Today's Mendozas were conceived, discarded and reconceived deep within a Cold War-era bomb shelter near Sapulpa, Okla.
• Nationals manager Manny Acta
seems like a super-smart guy. I hope he actually wins some games someday.
• As many of you know,
Cot's Baseball Contracts is
the go-to site for information about contracts, salaries and potential free agents. Last week John Donovan wrote about
the brain behind the site.
(H/T: BBTF's
Newsstand)
• How much control do pitchers really have? As John Walsh writes,
maybe not as much as you think. Speaking of which, I once read a quote from a major league pitcher -- I wish I could remember which one -- in which he addressed this very point. People think major leaguers can throw the ball wherever they want every time, but they really can't. The difference between a good pitcher and a lousy pitcher is that a good pitcher can throw the ball within six inches of where he wants, but a lousy pitcher might often miss by a foot.
• Finally,
Chris Carpenter gets his
five minutes of fame.
• The Rule 5 draft is next week, and Marc Hulet reviews
the best pitchers likely to be available. He also lists the best players actually drafted in each of the past 11 drafts, and I'm reminded again that we've seen an amazing run recently. From 2004 through 2006,
Shane Victorino,
Dan Uggla,
Josh Hamilton and
Joakim Soria were grabbed in the Rule 5 draft, and that has to be the most productive three-season run in the draft's history. I'm not sure it
means anything. But it sure is interesting.
• A year ago, Tim Kawakami advised the Giants to trade
Tim Lincecum for
Alex Rios. … OK, now that you've stopped laughing, give Kawakami a few cups of credit for
revisiting that (now) odd-looking opinion.
• Amid Doug Glanville's
birthday wishes to his big brother, we find yet another reason to like little brother: He won a
Strat-O-Matic championship before he turned 10!
• "The Hardball Times Baseball Annual" is
out, and after spending some time with my copy this past weekend, I can heartily recommend the book (and that would be true even if I weren't in it).
Rob Neyer
