6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

She's the alleged "other woman" in the breakup of some German soccer star's marriage.

Labels: dodgers

Catching up on some stuff from yesterday...

Today's Birthdays

God Is A Bullet

• You may have heard that an Internet pharmacy selling anabolic steroids has been linked to Gary Matthews, Jr. U.S.S. Mariner takes the high road; the Rev wonders what better priorities the cops might have had, and David Pinto misconstrues his reaction; the point isn't that the police are to blame so much as law enforcement needs prioritization, and this is hardly an important case — except to a DA who wants to make a name for himself.
• Juan Rivera provides a gory account of his injury:

  "I looked down, and my shin was going this way and my foot was going down," Rivera said, pointing at a 90-degree angle from his shin. "I could see the bone."

  Rivera, who was still on crutches when he arrived in Angels camp Monday, thought immediately of his future.

  "I think, maybe I don't play baseball anymore," Rivera said. "But later that night, I thought in my mind that I would be back."

  It looks like an All-Star break return is in the cards.
• Jered Weaver's first appearance on the mound keeps getting pushed back, and now it seems he won't be ready until next week at the earliest.

  With only two scheduled off days in the first 35 days of the season, the Angels will need a full five-man rotation in April, and Scioscia said there is still enough time, barring a setback, for Weaver to open the season in the big leagues.

  Lefty Phil Seibel, acquired from the Red Sox for Brendan Donnelly, has been told he might start for the Angels but so far is being considered exclusively a reliever. Other, more likely possibilities are Dustin Moseley, Chris Bootcheck, or Hector Carrasco.
• Bartolo Colon's rehab is continuing on pace, but there's no way he's ready for opening day.
• Garret Anderson overrates his own contributions to team defense:

  But the Angels' veteran left fielder also was somewhat offended by media reports framing the Matthews signing as one that would ease the burden on Anderson and right fielder Vladimir Guerrero.

  "I've heard that several times this winter, and I don't really know what it means," Anderson said. "I don't think I've been a liability out there, other than the fact I haven't been able to play. I know I took a lot of heat last year because I played hurt. I should have just not played. I wouldn't have taken any heat for that."

  I can't disagree.
• Former Angel first baseman Daryl Sconiers is helping out on a San Bernardino County survey of the homeless: he is one himself, you see.
• Russ Martin, batting sixth (and can you believe we're having this discussion?).
• Former Dodger Clem Labine had brain surgery to "investigate on a mass in his head".

OT: Something For Helen

Hurry back, love.

Labels: angels, dodgers

No new members for the third straight time, though Santo did manage 70% of the vote. (Jim Kaat also missed, as did the man instrumental in getting much of baseball's current free agency structure in place, Marvin Miller.) Still, there's apparently no compelling reason for these guys to even exist. Time to shutter the Veterans' Committee.

More details at the Baseball Hall of Fame website; snarky commentary at BTF.

Labels: hall of fame

Jody "Babydol" Gibson (and that nickname looks weirdly like some kind of cross between a nightie and a date-rape drug) was busted for running a prostitution ring eight years ago, but her books were sealed at the time, protecting her rich and famous clientele. Not any more:

In "Secrets of a Hollywood SuperMadam," an autobiography due in bookstores Thursday, Gibson names two dozen celebrities she says patronized her call-girl service.

Many of the names also appear in her phone books, a payment log and other records from the case that have been unsealed by Los Angeles Superior Court and can now be viewed in unredacted form.

A review of the court file shows that Gibson listed actor Bruce Willis; former Dodgers Manager Tom Lasorda; Steve Jones, the Sex Pistols guitarist and KDLE-FM (103.1) radio jock; and the late film producer Don Simpson, among others.

Willis and Lasorda said through their lawyers that they never used Gibson's service and had no idea why their names appeared in her records. They accused Gibson of exploiting their fame to boost her book sales.

"I have never heard of this woman and don't know why she would accuse me of something like this," Lasorda said in a statement issued by his attorney, Tony Capozzola. "But if she prints these lies, I intend to sue."

Now, it is possible that somebody gave her Lasorda's phone number as a guy who knows good lasagne. But if I'm Lasorda, I keep my mouth shut on this one. Suing her just drags the thing out further.

Labels: dodgers

Long Beach State, who didn't even make the top 25 in Baseball America's preseason poll, is now ranked 19th in college baseball. Go Dirtbags! (And a hat tip to Brian Clevinger, who reminds me that his own alma mater, UC Riverside, is right behind them at #20, the first time since 2003 that the Highlanders have appeared on this list.)

Update: Here's an excerpt from the Aaron Fitt chat:

Q: Jacob from California asks: What is your take on the Dirtbags? Playing a tough schedule and getting some good experience for the young ones.

A: Aaron Fitt: The contrast between Long Beach and UCLA is rather striking. Both have rather young teams dominated by sophomores and freshmen, and both have played tough schedules, but the Dirtbags are 4-3 against the top 25 and UCLA is 3-6 against the top 25. I didn't think there was any way LBSU would be 8-4 at this point in the season against that challenging schedule. Terrific, terrific coaching job by Mike Weathers and his staff so far.

Labels: dirtbags

A stepstool? And, shouldn't that be "two-time ringbearer"?

Labels: angels

Labels: angels, dodgers

Introduction

Those of us who fondly remember KFAC (and its cast of characters) recall that this is not the first time commercial classical radio has left the airwaves in Los Angeles; that Saul Levine was able to resuscitate it for as long as he has was something of a wonder.

But say you hadn't given up on KMZT on the FM dial, that you were interested in listening to what's left at 105.1 HD2. That means you first have to get hold of an HD-compatible radio. That immediately leads to a question:

What Is HD Radio?

Glad you asked.

HD Radio broadcasting is dramatically higher quality audio, far more programming choice and compelling new wireless data services brought to you by your local AM and FM radio stations. No more static, hiss, pops or fades.

There are two kinds of HD radio, then: AM (which claims to provide FM-quality broadcast over existing AM channels), and FM (which claims to provide CD-quality audio and a second digital broadcast using the FM subchannel already available). Both are proprietary products of iBiquity Digital Corporation and have only been approved by the governments of the United States and Brazil. This limited applicability is problematic, for two reasons: first, it is incompatible with the digital standards already adopted by the rest of the world. Second, it uses proprietary technology, including non-standard codecs. That is, iBiquity has managed to saddle Americans with something that could easily become the Betamax of broadcast. You might conclude that this isn't a big deal given that you don't travel to Europe with your radio, but considering how much programming eminates from just south of the border, it's a non-trivial concern. Finally, HD also causes interference for listeners of distant stations who have to contend with a nearer or more powerful station on an adjacent channel.

Would You Like Your HD Radio In Ecru Or Beige?

But the claim that this will lead to more choice needs more investigation. Clearly in the case of KMZT, the obvious answer is that it does, because otherwise LA is still without a country radio station, and there's no commercial classical, either. But in general, it looks more like a case of meet the new choice, same as the old choice. That is, the fundamental problem is that it only really applies for stations that already have a strong signal in your area. And, you have to be accept whatever timid "choice" the national broadcasters are willing to give you. That's because the big boys own the huge majority of LA airwaves:

Owner            Channels
==========================
ABC Radio             5
CBS Radio            10
Clear Channel Radio  11
Emmis                 4
Entravision           8
Radio One             1
Univision Radio       7
Public Radio          7
Other                 5

The "Other" total includes Arte Moreno's KLAA, operating under the name of Radiovisa, and both FM channels of Levine's entity, Mount Wilson FM Broadcasters, Inc. But lest you think I'm one of those raving lefties who loves to gripe about media consolidation (and I think there's an interesting case against it in a circumstance where government has set itself up as a limiter of competition), I will say this in the defense of the present order: at least Clear Channel gives us an all-80's format, something I might even tune in. But in general, the programming on the alternate HD channel parallels that of the analog FM channel. For instance, KROQ has "ROQ Extreme/Active" listed for their HD2 channel, though there are conflicting reports that it's actually an all-80's format. Either one would be a logical spinoff, just as "Classic Jazz" is a logical parallel channel to 94.7's "Smooth Jazz". So, choice, yes, but largely of the hair-splitting kind.

A Dearth Of Hardware

A quick look at my employer's website for home stereo gear that is HD compatible shows just how obscenely difficult it is to find anything. And let's not talk about price: only one of the units, the Pioneer SX-1016TXV, clocks in at under $500 — and even then our specs say it's only "HD ready", which I suspect means either that (a) our tech specs guy was asleep at the wheel when he entered that, or (b) it's of the "yeah, you can hook up an HD Radio tuner to this".

Assume, as I think is reasonable, that you don't want a separate tuner. If that doesn't bother you, then the Sangean HDT-1 might be your speed, and at about $200, the price is certainly right. But for many people — myself included — adding one more piece of hardware to an already cluttered stack is not really feasible. So it's replace or go without.

Which brings me to the Denon DRA-697CIHD, which actually does support HD radio. At $899, it's not exactly cheap, but it goes up — way up — from there. But in all — and I would consider our site to be pretty representative — there's only ten listed products, and of those, only eight that I could really consider for the reasons already given.

To some degree, the limited choice in the home audio market stems from the conscious choice of hardware vendors to support HD radio in car stereos. That's all fine and good, but again, when I went yesterday to Best Buy, I was only able to find two HD Radio-capable units in stock, and those at the higher end of the price scale. The pickings online were appreciably better, although I do have my doubts as to what "HD Ready" really means. Overall, the market seems to be still very immature, it's far from clear that the technology is going anywhere, and for many people, the lack of compelling content is a significant issue.

Labels: radio, tech

• Shea Hillenbrand loves bunnies, and ponies, and wallabies. Remember that when he tries to deck Scioscia during the regular season.
• Arte's only made it to second base with the Angels. But ... getting to third base with Mike Scioscia? There are stories that just don't deserve printing.
• Nick Adenhart may return to AA Arkansas, or North Little Rock, or wherever the heck it is these days.
• Erick Aybar is also getting worked out in centerfield.
• The Angels plan on having Orlando Cabrera bat second and Howie Kendrick bat seventh. Not a great idea if you asked me, but it more or less worked out last year.
• Joe Saunders is likely to go back to AAA once Bartolo Colon returns to service in midseason. It's probably impossible to release Colon because of that Cy Young award he won, but I have a bad feeling Saunders will be the better pitcher of the two if that happens.
• Scioscia thinks Chone Figgins' woes at the plate last year were due to bad luck:

  "With Figgy, there is no question that he attacked the ball better than his stats and average indicated," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "It's just one of those years where he did hit the ball better than his numbers reflected. I think right-handed he wasn't as crisp. He has a nice right-handed swing; he just has to start to get that confidence back."

• Larry Bigbie tried to play through an abdominal hernia and it cost him plenty.
• Jason Repko is running pain-free.
• Vin Scully will receive yet another award, the John Wooden Lifetime Achievement Award.
• Finally, Rotoworld is reporting that ex-Angel and ex-Dodger Steve Finley has a minor league deal with the Rockies. It's a great thing for the Dodgers if he makes the 25-man... c'mon, Steve, retire.

Labels: angels, dodgers

Yeah, I know, I'm the only freak who has his car radio presets on four stations: KMZT, KUSC, and KFWB, and in baseball season, KSPN, but I found it extremely disheartening to discover that classical programming on KMZT is being traded in for country. I had a sneaking suspicion that something like this was in the works when the station's Westside offices (which you can see from the northbound 405 heading into Westwood) were being plastered over by their new callsign, KKGO-FM. Classical programming will continue on 1260 AM (now KMZT), and on 105.1 HD2, whatever that is. Saul Levine, the guy running KMZT, and before that, KFAC*, isn't happy about it:

"After 18 years of programming classical music, which I love, it's been an agonizing thing, something we haven't done on the spur of the moment," Levine said. "I really hope the classical music audience will be understanding. I sympathize with those who will be upset."

I'm sure he's right. It's me and a bunch of grayhairs, I think...

Although the classical music audience might be well-heeled, the advertisers who buy airtime on stations are looking for younger listeners. Levine said much of the KMZT audience is in its 60s, whereas advertisers covet the 25-to-54 age group. He added that KMZT revenue had dropped 80% in the last year, losing accounts with BMW, Mercedes-Benz and AT&T.

Man, that's harsh. I remember doing homework in college listening to the ads for Auto Stiegler in Encino, a BMW dealership, and thinking, yow, they're aiming for an audience that's a lot better-heeled than me. Fight on, KUSC...

---

*No, he didn't. That was an entirely different group.

Labels: offtopic, radio

Because, as Jon put it, I was AWL in the woodshop making a DVD storage case...

Yesterday

Today

Labels: angels, dodgers

I had a brief exchange with the owner of The Baseball Savant which I thought might be interesting to my readership here:

---

Baseball Savant wrote:

Dear Rob,

 

Thanks again for the link and the comment.

 

Good point about Cabrera. Let me ask you, at what point can you no longer tolerate the offense that bad? I guess I was basing my opinion on the fact that Cabrera is no longer a top notch defensive SS and if you base his defensive success agaisnt his offensive failure, you'd wind up in the negative. Obviously you can't judge a player in a vacuum and SS isn't exactly a posistion of abundance, but how much of Cabrera do you tolerate as the Angels organization before think he's hurting the team more than helping it? I know you guys have him for a couple of more years.

 

What do you think about that? Am I looking at that the right way?

 

The weakness of this argument starts when you use OPS+ to judge his offense. A more neutral approach is to use position-adjusted rankings and go from there to figure what he could have brought in the current environment. Let's start with win shares. Here's a list of the top 30 shortstops in MLB ordered by descending total win shares:

+---------------------+----------+--------+--------+
| name                | field_ws | bat_ws | tot_ws |
+---------------------+----------+--------+--------+
| Derek Jeter         |      4.7 |   28.0 |   32.7 |
| Jose Reyes          |      3.1 |   26.3 |   29.4 |
| Rafael Furcal       |      6.8 |   20.1 |   26.8 |
| Michael Young       |      7.7 |   18.5 |   26.2 |
| Jimmy Rollins       |      6.1 |   19.8 |   25.9 |
| Carlos Guillen      |      4.3 |   21.5 |   25.8 |
| Hanley Ramirez      |      5.3 |   19.6 |   24.9 |
| Miguel Tejada       |      5.0 |   18.0 |   23.0 |
| Bill Hall           |      3.7 |   17.2 |   21.0 |
| Omar Vizquel        |      4.6 |   14.2 |   18.9 |
| Orlando Cabrera     |      7.4 |   11.4 |   18.8 |
| Edgar Renteria      |      4.9 |   13.8 |   18.6 |
| Jhonny Peralta      |      7.9 |    6.4 |   14.3 |
| Khalil Greene       |      5.7 |    6.9 |   12.7 |
| Jason Bartlett      |      4.8 |    8.0 |   12.7 |
| Julio Lugo          |      2.7 |    9.9 |   12.5 |
| Adam Everett        |      8.6 |    3.7 |   12.4 |
| Yuniesky Betancourt |      5.4 |    6.9 |   12.3 |
| David Eckstein      |      4.8 |    7.1 |   11.8 |
| Marco Scutaro       |      4.8 |    6.4 |   11.2 |
+---------------------+----------+--------+--------+

Cabrera lives in the bottom half, but in the middle overall, which is what we expected. Of these players --

• Team slaves (i.e., pre-arb): Hanley Ramirez
  
• Under contract: Derek Jeter, Jimmy Rollins, Rafael Furcal, Michael Young, Carlos Guillen, Miguel Tejada, Omar Vizquel, Bill Hall*†, Orlando Cabrera, Edgar Rentaria, Jhonny Peralta*, Jose Reyes*, Khalil Greene*, Jason Bartlett*, Adam Everett*, Yuniesky Betancourt*, David Eckstein, Marco Scutaro*
  
• Free Agents in 2006/7: Julio Lugo

*Team had bought out one or more years of arbitration eligibility under contract.
†Bill Hall is listed as a shortstop but he played multiple positions for the Brewers; the fielding win shares total is therefore a composite.

So Julio Lugo, who is actually a much worse performer overall than Cabrera, both offensively and defensively, ended up with a 4-year/$36M deal with the Red Sox as the offseason's only available top-tier free agent shortstop. Cabrera is actually cheaper and better. Much as I hated on the Cabrera deal at the time, it's also true that he now looks positively cheap. Compared to what Brandon Wood might bring to the table? Maybe even then; I'm very skeptical of Wood's ability to hit the ball consistently enough to have a reasonable OBP. He'll need to show that he can do that in a league where they don't have a mess of hitter's parks. For his first year or so in the majors, I'm willing to go on record as saying that Wood offensively may well be a step down from what Cabrera offers currently.

As to Cabrera's defense... well, his fielding Win Shares show him to be the second-best defender in the league. Of course, fielding statistics vary wildly (all listed as shortstops). Here's Baseball Prospectus's Rate2:

    Player              Rate2
    ==========================
    Jhonny Peralta       119
    Adam Everett         116
    Rafael Furcal        109
    Jimmy Rollins        108
    Khalil Greene        106
    Derek Jeter          106
    Miguel Tejada        104
    Omar Vizquel         101
    Orlando Cabrera      100
    David Eckstein       100
    Marco Scutaro        100
    Jason Bartlett        99
    Hanley Ramirez        98
    Michael Young         98
    Carlos Guillen        97
    Bill Hall             93
    Edgar Renteria        93
    Jose Reyes            89
    Yuniesky Betancourt   91

And this more-or-less agrees with my own estimation of his ability: he's mediocre, not bad. Underneath Cabrera are a number of better-hitting shortstops: Hall, Ramirez, Renteria, Reyes, Vizquel, and Young all outhit him, but none of them (save Renteria) were really available in the 2004/5 offseason when Cabrera was signed. And since Bill Stoneman knew he was going to be moving into service an entire raft of young pitchers, Renteria's suspect defense (he hasn't even been league average according to Rate2 since 2001) wasn't going to be an asset.

Ultimately, the question of liking Cabrera comes down to his durability. It was the major concern that (in my mind, at least) was a good justification for letting David Eckstein walk; so far, Cabrera's been able to stay in the game, preventing the team from installing the far worse Izturis at shortstop on a longer-term basis. Meantime, Eckstein's health problems, while not catastrophic, have definitely lingered. Much as it pains me to say it, Cabrera's signing has been basically a good one, and compared to current market pricing, a positive steal.

Labels: angels

Well, sort of, pointed out by the presence of Jon's boredom with the Pierre Paradox (in my view, why'd he get so much money for so little production, but never mind that), versus the Inside The Dodgers orthodoxy, especially hi-larity like this:

this is hilarious. everyone who talks crap on pierre right now better be on here to say they were idiots when he takes us to the promised land. no one slaps and bunts for hits better than pierre, this is his ideal situation. the guy has a ring and knows the game of baseball. as much as kenny walks he still gets caught looking quite a bit. im not worried about furcal and pierre the least bit, im worried about nomar, kent, and gonzo getting the hits to cash them in. were only gonna go as far as they take us.a breakout season from Mr. 30/30 Matt Kemp and were gonna win the world series.

I mean, don't get me wrong, for an official organ — and this also applies to dodgers.com, by the way — they're darn useful, but at the same time, they seem to have accumulated a certain following of the sort that got me to leave the fan forums over there ages ago. Ick.

Labels: dodgers

And just after we got done yakking with Matt Welch, too...

• Tim Salmon has some hot red wheels, a new Ferrari F430, a gift from his wife, Marci.

  "I'm doing a lot of things I've wanted to do but couldn't because of baseball," Salmon said. "I went skiing for the first time since high school. That's the reason I wanted to get out of the game with my knee in decent enough shape, to enjoy some of the things I want to do."

  ...

  "This next year or so, I'll have to see how everything is going to fit together," Salmon said. "Being here, I enjoy it. They want me to be available to the younger players, and that's an important role because I know what it's like as a young guy. I wouldn't mind doing that, but as far as getting into the nuts and bolts of coaching every day, that's probably not in the near future."

• Tommy Lasorda says a few words, but the more important story is Yhency Brazoban losing weight, recently threw 15 pitches off a mound, and continues to work on his rehab after Tommy John surgery. He hopes to return mid-summer.

Labels: angels, dodgers

Today's Birthdays

The Baseball Savant Previews The Angels

And I'm not just linking to him because he says nice things about me, either; it's a pretty solid preview.

Roster Notes

• Jeff Kent is indifferent about retiring.
• The Dodgers have told Nomar Garciaparra that there's a plan to change the colors of the seats behind home plate so infielders won't lose the ball in the stands.
• D.J. Houlton wants to be a major league pitcher again.
• Speaking of forgotten Dodgers, how about Yhency Brazoban?
• Differing stories on the leadoff spot: from dodgers.com we learn Rafael Furcal will retain the job of leadoff hitter. In the pages of the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, we find Grady Little "changing from one morning to the next".
• Here's a Brandon Wood interview in the Press-Enterprise. Too bad he's contradicting Wednesday's story about when he strikes out:

  Q: Were there any specific pitches that gave you any more trouble than others?

  A: It's just a combination. When I strike out most of the time, I'm getting myself out, swinging at bad pitches. I won't say it's a certain pitch, it's getting myself out and not allowing myself to just hit strikes.

• The Angels are going slow with Jered Weaver for reasons Joe Saunders can identify with:

  After pitching a full season at Virginia Tech in 2002, Saunders was drafted by the Angels in the first round and finished that summer pitching at Provo, Utah and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He gave himself 2 months off after the season, and when he resumed throwing he realized he had some muscle atrophy in his shoulder.

  Instead of trying to rebuild muscle, Saunders tried to pitch through the pain and caused serious damage. He didn't pitch in 2003 as he rehabbed rotator cuff and labrum damage.

  And Bill Stoneman thinks Weaver wasn't sufficiently diligent in the offseason? When did that happen?

  As for general manager Bill Stoneman's assessment Tuesday that Weaver should have done more this winter, Weaver seemed surprised at that critique.

  "I thought I did everything they told me to," Weaver said. "I guess I took a little too much time off. Other than that, everything was good."

• The Rangers will have Eric Gagne on a three-day rotation during spring training, unlike other relievers, who will be throwing every other day. He's also taking less fielding practice, because it adds strain to his back.

Labels: angels, dodgers, spring training

And this time I'll actually provide a link to the top ten prospect list (which I already mentioned in passing on Tuesday) and give their names before I get started. Since this is for the benefit of those who haven't bought the book, I'll leave the top 10 without further comment and highlight items of interest from the scouting reports in 11-30.

1. Andy LaRoche
2. Clayton Kershaw
3. Scott Elbert
4. James Loney
5. Etanislau Abreu
6. Ivan DeJesus, Jr.
7. Jonathan Meloan
8. Blake DeWitt
9. Josh Bell
10. Preston Mattingly
11. Chin-Lung Hu: ... value lies in his glove, and he struggled to make consistent hard contact in 2006.
12. Bryan Morris: ... huge stuff and a funky delivery ... throws across his body ... delivery might have led to his elbow injury. Erratic command... impact potential ... 93-94 mph and bumped 96 in Ogden.
13. Delwyn Young: ... one of the minors' most consistent offensive threats ... led Dodgers minor leaguers in extra-base hits ... bat speed is among the best in the system ... aggressive hitter who looks to pull the ball early in the count and rarely gets cheated at the plate... plate discipline and willingness to walk aren't pluses ...
14. Justin Orenduff: ... had [shoulder] surgery in August ... 88-92 mph fastball and a hard, 81-83 mph [plus-rated] slider ... fringy changeup ... ceiling is back-of-the-rotation starter.
15. Zach Hammes: ... figured things out last year ... pitches exclusively from the stretch ... was up to 97 in Hawaii Winter Baseball ... sits at 92-94. His slider comes in at 81-84 with three-quarter tilt ... command is below-average ... works deep counts and tends to miss up in the zone ... doesn't have exceptional feel for pitching.
16. Steven Johnson: ... led the Pioneer League with 86 strikeouts ... delivery is clean and efficient ... fastball comes in at 90-91 mph ... slider and curveball ... have potential to be above-average ... has a ceiling as a back-of-the-rotation starter.
17. Greg Miller: ... missed all of 2004 and the first half of 2005 with a shoulder injury that required two surgeries... not the same dominant pitcher and lacks consistency, but shows flashes of the velocity and stuff that made him the minors' best lefthanded pitching prospect before the injury ... fastball sits at 91-92 mph, touching 95 ... 80-86 [slider with] a cutter, curveball and changeup ... durability remains a concern.
18. Brent Leach: ... suffers from hyperhidrosis [excessive sweating in the palms] ... 89-91 mph fastball that can touch 93 and a plus breaking ball at 78-81 [both delivered from the same slot] ... has some feel for a changeup ... below-average command ... could move quickly.
19. Cory Dunlap: ... poor conditioning ... hasn't shown enough drive to stay in shape ... advanced approach at the plate ... controls the strike zone, works counts and uses the entire field ... led the organization with a .435 [OBP] ... shows plus raw power ...
20. Mark Alexander: ... had Tommy John surgery [as a high school senior] ... minor league pitcher of the year in 2006 ... relies heavily on his 74-78 mph slider [with a] short sharp break ... He spots his 88-91 mph fastball to both corners, but it lacks significant life or movement. ... meticulous in preparation.
21. Mike Megrew: ... recurring arm trouble eventually required Tommy John surgery following the 2004 season ... 87-89 mph [fastball], touching 91 ... potentially plus secondary offerings in a circle changeup and a high-70's slider ... changeup has occasional plus sink and fade...
22. Ramon Troncoso: ... didn't allow an earned run in the final 13 innings of the season — six of which came in high class A ... 91-95 mph fastball with sink and occasional bore ... secondary stuff is raw, though he added a changeup during instructional league ... slider is hard and lacks depth ... good control but below-average command ... profiles in a middle-relief role.
23. Carlos Santana: ... athletic but his baseball acumen is limited ... above-average bat speed and good plate coverage ... swing has some length ... lateral quickness, hands and instincts are pluses ... solid-average arm behind the plate ...
24. Cody White: ... flippant attitude [before 2006 but] turned a corner ... 88-92 mph fastball that has occasional plus sink ... curveball has good action down and away from lefthanders, and he has a feel for a changeup, which fades from righties ... his calling could be out of the bullpen as a [LOOGY].
25. Kyle Orr: ... biggest tool is raw power ... swing has length and lots of holes ... pitch recognition and plate discipline are unrefined ... plenty of work to do on defense ... first base might be his eventual destination.
26. Xavier Paul: ... constantly tinkering with his approach at the plate and doesn't trust his hands ... average power ... front side often flies open ... best position is right ... plus, accurate arm.
27. Casey Hoorelbeke: ... son of Peter Rivera ... big, durable frame and an aggressive approach to pitching ... 88-90 mph sinker has average life and movement ... 10-to-4 slider is ... fringe-average, as is his changeup ... has solid-average command and value as a middle reliever down the road...
28. Miguel Sanfler: ... compact, muscular frame ... can hit 97 mph, pitches at 92-93 and flashes a power slider with hard tilt, as well as a promising splitter ... fastball has late life ... a thrower ... speaks little English ...
29. Josh Wall: ... some scouts speculated that his dad's contant critiquing became counterproductive ... curveball sat between 72-75 mph and lacked the depth it once showed ... has the frame and tools to develop into a middle-of-the-rotation starter.
30. Wesley Wright: ... "sneaky-fast" [88-91 fastball] ... spike curveball ... has above-average break, with tight, 12-to-6 rotation ... [slider] is little more than a chase pitch ... rudimentary feel for his changeup ... has average command.

Labels: dodgers, minors

The CBC reports that the Angels have signed Howie Kendrick, Casey Kotchman, Jeff Mathis, Dustin Moseley, and Phil Seibel to one-year deals. Terms were not disclosed.

Labels: angels

Time-Warner Cable has new Dodgers On Demand programming for spring training, including a Vero Beach Report, Inside Dodgers Baseball, Player Profiles, and more. Funny, I thought that violated MLB broadcast rules...

Labels: dodgers, tv

Baseball Prospectus has Kevin Goldstein's Top 100 prospect list up; of interest to this blog:

5. Brandon Wood, SS, Angels, 22
16. Clayton Kershaw, LHP, Dodgers, 19
20. Andy LaRoche, 3B, Dodgers, 23
28. Nick Adenhart, RHP, Angels, 21
32. Scott Elbert, LHP, Dodgers, 21
54. James Loney, 1B/OF, Dodgers, 23
78. Erick Aybar, SS, Angels, 23
85. Sean Rodriguez, SS, Angels, 22
88. Hank Conger, C, Angels, 19

For those who can't wait for my Dodgers version of the Baseball America Top 30 prospects, Madboy's Trash Talk has the complete list sans comments.

Labels: angels, dodgers, minors

Brandon Wood has moved to third base according to Doug Padilla at Inside MLB. "Manager Mike Scioscia did say that Wood's days at shortstop have not ended just that they are making Wood more versatile to give him an additional path to the major leagues." Must've been fun for Dallas McPherson to overhear that, now that he's also in camp...

Update: Also via the Times:

"This is really for our benefit and Brandon's benefit," Manager Mike Scioscia said. "If it works out and he can play third, to have that kind of bat coming up and having a position for him could help us.

"We're not giving up on him as a shortstop, and I think that's important; we're very comfortable with his ability there. But right now, as you get up that funnel and get to the big leagues, a lot of times you have to become versatile to get to where you want to be. It's something we're going to look at."

Update 2: More from the Chronicler. And I have to admit that I was remiss not to mention a tip of the Angels cap to newfoundnoise82 for bringing the story to my attention in the first place.

Labels: angels, minors, spring training

Today's Birthdays

God Is A Bullet

• Dallas McPherson has shown up at Tempe despite his inability to perform at third.

  "Right now, we're just waiting for the (disc) fusion to heal," he said. "That'll take roughly 12 weeks, eight more weeks and we'll see from there. Once that bone heals 100 percent, then I can start rehabbing.

  ...

  "It was disappointing," he said. "I had my skepticism about it (the nonsurgical option) working. It's frustrating. I rehabbed it for three months, did everything I could so it was basically my last option - get it done and get back on the field."

  Since the surgery, McPherson said he has talked to other professional athletes who had similar surgeries and returned to play - Dallas Cowboys tight end Anthony Fasano and a Florida Marlins minor-leaguer. That they were able to return was encouraging to McPherson.

  "That's nice to hear," he said. "If he (Fasano) can come back and play football, I've got to believe I have a good prognosis. Everybody is different. Everybody heals different. Football - you get hit but it's only once a week. Being able to do it over and over and over is going to be the test for me, I think."

• The Angels replaced Ivan Lara with Amaury Pi-Gonzalez in their Spanish-language radio booth.
• How Mike Scioscia keeps a loose clubhouse:

  Brandon Wood and Tommy Mendoza went out to dinner with Erick Aybar, Alberto Callapso and Kendry Morales. The ground rules: Wood couldn't speak English and Aybar, Callapso and Morales couldn't speak Spanish. The bilingual Mendoza was the translator. They all took pictures and gave a full report the next morning.

  Other things you didn't know about Mike: he lives on Balboa Island during the season, and he's supposedly lost some weight. His son Matt is catching for Notre Dame, where he begins studies this fall. And even Matt thinks he telegraphs his plays a mite:

  "I usually leave everything at the park. One morning I woke up and (son) Matt looked at me kind of funny and said, 'Another squeeze play?' He was talking about last night's game. I said, 'Yeah, OK, you're right.' But the mornings are fun, to spend time with them before I head back to the park."

• Apparently Orlando Cabrera played winter ball in Colombia without the Angels' permission. At least he didn't get hurt, unlike Brent Del Chiaro, who fractured his finger during fielding drills and will miss six weeks...
• Nomar is a first baseman "at this time", according to Grady Little.
• A's shortstop Bobby Crosby is hitting off a tee without pain.

Labels: angels, dodgers

I knew I forgot something crucial in yesterday's post about the proposed Sirius/XM merger. The reason all this came up was the Times sloppy op-ed about the merger which was essentially, "sure, let 'em":

Federal regulators are notoriously slow to act, yet it took Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin less than half a day to erect a daunting roadblock to the proposed merger of the country's two satellite radio services, XM and Sirius. Within hours of the companies' announcement of their intention to combine operations, Martin issued a statement saying that XM and Sirius "would need to demonstrate that consumers would clearly be better off with both more choice and affordable prices."

...

Martin's statement is inconsistent with the approach the FCC has taken on media consolidation in general. The goal should be to promote choice not in the niche occupied by XM and Sirius, but in the general market of audio entertainment. As Martin and other Republicans on the FCC have often noted, technology is enabling consumers to get radio programming and on-demand audio services in a variety of new ways. That makes the overall market hotly competitive, particularly among national players.

Whoa. Forgotten in all this is the fact that the FCC's restrictions on use of this bandwidth amount to a kind of tacit kingmaker power. The market may be "hotly competitive" in some broad sense, but certainly it isn't even remotely true for satellite broadcast.

Further, it's not even clear that the government is doing everything it can to make terrestrial broadcast competitive. Whether it's the FCC using rulemaking processes to bully low-power FM (which has never really been allowed in truly major markets) or Congress itself threatening traditional fair use rights on the digital broadcasters so often trotted out as an example of competition, the federal government is all too frequently acting like a hired hand of the incumbent protected broadcasters and not as a neutral custodian of the airwaves whose function is to prevent interference. With modern technology, there's no reason why the every single channel on the radio dial couldn't be put to use with no ill effect to the major broadcasters. Allow the merger? Sure, whatever. Just don't pretend that the radio market is anything like "competitive". Congress has seen to that.

Labels: radio, tech

I just got my copy of Baseball America Prospect Handbook 2007; notes therefrom...

The Angels ranked fourth overall in the system rankings, the Dodgers ranked fifth, the latter mainly due to the usual issues corresponding with promotions.

Notes for the Angels:

11. Kenneth Herndon ... A potential workhorse No. 4 starter in the big leagues...
12. Peter Bourjos ... Tom Kotchman went as far as to proclaim him the best defensive center fielder he had coached since Devon White. Bourjos is an easy, graceful runner with good instincts that are evident in his reads and routes ... has a rudimentary feel for the strike zone ...
13. Jose Arredondo ... converted from shortstop to pitcher in 2004 ... opened 2006 in high Class A, wowing scounts ... considering his lack of experience ... dials it up to 97 mph, pitching at 93-94. He's raw and has little feel for pitching ... throws a splitter and slider, which are both fringe-average.
14. P.J. Phillips ... high-ceiling, unrefined prospect ... struggled considerably last year. He has an easy, quick, swing ... can drive balls to all parts of the park ... may require more than 2,000 minor league at-bats before he's ready for a major league role.
15. Hainley Statia ... speaks four languages ... wiry, athletic and instinctual middle infielder with plus defensive skills ... good actions and range ... works counts well.
16. Matt Sweeney ... A standout football star ... has plus bat speed and leverage to his swing, which he repeats well ... will [likely] wind up at first base.
17. Jeremy Haynes ... lively fastball sits in the low 90s and touches 95 ... features plus sink at times... works deep in counts and often misses up in the zone ... has a high ceiling.
18. Terry Evans ... One Texas League scout called him a poor man's Dale Murphy, as Evans does everything well... his approach improved significantly [in 2006] ... though he remains a free swinger... he's an adequate defensive center fielder with average speed.
19. Bobby Wilson ... portly build and unorthodox swing mechanics make many scouts ambivalent ... a tough out ... above-average bat speed and slightly below-average power. ... nimble behind the plate, but his footwork and hands are adequate... some scouts question his durability ... could play his way into an everyday role on a second-division team.
20. Ryan Mount ... patient, has good pitch recognition and uses the whole field ... could develop plus power ... needs to cut down on his strikeouts ... has played most of his career at shortstop, but he lacks the actions and fluidity to remain there.
21. Trevor Bell ... fastball velocity [has dropped from his prep days of mid-90s] ... pitched at 88-90 mph for most of 2006 ... with Orem pitching coach Zeke Zimmerman, Bell improved the tempo of his delivery and found a little more velocity... gets ahead of hitters with his fastball ... profiles as a back-of-the-rotation starter or middle reliever.
22. Rafael Rodriguez ... has been slow to grasp the craft of pitching ... changes in the new labor agreement gave [the Angels] an additional year to see how he develops.
23. Nick Green: ... reliable, durable ... good feel for pitching and the best changeup in the system. His fastball velocity improved this year and sat between 88-92 mph. ... circle changeup has late, hard, screwball-like action with plus sink and fade... mixes pitches well... profiles as a back-of-the-rotation starter.
24. Chris Resop: ... pounded the strike zone in the minors [but] pitched too carefully on the big stage [for Florida] ... 92-95 mph fastball and underutilized curve ... bulldog attitude ...
25. Richard Aldridge: ... dominated low class A hitters in 2006 ... fastball sits at 92 mph [into] the mid-90s, showing some sink and late life. His 78-79 mph slider has 3/4 tilt. It's a plus-plus pitch at times ... shoulder problems have hampered his development ... has a future as a middle reliever or a setup man.
26. Tommy Murphy: ... his swing has holes and his pitch recognition and plate discipline have never has been his strong suit ... might be the Angels' most athletic prospect, and his hand-eye coordination and quick hands enable him to compensate for his mechanical flaws ... has developed into an above-average defender with plus arm strength and speed.
27. Reggie Willits:... has gap power and utilizes a short, quick swing from both sides of the plate ...
28. Barret Browning: ... 86-92 mph [fastball] ... slider and changeup have potential to be plus pitches, though both are inconsistent ... profiles as a reliever [possibly a LOOGY].
29. Mark Trumbo: ... swing was littered with holes as an amateur, and most of them remain ... inability to make consistent contact ... hands are slow ... struggles against left handers... could return to low class A.
30. Phil Seibel: ... could make the Angels bullpen [if his elbow problems are behind him] ... strong suits are fastball [86-88 mph] command, his slider and his makeup ... not overpowering, but he doesn't make mistakes, and he gets outs. ... Should be 100% for 2007.

I'll try and get the Dodgers part of this up tomorrow, but I'm beat and I have to get up early tomorrow to take my car to the shop for a recall.

Labels: angels, minors

Sirius Satellite Radio announced plans to purchase competitor XM Radio, for $4.6 billion. Though there are some who say the companies could stand alone if they had to, the real question is why you would want to do that. Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett says the companies "will have to announce a fairly complicated technology-migration plan", which presumably they have yet to do. As it is, doubts about federal regulators allowing the merger have caused share prices of XM to fall 15% below the bid price indicated by Sirius. Apparently — and I'm not making this up — to get past regulatory concerns, they're going to try the argument that they aren't just about satellite radio.

Supposedly, this will be a good thing for customers and shareholders alike, as Sirius carries NFL but has no access to MLB, and XM has MLB but not NFL.

Labels: radio, tech

Andy LaRoche was the leader in the most recent Baseball America ranking ($) of the Dodgers' farm system. The full top ten:

1. Andy LaRoche, 3b
2. Clayton Kershaw, lhp
3. Scott Elbert, lhp
4. James Loney, 1b/of
5. Etanisiao Abreu, 2b
6. Ivan DeJesus Jr., ss
7. Jonathan Meloan, rhp
8. Blake DeWitt, 2b/3b
9. Josh Bell, 3b
10. Preston Mattingly, ss

Labels: dodgers, minors

Robert Adler, inventor of the remote control, passed away this weekend, at the age of 93; of heart failure. The genius of capitalism, it is said, is not silk stockings for the queen but nylons for the secretary. How do you befittingly eulogize the man whose invention is so ubiquitous that it gave rise to the "couch potato"? To be sure, Adler deserves no blame for what others did with his invention, one of nearly 200 patents he held in his lifetime. "When beggars die, there are no comets seen," Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar; "The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes." A moment with the mute button engaged seems apropos.

Labels: tech

Today's Birthdays

Opt Out Of Your Opt-Out, A-Rod

Murray Chass makes a little mention of J.D. Drew's opt-out clause in his Dodger deal as a troublemaker for A-Rod:

Yes, he could simply not exercise the clause at the end of the season — the seventh in a 10-year deal — but the clause would still be there, looming.

No, A-Rod has to get rid of the clause; otherwise it will plague him for the entire season, and he doesn’t need that distraction. He has enough potential problems that he can’t do anything about.

His agent, Scott Boras, of course, would not allow him to opt out of the opt-out. That’s Boras’s baby. He used it this winter to get J. D. Drew out of the three years he had remaining on his contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and to gain a contract with Boston for $70 million, more than twice the $33 million the Dodgers would have owed him.

Baseball officials and executives of other clubs have suspected that the Red Sox tampered with Drew, letting Boras know that if Drew walked away from the Dodgers, more money was awaiting him.

When I reported these suspicions earlier this winter, Boras was irate, feeling that the accusation belittled his ability to analyze the free-agent market and figure out that Drew would be better off financially by becoming a free agent.

The Dodgers ultimately chose not to file a tampering charge with the commissioner’s office.

One general manager joked that the Dodgers didn’t want to file a complaint because they were afraid they’d get Drew back. But a Major League Baseball official who talked about the possible tampering last week was not joking, saying the Dodgers were furious, spoke to the commissioner’s office and discussed filing a complaint. The official didn’t want his name used because no complaint was filed.

God Is A Bullet

• Derek Lowe for opening day.
• Greg Miller might go back to starting.
• Jonathan Broxton is growing up:

  "I was trying to go out and turn heads and keep everybody to where they'd look at us and try to give us a chance instead of going out and backing down and waiting until it was game time to turn it up," Broxton, 22, said.

  The approach didn't work. Both pitchers began the season at the Triple-A level but quickly made their way to Los Angeles. Broxton was promoted May 1, and Billingsley debuted for the Dodgers in mid-June. Now that they are one year older and have some major-league experience, they're being noticed - for the right reasons.

  "Last year they were like a couple of kids who were battling to impress somebody any chance they got, starting at Day One," Little said. "(Sunday) they went about their business like a couple of major-league pitchers. They weren't fighting every pitch and throwing at maximum effort with every pitch. They were doing their work like they've been in the major leagues for a long time. That was pleasant to me."

  A similar story from the AP.
• Mike Scioscia details the open positions on the Angels roster:

  "I think there's going to be a lot of competition for spots on this club," Scioscia said Monday at Angels training camp. "It's going to be performance that's going to get them playing time. That's where the real competition is going to take place."

  Catcher, first base, third base, and maybe one of the outfield jobs...
• Howie Kendrick can relax now that he's back at second.
• Jered Weaver could be back on the mound as early as next week.
• Jose Mota was extended as the Angels' Spanish-language color man through 2010.
• Eric Gagne threw off the mound for the first time with the Rangers, a 37-pitch session in which he reported no problems.
• Khalil Greene's finger is still giving him trouble even six months after the initial injury.
• Former Angel Bobby Jenks minded his P's and Q's in the offseason:

  "Everybody sits on their couch a half hour a day, at least," Jenks said. "Take that half hour and spend it on a treadmill. Spend it going back to the gym and go on the elliptical. Run. Go outside. Take your dog for a walk. People don't realize those are important things. You lose your motivation.

  "You want to just sit on the couch, but don't do it."

  He also told people at the Chisox Fanfest that he had lost 25 lbs., but turned back on that when he confessed he hadn't weighed himself. Uh...
• And for the love of all that is holy, vote Ron Santo into the Hall. Quick, before they cut off all his remaining appendages.

Labels: angels, dodgers, hall of fame, players, spring training

Labels: funny, offtopic

• Takashi Saito's biggest weapon in his arsenal? The steno pad.
• Chad Billingsley might end up in the bullpen.
• James Loney brought outfielder's gloves to Vero Beach, and will likely be in one of the corner outfield spots.
• Juan Pierre is taking lessons from cranky old Maury Wills.
• Somehow the Mets took pity on former Dodger reserve catcher Sandy Alomar, Jr., and signed him to a minor league deal.

Labels: dodgers, spring training

Er, make that spring training pix, from Brian Clevinger, at Halos Heaven.

Labels: angels, spring training

Today's Birthdays

God Is A Bullet

• Dodger notes from the Times:

  Little says he has determined his leadoff hitter but won't reveal his choice until he's had a chance to talk to Juan Pierre and Rafael Furcal. Pierre is in camp, but Furcal doesn't have to report until Tuesday…. James Loney said he would spend more time learning to play the outfield than working at his natural position of first base…. Saito, who is nursing a strained right calf, threw an abbreviated bullpen session…. Reliever Yhency Brazoban, who is recovering from elbow surgery, threw on flat ground.

• Justin Speier learned discipline as a Marine:

  "It was an awesome experience," Speier said of his time in boot camp at Camp Pendleton in 1991. "It was three months of the most grueling physical, emotional and psychological test you could imagine. To have a drill sergeant yelling at you while you're trying to make it through an obstacle course second to none - it was the toughest thing I've ever experienced.

  "Walking out on that parade deck and graduating as a Marine was the proudest day of my life."

  The first full-squad workout begins tomorrow.

The Score Bard's Five-Liner On Keith Foulke

Now that he's retired.

"It Was Like Being Friends With God"

BCB wraps up their Top 100 Cubs series with a look at Ernie Banks. Included is this sweet story from Bill Bryson:

Once on a hot July afternoon I sat in a nearly airless clubhouse under the left-field grandstand at Wrigley Field beside Ernie Banks, the Cubs' great shortstop, as he autographed boxes of new white baseballs (which are, incidentally, one of the most pleasurably aromatic things on earth, and worth spending time around anyway). Unbidden, I took it upon myself to sit beside him and pass him each new ball. This slowed the process considerably, but he gave a little smile each time and said thank you as if I had done him quite a favor. He was the nicest human being I have ever met. It was like being friends with God.

Via David Pinto.

They Banned The Humidor? And Other Imponderables From Dayn Perry

Via SOSG, Dayn Perry asks ten burning questions about the NL West, one of which is whether the Dodgers will have enough power (probably not, though it may not matter), whether ex-Dirtbag Troy Tulowitzki will be the Rookie of the Year ('twould be cool), an effort that might be made a little easier now that MLB has banned set out uniform requirements for the humidor, a terrible mistake in my opinion. They just ought to contract the Rockies if that's going to be their attitude.

Update: Well, of course. Dayn was probably looking at an older version of that story; they're not banned, just the conditions were being made more uniform.

Labels: angels, dodgers

I knew you'd be thrilled.

Labels: dodgers

Today's Birthdays

God Is A Bullet

• Eric Gagne's done with the Dodgers, but he allows as to how the team might cross paths again.
• The Dodgers signed reserve catcher Kelly Stinnett to a minor league deal. Stinnett is 37, and has played for the Yankees, Mets, Diamondbacks, Brewers, Reds, Phillies, and Royals, mostly in a reserve role.
• Takashi Saito suffered a minor injury; he won't be involved in any running drills for now.
• Andy LaRoche says he feels fine in his surgically repaired (left, non-throwing) shoulder.
• Darren Oliver's new role in relief is unfamiliar to the former starter, but he needs to adjust:

  "He can give you length, but I think Darren is too valuable as a situational guy to use" as a long reliever or spot starter, Scioscia said. "To neutralize some lefties in key situations, you want to have him available. You don't want to burn him for four innings one night when you might need him the next two nights."

  What? A Mike Scioscia-designed bullpen containing a LOOGY?
• At John Lackey's advice, Joe Saunders is going to throw less between starts to help keep him fresh during the season.

  "This is the first year that I've had a spot, but I don't want to put any bad thoughts in their minds," Saunders said. "I know I need to go out there and perform and improve, and I need to get some hitters out in spring training. There's a little bit more, I'd say, pressure to do well in camp."

  Aside: I'm pretty optimistic about Saunders. I'm hoping he'll turn into Kenny Rogers Lite.
• K-Rod had a minor hamstring pull and his going carefully about his business.
• Speaking of Frankie, the Angels have been unable to agree on a multiyear deal with his agent, Paul Kinzer. Neither, for that matter, have the Angels been able to come to terms with Scot Shields on a long-term deal.
• Jered Weaver's still having biceps tendinitis problems and won't be throwing off a mound until next week. An MRI came back negative last week. Weaver rested his shoulder longer than usual after his 2006 campaign, the longest he's ever pitched in his career.
• Kendry Morales arrived in camp yesterday and was taking batting practice.
• Dusty Baker's being a tourist at Disneyland this week; he's recently returned from a goodwill trip promoting baseball in Africa, and is building a house in Sacramento. Of course, he still wants to manage.
• "We cannot eat here": Finally, a story about Yankees pitcher Kei Igawa adjusting to life in the States; he's learning to tolerate U.S. food, and I can wholeheartedly understand that. Some years ago, my mother-in-law went on a tour of Japan at the invitation of one of her employees and their family in Osaka. Before they went out, she asked her hosts to avoid eateries that would offend her southern sensibilities; in particular, she wanted to find places where they could get something besides fish.

  The story goes that they were in a large, multistory shopping mall when lunch hit, and her hostess, Mariko, started looking for food. A quick scan of the menu on the door. "We cannot eat here." Next place. "We cannot eat here."

  Next floor. "We cannot eat here." "We cannot eat here". Lather, rinse, repeat, until the seventh floor, at which point they finally found something, all parties now being thoroughly exhausted. It was a Lesson.

Labels: angels, dodgers

I haven't had a chance to go through them, but here's more photos from Brian Clevinger in Tempe.

Labels: photos

Jeff Sackmann comes up with a novel way to rank farm systems, based on OPS (for both pitchers and hitters). The Dodgers come out on top — but shockingly, the Angels ended up 21st, the only ranking system I've seen that has them in the bottom half.

Labels: angels, dodgers, minors

No online link for this one, as it came in from Tim Kurkjian's notes column in the current issue of ESPN The Magazine (Feb. 26, 2007):

Eric Gagne, who signed a one-year deal with the Rangers in December for $6M, wasn't ready for January minicamp. Uh-oh. Gagne told the dodgers how great he felt last spring, then missed most of the season with an elbow injury.

It could mean nothing, of course, and it could be misreported, but who in the room would be in the least bit surprised to learn he was misrepresenting his medical status — again?

Labels: players