A Boy Named Seo

Vargas is a Dirtbag. I used to watch him pitch here for Long Beach State. Second Met, I think. Trachsel was one also.

Well Colletti didn't, but you're right just the same. Ned said he was pissed because after the playoffs, Drew gave him every impression he wanted to be back, and I guess Colletti started forming his offseason plan accordingly. But, yeah, you give a guy the option to change his mind, you can't really be upset when he does.

Drew got a lot of flak out here for his McReynolds-like perceived aloofness and unfairly, I think, for being a devout Christian. People absolutely questioned his competitiveness and whether he isolated himself too much from his teammates. Ned Colletti even took a swipe at him and his faith in the papers when he found out Drew opted out of his contract. "I know J.D. is a spiritual guy and a man of his word. I guess he changed his word. You learn never to be surprised when you're dealing in this arena. People change their minds. People change their word. They move on." I don't want him because 1) he's another lefty, 2) he'll likey cost a lot more and for a lot longer than Pee Hands, and 3) despite Alou's injury issues, Drew's way more brittle and has missed a lot more time than Moises over the last few years, as well as over the length of both of their careers. Screw Drew.

Stocks are up. Nomar stays in LA for 2 years, $18.

That Soriano thing is outlandish. Alou for 1 or 2 years at a fraction of the price and length of what Soriano got, and what Lee and to a lesser extent Drew will probably get, may not be so bad. Moises had a higher OPS than all 3 last year. Just have to keep the old dude healthy.

I don't think anyone's reporting 2 years plus an option, but, yeah, that would be insane. Thankfully we kept Valentin and signed Easley to keep the team's average age down.

ESPN's backed off their report of the 2-year deal (they were citing Newsday as the source), but Newsday's still running with it. ESPN: ]The deal, worth about $8 million to $9 million, would contain an option for 2009. Alou would have to pass a physical before the contract is finalized. The negotiations were disclosed by a baseball official who spoke on condition of anonymity because talks were ongoing Newsday: ]The deal could be announced as soon as this week, and it is believed to be a two-year contract worth as much as $8 million annually.

ESPN: ]Reports: Mets close to signing outfielder Alou ESPN.com news services At the end of the Mets' playoff run last season, Cliff Floyd said he wanted to return to the team. It now looks like New York will replace their oft-injured left fielder with a player who was also hobbled much of last season. Multiple media outlets in New York reported on Saturday that the Mets were close to completing a deal with free agent Moises Alou. Newsday said the deal would be for at least two years at $8 million annually. The 40-year-old Alou batted .301, hit 22 home runs and drove in 74 runs for the San Francisco Giants last season. But he played in only 98 games due to a variety of injuries, including a back strain. Floyd, who is also a free agent, is coming off Achilles tendon surgery. Alou decided not to entertain offers to return to the Giants, in part because the team did not renew the contract of his father, manager Felipe Alou. Jeepers creepers.

Those tree-trunk legs punishing a pair of well-built roller blades during ST.

Ben Johnson might be this year's Nady. Ex-Padre, cheap, talented, still not in his prime, but has frustrated SD enough that they're okay letting him go, and like he got with Nady, Omar gets an able-bodied, right-handed, power-hitting outfielder that adds depth to the OF situation. That 2005 season for AAA Portland for Johnson looks like something nice to build off of. Adkins looks like a warm, pile of doodie. No offense to Jon Adkins or warm doodie.

Bill Plaschke of the LA Times on Drew's decision: ]This contract was never a good buy, so good riddance After two years of floating transparently through Chavez Ravine summers, J.D. Ghost has finally done something with passion, with strength, with heart. He quit. He ordered his agent to tell the Dodgers on Thursday that he was opting out of a contract that was undeservedly lucrative and generously long. He walked away from a stunningly guaranteed $33 million because it wasn't enough. He walked away from a team that spent two years coddling and protecting him because a supportive clubhouse wasn't enough. He walked away from a city that blindly embraced and supported him because Dodgers fans weren't enough. He did all of this only a few weeks after publicly saying he wasn't going anywhere, because his word wasn't enough. In a flourish never before seen from the softest player on the planet, J.D. Drew flat quit. The move was legal, fair, Scott Boras-brilliant, and stunningly brash. Who knew the Ghost had it in him? "He wants out. He can have out," said Ned Colletti, Dodgers general manager. "If he's moving on, we're moving on." Boras, Drew's agent, was surprised at Colletti's anger, saying this was just business. "I never said anything like that when he didn't exercise the option on Eric Gagne, it works both ways," Boras said. I'll confess, I'm having a hard time writing this while doing a butter-churn dance, high-fiving strangers and digging up Christmas music. Losing J.D. Drew is the best thing to happen to the Dodgers since they lost Milton Bradley. His disappearing act was as disruptive as Bradley's disturbances. Keeping him in the lineup was as difficult as keeping Bradley out of trouble. Sure, he led the team with 100 runs batted in last season, but do you remember more than a handful of them? In two years he averaged 109 games, 18 homers, 68 RBIs and dozens of funny looks from teammates who never quite understood. He missed games with strange pains and hidden soreness. He missed games simply because the manager didn't want to push him. Never once did he express anger that he wasn't in the lineup, even in the final week of this season's playoff push. Never once, it seemed, did he fight to get on the field. The Dodgers will not miss a presence they never had, a power they never felt. They can take the $33 million that he just dropped in their pockets � $11 million annually � and use it to get stronger and tougher and better. A couple of days from now, Colletti will realize that giving up the Ghost is the best thing that could have happened. But he's angry now because the Dodgers did back flips to keep this guy happy. He's angry because the Dodgers were caught by surprise. He's angry because if he had known this earlier, he could have planned better for an off-season that will now be as nuts as last winter. "You don't just go to the Rotisserie room basement and pull another guy off the table," Colletti said. So the question remains, why did he leave? He didn't return The Times' phone calls Thursday night, so we'll have to guess. Everyone, including Drew, thought he was happy here. Late in the season, he told the Orange County Register's Bill Plunkett he was staying. "At some point, you make those commitments, and you stick to them," he told Plunkett. Colletti referred to that story with a sigh. "I'm surprised how it came down," he said. "Everything that we had heard � indicated that the player loved being here." Boras publicly agreed with that. "There's no question he was happy in L.A.," he said. So was it all about the money? Considering Drew instantly becomes the third-most attractive free-agent outfielder for teams that will gladly ignore his issues, much of it is. "If you have a five-tool outfielder who drove in 100 runs in a rather weak center-field free agency market, that matters," Boras said. But apparently it was also about the warm fuzzies. Insiders are saying that Drew truly did it love it here, until the season ended and he realized that not everyone in the organization loved him. He heard the rumblings that the front office was tired of the coddling. He grew weary of media that kept applying the heat. Drew is the sort of player who hates the hassles that come with being a star. He wanted to go somewhere and do what he does best � disappear. By the end of the season, he apparently realized that the longer he was here, the more impossible this disappearing act would become. Increasingly, the Dodgers weren't afraid of no Ghost. So Drew climbed on Boras' back and took the leap, while Colletti rubbed his eyes in shock that such a mild player could act so maddeningly. In the end, there's no reason for anger by anyone. Drew was just exercising his rights. Boras is just doing his job. The Dodgers eventually will get what they want. None of this was illegal or unethical. If you want to be upset, be upset at former general manager Paul DePodesta for giving Drew such a misguided quit clause in the first place. On second thought, give DePodesta a standing ovation. The Dodgers have finally rid themselves of � what's his name again? Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.

]2) Garciaparra - probably will re-sign with LA, but, despite health concerns, is the kind of bat i'd love to have at 2b. 3 yr/$27m, ($33m with incentives). Nomar barely made it through one year in LA at first base. I don't think there's any way he could play in the middle of the infield again and not have his legs explode. I don't think he's a real option (especially for 3 years) and bet he ends up somewhere else with a similar 1-year/$10 mil deal like he got last year. I think the Dodgers are ready to go with James Loney and would be be surprised if he would up back there either.

Is Mota the first guy to fully accept getting pinched and not blame it on poppy seeds, flax seed oil, or some hopped-up wheat grass smoothie?

]The reason you don't want the WC playing the champ from its own division is that it creates the situation where a team proves over a 162 game sked that they're the better team ... and then is asked to go prove it all over again in a best-of-5. That's telling folks that the reg season doesn't mean so much fromt he sport that has managed to maintain the most integrity for its reg season. I guess, but for example, if a team who won 87 games and the WC has the chance to play and beat a 97-win team from their division in the playoffs, be it the first or the second round, for me, does kinda say that the regular season isn't all that important. Maybe I'm in the minority there. ]Fans are overwhelmingly in favor of having a WC team in the playoffs but then seem to want to rig the format so they won't advance. If you're not willing to keep them out entirely, IMO, then you've got to treat them as equals once they're there. I agree there are fans who overwhelmingly want the WC and fans who want to make it tough for the WC to advance, but I'm not sure they're the same people. I'm not crazy about the WC, but since we do have it, I think the WC team should have every disadvantage. ]- On the other hand, I'd be in favor of inputting the double-WC/1-game play-in format which treats the WC team(s) as lesser entrant by making them go through an additional (1-game) round. I think that idea is pretty good, too, but would still like to see a best-of-7 in the first round.

]You have a lot of points here, and don't even mention how the two travel days in seven advantage a weaker pitching team. The realistic side of this is that two more games pushes the World Series two --- or more likely three --- days deeper into Winter. The broader issue here is that we have to buy back some days in the calendar by scheduling double headers (another thing that rewards pitching depth, by the way), at least six times a year per team. Yeah, you're right. If they scheduled more doubleheaders and nixed some playoff travel days, they could expand the first round and still get the playoffs over a bit earlier than they do now. With all the rainouts this postseason, FOX and MLB proved that they can operate successfully without a travel day. Axe the first travel day between games 2 and 3 (play five straight, if necessary) and start the games a little earlier. The turnaround time would be the same for the teams and the network, but more fans would be able to watch the games, the playoffs would come closer to simulating a regular season environment, and one less travel day per series helps to "buy back" a calendar day. As for the ads behind home plate- I get the reason they do it and I'm fine with it, but the way they do it now looks ridiculous and is distracting to me. If they want a Budweiser Select sign back there, then have a rotating sign installed that switches between innings or have two people run out and change it during a TV break. It's not that difficult.

metirish wrote: Seo, with you living in Long Beach aren't the start times fine with you...5:19 kick off in Cali,the ALL-Star game should never decide who has home field advantage...but Selig loves it so i don't see that changing....I'm surprised the Union didn't try to get that changed. Yeah, the start times are great for me, but if kids east of me can't stay up late enough to watch the World Series, they're probably not going to give a crap about baseball one way or another as they grow up.

Not totally, but I still don't like a few things about the structure. The first thing I hate is the best-of-5 first round. One of the reasons that good baseball teams are good is depth (particularly starting pitching depth), and to a large degree, the 5 game series neutralizes it. Baseball's not the NBA where there's not much difference between a first round best-of-5 or a best-of-7. Extend the first round to 7 games so that the traits that make these teams great over a long haul (depth and resiliency in addition to talent) remain at the forefront. I'd also eliminate the rule that says the wild card team can't play the team from their own division. Considering the wild card winner was a second place team, they should be at every disadvantage come playoff time, and if the best team in the league happens to be from their same division, so be it. The late start times are ridiculous. Move them back. I like day games as much as the next guy, but realize most people can't watch a weekday day game. At least make the night game something families can watch from start to finish. Let the team with the best record have home field in the World Series. The All-Star game thing is dumb and should be put to bed with interleague play, whose novelty died years ago and whose only purpose now is to kill the intrigue and mystique that would be there in the World Series if the two leagues didn't play during the regular year. Lastly, ban green screens and superimposed, computer-generated advertisements behind home plate. This isn't NASCAR. It's the fecking World Series. If you must hang an ad, don't make it look like a George Lucas set which distracts from the game. Get on it, Bud.

Opening Day 2002: Shea in '64: John Franco's garden (bitmap): http://hackwilson.org/pics/shea29_franco_garden.bmp Post-9/11 staging area: 9/21/01:

Jay Howell pulled a similar stunt and was ejected in '88. If it were the Mets out there, I really would've wanted Willie to check it out, especially if it could mean a Rogers ejection and immediate suspension if he was cheating, which, c'mon, he was cheating. That gleaming white superimposed Bank of America ad in the second inning was so horrible I actually wrote to FOX Sports and told them so.

I'm trying to find a better picture, but have come up empty so far. The Diamondbacks are shedding the purple and teal colors they were born with in favor of Sedona-inspired "brick red and tan". They're keeping the "A", but going with a new logo and script for the uni front and a new ugly-ass "db" logo for the sleeve. Ack.

That's an awful big swing for such a little man.

4 innings in and Ollie has (knocking on wood) been remarkably consistent: 61 pitches, 44 strikes (including the intentional walk to Pujols). That's 72% strikes. When he misses on a fastball, it looks like he's going to fall over. Wonder if him pitching on short rest is keeping him from overthrowing more? Whatever, keep doing it, please.

Limp Bizkit? I was sure you'd drop some Kenny Loggins on us today.

"I took my girlfriend and my family out for dinner last night during the Mets game. It was bollox, but I have to show my family a good time. There was a TV in the corner and so I asked the host to sit us close to that, but he was a wanker and sat us on the other side of the restaurant. At that point, I didn't give two fiddler's fucks about my chicken parm, I just wanted to see the game!"

Pinstripes. Blue fuckin' hats.