Ordinarily in this space I would tell you which games are most worth watching, but on Opening Day, they’re all worth watching. The first games (Blue Jays at Yankees, Royals at Tigers) start at 10:05 a.m. PT, while the last (Astros at Padres; of course, I’ll be there!) gets going at 7:05 p.m. PT.

I can’t begin to tell you how glad I am that baseball is back. Enjoy the games!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Jennings went 2-9 with a 6.45 ERA for the Astros in 2007. He underwent elbow surgery in August and is expected to be ready by Opening Day.

Jennings owns a career record of 60-65 with a 4.91 ERA; he spent much of his early career pitching at Coors Field, so his ERA+ is 99, or roughly average. Jennings’ list of similar pitchers through age 29 — Jeff Suppan, Matt Clement, Kyle Lohse, etc. — isn’t exciting, but if he can stay healthy, this could work out well for the Rangers. At his best, Jennings eats innings, and it’s not like his new home park will faze him.

The one drawback is that now we won’t get to watch Jennings bat. Jennings was an excellent hitter in college and owns a career .207/.252/.268 line in the big leagues.

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• Rob at Cub Reporter hooks us up with footage from a 1981 game between the Cubs and Reds.
• Dan at Get Up, Baby laments the continued decline of Scott Rolen.
• Pat at FanHouse muses on the Pirates motives behind hiring John Russell as their new skipper.
• Lisa at Astros Dugout discusses the (relatively) recent trade with Philadelphia that netted Michael Bourn.

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What This Means for the Astros

Lidge lost his job as closer at one point during the 2007 season, and although he finished with respectable numbers, the Astros didn’t seem to have a lot of confidence in him. Among other things, this means that Houston’s closer situation is unsettled, but for a team coming off a 73-win season, anointing a closer probably shouldn’t be top priority.

Bourn is a youngish (turns 25 in December) center fielder who owns a career .377 OBP and 85% stolen-base rate in just under 1800 minor-league plate appearances. Baseball America ranked Bourn as the Phillies’ #7 prospect coming into 2007, likening him to Juan Pierre “with better plate discipline and a stronger arm.” Well, when you put it like that, the Dodgers’ signing of Pierre seems downright ridiculous.

Sorry, where was I?

Geary is a generic middle reliever who spells his first name the right way. Costanzo is a former pitcher who was the Phillies’ #12 prospect headed into the season. He is basically the new Russell Branyan.

What This Means for the Phillies

His 2005 playoff implosion notwithstanding, Lidge has been a top-flight reliever over most of the past five seasons. He is not as dominant as he was in ‘04 and ‘05, but his K/9 of 11.82 last season is a number most pitchers in any league would be happy to own. Lidge should give the Phillies the “proven closer” they’ve been seeking for a long time and, perhaps more importantly, allow them to return Brett Myers to the rotation, where he should be much more valuable to the team.

Bruntlett can play just about anywhere. Although he’s been used mostly at shortstop and second base in his big-league career, he has seen action at every position but pitcher and catcher. Bruntlett has decent on-base skills and very little power. On a team with Adam Everett and Chris Burke, he didn’t make a lot of sense; Philly, though, doesn’t need much offensive help from its backup middle infielders.

With Bourn out of the picture, and Aaron Rowand a free agent, perhaps Shane Victorino shifts to center field. Or the Phillies could decide to throw oodles of cash at Rowand, who is coming off a career year. They did it with J.C. Romero, why not Rowand as well?

Other Voices

• Philliesflow
• Shallow Center
• Transaction Oracle

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In April [Astros manager Art] Howe handed the ball to Curt Schilling, who responded by converting five of his first six save opportunities. Hitters, though, eventually caught up to Schilling. His fastball has movement, but he overthrows everything. He has yet to develop a consistent off-speed pitch, and the longer he goes without fulfilling his potential, the more questions are asked about his makeup. As one scout observed, “Something is missing.”

Schilling was traded to the Phillies less than a week before Opening Day 1992 for Jason Grimsley. The rest, as they say, is history. Almost overnight, Schilling went from being a 25-year-old flamethrowing reliever whose star was falling to a top-flight starting pitcher.

Funny, this game of baseball…

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The story so far:

• AL West
• AL Central
• AL East
• NL West

Ladies and gentlemen, the least interesting division in Major League Baseball:

1. Cubs – Somebody had to win the division; it might as well be the team that spent $300 million on free agents.
2. Astros – Why did I like this team so much? Perhaps their recent track record fooled me? I’d expected more out of Morgan Ensberg and Jason Jennings. Instead, everyone got fired.
3. Cardinals – Hey, I got one right. Everything about their 2006 season seemed like a fluke to me. The Cards deserve credit for winning the World Series, but this was a team headed for a fall. Kip Wells avoided 20 losses, and Rick Ankiel is a nice story… maybe…
4. Brewers – I didn’t think they had the pitching, and in the end, I suppose they didn’t. If Ben Sheets could ever stay healthy… There’s a lot of good young talent on this team; suffice to say, I won’t be picking the Brewers to finish fourth again next year.
5. Reds – They and the Astros are battling for fourth place as I write this. What a horrendous bullpen.
6. Pirates – This is their fourth last-place finish in the last 10 years. Their best season during that stretch came in 1999, when they finished in third place with 78 wins. This franchise owes the city of Pittsburgh big time. Here’s hoping the new front office has a clue.

Not bad. I somehow mixed up Houston and Milwaukee, but otherwise did okay.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

• Yankees at Tigers, 4:05 p.m. PT — It seems like these two teams are always playing each other. Anyway, Roger Clemens and Andrew Miller makes for an interesting matchup. Aside from the fact that Clemens is twice as old as Miller, it’s also worth noting that lefties are hitting just .140/.241/.180 against the young southpaw. Granted, it’s in all of 60 plate appearances, but yikes.
• Blue Jays at Angels, 7:05 p.m. PT — Roy Halladay and Jered Weaver hook up at Anaheim. If I didn’t have a softball game, I’d make the drive up for this one. Ah, who am I kidding; I’d pass out on the couch while watching Painkiller Jane or some nonsense.
• Padres at Phillies, 4:05 p.m. PT — Greg Maddux? Jamie Moyer? Stop it, please; my hip hurts…
• Dodgers at Mets, 4:10 p.m. PT — Two playoff contenders and a good pitching matchup (Brad Penny vs Oliver Perez). I’ve been watching Perez since he pitched in the California League. If he ever figures out how to get below 3.5 walks per 9, he could be scary good. Nice to see him at least moving in the right direction.
• Pirates at Astros, 5:05 p.m. PT — Just kidding; there’s no reason to watch this.
• Cubs at Diamondbacks, 6:40 p.m. PT — Two pennant contenders send 24-year-olds out to the mound. Arizona right-hander Micah Owings gave up three runs in his last start on August 18 in Atlanta. He also knocked two homers and drove in six. It’s not even 50 plate appearances, but the kid is batting .273/.298/.568. Half of his 12 big-league hits are for extra bases. Maybe if the pitching thing doesn’t work out, he can go the Rick Ankiel route.

There it is. Happy Friday, happy watching!

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Soriano has done a nice job (.297/.336/.511) so far, although he’s now out 2-4 weeks with a strained right quadriceps. Of course, the Cubs signed a few other high-profile free agents (Aramis Ramirez, Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis) to the tune of nearly $300 million, so it’s not like Soriano is solely responsible for the Cubs’ improvement this year.

Zito has been terrible for a Giants team that is going nowhere fast. Mike Hampton taught us a valuable lesson about the wisdom of locking up finesse lefties to a long-term deal, but evidently some folks weren’t paying attention. If Hampton is any guide, Zito will be pitching for a contender in 2009 — I’ll say the Mets — with San Francisco picking up most of his salary.

Lee is having a solid season in Houston (.298/.352/.531) for a team that can’t compete in a weak division. The Astros are drawing about 200 fewer fans per game in ‘07 than they did last year, so he isn’t really helping at the gate either. The Astros have had just one losing season (72-90 in 2000) since 1992, but this year looks like another for them. With all due respect to Lee, who is a fine ballplayer, I think they probably don’t need his help to do that.

Finally, I have to mention Gil Meche. The $55 million man got off to a hot start with Kansas City but has come back to Earth since then. On the bright side, he does have his Royals on pace for their first 70-win season since 2003. If Matt Morris is Wayne Newton, then Meche must be Robert Goulet. Come to think of it, I always kind of liked Goulet…

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