Its done

Or at least it appears to be. Sammy Sosa's 13 year career in a Cub uniform seems to have come to an end as he has been traded to Baltimore for Jerry Hairston, minor league pitcher David Crouthers, and minor league second baseman Mike Fontenot. The Cubs will send along $10M to help out with Sosa's salary next year.

Sammy Sosa	Player	Jerry Hairston
36	Age	29
.849	OPS	.775
.918	3YR OPS	.735
.277	EQA	.278
.302	3YR EQA	.271

Here we have two very different baseball players. Last year their offensive production was very simillar, although Sosa did it with nearly all slugging and Hairston did it with nearly all OBP. Each has been on a steady slope- Hairston's up and Sosa's down. Sosa has almost exclusively played right field in recent years, while Hairston was a second baseman before turning into Mr. Utility last year. He logged ten or more games at second, left, center, right, and DH last year.

Statistically, most players who trend in a certain direction for a while usually bounce back a bit. As such, I'd expect Sosa to hit a bit better than Hairston next year despite the age difference. Given their ages and histories, Sosa also has a moderate chance to explode for a .975 OPS while Hairston is almost certain not to. On strictly on-field grounds, I give Sosa a significant edge here. Throwing in money and chemistry issues, I think the consensus will be this is a good deal for the Cubs.

The two prospects coming our way aren't exactly world beaters. Baseball America lists Fontenot as Baltimore's #7 prospect and Crouthers as their #10. Fontenot is 25 and had a .776 OPS for the AAA Ottawa Lynx. Crouthers is 26 and put up a 5.03 ERA for the AA Bowie Bay Sox last year. He did have a respectable 138/68 K/BB in 139.2 innings. I really don't see either guy ever making an impact with the big club, but organizational depth never hurt anybody either.

If I were a simulation league owner I would not make this deal. In real life, I can see the arguement for it, if for no other reason than it will force the writers to do something other than bash Sosa all year. If Hendry can find a way to bring Ordonez or Aubrey Huff in to fill the talent gap in the outfield, it might work out pretty well for the Cubs.

posted by Scott at 9:42 AM : |

 

Safe at home

After one more cancelled flight and frantic dash through Gatwick to make it onto an overloaded tiny little plane to go to Minneanapolis for some reason, I've finally made it home. The final score was 43 Yankee hats, one Pirates hat, and nobody else at all anywhere in London for eleven days. In other news, someone hacked the web page and put up a post yesterday. They signed it "Dennis"... it seems familliar but I can't quite place it. Whoever was responsible, at least they made a nice long mostly coherent post so I think I'll let them stay.

I'll be back if/when I dejetlag and get to work in time to catch up on all the stuff thats gone to pieces in my absence. Looking forward to hearing from everyone I missed while I was gone. Cheers!

posted by Scott at 11:49 PM : |

 

London Scoreboard

Most popular MLB hats, ranked by number seen worn since I arrived

1. Yankees (8)
2. Pirates (1)
3. 28 tied (0)

posted by Scott at 5:53 PM : |

 

The Trouble With London is...

... that everything costs the same, except the money which costs double! A 10.00 meal costs 10.00. A 30.00 game ticket costs 30.00. A 20.00 bill costs 39 friggin dollars!
posted by Scott at 1:22 PM : |

 

London

Apparently, yesterday I was in Detroit and only today did I find the actual London. As it turns out, the actual London is a place where I go to a sports bar and watch the Falcons whomp on the Rams with a bunch of folks from Atlanta. Go fig. Also, everyone here agrees that they hate the New York Yankees. Wild.

Tomorrow, Craven Cottage.

posted by Scott at 11:27 PM : |

 

London, Day One

Its not quite what I expected. No English accents, no english food, and everyone takes dollars. Oh wait, that's because I am in a Detroit airport internet cafe instead of at Loftus Road. A plane rolled off the runway at Hartsfield last night, leading to us missing our connection and spending 24 hours in Detroit and the Detroit Metropolitan Area. I did get to set foot in my first foreign country (Canada), so I suppose that's something. Here's hoping for better luck tomorrow.
posted by Scott at 8:24 PM : |

 

Leaving on a jet plane

Beltran is apparently going to leave Houston and become a Met. I never expected us to make a run at him, so I'm just glad he's leaving the division. While he may not be too likely to be worth the money he would have cost the Astros, his departure leaves them a substantially weaker team on paper than they were last year. Not signing him gives them better payroll flexibility down the road, but for now I am going to concentrate on enjoying the spectacle of Craig Biggio trying to roll his wheelchair up that hill in center.

Meanwhile, I'm headed out too. I leave Thursday for a trip to London, Rome, Newcastle, Wales, and back to London. It will be my long overdue first trip to a foreign land, so I'm sure it will be an adventure. I wonder if a Cubs hat makes for a good conversation starter on the streets of Europe.

I'll be back January 25th, with loads of sights, experiences, and soccer under my belt. Till then...

posted by Scott at 8:28 PM : |

 

He's in!

The BBWAA has elected Ryne Sandberg to the Hall of Fame with 393 votes, just six more than the required 387. The honor is well-deserved for the best second baseman to play the game since Joe Morgan. I'll try to write more soon, but for now: congratulations Ryno, and may an even more deserving Cub infielder join you sooner rather than later.

Edited to add: The veterans committee announcement is scheduled for March 2. If they do get off their rears and put Ronnie in, I'll mark my calendar and plan to see you all in Cooperstown on July 31.

posted by Scott at 2:09 PM : |