MLB

Congratulations to Andre Dawson on his razor thin selection to the baseball Hall of Fame.

After 20 years of being on the ballot, Dawson finally found himself as the biggest name available outside of Mark McGwire, and the writers graciously punched his ticket for a trip to Cooperstown this summer.

But is this the best way to select baseball immortality?

In 1989 Dawson received just 14 percent of the vote in his second year of eligibility and the prospects of Hall of Fame admission were slim.

Matt Holliday has officially signed with the St. Louis Cardinals. Let me steal a line from Jack Buck here: "Pardon me while I stand and applaud."

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Okay, I'm back. Despite what pessimists say, this is a great signing for the Cardinals. I'm not here, however, to talk about the contract itself. I'm going to answer some questions that, for a lack of a better word, stupid people continue to ask.

Q: With Holliday making $17 million per season now, Pujols will want to be paid more than that in his next contract.

Followers of the off-season Yankees are left thinking about a single bench position. Let's take a look at the roster. They will carry 12 pitchers. 

These are the nine position players (I note lefty, righty, and switch in parentheses):  C Posada (S); 1B Teixeira (S); 2B Cano (L); SS Jeter (R); 3B Rodriguez (R); LF Gardner (L); CF Granderson (L); RF Swisher (S); and DH Johnson (L).

For all intents and purposes, Francisco Cervelli and Jamie Hoffman have made the team: C Cervelli (R); OF Hoffman (R).  

This article was first reported at Boston Sox Journalism.

The Boston Red Sox certainly proved one thing this offseason: there is no such thing as a "bridge year" in Beantown.

The Red Sox opened their wallet, made investments, and acquired players either through trade or free agency that could be a huge help to the team in 2010 and for years to come. Today, I will be running down each acquisition and what it means for the Red Sox starting in April.

On December 6, I did a featured slide show entitled: Predictions for the Top 25 MLB Free Agents of 2010, which can be seen here: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/303582-predictions-for-the-top-25-mlb...

Many of those free agents have signed, and some have still remained. Of those who signed are:

Matt Holliday: Prediction: Cardinals. Signed with: Cardinals
Jason Bay: Prediction: Mariners. Signed with: Mets
John Lackey: Prediction: Yankees/Mets. Signed with: Red Sox
Andy Pettitte: Prediction: Yankees. Signed with: Yankees
Randy Wolf: Prediction: Mets.

Congratulations, Andre Dawson.

Finally, in your ninth year of eligibility, you will be taking your rightful place amongst the baseball greats in Cooperstown.

What should be a day of celebration for anyone who loves baseball once again has turned into a day of debate and disappointment. Well, unless of course you're Andre Dawson.

Dawson was a deserving and long overdue selection for enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. Few, if any, question the merit of his induction, as "Hawk" was one of the most complete players to ever roam an outfield.

Congratulations to Andre Dawson, but the voting for the Baseball Hall of Fame is a joke.

Every year baseball fans make a big deal about the Hall of Fame elections. Every year before the votes are cast, writers everywhere make their cases for who deserves to be in and who doesn't. Every year when all is said and done the fans complain about who got in and who didn't get in.

Bert Blyleven is the strongest force in the complaint department this year.

Fred McGriff Did not have a Flashy Career.  He really never had that year that stood out from his average production.  There wasn't a mid career slump nor a second half revival. Instead year after year, team after team he produced like clock work.

The writers did a poor job this year in the elections for the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Andre Dawson drew enough votes to gain election, while other, far more deserving candidates, were left to linger.  Dawson pulled in 77.9 percent of the votes, testimony to the idea that a veteran baseball writer will not let a complicated thing like the facts stand in the way of a good story.