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Gossip Guy

The New York Daily News gives us this blind item:

Which formerly awesome Major League pitcher can the blame loss of shoulder strength on years of smoking pot and one drug-addled incident where he had to carry a passed-out date up three flights of stairs? His fastball hasn't been the same since.

Any guesses?

(un)watchable?

In one of the great threads ever at YFSF, Nick asked our readership who they most like to root for and against, and who they would trade to their rival or take from their rival if given the opportunity.  In a fit of unoriginality, I am taking that question and altering it slightly: who are the players you least like to watch or most like to watch.  This may be a subtle difference from Nick's inquiry, but there are players I really dislike that I love to watch (late-career Roger qualified) and players that I like that I can't stomach to view in action (Tim Wakefield certainly qualifies on that list, perhaps unfairly?).  There are many reasons for this "watchability factor": technique, form, visage, gutlessness, likelihood of implosion, etc.  So, who are they?  We want names and detailed explanations. It's subjective, no judgments will be rendered.  At least not at first.

My starter list (Sox-centric, for obvious reasons), sure to expand, is after the jump.

Dumbest Discussion Ever

While flying on JetBlue this morning, I took advantage of their DirecTV service only to have to listen to four ESPN talking heads actually have a heated discussion over whether baseball should implement, get this...

Sudden death extra innings.

Seriously. Skip Bayless came out unapologetically for it, citing the travesty of last night's 22 inning affair in San Diego.

The Year of the Pitcher?

As noted below, through 12 games, the Yanks have barely scored half the runs that they had at the same point last season. It's tempting (and reasonable) to look at the make up of this year's Yankees for an excuse (and also to remember just how torrid Alex Rodriguez was to open the season last year.) However, the Yanks have also faced quality pitching from every team they've played, and not just from the front-of-the-rotation types. Are teams across the league getting smarter about pitching? Keeping a better eye on peripherals, eschewing the mediocre veterans in favor of young arms coming into their potential? Is it something random? Is the ball different? Last year, average MLB era was 4.46. AL was 4.51. NL was 4.43. This season? So far, a substantial drop: MLB is 4.03. Al is 4.05. NL is 4.01. That's nearly half a run per game--a huge change. Small sample aberration? Or is something going on?

Worth Reading

Dan Turkenkopf goes deep attempting to break down catcher pitch framing.

SABR ♥s YFSF

We are taken seriously. Seriously. The latest SABR bulletin arrived in our mailbox yesterday, and what do you know, there we are—"Yanks Fan vs. Sox Fan"—noted for our discussion of the ideas in the new Baseball Research Journal, specifcially articles on the gyroball and the value of top prospects. Anyway, this is a case of mutual affection; if you're a baseball fan, you owe it to yourself to join SABR.

'He Is Not a Clutch Player'

This has nothing to do with the Red Sox or Yankees, but it sure is funny.

HT: BBTF

Movin' On Down

In what I would say is a surprise to most Red Sox fans, the Sox no longer are the second-highest paid team in baseball.

Here's the Top 5 payrolls, courtesy the Globe.

1. N.Y. Yankees -- $209,081,579
2. Detroit -- 138,685,197
3. New York Mets -- 138,293,378
4. Boston -- 133,440,037
5. Chicago White Sox -- 121,152,667

Also, consider the bottom five:

• Washington -- 54,961,000
• Pittsburgh -- 49,365,283
• Oakland -- 47,967,126
• Tampa Bay -- 43,820,598
• Florida -- 21,836,500

What these 10 payrolls tell me is that it remains hypocritical for fans of teams in Detroit, say, or Chicago to complain about the alleged Yankee-Red Sox duopoly. True, the Yankees lead the second-place Tigers by more money than 11 teams' payrolls, but that hasn't exactly led to more championships, has it? Yet the Tigers, one of those "poor" teams just a few years ago, are now spending loads of money in their quest for a world title.

Also, it highlights the flagrant abuse of the luxury tax and revenue-sharing system MLB has in place to help small-market teams. The Rays and A's are exceptions, as they seem to have concrete plans in place. But $21 million for the Marlins? Less than $50 million for Pittsburgh, or less than $55 million for a Nationals team that just opened a new ballpark? Never mind catastrophes like the Twins, Orioles and Rangers, who pay nothing to their players, receive nothing in return, yet (presumably) rake in money that goes nowhere but the pockets of the teams' ownership.

Owners need to be held accountable for the money they're receiving from teams like the Red Sox and Yankees. On this, Hank Steinbrenner and I agree. We are seeing an opposite effect from what was intended -- rich teams in big markets are spending more and more money, but poor teams in small markets are content with mediocrity in exchange for the free money provided by the rich.

Smile If You Sac

Is this the best April Fool's Day prank since Sidd Finch wandered onto the pages of Sports Illustrated, lo so many years ago? It's tempting to think Alan Schwarz and his friends at the NYT Science desk are toying with us. But probably not.

Dream Team, Emphasis On the Dream

Tony Massarotti says the Yanks' and Sox' reluctance to trade Johan Santana could cost them when Toronto's deep rotation takes the AL East crown this season. Like many people -- including myself -- have done, Massarotti compares a potential Santana deal to the 1997-98 Pedro Martinez trade-and-sign the Red Sox pulled off -- a move that changed the franchise.

Don’t people remember? Back then, the Cleveland Indians were the elite team in the AL, the kind of power the Red Sox are now. The Indians had won two AL titles in the span of three years. After losing the 1997 World Series in seven games to the Florida Marlins, the Indians had the chance to acquire Martinez from the Montreal Expos in exchange for a budding young phenom named Jaret Wright.

Never mind the slightly inaccurate rendition of history (Jaret Wright, at least according to Baseball America, was not as highly thought of as Clay Buchholz -- or even Carl Pavano, whom the Sox sent over for Pedro), this is  a nugget I hadn't known.

Can you imagine the team Cleveland could have had in 1999? Manny Ramirez's 165 RBI, .333/.442/.663 season, Jim Thome's 141 OPS+ and Pedro Martinez joining a young Bartolo Colon (127 ERA+) to lead the rotation. Wow. Chalk that non-trade into the "Oops!" column.