Raise your hand if you had Northern Iowa beating overall #1 seed Kansas in the second round, not to mention calling that clearly misranked 12-seed Cornell would become the first Ivy in more than 30 years to make it to the Sweet Sixteen. That’s what I thought.
Anyway, now that my bracket was unable to make it past the first weekend for the second straight year (thank you, Ali Farokhmanesh), it’s time to turn our attention back to baseball. Honestly, I’ve practically forgotten that spring training is still going on. I’m sure I say this every year, but it feels like it’s been underway for months, and it even started later than usual this year. With Opening Day just under two weeks away, this is arguably the most frustrating time of the year for baseball fans.
Anyway, here are a few links to get your week going:
So much for that. As I’m sure you know by now, the Twins finally locked Joe Mauer up to a long-term extension. Enticing as it may have been to envision Mauer in pinstripes, this is ultimately a good thing for baseball, especially for Minnesota and its fans. It’s good to see a mid-market franchise finally do the right thing and ensure its signature player retires in its uniform.
Steve at TYU writes that according to new YES beat reporter Jack Curry, 2010 is very likely Andy Pettitte’s final year as a Yankee.
RAB’s Joe P. debunks the idea that Tex’s low UZR makes him a poor defensive first baseman.
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4 Responses to So that’s what 90% of the country’s brackets going bust sounds like
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TIQ IQ
I was certain that Joe Mauer would hit free agency. By all means, the contract he signed is enormous – a bit more than Tex got. However, I was certain he could have gotten $200 million + on the market. The Sox and the Yankees would have gone to war for this guy. This is definitely good for baseball, but I'm sorry we won't be able to put an NY on the front of Mauer's jersey.
I'm pretty sure I had Mauer staying with the Twins during the 'Maurer for Montero?' discussion, so I'm feeling vindicated. I think he's worth whatever they pay him, and he's someone they can build their team around for maybe as long as the next decade. hopefully, one of the yankees zillions of catching prospects will work out, although its hard to expect somebody else to come up and hit like Posada. When I was a kid, it seemed as though it was OK to carry a light hitting catcher, SS or CF, but not so much now. Yet this off season, you see the Red Sox and Mariners trying to tighten up their defense. do these two trends contradict each other? Or is the trend toward hitting catchers not really a trend at all?
~jamie
I don't know if it's a trend as much as it is a lack of supply — most teams don't have a choice but to carry a light-hitting catcher. Which is why when a talent like Mauer comes around, you do everything in your power to keep him forever.
In any event, I'm not quite sold on Seattle and Boston's whole pitching-and-defense-above-all-else philosophies — you still need to score runs. Plus, for all the accolades being tossed Boston's way they are planning on starting one of the worst defensive catchers in the league…
In my mind, the best way to prevent runs is to sure up your pitching, especially your starting pitching. Defense is great, and if you have SS and CF who catch everything, I think you're in good shape. Otherwise, I would say the team is overcompensating for something – like maybe the Red Sox want Carl Crawford next yr and didn't want to spend on any of the available guys. But if Papi has a year this year like last year, they better pitch their butts off. I'm not convinced that their starting pitching is significantly better than the Yankees or that its better at all. And what are they going to do with Lowell?
~jamie