Indians To Play Baseball?

You might be seeing some desis playing major league baseball:

The Pittsburgh Pirates hope Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel really do have million-dollar arms.

The two 20-year-old pitchers, neither of whom had picked up a baseball until earlier this year, signed free-agent contracts Monday with the Pirates. They are believed to be the first athletes from India to sign professional baseball contracts outside their country.

Singh and Patel came to the United States six months ago after being the top finishers in an Indian reality TV show called the "Million Dollar Arm" that drew about 30,000 contestants. The show sought to find athletes who could throw strikes at 85 miles per hour or faster.

It's gimmicky, to be sure, but it would a nice thing, indeed, to see desis play professional sports in a country where there is a paucity of brown professional athletes.

The Better Team Won

The Red Sox season is over, beaten in the ALCS by an obviously superior team, the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are superior in that they had better pitching and batting then the Red Sox, both of which were lacking, especially during games three and four in Boston.

Could things have been better? I believe game two was winnable if Francona didn't leave Beckett in as long as he did, but Red Sox's woes can hardly be reduced to one game. The offense, at times, was anemic, and the pitching was simply awful; yet the Red Sox took the series to seven games, a testament to their toughness and experience. They just didn't have enough to win it all, making this series quite disappointing if not exciting.

But if we are to give praise at all, it should be given to the Rays, who many doubted would survive the season let alone make it to the World Series. But they have prospered. And given the Rays are a young team, and regardless what happens in the World Series, they will be around for some time to come. I take my hat off to them for a great season and a dramatic ALCS.

Finally, I'll be rooting for them in the World Series (sorry, Phillies).

The Wise Man And The Fool

Compare and contrast these two young baseball players, both in the same boat experience wise, in how they cope with their weak bargaining positions regarding contracts. First, Prince Fielder:

The Milwaukee Brewers renewed the slugger's contract for $670,000 on Sunday after he finished third in NL MVP voting last season, when he made $415,000.

"I'm not happy about it at all," Fielder said. "The fact I've had to be renewed two years in a row, I'm not happy about it because there's a lot of guys who have the same amount of time that I do who have done a lot less and are getting paid a lot more."

And second, Jonathan Papelbon:

Jonathan Papelbon may be young, but he knows how the business of baseball works.

He knows that, with a little more than two years of major-league service time, he has no contractual leverage with the Red Sox. Not yet eligible for arbitration, Papelbon has little recourse at the bargaining table.

But he also has a benchmark for what he should be paid in 2008, and if the Red Sox don’t come close to his figure, he would rather they renew him at a lower salary figure, without further negotiation.

It's obvious Papelbon is the wiser of the two. Papelbon knows full well he can't do anything about his contract, the collective bargaining agreement between the owners and union exclude him from the negotiation process, so he'll concentrate on being the most dominant closer in the game, knowing full well come arbitration time he'll get his money one way or the other.

Fielder, on the other hand, needs to take a reality check.

Manny Wants To Stay, Do The Red Sox?

Manny Ramirez is in the final year of his guaranteed contract. The club holds options for both 2009 and 2010 season. Though Manny may be acting nonchalantly about it, claiming that its up to the Red Sox if they want him or not, he has repeatedly dropped hints that he wants to finish his career in a Red Sox uniform. If not, he'll just play elsewhere next year. Yeah, he can do that-- for a lot less money, though.

Let's be honest. The current management has never really liked Manny. He's a holdover from the previous regime; and his commitment and work ethic have often come under question. The club has tried to trade him repeatedly, but his hefty contract was a nonstarter. And it may be a nonstarter for the Red Sox at the end of the season as well. Though I don't have Manny's numbers in front of me, he is overvalued. Manny will need to have a monster season if he wants the Red Sox to exercise his option.

I don't think Manny will be signed, but, then again, I never thought the Red Sox would re-sign Curt Schilling, who the Red Sox knew had a bum shoulder.

Non-Apology Apology

Eric Gagne, who proved to be a stiff in his brief stint with the Red Sox, apologized to his Brewer teammates today for being a “distraction”. Gagne was named in the Mitchell Report for taking Human Growth Hormones, or HGH. He doesn’t apologize for taking the drug—the cheater—but for being a distraction. Big difference, no?

The Sweet Sounds Of Baseball

Saturday is Truck Day in Boston, when the Red Sox sends a truck filled with equipment to their spring training site in Fort Meyers, Florida. It’s an annual ritual that is well reported by the Boston media, and it's also a sign that spring will soon be upon us, and with it the 2008 baseball season. Will the Red Sox repeat? Let’s hope so. Some key dates:

• Feb. 14 -- Pitchers and catchers are due to report to Fort Myers.
• Feb. 16 -- First workout for pitchers and catchers.
• Feb. 20 -- Reporting day for Sox position players.
• Feb. 22 -- First Red Sox full squad workout.
• Feb. 28 -- First Red Sox spring training game.

The entire Red Sox Spring Training schedule can be found here.

Johan Santana Goes to Mets. Thank God!

Johan Santana being traded to the New York Mets is the second-worst thing that can happen to the Boston Red Sox. The first? If Santana was traded to the New York Yankees instead.

I can understand the reluctance of both the Red Sox and Yankees to pull the trigger—the price was just too high. First, the Twins would rightly demand, and receive, a basket of either team’s top prospects. Second, both teams would have to agree to pay Santana his 7-year, $140,000,000 asking price. Definitely too rich for the Red Sox, who often eschew long-term contracts; and it’s even too rich for the New York Yankees, who already have the highest payroll in the leagues even though they could use Santana’s arm.

As a Red Sox fan, it’s better that Santana ends up in the National League, where he’s out of sight and out of mind.