Ask Rotoman

ESPN.com – MLB – Report: Twins rookie Mauer needs knee surgery

Does this feed the fire of those who say that Mauer is too tall to survive as a catcher? I should say so. I haven’t looked at the issue closely enough to have a strong opinion about it, but it seems likely to me that there will always be room for exceptions to such broad conclusions. So maybe most tall guys don’t become catchers because there are better roles for tall guys than crouching, but that doesn’t mean that a tall guy couldn’t do the job.

Or that all those previous tall guys who didn’t catch didn’t catch because of the wear and tear of catching.

Mauer out for three weeks isn’t a big deal. Mauer need surgery after two big league games is. Henry Blanco will see more playing time and with Matt LeCroy behind the plate more Mike Cuddyer will get more time at DH. But three weeks seems way longer at the start of the season than in July, so Mauer owners shouldn’t panic.

Not yet, anyway.

ESPN.com – MLB – BOXSCORE

Rafael Palmeiro joins Jay Gibbons and Paul Konerko on the AL leader board for stolen bases. Weird.

ESPN.com – MLB – MLB GAME LOG:

“KANSAS CITY 9TH
-Bottom of the 9th inning
-J Randa walked.
-J Randa to second on passed ball by S Alomar Jr.
-K Harvey walked.
-B Koch relieved C Politte.
-B Santiago doubled to deep left, J Randa scored, K Harvey to third.
-A Guiel struck out swinging.
-M Stairs hit for T Graffanino.
-D Marte relieved B Koch.
-M Lopez hit for M Stairs.
-M Lopez homered to center, K Harvey and B Santiago scored.
-A Berroa singled to left.
-C Beltran homered to left, A Berroa scored.

6 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors
Chicago Sox 7, Kansas City 9
”

The key thing is that Koch was removed before the go-ahead run was on base, simply to avoid the matchup with Stairs. It isn’t that Koch can’t get lefties out so much as that Stairs can’t hit lefties at all.

Mendy Lopez showed new power last year and the trend continues. It’s too soon for White Sox bullpen followers to panic, but this was a frightening beginning.

The Rotoman Archives

Okay, it’s cheesy to blog your own archives, but last May I wrote a little thing about Gerald Laird and named him the Rangers starting catcher this year. Today the Rangers dealt Einar Diaz to Montreal, commiting themselves to Laird, with the backup job going to recently acquired Rod Barajas (with Josh McKinley, I guess, who came back in the deal, behind Barahas).

Laird is worth a few bucks in AL-only leagues. He’s a good catcher who can run, and has the foundation to be a productive hitter. Probably won’t all happen this year, but there are some good seasons in his future.

Graham Koonce – The Baseball Cube Stats

In the magazine I made Koonce a future star, and the the other day I kept trying to pick him as a reserve in the XFL reserve draft, but I couldn’t. I look at his power, I look at his walks and I see a future star, but I look at his age and I look at all those years before he got to Triple-A and I see a determined and crafty hitter who is doing the best he can with what he’s got.

Kind of like Brian Daubach, only Koonce is nearly two years older than Daubach was when he got his shot. And Koonce doesn’t yet have a shot.

That makes him a nice sleeper, not a future star.

ESPN.com – MLB – Drug test samples from Bonds, others still exist

Notice that Bonds’ lawyer says that he doesn’t think this will be legally signficant. That’s because the drug wasn’t banned by baseball until March. And wasn’t made illegal by the FDA until October 28, 2003.

So, let me ask you: Should Bonds be vilified, labelled a cheater, asterisked, if it turns out he was taking this legal, unbanned drug?

And if the answer is Yes, please explain what good it does us if he is.

Home Run Derby

A friend sent this site to me. He said it was a relative of his wife running it. The set up is pretty easy. Nearly all the money in the pool goes to prizes. I’m in.

Major League Baseball : Ask Rotoman

There’s a new one, comparing Abreu and Bonds, rookies who won’t break camp with the big club, converting roto prices, and choosing a loser pitcher.

Major League Baseball : Jack McDowell is an idiot

It goes on. What could he possibly thinking? Why would he say that?

ESPN.com – MLB – Indians: Bradley’s days with team are numbered

It’s hard to tell if Bradley is really the time bomb he appears to be. The reports this spring have been generally positive, but he definitely has a problem with authority. There’s nothing wrong with that.

His departure increases the value of Matt Lawton in AL leagues, since until yesterday Lawton seemed to be the Indian most likely to be traded.

Bradley probably should be discounted a little, based on the sore hammy that perhaps precipitated the latest brouhaha as his ongoing problems. But some major league team (not the Indians) is probably going to get a boost before Sunday.