The Strasburg report is up, with video. So is a report on prep LHP Tyler Matzek, who is one of the top two high school arms in the draft.
One question I’ve heard and seen is what a six-year deal would mean for Strasburg’s free agency. The answer is … nothing. If he signs on Draft Day, passes a physical the next day, and starts for Washington on the following Monday, the six-year deal will run out after the 2014 season, at which point he will have roughly 5 years and 120 days of service and thus be ineligible for free agency. He would, however, be eligible for arbitration, with the salary from the sixth year of the contract serving as his “base” in the hearing.
I also did a Q&A with MLB Trade Rumors.
Dayn Perry’s new sports+politics blog, Spolitical, earned a quick entry into my RSS reader, and one of today’s posts, The Case Against the Case Against Barry Bonds, was an excellent overview of the giant boatload of fail that the government is sailing into McCovey Cove right now – with your money, I might add.
Klaw – given the history amateur players, especially pitchers, that went strait to the bigs; do you anticipate any franchise being so bold as to put him directly in the rotation?
P.S. Thanks for doing what you do… I consider you the preeminent source of baseball writing/reporting.
Hi Keith:
Were you able to watch the WBC championship game last night? I can’t help but think that the western world under-estimates the Japanese talent. I mean, they have won both tournaments. There has to be a reason for that right? The U.S. did well this year, but still no title.
Do you think we will ever see the winner of the World Series play the winner of the Japan Series for the true world title? Even better, how about something like the Caribbean World Series, where all league winners play for the “world” title?
Keith, a few questions/observations. After watching the Strasburg and Matzek videos, it’s easy to notice how much quicker they work than Major League pitchers, even though the hitters are stepping out of the box. Are there rules in College/HS that limit players from extending their at bats? Generally, MLB seems to be taking a hit in interest from mine and younger generations because the games are too long. Wouldn’t it be a a win/win for MLB if they shorten the games because they’ll still get the same number of commercial breaks, but be able to attract/maintain more of the “instant gratification” youth?
John,
Are you saying that young viewers don’t enjoy seeing Big Papi step out of the box after every pitch, spit in his hands, clap and get back in the box or watching Nomar touch ten different body parts between pitches? Obviously the young are not traditionalists and don’t appreciate Ortiz and Garciaparra continuing the old school ways of the likes of Mike Hargrove.
H,
It’s called “playing the game the right way.”
$5 Keith, I know.
Keith,
I could be wrong, but I believe I remember you saying in a chat that Jose Tabata had off the field questions, including marrying a 40 something year old women who was trouble.
Anyway, she’s a suspect in the kidnapping of a 2 year old baby in Florida.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4013539
If so, you were spot on. If I’m mistaken, my apologies. I just thought the timing was eye-opening considering one of the questions (during your Q&A with MLBTrade Rumors) asked precisely about off the field issues and prospects.
Chuck: Yes, I’m sure I’ve mentioned it more than once. I believe they also have very young twins together.
And yes, I thought about the timing too. Pretty good example. Tabata’s ability hasn’t changed, but I keep dropping him in my rankings as the makeup/off-field issue affects his performance.
This is to Keith or anyone else who might know:
Is Schilling eligible for the Hall in 4 years since he didn’t play last year or in 5? I’m not sure if he was under contract last year when he didn’t play and if that has an influence on when he gets put on the ballot.
Keith – I live in Vegas and want to go see Strasburg when SDSU is in town in a few weeks. Does he always start the Friday game or just usually?
Keith,
I can attest that Bojangles’ biscuits are terrific. It’s my stop immediately after getting a clean bill of health at the doctor’s office. The fried chicken is actually pretty good as well.
I’m not sure Mitch, but I’m curious if anyone feels he is hall-worthy.
Mitch:
Schilling earned a full year of service time last year while on the DL with Boston. That counts. The HOF clock starts this year.
Keith,
On Tuesday the Washington Post published an article by Tom Boswell, a writer whose work I usually enjoy, on why the Nationals should not take Steve Strasburg if his current contract demands are to be believed.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/23/AR2009032301414.html
There are several obvious logical flaws in his article, an over-reliance on wins to judge the effectiveness of a pitcher, a comical cherry picking of history and, in my opinion most importantly, a flawed understanding of the role of pitching.
Since you have actually seen Strasburg pitch, can compare him to others in this year’s draft, have worked in an MLB front office and have a good understanding of the draft’s history; I would be interested to read your opinion of what he wrote.
Sorry, if this comes across as a pushy request. Selfishly, I think it would be both entertaining and informative.
Thanks,
John
John,
When asked about the article in the comments section of his piece on Strasburg on the 4-letter, Keith wrote, “it sounded like it was written by Kasten and the Lerners.”
thanks H, I missed it. To me I thought it would make a perfect starting point for one of his blogs.
Oh, I think I have to second John’s opinion about Bojangle’s. I have seen it my neighborhood for few good months, but just thought that it was one of the boring and unhealthy fastfood restaurant. But when I read your interview, I gave it a shot at that night and pleasantly surprised. As for the biscuit, it is not real kind of sudden biscuit which is kind of flaky; I thought that it had been proofed because very light and had a lot of air pockets. All in all, it was excellent, considering price was just seventy something cents.
Oh, and the chicken was another surprise. While it still had some kind of fastfood feel to it, it was so moist inside, even for the breast. I am not a big fan of fastfood fried chicken, but the moistness of breast I had made me readjust my preconception about fastfood fried chicken. If you ever have a chance Keith, I would like to recommend you to have it. It may not be as good as some really southern fried chicken specialty joint, but very good as just fastfood one.
Zaxby’s was the best fast food chicken I ever had. I was stunned.