• Barry Bonds. His stories pretty much write themselves.
• Miguel Cabrera. Anyone who gets scolded by Ozzie Guillen for being too fat is okay in my book.
• Fausto Carmona. One of the biggest surprises of 2007.
• Daisuke Matsuzaka. Not as good as the hype, but still pretty good.
• Gil Meche. Irresponsible spending almost got the Royals out of last place.
• Jake Peavy. Bounced back from poor (by his standards) ‘06 season.
• Carlos Pena. Where did that come from?
• Alex Rodriguez. Takes abuse from everyone, but still great.
• C.C. Sabathia. Out-Santana’d Santana.
• Barry Zito. Hey, at least the Giants only have 6 years left on his deal.

Stay tuned for Jamie’s full list…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Of course, there are differences between Zambrano and Zito. The most important are:

• Zambrano is three years younger.
• Zambrano’s contract is two years shorter.
• Zambrano is a much better pitcher. He’s having an off-year, but it’s still better than anything Zito has done since 2003.

I guess the real take-home lesson here is that winning the Cy Young Award can be profitable even 5-10 years after the fact…

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…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

San Francisco is now 39-54 on the season and has slipped “ahead” of the Astros and Nationals in the battle for worst team in the league. The Giants’ lineup is ancient and, with the exception of Bonds and Ryan Klesko, they’re playing like it. The bullpen has been shaky, and the rotation hasn’t been much better (with the weakest link being $126 Million Man Barry Zito).

Bonds now has 753 home runs in his career. He needs two to tie and three to pass Aaron. The worst part? Nobody outside of San Francisco seems to care.

Joe Posnanski covers the Bonds dilemma beautifully at The Soul of Baseball:

My own thoughts constantly contradict each other. I tend to believe that steroid use is worse than using amphetamines (or the more law-friendly cheating like corking bats or scuffing baseballs) but I couldn’t tell you exactly why. I think that Hank Aaron is more worthy of the home run record though I believe Barry Bonds was the better player (even before steroid suspicions). I think Barry Bonds was, in most ways, just playing the rules and boundaries of his time, and yet I also think he was fully aware of the lines he was crossing.

It’s a complex issue, to be sure. Personally, I have very little use for Bonds or any records he may break (and this comes from someone who routinely defended him when he was merely a prickly personality playing for the enemy of my team). As a baseball fan, I find it sad that there is little cause to celebrate the coming of what should be a glorious achievement.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

American League

• Royals at Tigers, 4:05 p.m. PT – Zack Greinke and Justin Verlander do battle in Detroit. Two starts does not a season make, but it’s nice to see Greinke off to a strong start in 2007.

National League

• Mets at Phillies, 4:05 p.m. PT – Shortstop Jimmy Rollins thinks the Phillies are the team to beat in the NL East, but their 3-8 start isn’t helping his case. Don’t blame Rollins, though. He’s hitting .298/.411/.766 in the early going, with a league-leading six homers. The problem has been that Philadelphia’s team ERA of 5.14 is worst in the NL — yep, behind even the Washington Nationals. John Maine starts for the Mets in this one, against Freddy Garcia, who makes his Phillies debut after opening the season on the disabled list.
• Pirates at Cardinals, 5:10 p.m. PT – Ian Snell and Anthony Reyes hook up in St. Louis. The 25-year-old Snell fanned 11 in his ‘07 debut against the Astros and followed with seven strong innings against the Cardinals. Reyes, born exactly two weeks before Snell, is a little behind his counterpart in the development department but has been a highly touted prospect in the past. This could be a fun matchup.
• Giants at Rockies, 5:35 p.m. PT – Barry Zito and Jeff Francis square off at Coors Field. Francis owns a career 4.41 ERA pitching in the Mile High City. Here’s a weird split that might speak a little to the differences between playing at Coors and “real baseball”: Francis has issued 21 intentional walks in his brief career; 19 of those have come on the road. I wonder if other Rockies pitchers have similar splits.

Happy Monday, folks. Baseball. It’s not just for breakfast anymore…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Again.

Hampton will undergo elbow surgery on Tuesday and is expected to miss 6-9 months. He missed all of last season and made just 12 starts for the Braves in 2005. Bummer for Hampton and the Braves, to say the very least.

Not to change the subject or anything, but how was signing Barry Zito to a 7-year contract a good idea? And no, I’m not reacting to his two poor starts to start the season. Anyone who thinks that Zito comes without risk needs to take a good hard look at Hampton for an idea of what can go wrong.

They’re two different players, to be sure. Used to be a time, though, when a lot of folks thought Hampton was a sure thing.

Come to think of it, Hampton still is a sure thing. It’s just not the kind of thing you want to be known for if you’re a professional ballplayer…

Post from: Knuckle Curve