After a week off to attend to some family matters, we are back on schedule with the weekly podcast.  We also have some slightly better quality, thanks to a new microphone, and some better production values.  If you are listening to the stream on the blog, make sure to comment on our weekly features (Dude/Douche, King for the Day, etc.) — let us know what you think of the ones we have, as well as suggest any new ones.

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Just in case the AL’s overall winning record in Interleague Play wasn’t enough to convince you…

Just in case the AL’s winning percentage of 0.566 over the past 5 years of Interleague Play wasn’t enough to convince you… (in case you were wondering, a 0.566 winning percentage in 2009 would have you leading the NL Wild Card race)

Just in case the NL’s last All-Star Game win coming during Derek Jeter’s Rookie Year wasn’t enough to convince you…

Just in case the AL’s winning 7 of the last 11 World Series wasn’t enough to convince you…

How about John Smoltz and Brad Penny both lighting it up in the National League after they were JUSTIFIABLY deemed to be unworthy of taking part in the American League playoff push?

Just for good measure – let’s take a quick tour through the 4 of the past 11 World Series that were won by the NL, in reverse chronological order.

2008 – Phillies 4, Rays 1.  Was anyone seriously surprised when Cinder-Rays-la woke up with an ALCS-sized hangover and was so bloated she couldn’t fit into her glass slippers any more?

2006 – Cardinals 4, Tigers 1.  Everyone forgets how the Tigers pretty much handed the Cards 3 of the 4 wins in this series by playing in a manner which would have caused them to run extra laps during little league (errors, baserunning blunders, etc.)…I think the Tigers lineup was hands-down better at every position except 1B…David Eckstein was the Series MVP for cryin’ out loud!

2003 – Marlins 4, Yankees 2.  Josh Beckett owned the Yankees…I shamelessly giggled and dared to dream of what could happen if Theo could ever find a way to get him into a Red Sox uniform.  Ask any Red Sox fan – even back then, when Mike Lowell was a past-his-prime overpaid bum that Boston had to take off Florida’s hands just to get Beckett – it was a small price to pay to get the Yankee killer on the roster.  Of course, Lowell worked out OK, too.

2001 – Diamondbacks 4, Yankees 3.  Someone forgot to tell Arizona that everyone (with the possible exception of Red Sox fans) was rooting for the Yankees after September 11, 2001.  Hey – on a side note – anyone heard from Luis Gonzalez lately?  Take a look at this close-up of him after the game winning hit and shout out the first word that comes to your mind.  I’ll bet it rhymes with hair-droids.  If you yelled out something different, go ahead and click on it to see the larger version.

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I had occasion to be in Chicago this morning and the local sports radio guys up there were positively giddy with the Peavy-to-the-White-Sox deal.  And they should have been.  It was reported that the Padres had actually called Peavy in to talk to him about it on Wednesday night…which basically means that the deal was in place and just required Peavy to waive his no-trade clause. 

Most of the experts are talking about a couple of key reasons for Peavy to invoke his no-trade clause and stay in San Diego:

- Peavy wants to stay in the National League

- Peavy wants to play for a contender

Obviously, neither of those two criteria apply to the 2009 Chicago White Sox, especially the second one. 

If winning cures everything, then the potential for winning will set Peavy free.  Here are some of the other things at play here:

- The Padres need to get Peavy’s salary off the books ASAP.  They are way over budget and the owner is going through a messy divorce, in which the Padres franchise comprises over 50% of the marital assets and is also the key bargaining chip.  They are in full-on fire sale / rebuilding mode.  Hey, at least this guy have a bona fide reason for the fire sale (I am talking to you, Jeff Loria, you heartless, soulless, fan-destroying douche-bag). So, Peavy is gone before the trade deadline, we know that for a fact.

- The Padres want 4 good prospects in return for Peavy.  There are only a small handful of teams that have the prospects to support that kind of trade without depleting the farm system and/or have enough money to replenish the farm system fairly quickly.  I don’t quite have time to do all the research necessary to come up with the whole list, but it probably looks something like:  Red Sox, Cubs, Braves, White Sox, Yankees, Mets, Angels, Rays, Phillies, Dodgers.

- Peavy has around $60 million of guaranteed money coming to him under his current deal.  The list of teams that can support that kind of financial commitment is even shorter than the list of teams in the bullet point above this one.  Once again, just a slightly educated guess, but that list might look like this:  Yankees, Mets, Cubs, Red Sox, Dodgers, Angels, White Sox, Phillies.  Notice anything particular about that list?  If not, you are kindly urged to check out the list of the largest media markets in the U.S. here.

So, it’s not exactly rocket science to figure out where Peavy might end up.  If he is firm on the National League thing, then he will probably end up with the Cubs…who have finally figured out how to win in a league without a salary cap when you are in a major media market.  Granted, they already passed on Peavy during the off-season for financial reasons, but they are far from done talking to Peavy about the prospect of coming to Chicago.

If Peavy is willing to relax the NL requirement to get himself to a contender, then he will be in New York or Boston.  I think Boston, with the injuries they have had to their pitching staff, and all the young arms they have in the minors, would be a perfect fit.

Sure, I am a Red Sox fan, so the overall premise of this blog post is merely to pre-gloat about the upcoming Jake Peavy trade in the next month or two.  Don’t go to sleep on Theo Epstein on this one.

So, just for kicks, let’s look at the potential playoff rotation for the Red Sox with Peavey in the mix, shall we?  Beckett, Peavey, Penny, Lester, Dice-K, Smoltz…wait, that’s 6…and we haven’t gotten to Wakefield, Buckholz or Masterson yet.  I have always wanted the Sox to be able to use Wakefield as a reliever in the playoffs.  Could you imagine being able to have him get up every couple of innings or so of a playoff game, see how the knuckler is reacting under the current conditions, phone in the results to Tito from the ‘pen, and only have Wakefield used when he will be most effective?  And what about having the ability to finish games like this: Masterson, Smoltz, Papelbon back-to-back-to-back…with Okajima available to put the occasional lefty to sleep in a pinch.

I think it might be safe to say that a Red Sox team featuring that kind of staff might have a better than average chance to win their 3rd title in 6 years.  Uh, as a Red Sox fan, I am pretty excited about that last paragraph, even if you take the name Peavy out of it.  In fact, if you are a Red Sox fan, read that last paragraph again, ignoring the word “Peavy” and remind yourself that the Sox have been accomplishing everything so far this year without Dice-K, Smoltz or an HR from Papi, except for the one he hit Wednesday night.

So, my feelings for the Red Sox aside, let’s assume that Peavy is going to end up with a contender that can provide the prospects required and weather the $60 million storm.  Unfortunately, at least for small market teams and their fans…the rich get richer…again. 

One last point…don’t go to sleep on Shallow Hal with this one, either. 

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Before the recent SI.com article, Alex Rodriguez was widely seen as baseball’s best hope to finally put the steroids mess in the rearview mirror once and for all.  The day that he broke Barry Bond’s tainted home run record was supposed to be a special day.

Well, I’m here to tell you that A-Rod is still baseball’s best hope, but there are several things that have just jumped out at me (some obvious, some not) over the past several days, and to me, those things, and how they are handled, will make all the difference.

• You Can’t Have it Both Ways, Alex.  After watching the Gammons interview, the first thing I noticed was the glaring contradiction whereby A-Rod starts by implying that it was a conscious effort on his part to take an active role in using performance enhancing drugs to “earn” his big fat new contract and cement his legacy as one of the greatest players of all time.  Then, later in the interview, he mentions that the “loosey-goosey” culture around baseball at the time was such that he just went with the flow, tried a few things, and could not even begin to tell you what he was on.  Well, which one is it?  I believe the scientific facts point to choice A, the one where he is a little less innocent.  He had the specific steroids and testosterone in his system, “stacked” in the specific proportions that would lead me to believe he was a habitual user, and knew exactly what he put into his system and when.  The sooner he admits this, the better off he will be…especially once the Feds come calling.  Bonds and Clemens and Tejada are going to jail.  A-Rod does not want to explore those kind of pinstripes.
• A-Rod’s Arrogance is the Most Damning Thing of All.  The first example of his arrogance here was during the Katie Couric interview.  I have included it below for easy reference.  After he says that he never used steroids and was never even tempted to do so, he goes on to say that it was because he has never felt overmatched on the baseball field and he is basically better than anyone else, not only because of how he plays, but because he did not take steroids.  I think perhaps a less egotistical answer may have served him well there.  Then, during the Gammons interview this week, he is trying to tell us that he thinks that the interview with Gammons is all that is required of him and he is ready to move on, so we should all move on as well.  In my opinion, he deserves everything that happens to him as a result of this…not because he used steroids when everyone else was using steroids, but because he was such an arrogant prick about it every step of the way.

• The New York Headline Question.  All in all, I think A-Rod did an excellent job during the Gammons interview.  Before piling on me for that last sentence, let’s remember that this is a guy that has seemed slick and coached during just about every interview I have ever seen…probably because he has 2 or 3 people on staff that coach him in those situations.  But not this time.  At least, it did not look that way.  It looked like he was genuinely not expecting any of the questions specifically, and he made an honest effort to be truthful without giving away the farm.  Let’s also remember that this dude is a ballplayer, not a Rhodes scholar.  I think he did well…except for the question about what he would like to be the headline in New York the following day.  I am trying to find it on YouTube and will change this text slightly once I do…but he basically dropped the ball and implied that the New York media was less than friendly.  The first time I saw it, as soon as the question was asked, I blurted out “A-Rod Apologizes to Fans”…think anyone might be thinking a little better of him if he had said that?
• Barack Obama is The Man.  I don’t care if you are the biggest racist redneck in the country, if you are a baseball fan, you have to know that we, as sports fans, finally have our President.  Sure, you could say it’s window dressing and he is just a brilliant orator, but take a quick look and listen below and let me know if you can think of another President since Lincoln that would have presented not only his feelings, but the feelings of an entire nation of baseball fans in such a nearly perfect manner.

• Tom Hicks Should Go Away.  For some reason, this rich guy that should have known better is on my TV talking about how he felt betrayed that A-Rod juiced up when he was with the Rangers.  Tom Hicks is way too smart to not know that at least half of his team, and every other team, was on the juice during that time.  I just wish he would go away…he has no dog in this fight, when you really look at it.  In fact, I think that A-Rod himself, or at least all Rangers fans, have been the ones that have been betrayed by Hicks.  So, let me get this straight…you had enough balls to give A-Rod the biggest deal in sports history, but not enough balls to extend yourself a little bit further and get him some teammates that didn’t suck?  How can some of these guys be so damn smart in their pre-baseball endeavors and so damn stupid once they own a team?
• Where the Eff is the Commissioner Hiding?  Speaking of stupid baseball owners, how come we have yet to hear from the Commissioner himself?  He is the single person in all of this that bears more responsibility for every inflated stat, wasted taxpayer dollar and dead-too-early-of-a-heart-attack former major leaguer that has happened and will happen in the future.  The blood is on his hands, and it always has been.  And how has he handled it?  Ignoring Barry Bonds during his run at Hank Aaron’s record.  Way to go, Mr. Commissioner.  What are you going to do now that your Ace in the Hole is dirty, too?  So far, to the surprise of no one, you have been absent from the public eye.  Every day that you have been commissioner has been an indictment against the entire league, but you are somehow getting worse at the time your game needs you to get better.  I am begging you as a baseball fan…can you please just have enough integrity and respect for the game you have destroyed to buy the Brewers back from your daughter and just run one franchise into the ground instead of the entire league?
• Conspiracy Theorists, The Line Forms Here. OK…I have no evidence of any of this whatsoever, but what if the “source” that leaked A-Rod’s name to Sports Illustrated was someone from the A-Rod camp?  Bear with me here, but A-Rod will forever be known as the first guy to come clean (Pettitte does not count) and has the potential to be known as the guy who brought baseball out of the steroid era…instead of Jose Canseco.  In fact, would you put it outside the realm of possibilities that this is all a creation of the Commissioner’s office, who would rather have A-Rod be known as the face of the steroid era and not Bonds and definitely not Ozzie’s brother…OK, probably a bad example when you have a commissioner that would have extreme difficulty pouring piss out of a boot, even if the instructions were written on the heel.  But, at this point, nothing would surprise me.  Let’s also not forget that A-Rod’s agent is the devil incarnate…anything is possible.
• Let’s Get ‘Em All.  The Feds have been talking about some crazy stuff lately, like not only dealing with the 104 positive tests, but also re-testing the 500+ negative samples they seized back in 2003, to determine if they were using, but were just further ahead of the testing technology of the day than A-Rod and the other 103 guys with hot samples.  I’m all in favor of it, but only because I think that the only way to actually quantify the Steroids Era is to get as much information about as many players as possible, and what they were using and what they were not.  There is a very easy way to accomplish this…an amnesty period, monitored by MLB.  Any player can come clean between now and March 31.  After that, if we or the Feds have to come to you, then you will be subject to a one-year suspension without pay.
• Statistical Relevance – Welcome to MLB Geeks.com.  I have purchased a domain name, started to gather my fellow geeks that love baseball, and hope to be launching an actual company soon that is dedicated to using cutting-edge technology to provide net positive value to our national pastime.  Watch our blog for more on this one later.

So, in conclusion, the only thing this blog entry has taught us is that I have had something to say regarding A-Rod and the steroids mess, and I have done so with my usual focus on conjecture and a total lack of sound journalistic research.  I hope you enjoyed my take on it and found something here that not every other idiot is saying about it.

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Since I had a bunch of ideas for blog entries, and very little time to knock one out, I decided to take the “Random Thoughts” approach.  Sure, it is indeed the lazy man’s approach, as you essentially only have to come up with a sentence or two about each topic, instead of a whole article, but as you may already know, laziness suits me well.

So, without further ado, here are the random sports-related thoughts that have been swimming around my head over the last week:

• Deion Sanders, NFL Analyst.  When the hell did Deion Sanders become an analyst?  A couple of things he said during the Dallas-Baltimore game last week really jumped out at me:
  • Prime Time mentioned that he had a policy of never attempting to catch a punt when he had to run more than 10 yards toward the coverage.  He said that during a Saturday night game.  The very next day, no fewer than 4 punt returners muffed punts that they tried to catch after they had run more than 10 yards toward the coverage.
  • Neon Deion also mentioned that the Dallas defense was starting to look a little tired, and it might make sense for Dallas to attempt an onside kick, instead of putting the game in the hands of their defense, after cutting the Baltimore lead to 2 point with 3:50 left in the game.  He mentioned that Dallas might not even get the ball back.  In fact, it was even worse than that, as Willis McGahee broke off a 77-yard run that essentially ended the game.  Of course, faced with the same exact decision a few minutes later (down 2 points with 1:36 left), after another valiant effort by the offense, Wade Phillips made the same stupid decision again (no surprise).  So, the one burning question I have is — how can Deion Sanders know something about the 2008 Dallas Cowboys that Wade Phillips does not know?  Ever?
• Wade Phillips, Lame Duck.  For “the last straw” argument, please re-read the last sentence of the random thought above.  Wade Phillips needs to be gone after this year, no matter what.  If the Cowboys win the Super Bowl, Jerry Jones should pay him whatever it takes to get rid of him.  Anything less than a Super Bowl victory, and you just buy him out.  Here is the clearly formed argument — Jerry Jones has somehow built his team into the New York Yankees of the NFL, with embedded ESPN reporters (good luck finding another NFL team that has ever had that before), and the full-on media circus.  Well, if that is what he wanted to build, then he also has to be prepared to sack up and do whatever it takes to win…and giving Wade Phillips a vote of confidence going into Week 17 is about the least “sack-up” move I have ever heard about.  Wade needs to go…and if they do not win at Philly, then he should probably take Tony Romo with him.
• 1995 NFL Championship Game.  I watched the 1995 NFL Championship Game on The NFL Network last weekend, and I am fit to be tied.  The NFL Network removed the footage of Brett Favre crying on the sidelines of Texas Stadium at the end of the game.  Let me rephrase that — The NFL Network removed the footage of The All-Time Interception Leader Pillhead Crybaby wailing away on the sidelines.  How on earth is this acceptable from any bona fide media outlet?  Has Brett Favre become such a face of the league that they need to remove footage of him looking bad?  If that is the case, then where do you stop?  Do you remove the footage of his 157,000 interceptions from all the footage in the vault as well?
• 2008 New York Jets.  Bill Simmons mentioned in a recent column how scared he was that the Patriots season, or at least their making the playoffs, is dependent on Brett Favre.  Well, think about how scared you would be if you were a Jets fan, Bill.  Having to rest your entire season on the arm of the most successful quarterback in history at throwing the ball to the wrong team.  Did I miss something?  Did Brett Favre become clutch all of a sudden?  Have the Jets fans forgotten everything they watched on television over the last 15 years and decided instead to just listen to delusional Packers fans?  Here is all you need to know about depending on Brett Favre in big games –> Super Bowl XXXI M.V.P. Desmond Howard.
• Peyton Manning.  I cannot wait to see Peyton Manning playing on the road against Pittsburgh or Tennessee in the playoffs.  Hell, if the Chargers win in Week 17, he would have to go into San Diego and win before he even gets the privilege of demonstrating how happy his feet can get.  I have begrudgingly accepted that fact that Peyton Manning is a great quarterback, but without a second-half collapse by New England in the AFC Championship game and Rex Grossman being under center for the Bears, Manning would still be the football equivalent of A-Rod…and Tony Dungy would still be getting embarrassed in every big game by having his teams show up unprepared…kind of like a team that would give up a return TD on the first play of the Super Bowl.  Anyway, let’s just say that my wallet is sporting a woody in excited anticipation of Peyton Manning facing the Steelers or Titans defense in the playoffs.
• Tarvaris Jackson.  If my wallet was sporting a woody thinking about Peyton Manning facing Pittsburgh or Tennessee in the playoffs, then it is now messy and no longer sporting anything when I think about Tarvaris Jackson facing one of these defenses in the playoffs, if the Vikings win in Week 17: Dallas, Tampa, Philadelphia.  Here is all you need to know about Tarvaris Jackson — I have finally started exploring the “Superstar Mode” of Madden ‘08 (yeah, I know, I am about 12 months behind).  I am Adrian Peterson.  Whenever I have the option to play as “Rookie” or “Receiving RB”, I select “Receiving RB”, because in that role, I can affect other players…and I take every single point I can and apply it to “Jackson QB Accuracy”, just to have a fighting chance…and I have started the season 0-4.  He might put Vegas out of business within the next 10 days.
• Justin Tuck’s Flu.  Justin Tuck played the entire Carolina game with the flu.  I had the same illness on the same evening, and I was thoroughly destroyed by taking out the trash.  Granted, no one is paying me millions of dollars to get off the couch when I have the flu, but what Tuck did cannot go without notice.  To see him staggering around the field at the end of the game speaks volumes to how incredible his feat was during that game.  I cannot wait until he gets traded so I can cheer for him.  Way to go, Big Midget!
• Angels Fans.  How do you think Angels fans feel about Artie Moreno publicly passing on Mark Texiera before the Yankees even had an offer on the table?  Dear Mr. Moreno — if you want to stop performing like a small market team in the post-season, please stop acting like a small market owner in the off-season.
• Arthur Blank.  Speaking of d-bag owners, did anyone else catch the quote from Arthur Blank talking about Christmas miracles?  He actually implied that football fans should feel bad for his family after what has happened to them because of the Michael Vick situation.  Really?  You want us to feel bad for your family, billion-dollar beneficiaries that your dumb ass took a gamble that people would want Home Depot stores in every town?  You want us to feel bad for your family during these economic times?  Especially when you want to bring up the Michael Vick thing?  I hope you realize what is going to happen to your organization for the egomaniacal nature of that ridiculously stupid comment, Mr. Blank…and I will watch it all happen with relish.  Also, in the future, you should try checking out everything about a player you want to draft, instead of looking at his stats, and pass on guys that have the words “ticking time bomb” displayed on their wrapper…other teams have done this with great results.
• QB Hats.  What the hell is going on with the young QBs in the NFL and these stupid hats?  First it was Romo, and then I saw Aaron Rodgers wearing one of those idiotic hats himself.  So, how did we come to this?  It’s almost like these guys sat down and said, “I just don’t think I am connecting enough with the common man…I make millions of dollars and can have any woman I want…how can I douche myself up a bit to get more Joe Six Pack fans…hey, this hat looks pretty douche-y, let’s give that a try.”
• Bill Cowher.  No less a connected person than Jeremy Green has mentioned that the bidding for Bill Cowher to take over in Cleveland will start at $8 million per year, and probably settle in around $10 million per year, and he will have coaching and football operations responsibilities.  Of course, Cowher, just like every other guy that has tried this, many of them quite a bit smarter than he is, will fail and fail miserably.  Of course, Randy Lerner will let him flail away in that position for about 3 seasons too long, making it worse…it’s his move, it’s what he does…making things worse through inaction.  Why the heck would anyone want Cowher anyway?  He won one Super Bowl on a gadget play and a bunch of blown calls that all happened to go the way of his team.  He had, hands down, the best team in the NFL during at least 6 of his seasons at the helm, and won absolutely nothing with any of those teams.  I think that the Browns’ fans deserve better…it’s a shame that their owner does not agree with me.
• Psycho T.  Roy Williams is costing Tyler Hansbrough money.  Everyone that has anything to do with the NBA is talking about the fact that Hansbrough will have no success at the next level.  Of course, whenever there is such a groundswell of “experts” all saying the same thing, they are all wrong.  Hansbrough has, on occasion, shown an ability to play a totally different game away from the basket, and he will be able to do that at the next level, without problems.  He cannot take the physical pounding inside with his size, but any of those guys that can handle him inside will not be able to handle what he is capable of doing 17-20 feet away from the basket…and he will get a big fat second contract when he demonstrates that in the NBA.  Unfortunately, he will not get a chance to demonstrate that in college (thank you, Uncle Roy), and his first contract will suffer tremendously as a result.  The worst part of all about it is that the Tar Heels do not need Hansbrough banging away inside to win any and every game this year.  Roy Williams has a responsibility to all of his players to present them in the most favorable light possible the NBA scouts, provided doing so is not to the detriment of the team.  I think he should let Psycho T range away from the hoop a little bit to show his range.
• Dallas Cowboys.  I will say the same thing I have said for the past 3 weeks…beware the Dallas Cowboys.  Now, not only can they play the “no one gives us any respect” card, they have truly earned it after they got debacled against Baltimore.  Look at the rest of the teams in the playoff picture for the NFC and tell me if you think any one of them wants any piece of Dallas.  Sure, they still have some work to do, but 2 out of the last 3 Super Bowl winners were Wild Card teams that were nowhere near as talented as the 2008 Dallas Cowboys.

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Hal Steinbrenner has already begun to gather up the highest-profile free agents for $1.75 on the dollar, and as a Red Sox fan, I could not be happier.  As everyone except Hal seems to know, spending the most money does not always work. 

I will, however, give a little bit of credit on one front — the Yankees are one of only a few teams that have figured out how to win in a league without a salary cap.  It’s simple…spend as much money as you can to get the best players that you can…while still maintaining some semblance of a farm system.  It is no great surprise that for the most part, the teams with the biggest payrolls are the teams still playing in October.  Most fans of mid-market and small market teams are quick to point out that they are at a distinct disadvantage because they can’t compete under those conditions.

That is only partly correct — with very few exceptions, those teams have an owner worth a billion dollars that does not want to spend enough money to give his fans a fighting chance.  Enough about those guys without enough balls to take that chance…let’s talk about our new friend Shallow Hal — someone with a slightly different problem. 

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