Valadius

Ringolsby honored by baseball writers DALLAS (AP) -- Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News, a pioneer in baseball labor coverage and also among the first writers to concentrate on scouting, won the J.G. Taylor Spink Award on Wednesday from the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Ringolsby will be honored for meritorious contributions to baseball writing during the induction ceremonies in July at the baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. He received 225 votes from BBWAA members to 128 for Joe Goddard of the Chicago Sun-Times and 76 for the late Vern Plagenhoef of Michigan's Booth Newspaper Group. Ringolsby has covered baseball for 30 years, 28 as a beat reporter and two as a national writer. He has worked for the Denver paper since 1992, covering the inaugural season of the Colorado Rockies, and previously worked for United Press International, the Press-Telegram in Long Beach, Calif., the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Kansas City Star and The Dallas Morning News. Ringolsby worked to have scouts recognized by the Hall of Fame and was also one of the founders of Baseball America, a publication focused on player development and scouting. He covered the grievance hearing of Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally, which led to free agency in baseball.

The Cubs, in their second move of the day, have agreed to terms with John Mabry, formerly with the Cardinals.

Except Mazzone's now pitching coach of the Baltimore Orioles.

Also not offered arbitration: Bengie Molina and Jarrod Washburn, Angels. Bengie must be smarting from this one. He's going to get considerably less money than he thought he would get.

In other arbitration news: Frank Thomas not offered arbitration by the White Sox. Jeff Weaver offered arbitration by the Dodgers.

He ought to retire now. Let the luster of that 1.87 ERA stay with him.

Greg, you beat me to it - today is the sixth anniversary of John Olerud's signing with Seattle. It's also the 64th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Astros set Rocket loose By STEPHEN HAWKINS, AP Sports Writer December 7, 2005 DALLAS (AP) -- The Houston Astros declined to offer salary arbitration to Roger Clemens on Wednesday, a move that means he can't re-sign with the National League champions until May 1. The seven-time Cy Young Award winner spent the last two seasons with his hometown team and hasn't decided whether to pitch next year or retire. At 43, he led the major leagues in ERA at 1.87, going 13-8 to help the Astros reach the World Series for the first time. He made $18 million, and the Astros didn't want to risk going to salary arbitration while they awaited his decision whether to play. Clemens still intends to pitch for the United States in March during the inaugural World Baseball Classic. "We expected this because we talked a great deal about this," said his agent, Randy Hendricks. "It's no surprise." Clemens had an injured leg and back late in the season and was forced out of his start in Game 1 of the World Series against the Chicago White Sox after only two innings. Houston's decision could lead to other teams trying to lure Clemens, such as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, two of his former clubs. "If anybody calls, we'll listen," Hendricks said. He doesn't expect Clemens to make a call about pitching next season for at least a month. "Nothing has changed about his plan to decide in late January, early February," Hendricks said, adding that Clemens' performance in the WBC could play a part in the decision. "I expect that will be a form of a litmus test to see how feels about playing mentally and physically," he said.

If there's one person throughout Met history we can blame for anything, it's M. Donald Grant. Period.

Barry Zito: Mets in the Hunt RotoWire.com Staff - RotoWire.com Wednesday, December 7, 2005 Update: The Mets are clearly in the hunt for Zito, with their possible trade of Kris Benson to the Royals being used to clear salary room, paving the way for a potential deal with the Athletics, the Bergen Record reports. Recommendation: According to a person close to Zito, whose contract expires at the end of 2005, he likes New York and would be open to signing a contract extension with the Mets, who would require a window to negotiate that, if a deal could be completed. The A's and Zito's agent Arn Tellem are believed to be open to allowing that window of negotiation but the bigger question is whether New York will surrender Lastings Milledge, the likely beginning asking price, for Zito.

I guess Rotisserie wins.

I'm completely against FAAB. It doesn't really work with Yahoo anyway. What I propose, and will work for this league, is the following: Waiver period (3 days?) for called-up or added-to-the-game players. Waiver period (3 days?) for players dropped from other team's roster. Free agency for everyone else available. The "race to the keyboard" has always served me well. It netted me the likes of Cliff Floyd, Jon Garland, Huston Street, and Felipe Lopez this past year.

Ken Rosenthal was right - Estrada to D-Backs for Cormier and Villarreal. Also, the Red Sox have acquired 2B Mark Loretta from San Diego for C Doug Mirabelli.

I remember years ago grousing that the Mets either traded Shane Halter or let him go because I wanted to see him play shortstop for us.

Padres 3B Sean Burroughs has been traded to Tampa Bay for RHP Dewon Brazelton.

There've been articles on him popping up for the last 2 years or so.

You could have easily fit Operation in there.

Yankees superstar Matsui honoured by hometown museum December 7, 2005 TOKYO (AFP) - New York Yankees outfielder Hideki Matsui, one of Japan's biggest sports stars, was honoured with a giant museum in his hometown. The three-story museum, with about 1,000 items of memorabilia on display, opens to the public on Thursday. It has a parking lot big enough for 110 cars and 30 buses. "The starting point of my dreams lies in the fields here," Matsui, 31, said at a ceremony to unveil a bronze statue of the millionaire slugger holding a bat as a child. "Nothing has changed in the way I feel since the times when I chased the white ball as a child," he said at Matsui Hideki Baseball Museum in Nomi, a coastal city some 300 kilometers (190 miles) northwest of Tokyo. Matsui's popularity in Japan, where baseball is the king of sports, is comparable to that of English football superstar David Beckham. Exhibits include the ball Matsui hit for the 400th home-run of his career in a game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in September, and a cup commemorating his 500th hit in his Major League career since 2003. A life-size wax model of Matsui in a pin-stripe Yankee uniform is one of main attractions along with gloves, bats and spikes, which were made to his specifications and can be touched by visitors. The facility was built at a cost of 500 million yen (4.2 million dollars) on a 5,000-square-meter (55,555 square feet) plot where a Matsui exhibit hall of smaller scale had stood since 1994 when he was still with Tokyo's Yomiuri Giants. A three-time most valuable player of Japan's Central League, Matsui signed a three-year, 21 million-dollar contract with New York after the 2002 season. Last month, the New York Yankees signed him to a new four-year deal reportedly worth up to 52 million dollars, making him the highest paid Japanese player in the major leagues. "The overall theme is dreams and we show how Mr. Matsui has followed his dreams," Nakako Kobayashi, a public relations agent for the museum, told AFP. An outdoor monument displays pictures by pupils from Hama Elementary School, which Matsui attended. There is also a picture by Matsui drawn himself when he was six. "It is signed 'I want to be a baseball player,'" according to Kobayashi. Matsui came home last week amid rumours about his romantic links to Japanese actress Naho Toda, which he did not deny. In his three years in New York, he has hit .297 with 70 homers and 330 runs batted in. Of players debuting after 1940, Matsui and Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals are the only two players to record 100 RBI in each of their first three seasons.

This long...

Hip hip, hooray!

Probably busy eating Mo Vaughn deli sandwiches.

That's what I thought...

Now the Wayback Machine will preserve this and not the monstrosity of this morning.

Report: Cubs acquire OF Pierre from Marlins December 7, 2005 CHICAGO (Ticker) - The Florida Marlins' salary purge apparently is continuing. According to an ESPN1000 radio report, the Chicago Cubs have acquired center fielder Juan Pierre from the Marlins for pitchers Sergio Mitre, Ricky Nolasco and Renyel Pinto. The Marlins already have parted ways with pitchers A.J. Burnett, Josh Beckett and Guillermo Mota, catcher Paul Lo Duca, first baseman Carlos Delgado, second baseman Luis Castillo and third baseman Mike Lowell. The 28-year-old Pierre batted .276 with two homers, 47 RBI and 57 steals for the Marlins last season. Mitre went 2-5 with a 5.37 ERA in 21 games with the Cubs in 2005, spending the majority of his time with Class AAA Iowa, where he went 5-6 with a 4.33 ERA. Nolasco and Pinto are highly regarded prospects.

For all interested parties, Paul Lo Duca's Mets-cap photo is up.