DSRTSV - 12/3/08

This one truly needs no introduction. The infamous Sean Avery Comment:

2009 MLB Hall of Fame Ballot Out: Henderson's Year?

It's about that time...

Yes, the 2009 MLB Hall of Fame ballot is now out, and tons of the 23 candidates are first-timers. The most notable first-timer though, is stolen base king Rickey Henderson. Henderson played an astounding 25 seasons for ten different teams while getting selected to ten all-star teams, winning two World Series and winning the AL MVP award in 1990. Henderson, by far, is the most qualified player on the long list of candidates.

((FYI: In order to get into the Hall, a player must receive at least 75% of the votes)).

Not all 23 players are deserving of the Hall, by my standards anyway. While Greg Vaughn hit 355 homeruns in his 15 seasons and 1,731 games, Vaughn's lifetime batting average of .242 is holding him back. His 1,513 career strikeouts isn't that appealing to the eye, either. This tells me he his an all-or-nothing player and I believe well-roundedness and consistency is what gets you into the Hall (just look at last year's class of Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr.).

Five-time All-Star and one-time World Series champion third baseman, Matt Williams, another first-timer, is certainly more qualified than both Vaughn family members (Greg's cousin, Mo, is also eligible for the first time this year and was included on the ballot). Williams played for three different teams from 1987 to 2003; San Francisco Giants, Cleveland Indians and Arizona Diamondbacks. Williams may have been more known for his glove while playing the 'hot corner' also known as third base. Williams was a well-rounded ballplayer, winning both four gold gloves and four silver sluggers.

Alleged "cheater" Mark McGwire remains on the list of candidates after receiving just 23% of votes last year. The whole steroid topic is what has and will continue to keep McGwire out of the Hall.

This will be the year Bert Blyleven finally gets in. Bert pitched for 22 seasons, allowing him to win two World Series and record 3,701 K's which is good enough for fifth all-time. His 60 shutouts is 9th all-time and his 287 wins is 27th all-time. If all that isn't enough to convince you he belongs in the HOF, then I don't know what will.

Tommy John's 26-year pitching career with 288 wins, 2,245 career strikeouts and his 3.34 career ERA should be enough for his entrance into the HOF. But, I think it would be his impressive, prolonged career which gets him over the hump and into the Hall.

Of course we can't forget the long-time New York Yankee, Don Mattingly, who played in pinstripes for 14 seasons. Mattingly's #23 was retired thanks to his nine gold gloves (first baseman) and his six all-star selections. The 1985 AL MVP wasn't able to capture a World Series title during his playing days, but registered a career batting average of .307 with just 444 strikeouts.

The 2009 MLB Hall of Fame inductees will be announced on January 12th, 2009.

Out-Drafting Bonanza Part 2 - Detroit Lions & Matt Millen

Welcome to part 2 of the Out-Drafting Bonanza. This one should be fun. Matt Millen and the Detroit Lions represent the standard which all shitty drafts (and drafting) should be measured by. The goal is to compare a few different "successful" (and in this case incredibly unsuccessful) NFL regimes and discover who's good, who's bad and where the hell we'll put Andy Reid.

In case you don't remember, here's a look at our Scoring System again.

And here's the regimes we'll be looking at:

• Philadelphia Eagles (Andy Reid)
• Detroit Lions (Steve Mariucci/Dick Jauron/Rod Marinelli...all under Matt Millen and we'll use this is the baseline/epitome of crap)
• Seattle Seahawks (Mike Holmgren)
• New England Patriots (Bill Belichick)
• Jacksonville Jaguars (Jack Del Rio)
• Dallas Cowboys (Jerry Jones err Wade Phillips, though we'll be counting the Parcells years because of how involved Jones was regardless)
• Denver Broncos (Mike Shanahan)
• Chicago Bears (Lovie Smith)
• San Diego Charges (Norv Turner...but all the A.J. Smith era)

Let's not tie up any more of your time. Let's get to the Millen Era Drafts:

Year	Round	Name	Score (1-5)	Bonus	Note
2002	1	Joey Harrington	2	-2	What can I say about Harrington that hasn't already been said. He was a bust of a top 3 pick and is essentially a career backup, though he's started quite a few games
	2	Kalimba Edwards	3	0	Edwards was a capable starter for five years and lead the lions in sacks twice. He was eventually released by the Lions, but wasn't a real bust
	3	Andre Goodman	3	0	Another decent player. Not quite a starter, not quite a backup. Goodman was respectable as a Lion though
	4	John Taylor	0	0	Taylor suited up but never played a down
	5	John Owens	2	0	A spot starter with multiple stints on the Lions
	6	Chris Cash	2	0	We'll give cash a 3 because he was actually a good starter until an injury.
	7	Luke Staley/ Matt Murphy/ Victor Rogers	0	0	None of these players appear to play a down for the Lions (actually Murphy had one reception...not good enough)

Clearly, this draft his headlined by the bust that is Joey Harrington. I had trouble calling him a 2 because he is/was/will be a career backup, but as a top 3 pick that couldn't start, I had to call him a "backup or role player, multiple years with team." Beyond that, this draft was highlighted by Kalimba Edwards, an above average starter and Andre Goodman, a decent spot starter.

2002 Score: 10 Points. First Round Hit Total: 0/1. Quality Players Selected (total): 0/9

Year	Round	Name	Score (1-5)	Bonus	Note
2003	1	Charles Rogers	2	-2	Rogers never made it on the field. He seemed to have the talent but between injuries and the Lions ineptitude, he never made it
	2	Boss Bailey	3	0	Bailey is a solid starter, but not Champ
	3	Cory Redding	4	0	Redding is a top DT (if a little fat?) but an excellent 3rd rounder
	4	Artose Pinner	2	0	Pinner never stuck with the Lions but was a solid backup
	5	Terrence Holt/ James Davis	2	0	Again, Holt is/was a respectable backup on the Lions while Davis was a career backup with a short career
	6	David Kircus	1	0	Kircus played a little as a rookie, but never recorded more than 9 receptions in 3 years
	7	Ben Johnson/Blue Adams/ Brandon Drumm/ Travis Anglin	0	0	None played significant time (or apparently any snaps) with the Lions

You'll note the first round picks were a bit of a trend. This time its Charles Rogers, who did seem to play pretty well at times, but could never stay on the field and has his own issues. Beyond that, they did find a decent number of starts and solid career backups, as well as Cory Redding, who's pretty good.

2003 Score: 12 Points. First Round Hit Total: 0/2. Quality Players Selected (total): 1/19

Year	Round	Name	Score (1-5)	Bonus	Note
2004	1	Roy Williams/ Kevin Jones	3	0	Roy Williams is a star WR and Kevin Jones actually rushed for 1,000 yards once, though he was never more than a decent starter at best
	2	Teddy Lehman	2	0	Lehman started all of 2004 and hasn't started since
	3	Keith Smith	2	0	A career backup
	4	Traded for Kevin Jones	1	0	Jones was definitely a bust for both a late 1st and 4th
	5	Alex Lewis	2	0	Another career backup
	6	Kelly Butler	0	0	Didn't appear to play a down
	7	MIA	0	0	I couldn't find anything about this pick.

Obviously Roy Williams is the bright spot here. Now Williams isn't a pro-bowler but he is a star, a solid star and was trade bait...hopefully using the Cowboys picks will net something under the Mayhew regime. Otherwise, Jones and Lehman were practically busts that played and, frankly, sucked.

2004 Score: 10 Points. First Round Hit Total: 1/3. Quality Players Selected (total): 2/25

Year	Round	Name	Score (1-5)	Bonus	Note
2005	1	Mike Williams	1	-2	Williams was an epic bust and the 3rd of a group of dumb WR drafts
	2	Shaun Cody	2	0	A career backup so far, but still with the Lions
	3	Stanley Wilson	1	0	A veritable who's who if shitty backups
	4	Traded for Teddy Lehman	1	0	Ouch...
	5	Dan Orlovsky	2	0	A career backup QB...who's kind of an idiot
	6	Bill Swancutt/ Jonathan Goddard	1	0	Swancutt played one year (and started 2 games) while Goddard never saw the field as a Lion (and actually got a tackle with the World Champion Colts)
	7	Another MIA	0	0	Maybe they just don't pick?

Now this draft was an epic fail. Mike Williams never translated to the NFL, Shaun Cody was the highlight of the draft and is really a fringe starter at best (though the position was loaded in front of him) and none of the other players were ever close to good.

2005 Score: 6 Points. First Round Hit Total: 1/4. Quality Players Selected (total): 2/31

Year	Round	Name	Score (1-5)	Bonus	Note
2006	1	Ernie Sims	3	0	A pretty good starter. Sims technically should get a -1, what its hard to call him a bust of any kind
	2	Daniel Bullocks	3	0	Another career fringe starter
	3	Brian Calhoun	1	0	Special teamer and role player/backup
	4	Traded for Shaun Cody	1	0	Not as bad as the Lehman trade, but it didn't help
	5	Jonathan Scott	0	0	Didn't appear to play a down
	6	Alton McCann	0	0	Didn't appear to play a down
	7	Fred Matua/ Anthony Cannon	1	0	Matua didn't appear to play a down, and Cannon only played a few.

Now, a draft's real measure is in the 2s 3s and 4s in my opinion. In 2003, the Lions were actually pretty good at seizing that portion. And that was the only time. 2006 yielded Ernie Sims, who's definitely a solid starter and really could be a pro-bowler. Beyond that, they acquired a fringe starter in Daniel Bullocks and not much else. They even traded 2006's pick and move up a little and acquire Shaun Cody, another career backup. Now I'm counting Sims as a hit on the first round pick, but not by much.

2006 Score: 9 Points. First Round Hit Total: 2/5. Quality Players Selected (total): 2/38

And there you go. As you can see, the Lions were epically bad at drafting, which explains their miserable on the field product. A final score of 47 really shows you the low point of draft quality. Next up is Seattle, a team with a similar crappy division success period (like the Eagles), a Super Bowl run (like the Eagles) and an egotistical, walrus-like, fat head coach (like the Eagles).

Scores:

• The Philadelphia Eagles and Andy Reid/Tom Heckert: 76
• The Detroit Lions and Steve Mariucci/Dick Jauron/Rod Marinelli: 47
  

Questions, concerns, comments, errors, Omissions? Please leave in the comments for send to Justin@badnewsbloggers.com

Dustin Pedroia: Highest Paid Player Ever?

Dustin Pedroia signs 405 million dollar extension?!?!?!?

Well, not quite, but ESPN's little glitch stunned me for a second. It's actually a $40.5 million deal that skips all of Pedroia's arbitration and two FA years. Pretty good deal and really makes the Evan Longoria $17.5 million deal pale in comparison.

In a matter of seconds, ESPN fixed the mistake, but it'll be forever immortalized at Bad News Bloggers

Suck on this one Simmons!

A Very Plaxico 10 Things I Think Smell like Shit

Today's "10 Things..." is a special one. Thanks to the ammunition (pun intended) provided by Plaxico Burress over the last week regarding his illegal hand gun incident. So while you can bet it will be filled with lots of Plaxisms and Puns, we'll do our best to give you some other stinky things.

1. Plax Forgot the Safety. If you haven't heard already, Plaxico "Plexiglass" Burress shot himself in the league last Saturday. It was a simply flesh wound that technically wouldn't have held him out too long (we're guessing a month till he'd be back in football shape), but the ramifications of the incident were widespread. For one, he clearly got into a club via alternative means, as no guns were allowed (displaying special treatment), he forgot the friggin' safety on said gun in his pocket, he did not have a concealed weapons permit (though its likely he could never get one given previous incidents he was involved in), he provided fake information to a special doctor at the hospital (who knew he was lieing) and now the state of New York appears primed to "throw the book at him."
   
2. And now the fallout from the Burress Incident has affected others. The doctor who treated Plax is being suspended by the hospital that served him because of the phony information condoned by said doctor. Now, I can't blame the hospital for doing it, but I'm curious as to whether such an incident would have such ramifications had this person not been high profile. Yes, for each athlete who gets off for being famous (and annoys me) there's a contrary case where such an athlete should be punished as any other person. It seems only fair to me
3. And the Giants have ended his season. Heh, you saw this one coming. With Plax likely out a month due to the injury (and others) and likely facing a suspension handed down from the Commish, the Giants placed Burress on the non-injury IR list as well as suspended him for conduct detrimental to the team; thus ending his season and allowing them to avoid payment of roughly $800,000.00...Ouch. Best part is, because the Giants both suspended him and placed him on IR, they have twice as many chances of winning a grievance. Remember, Guns don't kill people, but they sure as hell fuck shit up.
   
4. Charlie Weis - Hotter than Hell. In South Bend, the Charlie Weis situation is getting hotter and hotter. Weis hasn't exactly lead the Irish to the promised land and in the wake of a .500 season with a potential bowl bid being turned down by the Irish, it seems Weis could be in real jeopardy (not surprising). But what compounds the issue is the precedent of coaches like Ty Willingham, a black coach fired after the same number of seasons and poor performance as well as Weis's massive contract. Clearly, the issue is Weis's coaching as he's managed a few top 10 recruiting classes. On the plus side, with Josh McDaniels being the hot commodity in New England, perhaps Weis could reunited with Bill Belichick in 2009 as the Offense Coordinator...oh and still collect paychecks from Notre Dame
5. Oh how the mighty have fallen. As our own Ben Heck alluded to yesteday, the Browns have gone from having two pretty good QBs to 0. The Browns already placed Derek Anderson on IR after he tore his MCL and then Brady Quinn is expected to have surgery on his hand which will probably result in the same IR placement. And now the Browns have signed Bruce Gradkowski which really shows confidence in former Miami (NCAA) and San Francisco (NFL) QB, Ken Dorsey (though I can understand why, he sucks). Still 6 in one, half a dozen in the other as neither QB will help the Brownies to the playoffs and frankly, if you're a Browns fan, you're rooting for 4-12 or the like with the hopes of a good draft pick, that is unless they trade it.
   
6. Starcaps? Well, the NFL finally handed out the suspensions for players related to the Starcaps positive tests. The suspensions appear to kill the playoff hopes of the first place Vikings and probably any chance the Saints had as well. But believe me, this story is far from over and I'm interested to see how the players will respond post-suspension regarding Starcaps and potential legal action.
   
7. Plagiarism across the border. As reported by PFT, apparently Chris Landry of Sportsnet.ca (who?) "borrowed" a little too much from Andrew Brandt and Michael Lombardi of NationalFootballPost.com. PFT has drawn the line and the war between the two certainly should be interesting. Bravo to Florio for digging this one up (I hope he doesn't read me).
   
8. (Via MLBTR), C.C. Sabathia bides the Yankees time. The fact of the matter is C.C. Sabathia doesn't want to play for the Yankees, but they're offering the most money. Rumor has it, his wife would like to see him in San Fran (or Oakland I suppose, though there is no way Beane signs him without a ridiculous discount), and he's open to either L.A. team (bleh, or Anaheim, whatever you call 'em). He wants to stay in Cali because that's where he's from, but he needs one team to pony up enough cash to make it worth it, I can only see the Angels doing that, though the Dodgers can afford it. Still, if the Yankees push the deal, he could be in pinstripes or left in the lurch with no bargaining power.
   
9. Sean Avery gets the just desserts. First let me say, I think Sean Avery is the biggest douchebag in the NHL. That being said, what he said about Elisha Cuthbert is both rude and pretty funny (and kinda stupid). Suspending Avery seems like a pretty severe punishment for such a comment:

   For the record, Avery - unsolicited - stepped in front of a bank of microphones in the visitors' dressing room yesterday morning and said: "I'm really happy to be back in Calgary; I love Canada. I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don't know what that's about, but enjoy the game tonight."

   The comment was regarding his previous relationship with Cuthbert (who's really friggin' hot, by the way) and her current relationship with Dion Phaneuf. Problem is, Avery most likely got the sloppy seconds (as it were) of Cuthbert from someone else (assuming she wasn't a virgin at the time) so its really the pot and the kettle right here. Frankly, the whole thing is stupid, but because Avery said it (and he's a dickhead), I have no problem with the suspension.
   
10. Citibank keeps Citi Field for the Citi. With Citigroup being bailed out by the Feds there is an uprising over the naming rights of Citi Field, the new home of the Mets and the $20 million per year pricetag to keep that name. I can understand the public's frustration, but from a business end, why does a bailout mean no advertising. I haven't heard much of an uprising over the AIG sponsorship of Manchester United (is there one?) and yet this issue seems so poignant. Its a valid concern, but if you'd like Citigroup to repay everyone and/or being a going concern, then why not let them advertise in order to make more money. That's the idea right?