Cleveland Indians should trade for the Washington Nationals first round selection.

Several years ago, the Indians GM Mark Shapiro and the Montreal Expos GM Omar Minaya made a trade involving All Star pitcher Bartolo Colon going to the Montreal Expos for Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee, and Brandon Phillips. Lee and Sizemore have made the All Star game and Brandon Phillips probably came close the last couple of years as a Cincinnati Red.

Montreal has since morphed into the Washington Nationals, but perhaps the Washington Nationals would be interested in another block buster trade with the Cleveland Indians and Mark Shapiro, this time trading their number one pick for several prospects/vets.

The Indians have a situation in which they could actually field two teams of equal caliber. While some may question just what that caliber may be, It is pretty evident that very poor pitching has plundered what would have been at least a .500 team this year plus Jake Westbrook set to return by July for a second half run.

The Indians can still make a run in the A.L. Central, the key being if they can handle Detroit in their remaining head to head games.

Would the Nationals be interested in the Indians number 15 pick, plus major league ready prospect centerfielder Brantley, pitcher Rondon, plus vets DeRosa and Shoppach? The Nationals actually have some decent talent on their team, however half of their everyday roster is 30 years or older, and a couple of the just under thirty, Dunn and Kearns, don't run that well.

Shoppach would be a natural at catcher, Brantley is a very smart centerfielder, with speed and OBP skills, pitcher Hector Rondon appears major league ready, and DeRosa is a solid player on pace to drive in a hundred runs this year and play both the infield and the outfield. Plus the Indians would also give up their 15th pick as well. That's five quality players for the right to Stephen Strassburg.

The players being traded would actually fill in some of Washington's weakest areas.

However, if the Indians and Nationals constructed a trade for the 2009 major league draft tomorrow, could the Cleveland Indians could they afford Boras's contract, and does including pitcher Rondon, who is almost major league ready, make the trade too one-sided in favor of the Nationals ?

And Coco Crisp Shall lead them (the KC Royals) into pennant contention in 2009.

You heard it here first. Coco Crisp, and the improved back end of the Royals Bullpen, shall lead the Royals into the American League Pennant Race. Coco will flourish with the Royals and put up similar numbers to when we was with the Indians, (but probably not as many home runs).

Coco Crisp will prove the difference maker time and time again with his centerfield defense and his ability to do good things with his bat. Even when Coco makes outs, he's usually moving a runner over, or at the very least, avoiding a double play and keeping the inning alive.

The Royals will probably be a minus run-differential team this year, but they should eeke out a ton of one run game victories and put themselves within striking distance in the American League Central, and Coco Crisp will be the sparkplug that makes it happen.

Coco will actually inspire his teammates with his defensive play in centerfield, and games that normally would have slipped away will suddenly be within reach, creating more chances for his young teammates to become stars themselves.

You read it here first, on Cooler-Heads.com.

Even without CC Sabathia, the Cleveland Indians could make the playoffs in 2009 if they focus on fixing their long relief.

Over the past several years, the Indians builit a solid pitching staff comprised of CC Sabathia, Jake Westbrook & Cliff Lee. When Fausto Carmona emerged, and Paul Byrd was put into the fifth spot, the Indians suddenly had no two pitchers that could be called clones of each other, and they also had one of the best 1-5 pitching in either league.

CC was the fireballer with a deceptive change up, Jake Westbrook, by design, would allow many hits but very few walks, teasing opponents into makiing contact that many times resulted in crucial double plays. Fausto Carmona could throw hard, and had a sinker that left many batters wondering who elevated batters box. Even Cliff Lee could be viewed with his own style as well, a decent fastball and an effective curve with excellent accuracy.

When Paul Byrd was added, the Indians suddenly possessed one of the best one through five starting rotation in either league, and their top four pitchers were all UNDER the age of 30.

Another benefit the Indians enjoyed was that many of these pitchers not only could work into the 6th and 7th innings on a regular basis, they didn't walk that many batters, which helped keep their pitch counts down. The Indians starters tend to skew near the top of the league in allowing more hits, while giving up fewer walks. This is an interesting strategy as it actually can lower a pitchers overall pitch count while keeping the defense on their toes and alert. A batter can easily cause a pitcher to throw five or six pitches when getting a walk, and if they foul off a few two strike pitches, that pitch count can easily reach 8 pitches. Since the batter than reaches base, the next hitters pitches might as well be added, meaning every walk causes a pitcher to lose 8-10 pitches towards their pitch count total.

Starting the 2009 season, three of the five Indians starters are GONE, and their replacements just don't have a history of being 200 inning pitchers. I am estimating that the Indians relievers will pitch at least 162 more innings than this year, than they did last year.

I have read nothing from any of the spring training articles that suggests the Indians are planning on keeping 2 or 3 long relievers in the bullpen. The Indians seem so focused on the back end success of their pen (innings 7-9 less concerned with innings 4-6.

Games that the Indians fall hopelessly behind are also not conducive to using the back end of the pen, meaning the long relievers will serve two roles. First, they will try and save a game early on when the starters can't cut it. Secondly, games in which it looks like Cleveland has little chance to win should be closed out by a long reliever who can go the final three innings of the game.

I think the Indians will have most of their games decided based on what happens in innings 3-6. Lack of long relievers ready to go in the pen may force Eric Wedge to go with his starters too long. The Indians bullpen cannot afford to carry too many relievers who can only go one or two innings max, it will be their downfall if they choose this path.

Many average to slightly less than average pitchers tend to get lit up the more the other teams line-up faces them in the same game. Converting these types of pitchers to once through the line-up may prove somewhat effective.

The Indians offense, led by Grady Sizemore and Shin Soo Choo, should be good enough to come back from deficits and put up five and six runs a night. The key to winning will be taking a starting pitchers three runs allowed in three innings, and then holding the other team over the next 3 innings with a long reliever, as their own offense gets them back in the game. Then and only then will the back end relievers matter.

One bubble reliever has to be Kobayashi, who seems only capable of going one ineffective inning at a time. This slot MUST GO to a pitcher than can go three innings. As it stands right now, it appears the Indians have way too many one and two inning relievers, and nowhere near enough relievers that can go three innings.

I think Sarloos might be an ideal candidate for three inning relief work. Jeremy Sowers might fit that role as well. However, the third three inning guy should be able to throw some heat so we don't have three guys who all throw the same type of ball.

Ironically, Paul Byrd might be a candidate for long relief, but I think he remains unsigned as we speak. Here's hoping the Indians stockpile those three inning relievers coming out of the pen, they will surely need it this upcoming season.

Angels Abreu Signing Next Best Thing after losing Teixeira to the Yankees.

The California Angels desperately needed that one hitter in the middle of their 2009 line-up that knows how to take pitches. The Angeles second half season acquisition of Mark Teixeira in 2008 actually seemed to help the hitters around him adjust to the concept of taking more pitches and being just a bit more selective.

Vladimir Guerrero appeared to benefit greatly from having Teixeira in the line-up last year. Bobby Abreu will probably hit behind Kendry Morales and in front of Vlad, and that is probably the perfect table setting for the Angels. Perhaps the only criticism I have for the Angels is not making a play for an additional year for Abreu beyond the 2009 season.

If Abreu proves a solid addition for the Angels in 2009, the Angels will be stuck a year from now with perhaps nobody who can do what Abreu does when it comes to on base percentage and who can play the outfield. I would have offered Abreu a second year at 8 million with a 1.5 million buyout.

Either way, the Angels are starting to get up in age and they appear to be log jammed in the outfield with over 30 year old players and little room for younger players to get playing time. At least the Angels have been able to use the DH to "rest" their veteran outfielders, a strategy that helped sustain them last year through a myriad of outfield injuries.

World Baseball Classic Alternative Ideas and Suggestions.

Pitching in the World Baseball Classic seems to hurt a Major League Baseball players upcoming season. Stats have been revealed that shows 11 of the 12 pitchers who pitched in the WBC, would then have their MLB ERA increase over their prior year's MBL ERA.

WBC games are too early in the year and players are just not ready to play, yet if they play in the WBC, they are supposed to play one hundred percent.

I don't know if this would be an acceptable compromise, but what if the WBC were pushed back to the first week in April, and all of Major League baseball participated, and the games counted! The downside is ballplayers would not be playing for their own hometeam, but, in every other way, there is plenty of upside.

Perhaps when the final four teams are determined, Ballplayers could play the final weekend for their own country, provided their MLB team is still not in it.

WBC in April means ballplayers don't have to do double duty by playing in the WBC and then playing catch up with their own MLB team. Ballplayers aren't playing in the field or throwing any extra amount than any other year. MLB is paying the utmost respect to the rest of the world by saying the games count towards major league baseball standings.

The alignment of teams could be done so that the finals would feature one WBC team and one MLB team. There are a few scheduling nightmares to consider. How far a major league baseball team will last before exiting the WBC, and therefore, how do the teams that exit early begin play in MLB when the other teams are still playing in the WBC?

Another issue is does Major League Baseball really want all of its teams going all over the world, at the same time?

If that idea is too logistically hard to do, how about the champion and runner-up of the WBC doing an american tour and each MLB team plays them once in the month of April, and the games count towards the standings?

Well, I don't think anything has been resolved with this article. Just some ideas that might lead to other ideas.

Manny Ramirez to Japan?

Total speculation, but wouldn't Manny be an amazing fit in Japan?

I think the biggest reason against Manny going to Japan is that Manny probably wants to increase his MLB baseball stats to outrageous numbers. Manny could end up with 650-700 home runs and 2400-2500 RBI's, pretty heady numbers for sure. But would Manny go to Japan to spite MLB if a Japanese team would pay him 25 million a year?

Anybody want to ask Manny or Scott Boras?

AROD was AROID when he was MVP in 2003.

When Alex Rodriguez won his first MVP title in 2003, he was using steroids. Roiding is a big deal because winning awards while roiding raises the bar for the highest paid contracts in the game, which in turn raises the overall contracts for all players, and makes it harder for the smaller market teams to compete.

I suppose one could argue that these roiding players add more excitement to the game because of the homers they generate, which raises fan attendance for all teams, and in theory provides more capital for each team to sign players. Still, what about the players that don't roid?

Maybe there should be alternating fan seating so fans can choose to support the roiders, or support the non-roiders.

Why not just have two sets of awards, one for the steroid users, and one for the non steroid users?

Why not just have two sets of records, onef or the steroid users, and one for the non steroid users?

Why not just have two leagues, one for the steroid users, and one for the non steroid users?

Why not just have two playoffs, one for the steroid users, and one for the non steroid users? Then have the winners of each league face off.

Maybe one day they will invent a bat that when held by the batter will detect any drug usage. Maybe the bat would wilt whenever it detects roid use. AROID swinging a wet noodle at the plate, that might clean up major league baseball roid use very quickly. And for pitchers, maybe the balls could have some kind of sensor as well, making the ball shrivel up when it detects roid use.

Why Torre said more than he probably should have said about AROD and the Yankees.

Joe Torre always struck me as a players manager. Being a former player himself, Torre most likely earned the respect of his players by simply knowing the game. Torre also does not come off as a gossiper. So why did Torre gossip about AROD in his book?

The obvious first reason is, to sell books. But I think there is a second reason as well. Torre basically lost his job after two straight years of not making the A.L. Championship finals. Factor in the infamous 3-0 fall from ahead loss to the Red Sox a couple years earliera, and the ingredients were there for Torre to be removed by simply not giving him a "respectful" contract extension.

Where it gets ugly however is that AROD apparently commented about Torre after Torre's removal. I am speculating AROD speaking about Torre in a rather non complementary way just lit a fire under Torre. The one guy who has not done so well in the playoffs, AROD, is the LAST guy who should be talking about Torre's managerial skills. One could argue that if AROD had put up the same type of production in the playoffs that he regularly puts up during the season, Torre would still be manager of the Yankees.

If a manager is going to sell out a former player, doing it after that same former player has already sold out the manager is the one scenario where I can see it happening.

On the the other hand, Torre did burn his bridge back to New York should the yankees ever start flipping through managers the way they used to in the 80's and early 90's.

Comparing Manny Ramirez to Andrew Jones Contract Talks.

A few years back, while Andrew Jones was with the Atlanta Braves, Jones agreed to restructure his contract and accept less money overall so the Braves could re-sign Chipper Jones. At that time I basically worshipped the concept that a player would take less so his team would have more to spend to make the team better overall.

Manny Ramirez appeared to be more about the money, and as a fan that likes the idea of every team having one player that plays their entire career with the same team, it was a disappointment to see Manny go to Boston from Cleveland for not that much more money. Especially when one factors in that Boston and Cleveland got into a bidding war to drive Manny's price up.

Funny how things work out. The passivity that Jones showed regarding his own contract a few years back seems to have translated onto his play on the field, which has steadily declined over the past few years. Meanwhile, Manny Ramirez continues to play to a high enough standard to be considered one of best hitters in the league.

The question I have is, do ballplayers possibly notch down their own expectations if they have given the club trying to re-sign them a "home town discount"? In the case of Andrew Jones, it sure seems that way as Andrew Jones has once again "restructured" 18 million dollars the Dodgers owe him for the coming year. Yes, the Dodgers are waiving Andrew Jones and in exchange Andrew Jones has agreed to have the 18 million dollars spread out over the next 6 years. So, both times Andrew Jones restructured his contract to help a team, it directly correlated to declining performance, yikes.

Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation’s 6th Annual “In the Spirit of the Game” Sports and Entertainment Extravanganza.

Century City Los Angeles was the home of the Sixth Annual Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation’s “In the Spirit of the Game” Sports and Entertainment Extravaganza. This wonderful event supports and honors the scouting profession along with baseball veteran players and coaches.
A ginormous selection of auction memorabilia was on display as well in what is known as a "silent auction". The silent auction gives the PBSF an opportunity to raise funds for scouts who may not have the entire range of health and pension benefits enjoyed by baseball players they helped discover.

The PBSF was held at the Century Plaza Hotel in Century City and tickets started at 300 dollars and went up from there. Ticket Purchases help to ensure funds are raised and appropriated to baseball scouts in need while giving those who attended a chance to see many well known ballplayers and the scouts who discovered them, up close and personal.

Los Angeles Angels and Chicago White Sox headed for a deal?

The California Angeles seem to covet certain Chicago White Sox players such as Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye. The Chicago White Sox covet Chone Figgins. Konerko almost signed with the Angels a couple of years back but instead re-signed with the Chicago White Sox. Would either team do a straight up deal, Figgins for either Dye or Konerko?

If Kendry Morales is going to play first base for the Angels, would they really want to put Konerko at DH and bottle up Vlad from taking a break in the outfield by DH'ing? Vlad prefers to play the outfield but the Angels benefited last year by using the DH to both "rest and play" their older vets.

Angel players such as Garret Anderson, Vlad Guerrero, Tori Hunter, Gary Matthews jr., all benefited by DH'ing when their nagging injuries didn't justify playing them in the field. If Konerko becomes the Angels DH, that DH carousel option is taken away from the Angels, plus they lose the versatility of a Chone Figgins as well.

Ozzie Guillen probably sees Chone Figgins as the ideal replacement to Scott Posednik, who helped the White Sox the year they won the World Series. It will be interesting to see if these two teams do more than talk, and what the final trade becomes.

Preston Gomez passes at 86

I never met Preston Gomez (on the right). When I saw this picture in the Los Angeles Daily News taken in 2008, I just thought the expression on Mr. Gomez's face was one of the most genuine moments I have ever seen. Mr. Gomez seemed to love being on a baseball field. If not for being hit by a car a year ago and the resulting injuries from which he never fully recovered, Mr. Gomez might have lived several more years. I bet he had a lot of great baseball stories in him. I hope some of them have been memorialized. I love that picture, that expression on his face, he looks so genuine. Preston Gomez La Times Tribute.

Ricky Henderson and Jim Rice elected to the Hall of Fame, Ricky's exit from baseball seems to have been forgotten.

One thing about Ricky Henderson that was not revisited prior to the 2009 Hall of Fame voting was the allegation that Ricky went to the Mets clubhouse during a playoff game to play cards with a teammate. It may have been Ricky's final year in the league, but it sure seemed to leave a sour taste for news writers and fans alike. Apparently Ricky had been used as a pinch hitter or pinch runner and once his participation had ended, rather than stay on the bench and observe and support his teammates, Rickey went to the clubhouse and played cards. Kind of a weird thing for a vet to do, actually.

But I think we can see what fives year of just laying low can bring, nothing but accolades and even curiosity over the 28 voters who did not vote for Ricky Henderson. Maybe those 28 remembered Ricky's not so classy exit from the game and just wanted to make sure he didn't get in via a unanimous vote. Obviously, what Ricky Henderson did in his final few games in the playoffs can't undo a lifetime of baseball achievement that included the record for lead off home runs and the ability to steal a base well into his forties. Neither can anyone forget Ricky repeatedly coming back to get just one more shot in the majors even when it meant starting out in the minors or lower to get back!

Congrats, Ricky Henderson. Jim Rice made it in his final chance before having to be voted in by the veteran hall of fame committee. Jim Rice was just dominant enough for just long enough to make squeeze in. Once a Hall of Famer, always a Hall of Famer. Congrats Jim Rice.

"I'm not Ozzie Blogspot" reporting Bartolo Colon to sign with the White Sox, why aren't the Cleveland Indians in the Hunt?

"I'm not Ozzie" Blogspot Reports that Bartolo Colon will sign a one year deal with the Chicago White Sox. Sigh, the real feel good story of 2009 would have been for Bartolo Colon to come back to Cleveland and be a teammate to the two All Stars Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee, who were mere minor league prospects several years ago when Montreal traded them for Bartolo Colon.

Mark Shapiro should have tried to sign Bartolo and put him on a fitness training program for a month or two, even if it meant Bartolo would not be available until May or June. Why don't ballplayers ever see the silver lining, the " if we build it they will come" moment in their careers? For Bartolo Colon, coming back to Cleveland right after CC Sabathia left, and being along side the progeny that his trade from Cleveland had created, would have been the right place at the right time in the right year.

Boston Red Sox continue picking up Quality Vets at "Bargain" prices.

This offseason is unlike any in recent memory when it comes to comparing the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees signings. One can argue that the Yankees had "no choice" when it came to signing CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and AJ Burnett who collectively will cost the yankees almost 60 million in yearly payroll.

Meanwhile the Red Sox have been able to add Rocco Baldelli, Takashi Saito, Josh Bard, Brad Penny and John Smoltz, with Mark Kotsay soon to follow. The departure of Manny Ramirez has freed the Boston Red Sox to do what I suggested they could have done all along, field a much overall deeper team by finding the 5-8 million dollar veterans that can be difference makers, even if they are bench players or relievers.

I think the Yankees did what they had to do, but the Red Sox should be the deeper team in the 2009 season, and they may have Manny Ramirez's departure to thank for it.