The Ramblings of an insane insomniac...

So here I am, on a Brother's futon, at nearly 5AM unable to sleep. Of all the blog writings I will ever do, I doubt any will ever be as negative, or as unpredictably, incredibly unfounded, as this one. I've got 2 things to rant about, both in the world of baseball. The first is a theory, the second is probably best described as the ramblings of a lost soul searching for baseball belief.

1. I made a comment on Thursday's blog that Ichiro wasn't worth 20 million a season. However, after using a calculator, I've determined I must be wrong. The Los Angeles Dodgers, a winning team mind you, were willing to shell out over 10 million a season for Juan Pierre in free agency this past winter. Juan Pierre is a singles hitter(88 of 105 hits, 12 career homers in 1096AB), who doesn't walk enough (23 walks in 373 AB), has an on base percentage 28 points lower than what Dimitri Young is hitting, has an OPS (on base plus slugging) lower than ARod's slugging percentage (.649 to .671), can't throw(1 outfield assist in 89 games), and relies solely on his speed as his careers life blood. Any sane person, which I'm not quite sure I actually am, would say Ichiro is twice the player that Juan Pierre will ever be, even entering the final years of his prime. With that logic, Ichiro must be worth 20 million a season. That logic also says ARod is worth 40 a season, but hey, maybe some other dumb west coast team will pay him too (paging the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, California, USA, North and Western Hemispheres on planet earth). I ask you to consider how many more games you would win with Ichiro hitting leadoff for your team that with someone like Ryan Freel filling the same positions. I honestly believe the difference is single digits. Is that worth 17 million more? And even if Ichiro is worth 20 million, at 33, wouldn't you rather spend that money on a starting pitcher in his prime, say Carlos Zambrano, or a combination of multiple players with big league talent and experience, say Mr. Hunter from Minnesota and a few bullpen guys?
2. Secondly, I'm going to rant about the Reds, because I'm beginning to seriously doubt the direction of the club. First, the fact that Homer Bailey just got shelled in AAA, a start I know he was mailing in, scares me because it seems like he treated it as a rehab start instead of a chance for development. Maybe the kid doesn't have the million dollar head to go with the million dollar arm. Speaking of that million dollar arm, how does someone throw 95-98 with a 12-6 nasty curve in the minors, and then show up to the Big Leagues throwing 91-93 and hanging almost every breaking ball? But I digress... I'm about to separate the Reds 40 man roster (and maybe a few extras) into categories that everyone can understand.

• Untouchables as we approach the trade deadline: Homer Bailey, Phil Dumatrait, Aaron Harang, Bobby Livingston, Brandon Phillips (he's getting grouped twice), Edwin Encarnacion, Joey Votto, Josh Hamilton, Joey Cueto and Jay Bruce. (All these fella's are under the age of 27 except for Harang, 29)
• People I honestly think may be less intelligent in both life and baseball than Wallyonsports: Ryan Freel, Brandon Phillips
• People who need to be cut (this is a long list compared to any other major league team): Chad Moeller (and yes, we have actually cut the man twice), Todd Coffey, Victor Santos, Eric Milton, and Gary Majewski
• Who the hell are these guys: Mike Gosling, Calvin Medlock, Brad Salmon, Alexander Smit, Pedro Lopez, Jeff Keppinger, and Chris Dickerson
• Productivly useless: Alex Gonzales, Juan Castro, David Ross, Javy Valentin, Norris Hopper, Mike Stanton, Kirk Saarloos, Bronson Arroyo, Matt Belisle
• People who should be in AAA developing because getting shelled here couldn't do them any good: Marcus McBeth, Jared Burton (rule 5 draft pick must stay MLB), Jon Coutlangus
• Reliable Veterans (trade bait): David Weathers, Scott Hatteberg, Jeff Conine
• People who will be free agents and therefore should be traded: Adam Dunn, Kyle Loshe
• The Mark Prior and Kerry Wood (Will these guys ever be healthy group): Bill Bray, Elizardo Ramirez (one of my favorite players ever), Eddie Guardado, Jerry Gil
• That leaves us with one player: Ken Griffey Jr. He is this teams only all-star, its only hall of famer, and the only person on the team who changes his mind more than Narron changed our order. In the end, I say keep him. Keep him until his contract runs out and he has to decide whether or not to leave for greener pastures, or go be a dad and watch his son mature into a stud prospect.
• On opening day 2008, i honestly expect our lineup to be: Hopper 7, Hamilton 8, Griffey 9, Phillips 4, Encarnacion 5, Votto 3, Ross 2, Harang 1, Gonzalez 6. (Ok the order of the last 2 is a joke, but sometimes the "manager to be" likes to hit his pitcher 8th....a correct guess on who that is wins a prize)
• Opening day 2008 Rotation: Harang, Bailey, Arroyo, Livingston, Dumatrait
• Opening day 2008 Bullpen: Bray, Coutlangus, Coffey (pisses me off), Belisle, Burton, Macbeth, and a closer to be named later.
• So if your scoring at home, I think Dunn, Loshe, Weathers, Conine, Hatteberg, and Stanton hit the road sometime between 5 mins from now and April of '08.
• This team I have constructed for 2008, isn't very competitive. But have no fear Reds fans (especially Adam). Just put down your head and remember all will be fine. The losing will stop in two thousand and nine.

Until later today, Live HUGE Bryan. And just for the record, this is quickly heading towards an all nighter.

Oh yea, and a late 6 AM add-on to this post, READ THIS!!! http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070713/SPT04/707130363/1071/SPT&GID=u3NSpae+ggEZdWJl4cKZLMRyv7ayI9kk19BPZzVkodM%3D