I cannot help but wonder if this offseason might be a blessing in disguise for MLB.

Think about what is transpiring: teams are hoarding young, inexpensive talent and worrying about draft picks; clubs are looking at the totality of a given player’s skill set as never before and not just focusing on home runs, on base and slugging percentage–they’re wondering about their defense, their base running…the works.

More well rounded young talent are being considered for jobs over one-dimensional sluggers that are 35 or older.

Is the economy going to bring down the curtain on the “chicks dig the long ball” era as teams pinching pennies want to spend their money on things other than the ability to drive in three runs while giving up four?

Sadly, I think while the trend may be beginning I do think there will be some stupidity yet to come in the hot stove league. While I do not begrudge the players what they can get it is nice to see guys like Manny Ramirez and Adam Dunn begin to sweat, I like the fact that the Rays seemingly got a real deal on Pat Burrell (I use the word “seemingly” in that a slugger like him would generally command a lot more but let’s face it–he can hit and that’s his only skill) and it appears that teams are realizing that defense wins ball games as well.

Look at the Toronto Blue Jays–how much has their vaunted pitching of the last two seasons been the result of airtight defense? If that is indeed the case, why can’t Brett Cecil, David Purcey and possibly Scott Richmond or one of the Romero boys duplicate what Shaun Marcum, Dustin McGowan and Jesse Litsch did so superbly in 2007?

Of course, it would also look so good on Moby Boras–the great blight Dick (or something like that).

I know it only takes one sucker (see: Jones, Andruw circa December 12, 2007) for Boras to make a big score for one of his clients but the uncertain economy might be accelerating teams’ learning curve in dealing with the agent and more closely scrutinizing his tactics.

It may be that the Jones’ deal–a coup for Boras at the time–might have backfired in that it serves as a powerful object lesson regarding the hazards of not being exceedingly careful in their interactions with him; Barry Zito likewise. The current economic climate would make duplicating such a mistake a major catastrophe for many teams. The fact that Boras helped the Dodgers restructure the contract speaks volumes when you couple it with the Manny-to-the-Giants rumours.

Yes, San Fran might be serious about acquiring the enigmatic slugger but the club has been burned badly by Boras before (alliteration unintentional but cool nevertheless) with Zito and probably aren’t interested in committing 4-5 years at Boras-level compensation for a superb slugger that offers nothing else to a team. However, if you wish to build a fire under Ned Colletti and the Dodgers, the Giants are the fuel that needs to be utilized.

Now Boras is about as altruistic as the recently deceased Carl Pohlad who is rumoured to have a specially designed burial vault that require night crawlers pay a toll before entering which means that he didn’t restructure Jones’ contract out of the goodness of his heart. I’m guessing he did it to free up money for Manny Ramirez.

What makes it funny is that after November 14, Boras stated that he and Manny were now prepared to hear “serious offers” for his services but the only confirmed one is the less than serious offer made by the Dodgers when they had an exclusive window for negotiations for Ramirez. Now Boras is in the unenviable position of going back to the Dodgers and seeing if he can squeeze more money out of the club through redoing Jones’ contract and desperately trying to the Giants involved.

If Ramirez does indeed go back and for less than what was offered (or in the ballpark of) in early November I predict the following Boras’ spin: “Manny really wanted to stay with the Dodgers, he loves it there and there really was no second choice in his mind. A lot of teams offered a lot more but Ramirez was willing to take less to remain where he is comfortable. It wasn’t about the money for Manny as events have clearly demonstrated but his desire to remain in LA. As his agent I have to abide by my clients’ wishes” (or words to that effect).

Of course, there also remain Derek Lowe and Oliver Perez and I will be shocked if one of them doesn’t land a completely ridiculous contract that will join Zito in the economic aviary with the other albatrosses that Boras is noted for; let’s face it–the man feels he has failed his clients if they do not become a sunk cost at some point during the contract. Unfortunately for him, teams are desperately trying to avoid these as never before.

Getting back to the original premise of the post; it could be that teams finally understand how to work the system to their advantage and this will both improve the product on the field and hurt Boras. Clubs (hopefully) will be mindful of what players can and cannot do and Boras is a master and painting what a player can do as proof of his inner circle Hall of Fame greatness and what he cannot do as an irrelevant trifle not be worried about. If teams objectively assess talent in an ongoing basis then Boras is in trouble.

What I really like about this potential change is that while I enjoy the occasional barn-burning slugfest, I love baseball for a myriad of things: the 3-6-1 double play, Ichiro gunning down a player at the plate, watching Devon White (back in the day) glide effortlessly into the gap to turn extra bases into a routine out. I adore watching John McDonald play defense, while I hate it as a Blue Jays fan–I love watching Jacob Ellsbury turn a walk into a double and there’s little anyone can do about it. Baseball was about Rickey and Rock Raines, Alan Trammel and Lou Whitaker (or Robbie Alomar and Omar Vizquel) up the middle, the Mets’ defensive infield of John Olerud, Edgardo Alfonzo, Rey Ordonez and Robin Ventura; there was Terry Mulholland’s pickoff move, Pudge Rodriguez gunning down base thieves, Greg Maddux throwing a complete game using little more than fastball in/fastball out impeccably spotted in the strike zone.

Getting away from the era of the monster slugger and the so-called “Moneyball A’s” of long at bats and three-run jacks and getting back to the fun of the 1970’s and 80’s suit me just fine (AND GET OFF MY LAWN!!).

Best Regards

John

With the suspensions of J.C. Romero and Sergio Mitre, we uncover even more proof that the policy and testing for performance enhancing drugs still needs work. Both players were found guilty of taking banned substances during the 2008 season. The interesting part is that the supplements were purchased at GNC, and, at least Romero, received some sort of clearance to ingest the substance.

General Counsel, Michael Weiner, today released the following statement regarding the suspensions of Sergio Mitre and J.C. Romero.

Sergio Mitre and J.C. Romero were suspended for fifty games each by the Commissioner because they tested positive during the 2008 regular season for a Performance Enhancing Substance. Those suspensions were upheld by a neutral third-party arbitrator after hearing. We strongly disagree with the Commissioner’s discipline and with the arbitrator’s decision.

Mitre and Romero both legally purchased nutritional supplements from national chain stores in the United States. Nothing on the labels of those supplements indicated that they contained a trace amount of a substance prohibited under Major League Baseball’s Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Neither player intentionally ingested this prohibited substance, but the arbitrator nevertheless found, wrongly in our view, that the players’ conduct violated the Program’s “no fault or negligence” standard.

The Union respects the arbitration process and treats the decision as final. In our view, though, the resulting discipline imposed upon Mitre and Romero is unfair. These players should not be suspended. Their unknowing actions plainly are distinguishable from those of a person who intentionally used an illegal performance-enhancing substance.

The Association and the Commissioner’s Office must now act to prevent future similar occurrences within baseball. The Association remains committed to a strong Joint Drug Program, but will continue to advocate forcefully for fair treatment of our members.

Depending on whom you believe, the players did only what they could to prevent violating the league policy.  Romero said he checked with his personal nutritionist and that he mentioned it to the Phillies strength and conditioning coach. There’s conflicting reports on whether the coach advised Romero.

The issue here seems to be…should players be suspended when they were clearly not intending to break the league rules? Some say no. I’m going to disagree. How do we really know when the players are telling the truth? We already have proof that several major leaguers have lied under oath when questioned about steroids. Who’s to say that Romero really did consult with others about the use of these supplements? And how do we know those people are experts in MLB banned substances?

The league has a drug hotline set up for this specific reason. Does it take that much effort to call to find out whether you’re breaking the rules or not?

Romero said:

The season is a grind. When you’re a middle reliever, you have to be ready to get up and down and pitch every day. Everyone takes something. Some guys drink coffee, others supplements. We try to make sure they’re all legal. I certainly did.

…”What they now say I should have done was call the drug hot line,” Romero said. “But I had it checked out by nutritionists, and I was following the guidelines laid down by the players’ association in spring training”…

People are going to yell and scream that the punishment doesn’t fit the crime, but if you’re going to be stupid enough not to take the correct precaution (like call the league drug hotline), you deserve the suspension.

UPDATE: Will Carroll provides even more evidence as to why it’s hard to believe the athlete in his Unfilertered post at BP. Either that or Romero is even more stupid than I originally thought! Label photo of the alleged substance is below. Notice the warning!

Now that the biggest dominoes in the free agent market have fallen, the rest are starting to topple, too. Pat Burrell was one of the bigger bones in the metaphorical boneyard, and he fell today. He’ll bring his bat (and indifferent glove) to the Tampa Bay Rays, the team the Phils defeated in the World Series.

The Florida team inked him to a two-year, $16M deal today, and his combination of potent offense and sub-par defense makes him a perfect fit at DH, though he’s never played the position full-time at the major-league level.  In 22 games at DH in interleague play, he’s put up a futile .153/.258/.224 line, even if 97 PAs in eight years is a rather small sample space.

Still, the move will bring a big bat to plunk down somewhere in the middle of their order, possibly anchoring sluggers like Longoria or Pena. Traditionalists may sniff at Burrell’s .257 lifetime BA, but he’s exceeded .360 OBP six times and .500 SLG five times in the past seven years.

Burrell is one of the top “Three True Outcomes” (TTO) hitters of the modern era, ranking sixth in TTOs/PA. The concept of TTO—strikeout, walk, and homerun—refers to the only three results of a plate appearance that result directly from the pitcher-batter interaction (that is, defense is not a factor). 42.9% of Burrell’s plate appearances are TTOs, putting him between Mickey Tettleton (43.5%) and Jay Buhner (42.3%) on that list. Active players Adam Dunn (48.9%) and Jim Thome (47.6%) are ahead of him on the list, along with Mark McGwire (45.6%) and Rob Deer (49.1%).

Whether Burrell’s career ends up more like Thome or Deer, he’s likely to fit in fine with a Rays team that ranked fifth in the majors in strikeouts, third in walks, and tenth in home runs. And he may have found the perfect landing spot for a guy with a glove of stone.

Multiple sources are stating that the Chicago Cubs have signed Milton Bradley to a 3-year, $30M deal, pending a physical. The deal will give them another force in the middle of their batting order, breaking up all the righties there with a switch-hitter, as well as a right-field replacement for last year’s second-half disappointment Kosuke Fukudome.

Bradley has offered an intriguing mix of offense and offensiveness for the past several seasons, along with a healthy dollop of injury. Sometimes these come together in one package, as he finished his fine 2007 season (a combined .306/.402/.545 with the A’s and Padres) by arguing a call so vehemently he had to be restrained by his manager, wrenching his knee and tearing his ACL.

He managed to stay in 126 games in 2008, and largely stay out of trouble, but the ABs and games played were the most he’s logged since 2004. He played very well when he could play, hitting .321/.436/.563, mostly at DH. Bringing him to the Cubs means he can’t DH, and will likely play in right field, a spot currently occupied by Fukudome.

Kosuke, who slid to a miserable .639 OPS second half (with a .546 August and .577 September), might platoon with Reed Johnson in center or spell Bradley, though they  have Joey Gathright to play center, too. With the departure of Mark DeRosa, they could also move Soriano back to second base, or trade one of those extra outfielders.

More than the position he might play, the Cubs should be more concerned about his attitude and health in Chicago. Both have kept him from his full potential, and his volatility might not be a good mix with Pinella, who doesn’t always deal well with headcases (ask Rob Dibble). Chicago fans are generally kind to their home players, but one wonders whether he’ll start pitching debris back into the fans if they turn on him, as they did in Los Angeles in 2004.

If he can keep head and health in check, however, Bradley will certainly prove to be a potent addition to a Cubs squad looking for the one piece that puts them over the top.

It’s a new year, and of course, that means change. Change for you, me, and BDD. I’m starting to sound like a politician. Change, change, change…

Anyway, most of it is good!

As many of you may know, Mark Healey of Gotham Baseball recently reached an agreement to design the web site component of Baseball Digest, the magazine. Personally, I didn’t know the magazine was still in existence, but I applaud Mark and wish him the best on his new venture.

Unfortunately, the unexpected announcement of BaseballDigest.com has caused a little bit of a stir. Since Baseball Digest, the magazine, has an established trademark, any name with Baseball Digest in it is a violation of U.S. copyright law. We tried to find a way to work around this with Mark, but in the end, we just couldn’t find a solution that worked well for all of us involved.

As a result, we will be changing both our name and domain to Baseball Digital Daily. I know, I know. It’s a bit of a nuisance, but we’ll be fine. After all, we’ll still be BDD, and all the previous links will redirect to the new site. In other words, if you go to baseballdigestdaily.com, you won’t wind up in cyberspace somewhere. You’ll be forwarded to baseballdigitaldaily.com. All the articles, stats, tracker, etc. will all be moved to the new domain.

Ok, still with me? Good. The news isn’t all negative either. I am working on getting a few high profile writers to come on board this year, and our relationship with Baseball Prospectus has continued to grow. BP has been truly supportive of our work, and I hope to see more of their stamp on BDD in 2009.

Finally, on a more personal note, I am extremely honored to be working (part-time) with the Kansas City Royals this year. I’ll be preparing in-depth statistical analysis leading up to the June amateur draft and scouting players for the area scout in the New York metropolitan area. I am very grateful for this opportunity and hope to share some of my experiences along the way.

After the Yankees spent like only the Yankees can do it is time for the rest of the MLB teams to sort through the remaining list of available free agents and open up their barber shops because with the exception of Manny, these players are about to get haircuts. 

How about Jason Giambi? His 32 HR’s and 96 RBI’s in ’08 would typically have been good enough for him to command a pretty big contract with teams attempting to sign him by Christmas. Not this year. Giambi will come no where near the $23.4M he made playing with the Yanks. In fact he might have to shave off the moustache to go along with the haircut. 

Then there is that other former Yankee, Bobby Abreu. Abreu has been a very consistent run producer over his career averaging 98 RBI’s over 11 years and driving in 100 last year. He’s a lifetime .300 hitter but is anybody going to come close to paying him the $16M he made last year? 

Adam Dunn hit 40 HR’s and had 100 RBI’s in ’08. He also hit .236 and struck out 164 times. Anybody out there want to match last year’s salary of $13M? 

If there is any better indication of what is going to happen to those free agents still out there, that just happened to choose probably the worst year ever to be come a free agent, take a look at Randy Johnson. The Giants signed him to a one year deal for $8M. Last year Johnson was paid over $15M. 

No matter what these players eventually end up signing for its clear they won’t have to ask Congress for any sort of bailout but the question is can these men possibly adjust their living styles now that they will be making $5M to play baseball when they used to be paid $15M? 

People, that’s a problem I’d love to have to face.

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced today that Derrick Hall was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer after General Partner and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Moorad resigned from the organization, according to Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick.

“Derrick has clearly demonstrated the ability to run a successful organization in his tenure as President of the D-backs and was an easy choice to promote to Chief Executive Officer after accepting Jeff’s resignation this morning,” Kendrick said. “Jeff was an integral part of the D-backs’ many achievements on and off of the field since joining the organization in 2004. However, it was necessary for him to tender his resignation with the organization as he pursues the acquisition of the San Diego Padres.”

“Jeff was a tremendous leader here, but we are excited about this opportunity for him,” Hall said. “Under his leadership, the current management team was formed with a clear vision to bring a disciplined business approach to the organization, while committing to provide the fans with a winning team, a fan experience second to none, and the most affordable ticket pricing in all of baseball. That commitment will continue, as this talented group moves forward. I have overwhelming admiration and appreciation for our staff and for our fans and am thrilled and honored to have the added responsibility.”

Wow! It’s not every day that an owner leaves one team to purchase another team…in its own division. This is a very interesting development on a number of fronts. Our sources close to the situation expect changes at the top of the San Diego organization. How high up those changes go remain to be seen. From the looks of the Padres minor league system, scouting and player development might be the first to get a makeover.

It will also be interesting to see how this affects Kevin Towers, a potential Jake Peavy deal, and remaining off-season free agent acquisitions.

So, you just won the World Series. Your team is one of baseball’s oldest (since 1883) and is located in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the entire country. Your fan base has a reputation for being rabid about its sports teams and demands nothing but the best. After all, they paid for a good portion of the bill for the new stadium and make it possible — by buying tickets and consuming merchandise and concessions — to have the financial flexibility to pay Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, and Brad Lidge’s salaries.

Your rival becomes glassy-eyed and nauseous once September rolls around and that hasn’t gone over well with that fan base, located in the largest metropolitan area in the country. A new stadium is on the way and they have consistently had money to spend thanks to a similarly rabid fan base that shows up to games in droves.

Who do you think should have the better, more productive off-season? The World F’in Champions, or the September Choke Artists?

It should be the WFC’s. And why not? They just won a World F’in Championship. But the WFC’s have had an embarrassingly low-key, settle-for-less kind of off-season under new GM Ruben Amaro.

Amaro declined to offer arbitration to Pat Burrell, a Type A free agent, because he believed he would accept the offer. Thus, the Phillies would have been forced to pay Burrell a 2009 salary likely in the $16-18 million range, more than they believed him to be worth. Instead, they went out and signed another Type A free agent, Raul Ibanez, for $31.5 million for three years including $6.5 million in 2009. At the cost of two first round draft picks* the Phillies saved about $10 million. But 25% (and potentially 50% given incentives) of that then went to free agent Chan Ho Park, whose 2008 season was the first in which he finished with an ERA+ over 93 since 2001. And $6.5 million went into re-signing Jamie Moyer who is much more likely to put up Adam Eaton-type numbers than Cole Hamels-type numbers.

* On the Phillies’ roster, Chase Utley, Pat Burrell, Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, Brad Lidge, and Jayson Werth are all former first-round picks. Lidge and Werth were drafted by the Houston Astros and Baltimore Orioles, respectively. The Phillies drafted the rest.

In signing Ibanez, Amaro essentially set the market for good-hitting, poor-defending outfielders like Burrell and Adam Dunn. However, if one is going to set the market by making the first splash, one usually wants to get the best player. Among the free agent corner outfielders, Ibanez is arguably out of the top-five. Considering that Adam Dunn is a Type A free agent who was not offered arbitration by the Arizona Diamondbacks, is consistently more productive offensively and comparably poor defensively, it makes no sense to sign Ibanez when you have Dunn available.

What’s often overlooked is that the Phillies are almost never in the mix to acquire a top-tier player, be it in a trade or via free agency.* Sure, the Charlie Manuel/Manny Ramirez connection made some headlines around the trading deadline last season, but there were never any serious talks about Man-Ram wearing Phillies red. How about trading away Ryan Howard for pitching, and promptly signing free agent Mark Teixeira? Not in the wildest dreams of the Phillies’ GM. Derek Lowe a Phillie? You saw what happened to Kevin Millwood, right?

*Brad Lidge doesn’t count since most were disparaging the trade when it happened, considering Lidge to be completely and utterly mentally-wracked as a result of the home run Albert Pujols hit off of him in the 2005 NLCS.

Coming off a WFC, one would figure the Phillies could utilize their clout as WFC’s and the idolization of the players by the fans as a bargaining chip to attract free agents. Granted, the Phillies’ purse strings are a bit tight because so many players are arbitration eligible: Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels, Jayson Werth, Ryan Madson, Shane Victorino, Greg Dobbs, Chad Durbin, and Joe Blanton.

The Phillies are also paying a lot of money in ‘09 to Geoff Jenkins and Adam Eaton, two players who are highly likely to be unproductive. Why not send Jenkins ($6.75 million) or Eaton ($8.75 million) to another desperate team for a handshake, provided they take on a generous portion of their salaries? Right there, that’s between $10 and $15.5 million cleared up. Add in the wasted $6.5 million on Ibanez and $2.5-5 million on Park, and you have between $20-27 million. With that space, they can sign anyone.

Instead, Jenkins’ and Eaton’s salaries will remain wholly on the books, their bodies filling up roster slots that could be taken by more productive players. Amaro is content paying $6.5 million for a downgrade in left field, $6.5 million for a 46-year-old starter in Jamie Moyer, and $2.5-5 million for a flaky, typically unproductive SP/RP hybrid in Park.

WFC’s and they’re scavenging the free agent market. WFC’s and they’re hoping some food falls off the table.

Mets GM Omar Minaya, despite his team’s embarrassingly pathetic play at the end of each of the last two seasons, is eating at the table. He’s at the back end of a three-course meal. With Francisco Rodriguez and J.J. Putz stains on his bib, he may as well get some Derek Lowe on there, too.

Spending money and acquiring star players doesn’t guarantee success by any means. The Phillies have enjoyed success thanks to a great series of draft picks and low-risk, high-reward moves. Mike Arbuckle, responsible for those draft picks, is no longer with the organization as a direct result of Amaro’s promotion. Pat Gillick, responsible for those low-risk, high-reward moves, stepped down as GM after the WFC and will not be able to provide the Phillies with this year’s version of Greg Dobbs or Chad Durbin.

Ruben Amaro is essentially all by himself. The draft isn’t for another half-year and likely won’t matter too much anyway because his arbitration refusal to Burrell and signing of Ibanez essentially cost the Phillies two first-rounders. Amaro has this off-season and the few weeks leading up to the July 31 trading deadline to keep this team ready, willing, and able to defend that World F’in Championship.

The New York Mets, pathetic disappointments the last two seasons, should have had to settle for Ibanez and Park. That Amaro, with his ineffective moves, willingly jumped out and screamed to the baseball world, “Hey, we’ll settle for less. I don’t mind!” shouldn’t settle well with the Philadelphia fan base. And no one should be surprised if the Mets are favorites to win the NL East — or, in more familiar terms, “the team to beat” — going into the season.

Apparently several teams and players felt the need to get deals done before the clock strikes midnight tonight! Here’s a quick rundown of today’s transactions…

- The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim signed reliever Brian Fuentes to a 2-year contract with a club option for a third year.

- The Chicago Cubs acquired right-handed pitcher Jeff Stevens, left-handed pitcher John Gaub and right-handed pitcher Chris Archer from the Cleveland Indians for infielder Mark DeRosa. 
 
The 25-year-old Stevens combined to go 5-4 with a 3.24 ERA (21 ER/58.1 IP), six saves and a .184 batting average against in 36 relief appearances between Cleveland’s Double-A Akron and Triple-A Buffalo affiliates.  He also pitched for the United States Olympic Baseball team that won the bronze medal in Beijing last summer. 

Gaub, 23, went 1-1 with two saves and a 3.38 ERA (24 ER/64.0 IP) in 34 relief appearances for Single-A Lake Country last season, his first full professional campaign.  He struck out 100 batters in 64.0 innings, an average of 14.1 strikeouts per nine innings pitched, and surrendered only three home runs, 0.4 home runs allowed per nine innings.  The six-foot-two, 200-pounder turned in a 3.1-to-one strikeout-to-walk ratio (100/32).

Archer, 20, went 4-8 with a 4.29 ERA (55 ER/115.1 IP) in 27 starts for Single-A Lake County last year, tying for second in the South Atlantic League in games started.  He limited opponents to a .220 batting average, as righthanders batted .215 and lefthanders batted .225.  Archer struck out 106 batters in 115.1 innings pitched and surrendered only eight home runs. 

Derosa, who turns 34 in February, batted .289 with 31 home runs and 159 RBI in 298 games during his two seasons with the Cubs.  He originally signed a three-year contract with the club on November 14, 2006.

- The Chicago Cubs and infielder Aaron Miles today agreed to terms on a two-year contract. Miles, 32, batted .317 (120-for-379) with 15 doubles, four home runs, 31 RBI and a .355 on-base percentage in 134 games for the St. Louis Cardinals last season.

- The Orioles today announced that they have signed free agent LHP Mark Hendrickson to a one-year contract for the 2009 season. Hendrickson, 34, went 7-8 with a 5.45 ERA (133.2IP, 81ER) in 36 games (19 starts) for the Florida Marlins in 2008. In his seven major league seasons, Hendrickson is 50-63 with a 5.07 ERA (977.2IP, 551ER) in 215 games.

It’s become a tradition each New Year’s Eve (or thereabouts!) to review my personal favorite baseball web sites of the year. This is actually one of my more enjoyable articles to write. It’s nice to talk about the great work being done around the Web.

I use this list to generally focus on the independent sites and steer away from the old reliables like Baseball Reference, Baseball America, MLB.com, Baseball Think Factory, and Retrosheet. We all already know they’re among our favorites.  BDD and Baseball Prospectus are ineligible for consideration…you know, due to our little affiliation!

1 - Metsblog.com- Not only is this the best sports team blog on the Internet, the content has expanded this past year to cover baseball news and information beyond the Mets. And oh yeah, Matt Cerrone is one of the best guys you’ll ever meet in this business.

2 - The Blog on the Book - The more I read Tango & co., the more I like their work. Sometimes the content goes over my head, but I generally get the gist of what everyone is trying to say. MGL and Tango are just two great entertaining analysts.

3 - Shysterball (on The Hard Ball Times) - Craig Calcaterra is one of my favorite writers on the net, even when I don’t agree with him! He has a great handle on the game, understands the issues, and has a great sense of humor…even for an lawyer!

4 - Baseball Musings - David Pinto continues to fill a tremendous niche with constant updates from around the world of baseball. Whenever I’m away from my PC for a prolonged period of time, Baseball Musings is one of the first sites I check upon my return.

5 - MLB Trade Rumors - I generally don’t like endorsing portals, and I think the site was better when Tim gave more of his take on transactions, but MLB Trade Rumors still is very useful in aggregating rumors, signings, trades, and arbitration activity.

6 - Seamheads.com- I know, I know, we’re affiliated with Seamheads…I can’t help but endorse these guys though. Michael Lynch and his staff have done tremendous things this year, and the writing is fantastic. This is a real up and coming site that you should check out everyday.

7 - Brew Crew Ball- Our friend Jeff Sackmann isn’t as involved as he once was, but there are still plenty of reasons to visit this (mostly) Brewers blog. My favorite is the Frosty Mug! It’s a great way to catch up on all the important information around baseball.

8 - Heater Magazine - Great site, great writers, great content and they’re always adding more information. You get stats, graphs, articles, and of course, The Rundown!

9 - The College Baseball Blog - For those of you who love the ping game like me, CBB is the place to be. From recruiting and schedules to recaps and scouting reports, CBB has the college game covered. Brian Foley’s team provides a constant flow of news and updates to keep every NCAA fan satisfied.

10 - River Avenue Blues - It’s hard to believe this blog made my list considering how much I dislike the Yankees! Seriously though, this site is second to none when it comes to the Bronx Bombers. Ben, Mike, and Joseph cover the Yankees in more detail, and with more insight, than any of their NYY blogging counterparts…so much so that I even enjoy reading about the Yankees.

Other great sites worth noting…Detroit Tigers Weblog, Rain-Delay, Crashburn Alley, Talking Chop, The Newberg Report, Baseball Analysts, Gotham Baseball, It Might Be Dangerous…You Go First

Happy New Year everybody!