Opinion

Spending a week on a cruise ship tends to take you out of the sports loop.

That was my situation last week as I tuned into ESPN in my cabin and caught the hosts of "Baseball Tonight" talking about Texas Ranger's outfielder Josh Hamilton.

I didn't catch the beginning, but what I heard was something like, "If Hamilton didn't get messed up with drugs at the beginning of his career, he might be on his way to the Hall of Fame."

In a recent CNNSI.com column, Tom Verducci posits that Josh Hamilton is now the best player in baseball. The premise for this supposition is laid out nicely in the following passage from Verducci's column:

At the beginning of August, the Giants trailed the Padres by one game and led the Wild Card race.

They came off a month where they won 20 of their 28 games. They led the majors in runs scored.

But since then they are 7-8 and have fallen to five games back in the division. Now they are on the outside looking in on the playoff picture.

What happened? Three things.

Power outage:

Game after game, we see a hitter's numbers versus the pitcher on the mound pop up on the television screen, and we usually dismiss it.

Of course, each batter varies from pitcher to pitcher.

Even the best have a few pitchers they simply can't hit.

For Joe Mauer, however, it seems as though anytime those stats pop up, he's hitting, at the very least, .330 against the pitcher on the mound, no matter who it is, no matter which arm they throw with, and no matter how many at-bats he has against them.

As Jim Thome gave his post-game interview and wiped the shaving-cream from his face I felt as let down as an ugly girl at prom. I wanted to blame someone for this loss. Anyone. But as I gave it some thought I wasn't sure exactly whom the blame should fall on.

The candidates appear to be:

1. Ozzie Guillen
2. Matt Thornton
3. Bobby Jenks
4. Kenny Williams
5. Paul Konerko

The last twelve months of baseball have given proponents of expanding the use of instant replay within Major League Baseball plenty of ammunition. 

Yeah, yeah, I know—Brett Favre has returned to the Vikings.

Big deal!

Can someone, ANYONE, tell me they are surprised?

Did this announcement shock anyone in the world?

The Twins Cities is all a buzz—about the wrong sport!

On Monday, the Halos agreed to terms on a $2.3 million deal with Kaleb Cowart. Cowart was named the 2010 Gatorade National High School Baseball Player of the Year. The high school pitcher and switch-hitting third baseman hit .654 with 11 home runs, 55 runs scored, 59 RBI, and 36 stolen bases (in 36 attempts) at Cook County.

So Bryce Harper signed a major league deal with the Washington Nationals worth $9.9 million last night before the midnight deadline.

Awesome.

But what does it mean?

To start with, it means he had to be placed on the 40-man roster, and that happened today with Luis Atilano being transferred to the 60-day disabled list.  He wasn't going to return this season after surgery on his elbow to remove bone chips.

If you were a general manager and you had on your roster a player in his sixth year in the majors putting up these numbers (336 AB, 54 R, 13 HR, 40 RBI, .235 AVG, .349 OBP, and .408 SLG), what would you project for his next year?

What if you were to make him a starter on your roster and give him somewhere between 500 and 600 at-bats? 

What if that player, given more playing time, would gain more confidence in his skills, develop a better eye at the plate, and improve the consistency with his power stroke?