It’s that time of year again.

It’s the time of year when Baseball America reveals which teams have the best farm systems and the worst. Baseball America also does an update of their rankings around the spring time.

If there is one good thing (amongst many) about the end of the Steroid Era in Major League Baseball it’s that there has been a re-emphasis by teams on the development of young players and improving their minor league system.

Teams have gone from trading young players like hot cakes in the 90’s to holding on to them for dear life in the late-2000’s. With the economy in a rut and free agent spending down, teams are holding on to draft picks and their own talent more than ever.

Back in the 90’s, GM’s for the most part didn’t care about giving up a first-round pick in order to sign a Type A free agent. Now, that is not the case.

Here are the teams that Baseball America has ranked as having the done best job of developing and holding on to their prospects and the worst job of developing and holding on to their prospects.

Five Best Farm Systems

1. Rangers: Neftali Feliz has a special arm and could still be an impact starting pitcher, but if he’s not, he has already shown the ability to be a shutdown reliever. The Rangers’ pitching depth remains impressive, as lefty Martin Perez earned top prospect honors in the low Class A South Atlantic League in his first full season.

Texas’ top signed draft pick, right-hander Tanner Scheppers, showed premium stuff in the Arizona Fall League, and the system has power lefties in Kasey Kiker and Robbie Ross. Texas lacks depth in terms of hitters, but switch-hitting first baseman Justin Smoak isn’t far away from being able to help a lineup that needs it.

Davis leads the Rays farm system

2. Rays: Talk about top-heavy. Every system would love to have two big league-ready right-handers like Wade Davis and Jeremy Hellickson, who both have stuff, command and success at the upper levels. And neither of them is even the Rays’ top prospect — that honor goes to five-tool center fielder Desmond Jennings, whose only issue is durability.

In between Triple-A and low Class A, the Rays are a bit thin, but they have a bevy of power arms at the lower levels, led by left-hander Matt Moore.

3. Giants: San Francisco has two elite talents in catcher Buster Posey and left-hander Madison Bumgarner, both of whom should contribute to the major league club in 2010.

The Giants also have depth, despite the uncertain status of slugger Angel Villalona, who was stripped of his U.S. visa after an off-season murder charge in his native Dominican Republic. San Francisco has shortstop options, some solid bats (such as outfielder Thomas Neal) and solid depth, but it’s really about the stars.

4. Phillies: Philadelphia had the depth to trade for Cliff Lee and still have a top-flight farm system. Outfielder Michael Taylor has hit .333 over the last two seasons, rocketing to Triple-A, and fellow outfielder Dominic Brown has better tools, though he’s still a bit raw.

Righty Kyle Drabek, son of the former Cy Young Award winner Doug Drabek, has three above-average pitches to go with excellent athletic ability. Beyond their Big Three — all of whom have performed at Double-A or above — the Phillies are bursting with young power arms, toolsy Latin American infielders and athletic outfielders, such as Anthony Gose.

5. Indians: Cleveland has traded many of the key players from its 2007 playoff team. That’s cold comfort to Tribe fans, but many of the prospects acquired in those trades now give the Indians one of the game’s top farm systems.

The organization’s top arms, right-hander Jason Knapp and left-hander Nick Hagadone, both were trade pickups, with Knapp coming from the Phillies in the Cliff Lee deal and Hagadone from Boston as the key piece in the Victor Martinez trade.

Catcher Carlos Santana, acquired from the Dodgers for Casey Blake, is a switch-hitting offensive force who was the MVP of the Eastern League in 2009, and 2008 first-round pick Lonnie Chisenhall reached Double-A in his first full pro season.

Five Best Worst Systems

26. Nationals: They have the best prospect in the game in No. 1 draft pick Stephen Strasburg, plus solid talents in catcher Derek Norris, right-hander Drew Storen and shortstop Danny Espinosa. Beyond that, though, the Nats have very little help, especially at the upper levels, which is a pity considering the state of the big-league roster.

27. Diamondbacks: Years of conservative drafts have left Arizona painfully short on athletes, especially up the middle of the diamond. Plus top prospect Jarrod Parker, a right-hander drafted third overall in 2007, will miss next season after having Tommy John surgery.

28. Blue Jays: Toronto would be No. 30 if not for last summer’s Scott Rolen trade, which brought needed pitching talent from the Reds. Toronto’s top hitters, such as infielders Justin Jackson and Kevin Ahrens and catcher J.P. Arencibia, had poor seasons in 2009, and the Jays also failed to sign three of their first four draft picks this year.

29. Cardinals: Ranked eighth last spring, St. Louis traded away both star power and depth in 2009 in acquiring Matt Holliday and Mark DeRosa. What’s left is a bunch of role players and 2009 first-rounder Shelby Miller, a promising right-hander but a prep pitcher who has yet to play a full season.

30. Astros: Houston has added solid talent in its last two first-rounders, catcher Jason Castro (2008) and Jiovanni Mier (2009), as well as ‘08 supplemental pick Jordan Lyles, a promising right-hander. But the Astros’ system is full of holes — it hasn’t produced a team with a winning record since 2007.

If you look at the five worst farm systems, the one that really sticks out to me is the Nationals. When you are bad on the field and perhaps have just as bad farm system–then you have a major problem.

What this tells me is that it is imperative that Strasburg, Storen, and perhaps Bryce Harper pan out. If not, this team could start spinning their wheels like the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals.

Not surprised to see the Astros on this list. The Astros are one of the few teams in baseball, who still operate like it is 1998–bloated contracts at the major league level and very little emphasis on player development.

All team rankings and prospect information is courtesy of Baseball America, via SI.com.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Tommy Henrich, a great, but under-remembered, Yankees star passed away today at the ripe old age of 96.  Here’s an AP article with the highlights of his career, which included the first walk-off homerun to win a World Series game in 1949 and being the batter who reached first base on Dodger catcher Mickey Owen’s passed ball in the 1941 World Series, the most famous moment of that championship series.

Henrich isn’t remembered nearly as well as a he was a generation ago, when there were more people alive who had seen him play.  The good thing about being a lesser star on the Yankees in the period from 1920 to 1964 is that you got to play and win a lot of World Series and get some glory at the time you played.  The down side is that after the people who saw you play pass on, no one remembers you for the forest of titans who wore pinstripes, like Ruth, Gehrig, Dickey, Berra, Dimaggio, Mantle, Maris and Ford.

Do many fans today remember Tony “Poosh ‘Em Up” Lazzari even though he was a tremendous player in his own right and was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1991?  Lazzari had the curse of having to be the second best Italian American ballplayer to come out of San Francisco during his era.

A couple of things prevented Henrich from putting up the kind of career numbers that might make him better remembered today.  First, he played for the Yankees system at a time when it was the deepest in its history.  When Henrich broke into the majors in 1937, the Yankees and the Cardinals had a strangle hold on minor league talent, with more than fifty (that’s right — 50) minor league teams between them.

The result was that the top Yankees’ farm team in this era was generally as good or better than the weak sisters of the American League, the Philadelphia A’s, the Washington Senators and especially the St. Louis Browns.  As a result, many major league caliber players were stuck playing for Yankees (and Cardinals) farm teams in the American Association and International League (both the Yankees and the Cardinals frequently fielded teams in both of these leagues, which would now be considered AAA leagues, at the same time).

The upshot for Henrich was that he didn’t reach the majors until he was age 24.   If he had signed with a bad or mediocre major league team, he likely would have reached the majors two or three years earlier.

Also, like most the players of his era, he lost three full seasons to military service (he was in the Coast Guard) during WWII.  It came right in the heart of his career, just after he had established himself as a great major league player.

His best regular seasons were 1941 (when he hit 31 HRs, third in the AL behind Ted Williams and another under-remembered Yankee great Charlie “King Kong” Keller; Dimaggio finished fourth with 30 dingers) 1947 (when he led the AL in triples and scored 106 runs) and 1948 (when he led the AL again in triples and runs scored (138) and drove in another 100 runs).

Henrich was no Dimaggio, but he did everything pretty well (hit for a decent average, hit for power, ran well and got on base).  He was the kind of lesser star the Yankees always (or, at least since 1920) have had lot of, who helped fill out the power-house Yankees teams of yester-year and today.

It’s a great time to be a backup player in the majors these days.

So far this offseason, we have seen Andruw Jones, Omar Vizquel, and Alex Cora sign contracts. Now we can add another backup player to the list of players who have signed a contract.

According to Todd Zolecki, the Philadelphia Phillies have signed Brian Schneider to a two-year, $2.75 contract to be their backup catcher to Carlos Ruiz. Schneider spent the last two years with the New York Mets.

Schneider is headed to Philadelphia

When the Mets traded Lastings Milledge to the Washington Nationals for Schneider and Ryan Church before the 2007 season, I thought it was a good trade for the Mets.

Milledge was the Mets top young player at the time, but he is a clown and I have seen hundreds of Milledge types in my day. The Mets were getting back two professional ball players and with Schneider, they were getting a serviceable major league catcher.

The Mets got what they expected out of Schneider in 2008. Schneider hit .257 with nine home runs and threw out 33 percent of the runners trying to steal against him.

However, in 2009 like most of the Mets players, Schneider suffered through an injury plagued season. Schneider missed 41 games with a lower back injury and his average plummeted to .218 and his OPS dipped to .627.

I like this signing by the Phillies. Would I have given him a two-year deal? It’s debatable.

Schneider is four years younger than Paul Bako and three years younger than Chris Coste (Coste recently signed with the Mets), who were the Phillies’ backup catchers last season. Schneider’s .345 caught stealing percentage in 2009 is also better than both of them.

Of course knowing the Mets luck with players once they leave Flushing, Schneider will hit .280 with the Phillies and throw out 50 percent of the baserunners trying to run against him.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Will Willingham be on the move? (Keith Allison/Flickr)

First you have Willingham, a talented 30-year old outfielder who never gets any national attention due to the fact that the only two teams he has ever played for are the Marlins and Nationals. But despite playing for the hapless Nationals last season, Willingham put up a .260/.367/.496 line with 24 homers and 61 RBI while constantly playing hard on every play. This is just the type of player that the Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves are in the market for. The only question now is whether or not the Nationals are interested in moving him.

On the other hand, the cash-strapped Rangers look to be freeing up some money this off season by possibly moving their ace Kevin Millwood. Millwood had a strong season posting a 13-10 record, 3.67 ERA and 123 strikeouts last season. Thoughts are the Rangers would like to give themselves a little extra money to try to bring in free agent starting pitcher John Lackey to head up their rotation. One team believed to have inquired about the veteran righty was the Milwaukee Brewers who themselves are looking to bolster their rotation.

At this point these rumors are in early stages so it will be interesting to see if anything develops.

[Update 11/30/09 @ 7:32 PM: The Baltimore Orioles have apparently inquired about Kevin Millwood to help bolster their rotation. This would help give the Rangers salary space to go after Lackey as mentioned above or possibly slugger Jermaine Dye.]

For me, Thanksgiving is the best holiday of the year. It’s one of the few times of the year when all bets are off when it comes to food. Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie.

It doesn’t get any better than that.

Thanksgiving is also the time of year where we give thanks to what we have in life. It’s no different for all 30 teams of Major League Baseball. Each team has something they can be thankful for.

NL East

Philadelphia Phillies: The Phillies should be thankful that they have one of the best GM’s in the game in Ruben Amaro Jr. A GM who doesn’t get nearly the credit he deserves.

Atlanta Braves: The Braves should be thankful the Minor League Player of the Year, Jason Heyward is on his way. The kid looks like a star.

Florida Marlins: The Marlins should be thankful they are getting a new stadium in 2012. Maybe then they can keep their young stars like Josh Johnson

New York Mets: The Mets should be thankful that 2009 is finally coming to an end. 2010 can’t be much worse.

Washington Nationals: The Nationals should be thankful that new GM Mike Rizzo has more of a clue than former GM Jim Bowden

NL Central

St. Louis Cardinals: The Cardinals should be thankful for the fact that they get to watch the best player in the game on a day in and day out basis.

Chicago Cubs: The Cubs should be thankful that after so many years of being labeled “lovable losers,” they are finally dedicated to winning. Whether or not they are making the right moves to win is another story.

Milwaukee Brewers: The Brewers should be thankful that they have an owner in Mark Attanasio, who runs a small market team, but has a big market mentality.

Cincinnati Reds: The Reds should be thankful that Jay Bruce, Drew Stubbs, and Joey Votto are young stars, who should provide a solid foundation for the future.

Houston Astros: The Astros should be thankful that Wandy Rodriguez established himself as a solid No. 2 starter in 2009.

Pittsburgh Pirates: The Pirates should be thankful for the fact that GM Neal Huntington has the team moving in the right direction. The Pirates are making the right moves to compete in the future.

NL West

Los Angeles Dodgers: The Dodgers should be thankful for Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp, who appear to be the foundation of the Dodgers’ offense for years to come.

Colorado Rockies: The Rockies should be thankful that they have one of the best and exciting young teams in baseball. The Rockies have finally figured out how to win in Colorado.

The Giants should be thankful for Lincecum

San Francisco Giants: The Giants should be thankful for being able to watch Tim Lincecum every five days. His unique delivery continues to amaze fans and baffle hitters.

San Diego Padres: The Padres should be thankful that it appears that they will not be trading star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez.

Arizona Diamondbacks: The Diamondbacks should be thankful that Brandon Webb is making progress and looks to be healthy in 2010.

AL East

New York Yankees: The Yankees should be thankful that they are the Yankees. No other team in professional sports has the advantage they have.

Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox should be thankful for their minor-league system, which allows them to trade for players like Victor Martinez and potentially Roy Halladay or Miguel Cabrera.

Tampa Bay Rays: The Rays should be thankful that they have the most athletic team in baseball and after so many years of losing, they have a winner in Tampa.

Toronto Blue Jays: The Blue Jays should be thankful for the fact they got to watch Roy Halladay pitch in a Blue Jays’ uniform for the last 12 years. He will go down as the best player in franchise history.

Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles should be thankful for that after so many years of not having a clue, they are moving in the right direction. Matt Wieters, Adam Jones, Brian Matusz, and Nick Markakis provide a solid foundation for the future.

AL Central

Minnesota Twins: The Twins should be thankful for Joe Mauer. When it is all said and done, I believe he will go down as the greatest catcher of all time.

Detroit Tigers: The Tigers should be thankful for Mike Ilitch. Despite a ravaged economy in Detroit, Ilitch does his best to put a winner on the field in the Motor City.

Chicago White Sox: The White Sox should be thankful for employing Ozzie Guillen. His press conferences have provided baseball fans with hours of comedy. Oh yeah, the guy is a pretty good manager.

Kansas City Royals: The Royals should be thankful that there is only more year left in the Jose Guillen era in Kansas City.

Cleveland Indians: The Indians should be thankful that Grady Sizemore, Carlos Santana, Azdrubal Cabrera, Matt LaPorta, and Shin-Soo Choo provide hope for the future.

AL West

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: The Angles should be thankful for that they have one of the best run organizations in baseball. The job Arte Moreno and Mike Scioscia have done in Anaheim has been impressive.

Seattle Mariners: The Mariners should be thankful for the fact that if they make a couple of solid moves this offseason, they could win the AL West in 2010.

Texas Rangers: The Rangers should be thankful for GM Jon Daniels. His trades and drafting over the last four years have the Rangers poised to make a run at the AL West crown in 2010.

Oakland A’s: The A’s should be thankful for Andrew Bailey. The 2009 AL Rookie of the Year and a great year and should anchor the backend of the A’s bullpen for years to come–or at least until Billy Beane trades him.

I would like to give thanks to all my readers for taking the time out of their days to read my blog. For that, I am truly grateful.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO EVERYONE AND THEIR FAMILIES!!!

Getting all but one first place vote, Joe Mauer became the fifth Minnesota Twin to win the AL MVP.  Hitting .365, playing gold glove worthy defense behind the plate.  It’s hard to argue with the selection – I can’t, he was my pick, too – because there just aren’t that many players like this guy.  Mauer decided to take advantage of the count when he it was in his favor and added power, enough to lead the AL in batting, on base percentage, and slugging percentage.  Amazing, really…  [ESPN and others...]

Tom Verducci had a vote and explains it for Sports Illustrated…

Ken Rosenthal discusses his vote for Fox Sports…

The real challenge will be this offseason or next when the Twins have to try and keep Mauer around, especially since Mauer has to be worth about $20 million per season on the open market.

And in Other News…

Omar Vizquel signed a one -year deal with the Chicago White Sox.  Vizquel expects to be a mentor to infielders Alexei Ramirez and Gordon Beckham.  [ESPN]

The Nationals say that Stephen Strasburg, who missed his last start in the Arizona Fall League, won’t need surgery on his twisted knee.  Dcctors say it’s a dislocation of the joint and he just needs some rest.  [SI]

The Associated Press released notes suggesting that Ken Griffey Jr. could earn as much as $3.9 million after incentives for the 2010 season.  [ESPN]

The Cubs signed lefty reliever John Grabow to a $7.5 million, two-year deal.  Grabow is a solid eighth-inning guy (though he can pitch in any inning from 5 through 9) who earned the contract after a year with 70 appearances for both Pittsburgh and Chicago.  However, personally I’d be leery of anyone coming off a career high in appearances and a career ERA over 4.00…  [SI]

Cuban Aroldis Chapman has fired his agent, signing with the Hendricks Brothers, agents who represent players such as Andy Pettitte.  Edwin Mejia, of Athletes Premier International, had helped Chapman escape from Cuba, setting up residency in Andorra so that Chapman couldn’t be drafted and would be signed as a free agent.  One expects a lawsuit for tampering in the very near future.  [ESPN]

Look for Roy Halliday to play out the string for Toronto, knowing that he will either be traded or become a free agent after the 2010 season.  Toronto brass fully expect Halliday to hit the road.  [ESPN]

The Marlins and pitcher Josh Johnson couldn’t iron out a deal, and per ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, it’s because Johnson wants a fourth year if he signs a long-term contract.  The Marlins are prepared to deal with arbitration, but tried to get Johnson to sign a three-year deal.  Johnson was trying to get a deal similar to the four-year, $38 million deal the Royals gave Zack Greinke.  [ESPN]

Speaking of Marlins named Johnson, the ESPN rumor mill has Nick Johnson getting plenty of interest in the free agency market.  Johnson had a .477 OBA after arriving in Florida in a late season trade with Washington.  Among the suitors?  Boston, Washington, the Mets, Giants and Orioles.  [ESPN]

Let’s stick with stories about my fish…  Former Angels prospect and Marlins minor leaguer, Dallas McPherson, signed a minor league deal with the Oakland A’s.  At 29, McPherson is past his prospect days and has missed two of three seasons with back problems.  [ESPN]

Finally, Peter Gammons compliments the management of the Marlins for winning with a payroll that, over four years, has spent less money – nearly a third less – than the Mets spent in 2009.  [ESPN]

Quick Hits…

Jermaine Dye says he is open to playing first base.  I’d be more worried about how his production fell apart after the all-star break, so this is just something to make him seem more valuable on the free agent market. [MLB]

After signing Chris Capuano and John Halama, two pitchers who have missed time due to injury and really haven’t been on the MLB radar in two or three years, the Milwaukee Brewers are showing interest in Carl Pavano.  There just aren’t enough 4.50 ERA guys with bad backs and shoulders to go around, I guess…  [MLB]

Happy Birthday!

Hall of Famer Joe Medwick was born on this day in 1911.  Joe never liked his nickname “Ducky”, which was shorted from “Ducky Wucky”, which might help explain his surliness…

Others celebrating with cards, cake, or rememberances include:  George Burns (1889) – a fine lead off hitter with the Tigers back in the day…, Billy Rogell (1904), Danny Ozark (1923), Jim Northrup (1939), Fred Beene (1942), Steve Yeager (1948), Randy Velarde (1962), Cal Eldred (1967), Ben McDonald (1967), Al Martin (1967), Dave Hansen (1968) – who could probably STILL lace a single pinch hitting for the Dodgers right now…, and Joel Guzman (1984).

Joey Votto; Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Tristan H. Cockcroft ESPN.com has released his preliminary rankings for the 2010 top 200 fantasy players. Clearly this list will change based on offseason movement and injuries before March, but it’s never too early to start preparing your fantasy draft. Here are the players with Kentucky ties on the list:

• 41) 1B Joey Votto — Louisville Bats — Cincinnati Reds
• 44) 3B Mark Reynolds — Pikevilly, Ky. — Arizona Diamondbacks
• 58) OF Adam Dunn — Louisville Bats — Washington Nationals
• 90) INF/OF Ben Zobrist — Lexington Legends — Tampa Bay Rays
• 100) OF Hunter Pence — Lexington Legends — Houston Astros
• 114) OF Jay Bruce — Louisville Bats — Cincinnati Reds
• 136) SP Wandy Rodriguez — Lexington Legends — Houston Astros
• 145) SP Brandon Webb — Ashland, Ky., UK — Arizona Diamondbacks
• 146) 2B Dan Uggla — Louisville, Ky. — Florida Marlins
• 177) 2B Felipe Lopez — Louisville Bats — FA

You can see Cockcroft’s full list here.

Stephen Strasburg must really not want to have people see him pitch on a national level.

Strasburg missed the nationally televised Arizona Fall League Rising Stars game because of a strained neck muscle last month. And now he is going to miss his start on Saturday in the Arizona Fall League championship game.

That game will be televised on the MLB Network as well.

Strasburg will miss his start Saturday

Strasburg will miss his start on Saturday because of a twisted left knee. That just sounds painful.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft hurt his knee during a workout on Thursday. But don’t worry Washington Nationals fans (all five of you), the injury is not considered serious.

When Strasburg hasn’t been injured in the Arizona Fall League, he has pitched pretty well. In five starts, Strasburg is 4-1 with a 4.26 ERA and 26 K’s in 19 innings for the Phoenix Desert Dogs.

Of course there will be some people out there who will say “Oh great, the guy is injury prone.” Those people need to relax.

This is no big deal.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

Tim Lincecum won the NL Cy Young in one of the closest votes yet, just seven points over Chris Carpenter – and the guy with the most first place votes, Adam Wainwright, finished third.

Not a whole lot of difference between the three (and even Danny Haren, who deserved consideration).  I’ll be honest, I don’t know how I would have voted if given a shot.  Lincecum is awesome, really, so it’s hard to vote against him.  From what I have read, Carpenter’s finishing second had to do with his missing time during the season.  Even Lincecum missed two starts, but he was there pretty much all year.

SI’s Ted Keith argues that Lincecum is worthy of Hall of Fame consideration.  He makes a valid point.

Quick Hits…

The last two players to file for free agency, with bidding on players starting today, were Andy Pettitte and Fernando Tatis.  In case you were keeping score, the number of major leaguers eligible who filed for free agency is 171.  [ESPN]

Stephen Strasburg will miss the championship game of the Arizona Fall League to nurse a twisted knee.  No way the Nationals will jeopardize his future, huh?  [ESPN]

The Royals have reached terms with free agent pitcher Brad Thompson, formerly in the St. Louis Cardinals chain.  Thompson isn’t close to being a long term fix – he doesn’t strike people out (180Ks in 385 innings), though he has decent control.  With a team that struggles defensively, Thompson will give up a lot of hits.  Though his career record is 21 – 17, most of that is being fortunate to be on the Cardinals.  At best he is a long reliever who can eat up innings in losing causes.  [FoxSports]

The Arizona Diamondbacks acquired Aaron Heilman from the Cubs for two prospects.  Heilman isn’t a bad seventh inning, long reliever type, but he’s never really taken that next step forward.  The Cubs get first baseman Ryne White.  (He’s a Chicago native, born in 1986 – hence that familiar first name…)  White is a Purdue grad, a little power and a good eye, but his batting average needs to get north of .300 to be a serious prospect.  We’ll see if he can take a step forward at A+ Daytona or AA next year.  The other prospect is a pitcher, Scott Maine.  Maine went to the University of Miami and was moved quickly up the ladder in the D-Backs chain because he strikes people out and has decent control.  He pitched well at AA and AAA in 2009,  but my guess is that he’ll start 2010 in Iowa and wait for a chance.  He’ll be on the roster soon, though – and could be a potential eighth inning guy.

Torii Hunter will have surgery to repair a sports hernia, but should be ready for Angels spring training in February.  [MLB]

Could Kansas City host the 2012 All-Star Game?  We down here in Florida, would prefer it to be at our new stadium (if it’s done by then), but we can wait until 2013 and let the good people of Kansas City enjoy a party at the refurbished “K”…  [MLB]

Happy Birthday!

Kenesaw Mountain Landis was born on this date in 1866.  He either saved the game or held it back, depending on the issue…  Landis helped get gambling out of the game following the scandals of the 1910s, but he helped prevent blacks from integrating the sport at the same time.

Others celebrating with cake, cards or rememberances:  Andy Coakley (1882), whose shove injured Rube Waddell’s shoulder prior to the 1905 World Series, Rick Monday (1945) – my brother’s first favorite ballplayer – and his teammate Jay Johnstone (1945), Alex Arias (1967), Gabe White (1971), J.D. Drew (1975), and Cub outfielder Sam Fuld (1981).

Reports have it that the Braves are hoping to trade Derek Lowe this off-season.  For some reason, I find the idea of the Braves thinking they can find someone to take Lowe and his outrageous contract off their hands in this economy very amusing.

I thought signing Derek Lowe last off-season for four years at $60 million was a very poor decision.  I could certainly understand why it happened: the Yankees signed the top two free agent starters C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett to enormous contracts, and Lowe appeared to be the Best of the Rest.  Also, Lowe was represented by Scott Boras, who always seems to get top dollar for his free agents.

Nevertheless, giving Lowe that much money over that many years going into the season in which he would be 36 years old just wasn’t a wise decision.  Lowe really didn’t have a bad year in 2009.  Aside from the 15-10 record, he pitched 194.2 innings with 63 walks and 111 K’s.  His 4.67 ERA wasn’t pretty, but given that he was moving from Dodger Stadium to Turner Field, it pretty much matches the rest of his 2009 numbers and what you would reasonably expect from a good pitcher going from age 35 in 2008 to 36 in 2009.

The problem, of course, is that Lowe will be 37, 38 and 39 the next three seasons, and somebody (mostly the Braves, I suspect, even if they do find a trading partner) will have to pay him $15 million for each of those seasons.  I’d guestimate the odds of Lowe having a better season in any of the next three years than he had in 2009 at about one in three or two out of five.  He wasn’t worth $15 million in 2009, what with the Braves finishing a disappointing 3rd in the NL East, so the odds aren’t good he’ll be worth $15 million a year at any time in the future.

One of the problems the Braves have in looking for someone to bite on Lowe is that most of the teams dumb enough to make a trade this unsound (the Pirates, the Royals) don’t have the money to take on a contract like Lowe’s (or even two-thirds of it).  The Nats are the only team I can think of who have some money to spend and not enough sense to avoid a player like Lowe like the plague.  They’re also desparate for pitching, so if I were the Braves GM, I’d be on the phone with the Nats GM trying to convince him that Lowe is the “veteran presence” the young Nationals’ pitching staff needs.

Well, baseball season is now been over a couple of weeks,  but the AAA season ended here on September 4th.  What began in March with an exhibition games between the Orioles and Nationals and ended with a win over the Gwinnett Braves was a memorable season.  I have done other posts analyzing the the season which ended with the Tides having a 71-71 record.  This is a photo journal of the season from my seat at the Church of Baseball Harbor Park Parish, the view from 102.

Peace,

Padre Steve+

Opening Day, postponed one day the Tides home opener was played on a beautiful day

Tides 1st Baseman Michael Aubrey on Deck in the Dessert Camouflage Jersey

Tides vs. Rochester Red Wings

Harbor Park at Night

Michael Aubrey about to go Yard

Home Run Trot after the Hit

Manager Gary Allenson in the Dugout

Tides pitcher Jake Arrieta  delivering the pitch

Conference on the Mound

Barry the “Scorekeeper” my fellow Parishoner

Gwinnett Braves Player registering his displeasure on a called third strike

Swing and a Miss

Joey Gathright lays down a Bunt

Scouts for other teams doing their work

Harbor Park Entrance

Charlotte Knights Manager Chris Chambliss after a visit to the mound

Susan Komen Breast Cancer Night Catcher Robbie Hammock delivers a Grand Slam

Right Fielder Jeff Fiorentino the Tides Home Run and RBI Leader Blasts a s 3 Run Homer

Rain Delay

Lonely Vigil…if this was a football game he would fit right in

Tarp Covering the Field

Elliott the Usher

Victor Diaz at the Plate

Jeff Fiorentino Hits a Laser to Right

Marty the Card Dealer

Called Strike

Lead Off

Joey Gathright out at Home

Gary Allenson Arguing His Point

Bartolo Colon Delivers a Pitch for the Knights

Jeff Fiorentino Takes Bartolo Colon Yard

Andy Mitchell Sends on Across the Plate

Downtown Norfolk from Harbor Park

Tides President Ken Young and General Manager Dave Rosenfield

Ground Rules

Chip the Usher

Strike out

Moon Over Harbor Park

Kenny “Crabmeat” the Pretzel Guy

Run Scores

Jolbert Cabrera Down with a Season Ending Broken Ankle

Scout From Japanese Major League Yokohama Bay Stars

Ray and His Crew of the Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter who Man the Beer Stand Behind the Plate

Base Hit

Terri The Usher for Section 100

Rip Tide Helping the Grounds Crew between Games in a Double Header

Megan the Official Team Photgrapher

Braves Catcher Asking First Base Umpire to See if the Batter went Around

Mugging With Rip Tide

Post Game Fireworks

Japanese Film Crew Filming the “Samurai Umpires”

Gunning down a Runner

Last Home Game of 2009

Congratulations on a Final Home Win

Harbor Park Waiting for Next Season

“It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart.The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.”A. Bartlett Giamatti

All Images Property of Padre Steve c.2009

Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. None.

That’s the likelihood that John Lackey, 2010’s blue chip free agent, ends up with the Washington National’s ball club.

But that’s not what some would have us believe. Today MLB.com’s Nationals beat writer Bill Ladson announced that the Nationals will be bidding for the services of the 31-year-old righthander.

Well, duh. I have $3,000 in my savings account and I’m in the damn bidding.

The Washington Nationals can certainly afford to sign John Lackey, don’t get me wrong. Earlier this offseason, Austin Kearns’ shouldn’t-have-done-that salary came off the books and catcher Josh Bard and hurler Livan Hernandez followed him into the free agent pool shortly thereafter. Dmitri “Da Meathook” Young also departed and reliever Ron “Suitcase” Villone packed his bags once again, too.

All in all, it’s expected that the team will free up nearly one-quarter of its $62 million payroll from 2009. For around $15 million per season, it is hypothetically possible they could lock Lackey down to a five or six year deal, which is inline with what he’s supposedly demanding.

Still, General Manager Mike Rizzo will have to outbid the deep pockets of the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, and New York Mets, all of which own payrolls at least twice as large as the Nationals.

But there’s other factors too. The main one being: the Washington Nationals are a terrible team.

Lackey has played for a World Championship contender for the past eight seasons. He has pitched in five different playoffs; 60 percent of the time he’s been a member of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, he’s reached the postseason. Hell, the guy has even won Game 7 of the World Series.

Now, it would be really cute to imagine a world where John Lackey signs with the Washington Nationals and they immediately reach the postseason. But unfortunately, we live in the real world and that isn’t likely to happen anytime soon.

Mr. Rizzo stated that Lackey might want to become a Washington Natinal (intentional) because :

We think with the additions of an Adam Dunn, a Josh Willingham and Nyjer Morgan, it’s going to attract some veteran players. These guys know what we are doing here. It’s all over the league where we are at and what we are trying to do. I think they can see this is the beginning of a good, exciting ballclub.

Yeah, a good, exciting ballclub that has lost 100 games in consecutive seasons. Yeah, a good, exciting ballclub that cites Josh Willingham and Nyjer Morgan as reasons to come join a perennial loser. I’m sorry, Mr. Rizzo, but you lost me at “Adam Dunn.”

The only way John Lackey suits up as a National in 2010 is if he decides to perform charity and “mentor” the likes of Jordan Zimmermann, Ross Detwiler, and Stephen Strasburg. It’s certainly going to take something or someone drastic to improve a team pitching staff that ranked 16th in wins, ERA, shutouts, hits allowed, earned runs allowed, and base-on-balls.

But once again, it’s really just sweet dreams to imagine a sport where ace pitchers doom themselves to perpetual loser-dom.

If John Lackey touches Washington with a 10-foot pole, I’d be surprised.

Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. None.

No chance.

He didn’t win 20 games, but that’s because without him, the Royals were 49 – 89…  Even with him, the team didn’t always help Zack Greinke out.  Check out his game log – he should have been undefeated in April and May, but he got saddled with a loss in a game he allowed one run in eight innings – one of seven starts where he allowed two runs or less and didn’t get the win.

However, the voters got it right – the best pitcher in the AL last year, heck the best pitcher in baseball last year, was Zack Greinke.

Finishing second was Felix Hernandez, a worthy contender who had his best professional season, followed by Justin Verlander who carried the Tigers on his back during the late stages of the season.

Remember when Zack Greinke was a source of frustration for the Royals?

Joe Posnanski did, and his article for SI telling the story of how Greinke dealt with a severe anxiety disorder is pretty darned good.

Hot Stove Notes…

Remember Eric Gagne?  He pitched independent baseball in Canada for 2009 and wants to make a comeback…  As a starter.  [MLB]

Miguel Tejada may be a free agent, but the Astros are open to having him come back – possibly at third base, too.   Meanwhile, rumors that John Smoltz might be in their plans aren’t necessarily true.  [MLB]

Matt Holliday is a coveted free agent, but apparently not coveted (that much, anyway) by the Angels.  [MLB]

Washington wants to upgrade the rotation (and Lord knows they need to) and have expressed an interest in John Lackey.  [MLB]

Philadelphia’s Chan Ho Park said that if he had his choice, he’d rather be a starter.  As someone who watches him pitch, I’d think he would be most successful getting a paycheck as a long reliever.  [MLB]

Aubrey Huff and Jarrod Washburn were short term Tigers, and won’t be resigned by Detroit.  [MLB]

Cubs reliever John Grabow has filed for free agency, but the Cubs want the lefty reliever to stay if possible.  [MLB]

Kip Wells is the only Reds player to file for free agency.  For whatever reason, I seem to see him every spring in Florida and he’s awesome, but once April hits, he’s rather beatable.  (Except by the Marlins…)  Anyway – he might get a minor league contract, but I’d be surprised if we see him beyond 2010.  [MLB]

Randy Johnson filed for free agency, so it’s possible we might see him one more time…  His arm is ready to fall off, having missed half of 2009, but you never know.  I’ll miss the big guy once he decides to retire…  [MLB]

The Yankees declined an option on pitcher Sergio Mitre, who now is eligible for arbitration.  If he gets a job following a season missing time for banned substances and having an ERA approaching seven, that’s plenty…

Happy Birthday!

There are only a couple of players left in the majors older than I am (how sad!), led by Jamie Moyer – a former Cub – who turns 47 today.  Keep going, Mr. Moyer – you’ll never get this chance again!!!

Others celebrating with cake, cards, or rememberances include:  Deacon McGuire (1863), Jack Coombs (1882), Les Mann (1892), Rocky Nelson (1924), Gene Mauch (1925), Roy Sievers (1926), Cal Koonce (1940), Steve Henderson (1952), Luis Pujols (1955), Dante Bichette (1963) – I can still see his shot after hitting a game winning homer on opening day some years back on ESPN, Ron Coomer (1966), Tom Gordon (1967), Gary Sheffield (1968), David Ortiz (1975), C.J. Wilson (1980), Travis Buck (1983).