MLB Grab Bag

The MLB Grab Bag is in full effect today. I’m going to meander around the world of baseball today, and I might even through in some none baseball stuff too.

I keep getting questions about Jose Bautista. Let me state it again – he has zero chance of repeating his 2010 effort. Obviously he will regress, the question is how much? I’m looking at a .260-30-90 type effort – though I really hate trying to predict the actual numbers. For more on the situation give Breaking Down: Jose Bautista a few minutes of your time.

I’m still nauseated by the Alex Rodriguez, Cameron Diaz food-feeding incident from the Super Bowl. Click on A Question, A Statement, A Pukefest for a rundown of the whole scene.

AUDIO: Looking for 10 minutes of superfantastic baseball talk? If you are make sure you listen to my interview with the Davis Sports Deli where we chatted about Albert Pujols, the state of the Red Sox and Yankees, why the Royals just can’t figure it out and just how good the Rangers offense could be.

I wrote about the signings of Josh Hamilton, Jered Weaver, Shaun Marcum, Jeremy Guthrie, Luke Scott and Orlando Cabrera over in MLB News and Notes: February 11. A quick review – Its a good deal for the Rangers. Weaver is a stud. Marcum is on the verge of becoming a fantasy star. Guthrie is likely a better pitcher than you think. Luke Scott, so-so. Orlando Cabrera is nothing more than a place holder.

I can’t help it. Every time Katy Perry’s California Gurls comes on the radio I end up bobbing my head. Man, I gotta get a date.

Nick Swisher is changing from his long time agent over to the Dark Lord of the Sith – Scott Boras. I’ve got four thoughts on this matter. (1) The timing of this is odd. Swisher is under contract fort this season at $9.0 million, and he has a $10.25 million club option for next season. (2) Swisher had a strong season last year. He should be productive this season, he always is, but I don’t think he will be able to replicate some of the numbers he put up last year. For more on the outlook of Swisher for 2011 give my 2011 Player Profile: Nick Swisher a read. (3) Scott Boras is flat out amazing. (4) Speaking of the Dark Lord, did you catch the best commercial of the Super Bowl, you know, the one with the young Darth Vader discovering the power of The Force?

There’s just no way that the Cardinals and Albert Pujols don’t work out a contract extension is there? If it doesn’t happen, could he join the San Francisco Giants? I admit it, it’s a total pipe dream with less chance of becoming a reality than me finding the woman of my dreams and getting married this weekend in a wildly romantic setting overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Can’t blame a kid for dreaming though can you?

I was a great hitter but my defense was, to be kind, poor. I’m 21st all-time in OBP and 25th in SLG while my overall OPS of .974 is the 15th best mark ever posted in the history of the game. Who Am I?

Did you see the report that Edinson Volquez turned down a 4-year deal from the Reds? The dude must have some serious stones. There’s no mention in the report of how much he was offered, but here is a quote from Volquez. “They were offering me a contract for four years, the same as Johnny Cueto, but I didn’t feel it was right for me..” It’s unclear if Volquez was saying that they offered him four years like Cueto or if they offered him the same exact deal for $27 million. Either way, I’m surprised that Volquez didn’t jump on the deal unless it was a total low ball offer. Volquez will make $1.6 million this season as he bets on himself and his continued return to prominence.

By Ray Flowers

The Stange Case of Rafael Soriano

 

Rafael Soriano is still looking for work. There is no telling what his agent Scott Boras is asking for – my guess is that he is telling everyone that Soriano is the second best closer in baseball history behind Mariano Rivera – but the fire-balling righty is still looking for a job. Reports this week were that he would considering serving as the setup man for Rivera with the Yankees, but the Yanks quickly shot down that rumor and said they weren’t interested in dropping a ton of dough for a setup man (could that change if Andy Pettitte officially retires?). So where will Soriano end end? There aren’t too many openings to fill 9th inning roles left vacant, so perhaps Soriano will have to settle for a smaller money deal, something that seemed unlikely a few weeks back when guys like Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier were getting 3-year deals. Has Mr. Boras finally failed one of his clients? You should know better than to doubt Mr. Boras at this point.

The real reason for the reluctance of teams to shed out major dinero for Soriano must be tied to his awful record of health since he has kept many a trainer/doctor in business over the years with a plethora of arm issues constantly slowing him down. Here are his innings pitched totals since he reached the big leagues.

47.1
53.0
3.1
7.1
60.0
72.0
14.0
75.2
62.1

Let me sum that up for you. In three of last eight seasons Soriano didn’t even toss 15 innings. Would you be comfortable giving a guy like that $10 million a year? Me neither. At the same time, Soriano has tossed 60-innings in back-to-back seasons for the second time (the first was in 2006-07), though it’s not as if he has been 100 percent healthy in that time. The fact of the matter is that all pitchers are at risk with every toss, though Soriano is clearly much more likely to come down with some ailment than your average hurler.

All of Soriano’s injuries have obscured the fact that he is an absolutely dynamic pill tosser. Check out his career numbers. They are scintillating.

2.73 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 9.62 K/9, 3.58 K/BB, .193 BAA

You think those numbers are great? They are, but his 2010 effort made even those strong totals look average.

1.73 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 8.23 K/9, 4.07 K/BB, .163 BAA

Wow is right.

I didn’t even mention that Soriano racked up a career best 45 saves to lead the AL (he entered the year with 43 career saves). Soriano also posted the fourth best ERA in baseball for any hurler with at least 60-innings pitched while his WHIP was second (Joaquin Benoit was first at 0.68). That’s some serious dealing folks.

Someone is going to end up with one hell of a reliever. The only question is will he be able to stay healthy long enough to reward that team for their investment in his golden arm?

All Free Agent Team

I’m scheduled to visit with Jeff Rickard on Saturday around 11 AM PST on MLB Network Radio to talk free agents. We’re actually going to discuss whether or not you could put together a fantasy worthy team of players still looking to find a home for 2011 (i.e. they are free agents). Here is my all free agent fantasy team.

C: Bengie Molina
1B: Russell Branyan
2B: Adam Kennedy
3B: Jorge Cantu
SS: Orlando Cabrera
OF: Manny Ramirez, Vladimir Guerrero, Johnny Damon
DH: Jim Thome
SP: Andy Pettitte, Carl Pavano, Bruce Chen, Kevin Millwood, Freddy Garcia, Brad Penny, Chris Young
RP: Mr. Soriano of course, Brian Fuentes, Jon Rauch, Chad Qualls

It’s not exactly a powerhouse team that would win any leagues, but I’ve also seen people put together worse teams.

 

By Ray Flowers