Santana Claus may be right on time . . .

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7734380?MSNHPHMA

Unfortunately, someone ought to tell Ken Rosenthal that Oliver Perez is left-handed.

-wal

Some Sick Hot Stove Action

Hey all, although nothing is officially confirmed yet, it's looking more and more likely Eric Bedard will be moving to Seattle and that a Johan Santana deal is most likely to be reached with the Mets. In the Bedard trade, Adam Jones (CF), the Mariners top prospect will go to the Orioles. There are a handful of other prospect's names being mentioned in various places but I've heard too many different reports to confirm any others. The Santana trade is looking more and more likely to be completed with the Mets due to the Mets willingness to trade a bulk of their top prospects. The other big suitors (Yankees, Red Sox) have all had major gripes with including more than 1 top prospect and have opted to preserve their farm system.

The Bedard trade.

The Santana update.

Once all is finalized, we'll discuss the implications (fantasy and otherwise) that these trades have on their respective players and teams.

Peace,
Paul

Angels Watching Over Me?

. . . okay, maybe Rod Carew isn't on the team anymore.


Either way, we'll start the AL West in the most logical place, Southern California, with the Angels. Not because they won 94 games last year, not because they are the defending champs and not because they come first alphabetically, but because if we do not get to them quickly enough, they may change the name of their location before they're reviewed. It's hard enough for me to remember Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim without appending it with "In the O.C. (don't call it that), Southern California." Okay, that joke has been done before -- sorry.


Anyway, the Angels are fresh off another very good season (has anyone forgotten this team was World Series Champions five years ago?) and should compete for at least another division title, if not the pennant and world series.


Why They're Good


First, they've got Vlad. Aside from his cannon right arm, Guerrero has been one of the most consistently producing players in majors, posting OPS in the League Top-10 in seven of the last nine years and 30+ homers in eight of the last ten. To further solidify their lineup and outfield, they also made a blockbuster signing of Torii Hunter, locking him up to a five-year $90M deal.


In the infield, Howie Kendrick is an efficient player and will only get better. Chone Figgins may be hitting his stride (.393 OBP, 41 SB last year). While those numbers will likely come down a bit, a .340 - .350 OBP would still be very respectable.


The Angels also have a very good pitching staff. John Lackey has some nasty stuff and has, more importantly, been consistently healthy the past few years. Jered Weaver is still young, but should continue the fine start to his career. Kelvim Escobar is a good pitcher coming off a great year. Finally in Francisco Rodriguez, the Angels have one of the premier closers in the game. If K-Rod can limit his walks (34 in 67 IP), we could see a sub-1.00 WHIP and sub-2.00 ERA. Scot Shields is a good setup man.


Why They're Not


First, they didn't get A-Rod. Also, the rest of their pitching staff does not really blow you away. They managed to acquire Jon Garland from the Chicago White Sox, but I have never loved him and they had to give up Orlando Cabrera in order to get him. Kelvim Escobar will likely come back to Earth after his career year last season. The aforementioned loss of Cabrera will hurt them as well. Behind the plate, the tandem of Jeff Mathis and Mike Napoli (most people are predicting Mathis will be starting by the end of the season) is still pretty much unproven (very much in the case of Mathis). Additionally, Figgins may be hitting his stride, but he could just as easily backslide.


Wildcards


The two major ones here are Gary Matthews, Jr. and Ervin Santana. Both had excellent 2006 seasons, but were a letdown in 2007. If Matthews is back on the juice and can play himself into the lineup, Santana can return to form and Figgins and Escobar can reprise their performances last year, the Angels will be in terrific shape to make a run.


Overall

I am a big fan of Torii Hunter, and they likely managed to sell high on Orlando Cabrera. Even still, they paid Hunter top-dollar and I'd rather have Cabrera than Garland.

OffSeason Grade: C+
Overall Grade: B+

Another New Blogger

My friend and co-worker Chris Young will be writing on the blog by doing weekly fantasy impact updates. That gives us five definate bloggers. Good stuff.

Relief!! (maybe)

It's a couple of days old, but the Mets signed Duaner Sanchez to a one year, $850,000 deal (Mets.com). He kicked ass in 2006, so hopefully he won't miss a beat after having a year off because of injuries. And then that would mean he could give the bullpen a much needed boost and then the Mets can not fall off with like a month left in the season again! Bastards!

Bdddddat

I'll be monitoring the NL West. I'll also be monitoring Carl Pavano's return to baseball and his return to unbridled dominance.

Peace

Changes are coming....

Be on the look out Febuary 1st everyone. Posts every 2 days, more contributors, more analysis, more attention to the blog from outside sources. The contributors will be the following with their beats (storylines) next to their names:

Anthony: AL Central, AL East (split)
Michael: NL Central, NL East (split)
Paul: NL West, NL East (split)
Jesse: AL West, AL East (split)


If anybody seriously wants to write for this blog let me know. Once the season starts we will all have access to mlb.tv to give you up-to-date analysis on your favorite team. While this blog will probably swing more towards fantasy baseball, we will also try to get you stuff here that you won't find on espn.com or mlb.com.

For the time being, Leatherheads, here's something to chew on. I haven't thought about this for awhile but a few months back I was tinkering with creating a new fielding statistic. I was trying to combine the following statistics: zone rating, range factor, and fielding percentage.

If you would like to read into this more and get back to me that would be great:

Zone rating: Zone Rating

Range factor: Range Factor

Fielding percentage: Fielding Percentage

Tonight, I believe, I will have time and I will at least start a draft of the transactions I have missed over the past few months. After that, on February 1st, we will start season previews. I'll kick it off with a preview for the Cleveland Indians.

Take care all.

Hello

Hello "Flashing the Leather" readers; Mikey here and I will also be contributing to this blog. I believe I will be covering the NL Central. I'm excited about this coming season and excited to write about it! But for now, I must be off to sleep so I'm not dead tired during my job interview in 8 hours! Goodnight.

Mikey

good evening all.

I just wanted to introduce myself as a co-blogger for Flashing The Leather. I am excited to help cover major league baseball for the site and plan to post whenever important news comes up.

Although I once maintained a blog about life, birds and booze, I think I only posted onto it twice, once at its inception and once at its closing. Thus, I am excited for the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of the blogging world and -- most of all -- to learn even more about baseball.

Until A.S.B. gives me further instructions, that's all folks.

-jesse f