Baseball

According to several media outlets, the Philadephia Phillies have agreed to terms with free agent Juan Castro on a one-year contract with a club option for 2011 pending a physical. The signing is expected to be announced next week.

Castro is listed as a shortstop, but he's a utility player who will replace Eric Bruntlett on the roster for the 2010 season. In 2009, Castro played 20 games at second base, eight at third, and two in left field.

"Really?"

These were the first words out of my mouth when I read the voting results for the National League MVP.

Somebody thinks that Jeremy Affeldt is the tenth best player in the National League. This is what I knew:

Today, José Alberto Pujols Alcántara, was named the unanimous choice for his third National League Most Valuable Player award. It wouldn't surprise me if he is soon named captain of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Pujols has clearly exemplified what it means to be a Cardinal. He is a hard working, honest, good man. It is hard to find a time in Pujols' day when he is not at the ballpark taking swings or donating his time to a local charity.

There was no World Champion of baseball in 1994 because the baseball owners wanted to eliminate both the free agent system and salary arbitration. The players' reaction was swift and forceful.

At the completion of games on August 12, baseball had another strike.

Replacement Player Threat

On March 30, 1995, 26 of the 28 baseball owners voted to use replacement players if their dispute with Don Fehr's union could not be resolved by the start of the season.

What is going on at Fox?  First they overreact by suspending Ralph Lawler and Mike Smith, now they dismiss Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler.

Lawler and Smith, announcers for the L.A. Clippers, made comments that offended a viewer.  The viewer called to complain, Fox called the viewer to apologize.  Instead of leaving it at that, Fox suspended the pair from broadcasting the next game.  Ralph Lawler hadn't missed a game in 25 years!  He is a consummate professional and loyal employee.  A single comment and the resulting complaint by a single viewer led to a suspension. 

Thus far, the offseason for the Los Angeles Dodgers has been mired in speculation about the divorce of Frank and Jamie McCourt.

Does the team have enough expendable money to fill their roster holes? 

Will Frank have to sell the team to a third party? 

Is this organization dedicated to winning even with the front office distractions? 

But no amount of off the field drama can sour the recognition being earned by Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp.

Who knew that when the Orioles took Matt Wieters and Caleb Joseph in the first seven rounds of the 2008 MLB draft, they would be getting two of the better catchers available in that pool of players?

Clearly, Wieters, now starring for the big league club is a sure-fire star, but had Joseph been the only backstop taken, no doubt the club would be touting the 23-year old as the organization's catcher of the future.

With another year of uneventful MLB GM meetings over in Chicago, the final verdict was an unsurprising “business as usual” approach. Most notably, the general managers passed on the expansion of instant replay in the game.

After a very disappointing 2009 season, fans of the Milwaukee Brewers are anticipating GM Doug Melvin to make several moves this winter involving the pitching staff to bring the team back to prominence in 2010. Regardless of the pitching acquisitions, the Brewers will need some luck as well as several players having career seasons to achieve the success they did in 2008.