News, Signings, Etc.

Daniel Murphy has a strained right hamstring and will skip winter ball in Puerto Rico (what will Nick Evans do now?). The Mets say they still plan to use him as an outfielder, though much of that will depend on what becomes of Luis Castillo.

Yesterday was the deadline for teams to add players to their 40-man roster, a necessary move in order to protect those players from next month's Rule 5 draft. The Mets did just that with Mike Carp.

In case you missed it yesterday, Chase Utley had hip surgery and is expected to miss four-to-six months.

The White Sox have reportedly signed Cuban defector Dayan Viciedo, a 19-year-old third-baseman, for something like $11 million. South Side Sox has more.

The Cardinals have signed lefty Trever Miller to help fill out their bullpen. Neither the deal nor its terms have been officially announced as Miller still needs to undergo the requisite physical. Miller pitched with the Rays last season.

Webstuffs

At MetsGeek, john continues his excellent 2008 profile series with an analysis of Pedro Feliciano.

At his ESPN.com blog, Jason Gray. Gray sort of prattles on a bit about Kunz's poor numbers in Arizona before deciding that he just needs to improve his command. For his part, Kunz didn't think he was so ruff. Gray also adds this tidbit on Daniel Murphy:

Daniel Murphy looked like he could handle second base well enough, given his offensive ability. Whether that's enough for the Mets remains to be seen. He has limitations, but he didn't embarrass himself.

At Bugs & Cranks, Brad Borton lays out the pros and cons of the Mets possibly signing Francisco Rodriguez. It's mostly a rebuttal of all of the reasons Rodriguez might make sense for the Mets, and some of it is tongue-in-cheek, though I take issue with this one:

PRO: "He has thrived in big situations and media pressure his entire career. New York shouldn't phase him at all."
CON: This is what they said about Billy Wagner.

If we accept that injuries happen and that they aren't necessarily the fault of the player, I have few complaints about Wagner's tenure in New York. He burned out down the stretch in 2006 and 2007, but at all other times he was one of the best closers in the league and certainly the best reliever the Mets have had since Armando Benitez circa 1999-2000 (minus the playoffs, of course).

At Cardboard Gods, Josh Wilker busts out a 1976 Topps Dave Kingman and, as is his style, veers wistfully off-topic to discuss how tall ballplayers -- like Kingman -- had it made while shorter guys -- Like Freddie Patek -- often got short shrift.

Joe Posnanski gives us the internet's 27,483rd column on why batting average, homeruns and RsBI, while nice, are outdated and inadequate tools for evaluating -- i.e., determining the value of -- baseball players, for awards voting or otherwise.

In Arizona:

• Daniel Murphy went 2-for-3 with two walks, a double, two RBI and two runs scored. No errors!
• Josh Thole went 0-for-4 with a sacrifice fly.
• Eddie Kunz had yet another ruff [sic], coughing up four runs on five hits in two-thirds of an inning.

In Hawaii:

• Ruben Tejada went 1-for-3 with a walk.
• Jordan Abruzzo went 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter.
• Greg Veloz went 2-for-3.

In the Dominican Republic:

• Francisco Pena went 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter.
• Fernando Martinez went 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo homerun.
• Ambiorix Concepcion went 1-for-1 with an RBI-double after coming in as a pinch-runner.
• Argenis Reyes went 1-for-5 with an RBI.
• Abraham Nunez went 2-for-5 with a run scored.
• Julio Polanco struck out two in an inning of relief.
• Salvador Paniagua went 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter.
• Fernando Tatis went 1-for-4.

In Puerto Rico:

• Eddie Camacho allowed two runs on three hits in 1.2 innings. He did stikeout two batters.
• Jesus Feliciano went 3-for-5 with two doubles, two RBI, a sacrifice fly and three runs scored.
• Nick Evans went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
• John Rodriguez went 0-for-3.
• Jose Valentin went 1-for-3 with a walk.
• Jose De La Torre allowed a solo homerun and struck out one in an inning of relief.

Eddie Kunz updated his blog, and actually makes a very good point about winter league stats.

I have been pitching very well and making all my pitches work for me. Now I know the numbers are not shoiwing it but this is a league to work on things and get better so era and those things don't matter that much at all. I am getting stronger and a better feel for my piitches as well which is nice.

Fair enough. Kunz has an ERA north of ten, but the point of his stint in Arizona isn't to blow everyone away, but rather to work on improving his pitches.

Wille Randolph has been named bench coach for Ken Macha's Milwaukee Brewers.

Gary Carter will manage the Long Island Ducks. Working his way up from the bottom, then?

The Padres picked up Brian Giles's option for 2009, officially taking him off the free agent market.

Arizona Fall League

Mesa Solar Sox 10, Peoria Saguaros 1

• Josh Thole went 1-for-4 with a strikeout and made an error on a missed catch.
• Eddie Kunz was decent, allowing a hit and two walks while striking out one in two scoreless innings of relief.

Hawaiian Winter Baseball

Waikiki BeachBoys 12, Honolulu Sharks 9

• Jordan Abruzzo went 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.
• Josh Stinson retired the only batter he faced.
• Roy Merritt got roughed up for three runs on three hits and two walks in 1.2 innings.

Dominican Winter Baseball

Gigantes del Cibao 14, Leones del Escogido 6

• Argenis Reyes went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored.
• Abraham Nunez went 1-for-4 with two RBI.

At MetsGeek, Chris McCown looks at some of the second base options for next season. A lot of them are named Mark.

Eddie Kunz's editors said his writing was a little ruff, so in steps "Guest Blogger" (their quotes, not mine) Daniel Murphy to fill in. Save a couple of odd grammatical mistakes, Murphy's writing is far superior to Kunz's. Murphy has been out of action since last Friday when he injured his forearm in the Rising Stars game. It doesn't seem serious, and Murphy expects to be back in action by next week. The most interesting tidbit is this one:

But I am looking forward to being back in the lineup and further hone my skills at second base and in the batters box.

This runs counter to what we heard last week, namely that Murphy would go back to left field after the Rising Stars game. Let's hope Murphy is right about this one.

At FanGraphs, Dave Cameron looks at Trade Bargain Endy Chavez:

He is what he is - a slap hitter without much power who doesn’t draw walks.

But he also might just be the best defensive outfielder alive today. He’s certainly in the discussion, at least. John Dewan’s +/- system ranked him as +19 during his time between LF and RF this year - in 600 innings! In what accounts to about a half season of playing time, Dewan’s system judged Chavez to be almost 20 plays better than an average defensive corner outfielder who plays an entire season. That’s just a huge, huge difference.

At Baseball Analysts, Marc Hulet evaluates the big trades that were made last winter, including the one that brought Johan Santana to the Mets. Hint: It was a good trade for the Mets.

Chris McShane has a minor Willets Point update.

At Beyond the Boxscore, Sky Kalkman breaks down the best catchers of 2008. Not sniffing the top ten: Brian Schneider. Paul Lo Duca and Johnny Estrada were each considerably worse, though. For what it's worth, Schneider was approximately as valuable as Jason Varitek and was more valuable than Ramon Hernandez and Victor Martinez.

At Sabernomics, JC Bradbury writes about the surplus of Jake Peavy's below-market deal with the Padres. The value to Peavy in signing that deal was that he wanted to stay in San Diego, so the money he lost on the open market was addressed in the comfort column. If he gets traded elsewhere, he has every intention of making up for that "surplus" of production versus cost, and will probably look for a contract extension.

Replacement Level Yankee Weblog looks at C.C. Sabathia's workload to see if he is a big injury risk.

Does MLB need robots calling balls and strikes? Maybe.

The Phillies may be safe bets to win the World Series, but don't worry: Nobody's been watching.

MTV has made a poopload of videos available online. Some blasts from the past:

One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine

I could go on like this.

Arizona Fall League

Peoria Saguaros 9, Surprise Rafters 1

• Daniel Murphy went 2-for-6 with a double and two RBI in what is said to be his last game at second base. The AFL all star game is today, so we'll find out this weekend if that's really the case.
• Josh Thole went 1-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.
• Jason Vargas started the game and pitched five scoreless innings, allowing just a single while striking out one.

Dominican Winter League

Aguilas Cibaenas 14, Tigres de Licey 7

• Salvador Paniagua (C-Licey) went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
• Luis Terrero (CF-Aguilas) went 1-for-4 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored.

Mexican Pacific League

Algodoneros de Guasave 6, Aguilas de Mexicali 4

• Tim Lavigne (P-Gusave) picked up the save, allowing a hit in a scoreless ninth.

Tomateros de Culiacan 12, Caneros de los Mochis 6

• Matias Carrillo (P-Culiacan) allowed an unearned run on two hits in an inning of work.

Venezuelan Winter League

Caribes de Anzoategui 6, Navegantes del Magallanes 2

• Gustavo Molina (C-Magallanes) went 0-for-2 with a walk.

Joel Sherman believes the Mets will pursue Derek Lowe and Brian Fuentes. I like Lowe a lot, though he's getting up in years. I've also thrown my hat in the Fuentes ring here before.

At RaysGeek, Mike Newman looks at the last ten years of Rays draft classes to see where some lessons can be learned.

Whoops! Someone let Eddie Kunz near a computer again.

Ken Davidoff says that the Mets "have convinced themselves" that Francisco Rodriguez is too expensive and not worth pursuing.

Fire Joe Morgan hates Jayson Stark and Jim Caple.

Replacement Level Yankee Weblog breaks down the case for Mark Teixeira using fancy numbers and tables and whatnot. The conclusion: "If you can’t get Pujols, might as well go for the second best first baseman in baseball, right?"

Speaking of Teixeira, Beyond the Boxscore ranks last year's first basemen (second basement and center fielders have already been covered). Teix is number two; Carlos Delgado is a surprising #9, right between Adrian Gonzalez and Justin Morneau and ahead of Jason Giambi, Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder, Derrek Lee, and a bunch of others.

The Braves don't seem inclined to part with their young talent in exchange for Jake Peavy. For what it's worth, Keith Law thinks the rumors floating around about how much the Braves might have to give up are bonkers (subscription required for LawBlog).

At FanGraphs, Dave Cameron looks at some free agent landmines, including Manny Ramirez, about whom he concludes:

He carried Los Angeles to the playoffs, and showed that his bat is still alive and kicking, that Manny Being Manny can still be quite valuable. That doesn’t change the facts, however, that Manny turns 37 next summer and he’s already such a terrible defender that he deserves to be a full time DH. 2008 was also his best season since 2002, so if you’re re-signing him expecting to get that kind of performance again, you’re going to be disappointed.

Speaking of FanGraphs, they've souped up their team pages, which are now basically the awesomest thing ever. We're talking sortable team stats on everything FanGraphs tracks, including breakdowns by month as well as batter/pitcher/reliever/starter (explanatory post here).

With Brad Lidge finishing 2008 as one of the best closers in baseball and continuting that run of brilliance into the playoffs and now the World Series, Astros fans are asking if they got enough in return. Michael Bourn's 57 OPS+ not doing it for ya?

Will Carroll takes a look at nibblers, to see which pitchers are the best (and the worst) at putting hitters away after getting up 0-2 in the count.

In football news, the Giants play the Steelers this week, and SB Nation Giants blog Big Blue View compares Eli and Ben, making the case for Eli (it was actually a response to this post at Behind the Steel Curtain which makes the case for Big Ben)

Arizona Fall League