Yorvitize – v. To publicly announce a contract signing as done and then go back on the announcement.

Here it is in a sentence:

Man, I’ll bet Phillies fans are bummed that their deal with J.C. Romero didn’t get Yorvitized.

Anyway.

The Brewers have inked Mike Cameron to a 1-year, $7 million deal that was finalized Monday. The 35-year-old center fielder, who spent the past two seasons with the San Diego Padres, will miss the first 25 games of 2008 while serving a suspension for testing positive for a banned substance.

Brewers GM Doug Melvin praised Cameron for his on-field skills and clubhouse leadership abilities. Cameron and his agent, Mike Nicotera, meanwhile, must be wondering what happened to the long-term deal they were seeking earlier.

It’s called misreading the market. Ask Jody Reed about that sometime…

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Guillen is filing a grievance, while Gibbons is accepting his fate as-is.

Guillen, you may recall, just signed with the Royals for beaucoup bucks. It will be interesting to see how his signing and subsequent suspension affect Mike Cameron, who will miss the first 25 games of ‘08 due to testing positive for a banned stimulant.

It’ll also be “fun” to watch as other names are revealed when the Mitchell Report is released. Lord knows I love my sport of baseball, but sometimes it drives me batty (pun only somewhat intended)…

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Post from: Knuckle Curve

• Barry Bonds: .272/.446/.558
• Alex Rodriguez: .303/.420/.588
• Kosuke Fukudome: .283/.373/.465
• Torii Hunter: .282/.345/.491
• Andruw Jones: .246/.339/.472
• Mike Lowell: .283/.346/.455
• Aaron Rowand: .277/.343/.443
• Mike Cameron: .246/.331/.435
• Mike Piazza: .260/.321/.430
• Sammy Sosa: .234/.303/.418
• Julio Franco: .231/.307/.324

I hope Franco keeps playing till he’s 50. Anyway, download the whole dealio and entertain yourself for hours…

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Post from: Knuckle Curve

Jake Peavy and Josh Fogg at Coors Field. Updates throughout the evening…

[Update: Lineups have been posted. No real surprises. On the Padres' side, Scott Hairston starts in left for the injured Milton Bradley, while Brady Clark replaces Mike Cameron in center.]

[Update: Kevin Kouzmanoff bloops a single down the right field line for the game's first base hit.]

[Update: Fogg comes back from down 3-0 to get Adrian Gonzalez swinging on a pitch down and in for the final out of the inning.]

[Update: Kaz Matsui doubles to right-center on an 0-2 count to start the Rockies' first.]

[Update: Peavy walks Matt Holliday to load the bases with nobody out. Not the start he'd envisioned, I'm sure.]

[Update: Todd Helton takes Clark to the wall in dead center to drive home the game's first run.]

[Update: Peavy gives up an RBI single to Garrett Atkins but escapes without further damage. Rox up 2-0 after one.]

[Update: Fogg works another uneventful inning, giving up just a one-out single to Josh Bard.]

[Update: Yorvit Torrealba leads off the second with a homer to left on a 2-1 hanging slider. Peavy is not locating his pitches at all.]

[Update: Troy Tulowitzki is called out on strikes to end the inning. Rockies lead 3-0; Peavy has thrown 40 pitches through two.]

[Update: Padres have bases loaded, nobody out in third with 3-4-5 hitters coming up.]

[Update: With one out, Adrian Gonzalez launches a grand slam to right. Khalil Greene follows with a long single to left.]

[Update: Clark grounds to shortstop, but Geoff Blum takes out Matsui at second, who gets nothing on the throw to first. Padres avoid the double play and go up, 5-3.]

[Update: Helton homers to right with one out in the third. It's going to be one of those nights.]

[Update: Peavy works a perfect fourth. Still 5-4.]

[Update: Gonzalez leads off with a double to right. Brad Hawpe didn't get a good jump on the ball. Fogg is done for the evening.]

[Update: Taylor Buchholz replaces Fogg and retires the side in order, leaving Gonzalez stranded at second.]

[Update: Matt Holliday singles home Tulowitzki; game is tied again, 5-5. How much longer will Bud Black stick with Peavy?]

[Update: Peavy survives the fifth. He's now at 91 pitches.]

[Update: Torrealba leads off the sixth with a slow bouncer to third. He's out by plenty but for some reason dives into first base; lucky he didn't get hurt.]

[Update: Matsui drives home Seth Smith on a fly ball to center. Smith reached on a ball to center that Clark misjudged into a triple. Clark's weak arm can't get Smith at home. Clark then misplays another fly ball off the bat of Tulowitzki into a triple. The absence of Cameron is killing San Diego.]

[Update: Peavy gets Holliday swinging to end the sixth. Rox up, 6-5.]

[Update: Garrett Atkins hits a one-out double to left that Clint Hurdle argues unsuccessfully is a home run. Heath Bell replaces Peavy and, with runners at first and second, strikes out Ryan Spilborghs and Torrealba to end the inning. Still 6-5 through seven.]

[Update: With two out in the eighth and Blum on second, lefty Brian Fuentes gets Brian Giles to fly to left, but Matt Holliday misplays the ball into what is ruled a double. Blum scores to tie the game at 6-6.]

[Update: Manuel Corpas retires the Padres in order in the ninth. Rockies have 4-5-6 hitters coming up in the bottom half. Will Bell work another inning, or will Black go with closer Trevor Hoffman?]

[Update: Black stays with Bell.]

[Update: Bell issues a two-out walk to Hawpe but strikes out pinch hitter Joe Koshansky to send the game into extra innings. Colorado brings in its seventh pitcher of the night, ex-Padre Matt Herges.]

[Update: Padres put two runners on in the 10th but Giles grounds to short to end the inning. Mike Cameron, who hurt his hand in a collision with Milton Bradley last week, pinch ran for Terrmel Sledge, who walked for Clark. Apparently Cameron will play center. Interesting.]

[Update: Cameron in center, Doug Brocail on the mound for San Diego.]

[Update: Brocail retires the Rockies in order; to the 11th...]

[Update: Hairston reaches on an error by Jamey Carroll, in at third base for defensive purposes. Kouzmanoff sacrifices Hairston to second; after an intentional walk to Gonzalez, up comes Greene and his career .340/.407/.708 line at Coors Field.]

[Update: Carroll atones for his error, starting a 5-3 double play off the bat of Greene to end the inning.]

[Update: With two out in the bottom of the 11th, Brocail walks Helton and gives up a single to Carroll. Rookie left-hander Joe Thatcher will face Hawpe with the Padres' season on the line.]

[Update: Thatcher strikes out Hawpe on five straight fastballs. To the 12th...]

[Update: Padres again put a runner in scoring position with less than two out but cannot score. Herges breaks Michael Barrett's bat on a full-count pitch and gets him to ground to short for the final out. Rockies have the 7-8-9 hitters due up.]

[Update: Thatcher retires the side in order. Would you believe... the 13th?]

[Update: Jorge Julio in to pitch. Walk to Giles, two-run homer to Hairston. San Diego up, 8-6. Julio is trying to throw every pitch through a brick wall -- to little effect.]

[Update: Rookie Chase Headley lines a pinch single; Julio is done.]

[Update: No further damage against Ramon Ortiz, Colorado's ninth pitcher of the evening. Hoffman will work the bottom of the 13th and face Matsui, Tulowitzki, and Holliday.]

[Update: Matsui leads off with a double to right-center. Tying run now up at the plate.]

[Update: Tulowitzki just misses lining a double down the right field line that would have scored Matsui.]

[Update: Tulowitzki doubles to left-center. Holliday triples to deep right. Tie game. Runner at third with nobody out. Hoffman couldn't get it done in Milwaukee, and it looks like he's not going to get it done in Denver either.]

[Update: Carroll flies to shallow right, Holliday scores the winning run. Rockies play Philadelphia. Padres season is done.]

Post from: Knuckle Curve

Realistically, assuming Konerko is given the opportunity to play every day, and assuming he is able to make the adjustments all young players must make when they step up to a higher level (and there’s no reason based on his past history to believe he cannot), Konerko should consistently put up numbers on the order of .280/.370/.550 for the next 8-12 years, numbers which Karros once approached, at age 27. Konerko’s ceiling is more along the lines of Jeff Bagwell. If he doesn’t develop as expected, he could settle into another Eric Karros, which would certainly be disappointing but by no means embarrassing.

Well, Bagwell was probably a bit of a stretch. Entering 2007, though, Konerko’s list of similar players through age 30 includes guys like Carlos Lee and Derrek Lee — no shame in that. As for the .280/.370/.550 line? Since he’s been in Chicago, Konerko is batting .284/.356/.502. That’s not quite what I predicted, but it’s not too far off either.

Anyway, I’d better go soak in the hot tub for a while. I think I pulled a muscle patting myself on the back.

Post from: Knuckle Curve

There are a few bonafide studs available — Jorge Posada, Ivan Rodriguez, Alex Rodriguez, Bob Abreu, Mike Cameron, Adam Dunn, Torii Hunter, Andruw Jones — as well as a bunch of guys who are potentially useful. And of course, we’re all waiting to find out where Julio Franco ends up next year. My money is on the Lido deck, playing shuffleboard.

Post from: Knuckle Curve