Crack of the Bat
by Patrick Ebert

Holiday Quick Hits

Happy New Year everyone! I hope Santa was nice and left you some baseball goodies in your stocking. With 2009 upon us, we can start looking forward to the hope of warmer weather, and of course, a new baseball season at every level quickly approaching.

Before I start to tackle the college baseball season in particular as I do every year once the New Year begins, I wanted to quickly address a few issues that have piqued my curiosity.

Dang Yankees

The reasonable, objective part of me has no problem with the Yankees’ spending spree this offseason. They have the money, added three of the best free agents available, and were able to sign those three players with resources that were available to them in hopes of making sure they don’t miss the playoffs next year as they did in 2008, the first time they did so in the past 14 years.

The emotional, fan-driven side of me is incredibly frustrated that one team can continue to distance itself from even the other more free-spending teams in the league, which puts an incredibly huge gap between the top of the food chain and the bottom. The Yankees didn’t set the market as I noted two weeks ago, they blew it away.

And now of course the idea of competitive balance has been brought back up as it pertains to revenue sharing and the possibility of a salary cap when the current collective bargaining agreement expires in December of 2011.

As frustrating as it is to watch the Yankees make these kind of moves, this isn’t anything new. The Steinbrenners have been outspending other teams for nearly three decades, and despite their near dynasty type run in the late 1990s, they, and other teams, big and small, have proven that money doesn’t necessarily correlate to World Series championships.

The two teams I feel bad for are the Milwaukee Brewers and the Toronto Blue Jays, who will receive the Yankees’ second and third-round draft picks respectively after losing CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. Since Mark Teixeira had the highest ranking of any free agent, the Angels get the Yankees first-round pick.

In the spirit of the holidays, the Yankees remind me of the Lexus commercials, showing a young boy talking about how much he cherished receiving his first Big Wheel or Atari video game console, only to have those presents trumped when a shiny new Lexus was found in his driveway on Christmas day. That’s one way to somewhat tarnish a once-cherished item, much like players like Teixeira, Sabathia and Burnett were to their previous team’s fans, and fans throughout baseball.

In other words, it’s difficult to root for a Lexus.

No Tex good for Sox?

While I noted in my column two weeks ago that the Orioles and Nationals should not have acquired Mark Teixeira since one player was not going to put them anywhere close to the next level, the Red Sox may also be happy that they did not end up with the prodigious slugger in a few years.

The Red Sox have the best and brightest first base prospect in all of baseball, Lars Anderson, who has quickly leaped through the minor leagues, finishing the 2008 season in AA after being drafted out of high school in 2006.

And he hasn’t been rushed hastily or without good reason. Anderson’s aptitude for the game, and more importantly, the strike zone, has allowed the Red Sox to be aggressive with his advancement. He could open the 2009 season with AAA, and could be with the big-league team by the end of the year.

While the Red Sox can’t match the Yankees funds, they don’t have many limits financially, so signing Teixeira likely wouldn’t have placed that great of a burden on them. However, by not signing him and by having Anderson, they do have future payroll flexibility.

That flexibility may allow them to sign Kevin Youkilis to an extension before the offseason is over, as they have already done so with Dustin Pedroia, and may allow them to get involved with some smaller pieces to their puzzle. Since they are only one season removed from a World Series victory they may not need as dramatic as a facelift as the Yankees.

And on paper, the Red Sox’ lineup looks just as intimidating as the Yankees. When you factor in the ages of homegrown players such as Youkilis, Pedroia, Ellsbury and even Anderson, you know that those players won’t be going anywhere for a long, long time, and neither will the Red Sox.

Giants land Big Unit

Watching Randy Johnson next year pursue 300 victories will be one of the biggest storylines over the first month or two of the 2009 season. And he will be doing so playing for the San Francisco Giants having recently signed a one-year contract.

The Giants pitching staff stands to be loaded, with Johnson, reigning CyYoung award winner Tim Lincecum, young fireballer Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Barry Zito. Zito of course hasn’t come close to living up to the insane contract he signed just a few short years ago, but as the team’s fourth or fifth best starter, the Giants could have the best pitching staff in the National League.

The problem for the Giants won’t be their pitching, but their hitting, having finished 15^th (out of 16 teams) in the NL in runs scored last year. General Manager Brian Sabean noted heading into the offseason that adding more power to his lineup would be one of his biggest priorities. They did sign Edgar Renteria, who certainly will add some pop to the shortstop position, even if his best days, particularly defensively, are behind him. There are some young players in place that could step up, such as Freddie Lewis, Emmanuel Burriss, Travis Ishikawa and Nate Schierholtz, as well as a few savvy vets to help lead the way in Aaron Rowand, Bengie Molina and Randy Winn.

However the team is missing at least one can’t-miss bat, the impact player they lost when Barry Bonds finished his last season (since he claims he hasn’t retired). Given the uncertainty of the NL West and the Giants pitching staff, the Giants may be wise to investigate the possibility of adding Manny Ramirez, who would help their lineup tremendously, as he did with the Dodgers after his midseason acquisition, despite the headaches he would create in the dugout and in the papers. The Giants at least have dealt with such distractions before.

Andrew Oliver’s situation

I’m not sure how many of you have been following the situation of Oklahoma State left-handed pitcher Andrew Oliver, who was suspended late last year and throughout the NCAA tournament season for his relationship with his agent coming out of high school as it pertained to his negotiations with the Minnesota Twins as a 17^th round draft pick.

The issue came up when Oliver switched agents, and received a bill in the mail from his previous “advisor” for the services they had provided him with.

Oliver’s suspension was lifted during the summer, when he was allowed to participate with Team USA, but as it stands right now, he will not be able to play in 40 games of the Cowboys season next spring. He now has a case with the NCAA that stands to go to trial starting Monday, January 5 in an attempt to regain his eligibility.

I don’t claim to know what is going on here, and I also recognize that there is probably a lot more to this story that hasn’t been previously reported. However, I can say with great certainty that the dealings Oliver had with an agent/advisor aren’t uncommon, and that it seems as though the NCAA is trying to make an example out of him.

I can understand why they would want to, as rules are rules and sometimes someone has to take the fall for a message to be made. However, I am not a fan of young people being made examples of. Everyone makes mistakes, and everyone deserves a second chance, especially a 21-year old college student.

The Best of the West

As I prepare my notes for the 2009 college season, I am reminded by the number of comments I notice in response to other publications’ rankings, and even email responses to my own, about how there seems to be a bias towards East Coast teams.

Without a doubt, on paper the ACC and SEC conferences always look to be the toughest, with an incredible amount of talent and depth. However, neither conference has claimed the College World Series Championship since 2001 when the Miami Hurricanes did so. A team from the SEC hasn’t taken the crown since 2000 when LSU captured their fifth championship in 10 years.

North Carolina has tried their best, having been the runner-up in Omaha in both 2006 and 2007, both times to Oregon State, while Georgia was the runner-up a year ago and Florida finishing second in 2005.

Going out on top

One of my favorite parts of the holiday season, particularly the New Year holiday, is the amount of college football games one can watch on TV. I often choose a day or two (or more) to hunker down and soak as much football in as possible.

Pat White’s name has graced this column a few times in the past, so allow me to extend my congratulations to him for winning his fourth consecutive bowl game as the starting quarterback for the West Virginia Mountaineers. He became the first person to achieve such an accomplishment, and did so impressive fashion, posting his career high for passing yards in a game with 332 against North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.

He also finished his college career with the most rushing yards ever by a quarterback, cementing his status as one of the best college football players ever.

While I’m not an NFL scout or expert by any stretch, I doubt his skills translate well to the NFL level as a QB, but I’m sure his toughness, speed and athleticism will find him a spot on someone’s roster in some capacity. And as I’ve pointed out before, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone took a flyer on him in the MLB draft next June, hoping that those questions of how his talents translate to the NFL may allow him to give baseball another chance.

Regardless of his future path, Pat White has been a joy to watch, and allow me to extend a tip of the cap to him on an incredibly successful college football career.

The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA. Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and Brewerfan.net, and can be contacted via email at pebert@brewerfan.net.