The Pittsburgh Pirates have seven potential free
agents

post from Pittsburgh Pirates MLB News - Pirates Baseball Blog on 18 October 2011 10:17:02 PM. © Pittsburgh Pirates MLB News - Pirates Baseball Blog

The Pittsburgh Pirates have seven potential free agents heading into this winter to make decisions on. Here is a look at who I see staying and leaving among this bunch:Derrek Lee: 36-year old righty swinging 1B Derrek Lee played in 28 games for the Pirates last year and he was 34 for 101 [...]

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A Look Back at '11: What Went Right

post from The Giants Baseball Blog- A San Francisco Giants Blog and Fan Website on 18 October 2011 10:01:37 PM. © The Giants Baseball Blog- A San Francisco Giants Blog and Fan Website

In the first part of our 3 part end of season wrap, we'll talk about some of the main things that went right with the Giants in part one, the things that didn't go so well in part 2, and what needs to be done in order to get back where they were in 2010 in part 3.

Obviously, as we've been harping all year, and since the season ended, the starting pitching, and really the pitching staff as a whole, was brilliant. There's really nothing more Bochy and Sabean could have asked out of guys like Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Ryan Vogelsong. In the bullpen, the same guys who were nails in the playoffs last fall, picked up right were they left off as Jeremy Affeldt, Javier Lopez, Santiago Cassilla, Ramon Ramirez and Sergio Romo were the main passages from the starters to closer Brian Wilson, who battled some physical problems late which cost him nearly a month of play, but still notched 36 saves and sported a solid 3.11 era. None of the Giants starters won over 13 games, because of lack of run support, but they the main four all had era's under 3.21 and one guy in particular, Ryan Vogelsong, came out of nowhere to become another anchor to this staff. He really picked up the slack were Jonathan Sanchez and Barry Zito left it (more on that in the next post), and he did more than solidify his spot in 2012's rotation, he showed he may be worth a extending a few years at the right price for San Francisco. Although outside of their top-4 starters, things get a little sketchy, they really can't ask for a better base for their rotation as well as a plethora of relievers heading into next year.

As rough as things went overall offensively for this team this season, there were still a few positives to bring out of 2011, believe it or not. The main of which being Pablo Sandoval's re-ascension back among the top-tiere 3rd basemen in the NL with his 23 home run/.315 average year while missing about 1/4 of the season. The ceiling the 25 year-old Panda and 24 year-old Posey have in middle of their lineup is sky high right now and that is a something this team hasn't had in a long, long time. Not since Will Clark and Matt Williams has this team produced 2 home grown daily players with all-star capabilities, and with the way most people expect Brandon Belt to expand in his sophomore season, they could be getting another young phenom in the mix next spring. Belt had a roller coaster year in 2011, but finished off nicely, going 14-43 (.326) with 4 homers and 6 RBI in the final 2 weeks of the year. The Giants sent him to the Dominican for Fall Ball to work on a few things, and I expect him back and hungry in 2012, ready to force his way into the lineup somewhere. Another nice development the Giants saw happen this year was the defensive play of rookie shortstop Brandon Crawford. The 25 year-old proved his glove certainly belongs, and showed some glimpses with the stick, although he probably needs a full year at Fresno to fine tune that swing... All in all though, really tough year for the Giants offense.

Anyway, here's the Giants Baseball Blog awards for the 2011 Giants, pointing out top pitcher, team MVP, top rookie, surprise player and defensive player

Team MVP: Pablo Sandoval- Without him, the Giants may have scored 300 runs all year.
Top Pitcher: Tim Lincecum- Was his normal freakish self with low era and high K numbers!
Standout Rookie: Brandon Belt- Up and down year, but showed he's going to be the real thing.
Surprise POY: Ryan Vogelsong- Nothing else really needs to be said!
Defensive POY: Brandon Crawford- The guys glove was so good up the middle that he was a daily player for most the season while hitting below .200!

Up Next: PT. 2, What Went Wrong

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-1.html

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Guest Post

post from Baseball In-Depth on 18 October 2011 09:15:00 PM. © Baseball In-Depth

World Series Baseball Betting Odds

The best time of the baseball season is here with the Texas Rangers playing the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. Baseball betting odds favor the Rangers in the 7-game series which features a 2-3-2 format. Since the National League won the All-Star game, it is the Cardinals who have home field advantage but the oddsmakers are still favoring the Rangers in the series.

Cardinals Favored in Game 1

Even though the Rangers are favored to win the series, the Cardinals are favored in Game 1. St. Louis sends Chris Carpenter to the mound while the Rangers counter with C.J. Wilson. You rarely see a series where one team is favored yet they are underdogs in the first game.

MVPs

This year?s World Series doesn?t have the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox but that doesn?t mean it won?t have star power. The Cardinals have former MVP Albert Pujols while the Rangers have former MVP Josh Hamilton.

Series Notes

This is a really an intriguing series for a number of reasons. Did you know that the Cardinals and Rangers very rarely play each other? They have met just three times in history and that was back in 2004. The Cardinals have a rich baseball history and a strong following while the Rangers are in the World Series for the second straight season.

Matchups

The Rangers are the better hitting team and they might also be the team that has stronger pitching. The Rangers were 3rd best in runs scored per game but the Cardinals were not that far behind at 5th. The Cardinals were 12th in the league in team ERA while the Rangers were 13th. You have to adjust those numbers somewhat though as Texas had a better bullpen in the second half of the season after acquiring super set-up man Mike Adams.

Over the Total

With these two offenses you can probably expect games to go over the odds on a regular basis. The Rangers starters, C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis, Derek Holland and Matt Harrison have a combined 5.62 ERA in 10 postseason games. The Cardinals are not much better at an ERA of 5.43 so runs should be plentiful. The total on Game 1 is low at 7.5 with both teams starting their aces but neither Wilson nor Carpenter has been that good so Game 1 could still end up going over the total.

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Pujols swats aside questions on future (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 18 October 2011 08:44:24 PM. © MLB News Blog

If this is Albert Pujols’ farewell tour with the St. Louis Cardinals, it’s coming on the grandest of stages. The three-time National League MVP has consistently avoided discussing free agency and was not making exceptions on the eve of the World Series. Swatting aside questions about his future not once but three times Tuesday, the [...]

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Catching up with the 1994 Royals: Part 9 George
Toma

post from Royals Review on 18 October 2011 08:01:27 PM. © Royals Review

George Toma, doin' work.

The following is a guest post by Clam Simmons, a librarian living in New England. Clam is not my pen name or persona. Clam is clam, a venerable Royals historian of the old school. Clam is on twitter @orangehunchback. He recently contacted me about writing a series of pieces about the 1994 Royals. These are their stories.

Catching up with the 1994 Royals: Part 9 George Toma

A lot of people think that Nitty Gritty Dirt Man was Royals Legend George Toma's first step into literature. It wasn't. It wasn't even his first memoir. In November 1993 George Toma published Get Low:How To Put Your Ears, Nose and Eyes On The Ground One Day At A Time. Unsurprisingly, it gave the Royals a huge edge in the off-season. The book attracted free agents wanting to connect with the unorthodox groundskeeper who connected to the "surface needs" of Kauffman Stadium. Some have said that the Royals were only able to sign Royals Legends Dave Henderson and Vince Coleman because the two were hardcore turf geeks. I recently borrowed Felix Jose's bike and met up with Mr. Toma at Humdinger's on Ninth Street.When I got there Mr. Toma made it clear he did not want to be interviewed indoors so he gave me seven dollars and told me to bring back a hot sauce and fried egg sandwich. I interviewed George Toma in the back of his personal John Deere Gator.

CS: When I say the name Vince Coleman to you, out loud, what do you hear me say?

GT: That's not a very good question. Do you mean, what do I think about when I hear the name Vince Coleman?

CS: Thank you. Yes.

GT: It's January 1994 and I'm at the ballpark sniffing the surface for calcium deposits and this guy jumps on the ground right next to me.

CS: Coleman?

GT: Yes. He wants me to sign his copy of my book. I signed it and I thought he would buzz off.

CS: He didn't, did he?

GT: No. He followed me around my outdoor office all day flattering me about Beneath the Turf, this little fifteen-page manual I wrote in 1987 for the groundskeeper at Busch Stadium. He kept on saying it was a classic in astro-turf management.

CS: How long did that continue?

GT: It probably would have continued forever if I hadn't handed him one of my zen rakes and told him to sift the batter's boxes in the bullpen.

CS: Did Vince Coleman do a good job?

GT: He did a great job. In fact he did such a great job I offered to let him massage a coat of duck manure into the infield dirt. That may sound like an insult but in field crew culture duck manure guy is actually the highest honor.

CS: Do players usually show a zest for grounds keeping?

GT: No, not usually but that team in 1994 was full of players, everyone was trying their hand at surface psychology. They didn't have a lot of technique but they showed a lot of enthusiasm. David Cone used to curl up on the pitcher's mound on the nights before he pitched. Dave Henderson tried to camp out in the outfield but I had to stop him because he tried to hammer stakes into the turf.

CS: Do you have any more memoirs up your sleeve?

GT: Can't you see brainiac? I'm shirtless! But seriously, that's not my soil.

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Berkman offers mea culpa to all of Texas (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 18 October 2011 07:50:24 PM. © MLB News Blog

Lance Berkman knew he couldn’t run from the cameras. So the Cardinals outfielder looked straight into the first one that zoomed in on his face and offered a mea culpa to the entire state of Texas. “I’m not afraid to say, ‘Hey, I wasn’t right,”‘ Berkman said. One of the subplots to Game 1 of [...]

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Wilson, Carpenter meet in Series opener (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 18 October 2011 07:30:25 PM. © MLB News Blog

The coolest person at the World Series is C.J. Wilson. The Texas Rangers pitcher chilled out as he prepared to face the St. Louis Cardinals in Wednesday night’s opener. He spent 2 1/2 minutes in a Dallas cryotherapy chamber, where liquid nitrogen lowered the temperature to a frosty 295 degrees below zero in an effort [...]

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Chilly, wet weather expected for Game 1 (AP)

Batter up … and bundle up! The weather forecast is calling for temperatures in the upper 40s with a chance of rain and wind for the World Series opener Wednesday night between the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals. The wind chill is expected to drop into the upper 30s as Game 1 progresses. It [...]

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Indians drop Talbot, Head from roster (AP)

The Cleveland Indians have outrighted starting pitcher Mitch Talbot and outfielder Jerad Head off of their 40-man roster, making both free agents. Talbot spent most of this season dealing with an elbow injury. He went 2-6 with a 6.64 ERA in 12 starts for Cleveland. In 2010, the right-hander, who was acquired in a trade [...]

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Compensation holding up Epstein to Cubs (AP)

There is still no sign of Theo Epstein in Chicago. It has been more than a week since word leaked that Epstein was headed to Chicago to join the Cubs after nine years with the Boston Red Sox. It may take even longer for an official announcement. Major League Baseball prohibits major news announcements during [...]

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