SB Nation - St. Louis Cardinals

Astros Winter Meeting, Day Three: Links, Thoughts and Idle Speculation

davoag — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:54:48 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

Unless you have this man closing games for you, do you need a big-name closer? And yes, I was referring to Yogi...

Look, I'm all for conventional wisdom. There is usually a reason it's conventional; it's worked for years and years. It's what people do. In baseball, it's what teams do to win. I don't mock all conventional wisdom in baseball. Some of it is very sound. One thing I can't figure out, however, is why this one fact has become so crucial to a team's offseason goals. Why do the Astros 'need' to find a closer this winter? Just because they lost their closer from last season?

Let's consider last season*. How many teams went into the 2009 season with unsettled or unproven closers? That would be 11. Here's the complete list, followed by some quick thoughts on the situations.

*This isn't the most scientific study, since I'm looking just at teams from 2009 and not expanding the data range past that. I acknowledge that. Let's move past it.

Tampa Bay (84-78) Had Percival ostensibly as closer, but pitched 10 innings in 2009 and was not used as closer much early. Still had six saves, but so did five other members of bullpen.
Toronto (75-87) Knew BJ Ryan would be back at some point, never signed anyone as replacement.
Detroit (86-77) Had a group of a couple players, sorted itself out during the season.
Seattle (85-77) Found David Aardsma off junk pile.
Oakland (75-87) Went with all-kids, Andrew Bailey emerged as closer
Florida (87-75) Went with unproven kid in Matt Lindstrom, moved to Leo Nunez halfway through season.
Washington (59-103) Went with Mike McDougal, had okay season.
St. Louis (91-71) Found Ryan Franklin after going through motions with several others
LA Dodgers (95-67) Broxton saved some games at end of 2008, but still unknown entity going into 2009
San Diego (75-87) Entered season with Heath Bell as closer, no prior experience
Arizona (70-92) Let Brandon Lyon walk,used Qualls as new closer
Atlanta (86-76) Traded for Soriano, but also had Mike Gonzalez

Obviously, there were some teams that were going to be bad no matter what. They'd made the decision to rebuild and thus, didn't invest heavily in a closer. Those teams (Washington, Oakland, San Diego) finished with losing records. The Padres found Heath Bell could be a successful closer and the A's had the same thing happen with Andrew Bailey.

The rest of the teams? 7 of the 11 had winning records. There are numerous examples of teams being killed by not having a late-inning guy. That's the 2008 Mets excuse, anyway (forcing them to spend ungodly amounts of money on JJ Putz and K-Rod). I think, however, that a large majority of teams don't necessarily need to focus on getting a closer as part of their success. Finding good players and putting them in the bullpen will work itself out. Why spend the money on a luxury item when you can win without one?

Maybe this is all rationalization since the Brewers are going to swoop in and sign both LaTroy Hawkins and Randy Wolf in the same day. I really believe that the Astros success in 2010 won't hinge on who pitches the ninth inning. Houston will be an average-to-below average team no matter who the closer is.

Onto the links:

Add the Cardinals to the list of Miguel Tejada suitors. Well, maybe not...it's just that Tony LaRussa likes him. Which he revealed for the sole purpose of driving me crazy. Would St. Louis play Tejada at shortstop or third base?
Could the Tigers end up being Jose Valverde's landing spot? The Granderson/Jackson deal saved them about 10-12 million dollars, depending on how much Jackson gets in arbitration. That puts them in perfect position to pick up a player like Valverde for the back end of the bullpen. It would also give the Astros the 19th pick in the 2010 draft. Apparently, the Nationals had interest but pulled back due to his cost. Did Valverde's agent overestimate his market?
Here's a nice defense of the Pudge Rodriguez signing. While I agree the human aspect of baseball decisions is often minimized by everyone, this seems a bit much. For one, it was widely reported when Pudge joined the Astros that he really doesn't prepare for the mental side of the game very well and is mostly concerned with hitting. Sure, he may provide moral support out there on the mound, but don't look for him to tell Strasberg what kind of pitches this guy doesn't want to see.Aaron Gleeman seems to agree with me, too.
I don't know what's more disturbing; that the White Sox could beat us out for Putz's services (and that that would be considered a bad thing) or that Matt Thornton uses the term 'bromance.' I have nothing more to say.
One of the better Twitter feeds during the Winter Meetings has been Will Carroll's. The Baseball Prospectus writer was profiled by his hometown newspaper and has apparently been one of the stars of the Indianapolis show. As someone who purchased his Carroll Guide to Sports Injuries, just so I could sound smart when I talk about Lis Franc-type injuries, I am very appreciative he's in the business.
Finally, here's a little prospect talk for those minor league nuts in the audience:
Some data on player speeds out of the box in the Arizona Fall League. The guys at Project Prospect only timed Castro twice and he fell into the below-average category, but he may have suffered the same fate as Buster Posey: fatigue. From what I'd heard to that point, Castro should have average speed in the majors.
We were recently contact by a site with some great prospect video (though it is a pay site). One of the profiles is on Henry Villar. Some very good video here with lots of pitches thrown. I didn't see any closeups from the side to tell how his arm mechanics looked, but could see some other things. His delivery is relatively smooth, but the fact he falls off to the first base side so heavily means it might not be as repeatable as you'd like. He's also not in great fielding position when he finishes. His arm slot doesn't look to put too much stress on his delivery and for a hard thrower, he certainly has a free-and-easy motion. Not too many warning signs for injury down the road.
Here's a video of Ross Seaton. I have to say, this was pretty encouraging. While Seaton did struggle with command issues in this particular start, it was a TON of video on his delivery. I can see why scouts would like him; Seaton has a very smooth delivery throughout. He lands in a balanced position, it's not too violent of an arm motion. His arm slot seems comfortable, though he does tend to miss the same slot sometimes. His elbow does not seem to fly forward before the ball and he seems perfectly balanced to field after the play. In fact, the end of his delivery reminds me a little of Greg Maddux. Now, he definitely didn't show Maddux-like control, but if his effortless delivery can really bring 92-93 MPH heat? He's a lot more interesting. Here's my end of the season scouting effort on Seaton, based on his numbers.
There's also video of Jordan Lyles on Baseball Intellect, but I won't bore you any more with prospect talk. At first blush, it's some of the longest video I've seen on prospects and a good source for first-hand scouting reports.

BtB Analysis: Cardinals Sign Brad Penny; Nationals Sign Ivan Rodriguez

Tommy Rancel — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:41:24 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Chiu - ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Thanks to the big Yankees, Tigers, Diamondbacks trade, a few deals slipped through the crack that are worth noting. First, the Washington Nationals signed Ivan Rodriguez to a two-year deal believed to be worth a total of $5 million dollars. And second, the St. Louis Cardinals signed Brad Penny to a one-year deal worth at least $7 million, but could reach $9 million if he hits some incentives.

The signing of Pudge marks the second strange move of the winter meetings for the Nationals. It seems a little bit much to be giving the 38-year-old Rodriguez a guaranteed two-year deal at an annual salary of $2.5 million dollars. Catcher is some what of a question mark for the Nationals as promising starter, Jesus Flores, has yet to play over 90 games in a major league season. However, when healthy Flores should be the clear cut starter. Sure, Pudge is still a solid defensive catcher, and he brings "veteran presence," but paying $2.5 million dollars to a guy you're rather see a back-up seems like a waste of money.

Offensively, Rodriguez is a shell of the hitter he was in the late 90s and he hasn't had a .330 wOBA season since 2006. As for his mentor skills, his approach at the plate is not something you want your younger player to pick up on. He's earned less than 5.5% walks for five straight seasons and carried an O-Swing% around 40 the past three. Like Brian Bruney, it's not a terrible pick-up, but it's not something that really improves this team a whole lot.

The other deal that went down involved Brad Penny, who signs a one-year deal for the second straight offseason. However, unlike last season, he decided it was best to stick to the National League and that's probably the smartest thing for all parties involved. Like former teammate John Smoltz, Penny comes to the Cardinals after a disappointing half season or so with the Boston Red Sox that lead to his release, and ultimately a resurgence in the senior circuit.

You can easily make the argument that the Red Sox may have cut bait a little too soon with Penny as he was plagued by a high BABIP (.336) during his tenure in Beantown. However, you could make the same argument that his success in San Francisco was also do in part to a low BABIP (.211) and an unsustainable LOB% over 80% (SSS all the way around). I did notice that once he went bay side, Penny started throwing his change up, something he forgot to do in Boston. The slight change in pitch selection led to more ground balls, which makes him a perfect fit for Dave Duncan. Salary-wise, Penny should easily be worth the $7 million dollar tag, if not the entire potential $9 million. Even with a sub-par performance in Boston, he still earned a 2.0 WAR for his time there and a 2.5 overall for the season. He should be good for at least that in 2010, if not more, which puts his estimated value at over the $11 million mark.

MLB Trade Rumors: Brad Penny Signs with the Cardinals

raygu — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:00:16 -0000

by Eric Risberg - AP

2 months ago: San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Brad Penny throws against the Chicago Cubs in the first inning of their baseball game in San Francisco, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

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Yesterday the Cardinals announced they had signed starting pitcher Brad Penny to a one year contract that could be worth up to $9 million with incentives. Penny has to be quite happy with his agents after getting that much money from a Cardinal team that is looking for a big bat to complement Albert Pujols in their lineup.

Penny went 11-9 with a 4.88 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP pitching in Boston and San Francisco. In Boston, Penny made 24 starts going 7-8 with a 5.61 ERA and a 1.534 WHIP. In his 6 starts in SF, Penny went 4-1 with a 2.59 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP.

I expect a 2010 Brad Penny to be somewhere in between his Boston and SF stats in 2009, maybe a low 4 ERA with a 1.35 WHIP.

Poll

Will Brad Penny pitch well enough to replace Joel Pineiro in 2010?

Brad Penny Signs for $7.5 Million???

Tom Dakers — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:53:04 -0000

That he signed with the Cards isn't really what I want to talk about, it is that he signed a 1 year $7.5 million contract with $1.5 million in incentives. Doesn't this seem a little rich to you? Brad Penny was 11-9 last year with a 4.88 ERA, the year before he was 6-9 with a 6.27 ERA. If Penny is worth $7.5 + how much is Doc worth? I can't imagine who the Cardinals were bidding against that would have brought their bid up that high. This will raise the price on the other free agent pitchers out there.

The agents for John Lackey, Rich Harden and Justin Duchscherer must be thrilled.

Brad Penny Gives Cardinals More Upside in Rotation

Satchel Price — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:44:53 -0000

More photos » by Eric Risberg - ASSOCIATED PRESS

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According to ESPN's Buster Olney, the Cardinals and right-hander Brad Penny have come to an agreement on a one-year deal worth $7.5M with another $1.5M in incentives. The deal is pending a physical scheduled for Tuesday.

Much of the talk in St. Louis has been based around Matt Holliday and finding a replacement for him if he leaves, but quietly the Cardinals needed to fill another huge hole in the rotation with the departure of Joel Pineiro. Pineiro quietly made himself into a groundball machine last season, and his combination of pristine control and command made him one of the most effective starters in the National League. The big year priced Pineiro out of St. Louis' range, so it appears that they've turned to Penny to replace him in the rotation, to be joined with Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Kyle Lohse and presumably either Mitchell Boggs or Blake Hawksworth.

Penny, 32 in May, managed to bounce back in 2009 with the Boston Red Sox and San Francisco Giants after pitching just 94 (poor) innings the year before with the Los Angeles Dodgers. While his 4.88 ERA doesn't exactly impress, he did post solid 4.46 FIP and 4.56 xFIP marks, and his big-time mid-90's velocity returned as the season went on. Penny has some big upside, he has top of the rotation stuff and went five straight seasons with sub-4.00 FIPs from 2003 to 2007, and he's been worth more than 2.5 wins above replacement in six of the past seven seasons. Considering the big fastball, his apparent return to health, and a pretty solid track record outside of 2008, it seems that the Cardinals have added a pretty good arm to their rotation.

If Dave Duncan can help Penny in the same way that he helped the likes of Carpenter, Pineiro, Lohse, Matt Morris, Jeff Weaver, and Jeff Suppan, among others, then this could end up being a really great signing for the Cardinals. The guaranteed money is pretty significant at $7.5M, but it's only a one-year deal so a lot of the risk is mitigated, and there's reason to believe that Penny should be able to be a 2-3 WAR pitcher next season, making him well worth the investment.

The Cardinals definitely have some risk in their rotation with Carpenter and Penny, not to mention Lohse's inconsistency and forearm issues from last season, but they could very well have one of the best, if not the best, rotation in the National League next season if everyone is healthy. The Cardinals have some holes to fill still, especially in the lineup, but for $7.5M they did just land a potential #2 starter.

Tuesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 15:36:15 -0000

by Matt Slocum - AP

Today's Frosty Mug is so full, I didn't even have time to caption this picture of Randy Wolf.

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Some things to read while evening out the teams.

It turned out to be a pretty active first day of the Winter Meetings. The Brewers were the talk of the late night rumor mill, based on reports that they're close to signing a three year deal with Randy Wolf (also noted in Rumorville). Tom H. says the deal is rumored to be in the $25-27 million range, and is also quantifying the amount of smoke surrounding it.

With that said, the deal mustn't be done yet, because Arn Tellem, who represents Wolf, is meeting with the Mets this morning. Jon Heyman says the Mets aren't willing to offer Wolf a three year deal.

Is this the move you were hoping for from the Brewers? I'd be happy with it at this point, as long as the price isn't much above $27 million. There's always some risk involved, but this is almost certainly a better deal than, for example, the four year deal Joel Pineiro is seeking.

Wolf might not be the only starting pitcher the Brewers acquire this week. They've reportedly discussed a deal with the Mets that would send Corey Hart to New York for John Maine, a former student of Rick Peterson who has missed most of the last year with shoulder issues (FanShot). It's unclear how much fire is behind this smoke, but the Mets are also rumored to be discussing a similar trade with the Angels, with Juan Rivera taking Hart's place.

The Brewers also added a little depth to their middle infield yesterday, claiming shortstop Luis Cruz off waivers from the Pirates (FanShot). Cruz played seven positions (everything but pitcher and catcher) last season in AAA, but has virtually zero ability with the bat (a .274 OBP in AAA last season), and Adam McCalvy confirmed the move was made for minor league, not major league depth. The Brewers don't have a true shortstop prospect in the minors above Brent Brewer and Josh Prince, neither of whom played above A-ball last season.

The Brewer bullpen suffered a blow yesterday, as Mark DiFelice underwent surgery to repair damage to his labrum and rotator cuff, and will miss the entire 2010 season (FanShot). DiFelice is 33 and undergoing his second major shoulder procedure, but intends to try to pitch in the majors again in 2011, telling Adam McCalvy "I don't want it to end like this."

This raises the stakes a little bit in the search for additional bullpen help, but the Crew won't be getting said help from Rafael Betancourt. Late in the day yesterday it was reported that the Brewers were unlikely to lure Betancourt away from a return to the Rockies. I haven't seen it confirmed, but I'm pretty sure he accepted arbitration late last night.

Looking back at a rumor from the weekend, In-Between Hops has come out against a Jeff Suppan-for-Juan Pierre deal, fearing the extra $4 million in salary the Brewers would have to take on would make it difficult for them to sign a pitcher like Randy Wolf.

And, looking back even farther, Dave Allen of FanGraphs has a look at the pitch-blocking ability of Gregg Zaun. Ken Macha is making me crazy: I should see this as a positive, but instead I see it as the excuse that might be used to keep an underperforming/overused Zaun in the lineup and a more deserving catcher on the bench.

In the minors, Brewerfan.net has a new Power 50 up. It's always interesting to see how guys move up and down the charts during the offseason. This edition's big gainers were Kentrail Davis, Jake Odorizzi and John Axford, with Hernan Iribarren, Chris Cody and Max Walla losing significant ground.

And around here, we're looking for your help to select a Brewer All-Decade Team in a series we're calling Making Your '00 Face. That link will take you to the voting for first base, where Prince Fielder has opened up what will likely turn out to be an insurmountable lead. Voting for second base will open at 4 pm today.

Around baseball:

Braves: Reliever Rafael Soriano has accepted the team's offer of arbitration.
Cardinals: Have agreed to a one year, $7.5 million deal for Brad Penny, pending a physical.
Nationals: Signed Ivan Rodriguez to a two year deal worth $6 million, acquired reliever Brian Bruney from the Yankees for a PTBNL, and released reliever Saul Rivera.
Pirates: Signed reliever Vinnie Chulk to a minor league deal.
Rangers: Acquired pitcher Clay Rapada from the Tigers for a PTBNL or cash.
Red Sox: Signed pitcher Fabio Castro and re-signed Kason Gabbard.
Rockies: Released outfielder Matt Murton, who is expected to spend 2010 in Japan.
Tigers: Re-signed Adam Everett to a one year deal, and signed reliever Brad Thomas, who has spent the last two seasons pitching in Korea.
Twins: Carl Pavano has accepted the team's arbitration offer.

The Rule 5 Draft is on Thursday, so I'm almost done burying you in links like these: Harry Pavlidis of The Hardball Times and Lisa Winston of MiLB.com have a look at several players who recently played in the Arizona Fall League and were left unprotected in the draft.

Competition is heating up in the market for Edwin Jackson. One report yesterday had the Tigers receiving 12 offers for his services. I guess that's what you get when you put a pitcher who threw over 200 effective innings last season and is due about $5 million on the market.

Speaking of pitchers the Brewers might be interested in, Justin Duchscherer declined the A's offer of salary arbitration.

I think most of us will be happy to see these former Brewers sign elsewhere, and keeping one of them in the division would be a double bonus: Jason Kendall is reportedly drawing interest from the Royals, and Braden Looper has expressed interest in pitching for the Cubs.

In case you were wondering, Keith Law has an explanation of how the Winter Meetings, usually held in a warm vacation spot, ended up in Indianapolis. The cold temps and snow haven't kept people from exchanging some tidbits of info you probably would never have known without the internet (and might not have missed):

There was apparently a small tiff between Scott Boras and new Hall of Famer Whitey Herzog over comments Herzog made about Matt Holliday, a Boras client.
Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez didn't shoot anything while out deer hunting with Bobby Cox last week.
Former D-Back, Indian, Ray and Ranger Nick Bierbrodt, who hasn't pitched in the majors since 2004, is a ttempting a comeback.
New Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopolous is battling a cold this week, so he's not shaking anyone's hand.
Speaking of the Blue Jays, radio reporter Mike Wilner has an annoying ring tone and left his phone in the media workroom yesterday.
Craig Calcaterra brought an airport card to the meetings, making him one of the few writers not reliant on slow internet service.

And, of course we're all having fun this week, but Paul DePodesta has a reminder for all of us that many of this week's rumors will be just that, and not to get too worked up over them. Of course, no one ever gets too worked up around here, right?

Away from the meetings, here's a strange story. After months of investigation, Major League Baseball has concluded that new Twins prospect Miguel Angel Sano, who claims to be 16, is somewhere between 16 and 18. Sano also recently changed his name to Miguel Jean. If he turns out to be Miguel Tejada in disguise, the Twins will probably be very upset.

On this day in 1991, Brewer reliever Julio Machado was arrested for murder after shooting a passenger in a car that had just been involved in an accident. Machado was later found guilty and served 12 years in prison.

I don't have any Brewer birthdays today, but it is a Woot-off day, so there's that.

Drink up.

Brad Penny Signs with Cardinals, Generates Headline Puns

DanUpBaby — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:15:08 -0000

More photos » by Eric Risberg - ASSOCIATED PRESS

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Brad Penny has an enormous wrist in the first inning of a baseball game in San Francisco, Sunday, Sept. 13, 2009. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

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The Brad Penny deal is (as of this writing, one year, $7.5 million with various performance bonuses)... fine. Typical, I'd say, both for the market and for the Cardinals, who have once more opened up a Hot Stove season by making the exact move that the inventors of the DeWallet name expected. I can only imagine it was an ugly day for Post-Dispatch comment moderators.

Penny throws a sinker, which is usually code—it says "this guy doesn't strike out as many people as you think he does." But it surprises me every time that Penny's career strikeout rate is 6.3, and his walk rate 2.9. Those numbers just don't seem right for a guy who's 6'4" and, ha, ha, 200 pounds, who has 33 Google results for his name and the phrase Country Hardball. That's, I don't know, a good Sidney Ponson? A better Jason Marquis? I can't tie the guy who reared back in the first inning of that all-star game and threw fastballs past Ichiro to the guy whose strikeout rate last year was lower than Doug Davis's.

Penny has always been more exciting than his peripherals, and according to Fangraphs his stuff hasn't yet taken a hit; his fastball still averages 94 miles per hour, and he still throws it 71% of the time, more often than any starter older than 25. Then, of course, there is the lens through which we must view all Cardinals pitching transactions at this point: It's a Dave Duncan move, and that fastball is a sinker.

I like Penny, though; he's been about average four years out of the last five, and he does it not with junk but with top-prospect-emeritus stuff. Now, for a game of Pitcher A/Pitcher B: Pitcher A and Pitcher B were both born in 1978; both of them are right-handed; both of them have done this for the last five years:

G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA+	HR/9	BB/9	K/9
155	136	44	51	4.52	815.2	904	410	93	230	501	97	1.0	2.5	5.5
145	142	56	40	4.25	840.1	893	397	80	261	565	103	0.9	2.8	6.1

Pitcher A, of course, is Kyle Lohse; Pitcher B, the man of the hour. Not that I needed to make you feel worse about that contract. Penny has a fragile reputation, and every twinge and ache from a pitcher with great stuff seems a thousand times worse than anything that happens to a finesse guy, but he's made 29, 33, 33, 17, and 30 starts since joining the Dodgers. (The Duncan Magic will need to be worked on his innings pitched per start, which is under six and has been for his entire career. He doesn't strike anybody out, and he doesn't walk a lot of batters, but somehow, maybe while none of us is looking, he is throwing a ton of pitches.)

The exciting thing, for devoted Holliday-watchers, is that the Cardinals are paying a premium for Penny's 2010 so that they don't have to pay for his 2011. There's plenty of money for Matt Holliday this year; it's the six years after that that are looking stickier by the day. Penny's not an innings eater, but he's a start eater, and the rotation needed to be fixed no matter what happens with Matt Holliday.

Signing Brad Penny for one year is buying time—it gives Lance Lynn and the pitchers behind him one more year to enable the Cardinals to pinch pennies at the back of the rotation. It's the least intrusive way to acknowledge that the Cardinals don't have enough in-house options to fill the rotation this year.

More Winter Meeting Headlines

Eli Greenspan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 01:56:28 -0000

More photos » by Charles Krupa - AP

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The Orioles are making it known that they are interested in free agent reliever Rafael Soriano, in an apparent attempt to lure Soriano into free agency. Soriano is still considering accepting arbitration from the Braves.
The Cardinals were working on a deal with Brad Penny, and apparently agreed to a one year deal worth 7.5 million dollars.
The Diamondbacks are looking for starting pitching help and have their eyes on Tigers pitcher Edwin Jackson, free agent Justin Duchscherer, among others.
Carl Pavano will accept arbitration from the Twins, his agent confirms.
The Pirates are interested in free agent shortstop Bobby Crosby, according to Ken Rosenthal.
One AL source said the Yankees are looking at cheaper free agent options but still keeping tabs on premier pitchers like Roy Halladay. The source says Rich Harden and Kelvim Escobar are guys they are both watching.

Brad Penny Signs With Cardinals

Randy Booth — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:50:30 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

2 months ago: San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Brad Penny throws to the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning of a baseball game in Los Angeles, Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

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Brad Penny has a new baseball team to ~~blow up for~~ pitch for (that would be the St. Louis Cardinals). Not only that, but he's getting paid a lot of money, too:

The Cardinals and Brad Penny have a letter of agreement, for a $7.5 million base and $1.5 in performances bonuses. Physical likely on Wed.

Are you kiddiiiiiiing me? Penny received a $5M base from the Red Sox when he was signed last offseason. I don't care what he did with the Giants -- He. Should. Not. Get. A. Raise.

Penny sticking in the National League? Story definitely checks out.

(NOTE: I am going to just ignore the fact he was pretty good with the Giants. Completely ignored.)

Whitey Herzog named to the Hall of Fame

DanUpBaby — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:55:58 -0000

More photos » by Anonymous - AP

In this 1986 file photo, St. Louis Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog relaxes with a narrowly cropped adult beverage after the American League beat Herzog's National League squad in baseball's All-Star Game. The Veterans Committee announced the voting results Monday, Dec. 7, 2009.

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Congratulations to Whitey Herzog, the newest Hall of Famer-elect, and maybe the most universally loved Cardinals figure whose nickname isn't a variation on The Man. Whitey presided over one of the most exciting effective teams in the history of baseball, yolking a desire for speed at all positions to a group of speedsters who, saints be praised, could also use that speed to play defense and get on base. When people talk about baseball As It Should Be Played they aren't really talking about the lumbering fifties or the dynastic seventies, even if they inadvertently reference those players—they're talking about Whiteyball.

Forget Jack Morris—if one figure defines baseball in the eighties, in all its powder-blue, polyester glory, it's Whitey Herzog, who created a style of baseball that was perfect for the era's enormous, astroturfed cookie-cutters and rode it to three pennants and World Series championship.