Was the George Sherrill Trade Right for the Orioles?

When I first heard that the Orioles had traded their all-star closer for two minor league (AA) prospects, I was utterly dumbfounded at first. I originally thought they had basically given him up for free.

I’ve looked at the players they’ve received in consideration for Sherrill, and I must say I’m a little more pleased after analyzing the stats and the roles that each player (Bell and Johnson) will fill. They won’t do anything for the team in 2009, and may not do much in 2010, but a few years down the line, these could be key players on the Orioles team.

I understand this season has already gone down the toilet but we still shouldn’t write off the rest of the season. It’s one of the Orioles’ better seasons in recent memory thus far and it’s nice to see them winning some games (especially at home). On the other hand, this is another step in the Orioles’ rebuilding process.

Let’s face it. The Orioles aren’t going to contend for the AL East this season. They might be an improved team from years past, but they’re still last in their division, as nearly every team in the division is somewhat competitive.

The Orioles will most likely lose 36-year-old Melvin Mora to free agency after season’s end. If they don’t lose him, he’s aging anyway and he’ll soon need a replacement.

Josh Bell has been pretty good in Double-A Chattanooga. He’s batting .296 with 11 home runs and 52 RBIs in 94 games. As for Johnson, he was an important component for Chattanooga with a 9-5 record and a 3.61 ERA. His pitching future is bright, and he may very well see some action for the Orioles in 2010.

An already promising young collection of players just bolstered its strength by a bit. With a team that’s sure to improve in talent over the course of the next few years, it looks like Bell and Johnson can both carve out their roles as valuable contributors in Baltimore.

Let’s go Orioles!

Nicholas McMillan is an eternal MLB zealot, and is thrilled to see improvement on the Orioles’ part. He often contributes his input at this Baltimore Orioles forum, and posts at their sports forum whenever he needs a break from baseball.

Big Free Agent Activity For The Offseason For Baseball Franchises

While we’re in the midst of a lag between baseball seasons, there’s been a considerable amount of action worth discussing. With a number of exciting names in the mix, this should come as no surprise.

A few smart signings can seriously increase a team’s chances to contend. Look no further than the New York Yankees last season, as many credit their success to the free agents they signed.

The team looked nothing like its former self after adding Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher to its batting lineup and CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett to its pitching rotation. This gave the Yanks a powerhouse roster that no team could compete with.

How about this year? Are there any teams with makeovers in process that seem destined to rise in the ranks of franchises next year? Here are a few of the biggest signings through the first couple months of the winter season.

Acknowledging the need to compete with the Yankees in 2010, the Red Sox knew that they had to make a move. They couldn’t have done much better than signing John Lackey, the biggest pitcher in the free agent pool.

While he experiences an occasional injury, all in all he’s one of the best there is. Few pitchers have been as consistent has Lackey during the course of the last five seasons.

In another big move, Hideki Matsui packed his bags out of the Bronx and headed for Los Angeles to join the Angels. Matsui was the most valuable player in the 2009 world series, making absolutely huge contributions to the Yankees during their final series.

He’s also an extremely reliable outfielder through the course of any season, making great offensive contributions. While he’s 35 years old, he hasn’t shown many signs of slowing down, so the Angels should expect some solid contributions next season. Matsui’s presence will definitely be felt in Los Angeles.

In addition to sports, this writer also regularly blogs on monogram bath towel and monogrammed diaper bags

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Yankees Win 27th World Series

Allow me to be one of the very first to congratulate the New York Yankees on their World Series win.

It’s been a long nine years since the Yankees won a World Series. They dominated baseball back then, and they’ve finally returned to form after a number of unsuccessful playoff runs.

The Yankees had their eye on a World Series win all along. Having acquired some of the biggest free agent talents in baseball over the winter, the stakes were very high in New York and everyone was looking for a World Series win.

Hank Steinbrenner made some bold moves for a team that had just spent hundreds of millions on dollars on the development of a brand new stadium. Everyone in New York was ready for another victory.

With some of the team’s original pieces still in place and near the ends of their careers, this blend of old and new was a beautiful thing to witness. The Yankees played like a team and fought to the very end.

The Yankees can thank both their veterans and their newly acquired talent for this win. Mariano Rivera pitched as well as he ever has. Derek Jeter was clutch, and Jorge Posada made some great contributions too. CC Sabathia anchored an incredibly talented starting pitching staff.

Perhaps the biggest surprise was the fact that Alex Rodriguez was the team’s most clutch hitter during the playoffs. Typically a player who would get big hits when they didn’t matter and falter under pressure, Rodriguez was anything but that during October.

The Yankees came through and met the expectations that fans had placed on them. It’s been a long nine years since the team’s last World Series win, and this is one that the Yankees and their fans are sure to cherish.

Congratulations to the Yankees on a magnificent 2009 season. You undoubtedly earned what you got.

This author also writes about wool berber carpet cost and carpet cleaning costs.

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Morneau’s Back Injury Ends His Season

The Minnesota Twins’ diminishing playoff chances took one more hit on Tuesday when it was announced that All-Star 1st baseman Justin Morneau will sit out the rest of the year.

Morneau has been battling back pain for weeks, but a CT scan as well as an MRI on Monday confirmed that he has a stress fracture in his lower back.

The injury doesn’t figure to need surgery. Doctors have told Morneau to relax his back for the next 3 month|fall season.

Morneau injured himself on a headfirst slide into first base on Friday and has not played ever since.

Prior to this past week’s injury, the powerful 1st baseman had already been playing with pain off and on for a fair amount of time. Accordingly, his stats have suffered greatly; Morneau was hitting just .077 in the month of September to drop his season average to .274. Before this slide, he was hitting above the .300 mark. Having had only 9 hits over a duration of 22 games, it was apparent that something was amiss.

“You could play through the pain if you feel as if you’re helping the franchise or doing things to help your teammates out and victory contests,” Morneau stated. “When you go out there and you do not feel like you are helping your team, that’s when you kind of take a step back and say, ‘All right, maybe I’m doing more damage than good.’ ”

Despite his struggles recently, Morneau ends the 2009 season with 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in. The HR output is higher than his 2008 figure of 23.

Michael Cuddyer figures to become the primary first baseman in Morneau’s lack.

Despite the condition, Morneau happens to be positive regarding the Twins’ opportunities the rest of the way.

“Hopefully I’ll see the fellows go on a run here and act as cheerleader and that is about it,” Morneau claimed.