Monday, January 12, 2009

Rice, Saito, McDaniels: All Integral Parts of this Post

First thing's first... Takashi Saito has agreed to a 1-year deal worth upwards of $1.5 million. We've now brought on just about every free agent who was really good and had a bad year due to injuries last season. I know Saito was really good for the Dodgers a few years back, and if he's healthy, he has the potential to be really good for us. It's going to make for a very interesting spring training. Between all of OUR guys who were injured last year and our new recruits who were injured last year, it's going to be a medical miracle if we can field a team of major leaguers for the exhibition games.

I kid. It won't be a miracle, but spring training is going to contain a lot of players who we need to keep our eyes on. Man, I can't wait for spring training...

Next... As I'm sure everyone in the free world knows by now (whether or not they care about baseball), today is the day that Jim Rice finds out (sort of) once and for all if he has made the HOF. Because of my loyalties to the Sox, I want him to get in. I didn't see a single second of Jim Rice's career. That was before my time, so I can't say for certain whether or not he deserves to be in there. I can look at the numbers, I can read and research all I want, but it's nothing like actually seeing someone play. If he doesn't get in this time, his fate is left up to the veteran's committee, and they're just not really that keen on voting people in. So, good luck Jim. We'll all be finding out your fate soon enough.

Third... Josh McDaniels, of Patriots fame has accepted a job as the coach of the Denver Broncos. Just as putting the team in the (surprisingly capable) hands of Matt Cassel was scary, losing our defensive coordinator is not something I'm looking forward to. Not that I don't wish him luck, because he deserves a shot at coaching. Many people were hoping that he would replace Bill Belichick when the man finally retires, but that's just seemingly too far in the future. Josh shouldn't have to wait around for a better job here in New England when there are opportunities to be had all over the country. I wish him the best of luck, and I hope that his teams never beat us.

Now for some quick little bits:
-Michael Young has requested that the Rangers trade him. I really, REALLY don't like when a player requests a trade. All that says to me is either "I signed here for the most money, not considering what it would be like to actually play here, so now I want to inconvenience the people that pay me by making them find another team willing to pay me" or "I wanted to win a championship, and since I no longer think it's realistic to do that here, I want to be sent somewhere where I can win." Ok - maybe that's not fair. There could be a million reasons why someone might want to be traded, but I just see it as a bailout.
-Neither Manning brother is going to be playing in the SuperBowl this year. This makes me feel better that the Patriots aren't in it. Besides, they irk the hell out of me. Don't worry, I wouldn't be seen walking around with an "I Hate Peyton Manning" shirt. I barely like them enough to mention them in my blog, nevermind having their names written on my body all day. No thanks. Go Ravens!
-The Braves have reached an agreement with Japanese pitcher Kenshin Kawakame. I know nothing about him, except for the fact that he's Japanese and he wanted to pitch in America.

That's it for me for now. I'll update again after the Hall announcement.

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