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Bad practice Pay-to-watch-workouts policy doesn't add upPosted: Wednesday February 26, 2003 2:07 PM
Click here to send a question to Jeff Pearlman's mailbag. It costs fans $10 per day to watch the Atlanta Braves work out this spring at the Disney Wide World of Sports Stadium. Not play a game, mind you. Work out. Hence, I have devised a list of 10 (in honor of Chipper Jones) better things to do with your money than pay to watch the ol' Chipster and Adam LaRoche play catch ... 1. Buy two baseballs, stand outside stadium and try to pelt executives who thought up screw-the-fan idea. 2. Purchase Vanilla Ice's direct-to-video cinematic debut, Cool As Ice. 3. Buy 40 gumballs shaped like Mickey Mouse's head from nearest machine. 4. Send money to Sports Illustrated c/o Jeff Pearlman. 5. Sign Kenny Lofton as free agent. 6. Mimic Alex Rodriguez and use $10 bill to remove gum from sneaker. 7. Buy 2,000 shares of United Airlines stock. 8. File court papers to change name to 'Tim Spooneybarger.' 9. Purchase 12 tickets to upcoming Hall & Oates concert (co-starring Todd Rundgren). 10. Make donation to Gangly Jewish Journalist Relief Fund (c/o Jeff Pearlman). It's bad enough that it costs $1.3 million to take the kids to a game. But to charge people to witness the remarkably dull act of practice ... ugh. On to the questions ... Do you believe the Expos will trade Vladimir Guerrero if they are out of the playoff hunt when the trade deadline approaches in late July? I read a statement from GM Omar Minaya stating that because of great ticket sales in Puerto Rico, additional unloading of salaries may not be necessary.
Brad, the Expos are not your typical small-market team. Were it just about salaries and player development, Montreal would surely consider trading Guerrero before his contract runs out. But again, this is a weird scenario. Major League Baseball wants to sell the Expos, and whether the team winds up in Washington, D.C., Portland, Mahopac or Northern Virginia, the sale price will be higher if the players are better. In short, Guerrero's Expos are infinitely more valuable than Tatis' Expos. What's the story with Hank Blalock? He was once considered a can't-miss prospect for Texas, and then last season had a terrible first year in the majors. Now, he isn't even considered the best third base prospect in the organization. Is he still a good prospect, or a guy who will get only sparse at-bats?
Last spring, a 21-year-old Blalock was handed the starting third base job without any Class AAA seasoning, and it was a huge mistake. By the time he was shipped back to the minors in May, he was batting .200, with nine extra-base hits in 100 at-bats. It was a case of too much, too soon -- a stupid move Rangers GM John Hart should have resisted making. Blalock chased first pitches as if they were $100 bills, and power left-handed pitchers often made him look like, well, me. All that said, the San Diego native is only 22, and it remains likely that he's the Rangers' third baseman of the future. Much talk this spring has focused on Blalock and Georgia Tech product Mark Teixeira, but it's mainly that -- talk. Teixeira is an absolutely fantastic pure hitter, and his .318 average at Class A and AA in 2002 was no fluke. Defensively, however, he's Jeff Kent. Teixeira is clunky and awkward at third, and he has a lot of difficulty charging in on ground balls. First baseman Rafael Palmeiro can become a free agent at season's end, so first is most likely where Teixeira will wind up. What's your take on how the Minnesota Twins will do this year? I don't think they are a fluke because it's a 162-game season and you have to have some talent to win 100 games, as they did last season. Do you think Minnesota has the best chance to win the AL Central again? --C.J., Edina, Minn. C.J., while the Twins don't quite have 100-win talent, there's a good chance they'll reach the magic number. Here's why: Kansas City
The Twins are a very good team in a very bad division. Even with the addition of Bartolo Colon, the White Sox -- a trendy pick to overtake Minnesota -- still have two open rotation slots, Frank (The Big Easy) Thomas and a second baseman named D'Angelo Jimenez (Writer's Note: In San Diego Padres history, there has likely never been a player more loathed by his teammates than Jimenez. Good skills, no effort). Minnesota, meanwhile, features four guys (Brad Radke, Eric Milton, Joe Mays and Rick Reed) who are each capable of winning 15 games as well as a slew of good, if not great, young players. And the Twins are loads of fun. I like many of the Red Sox's moves this offseason, but I still strongly believe that they need another starting pitcher of some quality. Let's face it, Pedro Martinez has had periodic arm problems and Derek Lowe is nothing more than a one-year wonder, so far. Jeff, will Boston realize it needs another starter?
Dave, the Red Sox had -- literally -- oodles and oodles of opportunities to pick up a quality third starter, and routinely passed. Colon could have been yours for Shea Hillenbrand, Casey Fossum and some coin. Florida's Brad Penny would have been even a bit cheaper to obtain. Paul Byrd signed a surprisingly inexpensive deal to fly back to Atlanta. Will GM Theo Epstein suddenly pinch himself and say, "Pitching! We need pitching!"? No. The Tim Wakefield Era continues ... What is your opinion of the new Atlanta Braves rotation? Can it be as productive as it was in the last decade? Even though he can't go seven or eight innings anymore, Greg Maddux is still an amazing pitcher. Russ Ortiz should thrive for the Braves, and Mike Hampton is an interesting pickup. Do you think pitching coach Leo Mazzone can turn Hampton around? Also, do you believe, as I do, that the Braves were always a first baseman with power away from the championship every year?
Robert, there was once this pretty big dude who played for Atlanta. He was there from 1993-97. Name was McGriff ... Fred McGriff. Hit 130 dingers. Does he not qualify? Look, the Braves have learned a very tough lesson over the years. Deep starting pitching is a fantastic tool for reaching 100 wins, but depth means squat in the postseason. If Arizona has showed us anything (besides bad chain restaurants), it's that two King Kong pitchers are all a club needs to win a championship. The Braves didn't routinely come up short because they lacked a first baseman. They came up short because they built their entire universe on the faulty principle that starting pitching conquers all. And it doesn't. That said, I like what the Braves did this offseason. Byrd's 17 wins with Kansas City translate to ... um, carry the seven, add the two, times six, minus three -- oh, 412 victories with a club that cares about triumphs. He has had shoulder problems, but he's a soft-throwing artist and a pretty low risk. Ortiz, too, was a nice addition -- another playoff-tested winner with something to prove after a so-so season. And Hampton is already smelling like 15-20 wins. His confidence is back (as detailed in this Sports Illustrated story), and that's huge. The year is 2050. We're in our 70s and we're telling our grandkids that the best pitcher we saw who came out of USC was...?
Matt, I love this question. Very creative. I've attended, oh, 300-and-something baseball games over the past five years. In that time, I've seen incredible dives, monstrous home runs, shocking upsets and glorious triumphs. In 2050, I will still be telling people about this one-of-a-kind bird named Randy Johnson and the heat that scorched John Kruk's psyche. The Big Unit will be remembered as the best. No question. Is Derek Jeter going to be distracted by The Boss' offseason tirade regarding the shortstop's social life? What will Steinbrenner do if one of his players starts dating Britney Spears? Void his contract? Will Godzilla be the biggest thing in the Bronx since Paul Zuvella?
When Jeff Goldberger was scrubbing as a reserve outfielder for the Mahopac High School Indians in 1989, he dated a nice girl named Karen Blank. The female interaction had no impact on his performance. Jeff still hit. 172. I imagine that Jeter, being a Goldberger-like professional, will not be distracted by his maddening employer. If Godzilla hits like Zuvella, he will be the biggest thing New York has ever shoved in a UPS envelope and shipped back to Japan. You seem to have a fascination with Emmanuel Lewis. Did you watch The Surreal Life? If so, what did you think of it?
Emmanuel, is that you? Are you coming over for dinner tonight? I've made meatloaf, with those little potatoes you like so much. Emmanuel? Manny? Web? Please come home ... Sports Illustrated senior writer Jeff Pearlman is a regular contributor to SI.com. Click here to send Jeff a question.
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