What a great day of baseball! The biggest story of the day was the release of Frank Thomas by the Blue Jays. Thomas was informed yesterday of reduced playing time due to his recent slump. However, Thomas has started the past two years in a similar weak fashion, but managed to turn it around and put up great numbers … Read more »

Since we have time for a short break between post-season games, let's catch up with the Nationals and their centerfield conundrum. Capital Punishment has an excellent post up that reviews how this position was handled by Manny Acta in 2007. Nook Logan, Ryan Church, Ryan Langerhans, and rookie Justin Maxwell all spent time roaming centerfield, but … Read more »

It's official: the 2007 baseball season has begun! Not surprisingly, season preview articles are popping up everywhere, so I thought I'd throw my cap in the diamond and reveal my season picks.For the fourth year in a row, my friend Mel and I have made team picks for our friendly annual MLB bet. Don't ask about … Read more »

CBC.ca has published a new Jays 2007 season preview, but the outlook is familiarly shaky at best: Jesse Campigotto predicts a mediocre 3rd place finish with a 84-78 record, and places the blame on the uncertainties of pitching and injuries. Summed up, the Jays would need everything to go right for them and everything to go wrong … Read more »

It hasn't been a good weekend for the Washington Nationals. First, Nook Logan and John Patterson went down: Logan a strained groin, while Patterson "kind of passed out". Then today, Washington released 1B Travis Lee despite his .267 spring batting average and .997 career fielding average. Lee had informed GM Jim Bowden that he "didn't want … Read more »

John Shea has a special report up over on ESPN's Hot Stove League that takes an advance look at 2007's most formidable batting orders. Shea ranks the lineups in this way:MetsCubs YankeesIndiansTwinsRangersHe singles out the following players as impact batters:Beltran, Delgado, Alou, Wright, Green, Lo Duca, Valentine and ReyesSoriano, A. Ramirez, D. LeeJeter, A. Rodriguez, Matsui, Giambi, AbreuBarfield, Dellucci, … Read more »

While I haven't been a big fan of Jim Bowden and his style of running the Nationals, I haven't written him off completely. In fact, I think he shows some real moments of baseball intelligence at times. Signing Manny Acta as the Nationals' new manager is an example of one of Jim's best moves with this … Read more »

I'll start by being completely upfront: I don't know very much about Dusty Baker's managerial style. He seemed to do alright as the Giants' skipper, but Cubs fans grew to despise him. Now that Baker has parted ways with the Cubbies (who tapped Lou Piniella as their new manager), and Bruce Bochy has made his early … Read more »

I'm bummed: I really thought Girardi was going to end up at the helm of the Nationals dugout in 2007. However, Washington Post Staff Writer Barry Svrluga is reporting that Girardi has declined the position. The Cubbies snagged Piniella. That leaves us with Manny Acta, Terry Pendleton, Tony Pena, and [cough] Dusty Baker. Acta's the only one … Read more »

CBC.ca has posted a good new feature: Grading the Jays, a Blue Jays 2006 season report card. As someone who picked the Jays win it all in 2006, I wholeheartedly agree with the following excerpt:A season that began with the biggest of dreams ended with the smallest of victories… The campaign did, however, end on a bit of … Read more »