Splicetoday: American League Fantasy Sleeper Outfielders

Brennan Boesch of the Detroit Tigers must be a very happy man right now. Prince Fielder and Jim Leyland were the main beneficiaries of Detroit’s nine-year/$214 million deal with Fielder, but as the number two hitter in the Tigers lineup Boesch could be in line for a breakout season. Boesch received a lot of publicity during his rookie campaign in 2010 as he clubbed 14 homers and drove in 67. He posted an even better performance in 2011 but was largely overshadowed by teammates Miguel Cabrera, Justin Verlander and Doug Fister.   Continue reading

Splicetoday: Dan Duquette's Island of Misfit Toys

The Detroit Tigers shocked the baseball world earlier this week by signing free agent Prince Fielder to a nine-year contract for $214 million. The wisdom of the Fielder signing will be debated endlessly but there is no debating the commitment to winning exhibited by Tigers ownership.  While Fielder was packing his bags for Motown the Baltimore Orioles announced that they had agreed to a two-year deal with free agent infielder Wilson Betemit. Such is life for an O’s fan. Continue Reading

Splicetoday: Marketing slogans for the Pitiful Baltimore Orioles

The long winter may have just begun in Baltimore but Orioles fans have been suffering from overexposure for more than a decade. The Dan Duquette era has started as the Andy MacPhail era ended, with a whimper. The team lacks reliable options at second and third base as well as designated hitter. The Orioles’ projected rotation would have trouble competing in the International League. In the ultimate cock punch for any Orioles fan the Washington Nationals have reportedly emerged as the favorite to sign free agent slugger Prince Fielder. Continue Reading

Splicetoday: Time for Cubs to bite the bullet and rebuild

The start of the Theo Epstein era in Chicago has been marked by rampant speculation, but little action. To this point the Cubs have added free agent outfielder David DeJesus and traded for Rockies washout Ian Stewart, and that's about it for the positive side of the ledger. Continue reading

Who the hell is Mat Gamel?

If you've never heard of Mat Gamel don't feel so bad.  His major league career to this point hasn't been much to write home about.  That could all change in 2012 if Prince Fielder leaves Milwaukee in his rear view mirror as expected.  Gamel is the in house replacement for the Brewers slugging free agent first baseman.  Milwaukee signed Aramis Ramirez to a three year deal last week that all but ended the club's hopes of retaining Fielder.  The 26 year old Gamel has actually logged playing time with the Brewers in each of the past four seasons.  He has yet to distinguish himself in limited MLB action but he has terrorized AAA pitching.  In 290 career games at the AAA level Gamel has slugged 53 homers, driven in 214 runs and posted an impressive .886 OPS.  Gamel, the Brewers fourth round pick in 2005, figures to get first crack at the big club's first base job in Spring Training.  He could be a fantasy sleeper in 2012.  With the looming suspension of Ryan Braun the Brewers will be counting on Gamel to be a power threat early in his Major League career.

The Week that Wasn't

Arte Moreno and his Angels didn't get left at the alter by a free agent as they have so often in the past.  When the Angels lost out on Carl Crawford last Winter they traded for the untradeable Vernon Wells.  I'm sure if Albert Pujols had returned to the Cardinals Theo Epstein would have raced to Jerry DiPoto's suite with a case of Sam Adam's Winterfest, some hot wings, and Alfonso Soriano's contract.

While the news of the past week centered around the Angels going for broke (perhaps literally) and signing Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson the other slugging free agent first sacker is still...well, free.  Prince Fielder is rumored to have the interest of the Cubs, Rangers, Blue Jays and Mariners.  The only people happier than Pujols and agent Dan Lozano after Albert's staggering deal with the Angels are Prince Fielder and agent Scott Boras.   Fielder is four years younger than Pujols and will almost certainly be gunning for a 10 year deal.  Good luck with that.  

Prince Fielder could be hurt by the track record of his equally famous and rotund father, Cecil.  The senior Fielder pretty much crapped out after his age 32 season in 1996 when he was productive enough  to break my heart with a playoff homer against Mike Mussina.  Fielder posted a .768 OPS in '97 and a .725 in '98 before calling it quits.  He was out of the big leagues at 34.  Prince is currently 27 but any contract over five of six seasons carries great risk.  Too bad the Angels aren't looking for a DH.

Yu Darvish has finally been posted by the Nippon Ham Fighters (lord i love typing that).  We likely won't know the winning bidder until sometime next week.  Given that the Blue Jays, Rangers, and Cubs are involved with both Fielder and Darvish we probably won't see the Fielder market heat up until Yu's destination has been determined.

Jimmy Rollins is still hanging out there as a free agent.  The Brewers opted to sign Alex Gonzalez to be their new shortstop.  The Cardinals spent $14 million for two years of Rafael Furcal for some odd reason.  I'll assume they lost a bet.  The Giants seems to be crying poor.  It's a foregone conclusion that Rollins returns to Philly, but his agent is the aforementioned Lozano so anything is possible.

Splicetoday: Orioles may get older and slower

The Baltimore Orioles, as any casual baseball knows, have several areas of need. The most glaring are the starting rotation and the middle of the lineup. Baltimore currently has a collection of number four starters and number six hitters. The team desperately needs premium talents at several positions if they ever intend to contend with the current core group of players. Continue reading

Splicetoday: Cardinals Have Options If Pujols Departs

The market for free agent first basemen Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder has picked up as baseball's winter meetings approach. The Chicago Cubs are rumored to have interest in both sluggers. The Rangers, Angels and Nationals could be in the mix for Fielder. Continue reading

The Week that Wasn't

To this point this blog hasn't been much more than a repository for my contributions to other sites.  I hope to change that in the coming weeks.  I say "hope" because with two kids, two jobs, and freelance assignments it will be difficult.  I suppose you make time for things that are important to you so we'll see how important this is to me in the coming weeks.

Today I present to you the first installment of "The Week that Wasn't" which will really just be a roundup of all the crap that didn't happen in the past seven days.  Here we go:

• Red Sox still do not have a new manager.  Suddenly the Orioles don't look so bad.  They haven't even conducted the most disorganized candidate search/interview process in the AL East this off-season.  The Red Sox are quickly turning into a punchline.  It seems thet clearly relied too heavily on the candidate list prepared by the now departed Theo Epstein.  The convoluted nature of this search makes it look like ownership doesn't fully trust new GM Ben Cherington.  It may also be giving us a glimpse into why Epstein bolted for the Wrigleyville.  (Hint: it wasn't the deep dish.)
• Albert Pujols is a free man, for now.  Pujols paid a visit to the Marlins a few weeks back but apparently the initial offer wasn't to his liking.  I still think Pujols returns to the Cardinals, though probably for something less than $200 million.  
• A Prince without a throne.  The market hasn't really heated up for Prince Fielder.  The Angels, Rangers, Cubs and Mariners are rumored to have interest in the slugger.  At one point last Summer I would've bet a mortgage payment that Fielder ended signed with the Cubbies.  Now I'd be surprised if he did.  I think the Rangers look like the most likely landing spot for Fielder as they are very clearly not going to be giving a big contract to C.J. Wilson with the move of Neftali Feliz to the rotation.  
• Uncertainty still surrounds Yu Darvish.  The Japanese right hander has still not been posted by the Nippon Ham Fighters.  The speculation now seems to be that he will be posted.  The bidding process will be interesting to follow.  Will Theo Epstein forget about the Dice-K debacle and submit a winning bid for Darvish?  Will the Red Sox do the same?  Will Brian Cashman get off his butt and actually get a decent starting pitcher behind CC Sabathia?  And yes, I was a big SOAP fan as a kid.  

Splicetoday: Would $444.5 Million Make the Orioles a Contender?

The Baltimore Orioles’ new GM Dan Duquette has his work cut out for him. He was out of Major League Baseball for nine years before the Orioles pulled him off the scrap heap recently and tasked him with turning around a team that has spent 14 years mastering the art of losing. Only time will tell if Duquette has the power to make lasting changes but history suggests he’s probably just along for the ride.  Continue reading