Rain Delay

Here's a little nugget for your noggin'

According to this little nugget, it might be wise to start Mirabelli instead of Piazza:

The Padres might want to think twice about starting catcher Mike Piazza against the Dodgers. According to STATS LLC, new Dodgers shortstop Rafael Furcal and center fielder Kenny Lofton each stole six bases off Piazza last season, tied for the most of any opponent. The Cubs' Juan Pierre, Braves' Marcus Giles and Astros' Willy Taveras were next with five steals each. Furcal was with the Braves last season, Lofton the Phillies, Pierre the Marlins ...

Cue Homer Simpson: "D'OH!"

And from the lets get rid of Big Red Department:

The Braves could trade right-hander John Thomson for a late-inning reliever, but it might not be prudent given the injury concerns in their rotation. Thomson, 32, is cost-effective at $4.75 million, and possibly could fill a bullpen role if lefty Horacio Ramirez and righty Kyle Davies proved worthy of spots in the rotation. Then again, Thomson has made only one career relief appearance ...

We've got guys at Triple A, that could fill Thompson's roll in the rotation. He is by far my least favorite of the staff, Chris Reitsma is higher up on the ladder than Red. I'm not sure what it is about him that just utterly bugs the crap out of me, but it does. Trade him off for bull-pen help, Davies can pitch as good or better in my opinion than Thompson could. Thompson would be more of a waste in the pen, when we could get a decent replacement to fill the bull pen roll. Don't get me started, the Braves bull pen is a post all by itself and will happen at a later date.

John Thomson's stats via The Baseball Cube

Fun with Numb3rs: M's Catchers

This is the first of many installments, dealing with Stats. Now let me go on the record as saying, I'm a novice when it comes to Sabermetrics but I'm learning. I'm sure you'll notice. And yes I know I spelled Numbers wrong, I got the idea from the TV show "Numb3rs".

Alright then, on with the show!

In the last couple weeks, the M's have purchased rights to two different Indy league catchers. Then lets add in that they've signed Japanese catcher and former Olympic Gold Medalist  Kenji Johjima. . You almost had to keep a flow chart, just so you'd know who was starting behind the plate and when. The M's used 7 different catchers over the course of the '05 season.

So lets take a look at who backstopped for the M's:

(I included their Value Over Replacement Player as well)

Ranking in order of the most # of Plate Appearances:
Miguel Olivo (dealt to San Diego)
157 PA .151/.172/.149/.321 OPS -12.8 VORP

Pat Borders (DFA'd)
125 PA .197/.224/.265/.489 OPS -6.6 VORP

Yorvit Torrealba (dealt to Colorado)
119 PA .241/.286/.333/.619 OPS 0.1 VORP

Rene Rivera (projected back up in  '06)
50 PA .396/.400/.521/.921 OPS 7.7 VORP

Wiki Gonzalez (Signed with the Nat's)
47 PA .267/.298/.378/.676 OPS 1.3 VORP

Miguel Ojeda (came over in deal with SD)
37 PA .172/.297/.276/.573 OPS -1.4 VORP

Dan Wilson (limited playing. Injured, now retired)
28 PA .185/.214/.185/.399 OPS -3.0 VORP

Boy that's just a motley crue now isn't it? Honestly I could stop right there, those lines alone show you just how bad the M's catchers were this season. What was really sad is that when you combined the gang of seven, this is what you got : .216, with 10 home runs and 46 RBIs. Willie Ballgame for example, hit better (not by much) than seven guys combined.

That in itself is enough to cause some panic.

Bengie Molina

Why is this guy not signed yet?

He's the best free agent catcher on the market and yet no ones picked him up yet. The Dodgers were the last team that was looking to sign the 31 year-old catcher. Money had allot to do with the Dodgers not signing the Gold Glove catcher.

"I got a pretty good idea of what they were looking for, and it's not something we're inclined to do right now," Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti said Sunday. "We're fine, in my mind, if we open the season with Navarro and Alomar and if we have Russell Martin at Triple-A gaining more experience. That won't bother me one bit."

Molina is coming off a career year:  .295/.336/.466/.782 OPS  15 HR 69RBI. He's willing to sit out the entire 2006 season, if that's what it takes.

"I think I have done enough to deserve something," Molina told the paper on Saturday, while attending an alumni game at Arizona Western Community College. "If I don't get that type of deal, I think I'm willing to sit out and see what happens next year. I hope it doesn't come to that."

With the crappy free agent market this year, he's one of the better players available. I was hoping that the Braves would pick him up to be Brian McCann's understudy, instead they went out and signed former Phillies catcher Todd Pratt who's supposed to mentor the young starter. Am I really missing something here? He should be starting some where this season, not sitting at home.

Am I alone in this?

Minor League Deal for Remlinger

Yes you read the title right, the Braves signed Mike Remlinger to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. It's obvious from last season, that his best days are far behind him.

"We hope that this is a win-win situation for both sides," Braves general manager John Schuerholz said. "We hope that Mike's career can get back on track and he can regain the level of pitching he enjoyed for so many years before shoulder problems got the better of him."

There's the very good possibility that he wont make the club out of spring training. So really the Braves have nothing to loose. He was at his best from 99-2002. In 2002 he made the All-Star team, but really was lost in the shuffle when you had Smoltz nailing down 55 saves that year.

"I feel at lot better than I did at the end of last year," said Remlinger, who posted a 6.58 ERA while with the Cubs and Red Sox last year.

Nobody is expecting Remlinger to be as effective as he was when he posted a 1.99 ERA in 71 appearances for the Braves in 2002. But the veteran hurler believes being reunited with manager Bobby Cox and bullpen coach Bobby Dews will put him in an environment where he has the best chance to succeed.

[...]

"When you have respect for a man like I do for Bobby Cox, you're going to do whatever you can to please them. I look at Bobby as being like a father. I just have so much respect for him and what he has done for me."

I'm afraid that without Leo, it's just not going to happen. The Braves weren't even really interested in Remmy until he took a physical and there were good signs that his shoulder would be stronger this year than last. On the off chance he does make the bullpen, he could be a veteran figure in a very young bullpen. A bullpen that still doesn't have a closer and more than one spot up for grabs.

Even though like I said, it's not likely he's going to make the club, I'm glad to see Schuerholz at least giving Mike a chance to make the club. This signing wont hurt the club one way or another in my opinion. He's eager to get things going, and plans to start throwing off a mound this week and then hopefully meet up with the Braves new Pitching Coach - Roger McDowell in Atlanta.

In case your interested, here's Mike Remlingers stats - Thanks to the Baseball Cube.

Cuba in, and a correction

WBC gets their way, Cuba is going to be allowed to take part in the WBC. There had been talk here and there that if Cuba was denied for a second time, that the International Baseball Council would with draw it's sanction of the World Baseball Classic.

Though Cuba, had to agree to terms:

"This agreement ensures that no funding will make its way into the hands of the Castro regime. The Treasury is pleased to now be able to issue this license and looks forward to seeing all of the teams showcase their talents on the international stage."

Now we all know I'm not the biggest fan of the WBC, but it's good to see that the U.S. government got their heads from out between their butt cheeks long enough to see that this was going to be all good to begin with.  Even Castro himself, got into the middle of it:

HAVANA (AP) -- Fidel Castro suggested the United States doesn't want to play Cuba in the World Baseball Classic, which is awaiting word on whether the U.S. government will let the island's players take part.

"We aren't afraid of anything," Castro said in a wide-ranging speech late Tuesday. "It's very difficult to compete against us in any area ... not even in baseball do they want to compete with Cuba."

I guess it'll be put up, or shut up time now.

Yesterday I posted the stats for Tony Sanguinetti due to the fact that his rights were bought by the M's. Well, after doing some more research the stats I listed from Baseball America, hadn't been updated. That's what I get for not looking at multiple sources.

Had I gone to The Baseball Cube, I would've gotten the right numbers. And honestly these numbers look allot better than the ones from yesterday.

.274/.333/.559/ in 82 games with 22HR 72RBI

He struck out 81 times, still at about the same every 3 at bats rate I had posted yesterday.