Reaction To Hot Stove Grades Article…

Back on Friday, January 27th, 2006, John Donovan of www.si.com posted an article entitled, "National League Hot Stove grades". If interested, here is the link to the complete article http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=cnnsi-nationalleagueh&prov=cnnsi&type=lgns. I’d like to comment on some of these grades as well as his comments for handing them out.

First and foremost, he grades the Brewers at a C which is probably a tad low with the pickup of Corey Koskie. He claims our bullpen is the soft spot on the team. Actually, Doug Melvin going with quantity over quality should provide Yost with many options this year. Helling, Bush, or both may very well land up as long-relief or spot starters. In the middle, you have Dana Eveland, setting up with Matt Wise and Danny Kolb and Turnbow turning out the lights in the 9th. Are they name-type players? No. The bullpen will not change face that much. Kolb comes back while Julio Santana signs with Philedelphia. To me, that is the only difference.

I can’t wait to talk about the Pirates in which he give them a very generous grade of B. What have they done? They traded for Sean Casey by giving up starter Dave Williams. They signed run-of-the-mill free agents in Jeromy Burnitz and Joe Randa who are guys nobody really wanted. Roberto Hernandez has to be pushing 40 and allowing Mike Gonzalez to close could get scary if he doesn’t throw strikes. This is worth a B? My answer, NO WAY !!!

OK. The Cubs he gave a grade of B which is hard to argue because signing Juan Pierre automatically makes it a great off-season for a team without a leadoff hitter and virtually no speed in the lineup (Patterson was never on base). The 23 million they spent on the two short relievers Scott Eyre and Bobby Howry makes their bullpen better…..sort of. These are guys that go after one or two hitters per appearance. Actually Howry is more of a setup whereas Eyre is one of those left-handed specialist (Remember Mike Myers?). They got younger with Jacque Jones but they lost in the power department. Going into the season with Ryan Dempster closing is scary. They lost out on Rafael Furcal. Left field was also never addressed. Signing Wade Miller should give Kerry Wood plenty of company during his physical rehap sessions. They wanted Troy Glaus and they tried to unload Arrogant Ramirez which did not happen either. I don’t even know if Baker knows how to manage speed. Good luck with that then…

The Reds are a mess and giving them a grade of D was kind. Losing Casey for a starting pitcher helps a bit. Moving Dunn to first means the Reds will go with Wily Mo Pena, Austin Kearns, and Ken Griffey Jr. everyday! This has to be the most fragile outfield in baseball. Ryan Freel will see plenty of at-bats filling in at all 3 outfield positions again! Signing veterans on their 9th life (Rich Aurilla, Tony Womack, and Chris Hammond) reminds me of Sal Bando (Yikes) signing 40 year old Mike Boddicker. 100 losses looks about right for this motley crew.

The Astros are given a grade of C for signing Preston Wilson and losing Roger Clemens till either May or forever if he decides to retire. Re-signing Brad Ausmus, Orlando Palmeiro, and Russ Springer helps them defensively. Last year, this team could not score runs. This year will be no different. Pitchers will be asked to keep throwing up 0′s on the scoreboard. Without Clemens, I don’t see this team winning many 3-game series. I would have given them a grade touch below a C and even that is stretching it a bit.

I’m lost trying to figure out what the Cardinals did this off-season. First, lets see who’s gone. Reggie Sanders (Royals), Larry Walker (Retired), Mark Grudzielanek (Royals), Abrahham Nunez (Phillies), Matt Morris (Giants), Ray King (Traded To Rockies), Julian Tavarez (Red Sox), and former Brewer Cal Eldred (Retired). Ok, they got back Juan Encarnacion, Sidney Ponson, Braden Looper, Ricardo Rincon, Junior Spivey, and Aaron Miles. To be honest, I prefer the group going out rather than the group coming in. Donovan gave them a C which I guess is about right.

Your thoughts and opinions are needed with this one. I wish John Donovan would have been all of my high school teachers. With his grading system, I may have even sniffed the honor roll. Again, that would mean I would have had to actually go to class too. Maybe I’m dreaming LOL…