The Stat Pack

Brett Favre retires...for real this time

2008-03-04T10:39:00.003-05:00

This time it's for real. Brett Favre announced to the Packers that he is retiring from the NFL after 17 years. Favre holds almost every single major passing record in the NFL Record books. One wonders what the Falcons franchise would look like if they didn't trade Favre after one season? The Falcons selected Favre in the second round of the 2001 draft, but then Falcons coach Jerry Glanville didn't like the pick of Favre at all saying it would take a plane crash for him to put the rookie into the game. Favre attempted five passes for the Falcons and was traded to Green Bay in the offseason.

Oh what could've been.

Washington Nationals Spring Training doesn't include exercise

2008-03-04T08:16:00.002-05:00

Holy Shit these guys are professional athletes? Nobody can ever argue with me that Tiger Woods isn't an athlete, but these guys are.

We're still here...kinda

2008-02-27T16:43:00.005-05:00

In case you haven't noticed the severe lack of updates on TSP, we've really thrown our hats into the world of Rays blogs. Our own spin off blog Outs Per Swing, has been well received, even picking up an endorsement from Rays owner Stu Sternberg. We've also joined Rays Anatomy at MVN and have started writing for them as well. This explains the lack of TSP activity, and while we hoped to keep TSP as active as possible it's almost impossible with the schedules we have. However, we will continue to post when we can. In the mean time you can catch us over at OPS and MVN.

Outs Per Swing

Rays Anatomy at MVN

Jason Kidd to the Mavericks for real this time. Lets party like its 1994

2008-02-19T15:54:00.003-05:00

Let's go back in time folks. Back to a simpler day when we didn't have to dig up Keith Van Horn's body to complete a trade. Jason Kidd is a Maverick again, just like 1994. In what might be the most delayed trade since, well, Erik Bedard's deal last week, the Mavericks & Nets completed an eight player deal sending J-Kidd and his big headed kid to Dallas for Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Trenton Hassell, Maurice Ager, Van Horn's Soul via sign-and-trade, '08 and '10 1st Rd Picks and $3 million in cash.

This is the latest move that shifts the balance of the NBA even more West. It is truly a Varsity/JV Split in the NBA right now. One wonders if the Spurs will now make a move in order to counteract their rivals in the west.

The move is definitely a win-now move for the Mavs. J-Kidd is 34 and heading into the twilight of his career, but to me he's still a Top five PG in the league and can only make Dirk, J-Howard and Jason Terry that much more dangerous. For the Nets, this finally ends the Jason Kidd era that included two finals appearances, but no titles.

PSA:Outs Per Swing

2008-02-18T18:59:00.002-05:00

If you haven't already checked out our newest blog Outs Per Swing please do. We have a new interview with R.J. Anderson as well as pictures and live reports from spring training

Spring Training Preview Yahoo Picture Style

2008-02-18T15:30:00.002-05:00

"Did Livan really just eat that kid?"

Little too close for comfort

"Hey Pedro, Why did the chicken cross the road?

"Joba, haven't you showered since the playoffs? These bugs are everywhere

Dwight Howard's Superman Dunk vs. Michael Jordan's Skywalker

2008-02-18T13:40:00.003-05:00

Don't get me wrong, I love Dwight Howard aka Superman aka Big Black Jesus aka Freak Nasty aka Ya Baby Daddy. But nobody is going to tell me that this:

Is better than this:

Crumpler, Leftwich Cap casualties

2008-02-15T16:54:00.004-05:00

I guess I need to keep that "Will work for food" sign around longer for former Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons players. Following the lead of Miami's releasing of veterans: Trent Green, Marty Booker, Zach Thomas and others, the Atlanta Falcons went on a firing spree of their own today highlighed by releasing Pro Bowl TE Alge Crumpler and Byron Leftwich among others. I wouldn't be surprised to see a few additional names such as Keith Brooking, Warrick Dunn, Lawyer Malloy and Joey Harrington added to that list soon. Here are some comments from Falcons new GM Thomas Dimitroff:

"This is a difficult day for the entire organization."

"These decisions weren't easy, but we felt they were necessary to build a team in the long-term best interest of the Falcons and its fans."

The Falcons can also thank Mike Vick for this situation. Since they cannot recover his signing bonus it put the Falcons salary cap in terrible shape.

Will work for your team: A look a the remaining 2008 Free Agents.

2008-02-12T10:12:00.000-05:00

For some teams Pitchers and Catchers report in just two days and yet we have a former MVP, a former CY Young winner, and numerous All-Stars still looking for work. Take a look at our top 10 list of players who are still free agents:

Barry Bonds:
The Greatest hitter of all time, period. Last year, Bonds posted a 170 OPS+ at the age of 42. Alex Rodriguez had a monster year last year, arguably his best, and he posted a 177 OPS+. His "off the field" problems are keeping him "off the field" more than his play.

Kyle Lohse:
I think Lohse probably had a deal on the table earlier but gambled for a bigger payday and lost. His best hope is to sign a 1 yr deal and hope to put up good numbers and try again next year.

Bartolo Colon:
Damaged goods, coming off back to back injury plagued seasons. May sign a deal to rehab with a team and come back mid-season or next year.

Shannon Stewart:
Posted some good numbers last year .290/.345/.394 with an OPS+ of 101. Not bad for a 33 year old. Should get a job sometime in the spring as a 4th OF'er.

Kenny Lofton:
Same as Stewart, put up good numbers at a more impressive age, 40. Should catch on during ST.

Livan Hernandez:
Big surprise nobody has taken a harder look at the innings eater. Livan will probably sign on as a back end starter for a team that has injury concerns or is looking for a veteran to anchor their rotation.
EDIT:Talk about working quickly, It seems Twins GM Bill Smith is a big TSP fan. Since this post Hernandez has signed a 1 year deal between $5 and 6 Million dollars with the twins. Thats one down...

Josh Fogg:
Much like Livan, I'm surprised someone hasn't signed Fogg to a 1 or 2 yr deal yet. Not that he's any good, but still surprising someone hasn't over paid for him. Maybe teams are getting smarter.

Jeff Weaver:
Similar to Fogg, it looks like teams have finally realized what you see is what you get. An average ERA+ of 74 the past two years shouldn't get you a $8-10 million dollar contract.

Reggie Sanders:
Coming off an injury plagued season. Still can be a valuable bat off the bench and mentor to young players. Just a matter of time before he signs with his ninth big league team.

Armando Benitez:
Not worth much more than a minor league deal at this point.

All Hail Jim Zorn?

2008-02-11T13:15:00.001-05:00

The Redskins finally decided on a head coach this weekend. It wasn't Gregg Williams, who interviewed 4 times, Ron Meeks, Pete Carroll, or Steve Mariucci. However, it was a Jim, but not the Jim's who interviewed before like Jim Fassel, Jim Mora Jr., Jim Schwartz, Jimmy Dean or Jim Beam. Nope, it was another Jim, one you probably never heard of if you live outside of the Pacific North West. Jim Zorn was named Washington Redskins Head Coach after a month long search for Joe Gibbs successor. Zorn was hired as Redskins Offensive Coordinator earlier this offseason in what many thought was a strange move. Why hire an offensive coordinator without a head coach? This is were Dan Snyder is a genius, he knew Zorn would be a perfect fit for the next head coach because, well, he is the next head coach. This goes down as one of the strangest moves in a long line of weird management decisions by Snyder. Revist one of my earlier stories and you'll see that Snyder is doing his best to make Al Davis look sane. Zorn, a former Seattle Seahawks QB, and most recently QB Coach has never held a head coaching postion and only interviewed for the position this past thursday after Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo withdrew from consideration.

As a Cowboys fan the Zorn era couldn't have gotten of to a better start. Standing behind the three Redskins super bowl trophies Zorn said, "I look at these three trophies,and it's quite intimidating." Excellent Jimmy, just wait till your standing in Texas Stadium with the star in the middle of the field, god looking down on his team through the open roof, and five Super Bowl banners hanging from the rafters. That won't scare you a bit.

On to more Zorn-isms:

Zorn said he definitely planned to hire an offensive coordinator. Wow, this guy is bright. Imagine the concept, If I'm the offensive coordinator and then I become the head coach I'm definitely going to need to hire another offensive coordinator. Great Plan!

Of course, as a Head Coach your coordinators are key because one coach can't have his hands in everything at one time, but you would like to think the head coach at least knows what everybody is doing and that he has final say on matters. When asked about the defense Zorn replied "I'm going to leave that alone." He was then asked about the riggers of having to put out so many fires on a daily basis as an NFL head coach. Zorn didn't disappoint the masses with:

"I'm hoping I don't have to put out every fire."

"I'm hoping there are going to be enough people in place in a supportive role that they can put out the fire before it gets to me,"

"Because I want to coach. I'm not here for fluff. I want to lead and I want to motivate."

Look, don't bother my man Jim here with defensive game plans and injury reports, we don't need that fluff. Let's cut to the game day pep talk

Quite possibly the best Zorn-ism of all, Zorn said his family is proud to wear the Maroon and Black of the Redskins. Take a minute.....Maroon and Black.....Ok time is up. Let's see what Wikipedia has to say about the colors of the Redskins. Team colors: Burgundy and Gold

Yep, just like I thought. Now let's check out what Maroon and Black looks like

Exactly, Welcome to the NFC East Jim Zorn. We're glad your here.

Erik Bedard Deal Finalized; More on Schilling's injured shoulder.

2008-02-08T15:52:00.001-05:00

Erik Bedard is finally a Seattle Mariner. The story of Bedard going to the M's for Adam Jones, George Sherrill, minor leaguer P's Chris Tillman, Tony Butler and Kam Mickolio originally broke on January 27th, when Jones left his winter league and informed teammates that he was going to Baltimore. Peter Angelos then put a halt on the deal saying he had no idea such a move was going down. Basically no new news came out for days until last night, when word got out that Bedard was flying to Seattle to take a physical.

If healthy, the tandem of Bedard and Felix Hernandez gives the M's one of, if not the best 1-2 punch in the AL.

In the latest Curt Schilling news, Dr. Craig Morgan, who claims he knows Schilling's pitching arm "better than anybody who breathes on this planet" says the only way Schill's shoulder can fully heal is with surgery:

"I think his chance of coming back to pitching with rehab or a conservative approach is zero,"

"He might not come back after surgery, either. However, if the surgery is successful, he should be fully rehabbed by about All-Star break."

The Saga continues...

Curt Schilling injured and talking, it's officially baseball season.

2008-02-08T09:03:00.000-05:00

The first major non steriod story of the 2008 MLB season is finally here. Curt Schilling has a mystery right shoulder injury that could possibly end his 2008 season and career altogether. That isn't even the juiciest part of the story. Apparently, Schilling and the Red Sox organization have been bickering on the course of action that should be taken. On his personal blog 38pitches.com Curt offers up this:

"There have been disagreements these past few weeks in an effort to provide me with a solution that would allow me to pitch as much as possible during the 2008 season,''

"At no time did I ever consider taking a course of action against the club's wishes. In the end, regardless of who agreed with whom, I have chosen the club's course of action and will vigorously pursue any and every option I can to be able to help this team to another World Series title in 2008.''

The Boston Herald repored that even without surgery Schilling may be out until the All Star Break, if not longer. If Schilling is out for half or most of the season the Red Sox will still boast a top of the line rotation of Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jon Lester, Tim Wakefield and Clay Buchholz.

One question that comes to mind is, what happens if the Twins would've held off on the Santana deal with the Mets? The Schilling injury questions may have given the Twins a little more leverage in a deal with a the Red Sox. That would've most likely forced the Yankees to counter attack a better Sox offer.

Prepare for the REVOLUTION!!!

2008-02-07T10:07:00.000-05:00

The Rays Revolution is upon us. Many of you may have noticed an increase in our Rays coverage as the MLB season draws closer. We never intended The Stat Pack to become a Rays blog or a blog dedicated to any one team or sport. However, as hardcore Rays fans we feel the need for a place to express ourselves about the team. That leads us to the first Stat Pack spin off blog: Outs Per Swing.

Why the name Outs Per Swing you ask? While my colleague Jules and I were attending a Rays game last year we had the privlege of sitting in front of some very... ummm southern cultured...ummm good ol...well basically they were just rednecks, who obviously didn't follow much baseball. During one Carlos Pena at bat the two gentlemen decided to discuss Pena's stats. Here is a recap of the conversation:

Guy1: What does OPS Mean?

Guy2: Huh?

Guy1: It says he has a .988 OPS.

Guy2: Oh, I dont know...maybe Outs Per Swing.

Guy1: Probably, That's a pretty good Outs Per Swing.

And there you have it, two sabermetrics fans were born. By the ninth inning and ninth beer a piece, Aki Iwamura came up to lead off the inning and our two new Stat gurus greeted him by screaming "COME ON ICHIRO".

So that is the story behind the name. The coverage will be similar to the Rays coverage we've had on TSP, but with more updates and more in depth looks into Rays games, moves and any news regarding the team. We will also continue to have interivews with various players and writers on both OPS and TSP.

TSP will continue to provide you with a wide range of coverage tackling all sports, including major news from the other 29 MLB teams not named "RAYS". Also be on the look out for an increase in NBA coverage.

We thank you all for your readership and look forward to many big things for both The Stat Pack and Outs Per Swing. We will leave you with this for you viewing pleasure. The old logo never looked so good.

GO RAYS!

A Slow Afternoon

2008-02-06T11:48:00.000-05:00

Work is a little slow today, so we had some fun with Orestes Destrade of ESPN. Orestes played four seasons in the Majors and five more in the Japanese-Pacific League. He was also an executive in the Tampa Bay Devil Rays organization.

Jules (TheStatpack): What do you think about this years Caribbean Series, Orestes?

Orestes Destrade: Either of the 2 DR teams will take it. Licey looking to avenge their loss to the Aguilas in the DR championship last wk. Mex and Ven can't hang this yr with either DR teams. Especially, when they are hosting it in Santiago and playing in front on their fans. Having played there, it's crazy world cup soccer atmosphere right now! I am sorry to see that PR did not have a winter season due to economic team issues. baseball is really struggling to survive over there...that's another stroy we'll talk about another time.

Jules (TheStatPack)Have you helped the Rays at all in their building of Latin American training schools.

Orestes Destrade: Ironically, when I was with them for those 4 yrs as an exec I helped much more in creating a connection with my Japan ties and their subsequent exchanging of players thru the yrs. They have a verry good latin american guy in Connie Alfonso.

Bob (Lowell, Ma): I don't think BK can be considered the best as long as you have the Wizard of Westwood in the mix.

Orestes Destrade: With you on that...Wooden hands down, then it's the Dean, then BK for me.

Jules (TheStatPack)Where do you rank Coach K then?

Orestes Destrade: Top five with Rupp.

Jules (TheStatPack)Rupp? Even though he was a racist and refused to recruit black players?

Orestes Destrade: Racist were all over the sports world back then. We can't change that...he was a great coach, who won often. Just like BK is in my top 5 though, he wasn't the sweetest guy on the block!

JBG (Scranton, PA)Jules brought his chat A-game today.

JW: Thanks big guy

Bob (Chicago)O, you've mentioned hitting the batting cages before, but do you play in any pickup games or even something more organized?

Orestes Destrade: I used to until a couple yrs back. I would player/coach a wood bat summer college league(actually, over 19yr league). Now, i just hit for the fun and cardio and play in 4 or 5 charity MLBPAA games around the east coast.

Jules (TheStatPack)wood bat summer college league aka slow pitch beer league softball

Orestes Destrade: Ouch, Jules...actually, a very competitive league. Infact, a few yrs ago I faced Joe Blanton in this Nashville league before he was drafted. Several others are in AA and AAA.

Tommy(TheStatPack)Its 82 and sunny in Florida. Rays report in 9 days...Is there anything better than ST?

Orestes Destrade: If i may for aun momento...there really isn't. I have sooo many great memories of ST as a player, but also as a kid im Miami with the O's there. Fun, sun, baseball, beaches, baseball, sidewalk cafes, etc...

Jules (TheStatPack)Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure Orestes. How well do you think you would have done vs Kazmir in your prime?

Orestes Destrade: I'd OWN him in my prime!!!!!!!! Tough, in my prime, he'd only be 5 yrs,old yet, I'd OWN him!!!!!!!

Vercetti(Tampa)Jules obviously doesn't know that while he was in grade school you were busy Smashing the Japan Series and Kazuhiro Kiyohara

Orestes Destrade: V for Vendetta!!! Thanks bro...I'll say this, just like the slogan, The older I get...the better I was Atleast in my head!!

Problem with James Shields Mechanics?

2008-02-05T15:11:00.000-05:00

Thanks to our friends at DRaysbay for putting this into my head. During yesterdays chat with Baseball Prospectus’s David Laurila, some concern regarding James Shields mechanics was raised. See Below:

Dennis (LA): Thanks for your great work. Your interview with Brian Bannister was one of the best things I read all year last year. Just wanted to ask you your opinion on two players: James Shields and Nick Swisher. What do you see in their futures and who do you think is the more valuable player?

David Laurila: Thanks, Dennis. Bannister makes any interviewer look good.

I recently had someone opine to me concern about Shields' mechanics, specifically that they haven't been consistent over the course of his career. Granted, that's not my opinion -- I'm only passing along what I heard -- but if true it poses a question.

Swisher can hit. Given a choice of the two, I'd take Swisher.

jlarsen (DRays Bay): Could Shields' changing mechanics be due to him regaining velocity and control post-surgeries(I think he's had one kind of reconstructive surgery already)?

David Laurila: This might be a good question for Doug Thorburn. I'll put it on the list, as it's better to get an expert opinion than my own.

I quickly took out the good ol’email address book and asked a pitching mechanics expert if he's seen anything in Shields that should be of concern. My source explained that Shields inconsistency is due to the fact that many different people have tried to get him to develop a “real breaking ball.” The source went on to mention that as long as Shields has a plus change up, he only needs a “show-me” breaking ball to be successful, and also that Jim Hickey is a great fit for Shields.

Bob Knight could be your new Boss

2008-02-05T08:18:00.001-05:00

Bob Knight resigned last night as Texas Tech head coach. His son Pat Knight will take over the team. If you have a nice boss give them a hug today or buy them lunch because this guy could be your boss.

Rays Willy Aybar arrested on Domestic Violence Charges.

2008-02-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

Willy Aybar was arrested last week in the Dominican Republic on domestic violence charges. Aybar has been held without bail since last Thursday and may be in jail until May. For all those who thought Elijah Dukes was bad, Willy Aybar seems worse. However, we've seen players arrested in other countries and be aquitted before i.e. Juan Uribe.

The impact on the Rays could actually be pretty big. Willy Aybar was figured to be Joel Guzman's left handed platoon partner to start the season at third base. Aybar was also expected to be the utility man on the team. Now because of Aybar's latest set back, The Rays may bring in a veteran who can play multiple positions or they may be inclined to have top prospect Evan Longoria start the season in the majors.

Sloth wins SuperBowl

2008-02-04T16:52:00.001-05:00

Hey you guyssss!

Cheer up New England Patriots fans you still have Wes Welker.

2008-02-04T16:08:00.001-05:00

The sky has fallen over the North East corner of the USA. The Pats went 18-Oh, 18-No, and in case you haven't heard they lost the Super Bowl. Fear not Chowdah's you still have the record holder for single game Super Bowl Receptions: Wes Welker aka "The Bunny Rabbit" aka "Thumper".

Seriously, how many days till people start flipping out over the fact Belichick went for it on 4th and 13, leaving a possible 3 points on the field in a game the Patriots ended up losing by 3 points. I could see 4th and 1 or maybe 4th and 5, but 4th and 13? How many plays does Josh McDaniels have in the playbook for 4th and 13? Obviously none that work.

NY Giants Superbowl Champions:Eli Manning, David Tyree come up strong for Giants

2008-02-03T22:52:00.001-05:00

The star of the night was much-maligned youngster Eli Manning, who in just one calendar year has gone from poster child of inconsistency to Super Bowl hero. Manning's efforts were duplicated by a large number of unheralded players on offense, an offense that was surprisingly more efficient than New England's. Fourth-string Wide Receiver David Tyree caught two huge passes in the fourth quarter, the first being a touchdown with just under 11 minutes left that gave the Giants a 10-7 lead, but then even after New England marched down the field to take a 14-10 lead late in the game, Tyree came up big again with one of the most remarkable catches in Super Bowl history. On 3rd-and-5 with less than a minute left in the fourth quarter, Manning somehow slipped away from a pass rush that seemed to have swallowed him and rifled a pass that traveled nearly fifty yards in the air, which Tyree caught it by pressing it against his helmet with a defender hanging all over him. Manning made two more clutch throws on the drive, the first of which was on 3rd-and-11 where he threw a sideline route that wide receiver Steve Smith caught and tiptoed down the hashmarks towards a first down. On the very next play, Manning's favorite target during the regular season, Plaxico Burress, broke away from Ellis Hobbs and waltzed into the endzone, catching the uncontested pass and putting the Giants on top for good. Burress' touchdown catch was only his second catch of the entire game.

New York's tenacious defensive pressure was what kept the game close for the duration, as they put Brady on the turf thirteen different times, sacking him five. All season long, Brady has seemingly had a forcefield around him in the pocket as his offensive line would pick up blitz package after blitz package and allow Brady to scan the field for one of his multiple weapons. We saw flashes of that offensive brilliance tonight, but the Giants were able to stifle the attack long enough to keep the game in reach, and they ended up with the last chance to put points on the board, and converted. It's great to witness this event for Michael Strahan, one of the most recognizable faces in the entire league because of that always-present smile, and also among the classiest and most well-spoken in the NFL. He finally has a ring after 15 years. Also, this is a team who won it without Tiki Barber, who was arguably a top five running back in each of his last two years with the team.

Top 100 Prospects of 2008 from Scouts Inc. & Baseball Prospectus analyzed

2008-02-01T16:29:00.000-05:00

As promised, here is a more in depth look at the Top 100 Lists of ESPN/Scouts Inc. and Baseball Prospectus. Of course I will start off with the Rays list. Nine Rays made the Top 100 on Scouts Inc. highlighted by: Evan Longoria(1), Desmond Jennings(11), Wade Davis(15), David Price(16) and Jake McGee(26), giving the Rays five out of the top 26 prospects. Rounding out the nine Rays were Reid Brignac (49), Fernando Perez (72), Jeremy Hellickson (75), and John Jaso (78). Not too much to argue with here besides maybe Reid Brignac. Last year's consensus best SS in the minor leagues takes a bit of a hit this year, falling behind Carlos Triunfel (18, Mariners), Elvis Andrus(31, Rangers), and Mike Moustakas (47, Royals). Brignac did take a step back last year offensively, .260/.328/.433, but from most accounts made strides defensively towards becoming a Major League defender as SS. This season will no doubt be a huge year for Brignac, not only to prove his '07 season was a one year slide, but also the addition of Jason Barlett means the Rays now have a legit option at SS for the future besides Brignac. With the lack of a RF prospect one interesting idea would be, if his defense regresses, to move Brignac to Right, where the Rays plan to platoon players this year. Other than that I really don't have many Rays related gripes with Scouts Inc.'s list.

Now on to Baseball Prospectus list of Rays. Again the Rays had a heavy presence at the top, with five of the top 25 prospects headlined by: Evan Longoria (3), David Price (6), Wade Davis (15), Desmond Jennings (18), and Reid Brignac (25). The only other Ray on the top 100 was Jake McGee (40). Obviously there are some discrepancies between the two lists. The most prevalent, in my opinion, is the number of Rays. Scouts Inc. lists nine, but Baseball Prospectus only lists six. Baseball Prospectus completely left off Jeremy Hellickson, Fernando Perez, and John Jaso. I can't understand why. Perez & Jaso should see a lot of action at AAA Durham this year and maybe even get a taste of the big leagues come September. In our recent interview Jim Callis , he said that John Jaso has a chance to be the everyday catcher for the Rays if he can stay healthy. Fernando Perez has an outside chance to crack the Majors this year as the fourth outfielder. If something should happen to Baldelli or Floyd, or most likely both, he could see significant time in a talented Rays outfield. Jeremy Hellickson is still probably two years away and most likely will spend the bulk of his season at High Class A Vero Beach, but he is leader of the next group of arms behind the more advanced Price, McGee, Davis, Niemann, and Talbot.

The rest of the BP Rays list is interesting. Evan Longoria is ranked 3rd behind Jay Bruce (1) and Clay Buchholz (2). I have no problem with Bruce being first. Most people have Bruce and Longoria 1st and 2nd in either order. However, I think this is the first time I've seen Buchholz ranked not only over Longoria, but also Joba Chamberlain who checked in the list at four. I think of it this way, who would I rather have to start a franchise Buchholz or Longoria? I'm taking Longoria all day. I believe the comparisons to David Wright are not only flattering, but very true. If the comparison does pan out then Longoria will be a perennial All Star and MVP candidate. I can't really argue with Desmond Jennings at 18 or Davis at 15. I believe Desmond Jennings is a potential impact player, but I'll see how he does at High A or Double A first before arguing for him to be higher on the list. Davis at 15 is fine and I expect him to be Top 5 or 10 at the least next year. I was very surprised to see Price ranked as high as 6 since he hasn't thrown a professional pitch yet. I've heard all types of projections on Price. One projection early on had him coming in this spring with a chance at the Majors, but most expect him to start at AA Montgomery and quickly rise to the Majors as soon as late August or early September.

The final two on the Baseball Prospectus list are Reid Brignac and Jake McGee. At number 25, Reid Brignac is the second SS on the list behind Moustakas, who most believe is likely not going to be a SS long. The other two SS that were in front of Reid on the Scouts Inc. list, Triunfel and Andrus, check in considerably lower on this list at 55 and 58 respectively. I guess it’s who you ask about Reid Brignac, as there seems to be no consensus to where he belongs. The final Ray on the list is Jake McGee, checking in at 40. The knock on McGee is his lack of a secondary out pitch behind his fastball. I'm interested to see how he progresses this year, where he likely will spend a lot of time at AA Montgomery. If he can develop another one or two above average pitches to round out his arsenal he should be a serious candidate for the top 10 next year. If not, all is not lost with McGee as the Rays maybe able to convert him into a dominate late inning reliever.

That's it for the Rays portion of the lists. I have just a few tidbits on the other names on the two lists. First, Lars Anderson 1B for the Red Sox. Scouts Inc. has him solidly in the top half of their list at 28, while he barely made the Baseball Prospectus list coming in at 100. Again, referring back to our interview with Baseball America's Jim Callis he says, "I think Red Sox first baseman Lars Anderson is going to make a leap forward this year and become recognized as one of the very best hitters in the minors." Like Reid Brignac, I guess it's all about who you ask with Anderson.

Two other names I wanted to look at because of the recent Johan Santana trade were OF's Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez. Gomez is the center piece of the deal and is regarded as the Twins CF of the future if the deal is completed. On Scouts Inc, Gomez checks in at 35, but on BP he's in the lower half at 65. Either way, I feel that Gomez as the center piece is way too low for the greatest pitcher on the face of the planet. The other player in the talks surrounding the trade was Fernando Martinez. Martinez is regarded by most, if not all, as the #1 prospect in the Mets system. The big gripe from the Twins supporters was they traded Santana without getting the Mets crown jewel in return. Scouts Inc. has Martinez at 10 while Baseball Prospectus has him just in the lower half at 51. That’s a pretty big difference. Is he a top 10 player or a barely a top 50 player? Martinez has huge power potential and is an above average defender in CF. He started last season at AA Binghamton at age 18....yes I said 18. An injury cut his season short, but even at age 19 in AA he is on the fact track to the Majors, and a big kudos to Omar Minaya for being able to land Santana (potentially) without giving up his blue chipper.

Ok my fingers have officially cramped up and my eyes are bleeding, but there you have our recap of the Top 100 list of Scouts Inc. and Baseball Prospectus. Of course, each writer and analyst has their own criteria and their own judgments, so no list is perfect. Remember, the Rays own Edwin Jackson was once one of the top prospects in baseball and we're still waiting on him to show that he's even an average starter. We respect Keith Law(Scouts Inc.) and Kevin Goldstein(Baseball Prospectus) tremendously and it will be fun to check up on this list in the next few years to see who's made it, who was a bust and who came out of nowhere to became a star. We expect to have another list from Baseball America soon, so I need to recover so we can do this all over again soon.

Rob Neyer is at it again

2008-02-01T13:32:00.000-05:00

BJ Upton had a great season in Center last year after moving from the infield. He finally hit like everyone expected him to and played well defensively. He tied for first in OPS+ among Center Fielders with Curtis Granderson. Now he's crowned as Rob Neyer's best Center Fielder for the next five years:

"As a hitter, Granderson was a bit over his head last season, but he's obviously an outstanding player. What shocks me is that Upton, four years younger, was just as good with the bat. The Rays spent far too long realizing that Upton's not an infielder, and it's impossible to know how he'll fare in center field, long term. But he's always looked like a center fielder to me, and I have a faith-based belief that he'll be just fine out there."

Congrats BJ.

Peter King: Rays Nation Leader

2008-01-31T16:27:00.000-05:00

Check out Red Sox's fan Peter King decked out in a new Rays hat. He also wore a Rays hoodie on Mike and Mike. The question is Did Peter King lose a bet? Or is he truly a Rays fan? TSP Investigation to follow.

Baseball Prospects Top 100 Prospects of 2008 Released

2008-01-31T14:08:00.000-05:00

Too many 100 prospect lists for one day. Here is Baseball Prospectus' Top 100 Prospects of 2008 released today by BP Prospect Guru Kevin Goldstein.

Like the Scouts Inc. List we will give you the top 5 right here and click the link above for the rest
1. Jay Bruce
2. Clay Buchholz
3. Evan Longoria
4. Joba Chamberlain
5. Clayton Kershaw

And also, like the Scouts Inc. list we will have a write up tomorrow. I see a ton of interesting things on the BP list that we will discuss tomorrow.

Scouts Inc. Top 100 Prospects of 2008 Released

2008-01-31T14:04:00.000-05:00

Keith Law of ESPN/Scouts Inc. released the Top 100 Prospects of 2008 today.

For the sake of time I'll just list the top 5 and you can click above for the rest.

1. Evan Longoria
2. Jay Bruce
3. Joba Chamberlain
4. Clay Buchholz
5. Colby Rasmus

We will have a bigger write up on our thoughts tomorrow.

A Few Rays Rumblings

2008-01-31T08:21:00.000-05:00

Here are just a couple Rays related pieces I found yesterday.

First, Rob Neyer continues to rank the best position players, under 30, for the next 5 years on his blog. This week he focuses on left fielders. Neyer points out, correctly, that the crop of good, young left fielders is pretty slim. That forces him to include a couple of players who are over 30(Carlos Lee and Alfonso Soriano). Last year the top rated player based on OPS+ was Matt Holliday, but that doesn't mean he'll be the best in 2012...that would be Carl Crawford according to Mr. Neyer.

He goes on to say this about Crawford:

"You have to like Crawford, but it's worth mentioning that he has not showed a normal growth curve. At 22, he was roughly six wins better than a replacement player ... and was roughly six wins better than a replacement player at 23, 24, and 25. I'm not sure what to make of that, except there's no obvious reason to think he's suddenly going to become a great player (though I do believe he'll have a few great seasons)."

That's a back handed compliment, but I'll take it.

Neyer couldn't compile a top 10 list, so he did a top 7.

1. Crawford
2. Braun
3. Holliday
4. Soriano
5. Bay
6. Kubel
7. ????

He leaves the last spot open for the star prospects who change poistions and end up in left field...like Ryan Braun.

I think it's a pretty big compliment to have Crawford ranked number one over Ryan Braun. Braun is making the switch to left field this season and if he remains there I think he's going to far outshine Crawford in most offensive statistics. Maybe Neyer is waiting to see Braun duplicate his 2007 success before he ranks Braun at the top?

Next, Keith Law lists his top prospects by organization in his espn.com blog.

Here are the Rays top 5:

1. Evan Longoria
2. Desmond Jennings
3. Wade Davis
4. David Price
5. Jake McGee

The biggest surprise is Jennings number 2 ranking. He just completed his first season in A ball. I hope Mr. Law is right in his rankings, I'd love to see Jennings manning the outfield with Crawford and Upton, if that's possible.

Redskins still looking for head coach...Raiders tying to get rid of thiers? Who's Crazier

2008-01-28T16:03:00.000-05:00

Someone asked me this morning which organization was more dysfunctional. the Redskins or the Raiders? At first, I immediately thought the Raiders. Who can be more dysfunctional than the Raiders? Al Davis looking like a crazy deranged nursing home escapee, Lane Kiffin laughing on his way to cash his paycheck and Dennis Green laughing in Coors Light commercial .

The funny thing is, the Redskins can give the Raiders a run for their money. During the Daniel Snyder era the Redskins have hired and fired Norv Turner, hired and fired Marty Schottenheimer after one year, lured Steve Spurrier away from College only to have it blow up in their faces, then finally crawling back to Joe Gibbs who had been out of the game for over a decade.

During that same period the Raiders basically traded Gruden for draft picks, hired and fired Bill Callahan, also hired and fired Norv Turner, then turned the clocks back a decade to hire Art Shell, who like Marty Schottenheimer was one and done. Now they are reportedly trying to get rid of their current coach,which they deny. Whew, that's a lot of changes. When you add it up you end with very similar situations. The Redskins have enjoyed more success on the field but still haven't reached the Super Bowl since 1991. The Raiders went to the Super Bowl in 2002, but have won 19 games since. The Redskins have the more talented team by far with Jason Campbell, Clinton Portis and a solid defense. The Raiders have what they believe to be a franchise QB in JaMarcus Russell but not much else.

The similarities still remain. The Raiders situation is crazy. It was reported that Lane Kiffin was sent a letter of resignation written by Al Davis. Of course, Kiffin refused to sign it. Since then Dennis Green has been mentioned as a candidate and the Raiders have denied that they want to get rid of Kiffin. So their franchise remains in limbo.

It is much of the same for the Redskins. Joe Gibbs retired again and since then Snyder has interviewed 150 or so candidates, including Jim Fassel and former Redskins defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. When Gibbs retired most people thought it was just a matter of time before Williams stepped in. Now a month and four interviews later, Williams was fired over the weekend as defensive coordinator, putting him out of the Redskins picture completely. Also, offensive coordinator Al Saunders was let go. Normally, when a head coach goes the coordinators go as well so that's not too far out of the norm. Most teams will clean house except for maybe a few assistants, but they usually let the new head coach appoint his own generals. Not the Redskins. Dan Snyder has already named new coordinators (Jim Zorn,Offense; Greg Blache, Defense) and he's still interviewing for a head coach. That already puts the next head coach at a disadvantage. What happens if he wants to pound the ball with Portis and Zorn wants to air it out with Campbell and Santana Moss? What if the next head coach is a believer of the 3-4 and Blache is a 4-3 guy?

The Raiders have their head coach for now, and they have retained their coordinators, so at the moment I'll give the edge to the Redskins as the most dysfunctional franchise in the NFL. I wouldn't be surprised if Isiah Thomas interviews with Dan Snyder in the next few days.

Just get the hell out of here baby

2008-01-25T16:49:00.000-05:00

It's being reported that the corpse Oakland Raiders owner "has been pushing for Lane Kiffin to resign as his head coach and is considering Dennis Green as a potential replacement, sources close to Kiffin and the team said." He's even gone so far as to draft a letter of resignation for Kiffin to sign but Kiffin has refused and is daring Davis to fire him. Is anyone ever going to want to coach for that man again after this?

Brady Boot-gate

2008-01-25T16:41:00.000-05:00

Am I the only one who doesn't believe anything coming out of New England about Tom Brady's ankle "injury"?. We've discussed The Hoodie's injury report practices here before, but this Tom Brady wearing a walking boot and being late for practices, etc is a bit much. I think it's just The Hoodie trying to mess with the New York Giants and toy with the media he hates so dearly. If Brady had to run the Boston Marathon tomorrow I'm betting he'd be just fine.

Dana Jacobsen is a sailor

2008-01-25T09:33:00.000-05:00

As we continue Dana Jacobsen week here at TSP, we have to send major props to Baseballmusings.com for this picture of Dana drinking like a fish:

CHUG CHUG CHUG CHUG...At least Trey Wingo looks amused in the back

Dana Jacobsen is a bad word at ESPN.

2008-01-23T16:08:00.000-05:00

For those of you who don't know, Dana Jacobsen, co-host of ESPN's first take, was suspended for these alleged remarks at the Mike and Mike roast:

"F--- Notre Dame," "F--- Touchdown Jesus" and finally "F--- Jesus."

Jacobsen was reportedly intoxicated, but she was at a freakin roast. First of all, She is an adult and of legal drinking age, if she wants to get smashed then she should get smashed. Second, she was at a freakin roast where anything goes. Anyway, the point of this is I decided to ask Gary Horton a question during his ESPN.com chat. It was a legit question and Gary seemed to like it. The twist is I asked the question as TheStatPack(FreeDanaJacobsen) however, when the question was posted it was posted as:

TheStatPack (NJ): Better tandem at RB Maroney/Faulk or Jacobs/Bradshaw?

Gary Horton: (4:06 PM ET ) That's a great question, and I'd almost call it a push. Faulk is the most unique back of the four, because he's more of a nickel back, used more on third downs. I love the contrasting running styles of Jacobs and Bradshaw. I think the Giantsd may be stronger in terms of pure running ability, but the Pats have more versatility.

Are you kidding me? Dana Jacobsen is such a bad word they, ESPN, turns her into New Jersey? I would argue NJ is a lot more dirty than Dana Jacobsen. Oh well Dana, we will always have a spot for you at TSP.

Falcons to hire Mike Smith

2008-01-23T10:02:00.000-05:00

ESPN's Michael Smith is reporting Jaguars Defensive Coordinator Mike Smith(no relation) will be named Head Coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Smith has been the Jag's coordinator for the past six seasons. Good luck with Byron Leftwich, Joey Harrington and Chris Redman, Mike.

Rays closing in on deal with James Shields

2008-01-22T15:13:00.000-05:00

From The St. Petersburg Times:

Rays pitcher James Shields and agent Page Odle are on their way to St. Petersburg this afternoon with plans to finalize a 6- or 7-year contract in the next 24 hours.

"My goal is to have this done tonight," Odle said.

We'll have more as it comes in.

According to the St. Petersburg Times:

The Rays have come to terms with James Shields on a 7 year $44 Million Dollar deal(includes possible incentives). The first four years of the deal will be guaranteed. The Rays hold options for 2012, 2013 & 2014.

Excellent deal for the Rays. With the cost of pitching rising at an insane rate, the Rays are getting a great deal. If Shields pitches like an average 3-4 starter, the Rays will be saving about 5-7 Million a year alone on this deal.

I hope Mike Preston loves the Ravens Hiring John Harbaugh as Head Coach.

2008-01-21T14:20:00.000-05:00

Last week, as I frantically searched my apartment for valuable things I could donate to the "Keep Jason Garrett Fund", I took a minute to read a column by Baltimore Sun writer Mike Preston. The article's title was "Garrett's rookie mistake." The premise of the article was that Garrett made a huge mistake by leaving Baltimore without accepting the head coaching job. As I read the column I found myself wondering if Preston believed half of what he was writing. Here are a few excerpts:

"If Jason Garrett becomes the Ravens' head coach, let's hope he won't show as much inexperience during the season as he showed yesterday."

"Garrett spent most of the day interviewing with top Ravens officials about their vacant head coaching position and walked away from their offer, one of the most coveted jobs in professional sports."

One of the most coveted jobs in professional sports? Is the New York Yankees managerial job up for grabs? I'd argue that being Offensive Coordinator/Assistant Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys is a more coveted job than head coach of the Ravens. I like the Ravens, but the team has more than a few problems. Next excerpt:

"Or maybe Garrett really doesn't want to become a head coach. If he was really passionate about becoming a head coach, Garrett would have taken the job."

"There was some panic in his eyes yesterday and apparently some concern about the Ravens' job. But if Garrett had done his homework, he would be the new Ravens coach."

Seriously, if I could be be the President of a third world country or be a blogger in the United States of America, I'd keep typing forever. Just because he turned down what he felt was a bad offer doesn't mean he's not passionate about being a coach. That just means he's smart enough not to ruin his reputation by taking a crappy job...See Cam Cameron & Bobby Petrino. This next group of excerpts maybe my favorite:

"No one really wants the Atlanta job. The Falcons' franchise quarterback is in prison. Their starting running back is old. Their former head coach left them before the regular season was completed."

"Dallas is very attractive. The Cowboys are in their peak years. They have a good defense, a franchise-caliber quarterback, two good running backs and a go-to receiver."

"But the one thing that the Cowboys can't give Garrett right now is a head coaching position."

"The Ravens can, but they do have problems. They have older players on defense, no long-term solution at quarterback and a grumpy set of veterans with big egos. Their best player, linebacker Terrell Suggs, is unsigned."

So you don't take the Atlanta Job because they have no QB & no RB. You leave Dallas because they are in their peak years, they have a good D, Franchise QB, not one but two good running backs and a legit #1 wide receiver. He also forgot the three Pro Bowl offensive linemen and the All Pro TE. You give all that up for a Ravens team that has no QB, no WR's, an aging and declining defense, a grumpy set of veterans with big egos and no guarantee that their best player will be back? And just for the record I'll take Ed Reed over Terrell Suggs anyday, but that's me.

Yep, sign me up for that. I'd much rather go to Baltimore and get fired in three years, instead of holding on to my cushy job in Dallas with Wade Phillips' parking spot and the head coaching job of one of the world's most prestigious franchises waiting for me within the same three years.

And finally on his Baltimore Sun blog Preston gives us this gem:

"It' s not like Garrett is Bill Belichick or Mike Holmgren. He's Jason Garrett, for goodness sake."

I think I love this one the most, who did the Ravens end up with? John Harbaugh. He's not Jason Garrett, Leif Garrett or even Jim Harbaugh for goodness sake. For one of the "most coveted" jobs it's sure seems odd that they couldn't even get Jim Harbaugh. They had to settle for his brother. Now we love the fighting Harbaugh's, but we'd expect someone who's actually been a coordinator or former head coach to take over one of the "MOST COVETED" jobs in all of professional sports. Frankly, I'm surprised nobody dug up Vince Lombardi or Tom Landry for an interview. Then again maybe those guys aren't passionate enough.

Sidney Crosby on Injured Reserve?

2008-01-21T12:23:00.000-05:00

Normally we don't cover much hockey at TSP, but this story caught my eye from ESPN.com

PITTSBURGH -- Sidney Crosby was placed on injured reserve Monday, a move that allowed the Pittsburgh Penguins to add an extra forward for their final two games before the All-Star break.

Crosby injured his right ankle during the Penguins' 3-0 loss to Tampa Bay on Friday and is expected to be out at least a month and possibly longer.

The preliminary diagnosis is a high ankle sprain, an injury that occurs in the ligaments that connect the tibia and fibula in the lower leg.

The first reason is, because its Sidney Crosby, who is like the NHL's Michael Jordan. Casual fans like myself only pay attention to the NHL because of Crosby, in the same way casual fans watched the NBA for Jordan.

The second reason is, aren't hockey players supposed to be tough? Your telling me this guy is going to miss more than a month for the same injury T.O. came back from in three weeks? Doesn't sound so tough.

Im kidding, and I know that they are being cautious with the franchise player and I agree with them to give him all the time he needs. Also, the skating element puts huge pressure on the ankle, but I found that funny that T.O. is some what tougher than a hockey player.

And that's your 2008 Hockey update, see ya next year

Super Bowl XLII: Patriots Vs Giants

2008-01-21T07:42:00.000-05:00

Or Beauty vs. The Beast

For all those who said Manning vs. Brady couldn't happen in the Super Bowl because they played in the same conference, you were wrong. You just had the wrong Manning. Eli "Insert Banjo Here" Manning is going to the Super Bowl and not to watch his brother Peyton either. Thanks to Brett Favre for choking in the cold weather and gift wrapping the NFC Championship for the Giants. Eli again had zero turnovers, and I guess that 3rd times a charm thing is ringing true for the Giants. They beat the Cowboys after losing the first two games and then Lawrence Tynes kicked the game winning FG after missing two previous attempts. Too bad this will only be the second time the Giants play the Pats so they almost certainly will lose. Ugh, Opie Manning is going to the Super Bowlm who woulda thunk it.

Rays sign Kazmir too...

2008-01-18T13:04:00.000-05:00

Just when it looked like there was no deal in place the St. Petersburg Times is reporting the Rays and Ace SP Scott Kazmir have agreed on a 1yr $3.785 Million dollar deal avoiding arbitration. With Kazmir signed, the Rays have re-signed all their arbitration eligble players to deals.

Rays sign Carlos Pena, Dan Wheeler & Jonny Gomes, Trade for Willy Aybar

2008-01-18T09:14:00.000-05:00

The Rays seem to make moves in bunches, and this week is no exception. The Rays started the week by agreeing to terms with RP Dan Wheeler on a 1 yr $2.875 Million deal. They continued working with their arbitration eligible players, agreeing to a 1 yr $1.25 deal with DH/RF Jonny Gomes. However, they've saved the two biggest deals for last. First, the team just announced they have come to terms with 2007 team MVP Carlos Pena on 3 yr $24 Million dollar deal. Pena, the 2007 MLB Comeback player of the year, set team records with 46 homeruns and 121 RBI. The deal keeps Pena with the Rays through 2010. The other big deal was the acquistion of utility man Willy Aybar from the Braves. Along with Aybar the Rays will receive minor league INF Chase Fontaine in return for Lefty Reliever Jeff Ridgway. Aybar fills a huge void for the Rays by being able to play three infield positions right away. The Rays also plan to get him some work at first base and the corner outfield positions in spring training. The Rays still need a lefty reliever, but obviously were convinced Ridgway was not the answer.

The lone bad news of the week is Scott Kazmir expects to end up in arbitration against the Rays.

"All we can do is really prepare ourselves because they have the file and trial policy,'' Kazmir said. "I guess you just gotta go. They made it loud and clear. ...

"If we go to arbitration, which it kind of looks like right now, so be it. It's just what we have to do. Sure, it would be nice to have everything settled right now and not have anything to worry about.''

The Stat Pack Exclusive Interview with Dodgers 1B James Loney

2008-01-17T11:31:00.000-05:00

In the lastest edition of Stat Pack exclusive interviews, we have a real special treat. Dodgers First Basemen James Loney was nice enough to answer some questions for us and go over his offseson, his approach to heading into his first MLB season, and shooting hoops with Sam "I Am" Cassell.

James had a stellar prep career (varsity 2000-2002) at Elkins High School in Missouri City, Texas (suburban Houston). He hit .509 his senior season and also accumulated a record of 9-1 with a 1.80 era as a pitcher, striking out 106 batters in 54 innings. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1st Round (#19 overall). He had signed with Baylor University to play college baseball, but opted to sign a pro contract. He made his Major League Baseball debut with the Dodgers on April 4, 2006 against the Atlanta Braves. In 2007 Loney hit .331 with 15 HR's and 67 RBI's in 96 Games.

TSP:What have you been up to this off-season?

JL:Hanging out with family and friends

TSP:What is your off-season training regime like?

JL:Lifting weights, running and baseball activities

TSP:This is the first season where you're going in as part of the Major league roster; do you approach spring training any differently than the previous years?

JL:No, you can't take anything for granted

TSP:The Dodgers made a few significant moves this off-season with the signings of Andruw Jones and Hiroki Kuroda. With the return of a healthy Jason Schmidt, do you feel like this team has the talent to win the division and do damage in the playoffs?

JL:World Series Champs!!!

TSP:What are your personal goals for this season?

JL:To be consistent and help the team win

TSP:The Dodgers have a great young nucleus of players in the Majors right now with Russell Martin, Matt Kemp, Andre Either, Chad Billingsley, Jonathan Broxton and yourself. How's it been playing with those young players?

JL:Fun, It's good to be with those guys at this level

TSP:Do you think it's important for you to go through the same system together? Does it help you grow as a team?

JL:I think it helps chemistry

TSP:There are a lot of former Dodger prospects on the Rays or in the Rays farm system. Do you still keep in touch with guys like Edwin Jackson, Justin Ruggiano, Chuck Tiffany, Sergio Pedroza and Dioner Navarro?

JL:Jackson and Ruggiano and Joel Guzman

TSP:Despite your stellar minor league numbers the past couple of years, the Dodgers seemed reluctant to call you up and keep you in the majors, opting to instead sign aging veterans. Did you feel at all slighted? Did it drive you to work even harder to get back?

JL:It definitely is a reminder to always work as hard as you can

TSP:We've noticed that you're very active in the community. You obviously enjoy it; do you think it's important to be involved with charities, fundraisers, visiting children's hospitals, etc? Also, do you feel players have a responsibility to do so?

JL:I don't believe it is a responsibility, but I like doing it and I like seeing people smile.

TSP:Recently Sam Cassell beat you in a game of H-O-R-S-E, do you plan on getting him back in some way? Do you think he could hit a curve ball or a 95 MPH fastball?

JL:I beat him in a game of P-I-G. He is athletic so he could probably make contact.

Again, The Stat Pack would like to thank James for his time and chating with us.

Jason Garrett Staying in Dallas, Chan Gailey Returns to the NFL

2008-01-17T10:30:00.000-05:00

ESPN's Ed Werder is reporting Jason Garrett has turned down the Atlanta Falcons and Baltimore Ravens head coaching offers to return to the Dallas Cowboys as offensive coordinator. It is a smiliar situation to 2004 when Jerry Jones convinced both coordinators, Sean Payton(offense) and Mike Zimmer(defense), to turn down head coaching jobs with the Oakland Raiders and University of Nebraska. Payton took the Saints head coaching job a year later, while Zimmer has bounced around from Dallas to Atlanta before accepting the Bengals Defensive Coordinator position earlier this week. One would believe Garrett will receive a substantial raise, some where in the 2.5 Million dollar range as well as a promise that he will eventually succeed Wade Phillips within the next couple years.

The pressure now falls square on Wade Phillips shoulders to win a playoff game next year. If the Cowboys come close to having the same regular season success in 08 that they had in 07 and fail in the playoffs again, I believe Phillips will be fired and Garrett will step in at that time.

EDIT: From ESPN

IRVING, Texas -- After looking into two coaching jobs, Jason Garrett decided to remain offensive coordinator of the Cowboys after Dallas made him the highest-paid assistant coach in the NFL.

The Cowboys promoted Garrett to assistant head coach and gave him a new contract that will pay him in the ballpark of $3 million per year, ESPN's Chris Mortensen is reporting.

How would you guys like to be making more or as much as your boss? Please say a prayer for Wade Phillips career.

In another coaching move, the Kansas City Chiefs have hired former Cowboys & Georgia Tech head coach Chan Gailey to replace Mike Solari as offensive coordinator. Gailey has been on the staff of 11 playoff teams and coached in the Super Bowl four times, including three with Denver. He has been either a head coach or an offensive coordinator eight years. He is also king of the Field Goal so get used to seeing a lot of 3's on the board in KC.

Eva Longoria defends Jessica Simpson.

2008-01-16T11:32:00.000-05:00

Being married to a Texas sports star isn't easy, just ask Eva Longoria. Eva has some words of advice to lend to Jessica Simpson, who is one more bad Romo game from being banned from her home state of texas.

"People gave me that . . . when I started dating Tony," Longoria, star of ABC's "Desperate Housewives," said in an interview Monday with E! Entertainment Television's "Daily 10."

"If he had a bad game they'd blame me. If he, uh, you know, had an injury, it's like, 'What did you do to him?' " the 32-year-old actress said, laughing.

"Believe me, they are not thinking about us when they're on the court, when they're on the field," she said of Parker and Romo. "It's like they've got a little more important things to do."

This really isn't news worthy but it gives me a reason to put these up...enjoy.

Dolphins to officially name Tony Sparano head coach.

2008-01-16T10:36:00.000-05:00

The Miami Dolphins have hired Dallas Cowboys Assistant Tony Sparano as their head coach, replacing Cam Cameron who was fired earlier in the month. Sparano has coached in the NFL for nine years. Before joining the Dallas staff in 2003, Sparano was on the staffs of Cleveland (1999-2000), Washington (2001), and Jacksonville (2002). He was the head coach at New Haven in the college ranks from 1994-1998. Sparano was also a candidate in Atlanta and Baltimore. The move reunites Parcells with his former assistant. Sparano was the Cowboys play caller in 2006 before giving that up this season to Jason Garrett, who has still not accepted the Ravens offer to become their head coach.

I know Sparano is held in high regard by many around the league, but he's got his work cut out for him in Miami. A first time NFL head coach taking over a 1-15 team with no clear QB, a lack of impact players on offense and an aging defense doesn't sound like a great fit, but when your 1-15 there aren't too many great fits.

A late congrats to Greg Ellis on Comeback player of the year.

2008-01-14T14:23:00.000-05:00

As I sit and try to get through Day One after the Cowboy playoff blowup for the second straight year, I almost forgot to send a little love Greg Ellis' way. Over the weekend Greg Ellis, not Randy Moss, was named NFL Comeback player of the year. For those don't remember I campaigned earlier for Randy Moss not winning the award and it going to someone who was actually coming back from something other than laziness. Moss finished second in the voting with 10 votes, two behind Ellis's 12. Ben Roethisberger, another good candidate I mentioned earlier, came in third with seven votes. Ellis, the 10th year veteran from North Carolina, finished the 2007 season with 12.5 sacks(a career high) after missing eight games last year and three this year with a torn his Achilles tendon.

"It went through two phases, really, two phases where I felt like that's going to be it," Ellis said. "When it first happened, I felt like that's probably going to do it for me, because I'm familiar with the Achilles and know guys who have torn it before. The guys I knew, most hadn't returned back to that same rare form that they were before they left the game.

"Then the second time was in training camp. Everything started going good. I started rehabbing here, then I got to training camp and started to have pain around the heel part of it."

NFL Divisional Roundup: T.O. Cries, Billy Volek to the rescue, Eli "Rain Man" Manning still in it, Pats still perfect, Favre still playing

2008-01-14T08:54:00.000-05:00

Here are the cliff notes version of the weekend that was in the NFL Divisional Playoffs:

Green Bay 42 & Seattle 20

Seattle jumps out 14-0, but Ryan Grant has a monster game in the snow and the Pack advance. Could this be the end of Mike Holmgren'c career? Like Dungy, Holmgren is on a year to year basis. Will he stay or will he go? I think he stays to finish out the remaining year on his contract. The NFC west is weak and Seattle should be back in the playoffs next year. It looks like Brett Favre is ready to party like its 1996. Seriously, who knew that 11 years later Favre would still be playing in the league at such a high level?

New England 31 & Jacksonville 20

I really thought the Pats would come out and dominate, but the Jags kept it close going into the half at 14-14. Tom Brady had a ridiculous game with 26 of 28 passes completed. Just for fun he threw the ball to Randy Moss once. And for all those who said the Pats can't run the ball,Maroney went off for 100+ yards.

San Diego 28 & Indianapolis 24

What a shocker here! The Colts looked like they were getting healthy at the perfect time. The Chargers lost the NFL's leading rusher in the 2nd quarter and their starting QB in the 4th and still won the game. And Marcus McNeil gave us this gem

With 12:38 left to play and San Diego leading by four, the Chargers offense waited to huddle during a TV commercial break. As they waited, several Chargers -- mostly 6-7, 336-pound offensive tackle Marcus McNeill -- started swaying and dancing to the music being played during the TV timeout.

"That's how it's supposed to be," McNeill said. "It doesn't make no sense to be at crunch time and your butthole is all tight."

Thank you Marcus.

New York Giants 21 & Dallas Cowboys 17

This one hurts, but definitely not as bad as last years for some reason. I actually got to sleep last night, whereas last year I was sitting up in my bed, in the pitch black dark, at 3 in the morning replaying Romo's bobble. For the second straight year the Cowboys gift wrapped a playoff game for the other team. Jerry Jones may want to seek a refund on Patrick Crayton's new contract. He had two huge drops and then ran a half-assed route late in the game. T.O. wept for his QB....and they said he's a bad teammate. Good thing by 8:05 I was watching Nicholas Cage with a stringy mullet in Con Air.

Additional Game Note: Jules text me during the game to say "I feel like Eli is my retarded brother or something" "I can't hate the guy." Eli is the NFL's version of Rain Man. He has a cool normal brother and, apparently from that quick TD in the 2nd quarter, he's an excellent driver.

It's officially baseball season for me...32 days till pitchers and catchers report.

Sports world recap: Pete Carroll to Atlanta? Lynching Tiger? NFL Divisonal Playoffs, Josh Brown Aka Hot Pants and Steroids, Congress and Clemens

2008-01-10T07:59:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the "incase you've been living under a rock post." Sorry We've been slacking lately...blame in on Jessica Simpson or Kim Kardashian, either one will do fine.

Sources say there is mutual interest between USC Coach Pete Carroll and the Atlanta Falcons. Every year Pete Carroll's name is thrown around for an NFL job, he entertains the idea for a few days and then realizes he has it made in L.A. Seriously, even if the Falcons gave him full control of the team, why would he take it? He would be fired in 3 years and have to take a job at the University of Idaho and build his way back up. At USC, he is at the top of the college football world and can contend for a national title every year.

Golf Channel's Kelly Tilghman has been suspended two weeks for her comments about Tiger Woods. While discussing Tiger Woods' dominance, She said that young players on the PGA Tour should "lynch him in a back alley." Even in 2008, where alot of things are tolerated, you have to know better than to use the word "lynch" in the same sentence where you talk about an African American. She deserves to be fired not for her comments, but lack of common sense.

On to the topic I've been trying so hard to avoid this week, ESPN's playoff coverage. ESPN.com's NFL page would like you to believe the sky is falling on the Patriots and Cowboys. Two quick notes, The Patriots are UNDEFEATED, as in they haven't lost a game this year. The Cowboys, all of a sudden the worst 13-3 team ever, have the same record as the red hot NY Giants in the last four games 2-2. Just for the record the Colts were 2-3 headed into the Playoffs last year and they did pretty well.

Seattle Kicker Josh Brown has rigged his pants to include a heater for the other NFC showdown in Green Bay. Brown told KIRO Radio that no matter how low the temperature drops, his legs will be 75 degrees. In other news, thanks to Jessica Simpson, Tony Romo's pants are a blistering 98 degrees...yes the pun was intended.

Congress pushed back its' steriod investigation of Roger Clemens and others. Does congress have nothing better to do? Isn't there a war going on somewhere?

Joe Gibbs Resigns as Redskins Coach & President

2008-01-08T09:15:00.000-05:00

Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs will resign as Redskins Coach & President at a 3 P.M. press conference. Since returning to the game after retirement, Gibbs went 31-36 including 1-2 in the post season. Gibbs won three NFL SuperBowls during his first tenure from 1981-92; the second time around he took the team to the postseason in two of his four seasons.

The Stat Pack 20 plus: Exclusive interview with Jim Callis

2008-01-07T11:51:00.000-05:00

We here at TheStatPack were lucky enough to have the Executive Editor of Baseball America, Jim Callis, answer a few questions for us. If you want to know anything about drafts, farm systems, prospects or the minor league in general, Jim's the foremost authority. If you want to read more of Jim's work you can check out BaseballAmerica, or you can order the 2008 Baseball America Prospect Handbook here.

TSP:Have you ever been approached by a major league team to work in their personnel department?

JC:Not directly. I've had a couple of teams ask, more in conversation, if I could ever see my self scouting. It would be fun to work for a team, but it also would be tough right now because the hours involved would take me away from my family (four young kids, ages 6 to 12).

TSP:The Rays farm system has been rated at or near the top of baseball for 2-3 years now. What makes it so good?

JC:They have a tremendous combination of blue-chip prospects and depth. They've had a bunch of very high first-round picks because of their poor major league performance, and they've made good use of them (Evan Longoria, David Price). They've also done a nice job with later-round choices such as Jake McGee, Wade Davis, Reid Brignac and Desmond Jennings, to name just a few.

TSP:Do you think the McGee/Davis tandem is as good as advertised?

JC:I do. When we did our personal overall Top 50 Prospects list for the 2008 Prospect Handbook, I had McGee at No. 17 and Davis at No. 18. They're two of the very best pitching prospects in baseball.

TSP:Heath Rollins just put up one of the best seasons in the history of the entire Rays organization. How come his name isn't mentioned in the top group of Rays pitching?

JC:His stuff isn't good enough to rank with that top group. His slider is a legitimate pitch, but the rest of his stuff is fringy. And while his season was impressive, he was 22 and spent the whole year in low Class A, which was not. Let's see him succeed in high Class A and Double-A. Until then, he's more of a "keep an eye on" type than a true prospect.

TSP:Same question just with Chris Mason?

JC:I honestly don't think that's the case with Mason. He's right at the head of the class of Tampa Bay's second tier of pitching prospects. He's not a big velocity guy either, but he did have more fastball in college and may get some more velo back. He has a chance to have three average or better pitches.

TSP:How do you see Jeremy Hellickson progressing through the minors? Is it a stretch to see him at AA next year and in the Bigs by '09 or 2010?

JC:The Rays are very cautious with high school pitching prospects--just look at how carefully they've handled Davis and McGee. Hellickson will definitely start 2008 in high Class A and I wouldn't be surprised if he spent the whole year there. I see more of a 2010 ETA, because of how the Rays handle young arms and also because they'll be breaking guys like Price, McGee and Davis into the majors soon and the pitching staff won't have as many holes as Hellickson gets closer.

TSP:Even after the recent moves, The Rays have a lot of OF talent in the Major Leagues. They also have Fernando Perez, Desmond Jennings, & Ryan Royster working through the minors. Out of that group, who do you see making the biggest impact in the Majors? How soon?

JC:You're right, they still have more outfielders than they know what to do with. I like Jennings. He's a toolsy athlete who seems to be adapting very quickly to pro ball. But because of Tampa Bay's outfield depth, I think he'll get some time to develop. I wouldn't expect him in the majors before 2010.

TSP:Is Evan Longoria the best overall player in the minor leagues?

JC:Close, but I'll go with Jay Bruce. Longoria was the second-rated position player on my Top 50 list in the Handbook, and I had him ranked No. 4 overall.

TSP:How does Evan Longoria compare to former stud 3B prospects Alex Gordon & Ryan Braun?

JC:His bat is in the same class--it's an all-star bat. Longoria is a former shortstop and I think he'll be a better defender at third base than the other two guys.

TSP:What do you expect from David Price this season? Do you think he will start his year at AA Montgomery? If so, does he make it to AAA at some point during the season?

JC:I don't think the Rays have made that decision yet. I do think he'll get to Double-A by June if he doesn't start the season there, and because he has a big league contract and already is on the 40-man roster, I bet he makes his major league debut by September at the latest.

TSP:Do you think John Jaso can be looked at as a future everyday catcher for the Rays?

JC:I do. He's a sleeper who can really hit and play decent to solid defense. The big question is whether he can stay healthy, as he has been bothered by persistent shoulder problems in pro ball.

TSP:Besides Niemann, McGee, Davis & Price the Rays have some other arms like Mitch Talbot, JP Howell & Calvin Medlock hanging around. Do you see any of those three making significant contributions to the Rays in the upcoming years?

JC:I like Talbot more than the other two guys. Howell really competes but has marginal stuff, and Medlock is more a middle reliever for me. I can see Talbot being a No. 4 or 5 starter for Tampa Bay, though the competition for rotation slots will be fierce.

TSP:Obviously there are only 5 spots in the Major League rotation, and a lot of the Rays pitching prospects, barring serious injury, should be ready by the 09 season. Pencil in Kazmir, Shields and Garza, how does the rest of the rotation shake out between Niemann, Talbot, McGee, Davis, Price, Jackson, Sonnanstine, Hammel...etc? Do you see any of those guys as serious candidates for bullpen/closer roles if they don't make it as starters?

JC:The potential depth there is just staggering, isn't it? Of course, injuries and attrition will thin this out a little bit. There has been a little mention of Jake McGee and Wade Davis as a possible closer down the line, and I could see Niemann possibly in that role. The frontline guys right now appear to be Scott Kazmir, Matt Garza, David Price, Jake McGee, Wade Davis and James Shields, in some order.

TSP:Is it true that Reid Brignac's defense has improved, and defensively he maybe ready to make the jump? If he gets off to a hot start next season could we see him in the majors this year?

JC:I don't know if he improved in 2007 as much as he held ground. He can get the job done at shortstop and be fine there, but he won't be a Gold Glover. With Jason Bartlett coming aboard in the Delmon Young trade, I think Brignac will spend most of the year in Triple-A regardless of his start.

TSP:The Rays hold the #1 Pick in the draft. If the Draft was held tomorrow their pick would be _______?
JC:The top talent right now is Vanderbilt third baseman Pedro Alvarez, but the Rays don't really need a third baseman. I think he's more suited to play left field or first base, but those aren't huge areas of need for Tampa Bay either. That said, you don't base the No. 1 overall pick on need. Other guys in the mix at this point would be Missouri righthander Aaron Crow, San Diego lefthander Brian Matusz, Missouri high school righthander Tim Melville and Georgia high school shortstop Tim Beckham.

TSP:Will we ever see international players incorporated in the Draft? Do you think we should?

JC:I don't think so. For one, it would be a logistical nightmare. And two, while it might save some money on the handful of elite international players because they wouldn't be free agents, it also might drive the cost up on the next tier of players. I would just leave it like it is. Teams that work hard and make the investment can find quality talent at a relatively reasonable price. No need to change that. Putting them in the draft would just gum up the works even further.

TSP:Who's the Rays most overrated prospect right now?

JC:Maybe Jeff Niemann. He's still a good prospect, but I'm becoming less convinced he'll become the frontline starter he looked like coming out of college. He still has a chance to be a No. 3 starter, though.

TSP:Who's the most underrated?

JC:I'll throw a few names at you . . . Glenn Gibson is probably getting overlooked because he only recently came over in the Elijah Dukes trade and hasn't pitched in full-season ball yet, but I like him. Also keep your eye on Jaso, whom we mentioned earlier, and righthanders Alex Cobb and Josh Butler.

TSP:Who's the Baseball's overall most overrated prospect right now?

JC:Two guys I don't like as much as my cohorts at BA are Mets outfielder Carlos Gomez and Marlins righthander Chris Volstad. They're both legit prospects, but I see more tools than skills with Gomez and I don't think Volstad misses nearly enough bats.

TSP:Who's the most underrated?

JC:Reds righthander Johnny Cueto has performed well in the minors and has good stuff, but people underrate him some because he's not very big. I think Red Sox first baseman Lars Anderson is going to make a leap forward this year and become recognized as one of the very best hitters in the minors.

TSP:You're driving the '10 Rays World Series Bandwagon; can you give me an early prediction on the Rays opponent and the World Series MVP?

JC:When I first made that prediction last spring, I had them beating the Dodgers. Let's go with B.J. Upton as World Series MVP.

TSP:"I make you commissioner for one day, what's the first thing you do?"

JC:I'd get rid of the slotting process with the draft. The draft is the easiest and best place for lower-revenue teams to compete with higher-revenue clubs for talent, yet MLB discourages that from happening and steers more talent to the higher-revenue teams.

The Stat Pack would like to thank Jim Callis again for sitting down with us. And remember to pick up a copy of the 2008 Baseball America Prospect Handbook here.

Bob Sanders named Defensive Player of the year.

2008-01-07T11:50:00.000-05:00

Bob Sanders just added a little weight to his 5'8 206lbs frame. He will now have to carry around the weight of being NFL Defensive player of the year. Sanders earn 31 out of 50 votes. Patrick Kerney and Albert Haynesworth each earned 4 votes to tie for second place. "I think this year, I really played like I wanted to play," Sanders said. "I give a lot of credit to my teammates who helped me stay consistent in practice and in games." Sanders had 97 tackles and 2 Ints on the season.

June Jones to SMU

2008-01-07T11:48:00.000-05:00

June Jones has a agreed to a 5 year deal to become SMU's Head football coach. The deal is believed to be around $2 million a year. Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle lobbied for Jones to stay at Hawaii, but Jones couldn't be swayed on a return to the mainland.

Nomo signs deal with Royals

2008-01-04T16:43:00.000-05:00

The Kansas City Royals signed the Japanese and former Devil Ray great Hideo Nomo to a minor league deal. Why is anyone's guess. The former NL Rookie of the year hasn't appeared in a major league game since 2005, and made only seven starts in the Venezuelan winter league in 2006. "He's been a successful major league pitcher in the past, and we wanted to give him an opportunity to compete for a job," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said Friday. I like Dayton Moore, he seems like a nice enough guy, but I don't quite see this one working out consdiering in Nomo posted the two worst ERAs in the majors since 2004 at 8.25 and 7.24 respectively. "I want to hang in there no matter what, hoping that I won't get injured," Nomo said Friday on his official Web site. Way to have confidence and shoot for the stars Hideo.

Patrick Willis Wins NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

2008-01-04T15:10:00.000-05:00

In another no brainer for rookie of the year voting, Patrick Willis LB of the San Francisco has been named the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year. Willis, the impressive linebacker from Ole Miss, lead the NFL in tackles with 174. He received a whopping 48 out of a possible 50 votes which was even better than Adrian Peterson's 46.5. The the only other defensive rookie to receive votes was Carolina Panthers LB Jon Beason with two votes. This marks the fifth straight year a Linebacker has won the award. Congrats to Patrick

Where's The Beef? Jorge Cantu signs with Marlins

2008-01-04T10:04:00.000-05:00

Just to give you a brief glimpse of how bad the Marlins are looking for the '08 season, the Marlins reached agreement on Thursday with Cantu on a one-year contract worth $500,000, plus incentives that could tack on another $100,000 based on plate appearances. Cantu was unable to duplicate his 05 success in 06 & 07, probably having to do something with a serious lack of "mongolian beef." The Marlins are hoping Cantu, Alfredo Amezaga & Jose Castillo can fill Miguel Cabrera's shoes. Maybe all three could fit in a pair of his old baseball pants but I doubt any combination of the three will come near the production of Miggy Cabrera.

Bill Belichick named AP Coach fo the Year, Roy Williams going to the pro bowl again & Ricky Williams contract renewed.

2008-01-03T15:09:00.000-05:00

The only coach to lead his team to a 16-0 perfect regular season was honored today. Bill Belichick deservedly won the AP NFL coach of the year award. This is the second time is the past five years that Belichick has won the award. Belichick received 29 of the 50 votes. Second place went to Packers Coach Mike McCarthy, who lead the surprising Packers to a 13-3 record. Also getting votes were Dallas coach Wade Phillips, Jacksonville's Jack Del Rio (two each), and Indianapolis' Tony Dungy and Tampa Bay's Jon Gruden (one each).

Also in the news today was the NFL's announcement of the late Sean Taylor's replacement in the Pro Bowl. That honor went to Cowboys Strong Safety Roy Williams, giving the Cowboys an even dozen representatives in the Pro Bowl. Congrats to Roy, but I'm not sure he really deserves it. "I appreciate being the first alternate to go," said Williams, who is going to the Pro Bowl for the fifth straight year. "We are going to do something special for Sean and his family."

In the latest edition of as the Tuna turns, Ricky Williams has received a letter from Bill Parcells stating the dolphins intentions of renewing Williams contract for the '08 season.

Kim Kardashian & Reggie Bush engaged?

2008-01-03T14:23:00.001-05:00

There are reports that Kim Kardashian a.k.a. My Next Ex-Wife and Reggie Bush are engaged. However, I've seen reports on the contrart. Any way, who cares I just needed a legit reason to post this.

P.S. Tony & Jessica will always have my heart

NFL Wildcard Playoff Predictions

2008-01-03T14:11:00.000-05:00

Seattle 31
Washington 10

TV: The “Hottest team's” run finally comes to an end. Not even Kerry Collins little brother Todd can believe the Skins are in the playoffs

Seattle 27
Washington 17

JW: The 12th man for Seattle will be too much for Todd "I sold my soul to the devil" Collins to overcome.

Jacksonville 13
Pittsburgh 21

TV: For some strange reason I believe Najah Davenport will fill in just fine and the playoff experience of Big Ben and the Steelers D gets them on to round 2

Jacksonville 17
Pittsburgh 10

JW: Even with a terrible field I think Fred Taylor and MJD run all over the Steelers. I don't think Big Ben can carry the load all game with Parker injured.

Tampa Bay 24
New York Giants 23

TV: Chad Lucas(WHO?) will have a hundred yard receiving game and Michael Spurlock will return a kickoff for a touchdown. Take it to the bank.

New York Giants 20
Tampa Bay 10

JW: I'm picking the Giants solely for reverse jinx purposes.

Tennessee 27
San Diego 14

TV: LenDale White, Chris Brown will run for over 200 yards. No team can win with Norv Turner in the playoffs.

San Diego 30
Tennessee 13

JW: No way LT doesn't get 150 yards and 2TDs by halftime. Though if the Titans win, do we start blaming the Chargers playoff failures on the players and not the coaches?

The Big Tuna Strikes Part II: Cam Cameron Fired

2008-01-03T09:47:00.000-05:00

It would seem that Bill Parcells is the only one making news these days. In the past 2 weeks he's burned Atlanta, ended up in Miami, fired a GM, hired a new one, and now his latest news maker is the firing of Miami Dolphin head coach Cam Cameron. Cameron was fired after just one season with a record of 1-15, but our friend Les Miles would like to point out that the Dolphins didn't win a game in regulation.

As we love to do with Parcells, here are some names to speculate on who will replace Cameron: Cowboys assistant head coach Tony Sparano, Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels, Arizona Cardinals Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley, former Dallas Cowboys Offensive Coordinator Maurice Carthon and for the fun of it, Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis.

Parcells names Ireland General Manager, Other Teams fire coaches

2008-01-03T08:59:00.000-05:00

As we first speculated here at TSP, Bill Parcells has named Cowboys Executive Jeff Ireland General Manager of the Miami Dolphins. "I am excited about joining the Dolphins," Ireland said in a statement. "I know the great tradition of the team, and in my mind they are one of the flagship franchises in the NFL. They have a great owner in Wayne Huizenga, who I know is committed to making the Dolphins into winners once again. I am looking forward to working with him and everyone else in Miami to achieve that goal." The genius that is Cowboys Coach Wade Phillips added this gem of a comment "The promotion, I think, was the key thing. I don't think he was going to be moved up to general manager here," Phillips said to laughter. Obviously Phillips is referring to the fact that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is also the Cowboys GM and the only way he's leaving that job is when he's dead and even then his ghost will still run the team.

Also, yesterday a few NFL teams fired some key assistants some coaches now looking for work are:

Mike Martz
Chuck Bresnahan
Ricky Hunley
Rob Ryan(believed to be fired soon and taking D-Coordinator Position with the Jets)

Comments

2008-01-02T11:45:00.000-05:00

Just to let all of our readers know, all 176 of you, we encourge you to leave comments on posts you read, no matter if they're positive or negative. We want to be as interactive as we can.

Surprise, Surprise Adrian Peterson Named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year

2008-01-02T11:34:00.000-05:00

In the biggest shocker of the year, Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson upset Cleveland Brown LT Joe Thomas for the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Not really, Peterson received 46.5 out of a possible 50 votes. Peterson led the NFC with 1,341 yards rushing in 14 games and set the NFL single game rushing record with 296 yards against San Diego.

And for all that hard work AD here is what you get

Colt Brennan or Tim Tebow? June Jones may want to rethink his comments.

2008-01-02T11:12:00.000-05:00

After last night's rout by Georgia, I'm wondering if June Jones would care to take back this statement "My quarterback has been labeled a 'system quarterback' for three years," Jones said. "He is the best passer in college history. He is. There is no question about it. Tim Tebow is in a system."

On the biggest stage in his college career, Colt Brennan turned in his worst performance of the year. Not surprisingly it came against the best team he's faced all year. If Tim Tebow is a "system quarterback" than Colt Brennan is a "conference quarterback." Think about it this way, could Tebow put up the same or better numbers as Brennan against competition such as Northern Colorado and Louisiana Tech? Sure he could, Tebow probably would have even better numbers than Brennan if he was going against the WAC. Now think about it this way, would Brennan put up Tebow numbers in the SEC? I dont think so. Last night Brennan proved my theory right. Big gaudy numbers at Hawaii does not make you a great quaterback. Just ask Timmy Chang how his NFL career is coming along. It's great for the record books, but going against Charleston Southern isn't going to get you ready for the NFL. Hopefully the next time June Jones wants to label somebody else's QB something he will think about last night's performance.

Brian Billick fired as Ravens Head Coach

2007-12-31T15:44:00.000-05:00

The "Offensive Genius" has been fired. Brian Billick was fired today by Steve Bisciotti, a few weeks after the owner said he would bring Billick back. "I just changed my mind," the owner told The Baltimore Sun on Monday. "I can't explain it to you. It's the toughest decision I've had to make." Billick was hired in 1999 after a successful stint as Minnesota Vikings offensive coordintor. The hope was Billick would build the same style offense in Baltimore that he had in Minnessota to go along with an already stellar D. However, like Tony Dungy & Marvin Lewis, the opposite happened. Under Billick's rule the offensive was never great or even good for that matter, but the defense was stellar and Billick rode that defense to a victory in Super Bowl XXXV. In Billick's defense, Baltimore was never able to find a "franchise QB." Instead Billick was forced to work with a group including: Elvis Grbac, Tony Banks, Trent Dilfer, Kyle Boller, Anthony Wright, and an old Steve McNair. Billick was 80-64 as Ravens coach.

I doubt Billick will be out of a job for long. If I'm Atlanta or Miami I am seriously considering Billick as the head man.

The Big Tuna Strikes: Parcells fires GM Mueller

2007-12-31T11:57:00.000-05:00

The first casualty of the Parcells era is GM Randy Mueller. The Miami Herald is reporting GM Randy Mueller was fired by Parcells today. Parcells is to meet with Cam Cameron tomorrow, but there has been no mention of which way Parcells is leaning on Cameron. In addition, Assistant Director of Player Personnel Mike Baugh and College Scouting Coordinator Rick Thompson are gone.

This move is the first of many that Parcells will be making in the next few weeks. I don't expect him to retain Cameron. I believe Parcells will look to bring his own coach to cook the groceries Parcells and the new GM buy for him. The first GM candidate that comes to mind is Scott Pioli, Vice President of Player Personnel for the New England Patriots. Pioli, started his NFL career with Bill Belicheck and the Cleveland Browns. He then followed Belicheck to the Jets (where he also worked with Parcells) and has been with Belicheck throughout his New England tenure. There is also the fact that Pioli is Parcells son-in-law. The question is will Pioli give up his successful job with New England for a rebuilding job in Miami?

Another name to keep your eye on is Jeff Ireland, vice president of College and Pro scouting for the Dallas Cowboys. From all accounts Parcells and Ireland have a good working relationship and there could be a mutual interest.

Kirby Freeman Looking to Transfer Merry X-Mas to Canes fans

2007-12-28T13:58:00.000-05:00

It is being reported that Miami Hurricane QB Kirby Freeman is requesting a transfer to a college in Texas. As a Hurricane fan I’m hoping this is true and Kirby will take his 12 Tds, 16 Ints, and 44.67 % career completion percentage with him.

Jules and I have compiled a list of potential suitors for the services of Kirby Freeman.

Our Suggestions:

University of Phoenix
Our Lady of the Lake University-San Antonio.
Loredo Community College
DeVry
Connecticut School of Broadcasting
Barbazon school of modeling
Concorida University at Austin
University of Border Patrol
University of San Antonio at Mexico
Texas Woman's university

In the infamous words of the legendary band Steam

Na Na Na Na
Na Na Na Na
Hey Hey Hey
Goodbye

2008 Tampa Bay Rays?

2007-12-28T13:16:00.000-05:00

Now that the hot stove has cooled down for the moment, I want to take a look at how the current Rays roster projects when it comes down to opening day. I'm sure the Rays aren't done making deals and I expect a veteran lefty reliever to be signed or traded for. I also expect a veteran catcher and infielder to be brought in to compete with current backups Shawn Riggans, Ben Zobrist & Joel Guzman. There has also been some talk that a Morgan Ensberg type player will come in to play 3rd base while Longoria gets some more ABs in AAA, but I'm going to assume thats all talk at the moment and Longoria will be here on opening day. Barring major injuries or deals, here is our best guess at the Rays 2008 Opening day roster

LINEUP

2B Akinori Iwamura
LF Carl Crawford
1B Carlos Pena
CF BJ Upton
DH Rocco Baldelli
3B Evan Longoria
RF Jonny Gomes(The Rays open up against the O's and assuming Bedard is still there Gomes will get the bulk of the starts against Lefties)
C Dioner Navarro
SS Jason Bartlett

SP Scott Kazmir

THE REST

C Shawn Riggans
1B/3B/OF Joel Guzman
2B/SS/3B Ben Zobrist
OF Cliff Floyd

SP James Shields
SP Matt Garza
SP Andy Sonnanstine
SP Edwin Jackson*

CP Troy Percival
SU Al Reyes
SU Dan Wheeler
MR Juan Salas
MR Scott Dohmann
MR Gary Glover
LR Jason Hammel*

*Out of Options and can't be sent to minors without passing waivers

Big improvement over last year, especially in the rotation where Jae Seo and Casey Fossum roamed the Trop last year looking for a strike. Defensively, you have to like the improvment especially up the middle. Bartlett and Aki will man the DP positions over Ty Wigginton and Ben Zobrist. While the slick fielding BJ Upton takes over CF for Elijah Dukes who was better suited for a corner OF spot.

Romo was meant to be with Jessica Simpson

2007-12-26T15:48:00.000-05:00

In 2004 Tony Romo was just your average 3rd string NFL QB. He was 23 and had no ESPN commericals, no Cowboys Passing records, no $67.5 million dollar contract and definitely no Jessica Simpson. However, Romo did have a weekly journal he kept up on Cowboysplus.com. This April 19, 2004 edition of "Roamin' with Romo" was supposed to be about the anxiety of draft day approaching, but Tony Romo also gave us some incite to the casanova inside him. Here is an exerpt that I couldn't pass up

All right, here's the women and dating part. I didn't go on a date at all this week, but I did attend a fancy party Saturday night where there were a lot of women. I arrived at the party at 9 p.m. There were already 500 people there. It took place in the banquet room at a nice hotel in downtown Dallas.

My friends from SMU and I hung out and talked to a bunch of different girls throughout the night. Finally, at around 11 p.m., this attractive brunette came up to me at my table. She asked me if I was using the chair next to me. I decided last week that I've been too shy when I see a good-looking girl. I told myself the next time I see a girl who I find attractive, I am going to go talk to her or at least show her I like her. So being the Casanova that I've been lately, I proceeded to tell her I was using it, and that it was reserved for the most beautiful brunette at the party.

Now I've never given a one-liner like that before, so I was eager to see her reaction. She looked at me a little dumbfounded with her baby browns. She then gave me a sly smile, (little did I know that she was extremely witty) and said "you are so sweet."

Yes, she liked it, it actually worked. I began to ask what her name was when she said it was so nice of me to save that seat for her all night. I told her it was no problem. She then leaned over like she was going to kiss me on the cheek but instead whispered in my ear. "Try it on a blonde," she said as she grabbed the chair and took off. She did give me a smile as she walked away, though, so at least I kept my dignity

It seems Romo took the brunette's advice and tried it on a blonde, actually a few blondes. Luckily for Tony she was right because it seems to be working. I'm sure Ms. Brunette is wishing she was a blonde right now since Romo is now the franchise quarterback and $67.5 million dollars richer. It's funny she smiled as she walked off, because Romo is the one smiling all the time these days.

Should Randy Moss be the NFL Comeback player of the year?

2007-12-26T12:37:00.000-05:00

The definition of the NFL Comeback Player of the year award is: "The player named Comeback Player of the Year shows perseverance in overcoming adversity, in the form of not being in the NFL the previous year, a severe injury, or simply poor performance." Past winners include: Joe Namath, John Riggins, Joe Montana, Marcus Allen, Dan Marino, Doug Flutie, Tommy Maddox, Tedy Bruschi & Chad Pennington. Then you have Garrison Hearst who is the ultimate comeback player winning the award twice. In Hearst's case as well as Marino, Namath, Montana and Bruschi, the winner was coming off an injury the previous year. They put in the hard work and returned as close to form as possible the next year to receive the honor. In cases like Maddox & Flutie, those players were out of the league for some time and returned to find success they had lost or never had in their previous stint in the league.

Let me start this by saying I am a fan of Randy Moss and think he is one of the top 5 WR's in the game of football. However, the reason I'm writing this is lately I've been hearing people mentioning Moss as a possible Comeback Player of the Year candidate. At first, it seems pretty simple, sure Moss has come back and is enjoying one of the best if not his best season ever. Then you ask yourself this question, What is Moss coming back from? Moss did miss three games in 2006 with a hamstring injury but nothing compared to the back injury Montana overcame or the near career ending stroke Bruschi suffered. However, the awards definition lets you count for poor performance. This is partly true in Moss's case, but the poor performance was his own doing. Moss has said numerous times "I play when I want to play" and evidently when his team is losing he doesn't play. That is where my beef with Moss winning, or even being considered for the award comes in. Here are a few quotes from Moss during the 06 season:

"I might want to look forward to moving somewhere else next year to have another start and really feel good about going out here and playing football"

Moss responded to questions about his dropped passes and lackluster effort in several games, saying "Maybe because I'm unhappy and I'm not too much excited about what's going on, so, my concentration and focus level tend to go down sometimes when I'm in a bad mood."

If a player admittingly quits on his team when they are losing or facing adversity should he be awarded for playing great when things with the team are on the up and up? Last year in Oakland Moss had a career low 42 catches for 553 yards and 3 Tds, both also career lows. The Raiders ended up 2-14 and Moss was traded to the Patriots. The Pats are 15-0 and about to become the first team ever to go 16-0. Magically Moss's performance is through the roof. He has 92 catches 1,393 yards and 21 recieving TDs, one away from tying Jerry Rice's single season record of 22.

Should we reward Moss for a poor 2006 and a great 2007 when he didn't play as hard last year because he was on a bad team? Or should we take a look at some of the other players in the league who have had much more to overcome than being unhappy?

I'd much rather see the award go to someone who busted their ass to either get back in the league or to get healthier than someone who sat on theirs because they're "in a bad mood". I don't know the exact qualifications of the award, but a guy, who if eligible, should get consideration is Buccaneers DE Greg White. White was drafted in the 7th round of the 2002 draft by the Houston Texans but failed to make the roster. He played for two years in the Arena Football League before getting an invite to Bucs training camp this year. White has enjoyed a great season in the NFL and is one of the reasons the Bucs are tied with the Patriots at number one in scoring defense. White is a fierce pass rusher and it's him, not 2007 1st round pick Gaines Adams, who leads the Bucs in sacks. Another candidate who should get a serious mentionin is Cowboys LB Greg Ellis. Ellis converted to linebacker in 2006 and was enjoying a good season until he ruptured his achilles against the Arizona Cardinals. Ellis then missed the final 7 regular season games as well as the Cowboys lone playoff game. He also missed the first four games of the 2007 season. Once back on the field, the Cowboys took it slow with Ellis, he didn't make his first start until Week 7 against Minnesota. In the 12 games Ellis has played he has posted a career high 12.5 sacks (11.5 of them while his team was trailing in the game). I guess thats not bad for a 33 year old coming off of a injury most thought would end his career. There are many other candidates who should get consideration like Ben Roethlisberger and Ryan Grant. Randy Moss and the Patriots are going to get all the records and awards they deserve. The NFL Comeback player of the year shouldn't be one of them.

Happy Holidays

2007-12-21T17:07:00.000-05:00

If you notice that we don't update in the next few days its because we are celebrating the Holidays...all of them Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa & Festivus.

--Happy Holidays
The Stat Pack

T.O. speaks on Jessica Simpson

2007-12-19T16:39:00.000-05:00

Oh no, stop the presses T.O. sounds off on Tony Romo's girlfriend. This obviously is the beginning of the end for the Cowboys. Jerry Jones is talking with the NFL's competition committee about canceling the rest of the Cowboys season because of these comments.

"Right now, Jessica Simpson is not a fan favorite in this locker room or in Texas Stadium," T.O. said. "I think with everything that has happened, and obviously the way Tony played and the comparison between her and Carrie Underwood, I think a lot of people feel like she's probably taking his focus away."

"Other than that, she was high on my list until last week.

"Oh, I got a message for her when we make the playoffs. Just stay tuned," he added.

Some people are actually taking this seriously, but they fail to realize T.O. was laughing while making these comments. Gotta love Terrell...Getcha Popcorn ready.

Bill Parcells Headed to Miami Dolphins? Parcells backs out of Falcons deal.

2007-12-19T15:38:00.000-05:00

It is now being reported that Bill Parcells has turned down the Atlanta Falcons offer and has his sights set on the Miami Dolphins. Talk about terrible luck. look no further than Falcons Owner Arthur Blank. First Michael Vick, then Bobby Petrino, now Parcells backs out. This is not the first time Parcells has skipped out on a team when they thought a deal was in place. Before taking the Cowboys job many believe Parcells would be the Tampa Bay Bucs coach, but Parcells balked on that job also. We will continue to monitor the Big Tuna's movement. Who know's your team may be next.

I also found this interesting. While looking at the Parcells "coaching tree" I noticed Tom Coughlin was an assistant to Bill Parcells when the Giants won Super Bowl XXV. I then noticed when Coughlin was head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars his QB coach from 1999-2000 and Offensive Coordinator in 2001 was none other than...Bobby Petrino

Len Pasquarelli and Pro Bowl Snubs

2007-12-19T13:11:00.000-05:00

I was reading Len Pasquarelli's column this morning on Pro Bowl snubs. I agree with alot of the names he mentioned. As I said yesterday we believe Mario Williams, Fred Taylor, and a few Bucs defensive players should have been on the Pro Bowl squads. Another one I could see a case for is Charles Woodson who is enjoying a fine season. Woodson's teammate and fellow corner Al Harris was named to the Pro Bowl, but Woodson has the more impressive numbers. The one argument I have a problem with is Pasquarelli's suggestion of Charles Woodson over Dallas Cowboys CB Terance Newman.

From Pasquarelli's column

Green Bay cornerback Charles Woodson, who is enjoying a defensive player of the year kind of season

Woodson, a gifted two-way defender, is having a brilliant year. He supports the run as well as any cornerback in the NFL, has four interceptions and 10 passes defensed, and also returns punts. Terence Newman of Dallas is a superb player, but he missed two full games and four starts because of a knee injury.

Basically, Pasquarelli is saying Newman is fantastic, but he missed two games and four starts and he shouldn't be in the Pro Bowl because of that, and the fact that Woodson has four interceptions and 10 defended passes. As Cowboy defender of the world I had to look deeper into the matter. Woodson has missed one game this year, but started the other 13. Newman has played in 12 games, but only started eight. In less games and playing time than Woodson, Newman has picked off the same amount of passes(4) and has MORE passes defended. Im not arguing that Woodson is having a Pro Bowl season, but so is Terance Newman in fact he's having a better season with less time played.

Len, before you go picking people off the Pro Bowl roster and replacing them with a potential snub make sure that move wouldn't create an ever bigger snub.

Bill Parcells to Falcons

2007-12-19T10:34:00.000-05:00

It's being reported on ESPN that Bill Parcells will be named the Vice President of Football Operations for the Atlanta Falcons. The announcement may be made as soon as today. This also likely means the end of the Rich McKay era as GM of the Falcons, although some are saying Arthur Blank may offer him another job in the front office, should McKay choose to stay on. As a Cowboy fan I have nothing but admiration and respect for Parcells. He took the Boys out of the dark ages of Chan Gailey and Dave Campo. While Wade Phillips has done a great job of coaching them, nobody can deny that Parcells built most of the 12-2 team the Cowboys have today. I believe he will do a tremendous job of rebuilding the Falcons franchise. Arthur Blank is a great owner and I'm sure he will provide Parcells with the resources(mostly money) to bring the franchise back from the dumps.

Two big questions facing Parcells are who will he bring in as Head Coach? And who will be the Falcons QB both next year and in the future? Knowing Parcells he almost certainly will try and get a coach from "his coaching tree", meaning Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels could be in the running after studying under Parcells disciple Bill Belicheck. I also might as well throw Charlie Weis name out there. He may choose a different route and if that is true I'm sure Mike Singletary will get heavy consideration. As for a QB I fully expect the Falcons to address the future of QB through the draft possibly taking Boston College QB Matt Ryan. For the immediate future at QB you can be sure a "Parcells guy" like Chad Pennington will be a target of the Falcons this offseason, but you could never count out a Vinny Testaverde/Bill Parcells reunion. Personally, I think Donovan McNabb would be a great fit in Atlanta. Parcells is familiar with McNabb, having faced him at least twice a year as the Dallas Head Coach.

After a terrible offseason with Michael Vick and an awful 3-11 season, made worse by Bobby Petrino quitting on the team, Falcons fans can start feeling good because Parcells improves every team he's affiliated with. His track record of taking broken franchises and making them contenders is flawless. He won Super Bowls with the Giants, took the Patriots from the worst team in the league to the Super Bowl, turned around the Jets franchise from laughing stock to competitors in the AFC, and restored the winning tradition of the Dallas Cowboys. Brighter days are headed for Atlanta, the Big Tuna is Back.

How bout them Cowboys! Dallas sends 11 players to the Pro Bowl.

2007-12-18T16:44:00.001-05:00

The NFL released their Pro Bowl rosters today. Plently of surprises and snubs included. The Cowboys will be the most represented team with 11 players. Teams such as NFC South Champion Bucs and Jags have 0 representatives as of now. However, knowing how the Pro Bowl goes there will be plenty of changes before the game. One pick we cannot argue with was Sean Taylor, the slain Redskins safety was voted as a starter on the NFC squad. Some players The Stat Pack were rooting for that didn't make it include: Tenard Jackson, Fred Taylor, Derek Brooks, and Mario Williams. Complete Rosters

Cowboys going to Hawaii:

T.Romo...just another day of getting laid
M.Barber III
T.Owens
J.Witten
L.Davis
A.Gurode
F.Adams
D.Ware
T.Newman
K.Hamlin
N.Folk

Florida State players in trouble again

2007-12-18T12:45:00.000-05:00

Up to 20 Florida State football players will be suspended from playing against Kentucky in the Dec. 31 Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl, as well as the first three games of the 2008 season, for their roles in an alleged cheating scandal involving an Internet-based course, ESPN.com reports. The story goes on to say that other student athletes were implicated in the scandal, but I'm here to just talk about the football team and Bobby Bowden. There have been many diciplinary violations for FSU in recent years, wheather it be Geno Hayes being arrested after an altercation outside of a bar with a police officer or A.J. Nicholson being accused of rape, and no one seems to bat an eye anymore when something like this occurs. It's like they almost expect this to come from Florida State. I know they've had their problems in the past, the "Free Shoes University" and Peter Warrick and Laveranues Coles Dillard's incidents come to mind, but those were isolated incidents years apart. I blame this recent trend of acts on Bobby Bowden. I think he's lost control of the program and his players don't seem to have the same respect for him as they used to. I never thought I'd see the day where I wished Bobby would ride Renegade off into the sunset, but I believe the time is here. I want to see this once feared and proud football team regain it's former glory, and I don't think that can happen until someone else is manning the sidelines.

On a happier note, here's FSU's...biggest fans?

Jessica Simpson banned from Texas Stadium? Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson Saga Continues

2007-12-17T14:05:00.000-05:00

If Jerry Jones hasn’t banned Jessica Simpson from Texas stadium he should. He should also include any other beautiful blonde with a singing career who is dating Tony Romo at the time. At first I thought people were crazy, but after a little research I found that SuperRomo does have weakness... BLONDES!!! You all remember Christmas 2006: Tony Romo is spotted with Carrie Underwood laughing and hugging before the game. You probably also remember the result, a 23-7 loss to the Eagles. Romo struggled 14-29 for 142 yard a TD and 2 Ints. That was his worst game in the NFL…until yesterday, again against the Eagles. In front 63,277 fans including Romo’s parents and Jessica Simpson, Romo was completely awful: 13-36 214 yards 0 Td’s 3 Ints. I mean he was Eli Manning awful. He didn’t have the magic to come back because Kryptonite was wearing a pink Romo jersey. So here is my Public Service Announcement to the Jones family; Keep the hot blondes around for the National Anthem and then kick them to the curb.

If you haven't figured it out by now we are joking. We're not joking about Romo sucking on days the blondes are there but that people blame his performances on that. Also, while most people are in an tizzy about this they fail to realize that she was also at the Thanksgiving game that Romo and the Cowboys dominated.

The Mitchell Report & List of Names

2007-12-13T15:05:00.000-05:00

The Mitchell Report

According to the investigation Roger Clemens started using steroids in 1997. The same year Boston thought he was in the "twilight of his career" and let him walk into free agency. In his 4 seasons before that (1993-1996) he won a combined 40 games. During the next 2 seasons, after his alleged steroid use began he won a combined 41 games for Toronto. From age 34-44 Clemens won an astounding 162 games. Assuming the playing careers of Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds are over they will both be eligble for the Hall of Fame at the same time. At that time if Barry Bonds is left out of the Hall of Fame and Roger Clemens gets accepted that will be the biggest travesty in the history of the MLB and maybe sports in general.

LIST OF NAMES:

Adam Piatt
Adam Riggs
Alex Cabrera
Andy Pettite
Andy Piatt
Armando Rios
Barry Bonds
Bart Miadich
Benito Santiago
Bobby Estalella
Brandon Donnelly
Brian Roberts
Chad Allen
Chris Donnels
Chuck Knoblauch
Cody McKay
Dan Naulty
Darren Holmes
David Bell
David Justice
David Segui
Denny Neagle
Eric Gagne
Exavier "Nook" Logan
F.P. Santangello
Fernando Vina
Gary Bennett Jr.
Gary Matthews, Jr.
Gary Sheffield
Glenallen Hill
Gregg Zaun
Hal Morris
Howie Clark
Ismael Valdez
Jack Cust
Jason Christiansen
Jason Giambi
Jason Grimsley
Jay Gibbons
Jeff Williams
Jeremy Giambi
Jerry Hairston Jr.
Jim Parque
John Rocker
Jose Canseco
Jose Guillen
Josias Manzanillo
Juan Gonzalez
Ken Caminiti
Kent Mercker
Kevin Brown
Kevin Young
Larry Bigbie
Lenny Dykstra
Luis Perez
Manny Alexander
Mark Carreon
Marvin Benard
Matt Franco
Matt Herges
Matt Williams
Miguel Tejada
Mike Bell
Mike Judd
Mike Lansing
Mike Stanton
Mo Vaughn
Paul Byrd
Paul Lo Duca
Paxton Crawford
Phil Hiatt
Rafael Palmeiro
Randy Velarde
Rick Ankiel
Ricky Bones
Ricky Stone
Roger Clemens
Ron Villone
Rondell White
Ryan Franklin
Scott Schoeneweis
Stephen Randolph
Steve Woodard
Tim Laker
Todd Hundley
Todd Pratt
Todd Williams
Troy Glaus

Tim Tebow : The Legend Continues...

2007-12-13T13:00:00.000-05:00

Davey O'Brien, Maxwell & Heisman trophy winner. All SEC First Team, SEC Offensive Player of the year, and number one choice of parents to marry their daughters. This is not a wish list folks; this is the life of Timothy Richard Tebow.

The miracle baby whose parents' chose to go forward with his birth after doctors advised them to have an abortion. Tebow is the All-American boy who wasn't even born in America. Tebow was actually born in the Philippines while his parents were serving as Christian Missionaries. He was heavily recruited out of High-School and didn't even really attend High School. Tebow was homeschooled by his mother Pam. The state of Florida allows homeschooled students to compete in athletic events as long as the school is in the county and district the student resides in.Tebow has even inspired the state of Alabama to allow home schooled athletes to participate in school athletics; "The Tim Tebow" bill is currently pending in Alabama legislature. Tim Tebow is a wonder on and off the field. The question is will his amazing story be one of just another great college player or will he be able to have the success on Sundays that he's currently having on Saturday.

Measuring the success of past Heisman trophy winners, Tebow's future is very hit or miss. The past four QBs who have won the Heisman are Carson Palmer, Jason White, Matt Leinart and Troy Smith. Only Palmer has established himself as a franchise QB. White never made it in the NFL, briefly signing with the Tennessee Titans before quitting due to "bad knees". Leinart has had an up and down career so far. In his 2 seasons he has shown flashes of greatness and flashes of not so greatness before injuring himself this season. Troy Smith started this season as the Ravens 3rd QB and saw some action during Week 14, but he's not considered their QB of the future.

When it comes to his on the field talents many experts and analysts are referring to Tebow as the prototype of "tomorrow's quarterback." He's a big kid,(6-3 235), who can run and throw the ball with equal skill. However, many question whether Tebow is a system quarterback or if his running/throwing style will translate in the NFL. Hawaii Head Coach June Jones even spoke out on ESPN recently that Colt Brennan is a better QB than Tebow because Tebow is more of a "system quarterback". I was recently given some quotes from Michael Tanier, an analyst at Pro Football Prospectus about Tebow. Tanier said "Tebow is the ultimate system quarterback. Unfortunately, the system has nothing to do with NFL football". "Tebow is rarely standing in the pocket, working through a progression of reads, and finding an open receiver, you don't have a lot to base an evaluation on, and we know almost nothing about his play recognition skills." Tanier added.

Tanier also made some interesting comparisons. Most notably to Ben Roethlisberger, who is of the same size(6-5 241) and mold of Tebow. Roethisberger is a linebacker under center who can run and throw very similar to Tebow. Also, coming out of college there were some questions about Roethisberger being a "system quarterback" because his Miami (OH) system was very shotgun friendly. However, Roethisberger's system was a little closer to an NFL system than that of Urban Meyer's spread misdirection based offense. Another name brought up was Alex Smith. I myself like this comparison because Smith played in the Urban Meyer system at Utah. Smith is roughly in the same mold (6-4 212), a little bit lighter than Tebow, but his abilities and playing style are very similar. They have both enjoyed great success in Meyer's offense at college. However, that great play has not translated over to the NFL for Smith. To his credit he has had three different offensive coordinators in three seasons and he's not surrounded by the best talent in San Francisco, but Smith himself has shown little of the potential the Niners thought he had when they selected him number one overall in the 2005 Draft.

Looking forward, the best thing Tebow has going for him is time. He's is heading into his junior season at Florida as a Heisman trophy winner with a national championship ring, something nobody before him has done. He has a least one more season to prove the critics wrong about his pocket passing ability. Conversely he also has at least another year of being exposed as a potential "system quarterback". I recently spoke to ESPN.com's Matt Mosley about Tebow's NFL prospects and he said "insert quote here". Will he be the next Big Ben or will he be Alex Smith? Nobody can say right now, but one thing is for sure, he's fun to watch and I can't wait to see how the rest of this story book career unfolds.

Plus Chuck Norris likes him

"Dear Tim,

I'm sure you are receiving thousands of congratulations, and I'd like to add mine to the list. You are not only an incredible athlete, but from what I have read about you, an incredible person as well. My wife and I want to wish you the very best in your football season next year, which we will be watching, and also in all of your other endeavors.

A friend,

Chuck Norris (signed)"

How can you not like this kid?

The Mitchell Investigation & Possible Names

2007-12-13T11:13:00.000-05:00

Various sites and sources are reporting a few players who will be named in the Mitchell Investigation. Some of the bigger names are:

Barry Bonds***SHOCKER***
Roger Clemens
Miguel Tejada
Albert Pujols
Andy Pettitte
Ivan Rodriguez
Mark McGwire
Juan Gonzalez

No big shocks on this list. There are no A-rods or Jeters on this list which is very good for MLB. The interesting one is Roger Clemens. Clemens has been sort of linked in the past, but nobody has outright accused him of steroid use. The interesting thing from here on out is to see how different Clemens is treated than Bonds. Bonds is almost 100% surely not to be a first ballot Hall of Famer because of his alleged steriod use. I highly doubt the media, fans, and writers will have the same view of Clemens.

In addition, Miguel Tejada being on the list in intriguing since the O's basically dumped him to the Astros for what many believe to be less than he's worth. Did they know something before hand?

For more names

For more on Clemens

Vote or You Dead Dawg

2007-12-11T15:25:00.000-05:00

Elijah Dukes is in the Elite Eight of deadspin.com's SHOTY(Sports Human Of The Year) Awards. He's the number 4 seed and is up against "Agent Zero" Gilbert Arenas. Go vote for everyone's favorite angry outfielder.

Free Mike Vick?

2007-12-11T10:28:00.000-05:00

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well I have a few about this one.

Free Mike Vick. Are you serious? "Rowdy" Roddy White must have fallen and bumped his head before this celebration last night. For those who didn't see, Roddy White unveiled a homemade "Free Mike Vick" shirt during a celebration in last night's loss to the Saints.

Free Mike Vick? There is nothing to "Free" Mike Vick from. When you are indicted on a federal crime and you agree to plead guilty as part of a deal you are admitting that you committed a crime. Whether you agree with the sentencing or not Michael Vick committed a crime and he was sentenced by a judge within the sentencing guidelines. Vick is actually lucky that Judge Henry Hudson didn't give him the maximum 5 year sentence. I am not a dog lover. In fact I don't like dogs at all. However, I do agree if you knowingly commit a crime then lie about your involvement and violate your probation, you should face the penalty. I know Vick has friends, family, teammates and even some fans who still support him, but you can't believe for one minute that Mike Vick is being held unlawfully or unjustly. I'm all for giving Vick a second chance once he completes his sentence, but portraying Vick as a victim and supporting a "Free Mike Vick" campaign is ridiculous.

Should Longoria Start At 3B? Two Models The Rays Maybe Looking At

2007-12-09T20:28:00.000-05:00

The Rays chose Evan Longoria with the third overall pick in the 2006 MLB draft and he has not disappointed. In his one and half years in the minors he's played his way into being the second ranked prospect by MiLB.COM. Longoria has succeeded at every level he has been at, and with the Rays announcing that Aki will move to second base it seemed obvious that Longoria would be the starter at third base on opening day. What seemed obvious a couple weeks ago is now been a question mark with recent comments made by the Rays and the reporters that cover the Rays.

Most Rays fans believed that when the Rays traded Delmon Young it was ok because his production would be made up by the upgrade of the infield by playing Longoria. Since the trade there have been several articles in the media that have discussed the possibility and probability of Longoria not being the starter at third base. Rays fans are excited by the upgrades that have been made in the off-season by the organization and the evolution of Longoria at third base seems to coincide with that strategy.

While fans look at Longoria as a savior at third base, the Rays organization may be looking at two different models of what to do with franchise third basemen. Last season the top two third base prospects in baseball made their way to the pros. One started the season at third (Alex Gordon), and the other came up after a couple months in AAA(Ryan Braun). Both Gordon and Braun were drafted in the top 5 of the 2005 draft and both spent all of 2006 in the minors. Longoria was drafted in 2006 and spent the rest of 2006 and all of 2007 in the minors. Maybe the Rays looked at the different way Braun and Gordon were handled and have made a decision accordingly.

Alex Gordon

Alex Gordon was the second overall pick in the 2005 draft out of Nebraska and has been one of the top prospects in the game ever since. Royals fans have herald him as the next George Brett and savior of the franchise. He only played one year of minor league ball, and despite the Royals organizations promise that he would not skip AAA ball, he did and made his MLB debut in 2007. While he finished the season with decent numbers, it was a struggle for most of the year.
AA Stats:

486 AB .325/.427/1.015 29 Home Runs
1 K per 4 AB
1 BB per 6.75 AB

MLB Stats

543 AB .247/.314/.725
1 K per 4 AB
1 BB per 13 AB

Ryan Braun

Ryan Braun was picked two spots after Alex Gordon in 2005. Braun, like Gordon, was a college third basemen with a high ceiling. Braun signed early, like Longoria, and was able to play a little bit in 2005. He played all of 2006 in the minor leagues but, unlike Gordon, started the 2007 season in the minors. Braun spent an extra month in AAA and dominated, which forced the Brewers to call him up to the big team. Braun did not disappoint the team after being called up and won the rookie of the year.

AA Stats:

231 AB .303/.367/.956
1 K per 5 AB
1 BB in 11 AB

AAA Stats:

117 AB .342/.418/1.119
1 K per 11 AB
1 BB per 8 AB

MLB Stats:

451 AB .324/.370/1.004
1 K per 4 AB
1 BB per 16 AB

Evan Longoria

The Rays organization have case studies of two players that were almost identical in the draft, but were handled differently by their teams. The Rays have always been careful with their prospects and after comparing Longoria's numbers to these two players they may have made a decision already.

AA Stats:

486 AB .298/.388/.934
1 K pe 5 AB
1 BB per 9 AB

AAA Stats:

104 AB .269/.398/.888
1 K per 4 AB
1 BB per 5 AB

Evan's stats in AA are a little below Gordon's, and his AAA stats are much lower that Braun's. Maybe the Rays noticed the same thing and are hoping that by giving Longoria the extra time next season his season will turn out more like Braun than Gordon. The Rays have made some great moves this season, and fans are ready for the team to compete. Longoria is the future of this team and will hopefully help it competitive for years, but would Rays fans rather have Longoria give them a Gordon type season, or wait a month and give them a Braun performance?

Passing of a legend

2007-12-04T20:32:00.000-05:00

Many of you don't know who he is. Many of you probably don't care, but David "Chip" Reese was one of the finest card players to ever grace planet earth. I'm a big fan of poker in general, and being the poker fanboy that I am it makes me sad to report that Mr. Reese died today in his sleep of pnuemonia, he was 56. This is a huge loss for the poker world as a whole.

The Stat Pack 20: Exclusive Interview with Jonah Keri

2007-12-04T13:17:00.000-05:00

Welcome to another edition of The Stat Pack 20. Actually this time is more like The Stat Pack 20+ which is a good thing. This edition features an exclusive interview with Jonah Keri. If you don't know who Jonah is then you probably live under a rock and/or don't pay attention to excellent writing.

Jonah Keri is a writer for ESPN.com and a contributor to multiple other publications, including Investor's Business Daily, the New York Times, the New York Sun, YESNetwork.com and Salon.com. He's also the editor and co-author of "Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong". Jonah has also joined Tom Tango, Craig Burley, John Brattain in a blog to spread the word to the media on Tim Raines' worthiness as a HoF candidate. Please visit http://www.raines30.com/ and help the cause.

Recently we had the privilege to sit down with Jonah Keri to talk about The Rays, Wall street, Final four and the MLB in general. Enjoy

TSP: Obviously we are dedicated Rays fans, as an Expos fan you can share our pain. What are your expectations of the Rays in the next couple of years?

JK: If by "couple", you mean "two", I think by the end of 2009, this team should start to resemble a contender. By then you'll have Evan Longoria starting at 3B, Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton hitting the middle of the lineup, and a solid supporting cast. David Price will probably be in the rotation with Matt Garza, James Shields and Jacob McGee (I'm guessing the team will have traded Scott Kazmir by then, or in the 2009-2010 off-season). There's a solid core of talent here, and the next couple years should see the Rays' minor league talent bearing fruit too.

TSP: What are some writers thinking when voting for MVP? Chone Figgans and Frank Thomas received votes in the AL , yet some writers left Carlos Pena completely off the ballot. Where do you think Pena should have finished in the vote?

JK: I'd have put Pena in my top 10 if I had a vote, but not top 5. He had a terrific offensive season, but A-Rod, Magglio Ordonez and David Ortiz did more offensively, and Ichiro, Jorge Posada and Curtis Granderson produced more overall value than Pena given the positions they play--you could make a case for Victor Martinez over Pena too, and I say that as a big Pena fan.

TSP: Scott Boras said Carlos Pena is a $15 million dollar a year player. You've followed Pena throughout his career, do you think this season was a fluke?

JK: Scott Boras would call me a $10 million dollar a year player, and I played one year of Little League (poorly) before giving it up for basketball. I don't think Pena's 2007 was a fluke, but I also think it will end up being the best year of his career. There's no shame in that: If he settles in as a .270/.380/.540 player, for what they paid to get him, I'm sure everyone will be very happy.

TSP: Can you see a scenario where a player like Pena can sign a long term deal with the Rays with Boras as his agent? Or will Boras push him out of their market?

JK: I asked Matt Silverman and Andrew Friedman a similar question. They said they weren't too concerned about it for the time being, since Pena is under team control for the next couple seasons regardless. If I were a Rays fan, I'd hope they don't sign him to a big, long-term deal. Pena turns 30 in May, and the list of long-term contracts for slugging first baseman over 30 that backfired is a mile long: Jason Giambi, Jeff Bagwell, Mo Vaughn...the list goes on and on.

TSP: A few of us at The Stat Pack recently read Ben Mezrich's new book, "Rigged", about the NYMEX. Is it really that crazy & hectic? The book makes it sound relatively easy; are guys really making hundreds of thousands a day moving oil without degrees and financial backgrounds?

JK: When I talk to mutual fund managers, many of them are extremely bullish over the exchanges as stock buys: Nasdaq (NDAQ), IntercontinentalExchange (ICE)--NYMEX is the same idea. It doesn't matter if we're in a bull or bear market for stocks or commodities. These guys are just middlemen, so as long as institutions keep placing buy and sell orders, they can reap profits. Whether or not they have degrees with financial backgrounds, I have no idea.

TSP: You made the transition from Wall Street to Sports. Most of the Rays top executives like Stu Sternberg, Matt Silverman and Andy Friedman have made similar moves. How much of an impact, if any, does that have on them when it comes to spending money and deciding to pull the trigger on certain moves?

JK: I actually still write about the stock market--I've been doing both for nearly six years now. As far as Silverman and Friedman are concerned, that's another thing they talked about in our Q&A. The two of them feel they benefit in a way from coming in as outsiders, in that they don't have the same biases and preconceived notions that can come back to bite teams who rely on baseball lifers who lack an open mind.

TSP: Recently we've spoken to you about your views on the Rays plans for a waterfront stadium. You said you're all for it, but at the same time you agree with Rob Neyer's view about the stadium being publicly funded. Given the details that we have about the situation right now do you think a deal will get done? And what would it mean for the franchise if they cannot get the stadium?

JK: It depends entirely on whether the city votes in favor of the redevelopment plans on the Tropicana Field and Al Lang Field sites. If the vote doesn't pass come November, there's no deal, and it's tough to predict public sentiment, especially this far in advance. It's a potentially exciting deal, though. I've been to every big league ballpark but one (Minnesota), and AT&T Park is easily in my top three--the Rays are talking about building a park with a similar setting, but on a smaller footprint, which could be great. If they don't get the deal done this time, they can always go at it from another angle down the road. It took a bunch of different proposals before the Nats finally built their stadium where they did, for instance.

TSP: Andrew Friedman recently said nobody on the Rays is untouchable. What do you think about the recent rumors of the Rays moving Carl Crawford and Scott Kazmir? Isn't it too early to move those players when most people believe the Rays can contend in the next 2-3 years?

JK: The Kazmir rumors were a case of the Rays saying they'd listen to offers, and the New York media construing that to mean he was on his way to the Mets for a box of Ruben Gotay and a box of Cracker Jack. As for Crawford, the team has him signed to a very favorable contract, so I'd be surprised if they dealt him for anything short of a king's ransom. Friedman has said that no one's untouchable, though, and I like that. Sure, in a perfect world you keep Kazmir, Crawford and everyone else for years to come. But if the right offer comes around, you always have to consider it.

TSP: If the Rays were to win the World Series in 2010, do you see a potential Marlin like fire-sale situation where they could move key players like Crawford, Kazmir, etc in order to get younger cheaper players?

JK: Way, way too early to speculate in these terms. I also don't buy the idea that trading expensive players for cheaper players necessarily constitutes a firesale. After the Marlins won the '97 World Series, yes, that was a firesale. But trading free agents-to-be, making eight figures, for talented, young players with 0-3 years of service time can be a great move in the right context, whether you're the Rays or the Yankees.

TSP: You've said before you think a team can be effective with a 4-Man rotation, using a spot starter once in a while. Do you think that can realistically work over a 162 game season?

JK: It can work, but I don't see it ever happening. The best way for it to work would be to find four very good, pitch-efficient pitchers. Of course there are very few teams that can afford four Greg Madduxes in their prime. And those teams would never stake their reputation and all the money they spent on a four-man rotation.

TSP: In the last decade under the "Steroid Era" Baseball has seen an increase in attendance from 62 million a year to nearly 80 million. Revenue is at a record high 6.075 Billion. How is that a bad thing for business?

JK: Baseball players use performance-enhancing drugs--shocker. So do football players, basketball players, and everyone else. I just can't excited about this story, other than to wonder why the Justice Department has to waste its time on Barry Bonds.

TSP: We are pro Barry Bonds here at The Stat Pack. In your opinion should Barry Bonds be in the Hall of Fame? And Will he ever make the Hall of Fame?

JK: Yes, Bonds should be in the Hall. I'd say there's a very strong chance he never gets in.

TSP: With all the record revenue, TV Contracts, merchandise and revenue sharing in Baseball, how can there still be "small market" teams?

JK: There always will be. Sure, the Rays and other lower-revenue teams share a decent slice of the pie. But compare the Yankees' revenue or the Red Sox's revenue with Tampa, Pittsburgh, Kansas City--they're worlds apart. That's why the Rays have to execute so perfectly--they're at a big financial disadvantage in the AL East.

TSP: We know the Players Association wouldn't ever go for it, but does baseball need a real salary cap like the other major sports?

JK: A salary cap is nothing more than a way for owners to put more money in their pockets. You can tweak the revenue sharing system to further level the playing field. Other than that, restricting players' earning power just makes billionaires richer.

TSP: What about having a salary floor like the NHL that prevents owners from just pocketing money?

JK: Teams should be free to spend whatever they want on payroll. Yes, it's a crying shame that someone like Carl Pohlad is one of the richest men in the world, yet gladly pockets tens of millions a year from revenue sharing, instead of investing in his team. But if MLB is truly committed to finding more ambitious owners, they need to do a better job of inducting new members into their club, instead of giving us giant, leeching wastes of space like Jeffrey Loria. As is, I'd say the Commissioner's office cares a lot more about finding owners who'll fall into line with MLB dogma, instead of recruiting outspoken and ambitious Mark Cuban types to take over franchises.

TSP: Joe Girardi has some very valuable young arms in NY. When he was with the Marlins, all five of his starters ranked in the top 115 in total PAP. Do you see that being a problem between Girardi and the NY Brass?

JK: I don't see that being a major problem. I'd also bet that the Yankees bring in a couple of veterans for their rotation, rather than relying on four young guys.

TSP: Over the last 5 years which GMs do you think have done the best job? The worst?

JK: I think it's a little too facile to give all the credit to the GMs, since it's always a team effort. As for organizations, I've been impressed with the jobs done by the Red Sox and Indians, more recently by the Diamondbacks and Rockies, and a bit before that by the Twins, Braves and A's.

TSP: With all the recent shuffling of GMs in baseball, be it firings, retirements etc, what advice would you give a new GM? What kind of skills does it take to maintain your job in this business?

JK: Win games. Seriously, it isn't any more complicated than that. Win games, and don't make the mistake of working in a town where Bill Plaschke and his ilk dump on you because you don't give good quotes. It's a fickle industry, and plenty of good people get fired for iffy reasons. But accountability is still king--teams that win tend to provide job security for the people that run them.

TSP: What do you think of Andrew Friedman's performance as a GM?

JK: Again, you have to assess the entire organization: Silverman, Feinstein, Hunsicker, Click, Bloom--you have to look at everyone involved in the decision-making process. Overall, though, I like what they've done. The Carlos Pena signing worked out great, the team stuck with B.j. Upton and was rewarded, I've liked what they've done in the draft, and I thought the Delmon Young trade was a very gutsy move, one that could really help the Rays (and the Twins too--the classic good trade for both teams).

TSP: Of course it's only almost the beginning of winter, but who do you have in the Final Four come March?

JK: I made my pre-season picks in print for the New York Sun, so I'm stuck with those four, for better or worse. UCLA, North Carolina, Tennessee and Marquette. It's wide open this year, though, I could name another half dozen teams who have a great shot at it. I'm looking forward to covering my first Final Four in San Antonio in April.

TSP: And finally, being the Expos fan you are, who would have won the 1994 World Series?

JK: Anything can happen in the playoffs--as we saw from the Cards in '06, the Marlins in '03, and in other cases, the best teams don't always win. All I know is the Expos would've been in the playoffs, which would have been a huge accomplishment in itself, considering it only happened one time in team history, and with a strike-related asterisk attached to it at that. I actually quit following baseball altogether when they wiped out the World Series, that's how upset I was with the whole thing. It took my then-girlfriend (now wife of 10 years) to convince me to stick with baseball for the long haul. She bought me a Felipe Alou rookie card, and I was hooked again. Too bad I no longer have a favorite team to root for.

The Stat Pack would like to thank Jonah Keri again for sitting down with us. And please support Tim Raines HoF candidacy at http://www.raines30.com/

Also check out this interview with Andrew Friedman and Matt Silverman by Jonah

Keri: Q&A with Matthew Silverman and Andrew Friedman

Neyer shows some Rays love

2007-12-04T13:04:00.000-05:00

As you all know, I love Rob Neyer's work. It seems he's normally hard on the Rays, so it was good to see some positive words about the recent trades in his chat today.

David (Atlanta, Ga): What do you think of the Garza-Delmon deal? I think the Rays might finally be onto it with Kazmir, Garza, Price, Davis and McGee together in Tampa soon. I really like what Harris did last year but alot of people seem to be higher on Bartlett than i understand. Whats your take on it?

Rob Neyer: (12:45 PM ET ) Bartlett's slightly more valuable Harris, considering defense and Harris's likely decline with the bat in '08. If you run projections for, say, the next five years, the Twins come out ahead because Young has a better (theoretical) chance of becoming a star than Garza has. But Young's no sure thing, and this is basically an even deal.

Steve (Lowell, MA): Can you remember a first overall pick ever being traded so early in his career? I'm glad that the Rays are finally putting some pitching together, but something about that just feels off.

Rob Neyer: (12:53 PM ET ) I look at it the other way. After years of hoarding outfielders as if they could play five at once, they're finally starting to take decisive actions. Last season was sort of a disaster, but I still say things in St. Pete are getting better all the time.

Elijah Dukes to Nationals

2007-12-03T14:37:00.000-05:00

***UPDATE***The PTBNL is Left handed pitching prospect Glenn Gibson.

***UPDATE***Looks like Dukes has been traded to the Nationals for the ever popular PTBNL. One possibility is Kory Casto a left handed 1B/OF prospect. More to come at a 6 pm press conference

***UPDATE***In the Lastest update to the post that'll never end according to sptimes.com The Rays lost utility infielder Josh Wilson on waivers to the Pirates. The Rays must have taken him off the 40-man roster to make room for an expected addition.

***UPDATE***Also we are hearing from numerous sources that a deal between the Mariners and Rays is in the works involving Edwin Jackson and possibly Ben Broussard.

We've been hearing from our sources as well as sptimes.com that Elijah Dukes has been or will be traded to the Washington Nationals. We've been hearing this rumor for quite some time, but apparently our sources say Jim Bowden has been wanting to pull the trigger on one of his relievers, maybe Jon Rauch? Anyway we will keep you updated on the latest.

Odds & Ends from the Weekend in Sports BCS Bowls, NFL, NBA, MLB Hot Stove

2007-12-03T13:21:00.000-05:00

My random thoughts for this past weekend in sports:

Hawaii should be playing for the National Title. I don’t care who the 2nd team is but Hawaii should be number one.

Mizzou being left out of the BCS Bowl games is a complete joke. Two of the teams they beat (Illinois and Kansas) received BCS bids, but they did not. Illinois lost three games, including one to Iowa(6-6), and they will get to play USC in the Rose Bowl. Talk about injustice.

Congrats to Sean Payton for the dumbest move of the week. Calling a reverse when you’re trying to run out the clock with a 3 point lead might not be the smoothest move. Better luck next time.

0-16 here they come. Many people thought this week’s game against the Jets was the Dolphins best chance of finally winnign. I guess not… the underdog Jets routed the favored Dolphins by 28 points.

The Magic are for real ladies and gentlemen, like for real for real. Dwight Howard is a monster, averaging almost 24 pts and 15 boards a game. For all those people who laughed at Rashard Lewis getting a max deal it looks like he’s the perfect Robin to Howard’s Batman. One question that I do have about the Magic is would they be this good with Billy Donovan as the head coach?

My adopted team, the Seattle Sonics, are 3-15 but there is so much potential on this team. I know the Sonics are looking for a new home. Tropicana Field will be empty soon. See where I’m going here.

What has happened to Omar Minaya? Is he a graduate of the Isiah Thomas School for ruining a New York franchise? Lastings Milledge has been brought up in almost every single trade the Mets have been rumored in for the past two years. Names like Zito, Haren, Blanton, Santana have all been mentioned with the Mets and Milledge. So who does Minaya get in return? Brian Schneider and Ryan Church, are you serious? Even if Milledge is a head case you don’t trade him for a 4th OF and a below average catcher, especially when you already have two average catchers on the roster. Oh and if that wasn’t enough, Minaya actually paid the Rays to take Brian Stokes off their hands. Talk about career suicide.

Looking at the Johan sweepstakes I think the Yankees have made a stronger offer than the Sox. There isn’t that big off a drop off between Ellsbury over Cabrera, however there is a huge drop off from Phil Hughes and the pitchers the Sox are willing to deal.

I am also expecting the Rays to make one or two semi-major deals during the winter meetings.

And finally be on the lookout for another Stat Pack exclusive interview this week.

Cowboys Defeat Packers to take Control of NFC. Still some people don't believe

2007-11-30T10:26:00.000-05:00

Extra! Extra! Read all about it The Cowboys beat The Packers 37-27. So as you’ve probably heard by now or seen the highlights, but just incase you haven’t, the Cowboys clinched a playoff birth and took control of the NFC last night defeating the Green Bay Packers 37-27. Brett Favre left mid-way through the second quarter with an elbow injury on his throwing arm and a separated shoulder on his non throwing arm. As crazy as it sounds that actually benefited the Packers who were down 27-10 at that point. Favre was 5-14 for 56 yards with 2 ints. He seemed to be pressing the ball down field into double and even triple coverage. Aaron Rogers came off the bench to do a great job in his first extended NFL game action. Rogers threw his first NFL TD and let the pack down on another TD drive to make it close late in the 3rd quarter. However, Tony Romo, to many people's surprise(not mine of course), did not spend the entire game staring into Favre’s dreamy eyes. He led the Cowboys to scores on their first five drives. Romo ended up throwing for 309 yards, 4 TDs and 1 int that should have actually been his 5th TD.

So, finally the Cowboys get the respect they deserve and can be called the best team in NFC right?…wrong. There are still haters and doubters who continue to throw salt on the Cowboys game. The Cowboys have beaten every NFC team they have played. They continue to “pass the test”, beating the Giants twice and now the Packers. However, you still have guys like Ray Buchanan making excuses for other teams and trying to dim the Cowboys star.

Last night on ESPNews, Buchanan & Lomas Brown were providing analysis on the Duel in Dallas Part 2. Once the game was over Buchanan went on to make all types of excuses as to why the Packers lost. His main point was the Packers were without Charles Woodson & Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila. Ray went as far as saying if Woodson was in the game he “guaranteed” the result would be different. All year I’ve been hearing these types of excuses, not from Cowboys opponents but members of the media trying to discredit the Cowboys 11-1 start.

The funny thing is I haven’t heard anybody mention all the things Dallas has overcome. For starters they have a new head coach, a new defensive coordinator and a new offensive coordinator who is calling games for the first time in his career. For most teams this would be a built in excuse, just see Oakland, Miami, Atlanta, San Diego whom I’ve heard people refer to as “trying to get used to a new system.” The Cowboys have had injury problems of their own, but to the Ray Buchanans of the world that doesn’t matter. After 12 weeks the Cowboys still have not had their top 2 cornerbacks start in the same game. Anthony Henry(Ankle) is still working his way back and has not had a full practice week in over a month. He has been coming off the bench and playing in mostly Nickel situations. Terrance Newman(foot) didn’t play the first few games and has slowly worked his way back into the starting lineup before briefly leaving last nights game after re-aggrivating his injury. The Cowboys lost their starting Nose Tackle Jason Ferguson for the season in the first game. And Did I mention that their second leading Wide Receiver from last year and the teams deep threat, Terry Glenn, hasn’t played in a game or even practiced this year.

Maybe it's good the Cowboys get this type of coverage. Maybe T.O. and Tony Romo feel the exact same way I do. Maybe it adds fuel to their fire. I don’t know if this is true, but what I do know is the Cowboys will be in the playoffs and Ray Buchanan will not. Getcha Popcorn Ready.

Rays get Percival to close the door.

2007-11-30T09:40:00.000-05:00

The Hot Stove is burning in Tampa Bay. The Rays will announce the signing of Troy Percival as the teams closer. Terms are 2 years for $8 million dollars with a possible $4 million more in incentives. Percival resurrected his career last year in St. Louis after missing the entire 2006 season.

Percival brings instant credibility and leadership to a bullpen that was historically bad last season. He also brings a great clubhouse presence to a young team searching for leaders. Percival, Dan Wheeler and Al Reyes should give the Rays a solid 1,2,3 punch at the back end of the game.

A Look at the Young for Garza Trade

2007-11-29T00:11:00.000-05:00

If the old adage is true that pitching wins championships, the Rays moved in the right direction on Wednesday. The Rays added a very talented pitcher in Matt Garza, who has the potential to be a good number 2 starter in this league, a good stop gap shortstop in Jason Bartlett, and maybe their future closer in Eduardo Morlan. It's always difficult to have to part with a player that posesses the potential that Delmon Young does, but the opportunity to upgrade the team in three different areas was too much to pass up.

There are mixed opinions on exactly how good Matt Garza will really be. Going into 2007, John Sickles had him ranked as the number 1 prospect in the Twins system and gave him an A- grade. In three minor league seasons he had a 2.88 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 10.04 K/9. He has dominated at every level in the minors and there is nothing to show that he won’t continue that trend in the future. He has not yet pitched a full year in the majors and was up and down when he did pitch, but you can see the talent is there. The Rays will also have control of Garza for the next five years. The addition of Garza to the rotation with Scott Kazmir and James Shields gives the Rays a great young starting rotation for years to come.

In Bartlett the Rays got a good stop-gap shortstop to plug into the lineup until Reid Brignac is ready to play in the majors. He has good range at short and is not the offensive liability that Cesar Izturis would have been. Bartlett is a much better option than the Rays currently had on the team, and the double play combination with Aki at second will be a nice help to the young pitchers on the mound.

The Rays were originally supposed to get veteran Juan Rincon in the deal, but when injury concerns came up the Twins offered relief pitcher Eduardo Morlan instead. Morlan was the Twins number 4 rated prospect by John Sickles and has outstanding numbers in the minor leagues. In four seasons he has an ERA of 2.82 and 11.06 K/9. Some Twins fans have compared him to how Joba Chamberlin has played in his bullpen role. He will most likely start the season in AA this year, but could rise very fast as he has the tools. The Rays may have found a closer for the future or at the very least a great set-up man to bolster the pen.

Delmon is a talented player, but maybe not as talented as he was once thought to be. He was heralded as the number 1 prospect in all of baseball, but his lack of plate discipline has stifled his offensive numbers. If Young could ever learn to have more discipline at the plate he could be a Manny or Vlad type player, but right now a better offensive comparison maybe Jeff Francouer. Defensively no one can deny his great arm, but he does lack great range in the outfield and takes some awkward angles.

Part of the reason the Rays were willing to deal Young may be due to his attitude problem with the organization. We all remember the end of last season when he blew up against Toronto and declared himself out for the last game of the season. Delmon also complained about playing center field when the Rays needed him to do so because BJ Upton and Rocco Baldelli were hurt. He went on record as saying he wanted out of Tampa the first chance he got, and it seems the Rays gave him his wish early.

The Rays dealt from a position of strength to address the major weaknesses on their team. They have a couple of different options on who to play in RF, and Rocco Baldelli is not one of them despite what many Rays’ fans think. The Rays have already said that they are “cautiously optimistic that he can be the DH,” which sounds like they have no intentions of him playing in the outfield and risking injury once again. If Elijah Dukes can stay clear of off the field issues he would most likely get the nod come opening day. He is a talented outfielder and given a full season I think he will out hit and out play Delmon Young in the outfield. Justin Ruggiano, who has been compared to Jason Bay, could also push for the spot in right field next year. He had a great season not only in Durham, but also in the AFL and for Team USA.

At the end of the day the Rays were able to address three areas of need with the trade and that fact made the deal to hard to pass up. Who won and lost this trade will depend on Delmon Young and that won’t be known until a couple years from now. Could the Rays have gotten more for Young? Maybe, but I do know that the overall team improved with this trade today.

Land of the Tax Free and Home of the Rays?

2007-11-28T14:28:00.001-05:00

The Rays and Owner Stuart Sternberg formally announced plans today for their open-air waterfront stadium. "We’re talking about a major-league downtown," Rays principal owner Stuart Sternberg said. Sternberg also added "No New Taxes." We'll see about that one.

I suggest taking the virtual tour

More from The Stat Pack on the new stadium to come

To View the Rest

How can you not love Bill Belichick and The Patriots

2007-11-28T08:06:00.000-05:00

Say what you want about Belichick, Belicheat, Spygate or whatever you want to call it, the man is a genius. This latest Belichick episode is hilarious. We all know Tom Brady has been listed as probable on the Pats injury report since the beginning of time with an injured right shoulder. Well yesterday the Patriots placed Roosevelt Colvin on the IR list with an apparent arm injury. Trainers were seen working on Colvin's arm but the official Patriot announcement was a foot injury. When questioned about the injury being a foot injury or not Belichick responded with

"It was announced as a foot? Then we'll leave it with that announcement," coach Bill Belichick said Monday, according to the transcript of the news conference released by the team. "Was that what [we] announced? If that's what [we] announced, then we'll stand by that announcement."

He lies, he cheats, and he probably steals...Gotta love him.

R.I.P Sean Taylor & Joe Kennedy

2007-11-27T07:41:00.000-05:00

The Stat Pack would like to pass our condolences to the family and friends of Sean Taylor. The former University of Miami and Washington Redskins Safety died this morning as a result of a shooting at his home early Monday.

Sean Taylor
Apr. 1, 1983-Nov. 27, 2007

Also we would like to send our condolences to the family and friends of Joe Kennedy who died on Friday while we were away. Joe was a former Rays prospect who became really our first home grown pitcher to make it in the big leagues.

Joe Kennedy
May 24, 1979-Nov. 23, 2007

Weekly Chats, MLB, NFL, NASCAR, BOXING

2007-11-26T09:05:00.000-05:00

Flu, bronchitis, Thanksgiving... pick your choice but we've been away. Have no fear we are back now with a brand new chat wrap. Jonah Keri, Jim Callis, Ryen Russillo, David Newton, Terry Blount, Marcellus Wiley, Jeremy Green, Boxer Champion Floyd Mayweather, Mike Golic & Mike Greenberg from Mike & Mike in the morning are all in this weeks wrap up. Topics ranges from New Stadiums to Grandma Vilma

Some Great Rays talk with Jonah Keri & Jim Callis. Also a quick question about David Wright and the NL MVP award

Tommy(TheStatPack): Baseball saw an increase of almost 18 million fans during the steroid era. How is that a bad thing?

Jonah Keri: (1:16 PM ET ) And revenue just topped $6 billion, meaning baseball just passed football as the #1 sports cash cow. Speaking of football, you know a huge number of NFL players are juicing too, and that sports is more popular than ever. Better quality of product goes a long way toward enhancing fan entertainment. I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but from both a fan entertainment and a business standpoint, it's win-win when the BALCOs of the world get involved.

Tommy(TheStatPack): If I'm planning a road trip what 3 stadiums are a must see? and where do I eat in each of the 3 cities?

Jonah Keri: (2:38 PM ET ) I haven't been to PNC yet, but everyone I know raves about it, and many rate it #1. So if you wanted to keep the trip vaguely regional and theoretically drivable, you could start at Wrigley, then PNC, then hoof it to Jacobs Field. Just make sure you sit in the bleachers in Wrigley. First time I went there, I sat in what would normally be great seats, 1st side, 15 rows over the dugout. Game was fun, but not the huge exprience I was expecting. Second time I went to Wrigley, I sat in the LF bleachers, and Gregg Jefferies, at the tail of his career, was the LF. Most fun I've ever had at a ballpark that didn't involve the Expos.

Tommy(TheStatPack): Do you think the Rays waterfront stadium get done?

Jonah Keri: (1:32 PM ET ) I REALLY, REALLY hope so, Tommy. The Rays have an exciting collection of talent, their front office is full of brilliant, young talent...all that's missing is a powerful new revenue source to move them up an income bracket o two. There's enough in house that they wouldn't need to approach the Yankees' and Red sox's revenue levels to be a championship contender. The Brewers' or Tigers' revenue base would be plenty.

Great location for the park proposal too btw. I had a great time last time I went to the Trop Dome, but building an AT&T Park replica could be a franchise changing move.

Tommy(TheStatPack): What are the White Sox asking for Uribe? Would he be a possibility for the Rays as a stop gap for Brignac?

Jim Callis: (2:23 PM ET ) Uribe shouldn't cost much. A B-level prospect would suffice. I've heard that Devil Rays rumor.

Tommy(TheStatPack):Wright should have been the MVP

Ryen Russillo: (2:30 PM ET ) The MVP has become the best player on a playoff team, never have agreed with that, if a guy hits 100 HR and his team doesn't make the playoffs, why is he eliminated?

NASCAR & Seinfeld with 2 of the best best David Newton & Terry Blount

Tommy(TheStatPack): Where have you been? They've been throwing Terry Blount as us twice a week

David Newton: (3:31 PM ET ) I took the weekend of the Texas race off, so they gave me a break then. Last week I had to chase news, so Terry graciously stepped in. Nice to be missed though.

Tommy(TheStatPack): Terry did a good job but I dont think he's a seinfeld fan

David Newton: (3:34 PM ET ) Actually, he is. What are you talking about?

Tommy(TheStatPack):I'll be damned. 2 Questions How come A-Rod gets 275 million dollars for playing baseball & Have you ever been called Schmoopie?

David Newton: (3:37 PM ET ) He can because they are willing to pay and no.

Tommy(TheStatPack): 38 minutes in and not one Danica mention. The chat is not complete if her name isn't mentioned

David Newton: (3:39 PM ET ) OK, not it's been mentioned. Happy?

Tommy(TheStatPack): Could Jimmie Johnson win as Carolina Panthers QB?

David Newton: (3:47 PM ET ) Only if Jimmy Johnson coached him.

Tommy(TheStatPack):Do you think Jimmie Johnson has to pay for stuff when he goes to Lowe's stores?

Terry Blount: (2:18 PM ET ) Not unless he's goes in a Tony Stewart Halloween costume.

Tommy(TheStatPack): Newton mentioned you were a Seinfeld fan. Off the top of your head which is your favorite episode?

Terry Blount: (2:24 PM ET ) The one where a girl's name rhymes with a body part, but they can't remember it.

Tommy(TheStatPack): Wouldn't Danica in Playboy give the IRL better visibility?

Terry Blount: (2:55 PM ET ) In more ways than one.

Tommy(TheStatPack): Your a good man TB. Enjoy your week or two of "offseason" before Daytona talk starts.

Terry Blount: (3:03 PM ET ) Thanks Tommy. I want to say thanks to everyone who participated in the chats this season. It's been an honor for me to banter with you guys. We have some very knowledgeble folks on these chats. We plan to continue to do at least one chat a week in the off season. For now, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and a blessed holiday season. All the best. Peace

NFL & Thanksgiving talk with Marcellus Wiley & Jeremy Green. Marcellus is DAT DUDE

Tommy(TheStatPack): Dat Dude, TO or Randy Moss?

Marcellus Wiley: (2:46 PM ET ) TO is the most dynamic hard working receiver in the game. The toughest to cover play to play. Randy Moss is the most freakish, gift from God at the WR position that's probably ever played. You pick your poison. They're both going to get their 4 TDs, their 150 yards. Randy looks like he's not going to break a sweat doing it. TO is going to give you everything he's got, including popcorn. If I HAD to pick one, it's TO.

Tommy(TheStatPack): Excellent answer. Also T.O. will go over the middle and block making him a more complete WR. Who does the cooking at the Dat Dude Manor on thanksgiving?

Marcellus Wiley: (2:52 PM ET ) My grandma. Grandma Vilma. She probably started cooking right around Easter for Thanksgiving. She's that pumped. I actually won, we used to call it the Turkey Man Award, which is giving to the player who gains the most weight from Thanksgiving. Hugh Douglas won one year and I took his title.

Tommy(TheStatPack): Im trying to beat my father-in law and brother-in law this year in eating. What should I go for first the turkey or the side dishes?

Marcellus Wiley: (2:56 PM ET ) Definitely the side dishes. You start with the side dishes. Then you pile on the ham and turkey at the end. Then you eat the ham next. Follow it up and cover up the turkey with desert. Then you eat the desert. You eat the turkey last, because it's going to make you fall asleep. Tell your dad to eat the turkey. Take your trophy and then win and fall asleep.

Tommy(TheStatPack): The Boys play 3 games in 11 days what will their record in those games be?

Jeremy Green: (4:23 PM ET ) I think they have a very good chance to go 3-0. Offensively, they have a top 3 offense in the NFL. They get better on defense every week. They get Green Bay on a short week is very beneficial to them. Then traveling to Detroit, I think Dallas is the better team. Dallas is a serious threat in the Super Bowl, even if it's the Patriots they play for the second time.

Finally, Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather & Mike and Mike

Tommy(TheStatPack): After you win next month is it Mayweather vs Cotto?

Floyd Mayweather: (3:18 PM ET ) My focus is solely on Ricky Hatton. I'm not thinking of any other fighter other than Ricky Hatton.

Tommy(TheStatPack): Is Rose the best pure PG we've seen since Chris Paul?

Mike Golic: (10:58 AM ET ) It's certainly possible. He's just not looking to shoot the ball. If he was on a team that didn't have a lot of people coming back and was looking for a team to take charge, you could see some great stats out of the guy. But he has veteran players there. He can set the table. It can show up in assists and other things that don't show up in the box score.

Mike Greenberg: (10:59 AM ET ) I look forward to seeing the kid play. I thought the best PG in the country was Mike Conley Jr. last year and he stepped right in.

That's all for the chats this week folks, be sure to tune in next week. Same Stat time, same Stat channel.

And the winner is…..Wrong. David is the Wright answer for MVP.

2007-11-21T10:09:00.000-05:00

No doubt Jimmy Rollins is better than David Wright in some ways. He’s better defensively, he’s faster and he talks a better game. I just didn’t know that was the criteria for MVP of the National League. One argument of course will be the Phillies were better than the Mets and they won the NL East. Ok fine the Phillies won the NL East that’s why they are called the NL East Champions. That honor should be enough. The fact that Rollins team won ONE more game than Wright’s team should have no affect on an individual award. The next argument will be the Mets collapsed in September and they didn’t even make the playoffs. When did the MVP award become Most Valuable Playoff Team Player? The Mets collapse had much more to do with their bullpen and manager not David Wright. In the months of September & October Wright sported a .352 Avg. 6 Home Runs 20 RBI and an OPS of 1.034. Call me crazy but that doesn’t see like a player whose production fell off when his team needed him the most. Imagine how much faster the Mets would have fallen without Wright.

My next point is Jimmy Rollins isn’t even the MVP of his team. Chase Utley is a much better player at a position where offense comes at a premium. Rollins, the lead off hitter, also finished 8th on the team in OBP. Yes I said 8th behind Utley(who lead the team), Werth, Burrell, Howard, Rowand, Bourn, Victorino. It’s amazing that Ryan Howard almost struck out 200 times and his OBP was almost 50 points higher then Rollins. Utley also posted higher AVG ,OPS and RBIs numbers in 30 less games. He also almost put up the same amount of home runs.

Finally, Men lie, women lie numbers don’t.

Avg HR RBI SB OPS
.325 30 107 34 .962 Wright

.296 30 94 41 .875 Rollins

Oh wait I forgot. The biggest stat.

Philadelphia 89 73
New York 88 74

I guess Rollins is the MVP. His team got to lose an extra 3 games “when it counted.” Who knows maybe Wright would be MVP if the Mets had made the playoffs and got swept. Oh well maybe next year.

Boras Effect Over??

2007-11-20T09:09:00.000-05:00

Scott Boras has made a name for himself by getting his clients the biggest deals and the most money, but has it gone to his head? Boras threatened the Yankees that ARod would opt out of his deal unless they gave him a big raise because in his words ARod was worth 30 million a year at least. Boras was a man of his word and ARod opted out, but he is not going to get 30 million and the only team interested is the Yankees. Further, the Yankees are only interested without Boras being around and ARod has obliged them.

ARod is not Boras’ only problem at the moment either. Kenny Rogers fired Boras recently to negotiate his own contract; much like Andruw Jones did a couple of years ago. Speaking of Jones, he has not gotten as much interest as Boras told him he would and rumors are going around that Jones may dump Boras again and have his dad negotiate a new deal. Those two are not the only ones that have done this to Boras; Rocco Baldelli fired Boras a couple of years ago and decided to represent himself in contract negotiations. Clients are getting angry with Boras because he cannot deliver on what he promised them, and in the meantime has made them look worse in the public eye. It was Boras’ idea for ARod to opt out during game 4 of the World Series, which caused an uproar from many baseball fans.

These clients are not the only ones that have problems with something Boras has done. The Red Sox recently came out and said that they did not get the windfall of advertising and merchandising with Dice K that they were promised by Boras. Boras promised the Sox not only a great player on the field, but certain things off the field that have not come through. Boras still has big time clients and he will tell you that he is not worried about what is going on. It seems that Boras may need to be worried because teams are refusing not only to not talk with Boras clients, but if they talk they want Boras no where around.

Boras was once thought of as a super agent that can get you whatever you wanted. He tried to get the Red Sox to almost double what they paid for Dice K, but they wouldn’t and no one was willing to come close and he had to come down. He overestimated his bargaining power with ARod and may have overestimated the response by owners as well. Fans are getting tired of athletes that try to act bigger than the game and the owners know that. The owners are letting Boras make his clients look bad so that his creditability will go down. So far the owners plans are working, but don’t count Boras out, he is never down for long.

Perjury & Steroids, Barry Bonds should be the commissioner of baseball

2007-11-16T11:24:00.000-05:00

Recently Bud Selig reported that baseball earned $6.075 Billion dollars in revenue this past year. Bud went on to say "We started at $1.2 billion, and I can remember waking up in '93 and '94 and '95 and thinking how are we ever going to get to $2 billion?" How about ignoring a huge drug problem, cashing in on it, then acting like the commissioner's office and the owners knew nothing about it. Oh, and don't forget persecuting the players... that's a must. It would work even more efficiently if you had one player nobody really liked and painted him as the villain.

Enter Barry Bonds, who fits that role perfectly. For those who think Barry Bonds took steroids and magically started hitting home runs you are wrong. Barry Bonds has averaged 34.64 homeruns a year for his career. The man he passed this year, Hank Aaron, averaged 32.83 homeruns. Very similar numbers yet nobody questions Hank Aaron. Looking a little more into it, in his 15 seasons before the 2001 73 homerun record breaking season, Barry averaged 33 homeruns per season. The past seven after the record he's averaged 38.29. So even if Barry started juicing like a mad man in 2001 it only gave him an average 5 extra home runs a year. What we cannot equate during that time is how many of the pitchers Bonds faced were juiced or how many were using "dirt" on their hands or "spilling" water on their shirts.

Do I think Barry is clean? Not at all, but I am saying if Bonds is going to take the fall for steroids he also needs to get the credit for leading Baseball into is most prosperous age. In the last decade of the "Steroid Era", baseball's attendance sky-rocketed from 62,899,062 in 1997 to 79,447,312 in 2007. That number is expected to exceed 80 Million in 2008. If you don't think the long ball had a big effect on attendance, then just look at the St. Louis Cardinals. The attendance at Busch Stadium experienced an 831,304 person growth in from 1997 to 1998 (McGwire's 70 homerun season). During those 2 seasons the Cards finished 4th and 3rd respectively, not exactly the kind of success that would generate almost a million more people attending games.

References:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3112210
http://www.ballparksofbaseball.com/attendance.htm

Weekly Chats

2007-11-16T09:36:00.000-05:00

New Chat wrap feating J.A. Adande, Jim Callis, Steve Muench, Terry Blount, Chris Mortensen,Orestes Destrade, Rob Neyer, Marcellus Wiley & Football Outsiders Aaron Schatz

First Up J.A. Adande

Tommy(TheStatPack): Hey J.A. whats going on in tennis? Gambling, Poison attempts, Cocaine, sounds like a crazy night at the lounge?

J.A. Adande: No sport -- NONE -- has as many wild storylines as tennis. All they need is a positive steroid test. But seriously, Poison????

Next some Rays & MLB with Destrade, Neyer & Callis

Tommy(TheStatPack):Hey Orestes, The Rays have been mentioned as players for Michael Barrett & Torrealba. With Posada now off the market are these 2 the best options available or should they give Navarro more time?

Orestes Destrade: It's a FA field full of catchers this yr. Those 2 prob the best. I like Barrett alot. LaDuca is out there, as is a sleeper in Jose Molina. Remember when nobody wanted Benji and he's had 2 great yrs. Jose is one to look at.

Tommy(TheStatPack):There could be FA's out there who could be named in the Mitchell Investigation and possibly face suspension Will teams be weary about who they sign this offseason?

Orestes Destrade: It's too late for that to be an issue. Owners, just as guilty, I feel and you can't punish the player and not the owners who knew all along. If someone screws up this season or found out for last...I penalize that guy for stupidity, ignorance and all out greed when word has been out strong!

Jules(TheStatPack): What do you think of the Rays plans for a new waterfront stadium?

Rob Neyer: I think I need to dig up the letter Vince Naimoli once sent me, arguing that Tropicana Field is the best ballpark in all the land.

Tommy(TheStatPack): Delmon Young or Pedroia?

Jim Callis: Pedroia deserved the AL rookie of the year award over Young, easily.

NASCAR W/Terry Blount

Tommy(TheStatPack): 30 minutes in and no mention of an international driver or danica?

Terry Blount: And what would a chat be without one mention of Danica. Thanks for bringing it up.

Tommy(TheStatPack): What happened to the 20? Last year he made a ton of noise during the chase and he didn't even qualify for it. This year he makes the chase and falls off

Terry Blount:) Tony never recovered with the deal at Kansas. He had it won when the rain came, wrecked when it restarted and never was a contender after that.

Tommy(TheStatPack): How long before the Danica to NASCAR discussions start? After she wins an Indy Car race?

Terry Blount: You got it. She has to win first, then it's off the big bucks of NASCAR.

Tommy(TheStatPack): Is there any current driver that would be a great crew cheif? Why aren't more former NASCAR drivers involved that way like other sports where alot of players become coaches?

Terry Blount:) If retired drivers say in it, they usually become team owners or broadcasters. Most drivers don't know enough on the technical side to become crew chiefs.

Tommy(TheStatPack): True. What about Steven Wallace's progress? Who will be in Nascar first him or the kid in the Geico commericals?

Terry Blount: The Geico kid will become an actor. Young Wallace is learning and getting better.

Tommy(TheStatPack): When are people going to stop referring to "he would have won it the old way."?

Terry Blount: Never. As long as there was an old system, people will compare the two.

Tommy(TheStatPack): Will the last race of the season stay in homestead?

Terry Blount: It will for next year. Who knows after that, but the final event is limited to warm-weather locations.

Tommy(TheStatPack): How jacked up on Mountain Dew AMP will the crowds be next year? Would it be better if they all just stuck to budweiser?

Terry Blount: At least this way it's better when they get in their cars after the race.

And finally NFL with Mort, Marcellus Wiley, Steve Muench & Aaron Schatz

Tommy(TheStatPack): Tank Johnson looked pretty good on Sunday. With Him now in the mix and Henry, Newman & Ellis healthy can we expect the Cowboys defense to really step it up?

Chris Mortensen: Well, it's a better defense but there will always be some pass coverage deficiencies. That's OK. The Patriots have some of those problems, too.

Tommy(TheStatPack): I know he wouldn't say it on Camera. But how proud of Tony Romo is Parcells?

Chris Mortensen: Very proud. And as we have talked about all the team wanting to press young QBs into action, I know Parcells is proud that he didn't rush Romo, that he let him learn the league, simmer and develop.

Tommy (TheStatPack): Julius Jones is a UFA and Marion Barber is a RFA. By the look of things Jones will be able to walk he hasn't done much this year to warrant the money he's going to be asking for. What will the Cowboys Running Back situation look like next year? Will they be looking a RB 1st day or Maybe go out and sign Michael Turner to complement MB3?

Aaron Schatz: Who says that Michael Turner will get a smaller contract than Julius Jones? Yes, I like the idea of getting a cheaper back to team with Barber and saving money. I doubt it will be Turner, who will get starter's money to go somewhere and start.

Tommy(TheStatPack): Who wins Columbia or Notre Dame if they played on a neutral site?

Marcellus Wiley: Football or spelling bee? In football I still would
say Notre Dame, but for me to even have to think of that, shame on you
Notre Dame. Go Lions!

Tommy(TheStatPack): What could the browns get for Brady Quinn?

Steve Muench: Great question. In my opinion, I would be surprised so see them get anything earlier than a third round pick. While I still think Quinn has what it takes to be a franchise quarterback, several teams passed on him in the draft so there are obvioulsy questions about his trade value. More importantly,he hasn't done anything since.

That's all for the chats this week folks, be sure to tune in next week. Same Stat time, same Stat channel.

Rob Neyer not so opimistic

2007-11-15T08:47:00.000-05:00

I normally love Rob Neyer. I'd love to have him for an interview some day, but I don't know how likely that is after his latest entry in his espn.com blog. I'll post the entire thing so you all can read it, his blog is Insider only.

"You can't really blame the Tampa Bay Rays for wanting a shiny new ballpark. After all, everybody else has one! Well, almost everybody. The Marlins don't, but they will. And it just wouldn't be fair if the Rays don't, too.

How are they going to pay for theirs? Well, they say they'll kick in "perhaps as much as $150 million" (which could mean $150 million or $0 million, but when you're launching a PR battle you want to get in a big first strike). They'd like the state to kick in tax revenue from concessions and merchandise in the new building (which is tax revenue that would actually flow into the state's coffers if generated in any other building). Also, "a primary source would be proceeds of the sale of the Tropicana Field site to a developer who would build a large retail/residential complex there."

Sounds generous of them, don't you think? Funny thing about that, though: that land the Rays want to sell for development, with the proceeds financing their new ballpark? As Field of Schemes impolitely observes, the Rays don't own that land Tropicana Field, though, is owned by Pinellas County (and leased back to the city in a complicated tax dodge), so normally any money from developing that site would go to the county, not the Rays. Add in that Al Lang Field is owned by the city of St. Petersburg, and the Rays are effectively asking to develop two publicly owned parcels and keep the proceeds for themselves -- and that's before knowing whether the team would even agree to pay rent to the city on the new park. It's yet another sign that, as I wrote last year, teams are increasingly asking for development rights in lieu of cash, since while they're just as valuable, they don't make for as many nasty headlines. ... The Rays' leverage to make any demands on taxpayers is limited, given that they have an iron-clad lease holding them to Tropicana Field through 2027 -- so if the city says no, it's not like the team can up and threaten to move to Orlando. Certainly no one's a fan of the Trop, which was designed at the height of '80s fixed-dome ugliness -- but with the city still $100 million in debt on the place, one would hope that local officials would at least ask the Rays to pay their own way before letting them out of their lease two decades early.
On point, as usual.

Just a few additional notes:

• Two years ago, new Rays owner Stuart Steinberg said, "You will never -- and I will say it now and hopefully I can say it and you'll follow up -- you will not hear the words, 'We need to have a new stadium.' "

• There really isn't any reason for MLB to continue asking for giant public subsidies. I mean, there's neven been many good reasons, but now there aren't any reasons at all. Local governments are suffering all kinds of financial problems, in part because "tax" has become a dirty word in this country, and in part because voters don't like honest politicians. (Yes, it's our fault.) Meanwhile -- and this story is just beginning to sink in -- Major League Baseball is awash in cash, so much cash that there really aren't enough free agents to go around this winter. We know the teams aren't going to lower ticket prices or stop selling billboards. So why not finance new ballparks? I suspect it's an idea whose time will come, someday.

• Somewhere here on my desk I've got a letter from ex-Rays owner Vince Naimoli. He wasn't happy about something I'd written about his team. Among his points: Tropicana Field was the best ballpark in the majors. Someday I gotta get that sucker framed."

I usually agree with most of Neyer's views, but not this time. I have a feeling that while the Rays will win their first World Series title in '10 will be in the Trop, all the others will be in the new water front stadium.

Put me in Coach....Literally?

2007-11-14T08:33:00.000-05:00

And now at guard 6-4 from Kentucky....PATRICK JAMES RILEY? Ever since I read his book "The Winner Within" when I was like 10 years old I've been a Riley fan. The man in the Armani suit with the slicked back hair was on fire last night. When asked what he could do help his struggling Miami Heat offense, Riley replied

"Me? Play. I guarantee you I should suit up. I'd play better than some of them right now," Riley said Tuesday night. "I guarantee it. I swear to God. With an old hip and 62 years old and I can't see, I'll play better than some of my guys tonight. Come on, they were pretty bad."

Come on Pat suit up one more time.

In other NBA News Team Turmoil aka The New York Knicks know how to keep the fans on their toes. After Starbury, Stephon Marbury, left the team during a road trip because he was upset, Marbury left us hanging with this...."Isiah has to start me," Marbury reportedly said, according to the Daily News. "I've got so much [stuff] on Isiah and he knows it. He thinks he can [get] me. But I'll [get] him first. You have no idea what I know."

Getcha popcorn ready!

Random Thoughts

2007-11-13T16:59:00.000-05:00

Funny exchange on the radio between Bubba The Love Sponge and Aubrey Huff

Bubba: "Now Aubrey, do you jack off a lot on the road, like when you're not with your wife."

Huff: "It's all I do. It's all I do. You guys have no idea how much downtime there is in baseball. You wake up from a hangover about 1 o'clock."

Producer shouts: "In the afternoon?"

Huff: "Oh, yeah! Lemme tell you this. When you are hung over, how horny are you? I'm horny, when I'm hungover, I'm horny. So I'm just gonna beat off. And that's all I do."

He also says Baltimore was a horseshit town.

Enough Tony Romo Vs. Ben Roethlisberger talk. As much as this hurts me to type Big Ben has the ring and Romo doesn't.... yet.

Also ESPN has come to the dark side check out this weeks power ranking for the Giants

So, what did we learn from the Giants' loss to the Cowboys? It's this: Eli Manning is just not as good a quarterback as Tony Romo. Frankly, it's doubtful he ever will be. For the near future, the Giants will have to overcome that deficiency twice a year.

If his name was Jack Jones instead of Eli Manning would he still be starting quarterback in New York after 4 average years? I mean Chad Pennington is sitting on the Jets sidelines with better numbers on a worse team with a lot less weapons.

I like what Dick Jauron is doing in Buffalo. He's just going with the hot hand. First it was Trent Edwards now it's back to JP Losman. I wish more coaches did this and stopped worrying about feelings and media pressure.

Jorge Posada won't be catching in 4 years...

Chris Chandler should be starting in Chicago.

And don't let your kids eat chocolate pudding on a tan rug....

Orlando Magic : Eastern Conference Contenders?

2007-11-10T03:49:00.001-05:00

Just finished off a 4-0 road trip that included a tough game @ Toronto.

Apart from that, a relatively easy trip, and they did get smashed at home by Detroit earlier this year but all four main players on the team are under 28 or younger (Dwight, Lewis, Hedo, Nelson).

With games against Phoenix and Boston in their next five, Orlando's young starting five will be tested early at home as they look to establish an identity.

Let's face it, Orlando is a team on the cusp right now. They're a team with one of the dominant young forces in the NBA and a lot of other young guns surrounding him. I think bringing in Lewis helped a lot because they now have a sharp-shooting scorer that they can turn to late in the game when Dwight is getting smothered by the double-teams that he still has trouble shaking. The early results look good for Lewis, he's shooting above 58% from both the field and behind the 3pt line and is nailing his free throws as well, a problem that fans of the franchise are all too familiar with, dating back to the infamous Shaquille O'Neal days.

For right now, Orlando is playing with a lot of momentum and a lot of heart, winning games that are hotly contested up until the fourth quarter. We've seen some defensive lapses and some tepid offensive stretches, but every participant of the starting lineup is contributing night-in night-out (including Bogans hitting long shots and playing solid defense) and hopefully this trend continues.

One thing's for sure, Dwight Howard has arrived. I can't wait to see this guy control a post-season series for the first time.