Win two American League Manager of the Year awards, and you can influence important people, too.
Instantly, it seems.
Commissioner Bud Selig said Wednesday that Major League baseball will heed Angels manager Mike Scioscia’s advice (it was more like constructive criticism), and tighten up the baseball playoffs with fewer off days.
That might mean a pitching-deep, regular-season team might actually have an advantage. I think there’s one of those in Anaheim, too.
The excitement over the free agency of Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman is understandable. He’s 21, left-handed, and has a 100 mph fastball.
Yu Darvish (Getty Images)
The international pitcher we might not see pitching in the major leagues for 10 years (if then), but the one that truly gets me excited is Yu Darvish, 23, who was just named Pacific League MVP in Japan.
Darvish, a right-hander, was last seen in the United States getting the final out (right) in relief against South Korea in the World Baseball Classic championship game at Dodger Stadium on March 23.
That’s right, a pitcher who worked in the WBC somehow managed to have a great season. Darvish was 15-5 with a 1.73 ERA and 167 strikeouts for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters.
He pitched (and won) Game 2 of the Japan Series against eventual champion Yomiuri Giants despite a broken finger — an injury I seriously doubt can be linked to WBC participation.
Darvish did have some shoulder discomfort and a sore back that bothered him late in the season, costing him a playoff round.
Darvish was also Pacific League MVP in 2007, at the tender age of 21.
Granderson (Getty Images)
Curb your enthusiasm, if you will, for Curtis Granderson and Edwin Jackson.
The Detroit Tigers, contrary to earlier reports, are not so keen about dumping their two All-Stars.
In an interview with The Detroit News, Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski said no such sale in under way.
He did not, however, specifically mention center fielder Granderson, 28, (who has been linked to trade talks with the Angels, among others) or right-hander Jackson, 26.
“I can assure you 100 percent that we do not have any kind of fire sale, or salary dump, or whatever you might call it, taking place,” he said. “I can also tell you that I’ve been part of that in my career, so I know what that situation is like.
“In that situation, you go to your owner and say, ‘This is not a good trade, but I can move this salary. Would you still want me to do this?’ And he says, ‘Yes,’ and you just move the salaries … I’ve done that, but not here.”
Interesting to hear the Angels aren’t entering the Matt Holliday race — not that, given the claiming price, it made any sense for them in the first place.
Holliday and Jason Bay might be the two best hitters out there, but they are left fielders, not likely Hall of Famers, and make much more sense in the current economy to the teams that play in Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park.
And neither one is Mark Teixeira, although surely that is how they will be portrayed on the market.
It is also interesting to learn the Anaheim club’s priority is to retain John Lackey and/or Chone Figgins, especially given the dollar amounts floated so far in the free agency “anything but money discussed” period that ends Friday.
If it’s true that $72 million was not enough for Lackey in the first place, and that Figgins is looking for a five-year, $50 million package, the Angels would be better served to look elsewhere.
In the organization, for a start.
It would probably serve the franchise’s interests (and the fans’) better if multiyear yet cost-effective deals could be done with right-hander Jered Weaver and first baseman Kendry Morales, similar to the one that was struck before last season with right-hander Ervin Santana.
There is the rest of the baseball world, then there are the Boston Red Sox.
(The Associated Press)
Captain and catcher Jason Varitek exercised his $3 million option Wednesday, two days after the Red Sox declined their $5 million option.
Varitek, coming off a career-low .209 BA in ‘09, will be the high-priced backup to Victor Martinez ($7.7 million).
Spending $10.7 million on catchers who can’t throw out baserunners would only make sense in the AL East.
But then again, at least the New York Yankees won the World Series with their obscene payroll.
***
It was a big day for veterans and $3 million contracts, as the Seattle Mariners brought designated hitter Ken Griffey Jr. back with a one-year deal estimated in that range.
(The Associated Press)
The return of Griffey, who will be 40 on Nov. 21, at any price did not figure to appreciated much by statheads.
U.S.S. Mariner seems to be taking it to an extreme by pointing out Griffey’s return likely ends the Ryan Langerhans era in Seattle.
Here’s hoping they were being more sarcastic than anything.
Angels center fielder Torii Hunter has won his ninth consecutive 
American League Gold Glove, matching Seattle Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki on the team announced Tuesday.
They were joined in the outfield by one of the three newcomers on the AL team, Baltimore’s Adam Jones. The other first-timers were Tampa Bay third baseman Evan Longoria and Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle.
The rest of the squad has a more familiar look: Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer; New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira and shortstop Derek Jeter; and Detroit second baseman Placido Polanco.
The Gold Glove is Hunter’s second in as many seasons in Anaheim, continuing a long tradition of Gold-Glove Angels center fielders.
The other Angels center fielders honored were: Ken Berry (1972), Rick Miller (1978), Gary Pettis (1985-86), Devon White (1988-89), Jim Edmonds (1997-98) and Darin Erstad (2000, 2002).
It’s kind of funny, but I am really starting to get VORP, or Value Over Replacement Player.
Not totally buy into VORP, mind you, but getting it. It’s not unsual for someone my age (think Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak) to resist such concepts.
The high school baseball players I have been coaching tell me I’m not that old, but I think they just want to be nice to the grumpy old man, because his health hasn’t been good.
Talk about digressing … anyway, one of the reasons I am warming to VORP is, I recently got an exclusive, sit-down (I was, anyway) interview with the one who puts RP in VORP. That’s right, Mr. Replacement Player (pictured).
OCR: First off, let me thank you in advance for granting this interview.
RP: No problem. Time is not a factor. I have plenty of it.
OCR: Let’s cut to the chase (note: I can use cliches, because VORP is a concept; he doesn’t read, write or watch TV, so he has never heard them before). What is it like to be compared to all the players, great and small?
RP: It has been very flattering to be compared to everyone, from Albert Pujols to Ronny Cedeno. Almost every time someone interested in baseball talks about statistics, they mention my initials.
Like Daniel Craig a.k.a. James Bond, above, we’re always scoping out player movement. It’s a busy Friday …
Jermaine Dye is on the free-agent market, but Brandon Webb won’t be going on it just yet.
The White Sox have play-almost-anywhere Mark Teahan, and the Royals have … salary relief?
Ok, I like second baseman Chris Getz, but he’s no Teahan.
Neither is third baseman Josh Fields, although he might could do double duty with the Chiefs at quarterback.
Tiger Woods, Jamie McCourt (Getty Images)
J.J. Hardy is the latest Twins shortstop, Carlos Gomez is a Brewer, and maybe that all frees Mike Cameron to patrol center field in new Yankee Stadium, which CC Sabathia would like.
Oh, and Jamie McCourt didn’t get her job back with the Dodgers.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the Orange County guy with her in this picture bought the NL team?
They could become the Los Angeles Dodgers of West Anaheim. Or Cypress.
The Bobby Abreu signing is a win-win for the Angels and their right fielder, who tested the free-agent market last winter and wound up signing late for a big pay cut.
It might be the only free-agent signing by the Angels this winter, although I would expect some other moves to be made.
With Abreu back, the Angels are in pretty good shape to repeat as division winners if:
– Scot Shields comes back healthy.
– Brandon Wood is half as good as he’s cracked up to be.
– Ervin Santana bounces back, and is a solid No. 2 in the rotation to Jered Weaver’s No. 1.
Otherwise, the Angels could roll out a lineup and a pitching staff better than any in the American League West right now.
I know that’s not good enough for many, but there’s always the age-old philosophy that some of the younger players (Aybar, Kendrick, Morales, Saunders, Arredondo) will get better with each year of seasoning.
Sort of like Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp. Or like Chone Figgins did.
Scott Kazmir might gain consistency, too, although that’s one of the reasons he’s in Anaheim and Sean Rodriguez belongs to Tampa Bay.
Watching Pedro Martinez pitching in the first inning of Game 6 in the World Series, so it seems natural to offer some more pitching advice that likely will be ignored.
I don’t know about the Angels or Dodgers, but I would risk $50,000 on a Rule V draft of Craig Hansen from the Pittsburgh Pirates system. That is, if I had a team (and the money).
Hansen, 26, was diagnosed with a nerve disorder that restricted him to five games this past season. Last month, the Pirates outrighted him to Triple-A, removing him from the 40-man roster.
The Hansen I remember pitching for the Boston Red Sox had a high-90s fastball and a wicked slider.
I have no idea if or when he will recover from the nerve disorder, but a team that could use another high-quality arm in the bullpen should find out.
