Quick rundown of some of the free agent/trade moves that we didn't make this offseason.

Andruw Jones: .163/.274/.255, OPS .529, 1 HR, 34K in 98AB

short-term verdict: whew! dodged a bullet. Who was pushing hard for signing him? :)

Kosuke Fukudome: .342/.437/.491, OPS .928, 1 HR in 114AB

short-term verdict: doh! one might think that at some point the doubles-power would start turning into HR power in Wrigley, too.

Alex Rios: .310/.379/.474, OPS .853, 3 HR in 116AB

short-term verdict: still not worth The Franchise.

Scott Rolen: .267/.333/.500, OPS .833, 1 HR in 30AB

short-term verdict: incomplete; he broke a finger in spring training and wasn't activated until 4/23, but it doesn't look like he's washed up.

And the draft edition:
Beau Mills: .226/.371/.376, OPS .747, 3 HR in 93 AB (20 BB) in A+ Kinston (..261/.337/.761 in 245 AB combined at three levels in '07)

Not exactly breakout numbers for a college hitting star, but it's still too early to call.

Any other players we could've signed/traded for?

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-congress-clemens&prov=ap&type=lgns

Clemens, Pettite, Macnamee, and Radomski, as well as Chuck Knoblauch, were all asked to testify under oath to a Congressional committee on Jan. 16.

Ought to be interesting. I wonder if Clemens will forget how to speak English?

Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson will be among the initial inductees into the California Hall of Fame.

http://www.californiamuseum.org/Exhibits/Hall-of-Fame/hall-of-fame.html

Apparently mlb.com changed their digital video service, and due to the change in DRM, now videos purchased in the past are no longer playable without some kind of hacking.

Story here: http://www.boingboing.net/2007/11/07/mlb-rips-off-fans-wh.html

The New Yorker is running an excellent piece on Scott Boras, which is available here:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/10/29/071029fa_fact_mcgrath

Quick quote:

"He grew up ... near Elk Grove, California, about fifteen miles from Sacramento. ... As a boy, driving a tractor, Scott listened to San Francisco Giants games called by Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons on KSFO ..."

Slate is running an interesting article by Eriq Gardner about the Rockies' fantastic defense this year, and what that might mean for future roster construction.

Agree or disagree, it's an interesting read.

http://www.slate.com/id/2176565/

I never want to wish anyone harm, and I hope he's ultimately OK, but I must say, I'm not saddened by this:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/08/26/sports/s182046D52.DTL

From the LA Times:

But Sweeney, a pinch-hitter who was picked up last week in a trade with the San Francisco Giants, made a mental blunder that resulted in the game's final out. Appearing to lose track of the number of outs, Sweeney strayed too far from first base when Juan Pierre popped up. Catcher Brad Ausmus caught the ball in foul territory and threw out Sweeney to end the game. Shea Hillenbrand was on second base.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dodgers15aug15,1,6478814.story?coll=la-headlines-sports&ctra ck=2&cset=true

Apparently he was released by the Padres' AAA team (after hitting .147 in 31 AB), and signed by the Dodgers to a minor league contract.

According to the Chron, Ortiz and Sanchez are on rehab assignments and appear to be looking good.  Not to mention Vinnie Chulk is likely to come off of bereavement leave soon.  So... who goes when they come back?  Atchison?  Misch?  Kline?  Taschner?