Below are the 11 most recent journal entries recorded in angelsdunn's LiveJournal:

Monday, January 29th, 2007
6:45 pm	Handy-Dandy Free Agent Signing Guide - Part 8 Who: Barry Zito What Team: San Francisco How Much: $126M How Long: 7 years What It Means: That the Giants have decided to build around pitching once Barry Bonds finally retires, gets arrested, becomes a full-time DH, or mutates into The Toxic Avenger. Will They Regret It: Right around the fourth year or so, at which point he'll finally be old enough to be a real Brian Sabean Giant and then all will be forgiven anyway. The legend of Barry Zito is well known: he never gets hurt, he wins, and he's got a killer curveball. ALso, he's kind of a flake, but in a good-natured, won't-cause-your-clubhouse-to-implode-but-may-slip-hash-brownies-into-the-post-game-spread sort of way. That's the legend. The numbers actually support that, though with a few troubling signs. Yes, he's incredibly durable and chows down innings like Popeye on a spinach farm, but his strikeout rate (and, if memory serves, his velocity) have gone down for the last three years, and that's not an indicator of long-term success. A sneaky-big part of Zito's value is tied up in the memory of what he was in 2002 or so, and he's not that pitcher any more. He's certainly not going to be that pitcher in 2013, either, though a metamorphosis into Jeff Suppan is not entirely out of the question. Playing in another pitcher's park will help, but the Giants' outfield defense is far worse than the A's, and that's going to show up in Zito's ERA and extra base hit numbers. Ultimately, the Giants overpaid to get the best guy left out there. They needed to replace Jason Schmidt, but seven years is far too many years to give any pitcher, even one as durable as Zito. Ultimately, it looks like Sabean is banking on Zito to be the rock that the Giants' young stud pitchers - Lincecum, Lowry, and Cain - anchor on to until they're ready to be aces, at which point what he's saving on them will roughly balance out what he's overpaying on Zito. Plus, having Zito locked up gives them a recognizeable name on the roster once Barry finally completes his transformation into the Abomination, and thus lets the marketing department breathe a little easier. For now, at least. But whoever follows Sabean - and if he's there for the entire length of this contract, I'll be very surprised - is going to be stuck with the really unpleasant end of this deal. Who: Jeff Suppan What Team: Milwaukee How Much: $42M How Long: 4 years What It Means: Somewhere, a Jeffrey Hammonds baseball card just spontaneously combusted. Will They Regret It: Not in a "my God, what have we done?" sort of way. More in an "enh, you know, I'll bet that really attractive blonde in my 11th grade algebra class would have gone out with me if I'd just asked at the time" kind of way, a vague disquiet that maybe, just maybe, they could have done better. The pluses to getting Suppan are that he eats innings like they're covered in rich, creamy marzipan, and that adding him weakens the Cardinals, whose rotation now apparently consists of Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, Braden Looper, the ghost of Hoss Radburn, and one of the dudes with no feet whom I've teed off against in Wii Baseball. Suppan isn't exactly a bad signing, and in this market this isn't exacly a huge contract, and four years isn't entirely out of the realm of common sense, but...this is one of those things that just has too many "ifs" attached to it. Ultimately, the move to Miller Park and the switch to the Brewers' defense (even sans Carlos Lee) from the Cardinals' gang of vacuum cleaners with gloves is going to hurt Suppan's numbers, and the Brewers. It's not a bad signing. It's just not a good one. Who: Shea Hillenbrand What Team: Los Angeles Angels of District Court How Much: $6.5M How Long: 1 year, with a vesting option for 2008 What It Means: Arte Moreno and Bill Stoneman have at least heard of this guy. Will They Regret It: No, but they should. Hillenbrand, in addition to having the sort of personality that goes over in clubhouses like an autographed Terrell Owens jersey at Pat's Steaks, simply isn't that good. He puts up enough counting numbers to seem vaguely valuable, but he can't field, he wouldn't take a walk if it came with a free lap dance and prime rib buffet, and his power, relative to what you should be able to get at first base, is distinctly undersized. He's the classic "opportunity cost" ballplayer, in that his defenders will focus on what he did (hit 18 homers, batted around .290, drove in 80 runs, got dirt on his uniform) and not on what that spot in the lineup could/shoud have provided instead. Any time you get a 1B who hits for high-ish average but no power, the Mark Grace comparisons get exhumed, but he's really Richie Hebner without the walks. And that's not a good thing. The ship is sinking, Shea. Good thing you've got a life raft made of money. Who: Jason Marquis What Team: Chicago Major How Much: $21M How Long: 3 years What It Means: The best way to weaken an opponent is to steal his best players. Unfortunately, the Cubs stole Marquis instead. Will They Regret It: They say that the only stat that matters is wins (conveniently ignoring the fact that the rules for assigning the magic "W" are about as screwy as the relationships on Grey's Anatomy). If that's the case, the Cubs faithful will take comfort in Marquis 12-15 wins each year, and will conveniently ignore the fact that it took five-plus runs to bail him out in most of those situations. Marquis isn't quite up to Bo Belinsky standards of chowderheadedness, but he's up there, and his win totals are largely a product of throwing in front of some legendary offensive production. Now, that may hold up in Chicago with a lineup of Lee, Ramirez, and Soriano, but Marquis has precious little room to slip in order to stay at least vaguely effective, and he's at the age where slippage is going to happen. He's going to be bad, folks. Maybe not immediately, but soon, and for the rest of his deal - and that deal is so big that they're going to keep running him out there every fifth day no matter what. Those bats had better get cranking, because Marquis is going to need the help - and so are the Cubs. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 26th, 2006
5:35 pm	Owning a newspaper or a ball club? After ousting both the editor and the publisher at L.A. Times, Tribune Co.'s next step is becoming very interesting. My money is on the sale of the paper to one of the California moguls. It will probably be the best for everyone. It is hard to reconcile the conflicts between short-sighted investors and "socially responsible" editors in any major media. Journalists burden themselves with the responsibility to report truth to the public; while the editors want to educate the whole world to believe in what they believe. None of them care much about profitability of the organization. Alas, the world had already ditched communism long time ago. Being squeezed by the Internet both in ad revenues and readership, newspapers are not exactly an industry that looks financially attractive. However, both the management at Tribune Co. and the departing editor and publisher at L.A. Times barked up the wrong tree. The real solution is to run a newspaper like owning a ball club. A few years back when I was still in Orange County, the Anaheim Angels(not Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim yet) made an amazing run all the way to the World Series Champions. Right after pouring champagnes, Disney sold the Angels to Art Moreno, who became the first Mexican American big league team owner. It wasn't like the Angels lost money for Disney. Disney is a publicly-listed company. Wall Street analysts franatically analyze each division's profitability quarter by quarter. Professional ball clubs never look good under such scrutiny even if they are extremely valuable. Private ownership is the best for professional ball clubs. The owners are not suckers, either. They get investment returns in two ways: (1) they can pocket in a great deal when the clubs are sold and (2) they derive other utilities from owning a ball club. Go ask around and you will find quite a few guys want to buy a football or baseball team if they have the money. It is the "field of dream" emotion that keeps ball clubs valuable. The same logic should apply to media ownership. Media are not ideal for public-traded companies. They should be owned by people who value media not only basing on monetary utility. Short-term low/negative profitability is well compensated by enormous self-righteousness. If media are to be publicly-traded, preferred shares should be created to protect the ownership. Meantime, the stock prices of these media are not supposed to be sky rocketing. In fact, this is exactly what is happening among the esteemed media groups. The New York Times has the Sulzbergers, News Corp has Rupert Murdoch, and The Wall Street Journal has the Brancrofts. None of these mentioned has a stock comparable to Google's, but they will stay for quite a while for sure. You might question that Tribune Co. is also controlled by a family, the Chandlers. Why did they yield to Wall Street so easily? Well, they don't derive any non-monetary utility from owning L.A. Times. The purchase of it a couple of years ago was purely a business decision. Dumping it is not going to be an emotional one, either. (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 2nd, 2006
1:12 pm	Major League Baseball – 2006 Attendance Trends II Major League Baseball established a single season attendance record for the third consecutive season, more than 76 million attended MLB games for the first time in Major League Baseball history. The first part of SBN’s look at attendance trends (focusing on the 2006 season, while at the same time looking back at the last five seasons for each respective franchise), looked at the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, San Diego Padres, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Cincinnati Reds, Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. This is the second of a three part Insider series. Saturday was a great day to be a Detroit Tigers fans. Long suffering Tigers fans experienced the joy of having their team win their American League Divisional Series against the New York Yankees. For the Tigers, winning on the field in 2006 resulted in a great deal of success at the box office. The Tigers sold 2,595,937 tickets at Comerica Park, an average of 32,048 fans per game or 79.9 percent of capacity this year. The Tigers won 95 games, claiming the AL Wild Card playoff spot. The Tigers winning season was the teams’ first in 13 seasons. Since the 1992 season, the Tigers finished third three times, fourth five times, fifth five times and sixth once. Winning and losing has had a tremendous impact on the Tigers box office – a great example of how important winning is to selling tickets. The Tigers moved from Tiger Stadium to Comerica Park at the start of the 2000 season. The Tigers sold 2,533,753 tickets, an average of 31, 280 fans per game in Comerica’s first season. The Tigers won 79 games that year, won 66 games in 2001. The Tigers experienced a significant drop in attendance in 2001, selling 1,921,305 tickets, an average of 24,016 fans per game or 60.0 percent capacity. The one year drop in attendance – 612, 448. A year later the Pirates won only 55 games in 2002 selling 1,503,623 tickets an average of 18,795 fans per game 47.0 percent capacity. The Tigers on-field performance hit rock bottom in 2003. The once proud franchise won a major league low 43 games, selling 1,368,245 tickets, an average of fans per game of 17,103 or 42.6 percent capacity. In the four years that Comerica Park was open, attendance had fallen by 1,165,508, an astronomical drop by anyone’s standards. The Tigers won 72 games in 2004 an improvement of 29 wins over 2003. Winning 29 paid off at the box office – selling 1,917,004 tickets, averaging 23,962 fans per game or filling 59.7 percent of Comerica’s seats. The Tigers won 71 games last year and had a better year at the box office (compared to 2004) selling 2,024,505 tickets, averaging 25,306 fans per game or 63.1 percent capacity. Bottom line, in Motown the Tigers winning means more tickets will be sold. Billy Ball has driven the Oakland A’s to winning records, and home field advantage as long as the A’s stay alive in their drive to win the 2006 World Series. The A’s have had a winning record since the 1999 season, winning the 2002, 2003 and 2006 American League West titles. Over the last eight seasons the A’s have averaged 93 wins per season. The A’s sold 1,976,625 tickets in 2006, an average of 24,402 fans per game. Over the last eight seasons, the A’s have averaged 1,996,330 fans per season. The A’s announced prior to the start of the 2006 season they would cover McAfee Coliseum’s upper deck for the teams’ entire home schedule, decreasing the stadiums capacity by more than 10,000 seats, to 34,077 seats. The seats have remained covered with huge tarps with the team's logos. For the A’s the rationale was simple, the law of supply and demand. Decrease the capacity, regardless of who the A’s where playing and drive demand. The A’s where steadfast throughout the regular season and have kept the policy in place for the ALDS games against the Minnesota Twins. The A’s could have sold those tickets for Friday’s ALDS clinching game against the Twins but choose to follow their policy, turning away 10,000 potential ticket buyers. A’s managing partner managing partner Lewis Wolff has announced the policy will remain in affect for the American League Championship series. If the A’s win the American League pennant MLB is expected to insist the A’s open the upper deck. World Series revenue is shared and helps determine players’ playoff and World Series shares. Giving away the revenues from 10,000 seats isn’t a good business decision. The A’s 2006 opening day payroll -- $62,243,079 (21st overall). The A’s 2005 payroll -- $ 55,425,762 (25th overall). The A’s 2004 payroll -- $ 59,425,667. The A’s 2003 payroll -- $ 50,260,834 . The A’s 2002 payroll -- $ 40,004,167. The A’s 2001 payroll -- $ 33,810,750. Billy Beane has spent a shade over $301 million on the A’s payroll over the last six seasons, an average annual payroll of $50.2 million. The A’s have averaged 96 wins each of the last six seasons. Compare what Billy Beane has accomplished to what Brian Cashman’s Yankees have done on an off the field. Cashman has spent $975 million over the last six seasons on the Yankees payroll, an average annual payroll of $162 million (and that does not include the tens of millions of dollars in luxury tax the Yankees have paid above and beyond the teams’ payroll). The Yankees have averaged 98 wins each of the last six seasons. The A’s Bay City brothers, the San Francisco Giants have consistently better attendance numbers since they moved into Pac Bell Park at the start of the 2000 season. The Giants ballpark has undergone one other name change, SBC Park before it was rechristened AT&T Park before the start of the 2006 season. In 2006 the Giants sold 3,130,304 tickets, averaging 38,645 fans per game or 93.0 percent capacity. The Giants won the National League pennant in 2002, losing the World Series to the Los Angeles Angels. In the six years the Giants have played at their new ballpark, the team has averaged 3.2 million fans per game, selling close to 95 of their available ticket inventory. Winning and Barry Bonds have been the driving forces. It remains to be seen if the Giants will sign Bonds for what is expected to be his final MLB season. The Giants paid Bonds $18 million for the 2006 season. Bonds is 21 home runs away from setting a new career homerun record, Barry Bonds is worth at least $10 million to the Giants in ticket sales for the 2007 season. The St. Louis Cardinals moved into Busch Stadium III this year, selling 3,407,104 tickets, averaging 42,588 fans per game or 99 percent capacity (does not include standing room). The Cardinals actually sold more tickets last year 3,491,837, averaging 43,647, but less of their ticket inventory 86.7 percent at Busch Stadium II. The key to the Cardinals – the teams’ average ticket price went up 12.1 percent to $29.78, giving it the third highest average price in the majors, behind the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals increase in their ticket prices was far smaller than the 50 percent average increase seen in the last ten teams to move into new homes since 2000. The Cardinals, another great example of the law of supply and demand. Create the demand by decreasing the capacity. In the Cardinals case Busch Stadium III’s capacity is 43,975 seats/46,861 with standing room. The Cardinals sold of their available seats for the 2006 season. Busch Stadium II’s seating capacity was 49,676. The Cardinals new ballpark has 5,701 fewer seats, but with higher ticket prices the Cardinals are generating more revenue from ticket sales. Major League Baseball’s two New York franchises sold 7.6 million tickets, the two Los Angeles teams’ 7.1 million tickets. The Chicago Cubs sold 3,123,215 tickets, averaging 39,040 at Wrigley Field or 94.9 percent capacity. The Chicago White Sox sold 2,957,414 tickets, averaging 36,511 fans per game or 89.9 percent capacity. Windy City baseball fans sold 6.08 million tickets in 2006, not quite as impressive as the numbers from Los Angeles and New York but the highest Chicago totals in years. In 2005 the Cubs and White Sox sold 5.4 million tickets, 5.1 million tickets in 2004, 4.89 million in 2003, 4.36 million in 2002 and 4.55 million in 2001. The Cubs made the playoffs in 2003 (the year of the Bartman ball) and the White Sox won the World Series in 2005. It will be interesting to follow the Cubs and White Sox attendance numbers in 2007. Wrigley Field, which cost $250,000 to build in 1914, has a capacity of 41,118. That number allows the Cubs to keep their average ticket price second only to the Boston Red Sox in terms of average ticket price. Again, a classic example of the law of supply and demand. U.S. Cellular Field a.k.a. "The Cell" (formerly Comiskey Park II), has a capacity of 40,615. The White Sox moved into their current ballpark before the 1991 season. It was the last stadium to be built before the Baltimore Orioles opened Camden Yards a year later, featuring the ‘back to the future’ retro look. Before the start of the 2004 season, the White Sox removed eight rows and 6,600 seats from the top of ballpark's upper deck. In the coming days SBN will conclude its look at how each MLB team faired at the box office in 2006 and trends for each teams attendance in the last five years. For Sports Business News this is Howard Bloom (Comment on this)
Friday, September 29th, 2006
7:43 am	New Palestinian Craze: US Army Gear Bizarre, for sure. Wearing a green Hamas headband, waving a Hamas flag, swinging a Kalashnikov and chanting for Israel's demise, Bassem Shorah looks to be a prototypical Palestinian militant. His olive green shirt, however, tells a different story. It's a spot-on replica of those worn by soldiers in the United States Army, replete with combat patches and unit designations. Though he's a committed Islamist activist in a movement that denounces the United States for supporting Israel and occupying Iraq, Shorah proudly sports what has become the latest trend in Palestinian street wear: US military apparel. "This is the new fashion in the market," says Shorah. "It's a show of force, because the US army is powerful. It's a symbol of strength and of our refusal to put down arms"... On their television sets these young people see images of US soldiers in Iraq, and they view them as the ultimate symbol of military might... The trend is not limited to clothing. At barber shops across the West Bank and Gaza young Palestinians are demanding what's known as a "Marines," meaning a high and tight crew cut, the kind that is mandatory for US Marines." Similarly, Abu Sim, a rank and file gunman in the Popular Resistance Committees' armed wing, has wrapped the barrel of his Kalashnikov with desert camouflage padding, another nod to US military fashion. "I saw a US Marine sniper on TV doing the same thing," he says. "It's natural to copy the US military because they are powerful and so are we." They even have baby clothes and pink camo with US Army on it for the ladies. Strange. Palestinian militants look up to the US Army moreso than our own Hollyweirdos do, even though it's the Hollyweirdo's freedom that's being guaranteed by the work our brave soldiers do. Most of the Palestinians would gladly kill a US soldier, yet they respect them and revere the job they do. Our Hollywood elitists and ultra-libs like Cindy Sheehan, Susan Sarandon, and Sean Penn hate our soldiers, libel our soldiers, slander our soldiers, and then abuse the rights those soldiers protect every day. All of this proves one thing: Gaza is cooler than LA. I think the next NFL franchise should go to Gaza, instead of Los Angeles. Or, maybe the Los Angeles Angels baseball team could play a few home games in Gaza, like on the Fourth of July, when the crowd in Gaza is certain to be more patriotic than half of LA would be. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 29th, 2006
6:35 pm	Enemy Intel Report After a week in which the Twins did what they needed to do (4-2 against the Indians and White Sox), and the Tigers and Red Sox self-destructed, things get even more interesting for Twins fans over the next seven days. Minnesota Twins Off Day (Mon) 3 games @ Baltimore (Tue-Thu) 3 games @ Chicago White Sox (Fri-Sun) Detroit Tigers 4 games vs. Chicago White Sox (Mon-Thu) 3 games @ Cleveland (Fri-Sun) Chicago White Sox 4 games @ Detroit (Mon-Thu) 3 games vs. Minnesota (Fri-Sun) New York Yankees 1 game @ Boston (Mon) 3 games @ Seattle (Tue-Thu) 3 games @ Los Angeles Angels (Fri-Sun) Boston Red Sox 1 game vs. New York Yankees (Mon) 3 games @ Los Angeles Angels (Tue-Thu) 3 games @ Seattle (Fri-Sun) Not sure who to root for in that Tigers-Sox series. Guess I'm hoping for a 2-2 split. Then a nice sweep by the Twins in Chi-Town (again), just to make things really interesting. (Comment on this)
Friday, August 18th, 2006
11:40 am	abroad china insurance study decatur herald il review cheap hotel ... abroad china insurance study decatur herald il review cheap hotel ny dbz music video bathing one piece suit woman gasoline prices in the united state angeles local los union prada sale shoes red river shootout brown by chris lyric song window mobile 2005 download hotel st barth isle de france bureau ohio visitor naruto theme song liberation sociology denali crow nest log cabin arizona grant land owner antique collector plate armored bf2 booster fury pack land man no los angeles angels baseball team blanket cheap fleece budget rent a car canada master degree law on line cabin for rent north georgia the mighty hercules today london gold price banana cream pie video more than i can say leo sayer attractive older woman peoples bank elkhorn empire theatres movie listing car charity jonesboro arm muscle name simple plan untitled download top 10 model united airline ticket price learn to speak portuguese in one openofficeorg sams teach yourself six day seven night cast new comic book movie capricorn daily horoscope love writing jobs in los angeles french horn site myspacecom chief operating officer pda diet software pollen count houston some enchanted evening lyric san angelo texas attorney lawyer family law divorce emmanuel bible college infected insect bite pc anywhere alternative double line graph combination square banned high school book confederate navy uniform picture recycling single stream does zoloft cause weight gain amazon rain forest endangered species internet explorer 6 for win98 met life investor insurance company howard university football charlotte ghost good antique reproduction doll perry ford national city bank of new york delaware grand am euro tail light fever night saturday theater theater theater theater theater theater bow cd lyric wanted wow nba draft pick history (Comment on this)
Friday, August 11th, 2006
10:59 am	Game #108: A's 2, Angels 3 August 1, 2006 | A's @ Los Angeles Angels Well that was disgusting. • I don't want to be harsh on Joe Blanton, but errors are expensive when the opposing team is fighting you for first place. And giving up nine hits in 6.2 innings isn't helping either. • In the 6th, when Mark Kotsay was thrown out at the plate, it was the right call. He was SO not safe. But I was pissed off anyway. • Kudos to JayPay for his second home run in as many days. Error forgiven. • That was pretty scary how K-Rod nearly took Thomas's head off in the 8th. It's easy for us spectators to forget that the batter must quell the fear of getting hit by a ball being thrown very hard within inches of many vulnerable parts of his body. And yet Thomas dodged, then got ready for the next pitch. • I hate how googley-eyed K-Rod pumps his fist and yells when he wins. Disgusting, I tell you. Yes, the well-A-meter jumps down a full two points. I'm most concerned about whether the A's can get a winning streak going and build the record needed to dominate the AL West. (Game experience: First half of game on radio, second half on TV.) A's record: 56-51 | streak: L-1 | well-A-meter: 2 (Comment on this)
Thursday, August 3rd, 2006
6:00 pm	Hollywood's Cutest Couple! With 8-month-old daughter Violet at home, Ben Affleck takes wife Jennifer Garner out to the ballgame to root on his beloved Red Sox, who got bested 10-4 by the Los Angeles Angels at Boston's Fenway Park on Sunday. Source Related Topics: Kevin Smith Blasts Ben Affleck Affleck to be Cast as Magnum PI? Matt Damon and Wife Welcome Baby Firl Ben's Baby Brother and River's Baby Sister Marry Garner Turns Down "Dallas" due to J.Lo (Comment on this)
Monday, July 31st, 2006
9:58 pm	Who Will Buy This Wonderful Feeling? There are just thirteen more days in the glorious Alfonso Soriano experiment. With the trading deadline inching closer, the rumors are getting hotter. And heavier. It seems pretty clear at this point that the Nats are going to get something of value for Soriano, which makes his trade a necessity. For all the talk of wanting to resign him, the prospects they're going to get back are likely to be more valuable than the draft picks they'd net if they lost him. There's simply no guarantee that Soriano would resign with the team, even as he's expressed a willingness to do so. And, truthfully, I suspect that whatever contract he's going to get is going to pay him far more than he's worth. Soriano has been a magical player this year, and the contract he's going to get is going to reflect that. The winning bidder is going to have to hope that he continues to have seasons like this, instead of like his three previous seasons, when he was merely very good. Very good can win a pennant. But it's harder to do when you're paying for excellence. But before we think about money, let's keep our eyes on the real prize, the trading deadline. Detroit: The Nationals want three prospects and have asked that prized right-hander Humberto Sanchez (stats)be included in the deal. Sanchez (5-2, 3.19 ERA at Triple-A Toledo) has pitched superbly since his promotion from Double-A Erie. He started and pitched one perfect inning in the All-Star Futures Game and has an overall potential that compares favorably to that of rookies Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya. Washington officials are requesting a package that includes Sanchez, rising prospect Jair Jurrjens (stats) (3-2, 2.78 at Double-A Erie) and a position player. Their first request was 2005 first-round pick Cameron Maybin, but the Tigers will not trade him. The parties may, however, settle on Erie outfielder Brent Clevlen (stats), a former second-round pick, currently with Erie. Banks of the Anacostia has a closer look at these three. Their columnists are certainly pushing for it. Push! Push harder! Seattle: the Nationals want to pick up can't-miss young talent in exchange. Apparently they have settled on the Mariners' center fielder, Adam Jones, as the player they most want in exchange. On the surface, it doesn't seem like a deal Mariners general manager Bill Bavasi would be likely to make. Seattle has the money to make that kind of deal, but Bavasi has stressed -- Seattle PI The Internet report mentioned outfielder Adam Jones as one player Bowden would seek. Seattle sources say this is a deal-breaker because Jones, an immense talent, is regarded as the center fielder for now and the future.... Several scouts at Yankee Stadium opined Monday that Bowden may be floating Seattle as an interested party in an effort to get the Los Angeles Angels to move on getting Soriano. --Seattle Times the Mariners could A) ensure that he doesn't go to the Angels; B) boost their offense, the fifth-worst in the American League and C) obtain a player who could prove a difference-maker in the A.L. West race, helping improve the job security of general manager Bill Bavasi -- Ken Rosenthal Angels: Apparently, the Angels' search for a big bat has not yet reached the nation's capital. Washington Nationals general manager Jim Bowden said on KSPN/710's "The Big Show with John Ireland and Steve Mason" that the Angels are not one of the seven teams to have asked him about slugger Alfonso Soriano.--OC Register Angels consider the current asking price too high and would not surrender premium talent without signing him to a contract extension. To this point, the Nationals are not believed to be willing to allow another team to negotiate an extension in advance of a trade. In an e-mail Friday, Washington General Manager Jim Bowden said of the Angels: "They are not a club that is presently involved in trade discussions with our club." -- LA Times Yankees: The Yanks have monitored the Washington corner outfield duo of Alfonso Soriano and Jose Guillen, but are not as enthralled as has been re ported in some corners. The Yanks are prioritizing defense and while Guillen and Sanders are good de fensive players, Soriano is not, which along with his huge price tag in both dol lar and prospect costs and his looming free agency make him less appealing.--NY Post Those seem to be the main suitors, although Bowden has claimed that as many as seven teams are involved. I'd imagine that you can throw the Cardinals. (Here's one suggesting the Dodgers). Maybe the Blue Jays will get interested -- they're right in the race, too. Regardless, it's going to be a fun few weeks. Enjoy Soriano while you can, because from the number of rumors out there, Bowden's sure to get something. We certainly know he's not afraid to pull the trigger. (Comment on this)
Saturday, July 29th, 2006
4:50 pm	Angelic Fireworks! Orlando Cabrera and Bartolo Colon Light the ... Regular readers here at Burkean Reflections may have read my "Inaugural Post," in which I mentioned that I might occasionally take a break of political blogging to write on my beloved Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Today seems like as good a day as any to make good on that suggestion. I took a break from work and blogging last night to catch the Angels-Mariners game, broadcast live from Seattle. It was one of the best games I've seen in a while, which is a strong statement as the Angels on Wednesday came off of their best comeback all season in their 14-6 July 4th win over the Mariners at Safeco Field. In last night's game, Bartolo Colon gained his first win of the season in a dominating, 9-inning shut-out performance. Colon's return to the lineup should bolster a starting rotation that has been electrified with the breakout pitching of Jered Weaver. Also spectacular was Orlando Cabrera's fifth inning home run, which extended his consecutive hit streak to 62 games. Bill Shaiken at the Los Angeles Times has the story: The first half has been a lost half for the Angels, too many weeks looking up at too many teams from the bottom of the American League West. But the Angels might have the last laugh. After Bartolo Colon completed their first sweep of the season Wednesday by pitching his first shutout in four years, a 4-0 victory over Seattle, the Angels flew to Oakland for a four-game series. If the Angels win them all, they could share first place with the Athletics at the All-Star break, even after spotting their rivals half the season." We know how to finish divisions," pitcher John Lackey said. "We've done it the last couple times. Letting us stay in it this long might be a problem for them in the end." Robb Quinlan hit a three-run home run and Orlando Cabrera a solo shot as the Angels finished the sweep of the Mariners. Colon, who won 21 games and the Cy Young Award last season, won for the first time this season. The Angels have won five consecutive games, a season high, cutting three games from their deficit in five days. They're four games under .500 and in last place, trailing the A's by four, Texas by 2 1/2 and Seattle by one. But, with Colon and Jered Weaver back in the rotation and Lackey, Ervin Santana and Kelvim Escobar pitching well, the Angels have a potentially dominant starting five. And, with five players not named Vladimir Guerrero or Garret Anderson hitting home runs in this series, they have a hint of offensive depth. "What gives us optimism, really, is the way we're getting contributions from everybody in the lineup," Manager Mike Scioscia said. That helps, of course, but the most significant performance Wednesday was delivered by Colon. In his fourth start since returning from the disabled list, he showed he can win even if his never regains his premium fastball. "Not having the fastball is an adjustment for me," Colon said through an interpreter. After the shoulder surgery he suffered in October, the fastballs that used to buzz in at 95-97 mph now come in at 89-93 mph. But Colon buried the Mariners under an avalanche of sinking fastballs, using movement and precision to more than make up for the loss of velocity." It was moving all over the place," catcher Mike Napoli said. "He can be effective not pumping it up at 95." Colon gave up four hits, none after the fourth inning. He made 91 pitches, striking out two and walking none. He felt good, not only because of the shutout but because of a pregame phone call with his father, who he said is fighting a minor illness. In the conversation, he said, his father calmed him. Colon pitched two complete games last year, but he said he did not recall his last shutout. That's understandable, since he pitched the shutout for a team that no longer exists, the Montreal Expos.Angels fans are obviously hoping that the sweep of Seattle marks the turn-around point for the Angels' season. Tonight the Halos start a four-game road trip at the Oakland Athletics, a series that could shake up the standings in the American League West. For more Angels baseball, check out this cool blog, "The Halo Herald." (Comment on this)
Thursday, July 27th, 2006
10:47 am	Stolen from Kami, who stole it from Nude Steve </div> (Comment on this)