Valadius

Exactly.

Fine with me.

There needs to be more choices than that. I would prefer option A, but with only one catcher, and ten pitchers.

Yancy Street Gang wrote: ="MFS62"]Hmm, he has nice numbers against Glavine and Hampron. Hampron? I can't tell if that's a typo or one of those Valadius nicknames that I just don't get. LOL. Looks like a typo. That wouldn't be my style, anyway.

We need to begin to make a commitment to keeping our young core intact. Going through arbitration would only cause tension between Reyes (or Wright, Heilman, Seo, Diaz, etc.) and management. Sign them to multiyear deals that increase in salary every year, such as a gradual increase from $2 million to $6 million in Reyes' case.

I voted for D-Wright a few hundred times. Or was it one hundred? I forget.

It's Tejeda, as we have found out.

Na na na na Na na na na Hey hey-ey Gooodbye... And yes, that was the door hitting you on the way out.

On Tavarez: Julian Tavarez: To the Mets? RotoWire.com Staff - RotoWire.com Thursday, December 15, 2005 Update: Tavarez may want a four-year contract, and industry scuttlebutt is the Mets won't hesitate to make that commitment, the NY Daily News reports. Recommendation: A Mets insider said the team, whose main need now is the bullpen, has not yet made a four-year offer. One has to wonder why they would give Tavarez, who made $2.6 million in 2005 and is looking for a significant raise, four years but were unwilling to go two years on Roberto Hernandez, who was extremely productive last season.

Thanks for coming Steve, and happy holidays!

Steve Z - What suggestions or tips do you have for people interested in a broadcasting career?

Gah!! And I've done a good job with titles in the past. I blew this one badly.

No wonder I couldn't find him. His name is Juan Tejeda. Get it right next time, Hal Bock. Still no picture though. He should become seawolf's new favorite player, though, as he played last season for the Erie Seawolves. The Seawolves are managed by our old pal Duffy Dyer.

Julio Ramirez: Sandy Martinez: Can't find Juan Tejada.

The Mets agreed to minor league contracts with LHP Matt Perisho, INF Juan Tejeda, C Sandy Martinez and OF Julio Ramirez. Perisho, 30, is 11-17 in previous major league stints with Anaheim, Texas, Detroit, Florida and Boston. He was 2-0 in 24 games with the Marlins last season. Martinez, 35, has spent parts of eight seasons with six teams, batting .230. He last appeared in the majors in 2004 with Cleveland and Boston. Tejeda, 23, batted .291 for Erie of the Double-A Eastern League last season. Ramirez, 28, batted .241 with 23 home runs and 60 runs batted in for Triple-A Fresno of the Pacific Coast League.

Bill Mueller has signed with the Dodgers.

Hated? No. Couldn't stand? Look no further than Rey Ordonez.

A's Get Milton Bradley http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-athletics-dodgerstrade&prov=ap&type=lgns

Royals pursuing Mientkiewicz By DOUG TUCKER, AP Sports Writer December 13, 2005 KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Kansas City Royals are attempting to sign Doug Mientkiewicz, the Gold Glove first baseman best known for taking the ball from the final out of Boston's World Series win in 2004. "We definitely have an interest and we are pursuing it," Kansas City general manager Allard Baird said Tuesday. "I do not get the feeling that anything is imminent." Mientkiewicz, who turns 31 in June, is a career .268 hitter with 55 home runs and 305 RBIs. A good contact hitter and a top defensive first baseman, he has only 25 errors in 6,377 chances. He spent last year with the New York Mets. Slowed by a hamstring injury, he hit .240 with 11 homers and 29 RBIs in 275 at-bats. His best year was 2001 with Minnesota, when he hit .306 with 15 homers and 74 RBIs and won a Gold Glove. In 2003, he hit .300 with 11 home runs and 65 RBIs. Mientkiewicz would bring stability to one of the many positions where the Royals were lacking in consistency last season while losing a franchise-record 106 games. He could also provide better defense at first than the Royals have had for many seasons. All-Star Mike Sweeney, one of several players the Royals put at first base last year, would not become a fulltime designated hitter. "Mike would still get time in the field. We are not thinking of doing anything else," Baird said. The Red Sox filed suit last month, asking a judge to let the team keep the infamous ball, whose ownership has been in dispute since pitcher Keith Foulke flipped it to Mientkiewicz for the out that gave Boston its first World Series since 1918. After he was traded to the New York Mets in January, he loaned the ball to the Red Sox for one year. He would get it back "unless the ultimate issue of ownership has been otherwise resolved," the agreement said. "The Red Sox continue to assert that their former employee, Mientkiewicz, obtained the baseball through the course of his employment, that he acquired no ownership interest and that the Red Sox are the rightful owners of the baseball," the team stated in its suit. The Royals are have a preliminary agreement on a $700,000, one-year contract with free-agent catcher Paul Bako, a career .239 hitter who would be a backup to John Buck. He played 13 games with the Los Angeles Dodgers last year and underwent surgery on June 24 to repair his anterior cruciate ligament. "I'd still like to find a starter and improve the outfield situation as well," Baird said.

Mike DiFelice has been signed by Washington to a minor league deal.

Washington has signed utilityman Robert Fick and pitcher Joey "Frankenstein" Eischen to one-year deals and signed catchers Mike DiFelice, Alberto Castillo, Wiki Gonzalez and Brandon Harper to minor league deals. Also, the Soriano trade has been made official.

It all depends on his schedule with the national team I should think. Mel Stottlemyre (pitching coach) is now available for the reunion as well, having left the MFYs. But Lee Mazzilli has returned to the MFYs as bench coach if I remember correctly. Roger McDowell is the new pitching coach in Atlanta. Howard Johnson is Norfolk's hitting coach. Gary Carter is manager of the Gulf Coast Mets.

Devil Rays obtain right to negotiate with Japanese pitcher ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- Shopping for bullpen help, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays obtained the right to negotiate with Japanese League All-Star reliever Shinji Mori of the Seibu Lions. The Devil Rays said Monday that they have until Jan. 11 to sign the 31-year-old right-hander to a contract. Mori, a Pacific League All-Star three of the past four years, is 44-44 with a 3.39 ERA in nine seasons with Seibu. He became a full-time reliever in 2000 and was 2-2 with a 4.22 ERA in 48 appearances last season.

Ricardo Rincon has signed with the Cardinals for two years for $2.9 million. Also, Damion Easley has signed a 1-year, $700,000 contract with Arizona.

We have movement in the Top 20 as Jerry Koosman edges Willie Mays for 18th.