SB Nation - Kenny Lofton

Worst New York Yankees of the Decade

Ed Valentine — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:00:17 -0000

We had some fun the other day debating the Pinstripe Alley Yankee Team of the Decade. Good points were raised on several controversial choices.

Along the way, some of you asked for the 'Worst Yankees of the Decade' team. I thought that would be fun, so I decided to take a shot at it.

Looking at the rosters over the years, though, I found it almost impossible to narrow it down to a single team. Instead, position-by-position, here are some of the most forgettable -- and regrettable -- Yankees of the past decade.

I am sure there are many other names that could or should be added to this list. But, this should get you started strolling down the wrong side of Yankee Memory Lane.

C -- Alberto Castillo, Chris Turner, Chris Widger, Todd Greene, Joe Oliver, Bobby Estelalla, Wil Nieves, Sal Fasano, Michel Hernandez,

1B -- Travis Lee (.105 in 7 games)

2B -- Tony Womack

SS -- Erick Almonte,

3B -- Wilson Betemit, Drew Henson,

INF -- Alex Arias, Felix Escalona (.000, 5 games in 2004), Mark Bellhorn (.118, 9 games, 2005), Cody Ransom, Angel Berroa, Morgan Ensberg

OF -- Kenny Lofton, Matt Lawton (.125, 21 games, 2005), Mike Vento, Justin Christian,

DH -- Jose Canseco

SP -- Kevin Brown, Tim Redding (54.00 ERA in 1 game, 2005), Carl Pavano, Kei Igawa, Jaret Wright (Carl Pavano BEFORE Pavano), Christian Parker (one 2001 start, got hurt, never pitched again), Jeff Weaver, Darrell May, Sidney Ponson (multiple times),

RP -- Alex Graman (19.80 in 3 games, 2004) & 13.50 in 2 games, 2005), Colter Bean, Bret Prinz, Sean Henn, Gabe White, Billy Traber, Anthony Claggett (33.75 ERA in 2 games).

I am ashamed to admit so many guys like this have worn the pinstripes during the course of the last decade. Yuck!

Pull Yourself Together in Pittsburgh

Charlie — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:07:25 -0000

More photos » by Eric Risberg - AP

The Pirates are interested in injured pitcher Justin Duchscherer this offseason.

Browse more photos »

Is it just me, or do the numerous reports of the Pirates pursuing injured or damaged-goods players remind anyone of the 2002-2003 offseason, when Dave Littlefield grabbed Reggie Sanders, Matt Stairs, Kenny Lofton and Jeff Suppan on the cheap? Frank Coonelly is explicitly making the argument that Rick Ankiel should sign with the Bucs as a way to get some playing time to get his career back on track. Littlefield did about the same thing prior to 2003, when the market was incredibly unfavorable to players and, as I recall, several of the guys Littlefield acquired couldn't find anyone to give them a big-league contract even though they weren't that bad the previous year. Sanders, for example, played decently for the Giants in 2002, but he couldn't get more than a million bucks elsewhere, so he signed with the Pirates and used a great 2003 performance as a springboard for a $6 million contract with the Cardinals.

Of course, Littlefield tried to do about the same thing in 2003-2004, but it didn't work because the market had normalized. That's how the Bucs got stuck with Raul Mondesi. But what he did prior to 2003 was one of the few smart things he ever did. It seems like Coonelly is trying to do the same thing, albeit with risky players rather than with a depressed market. Play here, he seems to be saying, and you can create a path to a bigger paycheck somewhere else.

Tuesday's Quick and Late Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:31:13 -0000

Some things to read while the Muppets make everything better (h/t Daily Drink).

In the interest of getting it done as early as possible, today's Mug is bullet pointed again:

Prince Fielder finished fourth in the NL MVP balloting, appearing on all 32 ballots and getting five second place votes (FanShot). Ryan Braun also appeared on 16 ballots en route to an 11th place finish, but was ranked no higher than fifth on any of them. The link above has the full voting. Hopefully we'll soon find out which three voters had Prince Fielder tenth on their ballot, and who cast votes for Jeremy Affeldt, Brad Hawpe and Shane Victorino.
John Halama is a Brewer, having signed a minor league deal yesterday. Halama will turn 38 before opening day, hasn't pitched in the majors since 2006, and would be pitching for his eighth major league team if he makes the Brewers. With that said, Adam McCalvy blamed his 2006 departure from the Orioles on family issues, so perhaps he's ready to bounce back.
Speaking of pitchers who could bounce back, Chris Capuano will be back for another season on a minor league deal. Capuano made a few short appearances down the stretch for the Brewer rookie league affiliates, and if his rehab continues to progress he could be ready to pitch in the major leagues by spring training.
Project Prospect ranked baseball's top 15 shortstop prospects, and Alcides Escobar is #1, ahead of recent AFL standout Starlin Castro. TheJay had a post earlier today on players who do not have rookie eligibility next season, but Escobar is not one of them...and he's probably an early candidate for Rookie of the Year.
Al has a look at ten free agents that could become Brewers. Aside from the top two, there's no one else on that list I've even heard mentioned in connection with the Crew.
As for transactions, the Braves signed former Royals minor league pitcher Juan Abreu to a major league deal.
For whatever it's worth, MLB Daily Dish thinks Ben Sheets will end up as a Mariner this offseason.
It's no secret that the Braves would like to deal Derek Lowe this offseason. The Ghost of Moonlight Graham has a look at the market for his services, and thinks the Brewers made the right decision by not trading Corey Hart for him.
If you'd like something to overanalyze today, here's a candidate: Recent Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman has decided to switch agents, dumping the agency that helped get him out of Cuba, and Jon Heyman says at least one exec sees the move as a potential character issue. Obviously, the agency lost some money on the deal, but I'm having a hard time getting worked up over it.
Something else to think about this afternoon, in Sporcle form: How many of Kenny Lofton's teams can you name?
Friend of the site Stephen C. Smith of SpaceCoastBaseball.com has a post-mortem on the Florida Winter Baseball League, which lasted all of a few weeks, despite telling staff it had enough financial resources to last for multiple seasons (h/t Rattler Radio). Meanwhile, if you're one of the seven people who purchased tickets to a FWBL game and didn't get to use them, the Brevard County Manatees will allow you to use them next season.
On this day in 1969, Dave Bristol was hired to manage the Seattle Pilots. A few months later the team would move to Milwaukee and Bristol would become the first manager of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Happy birthday today to Cal Eldred, who turns 42, and Ben McDonald, who also turns 42.
On and it's probably a little late to help you today, but this cereal flow chart might make tomorrow morning a little easier. (h/t C. Trent Rosecrans)

Drink up.

The Great General Manager Debate: NL Central Edition

davoag — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:00:27 -0000

The trade that made me lose faith in the Pirates suckitude...

View full size photo »

Part of my reaction to the Aki Iwamura trade was realizing how surprisingly competent the Pirates front office has become. They picked up a cost-controlled player for a replaceable part and improved their infield defense in the process. How is that a bad thing?

The funny thing is, the Pirates have been bad for so long, and it's so easy to dismiss their hires as actually being good baseball people, I had forgotten what Pittsburgh was actually getting in Neil Huntington. Here's another post from FanGraphs about what this trade means for the Pirates executives and here's an interview with Dan Fox, their database guru. Basically, the Pirates have a guy that gets to play with computer simulations all day until he can accurately evaluate and forecast players. I can get that job how?

It also made me start thinking about all the general managers in the National League Central. Which ones was I most afraid of? Which ones were a joke? Were there any teams that were run competently from year to year?

The thing that surprised me when I did my research was not that Ed Wade is probably the weakest GM in the Central, it's that so many of them have changed in the past two seasons. Justice loves to harp on how the organizational chaos Houston has gone through is affecting the club in many ways. Still, to see that so many of Wade's peers have also changed jobs recently is refreshing.

It's also scary, especially when at least four of these guys are competent-to-really good. After the jump is a look at each GM. Feel free to share your thoughts on who worries you the most in the comments...

Chicago Cubs

GM Jim Hendry

Tenure: Since July, 2002 ( 7 1/2 seasons)

Notes: The longest tenured general manager also has the biggest payroll of any team in the division. What does he do with all that money? Waste it. As scary as the Cubs lineup and rotation can be, Hendry alone makes me feel good about the Astros chances against Chicago in the near future.

This was a man who overpaid for guys like LaTroy Hawkins and Ted Lilly (though, to be fair, Lilly was excellent). He also spent a ton of money for Alfonso Soriano to play center field, and then promptly bumped him to left. Then, he spent a ton of money to bring in notorious pot-stirrer Milton Bradley, adding to the dangerous clubhouse dynamic that Lou Piniella always brings.

Funny thing, though, 134 million can buy you a damned good team. Hendry may have made mistakes in the past, but has done a good job of at least correcting them. He admitted failure with Rich Hill, shipping him off to Baltimore. He did turn Ryan Dempster into an effective pitcher in his new role with the Cubs. Hendry also has a productive farm system, with guys like Carlos Marmol and Geovanny Soto picking up the team on the cheap.

Would Hendry be this good without all that money? Probably not. In his market, though, it's tough not to make a big splash each season and have the fans be happy. Of all the GMs, though, I'm least afraid of Hendry.

Cincinnati Reds

GM Walt Jocketty

Tenure: Since 2008 (2 seasons)

Notes: The interesting thing about Jocketty is he went from a winning team to one that is continually frustrated by not being able to get over the hump. He also went to a team that walked away from a more progressive-thinking GM in former Twins assistant Wayne Krivsky for the more traditional Jocketty. Of course, Jocketty also followed Tony LaRussa from Oakland to St. Louis, so it's unclear how much of his philosophy is tied to LaRussa's.

The Reds haven't exactly been dramatic in making over the club, but Jocketty has shown a willingness to be aggressive with the team's prospects and not trade off valuable assets for overhyped players (I'm looking at you, Jim Bowden). Still, Jocketty hasn't shown the same level of success as at his previous two stops. It will take a little more time to see whether his player evaluation method transfers to the Reds scouting department. If Jocketty can hit a few home runs in the draft, the rest of his record in the Queen City will be moot.

Milwaukee Brewers

GM Doug Melvin

Tenure: Since September 2002 (7 seasons)

Notes: One of the two longest tenured GMs in the NL Central, Melvin has had an up-and-down career in Milwaukee. Yes, he did draft Rickie Weeks and Prince Fielder. Yes, he did trade for CC Sabathia. But, what have the Brewers actually won? This team seems to consistenly play for second place, which isn't bad, but until they can get over the hump mentally, Melvin may not be viewed more positively.

All indications are that Melvin is a more traditional GM. The Brewers don't leap out at you as a very sabermetric-friendly team, but they do have a little bit of the Oakland A's philosophy for a small market. The Brewers under Melvin consistently make unpopular decisions with players to avoid locking them up to bad contracts that hurt the team. Instead, they'll buy out arbitration years for a player, insuring cost certainty and rewarding young guys before they may be overpaid. Exhibit one is Ryan Braun.

Certainly, the biggest deficiency with the club is starting pitching. Melvin has shown a knack for making big moves (CC), regardless of his position as a small market team. He's also done a good job of drafting by talent and not positional needs (Matt LaPorta, anyone?). The obvious plus side of this is Melvin can then trade for pitching with his talent surplus. It will be interesting to see if Melvin can keep the pipeline going for the Brewers and tinker around the edges enough to get a winner.

Pittsburgh Pirates

GM Neil Huntington

Tenure: Since September 2007 (2 seasons)

Notes: Here is the crux of my argument. The Pirates are without a doubt the worst-run franchise in the National League. For years, they have been incompetent, both in the draft, in trades and in fielding winning ball clubs. Who can forget Randall Simon viciously attacking that poor Bratwurst in Milwaukee? Just horrible. Still, Huntington has done a great job of reversing this trend. He correctly indentified assets that were expendible, seems to have valued his minor leaguers correctly and his only big misstep so far has been the Bay trade. The big deal with the Yankees netted the Buccos a solid starter in Ross Ohlendorff and a young outfielder in Jose Tabata (who hasn't panned out). The Bay deal saw an iffy Andy LaRoche, a reliever (Craig Hanson) and a fourth or fifth outfielder (Brandon Moss) traded for one of the best left fielders in baseball.

Of course, if the Pirates had let Bay walk after the season like the Red Sox have, they'd be roundly criticized. The organization seems to be headed in the right direction. Count me as still skeptical, though, even with present evidence to the contrary.

St. Louis Cardinals

GM John Mozeliak

Tenure: Since 2008 (2 seasons)

Notes: Mozeliak took over a team that didn't have much to work with outside of a couple big money players (Pujols, Rolen, Carpenter) and a ton of farm talent. He's tinkered around the edges well and leaned heavily on his manager and pitching coach's reputations to slot in marginal guys into productive roles. Mozeliak stuck by Colby Rasmus through early slumps and made a big-ticket acquisition of Matt Holliday.

There are conflicting reports about his style, but it seems like he appreciates what the stats can tell him about the game and uses it to some degree. Yet, his philosophy seems to be grating on the older school ideas of Tony LaRussa. Combine that with his cold-blooded trade of Dave Duncan's son, Chris, and he's done quite a bit to alienate two of the most important cogs to the Cardinals machine for the past decade. Not that I'm complaining.

There are both good and bad qualities here, but I don't think we can judge Mozeliak fairly until he's out from under LaRussa's considerable shadow (the man's a genius, after all).

Houston Astros

GM Ed Wade

Tenure: Since September 2007 (2 seasons)

Notes: So, the thing about Ed Wade is he can't trade. I said some nice things in the past about the job he did leading up to this past season, but after reviewing his track record in Philly, I have a suggestion. Ed Wade needs to hire some smart, baseball-savvy mind to be his trade manager. Like a salary-cap manager in football, this person would handle all the ramifications of trades (scouting players, balance, contracts, etc.) and give his best recommendation to Wade. Only then could the big man sign off.

If you think I exaggerate, look at his transactions. Here's a link to Baseball-Reference's transaction page starting in 1998. Wade took over in January of that year. In his entire Philly tenure, he made two good trades: Billy Wagner and Kenny Lofton. Every other trade he made was a bloodbath. Eric Milton? He gave up Nick Punto and Carlos Silva. Scott Rolen? He got Placido Polanco and that's it. He traded Curt Schilling for nothing. He traded away a young Adam Eaton for a declining Andy Ashby. He traded two young pitchers for two relievers and Ron Gant. Who thought this was a good idea? In fact, Wade's history is chock-full of trades for relievers. It's the position he enjoys tinkering with most on the team. Unfortunately, relievers are fungible, and trading for them wastes cheap assets.

Thus, why I had the idea of a trade manager. I'm sure someone like Paul DiPodesta or Kevin Towers wouldn't mind being the Astros full-time trade scout, right? Either one would be imminently more qualified than Wade to make these kinds of decisions. And yes, I realize that Wade has made some decent trades with the Astros. Sticking to the numbers, though? That streak may not last forever.

Hall of Fame WAR Path: Center Field - Graph of the Day

Justin Bopp — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:00:30 -0000

Click to Enlarge.

Today, a graph by numbers. (continued)

*UPDATED*

#. Name (Lifetime WAR) - Years through 2008

1. Kenny Lofton (67.2) - 17 - Makes an excellent case for himself, following the path of an HoFer to the end.

2. Jim Edmonds (67.7) - 16 - This chart says he should be in the HoF. Do you buy it?

3. Andruw Jones (57.8) - 13 - A nice, non-HoF arc.

4. Carlos Beltran (50.8) - 11 - If he played in KC for his entire career, he...no. I will not finish that thought.

5. Mike Cameron (42.6) - 14 - I really just wanted to add green to this chart. It offsets the other colors and pleases me. Seriously though, Cameron's career has been long and productive. But not HoF-worthy (according to this)

Make your case below.

Data Visualization: Justin Bopp | Data Collection: Sky Kalkman | Data Source: BaseballProjection.com

Special thanks to Jeff Zimmerman and TangoTiger for providing the HoF Zone data.

Updated Chart before the jump. Here's the original, pre-suggestions:

Players That Know How to Fight a WAR Defensively

Jeff Zimmerman (TucsonRoyal) — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 13:00:11 -0000

More photos » by Ted S. Warren - AP

5 months ago: Seattle Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki climbs the wall, but can't catch a three-run home run hit by Texas Rangers' Michael Young in the third inning against the Seattle Mariners in a MLB baseball game Friday, July 10, 2009, at Safeco Field in Seattle. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Browse more photos »

I finally broke down and "donated" to get all the WAR data from Sean Smith. The following is a look at the top 20 fielders (along with others that might join the list due to their current rank and rate they are accumulating the stats) in Outfield Arm, Infield Double Plays and Total Zone.

Total Zone

Rank	Name	Average Total Zone	Total Total Zone
1	Brooks Robinson	11.65	268
2	Mark Belanger	13.11	236
3	Ozzie Smith	11.26	214
4	Andruw Jones	13.85	180
5	Buddy Bell	8.65	173
6	Germany Smith	10	160
7	Joe Tinker	10.47	157
8	Bid McPhee	8.56	154
9	Robin Ventura	9.06	154
10	Barry Bonds	6.95	153
11	Jack Glasscock	7.45	149
12	Brian Jordan	9.87	148
13	Devon White	8.71	148
14	Clete Boyer	9.73	146
15	Luis Aparicio	8	144
16	George Davis	7.15	143
17	Jim Piersall	7.47	142
18	Cal Ripken	6.71	141
19	Paul Blair	7.78	140
20	Graig Nettles	6.36	140
	Others
56	Albert Pujols	12.38	99

Outfield Arm

Rank	Name	Average Arm	Total ARM
1	Roberto Clemente	4.61	83
2	Jesse Barfield	5.15	67
3	Al Kaline	2.68	59
4	Raul Mondesi	3.69	59
5	Andruw Jones	4.46	58
6	Larry Walker	3.06	55
7	Carl Yastrzemski	2.35	54
8	Dwight Evans	2.65	53
9	Willie Mays	2.17	50
10	Andy Van Slyke	3.57	50
11	Ken Griffey	2.38	50
12	Jim Edmonds	2.76	47
13	Ellis Valentine	3.36	37
14	Bobby Abreu	2.64	37
15	Johnny Callison	2.31	37
16	Barry Bonds	1.64	36
17	Kenny Lofton	1.7	34
18	Paul Blair	1.89	34
19	Ichiro Suzuki	4.25	34
20	Vladimir Guerrero	2.54	33
	Others
23	Alexis Rios	6.2	31
31	Pat Burrell	2.89	26
55	Shane Victorino	4	20
61	Jeff Francoeur	4.75	19

Double Plays

Rank	Name	Double Play	Average Double Play
1	Phil Rizzuto	61	4.69
2	Joe Gordon	52	4.73
3	Willie Randolph	40	2.11
4	Cal Ripken	40	1.9
5	Pee Wee Reese	39	2.44
6	Marty Marion	39	3
7	Eddie Collins	37	1.48
8	Bill Mazeroski	37	2.18
9	Roger Peckinpaugh	35	2.06
10	Frankie Crosetti	31	1.82
11	Buddy Myer	29	1.61
12	Jackie Robinson	28	2.8
13	Lou Boudreau	28	1.87
14	Brooks Robinson	26	1.13
15	Del Pratt	26	2
16	Johnny Evers	26	1.44
17	Fernando Vina	25	2.08
18	Ozzie Smith	25	1.32
19	Frankie Frisch	25	1.32
20	Bobby Grich	24	1.41

I am not going to go into a bunch of analysis since I am still digesting the numbers myself, but a few items that I noticed right off hand:

Brooks Robinson and Ozzie Smith were great defenders.
Andrew Jones was great in the outfield, too bad he declined so fast (turned it around a little this year, but still not close to what he used to be)
There seem to be more good outfield arms recently, while the ability to turn double seems to be associated with players that played 50 years ago. Since Sean Smith's numbers look at an amount above and below average, I am wondering there is a bunch of weak arms now that make the other outfielders seem better. That might be the same situation 50 years ago with infielders turning double plays.
Personally, I seemed to have underrated Cal Ripken's defense.

Addition of Catchers (07/26/20090

Rank	Name	Catcher
1	Charlie Bennett	155
2	Ivan Rodriguez	152
3	Jim Sundberg	114
4	Bob Boone	107
5	Gary Carter	106
6	Brad Ausmus	101
7	Johnny Bench	97
8	Del Crandall	72
9	Charles Johnson	71
10	Rick Dempsey	70
11	Steve Yeager	70
12	Ron Karkovice	62
13	Clay Dalrymple	62
14	Charlie O'Brien	58
15	Buck Ewing	58
16	Doc Bushong	55
17	Butch Wynegar	54
18	Bill Holbert	53
19	Mike Matheny	53
20	Tom Pagnozzi	53

The Pirates Are Dealing, Why Can't The Cubs? Cubs vs. Pirates Preview, Tuesday 6/30, 6:05 CT

Al — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:00:19 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

Write your own caption.

Browse more photos »

The Pirates will have a new look of sorts when they take the field tonight. Earlier today they traded ex-Cub farmhand Eric Hinske to the Yankees for a couple of minor leaguers. They'll recall a Triple-A journeyman, 28-year-old Garrett Jones, to take Hinske's place on the roster.

The Pirates have also sent Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett to the Nationals for Lastings Milledge and Joel Hanrahan. Morgan's 29 on Thursday and the only thing he's leading the league in is caught stealing. Milledge, at 24, still has a chance to become a decent regular player. As for Burnett and Hanrahan, that's a classic case of "maybe a change of scenery will help".

Meanwhile, the Cubs seek bigger prey. Phil Rogers again continued his "get rid of Z" campaign in today's Tribune, something I think is so silly I won't even link to it. The headline of this post is, I suppose, a bit misleading -- of course Jim Hendry is trying to make deals; I know he always is working his cellphone overtime. It's not easy to make trades if no one is dealing right now, and with 23 teams still within six games of a playoff spot, can you blame teams for thinking, "We'll wait a couple weeks and see if we get hot, and maybe we'll be buyers instead of sellers."

Also, Hendry is well known for not negotiating deals in the media, which I'm sure players appreciate. Many of Hendry's best deals (the Aramis Ramirez/Kenny Lofton deal of 2003, and the Derrek Lee trade of 2004) came out of nowhere. I don't think we'll see any action from the Cubs till after the All-Star break.

Lineup for tonight via Twittermyer:

Soriano, lf; Fukudome, cf; Lee, 1b; Fox, 3b; Hoffpauir, rf; Soto, c; Fontenot, 2b; Theriot, ss; Lilly, p

Today's Starting Pitchers


Ted Lilly Cubs	vs.	Ross Ohlendorf Pirates

7-5	W-L	5-5
3.41	ERA	4.75
81	SO	44
21	BB	25
16	HR	14
vs. Pit	--	vs. Cubs

Ross Ohlendorf was one of the miscellaneous Yankees minor leaguers acquired by the Pirates last year for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte. Since Yankee minor leaguers are generally overhyped, it's not surprising that Ohlendorf has struggled at times. He has never faced the Cubs.

Ted Lilly has not faced the Pirates this year. Last year he was 2-0 with two no-decisions and an alarmingly high 5.09 ERA. Adam LaRoche is 5-for-12 (.417) with three doubles and a HR vs. Ted. Brandon Moss is 3-for-3 with a HR. The rest of the Pirates, he handles pretty well.

Tonight's game is on CSN Plus -- that'll be a different channel than the normal CSN feed in Chicago. EI (at least on my Comcast system) lists only one feed -- so who knows which one you'll get. For other games today see the MLB.com Mediacenter.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SBN Pirates site Bucs Dugout.

Overflow comment threads will post today at 7 pm, 8 pm and 8:45 pm CDT.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Not Your Typical Rangers

Brendan Scolari — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 21:35:52 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

After decades of futility, the future is finally starting to look bright for the Texas Rangers.

Browse more photos »

The Texas Rangers franchise hasn't exactly been known for its success. The Rangers have never won a playoff series in their entire history, dating back to 1961 when they were the Washington Senators. In fact, the Rangers have only ever one one playoff game. However, things are starting to change in Arlington.

The general manager of the Rangers, Jon Daniels, took over for John Hart (who loved every pick of the draft this year) after the 2005 season. Daniels' early tenure was marred by failed trades, most notably when he traded away Alfonso Soriano, Adrian Gonzalez, and Chris Young in two seperate deals and only managed to get back Brad Wilkerson, Akinori Otsuka, and Adam Eaton. That's quite the downgrade.

However, the Rangers would turn the page and soon after began to build on what currently looks like a future powerhouse. After letting type-A free agents like Carlos Lee, Mark Derosa, and Gary Matthews Jr. leave to get extra draft picks, the Rangers made a new commitment to investing in the draft and scouring Latin America for young players. They also traded away their older and more expensive players for cheap young talent. This began with the massive haul they received for Mark Teixeira (Elvis Andrus, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, and Beau Jones) but they also received key players in the Kenny Lofton and Eric Gagne deals. Most people thought it would take another year or two for the Rangers to turn things around, but they've already shown that they can win their division this year.

Jamey Newberg of the Ranger's blog "The Newberg Report" chronicles what it takes to build a successful franchise and how the Rangers five step plan was put into action.

1. Divest at The Top: The Rangers traded away older players for young prospects under team control.

2. Reinvest at The Foundation: The Rangers let type A free agents leave, aggresively signed the top draftees like Justin Smoak, Derek Holland, and Taylor Teagarden (they also drafted Tanner Scheppers in the supplemental first round this year even though he will want top dollar), and invested in marquee Latin American talent.

3. Accelerate, challenge: Let the young players play and develop. The Rangers made the tough decision to move Michael Young to 3rd to make room for top prospect Elvis Andrus start at shortstop in 2009.

4. Lock in the core: They've locked up their young players like Ian Kinsler and Blalock and have had discussions about giving Josh Hamilton an extension.

5. Bang. This is the one step the Rangers have yet to address as of yet but they could start as soon as this year. They have lots of spare young players that can be used as trade chips if they feel they need to upgrade and should have payroll flexibility in the coming years to sign free agents.

Note the similiartities to the success the Dodgers are enjoying. A commitment was placed on developing young talent, and with the help of Logan White the Dodgers cultivated one of the best minor league systems in the game. While Ned Colletti was conservative with the young players, they were eventually put in positions where the team was dependant on their success. And as the young players started to grow, veteran talent was brought in from outside the organization to support the young core in the form of Derek Lowe, Manny Ramirez, Casey Blake, Orlando Hudson, etc.

This plan is really the basis for all successful organization, and it is one the Dodgers must not abandon as they finally start to bear the fruits of it. They need to continue to emphasize obtaining young, talented players, locking them up to keep their salaries down (Billingsley, Kemp, Ethier, and Broxton should all be approached about extensions in the offseason), and filling in the weak spots through free agency. The Dodgers are blessed with being in the second biggest market in the country, but if they become overly reliant on spending money in free agency it will eventually negatively impact the team.

The Rangers are a dangerous looking team already, currently in first place with a 34-25 record. But this is just the beginning. They have a deep, talented young roster, a stacked farm system, and a front office committed to winning. With the way both franchises are looking, I wouldn't be shocked if the Dodgers and Rangers meet up in October some time in the not too distant future.

The Horror of American League Parks

Eric Stephen — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 22:00:20 -0000

More photos » by Paul Beaty - AP

U.S. Cellular Field is one of three AL parks the Dodgers will try to conquer this month.

Browse more photos »

Since the beginning of the 2005 season, the Dodgers have played 33 games in American League ballparks. They have won only five of those games. They haven't been terribly unlucky either. They have scored 100 runs (3.03 per game) and given up 190 (5.76 per game), so their pythagorean record is only two games better, at 7-26. They have only had five one-run games, and they've lost them all.

They have been victimized by a vengeful Jose Lima, ran into Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano at their peaks in Minnesota, been bested by Mark Buehrle on the South Side, had their asses handed to them by Roy Halladay north of the border, lost to former farmhand Edwin Jackson in St. Petersburg, and been demonized by many Angels in Anaheim.

Part of the reason for this awful stretch has been poor starting pitching. In those 33 fateful games, Dodger starting pitchers have lasted 5.74 innings per start, which is decent enough, but they have a 5.61 ERA and a 1.468 WHIP.

The bigger problem is the Dodgers' utter inability to fill the designated hitter role with any production. Over this dreadful period, Dodger designated hitters are "hitting" .203/.266/.289, with one home run (by Luis Gonzalez) in 33 games. The chief culprit has been Olmedo Saenz, who has started 14 of the 33 games at DH, but he has been joined by such luminaries as Juan Pierre, Marlon Anderson, Antonio Perez, Kenny Lofton, Mark Sweeney, and Andruw Jones.

Here's a quick rundown the Dodgers' last 11 interleague road series.

Year	Opponent	W	L	Comment
2008	Detroit	0	3	The low point of 2008; the Kershaw rain start
2008	Angels	1	2	At least they won one
2007	Tampa Bay	1	2	The revenge of Edwin Jackson
2007	Toronto	2	1	Only series win; Chad Billingsley rejoined the rotation for good
2007	Angels	0	3	Dodgers scored 4 runs in 3 games
2006	Angels	1	2	This snapped a 15-game AL road losing streak
2006	Minnesota	0	3	Johan and the peak of Liriano
2006	Oakland	0	3	Included a 17-inning loss
2005	Angels	0	3	Dodger starters went 7 each game; still got swept
2005	White Sox	0	3	Two last-AB wins for Chicago, including a 4-run 9th off Brazoban
2005	Royals	0	3	The Lima Game II
Totals		5	28	The Dodgers are due

This year's AL gauntlet takes the Dodgers to Texas and Anaheim during the next two weekends, followed by Chicago to play the White Sox from June 23-25. But this year's Dodger team has been the best team in baseball so far. They have met just about every challenge thus far, so how about some wins in an AL park, huh?

No Positive Spin: Aramis Ramirez Dislocates Shoulder In Cubs' 3-2 Loss To Brewers

Al — Sat, 09 May 2009 13:00:15 -0000

More photos » by Darren Hauck - AP

This just isn't good.

Browse more photos »

There's no way to sugarcoat this, so I'm not even going to try. Aramis Ramirez dislocated his left shoulder last night diving for a ball at third base in the third inning. The best-case scenario has him out for four to six weeks, so we'd likely see him around the All-Star break. Worst case is that he's out for the year. We should know more after he has an MRI today in Milwaukee.

No sugarcoating, as I said. A-Ram is the Cubs' most dangerous and consistent hitter and comes up big time in game-changing situations so often that we come to expect it, even though that's not a realistic expectation. You can't replace that kind of bat, and his glove has also become more consistent during the almost six full years he's been a Cub. There's no comparable event in recent team history -- the only one that's even close was the knee injury that Corey Patterson suffered on July 6, 2003, when he tried to beat out an infield hit during a 4-1 loss to the Cardinals. Patterson was off to a good start, with 13 HR and 55 RBI and an .839 OPS in 83 games, but he missed the rest of the season. Ironically, this injury directly led to the acquisition of A-Ram (and Kenny Lofton), because Jim Hendry probably would not have made that deal had Patterson not been hurt, and the Cubs likely would not have won the NL Central in 2003 without those two.

A-Ram, obviously, is headed to the DL. The Cubs acquired utilityman Ryan Freel from Baltimore yesterday for the nearly-useless Joey Gathright (how does Hendry get Baltimore to take all our rejects?), so Freel may get some of the playing time at 3B. But here's what I'd do, at least for a week or so to see if it works. With A-Ram on the DL, Bobby Scales will likely stay with the Cubs instead of returning to Iowa. Why not play Scales at 2B and Mike Fontenot at 3B, at least vs. RHP, for a week or two? Scales seems hungry to prove that he belongs in the major leagues, and his pinch-hit triple last night showed some hustle. Lou likes that. Maybe this horrifying injury will provide an opportunity for a player who's been buried in the minor leagues for a decade to produce. No, I'm not saying Scales is a Hall of Famer nor is he a long-term solution. But maybe he can give the team one good month. Freel can play vs. LHP.

It's way too early to speculate about whether the Cubs will try to acquire a bigger bat; a lot depends on the prognosis for Ramirez. If he's out six weeks, that's bad, but there would still be half a season left when he returns. Despite losing to the Brewers 3-2 last night, the Cubs remained only 2.5 games behind the division leading Cardinals, who also lost. About the game, little needs to be said except that Aaron Heilman, who's been pretty consistent this year, got himself in trouble by walking 8th inning leadoff hitter Corey Hart on four pitches. The two-run, game-winning HR by Ryan Braun was almost predictable after that. It ruined what might have been a saving-grace storyline from this game, Randy Wells throwing five shutout innings in his first major league start. Wells got himself into several jams, allowing five hits and two walks, but got out of every one of them, striking out five. Incidentally, what's wrong with this paragraph from the cubs.com game recap?

Wells labored initially, stranding four runners on base in the first two innings and throwing 42 pitches in the process. He stranded two more in the sixth but picked up the efficiency, and he finished throwing 84 pitches in five innings, allowing no runs on five hits.

"Stranded two more in the sixth"? How can you do that when you throw only five innings? He must have meant the third; that's the only other inning that had two runners on.

Finally, keep in mind that the Cubs have reached this point in the season -- 16-13 and 2.5 games out of first place -- with virtually zero contributions from Derrek Lee, Milton Bradley and Geovany Soto. If those three will step up and produce the way they are capable of producing -- and Bradley had a good game last night, with a tumbling catch where the ball wound up in his bare hand and his third homer of the season -- the loss of Ramirez' bat won't hurt that much. This is still a good team and Cub teams under Lou have stepped it up when key players were injured (as they did last year with Alfonso Soriano out for extended periods). I have confidence they can do that again this year.