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Initial Thoughts of MLB Network

By Alan Smodic | January 6, 2009 | MVN Outsider

Much like DirecTV's MLB Extra Innings package, the MLB Network is more baseball than one can handle. -- programwitch/Flickr.com

On January 1, Major League Baseball followed in the footsteps of the NFL and NHL by unveiling its own channel -- the MLB Network.If you don't already know what this exactly is, MLBNetwork.com's about page helps:MLB Network stands for Major League Baseball Network, which means access to more baseball than America's ever seen! This new 24-hour network delves into the world of baseball, going far beyond the field. Fans can tune in at any time for fresh perspectives, current news, the latest trade rumors, pre and post-game banter, highlights and more.Again, if you've seen the NFL or NHL networks, just picture those and think baseball. I wasn't sure if I'd receive the channel (I get the NFL network, but not the NHL), so I was surprised to see it coming in through my satellite. Obviously, I checked it out.I was impressed with my first viewing. The first show I saw...

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MLB Top 10: Best Offseason Acquisitions to Date

By Jaymes Langrehr | January 5, 2009 | MVN Outsider

Oakland won the Matt Holliday sweepstakes in November -- bryce_edwards/flickr

It's hard to believe that baseball's offseason is nearly over, but pitchers and catchers report to spring training in just over a month. A struggling economy and penny-pinching GMs have led to a somewhat slow offseason, but that doesn't mean good deals were made. With all the publicity the Yankees' spending spree is getting this winter, it's easy to lose track of some of the better deals that flew under the radar. Here are 10 smart transactions (made at a sensible cost) that you may have forgotten about.10. Jeremy Affeldt to the Giants -- signed for 2 years, $8 millionThe first free agent signing of the offseason wasn't very glamorous, but it's turned out to be one of the better (read: sensible) signings of the offseason. Affeldt may not light the world on fire, but he's a very solid lefty reliever that will make San Francisco's bullpen better. Give credit...

Read more | 5 Comments | Tags: Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Angels, MLB, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants, Top Ten, Washington Nationals

Manny Mania

By Nick Cannata-Bowman | January 3, 2009 | Giants Cove

Rumors have been flying left and right about the Giants and their discussions with the Manny Ramirez camps. Some call it Scott Boras drumming up competition to drive up Manny's price with the Dodgers, while others say the talks have been fairly serious. Regardless, there are clear pros and cons to Manny joining the Giants.Pro: Who wouldn't want to replace our moody, slightly nuts, defensive-deficient/amazing hitter in the latter years of his prime left-fielder with a moodier, crazier proxy?Con: Dreadlocks tend to smell bad, namely because they require that you don't wash your hair.Pro: Combined with Randy Johnson, Manny will help sell out every game, while making us the favorites to win the West.Con: Signing Manny would be a huge "up yours" to Fred Lewis and Nate Schierholtz, while we wouldn't be likely to get any sort of return for either Randy Winn or Aaron Rowand.Pro: Sometimes Manny's quirkiness can...

Read more | 4 Comments | Tags: Manny Ramirez, MLB, San Francisco Giants

Breaking: Giants offer Manny four-year deal?

By Daniel Rathman | January 2, 2009 | MVN Outsider

Manny Ramirez (Darrins/Flickr.com)

According to Dennis O'Donnell of CBS5 in San Francisco, the San Francisco Giants have offered free agent Manny Ramirez a four-year deal. The third year of the offer is reportedly incentive-based, and the fourth is a club option. This follows a report from earlier in the day from Troy Renck of the Denver Post, which suggested that the Giants were quietly mounting an aggressive campaign for the 36 year-old, who excelled for the Dodgers after a midseason trade out of Boston in 2008. O'Donnell cites a well-connected source as having confirmed the offer -- the financial terms of which were not disclosed -- but also notes that a team official remained highly skeptical of the Giants' chances of landing Ramirez, flatly saying "it's not happening." The Dodgers are the only other team known to be in active pursuit of Ramirez, so it's entirely possible that the recent rumors of the...

Read more | 2 Comments | Tags: Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny Ramirez, MLB, MLB Outsider, San Francisco Giants

Adding Crede would be another shrewd move for the Giants

By Daniel Rathman | January 2, 2009 | MVN Outsider

Joe Crede (tima/Flickr.com)

Among the few rumors making the rounds on New Year's Day was a bit from Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman suggesting that the San Francisco Giants are taking "a close look" at free agent third-baseman Joe Crede, one of the few Scott Boras clients who doesn't figure to land a mega-deal this offseason. The 30 year-old Crede appeared in 97 games for the Chicago White Sox last season, batting .248/.314/.460 with 17 homers and a 30/45 walk-to-strikeout ratio in 335 at-bats. Though he has dealt with chronic back ailments for the last two years, the Giants' interest in Crede reportedly has not been significantly tempered by his medicals, and he's likely to settle for only a one-year hitch this winter in hopes of rebuilding his value. Adding Crede would be the latest in a string of surprisingly shrewd moves by oft-criticized GM Brian Sabean, following the signings of lefty reliever Jeremy...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Brian Sabean, Chicago White Sox, Joe Crede, MLB, MLB Outsider, San Francisco Giants

Giants Interested in Ramirez?

By Kevin Gibbs | January 1, 2009 | Giants Cove

As per mlbtraderumors.com, the Giants have entered negotiations with Manny Ramirez. Suffice to say, Ramirez remains a great hitter, posting a remarkable 432 wOBA last season. However, Ramirez constitutes a huge defensive liability. From 2005-2007 Manny contributed an astonishingly awful -22.6, -19.5, and -18.3 runs below average in the field (caveat: in 2008 he "only" cost his team -4.8. This value markedly deviates from his career values and likely reflects flukish small sample size). This defense significantly curtails his value. Let's say for the sake of argument that his 2005-2007 represents Manny's true defensive performance. If in 2009 he contributes 5 wins with his bat, Manny will be worth a total of 3 wins above replacement overall or roughly 1 more win than 2008 Fred Lewis.I really hope this contract does not happen....

Read more | 5 Comments | Tags: Manny Ramirez, mlb, San Francisco Giants

Projecting the 2009 Giants

By Kevin Gibbs | December 31, 2008 | Giants Cove

One of my 2 baseball man crushes (the other being USSmariner's Dave Cameron) , Chris at Bay City Ball, has posted his projected win values for the 2009 position players. I don't want to ruin the surprise but I think you will be pleased. Check it out....

Read more | 1 Comment | Tags: bay city ball, Guy Love, mlb, San Francisco Giants

Jonathan Sanchez

By Kevin Gibbs | December 29, 2008 | Giants Cove

The acquisition of Randy Johnson ostensibly creates a glut of pitchers for the Giants, especially given the position of Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson atop our prospect list. Since we have a relative dearth of quality hitters, it would appear to make sense to trade from our position of strength. However, trading Jonathan Sanchez would be a really bad idea. The reason? The Giants would never receive equal value for him.Sanchez had a fairly modest year on cursory inspection, going 9-12 with a 5.01 ERA. However, deeper analysis reveals a much better season. Sanchez managed a stellar strikeout rate of 9k/g and more importantly, his defense independence stats are incredibly good. He posted a 3.89 FIP last year. Sanchez had a season very similar to that of Matt Cain's last year Would you trade Cain? I don't think so....

Read more | 5 Comments | Tags: Jonathan Sanchez, MLB, San Francisco Giants

Initial Thoughts of MLB Network

By Alan Smodic | January 6, 2009 | MVN Outsider

Much like DirecTV's MLB Extra Innings package, the MLB Network is more baseball than one can handle. -- programwitch/Flickr.com

Read more | Discuss | Tags: MLB

MLB Top 10: Best Offseason Acquisitions to Date

By Jaymes Langrehr | January 5, 2009 | MVN Outsider

Oakland won the Matt Holliday sweepstakes in November -- bryce_edwards/flickr

Breaking: Giants offer Manny four-year deal?

By Daniel Rathman | January 2, 2009 | MVN Outsider

Manny Ramirez (Darrins/Flickr.com)

Read more | 2 Comments | Tags: Los Angeles Dodgers, Manny Ramirez, MLB, MLB Outsider, San Francisco Giants

Adding Crede would be another shrewd move for the Giants

By Daniel Rathman | January 2, 2009 | MVN Outsider

Joe Crede (tima/Flickr.com)

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Brian Sabean, Chicago White Sox, Joe Crede, MLB, MLB Outsider, San Francisco Giants

Big Unit signing continues excellent run by Giants GM Sabean

By Evan | December 29, 2008 | MVN Outsider

Randy Johnson - Malingering/Flickr.com

On Friday, news broke that Randy Johnson, otherwise known as the Big Unit, was signing with the San Francisco Giants on a one-year, $8 million pact.Johnson grew up 30 minutes from the Giants' current stadium and showed that he still had it last year in his age-44 season. In 30 starts, Johnson posted a 3.91 ERA, whiffing 173 in 184 innings. Gone are the days that he would strike out over 300 batters a year, but he's still a very effective pitcher.Johnson gives the Giants a deep rotation, with 2008 NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum heading up the rotation along with youngsters Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Noah Lowry and former Cy Young winner-turned-bust Barry Zito.Earlier this off-season, Giants general manager Brian Sabean inked shortstop Edgar Renteria to a two-year deal along with bringing in relievers Jeremy Affeldt and Bob Howry. Affeldt and Howry bring weapons to the back...Read more

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Winter Meetings Primer: Hudson and Crede top values on IF; How to assess pitching market; Rumor mill

By Brandon Rosage | December 5, 2008 | MVN Outsider

With four days until the start of baseball's Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, The Pitch assesses the market at each key position. Hosts Joe Aiello and Brandon Rosage start with the pool of free agent infielders, ranking Orlando Hudson, Joe Crede and Casey Blake highly above sluggers demanding more dough. Moving past Manny Ramirez, the discussion moves to good-value outfielders, like Raul Ibanez and Bobby Abreu. The show sorts through the overrated and underrated hurlers on the pitching market, including praise for Oliver Perez, Derek Lowe, Randy Johnson and Jon Garland. Join the discussion, listen in and participate via e-mail (thepitch@mvn.com) or in the comments....Read more

Read more | Discuss | Tags: audio, Boston Red Sox, Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, MLB, New York Yankees, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants

Hot Stove report: Bay Area lures Sabathia, Pedroia builds case for big money, free agent predictions

By Brandon Rosage | November 21, 2008 | MVN Outsider

Just a few weeks away from Major League Baseball's winter meetings, "The Pitch" fans the flames of the Hot Stove by shuffling through all of the latest CC Sabathia, Manny Ramirez, Mark Teixera and Jake Peavy reports. Hosts Joe Aiello and Brandon Rosage also evaluate the MVP and Cy Young Awards and how the winners might be affected in the market today and down the line, including Boston's rising star Dustin Pedroia. Listen in and participate via e-mail (thepitch@mvn.com) or in the comments. And don't miss Brandon Rosage's new web video talk show "Boom, Outta Here," which spends its latest episode discussing Pedroia's shot at a new Red Sox deal....Read more

Read more | Discuss | Tags: audio, Boston Red Sox, CC Sabathia, Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, MLB, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals

Could the S.F. Giants win the division in 2009?

By Evan | November 17, 2008 | MVN Outsider

The San Francisco Giants haven't been relevant since 2002 except for it's mercurial slugger, Barry Bonds.They could be relevant again in 2009.Yes, the Giants lost 90 games last year, but they were only 12 games back of the division winning Los Angeles Dodgers. Compare that to the 75-86 Oakland Athletics, which finished 24.5 games back. With a couple tweaks here and there, the Giants could win the division in 2009, and it's not as far fetched an idea as you may think it.The Giants have two young, dominant pitchers heading up their staff in 2008 Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum and his sidekick, Matt Cain. Two other young players in Jonathan Sanchez and Noah Lowry also offer promise, but Barry Zito remains the laughingstock of baseball. If Zito can ever get it together, this is one deep rotation. If not, they can still compete with the best of them.2008...Read more

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