Hot Stove, part 2

Anybody remember what really happened in Griffey's rookie season when he "broke his finger falling in the shower"?

 

Ken Rosenthal says Keith Foulke is headed to Cleveland. My feeling is those seated in the bleachers will be glad with the souvenirs they will collect when he pitches.

 

One way or another, the Indians are going to be fun to watch in 2007.

They tried to fix the most combustible bullpen in baseball by..........acquring a bunch of ancient has-beens. Either they're going to catch lightning in a bottle or lose 92 games in the most gut-wrenching ways possible.

I actually think Foulke will be pretty good for them. Borowski's arm is going to fall off by midseason and Roberto Hernandez is almost as old as Spnited. But Foulke was solid when healthy last year. I won't be surprised if he racks up 35 saves.

 

It seems to me, BYH, I've heard this song before. In fact, I think I've sang it, too. The Indians look like they will be a fun team to watch. Okay, we'll see.

 

Who exactly should they have gotten? Gagne and wait for his arm to blow up again? They tried to trade for Mike Gonzalez, but the price was ridiculous (the Pirates asked for Victor Martinez).

Sadly enough, Borowski was one of the better closers available this offseason. Foulke was worth a shot as Plan B. I doubt Hernandez is there to close. And they can also hope one of the young arms matures with another year's experience.

Not a rock solid plan, but I'm not sure what else they could have done.

 

No, what I meant was that they're going to be fun to watch, quite possibly, from a train wreck perspective.

They've got three giant question marks in their mid-30s and older vying for the closer's role. I'm not sure how going from one extreme (a bunch of homegrown kids trying to close the game out) to the other is going to work. Maybe they catch lightning in a bottle. Or maybe they end up with the world's worst bullpen again.

OOP: I'm not sure there was a better plan. But I would have committed less $$$ to the vets. Maybe sign one of the three and then have a bunch of the kids vying for set-up roles behind him. For a team that's always crying poverty, that's a lot of money to spend--granted, on one-year commitments--on an area that may not be appreciably better than before.

 

Nobody saw this coming -- White Sox trade Brandon McCarthy to Rangers for three minor-leaguers, including top prospect John Danks.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/baseball/rangers/stories/122406dnsporangerstrade.39fa6227.html

 

Well, I suppose the White Sox did hold true to their midseason claim that they wouldn't trade McCarhty unless they got a prime pitching prospect back.

 

Christmas comes a day early for Brewer fans...

Suppan is a Brewer. Not quite their version of the Reggie White signing, but it sure seems like they'll have a pretty solid starting five. The NL Central race should be interesting to watch this year.

http://www.jsonline.com/watch/?watch=1&date=12/24/2006&id=16389

 

I am just glad the Yankees didn't sign him. But still a pretty good signing for an NL team and the Brewers are looking pretty good if Sheets can stay healthy.

 

Very, very happy with this news. Ben Sheets, Chris Capuano, Suppan, Dave Bush and Claudio Vargas ... vast improvement in the rotation from years past.

More importantly, Suppan has never missed a start due to injury.

 

Jeff Suppan is mediocrity personafied.