that spectators are still willing to pay the exorbitant prices should be evidence enough that fans need a beer to loosen up.

It is not very hard to see this decision coming back to bit the Jays and any other team that tries ban alcohol. A lot of casual fans will be scared away.

Sad, funny irony

It may be a bit rash to call it funny, especially when you figure in the victim and potential severity of the situation, but there was a ton of irony in when, on a tour of Fenway Park, a student was attacked by a red hawk.

What's so funny and/or ironic about that you may ask? The student's name was Alexa Rodriguez. That's right: and A-Rod was attacked in Fenway Park. Even more delicious, Alexa is 13-years-old. A-Rod wears number 13 for the hated Yankees.

But seriously, Alexa only suffered a cut to her scalp from the hawk, which apparently had a nest nearby with a solitary egg. Alexa was brought to the hospital via ambulance and should be no worse for wear. She may be afraid of predatory birds for some time though.

You're making how much?

The numbers have been released and it turns out that the average major leaguer will make $3.15 million this season. It is the first time ever that the league average has topped $3 million and it doesn't look like the climbing salaries will stop in the near future.

Also, the median in salaries is now $1 million! That's right, half of the entire league is making over a million dollars to play baseball. It's incredible how this number can be so high when you consider that half of the league isn't very good at all. Plus there are a ton of younger players who are still on contracts around $300,000. It is ridiculous.

It's kind of odd that on this day in 1997, Albert Belle became the first player to ever be paid more than an entire team. Belle's $10 million deal was higher than the Pittsburgh Pirates

A-Rod is, predictably, the highest paid player in the majors and will actually make $6.8 million more than the entire Florida Marlins roster this year. Here's the tally.

A-Rod: $28 million.
Florida Marlins: $21.8 million.

It's actually kind of funny when you figure in this.

A-Rod: Zero World Series championships.
Florida Marlins: Two World Series championships.

Money can't buy you happiness or championships. Unless you're Boston.

Opening day, v 3.0

Sure you could count the A's-Red Sox series in Japan as the MLB's 2008 opener. Or you could count Sunday night's tilt between the Nationals and the Braves has the beginning. But yesterday was truly Opening Day for the season. With 26 teams slated to be in action, it was truly when baseball took off for the year.

It was a soggy day in New York, meaning the Yanks and Jays couldn't open their season. The same can be said for the Cardinals and Rockies who started out their game before it was called in the third. It was a good thing for the Rockies who were down 5-1 when it happened (I'm glad this isn't going to count towards Jeff Francis' stat line).

The Rays official lost the Devil and won their first opener on the road in seven years. It was just against the Orioles who, after trading away their top talents, is pretty much at the Rays' level.

There were a few extra inning thrillers like the wild 12 inning affair that saw the Pirates spoil Tom Glavine's home-coming. There was the Brewers dealing the Cubs a loss after Chicago had ceremonies honouring Ernie Banks. Then there was the Royals showing the Tigers that money can't buy wins.

Joe Torre won his debut while Dusty Baker lost his. Seattle won its first game with Eric Bedard on the hill and Minnesota entered the post-Johan and Torii era with a win over Hunter's new squad, the Angels.

All in all, even after just one full day, it's looking like it'll be a good season of baseball.

Season openers abroad

It's getting a bit ridiculous and cheap ploy for publicity when almost every North American sports league opens their regular seasons overseas. The NHL did it in London for the beginning of their 07-08 campaign and are doubling efforts next season with openers in Prague and Sweden. The NFL played a game in England last season and even had a minor league running in Europe that was forced to close down. The NBA is looking at European expansion as their future and are marketing heavily in China. Even the English Premier League was looking into having regular season games on the other side of the pond.

But here's the nuttiest one of them all: Major League Baseball – who has been opening in Japan for several seasons now — staged games in Tokyo featuring the Red Sox and A's while the preseason was still being played out stateside. Even better, the A's and Red Sox will come back and play more preseason games after they've already opened their seasons. How does this make any sense at all?

Even when the Braves and Nationals open the regular season in the states on Sunday night, there will still have been three Spring Training games that took place during the afternoon. I would expect this kind of lunacy from a shifty league like the NHL but not from MLB.

The players who are forced to travel and play at what amounts to six a.m. on the body clocks only hurts their performance and can throw a monkey into the beginning of the teams' seasons. Maybe they're lucky that they can have a tune up before playing more real ball, but I don't see how this benefits anybody.

The simple solution would be to make the Japan games exhibitions, but then you may not draw a big crowd and teams would likely bring over more scrubs than stars. Would you be a Tokyo-er if you couldn't watch Manny or Big Papi?

So can we try to straighten this out sometime soon? Having a fantasy baseball draft a week earlier than usual to try to get in two games is quite absurd.

A true fantasy

Every year major league baseball tries to tell us that fantasy baseball infringes on their copyrights and every year they can’t stop anyone from drafting their teams on a wide array of sites. MLB thinks that its players names, their stats and all their information are somehow copyrightable and their exclusive property – not to be used for the purpose of games. But since when was information not public domain? Well MLB can keep on spinning its wheels over that while I set up my sweet team for the 2008 season.

Who did I manage to snag you may ask? Well here’s how my team, in a standard Yahoo! Public rotisserie league:

C: Ivan Rodriguez. Catchers were running out and he was the best available. Hope he holds up.
1B: Mark Teixeira. Last pick in the second round. Monster numbers at first.
2B: BJ Upton. Great potential and a solid five-tool player. Can also play OF.
SS: J.J. Hardy. I missed out on the early, better shortstops. Hardy can play though.
3B: A-Rod. How could I not be happy about this? I wouldn’t have minded drafting second and getting Reyes to clean up in steals though.
OF: Hideki Matsui. In a contract year and is usually good for 100-25-100 with average.
OF: Juan Pierre. I’ve got to get steals somehow and he’ll score more runs with L.A.’s new lineup.
OF: Jeff Francouer. My sleeper. Had 19 homers last season and 20 doubles that bounced off the wall. Now that he’s put on 20 lbs of muscle, I expect great things.
Util: Todd Helton. Doesn’t have as much pop as he used to but a discount in the 12th round.
Bench: Aaron Rowand, Stephen Drew and Jose Guillen. I don’t think I’m too bad off if I’m hit with an injury or two.
SP: C.C. Sabathia. Contract year/Yankees audition.
SP: Cole Hamels. Number 2 in the rotation means easier matchups.
RP: Bill Wagner. The Mets are going to win a lot of games.
RP: Trevor Hoffman. A saves stud. Even if he’s getting up there in years
P: Jeff Francis. Only getting better and 17 wins last year.
P: George Sherrill. Could save 35.
P: C.J. Wilson. Needed one more closer.
The pen: Heath Bell. Matt Garza. Bell in case Hoffman goes down and Garza has a lot of hype behind him.

Overall, I’m feeling pretty good about my team. I could use a few more steals and I’m not sure about my K’s but we’ll see how the season plays out.

It begins...

The MLB season is upon us once again as the defending champion Red Sox will face off against the A's in Tokyo today (this morning, whatever). Oakland seriously has it rough in this match up when you consider that Boston will be starting the pride of Japan, Daisuke Matsuzaka who made the trip overseas and left his pregnant wife in North America. There's also the fact that Oakland went into full out rebuilding mode over the winter and jettisoned some pretty good players like their ace Dan Haren (dealt to the D-Backs) and slugger Nick Swisher (dealt to the White Sox). Don't expect too much from the A's this season.

What else should you expect this season? Well just in time for the opening pitch of the 2008 season, here's Running The Point's predictions.

AL East: Boston Red Sox
AL Central: Detroit Tigers
AL West: Anaheim Angels
AL Wild Card: New York Yankees
NL East: New York Mets
NL Central: Chicago Cubs
NL West: San Diego Padres
NL Wild Card: Los Angeles Dodgers
Most improved team: Houston Astros
The "If they could only stay healthy" team: Toronto Blue Jays
Most disappointing team: Colorado Rockies
AL MVP: Manny Ramirez
NL MVP: Jose Reyes
AL Cy Young: Eric Bedard
NL Cy Young: Jake Peavy
Most Homers: Ryan Howard
Barry Bonds will end up with: The Yankees

I'm kind of baffled by the way nobody has suggested Bonds going to the Yankees. They always seem to be hit with injuries and love to grab big name players off the wire midway through campaigns. Is it too much of stretch to see Barry in pinstripes? I don't believe so. This should be another great season of baseball — even if we have to deal with Roger Clemens stories way too often.

Crystal clear

In case you haven't heard, the New York Yankees are taking spring training so seriously that they signed comedian Billy Crystal to a one-day contract. Seems the team is taking a fantasy camp approach instead of, say, training seriously and getting ready to try to dethrone the defending World Series champion Boston Red Sox.

Crystal, who looked surprisingly good during batting practice the day before, actually worked the count to 3 and 1 before going down swinging. And he did make contact, fouling a ball down the first base line. Now, how embarassed would Paul Maholm (an average major league pitcher) be if a 60-year-old comedian had gotten a hit off of him? Would he be sent to the minors immediately? I certainly wouldn't want a guy like that on my squad.

While the big news may have been regarding Billy's hoopla, Mike Mussina pitched a great game. A perfect five innings in fact. Granted, it was against the Pittsburgh Pirates though. Let's take that at face value during our fantasy drafts.

A wonderful time of the year

Spring training has arrived folks, just in time to draw some interest in the sporting world in that pesky gap between the Super Bowl and the NCAA tournament. Yes, those lucky dogs who get paid, for the majority of their time, to stand around and wait for things to happen get an all-expenses paid trip to either Florida or Arizona for camp.

But most importantly, everyone who is a fan of baseball finally has an opportunity to check out their teams' new addition(s), their players returning from injury and can even catch a glimpse prospects getting at bats against some of the games' best.

Some guys will be trying to learn new pitches; some guys will try out new arm angles. Some players will get looks at what they might be facing in the regular season and might even try changing their hitting or fielding mechanics.

But this year a dark, heavy cloud is hanging over many major league camps; its name: The Mitchell Report. Anybody who was named in the damning document will have to talk about why it was in and if they are guilty or not. It’s like they’re reporting to a firing range, albeit with the media and some teammates armed with questions, not guns and ammo.

Astros should be the most fun, with Roger Clemens and Miguel Tejada both in some very hot water. Clemens has to live with his puzzled responses to the interrogation he endured on Capitol Hill while Tejada may get deported if it turns out he lied under oath. This should be a fantastic season for Houston, Craig Biggio couldn’t have timed his exit better.

And has anybody heard from Barry Bonds? He still wants to play but he’s not having any luck finding an employer. I guess everybody finally got fed up with his antics.

Clemens cooking

After a few hours worth of testimony to the grand jury along with accuser/former trainer Brian McNamee, Roger Clemens' public image is not looking very hot. He's cooking, but not in the good way. One could even say his pants are literally on fire. It would explain why he came off as nervous when being grilled about his accused use of Human Growth Hormone and steroids.

And his death-stares and McNamee were so chilling one could have thought that somebody's — either Clemens or McNamee — head would explode from the sheer force being exerted in that look.

But the all-time word of the hearing had to "misremember." It could be used in a sentence like: "Andy Pettitte misremembers some things." Hilarious. It might even be construed as smack-talking since Clemens may be updating his Christmas card list when you consider that Pettitte's under-oath claims that Clemens admitted to him that he used HGH are VERY damning.

There isn't much known for 100% truth in the situation still but if there's one thing that we do now know, it's that somebody may be going to prison. All of these depositions were under-oath in a court and, as we know from the Barry Bonds indictment on perjury, you cannot tell a lie to the government without them getting their retribution. The U.S. government do not like looking like fools, despite who their leader is.

BoSox, Yanks lose sweepstakes

I would like to extend a big thank you to the Minnesota Twins for a) not dealing one of the best pitchers in the MLB to the Yankees or Red Sox (especially Boston — could you imagine a Santana-Beckett front end?) and b) getting said pitcher out of the AL entirely.

With Johan headed to Shea, where he will no doubt anchor the Mets to the playoffs for the next few seasons barring some sort of curse, he is set to be better than ever. Imagine the best pitcher, especially a lefty, in an inferior league with a good defence behind him and a good offence supporting him.

The Twins now will have to work hard to impress their fan-base which should be devastated after giving away yet another one of their stars to a major market. It really makes no sense to get rid of Santana without putting in an honest effort to keep Torii Hunter or Carlos Silva for when they open a new stadium for the 2009 season. A lot will be resting on the surgically repaired elbow of Francisco Liriano.

The only concerns I have at this point are how Santana will be at the plate and whether the Mets will have a solid future after dealing four prospects. But anybody can be taught how to bunt, right? And the Mets can just continue signing guys while keeping around their home-grown talents (Reyes and Wright).

And these "KKKKKing of Queens" headlines regarding Johan Santana's arrival at Shea must die now. Every once in a while something as "clever" as that head graces the pages of every sports-related site on the 'net and it becomes instantly sickening. So can we be a little more creative guys? Aren't you being paid to do so? Thanks in advance should you heed my advice.

Report: Reports aren't always accurate

I'm taking a stand right now to not get riled up about reading anything that begins with "report:" any more. After reading a report stating that Orioles ace Eric Bedard had been dealt to the Seattle Mariners, the newsroom where I work went aflutter, trying to find out if it was true and trying to find someone to write about it before deadline. Well, apparently it's not even close to going through for one simple reason: the guy who runs the team hadn't even heard about it yet and certainly didn't ok the move.

Does the Bedard trade make sense? Sure it does. The Orioles would be in full rebuilding mode and still may even be able to beat out the Rays for fourth in the AL east. Actually, if the trade had gone through, the headline here would have been something like 'Jays clinch third in AL east.' Or something to that effect.

The package Baltimore is reportedly getting from Seattle includes Adam Jones who is seen as a terrific outfield prospect. The Mariners gain a good young ace to complement King Felix and they could dethrone the Angels and win the AL west with the Bedard addition.

But, this is probably not going to happen because Bedard is a guy that Peter Angelos covets; but then again so was Miguel Tejada who's lacing up his cleats for the Astros next season.

Tejada's troubles

Life may be getting a ton more complicated for Miguel Tejada and the Houston Astros. While he's currently being investigated regarding his 2005 testimony and whether he lied or not the feds regarding the steroid scandal, he may lose his green card or even worse spend 15-20 months in jail.

The trouble stems from a 2005 interview when Tejada had told government officials that he had never used steroids, know nothing about them and didn't know anyone who had used before.

Tejada's situation is actually quite similar — oddly — to what happened Martha Stewart. Both lied when they were originally questioned and now that the truth has come to light, consequences must be paid. So how bad would it be if the Astros, who just traded a bunch of players and prospects to acquire Miggy, couldn't pencil him into the lineup for a long while. Adam Everett must be liking his chance of getting on the field this season.

Finally, what terrific foresight on behalf of the Baltimore Orioles for getting rid of Tejada before the Mitchell report pointed a finger at the former AL MVP. Whoever thought that the Orioles would make a legitimately smart move?

Apples for apples

It looks like both Troy Glaus and Scott Rolen passed their physicals and are now on their way to their new teams. Glaus is headed back to the NL to play third base for the Cardinals while Rolen will team up with fellow Blue Jay newcomer and former Cardinal teammate David Eckstein. This trade is a great "in need of new surroundings" trade and when you look at the two players involved, they're pretty much the same. "Apples-for-apples," a coworker called it. The only real differences between the traded players are that Glaus may hit a few more home runs while Rolen is a superior defender.

Both Glaus and Rolen should do well in their new homes. Glaus will figure to play better on St. Louis' grass field and his time missed due to injuries should decrease. Rolen will play better since he won't have to deal with Tony LaRussa, who he had a very public falling out with over the past year.

The only real question left is how will Rolen adapt to American League pitching? Glaus already spent time with Arizona and should have a rough idea about some staffs but Rolen will be starting fresh. The Jays better hope he's a quick study considering their competition.