My my my... the AL East just got a bit more fun

Manny and Damon reunited?
Someone cue up Maroon 5. It is 2004 all over again.

Hey, Gabe Kapler was on the Rays last year. If they bring HIM back they will have all three outfielders who were on the field when the Sox won the World Series in St. Louis.

This off season has gotten so strange that the Rays have added more famous players than the Yankees.

Actually, even before the Rays decided to bring aboard two of the three biggest idiots, I hadn’t written off Tampa Bay.

Yeah losing Carl Crawford was bad… as was Rafael Soriano… and Carlos Pena….and Matt Garza…and Jason Bartlett…and Dan Wheeler…… and Joaquin Benoit…and Grant Balfour

But there is so much talent on that team that I can’t help but think that they might actually (dare I say it?) be better?

They still have a starting rotation of David Price, Wade Davis, James Shields and Wade Davis.

They still have Evan Longoria in the middle of their lineup and B. J. Upton who could still put it all together.

Reid Brignac could play short in Barlett’s place.
Jeremy Hellickson can start in Garza’s place.
Jake McGee is ready to take a role in the bullpen.
Desmond Jennings should be ready to play the outfield.

Some combination of Willy Aybar, Ben Zobrist and maybe even Damon could play first.

Adam Russell and Cesar Ramos both have some big league experience out of the bullpen with San Diego and will be in Tampa next year after the Bartlett trade.

Hak Ju Lee could give the Rays depth in the infield after the deal with Chicago.

Now you add a sparkplug like Johnny Damon to the top of the lineup.
And yeah, Manny is no longer Manny. But he still gets on base, has some pop and always has a little peak when he arrives with a new team.

Folks, the A.L. East is going to be fun again. People who hate to see either the Red Sox or the Yankees in the playoffs may get their wish for the fourth time in six seasons to see one of them play golf this October.

There will be LOTS of reasons to circle the Rays arrival in Fenway AND Yankee Stadium in red.

Remember Red Sox fans… it’s OK to cheer Manny and Johnny when they play the Yankees. In fact, I think it will be a nice nostalgic feeling.

An untradeable player has been traded

In each of the last two seasons I have included Vernon Wells in one of my How can they trade that untradeable contract? posts.

One for the blog after the 2009 season... one for The Hardball Times after the 2010 season.

Well, it took Adrian Beltre, Carl Crawford and just about every other player in creation to turn down the Angels to do it... but the Blue Jays found a suitor.

Vernon is heading to Los Angeles.
And then drive about an hour south and wind up in Anaheim. But let's for the sake of argument call it Los Angeles.

I personally think it is a terrific move for the Angels.
Wells is a stand up guy with talent. And he should fit in well with the organization and the lineup.

Please spare us all the indignity of breaking down his play and his WAR, VORP and OPS+. That's not what this move is about.

As I wrote before, this is about a change going to do him good.
He signed that gigantic contract to stay in Toronto. And it became his legacy and identity.

He even had to wear the hairshirt and indignity of having to admit he wasn't worth the contract.

It was time for a change of scenery. As much as he clearly loved Toronto, and as much as I thought him having a Todd Helton moment would have been super cool, he had to go.

I had him for two years in a row going to the Cubs. I thought the natural surface and a fresh start with a fan base would be ideal. But now he is off to a model organization with a good pitching staff, Kendry Morales should be back and no doubt Torii Hunter will welcome him with open arms.

He'll be playing for a potential Hall of Fame manager and will no doubt be in a pennant race.

And he won't have the constant reminder that his contract his too big.

Can you say "relaxed"? Can you "rejuvenated"? Can you say "big season for a guy who actually made the All Star team in 2010"?

Not bad for an untradeable player.

Something special happens around 0:59 of this video

7th inning of Game 5...

Lee and Lincecum are locking antlers in a pitchers duel...

Giant fans at the Public House watching.

For the first minute of this video, everyone is paying close attention, but know there are 2 outs, Cliff Lee is not the pinata he was in Game 1, and that a scoring opportunity may be squandered here.

I mean how many times can Edgar Renteria come through for the Giants.

Then the fly ball...

There is cautious optimism...

Then it completely clears the wall.

At around the 0:59 mark of this video, listen for that pause before the place erupts.

That pause was the very last moment that a Giant fan ever thought they were going to die without seeing their team win it all.

Then collective "YEAH!"

At that moment they knew the Giants were up 3-0 with Lincecum on the mound.

They knew that the World Series was theirs.

No more Finley grand slam.

No more J. T. Snow thrown out at the plate.

No more handing the game ball to Russ Ortiz.

No more Troy Glaus double or Scott Speizio homer.

No more Benny Agbayani walk off shot.

No more watching the Marlins get 3 walk off wins in two different series.

No more winning 103 games and missing the playoffs.

No more Earthquake series.

No more Jose Oquendo home run.

No more Maldonado losing it in the lights.

No more line drive by McCovey.

At that moment, all of that became prologue.

And the release of happiness was well earned.

I had a similar scream in 2004.

It felt good.

Enjoy it Giants fans.

Pitchers and catchers are reporting soon.

15 other passive aggressive things Cashman could have said at the press conference

- The Yankees have had a history of having needlessly expensive contracts blow up in our face, and it is wonderful to add Rafael Soriano to that list.

- Soriano is the wrong fit for this team. It is a mistake. We shouldn’t have made this move. But hey! Welcome to the team.

- I feel it is best to point out a player’s shortcomings and show as little confidence in him as possible before introducing him to the New York media. It’s how I roll.

- How much did I not want him? I tried to bring in Carl Pavano instead. No seriously I did.

- I am going to copyright the headline “Who’s SORI-a-NOW?” so when the New York Post uses it, I can get a royalty. Notice I didn’t say “if.”

- Well evidently some people think the team isn’t old enough and doesn’t have enough players who have had multiple surgeries.

- With such a thin rotation, we decided to shore up the bullpen so we could run their arms into the ground. The good news is if Soriano gets two more surgeries, the next one will be free.

- We listened to the scouts who all agree that an injury prone player who let’s up fly balls in this stadium was the route to go.

- I am looking forward to next year when we can try to trade this crappy contract for one of the Mets crappy contracts.

- We had differing ideas on what to do with $35 million. They wanted a 30 year old middle reliever with elbow issues. I wanted to throw it into the Hudson River.

- I’d like to thank you all for coming here today. I’d LIKE to do that, but I am waiting for Hank and Hal to give me permission to do that too.

- We are breaking new ground in giving middle relievers huge contracts. Do you know why no team has done that before? Because it is f*cking moronic. But what do I know? I’m just the GM of the New York Yankees.

- I don’t like to think we’ve lost that first round pick. I like to think that the Rays will use that pick and when he is older and more expensive, we’ll just sign him as a free agent.

- Of course we wouldn’t have needed to sign Soriano if we had let Joba Chamberlain develop into a solid reliever. Who’s idea was it to put him in the rotation? (Coughing) * Hank! *

- I would like to announce that I am printing out “Soriano Sucks” t-shirts and will be selling them on line. I might as well profit from this whole thing.

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Envisioning a bold new National League - My latest article for The Hardball Times

In my latest article for The Hardball Times, I envision how competitive (and potentially profitable) the National League could be if the Cubs, Mets and Dodgers were all major contenders at the same time.

Not that that is going to happen in 2011!

You can read the article here.

Are the A's teasing me again?

Two seasons ago, I stuck my neck out in my 2009 Divisional picks by going with the Oakland A's to win the West. We had just come off seasons where teams like the Angels, the Marlins, the Tigers, the struggling Cardinals, the Rockies and Rays had won pennants that confounded the experts.

So I thought "Why not go against the grain? If I am right with my pick, then I look like a genius."

Then again, if the pick flops, then I look like a moron.

I had the 2009 Oakland Athletics winning the World Series.
They finished in dead last place, 22 games behind the Angels.

WHOOPS!

But now I am looking at this team, and I can't help but wonder if I should pick them again.

They just added Brian Fuentes to the roster and he should make their bullpen pretty damn deep. Andrew Bailey, Grant Balfour, Brad Ziegler and Brian Fuentes in the pen?

Closing out a rotation of Trevor Cahill, Gio Gonzalez, Dallas Braden and Brett Anderson?

(I am not going to include Rich Harden. Any day he is NOT on the disabled list is a bonus.)

Couple that with Hideki Matsui and a few other bats added to the lineup... Texas losing Cliff Lee and the Angels not being able to sign anyone and Seattle in flux...

Dare I do it?
Dare I make the pick again?

My 2009 picks of Oakland and Cincinnati doesn't look so outlandish for 2011.

But can I pick Oakland?
Or are they teasing me.

Maybe I'll pick the Mariners.