The Texas Rangers have signed right-hander Jason Jennings to a 1-year deal worth $4 million. The story to date: Jennings was pretty good as a rookie with Colorado in 2002. Then he had three seasons of extreme blahness, followed by a terrific showing in 2006, after which the Rockies shipped him to Houston, where he pitched poorly and got hurt.
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 …read more

It’s nice to see that teams aren’t repeating past mistakes in this year’s free agent market. The New York Mets have signed Yorvit Torrealba to a 3-year deal worth $14.4 million.
Torrealba, whose first name loosely translates as “overpaid,” hit .255/.323/.376 for the Colorado Rockies in 2007. Away from Coors Field, those numbers were .212/.292/.326, which is pretty much vintage Gary Bennett.
Way to go, Mets. Good luck with your new catcher.
[Update, Nov 17: So, apparently now this didn’t happen. The deal was reported as done, but no dice. Torrealba is still on the market, giving some other team the opportunity to …read more

Hey, everybody, they’re still playing games. The ALCS shifts to Cleveland, where Daisuke Matsuzaka faces Jake Westbrook at 4 p.m. PT. The general strategy for Boston is to keep the ball out of Eric Gagne’s hands, specifically his right hand.
And in the evening game, Colorado looks to complete the sweep at Coors Field. Rookie Micah Owings starts for Arizona, while Franklin Morales gets the call for God’s team. First pitch is at 7 p.m. PT.
Sounds exciting, huh?

Ah, Game 3 of the NLCS. The Rockies return home to Coors Field with a 2-0 lead and the world will be watching. Josh Fogg? Livan Hernandez? Wait, is this baseball or the Chinese water torture?
Sorry, I’ve seen these guys pitch a lot this year and they are excruciating. Both pitchers have the same approach: Let the batter hit the ball and hope that good things happen. It’s earned Fogg and his 60-60 career record the nickname of “Dragon Slayer.” It’s earned Hernandez a World Series ring.
There is winning ugly and then there’s this:

 
ERA
WHIP
K/BB
K/9
OPS

Fogg
4.94
1.53
1.59
5.11
854

Hernandez
4.93
1.60
1.14
3.96
870

Three pitchers in MLB failed to break …read more

How are the playoffs working for you so far? I expected the Rockies to beat up on Philadelphia, and that’s exactly what has happened. Going to Coors Field down 2-0 is not a good thing. Those fans in Denver have been waiting a long time and they’re pretty nuts about their team.
I thought the Cubs would be giving Arizona a better fight, but that’s been the story with the Diamondbacks all year. As a Padres fan, I take some pleasure in knowing that only teams from our division have won so far on the NL side. Not much, mind you, …read more

Welcome to the baseball equivalent of purgatory. Or perhaps you prefer Schroedinger’s Cat (maybe we should call it Schroedinger’s Bat)? Is it a playoff team or not? How will we ever know if they don’t play the game?
Jake Peavy and Josh Fogg at Coors Field. Updates throughout the evening…

I don’t even know what that headline means. Anyway, here are some of the more interesting games for Friday:
American League

Mariners at Tigers, 4:05 p.m. PT — Both teams are three games back of the Yankees in the AL wild card race. Miguel “Don’t Let the Career-High 13 Wins Fool You” Batista faces Justin Verlander. Whatever happened to Brandon Inge, anyway? That guy was good for, like, 5 minutes.
Indians at Angels, 7:05 p.m. PT — First off, we should rename these teams “Europeans” and “Animal Spirits.” Second, why did Cleveland sign Jake Westbrook to a huge contract extension in April? The …read more

That’s the question Jacob at Vegas Watch asks. Actually he asked it earlier in the week, and I’m just now getting around to it. Yes, I’m lame.
Jacob’s analysis is solid, but I disagree with the conclusion, mainly because it gives voters too much credit. Specifically, I don’t know that Prince Fielder will be penalized much for his defense if he keeps leading the league in homers, nor do I have confidence in voters’ ability to understand (or care) just how much Matt Holliday has been helped by Coors Field.
I think the race will come down to Fielder, Holliday, and last …read more

Ack, more games! Why wasn’t I informed…
American League

Red Sox at Yankees, 10:05 a.m. PT — This series doesn’t need any more hype. Either you love it or you don’t care. Watch (or don’t) accordingly.
Mariners at Indians, 4:05 p.m. PT — Playoff implications in this one, plus a potentially volatile pitching matchup. Two finesse lefties — the execrable Horacio Ramirez and the too-unknown-to-have-an-unflattering-adjective-attached-to-the-front-of-his-name Aaron Laffey — hook up in this one. Philosophical question for the day: When does batting practice end and game begin?

National League

Mets at Phillies, 10:05 a.m. PT — We’re all anxious to know whether Philadelphia can reach the …read more

Jacob and his fellow writers at Epic Carnival have assembled a list of their choices for MVP and Cy Young awards if the season ended today. My only gripe is with the NL MVP award. Matt Holliday is enjoying a fine season, but that .299/.362/.470 line away from Coors Field is pretty pedestrian. For my money, he’s not in the same class as Florida’s Hanley Ramirez, who is putting up goofy numbers at a premium defensive position in a much more difficult environment. It also seems like Vlad Guerrero should get a little more love in the AL voting, but …read more