Millwood and More

[cubfan33]

Welcome all ... just a couple quick notes.

I've had several people emailing to ask about Kevin Millwood and
whether his health was one of the reasons he was traded this week for
the rough equivalent of a bag of balls. The short answer is no, but
the longer answer is well, sorta. The main reason, clearly, that
Millwood was dealt was that John Schuerholz was the only man alive
that didn't expect Greg Maddux to accept arbitration. Duh. The
Phillies weren't scared off by the $10m that Millwood will get and
will be happy to dig the knife in a bit deeper on a division rival
that - after one of the longest runs of success in baseball history -
is clearly on the way down. Not one of their moves made so far has
improved their baseball club. Millwood's shoulder problems are a bit
of a yellow flag, but far from red. After his injury, Millwood worked
hard to make some slight mechanical adjustments, committed to a
conditioning program, and never showed signs of further difficulty.
Remember that chronic problems show their face early. Some statistical
types have said that Millwood was better than Tom Glavine over the last
few years and if so, the deal makes missing out on Glavine all the
better. If you're looking at Millwood for next year, it's my view that
he's probably improved his chances at putting up wins. The big
question for Glavine and Millwood (and to a smaller degree, Damian
Moss) is how much influence Leo Mazzone really had on their pitching.

The UTK radio show went live this week with its first show, sent to
affiliates and soon to be available to you. Guests? We started with a
bang, bringing Peter Gammons and Stan Conte of the Giants on the air.
Peter called the Millwood trade about an hour before it happened and
Stan didn't dodge my questions about Barry Bonds and his workouts. As
I said, this will be available to you over the web soon and to
affiliates in your area soon. I'll keep you updated on who to bug so
that you can hear it each and every week. I'm working on something for
the show that I'm not able to announce yet, but its big. Oh, yes, it's
BIG.

Trevor Hoffman and Robb Nen both went under the knife this offseason,
but only Nen looks like he'll be ready for Opening Day. Hoffman is
making slower progress than expected and it will be interesting to see
how the Pads deal with it. I'm not the biggest fan of Bruce Bochy and
I wonder if he'll see one of the kids on the verge of being a good
starter and think he sees the next John Smoltz. Ugh.

Urbina? The Rangers signed Urbina? Please, Jamey Newberg, explain this
to me. By the way, if you're a Rangers fan or just want to learn
everything there is to know about the Rangers, Jamey's bound edition
is available and amazing. Check out his site at www.newbergreport.com.

The Astros won the sweepstakes for Jared Fernandez. I know it doesn't
sound like much, but several teams were bidding for the services of
one of the few knuckleballers left in the game. Fernandez hasn't
succeeded, but having your own Tim Wakefield is worth the risk and
makes me continue to wonder why some organization doesn't teach the
pitch.

Lots of non-tendered players suddenly free agents, but someone out
there should be smart and pick up Jim Rushford. Here's a guy who can
play at the major league level, is handy in the OF, can play 1B, and
would be a great guy in any clubhouse. To boot, you'll get all the
great PR of having one of the best stories in baseball on your team
and my book will be ready early in the season to boost it even more.
Heck, I'll even come to your ballpark and sign copies if you want.

Finally ... one of the cool things about doing UTK is the privilege of
showing up, invited, in your email box. Many of you have written in
at one time or another and hopefully, I added in some small way to
your enjoyment of the game last year. However, the downside of that is
that I'm in a LOT of address books. When a virus comes along, my name
can be almost anywhere ... and that's happened. Someone, somewhere,
has been infected with the Klez virus and while I don't have it, the
virus has used my email (and other email addresses, I'm sure) to send
itself to other people. Two pieces of advice - I'm begging EVERYONE to
check their system - for instructions, you can go here:
http://securityresponse.symantec.com...oval.tool.html
You should also consider either a virus protection program or even
better, use a more secure program like The Bat! (www.ritlabs.com).
It's saved me a couple times.

Happy holidays to all. Yes, I have an Amazon wishlist if anyone has
some free cash. I hope everyone has the best holiday and New Year
ever and I'll see you soon.

[gyb13]

Originally posted by cubfan33
Hoffman is making slower progress than expected and it will be interesting to see how the Pads deal with it. I'm not the biggest fan of Bruce Bochy and I wonder if he'll see one of the kids on the verge of being a good starter and think he sees the next John Smoltz. Ugh.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/u...1s6padres.html
more on hoffman's uncertain return and news (for those fantasy owners who year in and year out spend $10 on potential saves) that the 'emergency closer' will be Jay Witasick

[cubfan33]

Lesson 1: Getting to 40 saves shouldnt be important enough to injure yourself.

Lesson 2: You can live without a closer.

Lesson 3: If Jay Witasick can be a closer, Lesson 2 is rock solid.