All Things Baseball

First off, it's official, the Phillies have a new centerfielder. And I guess it's also official: the Phillies are out of the Beltran sweepstakes. Heh, not that they would (or should) go after Beltran... but he's on my fantasy keeper team, so I was hoping he'd be a Phillie someday. But from a real-life baseball perspective, the Phillies are better off without Beltran.

That said, the trade for Lofton leaves me with a monumental shrug of the shoulders. What does he bring? Why were the Phillies so intent on getting him? The only real difference I can see between his stats and Jason Michaels's stats is perhaps the longevity and history. Otherwise, in the short term, they both bring pretty much the same, mediocre levels of production. Lofton may be a better baserunner, and he definitely brings veteran leadership, but overall, this move leaves me a bit indifferent.

I'm wondering now who the Phillies will target for their new SP. Reports had Carl Pavano's agent saying the Phillies are a "serious player"... but really, how much do you believe him? Yet again, no mention of Odalis Perez... and I'm sure a lot of baseball fans are just as confused as I am at the relative lack of interest in this guy.

Now... Barry Bonds. Honestly, I think two things are paramount:

1. I cannot believe that this information was leaked. I'm not so naive that the legal system is perfectly fair (and in any case, as a lawyer-to-be, I've seen my fair share of crap in the system)... but the secrecy surrounding grand jury testimony is just one of those foundational things that's needed for the system to even begin to work. Who now will feel fully comfortable in a high profile case to tell the whole incriminating truth?? After all, in 1 or 2 years, that testimony may just end up all over the front pages and ESPN (or CNN, depending on the circumstances).

2. People need to stop criticizing Barry Bonds. Get off his back. Stop saying there should be an asterisk.
- Steroids are not proven to help with hitting prowess and bat speed and batting eye.
- I'm willing to bet that the majority of our beloved "heroes" of baseball have taken supplements and steroids of some kind. If you want to invalidate Bonds' numbers, well, prepare to have to reach into the books and throw asterisks next to nearly every prominent player. And if they haven't taken steroids, odds are they fought to get whatever advantage they could get in some other way, be it signal stealing, vaseline, whatever.
- This guy was off the steroids after 2003. Well, last I checked, he kept up his mind-boggling numbers in 2003 and 2004.

Let's not blast Bonds and Giambi but give McGwire a pass. Or Sosa. Or Brady Anderson. Or Caminiti. Or Nomar Garciaparra (remember how big he got before his wrist injury?). Or Lenny Dykstra. Or Ron Gant. Or every minor leaguer who tried the stuff to try to make it to the bigs.