One Year Ago Today: The Royals Were Perched on
Their Throne

post from Royals Review on 26 January 2012 11:01:11 PM. © Royals Review

One year ago, all was right for our Royals. At least in my incomparable analysis.

Royals Enjoy Their Best Eleven Days Since 1985 - Royals Review

On January 25th last year, Baseball America had named the Royals the top farm system in the game, it was the end of a very nice stretch that included the Chen and Francis signings, the Gil Meche retirement, and the Billy Butler extension.

Are we still trending upwards?

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perched-on-their-throne

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Dodgers LHP Kershaw accepts Spahn award (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 26 January 2012 09:37:40 PM. © MLB News Blog

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw accepted the Warren Spahn Award on Thursday night as the best left-handed pitcher in baseball. “It’s the biggest trophy I’ve ever gotten,” Kershaw said, laughing. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to carry it on the plane.” Kershaw, the National League Cy Young winner, led the NL with [...]

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Giants agree with free agent RHP Hensley (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 26 January 2012 09:31:46 PM. © MLB News Blog

Free-agent right-hander Clay Hensley and the San Francisco Giants have reached agreement on a $750,000, one-year contract. The Giants said Thursday it is a non-guaranteed big league deal for Hensley, who still must pass a physical before the club makes a formal announcement. Hensley was with San Diego when he gave up Barry Bonds’ 755th [...]

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Reds, RHP Arredondo reach 2-year deal (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 26 January 2012 08:17:37 PM. © MLB News Blog

The Reds have reached agreement on a two-year deal with right-handed reliever Jose Arredondo, their last player left in salary arbitration. The Reds signed the 27-year-old pitcher to a minor league deal in January 2010, knowing he would likely have reconstructive elbow surgery a few weeks later. He spent the whole year on the disabled [...]

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If You Havent Seen The New & Improved Ultimate
Dawson You Are Missing Out!!!

post from 30-Year Old Cardboard on 26 January 2012 08:15:27 PM. © 30-Year Old Cardboard

If You Haven’t Seen The ‘New & Improved Ultimate Dawson’ You Are Missing Out!!! Alright everyone, I have spent a lot of time with my camera and I think that you are going to enjoy the results of those efforts. … Continue reading →

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timate-dawson-you-are-missing-out/

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Any player/Any era: Gene Tenace

post from Baseball: Past and Present on 26 January 2012 08:12:58 PM. © Baseball: Past and Present

Editor’s note: Please welcome another “Any player/Any era” from Albert Lang. ________________ What He Did: You mean aside from being born Fury Gene Tenace? Well, he finished his 15-year career with a .241/.388/.429 line with 201 HRs, playing primarily catcher and first base. He appeared in 846 games at catcher (.245/.396/.437) and 582 at first [...]

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Red Sox confirm signing of OF Ross (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 26 January 2012 08:07:35 PM. © MLB News Blog

The Boston Red Sox on Thursday confirmed the signing of outfielder Cody Ross to a one-year contract and said right-hander Scott Atchison was designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. The $3 million deal for Ross was first reported on Monday, when he told The Associated Press in a text message he [...]

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Detroit Tigers Top 12 Prospect Rankings

Tier 1 (4 points): Major League Star -- Number One StarterTier 2 (3 points): Stand Out/Above Average Regular -- Number Two/Exceptional Three StarterTier 3 (2 points): Solid, Average, Every Day Regular -- Number Three/Solid Four StarterTier 4 (1[...]

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-rankings

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Giants Notes: Lincecum Signs, Ross to Boston

post from The Giants Baseball Blog- A San Francisco Giants Blog and Fan Website on 26 January 2012 06:01:26 PM. © The Giants Baseball Blog- A San Francisco Giants Blog and Fan Website

Well, even though I touched on it a little bit in our last post, I haven't really had a chance to get my thoughts out on the new Lincecum deal since he and the Giants agreed earlier in the week. Also, on the other end of things, the Giants missed out on shoring up their outfield by letting Cody Ross sign in Boston for only $3 million in 2012.

First off, obviously, wanted to talk a bit about Lincecum. I've already said here that I didn't expect him to sign a long-term deal that takes him through free agency, but it doesn't mean he wants to leave San Francisco like everyone is suspecting. I mean, if I were Lincecum, I'd probably do the same thing, even if I planned on eventually signing with the Giants long-term. Why take a chance at mitigating your value to just sign a deal? Granted, a 5 year, $100 million deal isn't anything to sneeze at, in this market, if he were a free agent, Lincecum could probably easily command a 8 year, $200 million deal. If he could get something like that in 2 years when he hits free agency, why would he sign a deal now that potentially takes a bunch of money from his pocket in the long term? At the same time though, you look at a guy like Matt Cain, who's made no bones about it, he wants to stay here, and he'll likely give the Giants a hometown discount in order to do so. People keep mentioning Jered Weaver as a comparable player to Cain and they do matchup very well. Weaver signed a five year deal with the Angels last year for just $85 million, which is probably $25 million less than he'd get on an open market, but he was more concerned with staying in Anaheim. What Lincecum's deal does do, is give this team financial certainty for the next two seasons, and now that they have that with both Sandoval and Lincecum, they can more easily assess what they can spend on someone like Cain, who'll be a free agent after the season.

I just see Lincecum as a guy who's taking his agents advice and going as close to year-to-year as possible until he'd be free to have teams compete for his services. He probably sees these 200 million dollar deals that are getting tosses out now seemingly every winter, and figures he's as sure of bet as any to land one of those when he's able and that means Lincecum will be more focused than ever over the next 2 seasons. Don't worry about Timmy, he's not going anywhere, at least anytime soon. On the other hand, we can't say the same about 2010 postseason hero Cody Ross, who Brian Sabean blatantly said would not be back after the season, then stubbornly stuck to his guns, even though Ross signed for only 3 million with Boston, less than 1/2 of what he made in 2011. I'm sure if you told Sabean back in October he could get Ross on a1 year, 3 million dollar deal, he would have been open to it, but instead it's like he wrote Ross off and never even bothered to follow up with him and see if they could come back to him later in the winter. I mean, $3 million isn't a bad deal for a league average 4th outfielder, let alone a guy like Ross who can be a legit starter and was one of the more clutch hitters the Giants have had recently. I'm having a bit of trouble getting over this one, cause right now, this team has now 4th outfielder, let alone one as versatile and talented as Ross. Heck, I kept saying all year that I think a healthy Ross would beat out either Pagan or Schierholtz for a starting spot, and at $3M, how does a team desperate for offense ignore that?

So yes, there was some good for the Giants over the last week, buying Sandoval and Lincecum through their arbitration years, but there was also some missed opportunities if you ask me. The Giants offseason business is now essentially finished, though they could still scrape the bottom of the barrel for spring training invites, and I think they could have done a better job at filling out their roster. There were some good players out there that went cheaply that could have been upgrades over players who will be on this teams' 25-man roster, and for a large market team with Championship aspirations, you look to improve your roster at every chance you get, whether it's adding additional outfielders like Ross to create competition or a utility guy like Jerry Hairston Jr. who could have really solidified the bench. The Giants were too content this winter, for a team coming off a putrid offensive season.

Again, be sure to check out The Baseball Page tonight, as I join Phil Naessens' podcast to talk about the upcoming Giants season and some of the things they did, and didn't do, this winter. I'll get a link posted up to the interview tomorrow, but they'll have it on their site tonight at 9 PM.

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Yankees have 4 on MLB.coms Top Prospect list

post from Bronx Baseball Daily » Bronx Baseball Daily, a New York Yankees blog on 26 January 2012 05:56:01 PM. © Bronx Baseball Daily » Bronx Baseball Daily, a New York Yankees blog