I hate to admit it but Joel Sherman may be right.

Joel Sherman makes a good point that I hadn't realized before:

"There is a myth that [Tampa Bay and Oakland win] by drafting well. The reality is neither has, and Tampa Bay, in fact, over the past five or six years has been rather dreadful. What both teams are particularly adept at is finding players who have a few above-average skills then unearthing a counterpart who covers the flaws."

Unlike that other 3B, Wright a credit to his Citi | Steve Serby - New York Post

Nice column comparing David Wright to A-Roid.

All R.A. Dickey All The Time!

Last night New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey ran away with the 2012 National League Cy Young Award, becoming the first knuckleballer to do so. For all the video analysis I could find on the web, check it out right here.

MLB.com:









ESPN won't allow users to embed most of their videos but you can check out Adam Rubin conversation here and the Karl Ravech and Curt Schilling analysis here and watch the R.A. Dickey SportCenter interview here:



R.A. Dickey interview on SNY.TV:



If I find more clips, I'll update them. Until then,
E N J O Y ! ! !

Joel Sherman doesn't like MLB roster callups. I might have a solution to his concerns.

Joel Sherman really hates MLB's September roster expansion rules:

"In a sport with plenty of dumb rules and traditions, this one seems created by Larry as told to Moe and implemented by Curly."

I personally never did mind the September callups. After playing over 130 games, I'm sure major leaguers would welcome a breather every now and then. And for fans of teams not in the playoff hunt, it's a chance to see the future players and revive the optimism of Spring Training again (and sell a handful of tickets that the team otherwise might not have sold.) Sherman does raise some good points about fairness though in terms of having a seemingly unlimited row of pinch hitters and pitchers in the bullpen.

Perhaps a solution would be to allow the rosters expand to 40 players but require each time declare an active roster of 30 players for each series, allowing for replacements only if players go on the disabled list (to avoid gaming the system with phantom injuries). A player not available for one series could replace someone else when the opponent changes but not before, regardless of whether the teams are playing 2, 3, or 4 games or just making up a single rainout from earlier in the year. That way each team knows who is and is not available for the other team during the series. Thoughts?

Jose Reyes a Toronto Blue Jay?

Joel Sherman thinks it's possible. As long as he doesn't go to the Yankees, I'd be fine with it.

Tim Bontemps: Reese Havens, second baseman in New York Mets system, finally healthy and ready to contribute - NYPOST.com

I'm still pulling for this kid but the years are starting to pile up and if he's not ready by the 2013 season it'll really be a shame.

Torres overcomes ADHD to become elite defender - NYPOST.com

Nice column by Kevin Kernan about Andres Torres. Some nice quotes from Torres essentially describing what everyone with ADHD goes through:

"“If you find the right medication plus therapy and some professional help, you can find success like I did,’’ Torres told The Post. “I struggled for many years.’’

Torres, 34, was diagnosed with the condition in 2002 but took medication for only two or three days. “I was thinking, ‘I’m a good athlete, I don’t need to take anything,’ ’’ he explained.

Thinking that he could overcome the condition without medication was a bad decision. “The focus wasn’t there,’’ he said. “It’s not about just being hyper. You have to find focus in everything you do.’’"