Trading Deadline Bonanza

Originally, I was going to post a photo essay of my trip to Fenway Park, but there has been some breaking news from baseball's trading deadline. Four major trades have been made within the past week, two of them today. Here they are:

1) 1B Mark Teixeira from Atlanta to the LA Angels for 1B Casey Kotchman and a minor leaguer.

In a swap of first basemen, the Angels are suddenly the scariest team in baseball right now. After sweeping the Red Sox twice in the past two weeks, the Angels are on a tear as they begin a series against the Yankees tonight in the Bronx. Ultimately, the Angels are signaling that they're going for the championship (the phrase "going all in" has been used by many this week). Complicating matters is that Teixeira is a free agent and will surely command $20 million a year in his contract. This is a great move for the Angels if they can go deep in the playoffs and right now, that looks certain. Readers may recall that Teixeira was traded from Texas to Atlanta this time last year. Both trades were directly caused by his pending free agency, not his ability. For that previous article, click here.

2) OF Manny Ramirez from Boston to LA Dodgers, OF Jason Bay from Pittsburgh to Boston, RP Craig Hansen and OF Brandon Moss from Boston to Pittsburgh, 3B Andy LaRoche and a minor leaguer from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh.

This was a huge surprise! Moody superstar Ramirez essentially forced Boston to trade him by being trouble in the clubhouse. But for Jason Bay? While Bay is a good player, he doesn't have anywhere near the power production that Manny has. Plus giving up two talented kids from the minor leagues? This is a head scratcher for Boston that will work really well or not work at all. As for the Dodgers, if they can tolerate Manny's ego (When a player says, "The Red Sox don't deserve a player like me" that might give a hint as to how big said player's ego is), this could very well win the NL West for them.

3) OF Ken Griffey Jr. from Cincinnati to Chicago White Sox for RP Nick Masset and a minor leaguer.

Future Hall-of-Famer Griffey may finally be able to get to the postseason for the first time since 1997 (with Seattle) after playing for his hometown Cincinnati Reds. For a season in which he reached the 600 home-run plateau, a postseason berth would cap it off well.

4) C Ivan Rodriguez from Detroit to New York Yankees for RP Kyle Farnsworth.

Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez is a stellar catcher defensively and will provide power for the Yanks, who are definitely making a postseason run, as usual. Farnsworth has his good moments pitching in relief.

More analysis to come tomorrow for the entire trading season and the season outlook from here.

Best Seats in Baseball

A short batch of photos for today. Now all you need is a Coke, a Fenway Frank, and Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" and you're in baseball paradise. More on this, the number one ballpark in my ongoing ballpark rankings, tomorrow. (Photos were taken by me.)

The Great Favre Debacle, Part 2

Photo courtesy of CNN/Sports Illustrated.

According to CBSSports.com, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, pictured above, is "monitoring" the Brett Favre situation and is rumored to be pushing the Green Bay Packers to trade Favre to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The St. Petersburg Times reported the Bucs have had internal discussions, specifically between general manager Bruce Allen and quarterback Chris Simms, regarding Favre.

I'm not sure Goodell's involvement is going to help. I personally like Goodell the most of the four major sports commissioners, but what he would essentially be doing is forcing Green Bay to let go the face of the franchise and a certain Hall of Famer who is technically under contract until 2010 and trade him to a team within its own conference. When other players that are under contract insist on a trade or some other dispute with a team (i.e. pay increase, contract extension), the Commissioner doesn't get involved publicly like this. So why the different treatment for Favre? Yes, he's a great player, but he is just that, one player.

For the entire story, go here.

The Great Favre Debacle

Photo courtesy of fellow Blogger site Jaak's World.

The whole Brett Favre fiasco that has hijacked ESPN and other sports media outlets is starting to annoy me now. For those of you not in the know, Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre retired in March but is having second thoughts about retirement and is pushing for his old job or a trade to a new team. I understand Brett not being sure if he wants to play, but this is getting ridiculous. The Packers organization has not helped the situation any by not willing to accommodate Favre, but the blame is quickly shifting back to Brett. If Brett wants to play so bad now, why hasn't he filed for reinstatement into the NFL with Commissioner Goodell's office? If Favre was forced into a retirement, as he claims, then why did he wait until July to make his desire to return known? Favre won't go back to Green Bay due to the things said of each other by both sides in the press, plus Green Bay drafted two quarterbacks in April's draft (Brian Brohm of Louisville and Matt Flynn of LSU) plus starter Aaron Rodgers. It is highly unlikely that Favre will play for Minnesota or Chicago, two teams that covet Favre but are also rivals to Green Bay. Best-case scenario for Favre is to stay retired. Packers fans will still like you, your number is being retired by the team in September, and you have a Super Bowl ring, not to mention a Hall of Fame career. Favre was the quarterback of the 90's and is in an elite class of players. Go out on a good note, retire with grace, and end this circus that is currently flooding the sports media.

A programming note. Beginning August 25th, I'll be enrolled in a journalism class at my college. Ideally, this blog will be the place to apply what is learned in that class and the writing will improve from where it has been.