Prior and Strasburg vs. McCann.

The Chicago Cubs' signed Mark Prior to a $10.5 million dollar contract in 2001, his career would be over in about seven years after he sustained 11 injuries over the course of 6 seasons. Stephen Strasburg was signed by the Washington Nationals' to a $15.1 million dollar contact last season, he has already suffered 2 injuries in just two months of pitching.

The Atlanta Braves' paid Brian McCann $1.7 million dollar's in his initial three full seasons behind the plate, he played an average of 138 games per season, hit about 22 home runs per season, and reached the All-Star Game all three seasons. I have to add that he signed a new contract in 2007 that only paid him $1.4 million dollars in his first two years (the latter two of his before mentioned three seasons).

What's the moral here?

The Cubs' and Nationals' overpaid unproven Rookies, and got burned.

The Braves' waited for their Rookie to prove himself, and than paid him.

Major League Baseball teams must be sure to drop their new found "NFL mentality" when negotiating with just drafted baseball players from either high school or college. This league cannot become another "reward unproven players league", it must remain the league of "first - perform in the big leagues, second - be awarded for your performance"

Any thoughts?

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2010 - Year of the Pitcher.

I am more than convinced of the fact that 2010 is the Year of the Pitcher (or at least the Year of the Pitcher in the post-steroids era) in Major League Baseball. We have witnessed five no-no's, 2 of which were Perfect Game's, and we still have two months left in the season. What will be next for the Pitchers, and what more can be achieved this season than this:

April 17th, 2010 - Ubaldo Jimenez against the Atlanta Braves.
May 9th, 2010 - Dallas Braden* against the Tampa Bay Rays.
May 29th, 2010 - Roy Halladay** against the Florida Marlins.
June 25th, 2010 - Edwin Jackson against the Tampa Bay Rays.
July 26th, 2010 - Matt Garza against the Detroit Tigers.

Can the remarkable season of 1968 be matched this year? Probably not, because Pitcher's don't have a shot in hell of winning 31 games anymore, and a 1.12 ERA is near impossible to recreate. However, Ubaldo Jimenez could win 22 or 23 games, and Josh Johnson's ERA is currently at an impressive 1.61 for the season.

Whether we match 1968 is not a question to be pondered, but whether this season is the single greatest complete season for Pitchers since 1968 is. Two months left in the season; who knows what will happen next.

* - First Perfecto of the Season.
** - Second Perfecto of the Season.

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Mariners trade Cliff Lee to the Rangers.

Hat tip - MLBTradeRumors.com

We all knew that the Seattle Mariners would trade All-Star pitcher Cliff Lee this afternoon, but none of us knew where the former Cleveland Indians ace would be going this time around. That is until earlier this evening, when the MLB trade deadline HotStove warmed up.

The Seattle Mariners received:

Justin Smoak (MLB).
Blake Beavan (AA).
Matthew Lawson (AA).
Josh Lueke (AA).

The Texas Rangers received:

Cliff Lee (MLB).
Mark Lowe (MLB).

Great news for the Texas Rangers in the present, the Seattle Mariners in the future, and Cliff Lee* for at least three more months.

Any thoughts?

* - This will be the fourth MLB Club that Cliff Lee has pitched for, and he was originally drafted by the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals in 2000, but was traded to the Cleveland Indians in 2002.





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Strasburg impresses in Rookie Debut.

Steven Strasburg was the number one pick in the 2009 Major League Baseball draft by the Washington Nationals organization. I've been reading about all the hype, the sold out minor league baseball games where he was pitching, and all the myths surrounding the unproven legend; but I remained unconvinced until tonight.

Strasburg pitched in his first Major League Baseball game earlier this evening; and I guarantee you that this young pitcher is nothing but performance, no hype whatsoever. How can You be sure? Some might ask when reading this article, well I'll let the stats from Strasburg's first start tell everyone everything they need to know.

He tossed 94 pitches through 7.0 innings; allowing 4 hits and 2 runs; striking out 14 batters, and leading the Washington Nationals to a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates - resulting in his first every Major League Baseball win. Call me a fan, or call me crazy; but this pitcher can pitch!

The Washington Nationals must be excited; they spent 15 million dollars on an unproven college level pitcher (unheard of in Major League Baseball) - and that pitcher actually performed in his Rookie Debut in front of 40,315 (largest crowd in Washington since Opening Day) excited fans. I cannot believe this is happening in Major League Baseball:

Strasburg Mania!

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Armando Galarraga tosses Pefecto.

Armando Galarraga, a middle-of-the-road Starting Pitcher with the Detroit Tigers squad tossed Major League Baseball's 21st Perfect Game this evening against the opposing Cleveland Indians. However, the first place umpire, Jim Joyce (a real professional by all accounts), called the runner safe in the above freeze framed picture, which should have been the final, and 27th consecutive out.

If the umpire made the correct call; this would have been the second Perfecto in just one week, and the third Perfecto within four weeks (a major league baseball first). History was stolen from the fans of the Detroit Tigers and Armando Galarrraga this evening; and nothing can/will ever be done about it.

Galarraga retired 26 consecutive Cleveland Indian batters without problem, and on the 27th consecutive batter to be retired; the Umpire screwed it up. This is awful, just awful. I cannot imagine what Tiger fans are feeling right now. Don't be surprised if this Umpire is either fired tomorrow, or if he receives death threats.

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Halladay tosses Perfect Game!

Roy Halladay, ace of the Philadelphia Phillies' pitching squad; just tossed the 20th Perfect Game in Major League Baseball history! Not only did Halladay retire 27 consecutive Marlin hitters, but the Phillies' won the game one-to-nothing. It doesn't get any better than that!

It's hard to believe Halladay could do anything more in his career; considering his 150 wins, 54 complete games, 1,500 strike outs, six MLB All-Star game appearances, a Cy Young Award, and his league wide respected dedication to and love for the game. And I almost forgot: His Perfect Game on May 29, 2010.

Congratulations to Roy Halladay! Greatest Major League Baseball Pitcher in the 21st century to date, and that's saying something, considering most of his professional baseball career has been during the "steroid era".

Also; Halladay's Perfect Game is the second Perfect Game to be pitched within this month (Dallas Braden of the Athletics tossed his Perfecto on May 9); never before have two Major League Pitchers tossed a Perfect Game within the same month before in history.

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