ATM report--60-40 rule

[nyy26wc]

1) czar bud announced he's going to start enforcing the 60-40 rule, which says teams can't have an assets/debts ratio below that level.

According to Doug Pappas, an expert on baseball finances, "At best, this is one more example of Bud's arbitrary and selective enforcement of MLB's rules, retroactively punishing owners who've spent more on players than Bud would like. At worst, it's yet another grotesque case of Selig, he of the permanent conflict of interest, twisting the rules for his own benefit.

"In 1995, Bud's Milwaukee Brewers were so far in debt they couldn't borrow money to contribute to the construction of their new park. Forbes estimated that as of the 1997 season, the Brewers' debt had risen to an incredible 97% of franchise value. Selig said nothing about the 60/40 rule.

"But the Brewers' new park opened in 2001. The first-year attendance spike sent club revenues to a record $113 million. Isn't it amazing how the Commissioner suddenly decided to enforce the rule just when his own club could finally meet the standard? Just coincidence, I'm sure..."

2) The Astros traded 3B Chris Truby to the Expos for utilityman Geoff Blum.

After beginning the 2001 season as the Astros starting 3B, Truby lost the job when he hit .441 SLG, .276 OBA, .717 OPS, -7 RCAA, .332 OWP, 3.82 RC/G, 16 RC in 48 games. He has a .753 career OPS, compared to his league average of .787 and 3B average of .774, -17 RCAA and -16 RCAP in 126 games in the past 2 years.

Starting 3B Fernando Tatis is still recovering from arm and leg injuries he suffered last year, with an expected return date still unknow. Truby is expected to be the starter in his absence.

Blum had a miserable year in 2001, hitting .351 SLG, .313 OBA, .664 OPS, -28 RCAA, .305 OWP, 3.64 RC/G, 50 RC in 148 games. His OPS/RCAA/RCAP have declined every year of his career: .830/-1/4, .784/-4/-1, .664/-28/-30. Blum has a .732 career OPS, compared to his league average of .783 and positional average of .765, -33 RCAA and -27 RCAP in 317 games.

With Truby out of the picture, Morgan Ensberg appears to have clinched the Astros starting 3B job. Ensberg, 26, had a .989 OPS (.397 OBA, .592 SLG) in AAA in 2001 and has a .880 OPS (.389 OBA, .491 SLG) in 4 minor league seasons. Ensberg was given a B+ grade by the Mionr League Scouting Notebook and was ranked as the 41st best prospect in baseball.

3) Darryl Strawberry was sent to jail after violating a rule at a drug treatment center that he's been serving an 18 month sentence at. This is his 5th probation violation.

4) Netshrine.com creator Steve Lombardi has interviewed author Peter Golenbock, with the interview appearing at
http://www.netshrine.com/golenbock.html

5) Al Cowens died of a heart attack on Monday, at the age of 50.

Cowens had a .722 career OPS, compared to his league average of .720 and RF average of .759, -42 RCAA and -97 RCAP in 1584 games with the Royals, Angels, Tigers and Mariners, from 1974-86.

6) The Orioles sent OF Tim Raines Jr. and Darryl Brinkley, Ps Steve Bechler, Mike Paradis, Matt Riley, Eric DuBose, Juan Rosario and Jay Spurgeon, Cs Mike Hubbard and Eli Whiteside, 1B Domingo Martinez and INF Manny Del Rosario to the minors.

7) The Padres added OF Ron Gant, who they previously signed to a minor league contract, to the 40 man roster and sent OF Todd Donovan to the minors.

8) The Cardinals sent Ps Mike Crudale, Jeremy Lambert, Jimmy Journell, Chance Caple, Kevin Sheredy and Clint Weibl and 1B-OF Luis Garcia to the minors.

9) The Whitesox sent OF Joe Brochard and P Kyle Kane to the minors and released P Onan Masaoka.

10) The BlueJays sent 2B Orlando Hudson to the minors.

Hudson, 24, still has a shot at taking Homer Bush's job away before the year's over. Hudson had a .856 OPS (.385 OBA, .471 SLG) in 84 games in AA and a .847 OPS (.378 OBA, .469 SLG) in 55 games in AAA in 2001. He has a .780 career OPS (.352 OBA, .428 SLG) in 4 minor league seasons and was given a B+ grade by the Minor League Scouting Notebook, which listed him as a honorable mention to their top 50 prospect list.

11) The Indians sent 1B-OF Brooks Kieschnick to the minors.

12) The Giants sent Tony Zuniga, Lance Niekro, Trey Lunsford and Deivis Santos to the minors.

13) The Rockies sent OFs Cliff Brumbaugh, Ross Gload, Matt Holliday and Rene Reyes, Cs J.D. Closser and Dan Conway and Ps Carlos Almanzar, Cam Esslinger, Matt Whiteside, Todd Belitz, Josh Kalinowski, Aaron Cook, Ryan Kibler, Jason Young and Colin Young to the minors.

14) Orioles CF Luis Matos broke the hamate bone in his left hand, will have surgery and could miss anywhere from 6 weeks to the entire season.

Matos hit .408 SLG, .300 OBA, .708 OPS, 0 RCAA, .499 OWP, 4.73 RC/G, 14 RC in 31 games in 2001. He has a .631 career OPS, compared to his league average of .788 and CF average of .773, -15 RCAA and -15 RCAP in 103 games over the past 2 years.

15) The Dodgers sent C Jose Diaz, OFs Luke Allen and Chin-Feng Chen and Ps Victor Alvarez, Steve Coyler, Carlos Garcia, Lindsay Gulin, Craig House, Ricardo Rodriguez, Rafael Roque and Danny Mota to the minors.

16) New Redsox MGR Grady Little is considering replacing pitching coach Ralph Treuel, with Tony Cloninger being rumored to be the top choice for a successor.

17) The Braves sent Ps Billy Sylvester, Jung Bong, John Ennis, Matt Belisle, Scott Sobkowiak and Jake Robbins to the minors.

[Fritz Buelow]

Ron "Gant" Be Killed. He's like a roach - - seeing another day in the bigs.

[SmedIndy]

One day Jung Bong HAS to make the majors...and if only Harry were around. "Hey Steve, what the heck kind of name is Jung Bong anyway??"

[nyy26wc]

Maybe Jung Bong could end up in the same Braves bullpen as Tim Spooneybarger.

[KCBOOMER]

Really sad to see Al Cowens pass away. heck of a good guy and a very good player. Could of been special except for the deliberate beaning he took. He was never the same after that.

[nyy26wc]

When I look at Cowens, I see nothing that resembles a very good player.

He had a .722 career OPS, compared to his league average of .720. So, in that area, he was above average, but far from very good.

He had a .319 career OBA, compared to his league average of .329. So, he was pretty good at out making.

He had -42 career RCAA.

He had 4 years with a double digit negative figure, while he only had 3 years with a positive figure. One of those years, 33 RCAA in 1977, was a very good year. But, it was also a career year that he never came close to duplicating. The other 2 years produced mere totals of 2 and 3 RCAA.

He had a negative RCAP 12 times in his 13 year career.

The one thing he was very good at was being below average.

[Fuzzy Bear]

Originally posted by KCBOOMER
Really sad to see Al Cowens pass away. heck of a good guy and a very good player. Could of been special except for the deliberate beaning he took. He was never the same after that.

I can't remember when Cowens was beaned. His best year (really, his only outstanding year) was 1977. He was a potential star then. As it turned out, 1977 was a fluke season, in that it was significantly above his real level of ability.

I do remember Cowens as being an impressive LOOKING player, however. He won the 1977 Gold Glove, and was 2nd in MVP voting that year. He deserved both. He was a regular on a dominant team, and the Royals, while they won their pennants after Cowens left, were never year-in, year-out dominant in their division as in 1976-78. Cowens had a lot to do with the Royals winning the division those years; he was their starting RF. I will miss him.