Baseball

Barry Larkin spent his entire 19-year career playing for his hometown Cincinnati Reds. Considered by many to be one of the best all-around players of his era, Larkin is now eligible for baseball's highest individual honor.

While statistics are the primary tool for measuring a baseball player's greatness, there are vital qualities and characteristics that a computer can't necessarily figure out. Larkin excelled in many of those categories.

You see plenty of moves like this in football, but contract restructuring is not nearly as common in baseball. But yesterday, the Reds and Scott Rolen agreed to a restructured deal that will keep him in Cincinnati for the next three seasons:

A few days ago, I talked about the limited interest Orlando Hudson was receiving thus far on the free agent market (which included some great comments about possible landing spots for Hudson!). That same day, the Cubs traded away Milton Bradley for Carlos Silva , in a swap of horrible contracts that frees up some money for the Cubs to spend.

You can’t hit home runs without hitting flyballs, right?  Let’s take a look at which 10 hitters with at least 400 plate appearances in both 2008 and 2009 enjoyed the biggest increase in flyball rate and if they have an opportunity to deliver a significant number of home runs in 2010:

The offseason is not even close to over, yet two general managers already stand out, albeit for vastly different reasons.  Seattle Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik has, in under two years, turned the Mariners from the punchline in a Bill Bavasi joke to a legitimate contender for the AL West.  Meanwhile, Houston Astros GM Ed Wade keeps digging a deeper grave for his team. 

These GMs are important because they represent two different modes of managing—one that values rational, informed decision making, and one that does not.

Jack Zduriencik

Harry LeRoy Halladay III, welcome to the fold.  It has certainly been a whirlwind few days for the Phillies and their fans.

Boy Genius Ruben Amaro Jr. or RAJ as he is referred to, finally got his man.  The love that RAJ has for Halladay is remarkable, the way they looked at each other during the press conference was like watching a poorly made romantic comedy.  These guys have a serious "Bromance" going on. 

For the better part of two months, the only thing fans in Boston and San Diego were talking about was whether the two teams were going to work out a deal that would send Padres' first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to the Red Sox.

During that same amount of time, ESPN's Jayson Stark had continued to tell people not to put any stock in the rumors surrounding Gonzalez. Unfortunately for us rumor fans, no one was really listening, because the rumors continued.

If you're a regular reader of "Here's a Thought," you probably know that I don't like to use ERA very much.

Instead, I prefer FIP, tRA, and xFIP when discussing pitchers. The statistics are just luck-adjusted ERAs, so they slot in nicely to ERA's "traditional" statistical role.

"So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak."—Sun Tzu

So in baseball, the way to a World Series is to strike when your division is weak. Although gruff old managers and coaches may risk a platitude or two about playing only against oneself, general managers must think otherwise (e.g. Jack Zduriencik). A baseball team does not simply play against itself. A baseball franchise does not only compete with itself.

Teams exist in divisions. Those divisions can be won. Winning the division gives a team the opportunity to win it all.

Roy Halladay is in Philly. John Lackey is in Boston.

Now is the winter of the Angels' discontent.

Just days after baseball's Winter Meetings ended, after which GM Tony Reagins claimed his team had laid “groundwork,” the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim watched their hard work melt away like snow in the coming spring.

For those unfamiliar with the situation, or if you've just been living under a baseball-free rock, let's recap the events of the Angels' Black Monday:

Lackey Signs with Boston