Diamond-Theory.com

The Cardinals traded minor league outfielder and last year Rule 5 Draft pick Brian Barton to The Atlanta Braves for relief pitcher Blaine Boyer.

On Paper:

This isn’t a blockbuster trade, but both teams are adding depth to weaknesses.

Best Case Scenario for Cardinals:

Dave Duncan is able to help Blaine Boyer pitch like he did the first half of last season (52.2 IP, 45 K, 3.93 ERA).  A good quote for Cardinals fans comes from Wednesday’s Post-Dispatch: “ ‘Anytime you get new scenery it's almost like you mentally, physically get to start over,’ Boyer said. ‘It's been a long time since I had somebody say, “All right, let's work on some things.” For me, that's music to my ears.’ ”

Best Case Scenario for Braves:

Barton take advantage of his new opportunity in the bigs and becomes the Braves’ very capable fourth outfielder.

Worst Case Scenario for Cardinals:

Duncan can’t fix Boyer and he pitches like he has since last year’s break (20 2/3 IP, 24 K, 7 HR, 13.06 ERA).

Worst Case Scenario for Braves:

Very little. Even if Barton is sent to the minors for a while, they didn’t seem to be losing much in Boyer.  A combination of Barton underperforming and Boyer turning it around might make the Braves reconsider.

Bottom Line:

Both teams are looking for a diamond in the rough to help in weak areas.  Barton looks to be the better talent of the pair, but he wasn’t going to get a chance in the already revolving door that is LaRussa’s Ankiel/Duncan/Ludwick/Rasmus outfield, so it’s tough to say the Cardinals have lost anything but organizational outfield depth, which they still have plenty of.  The Braves get rid of a slumping pitcher in exchange for an outfield prospect with some upside as a Major League contributor.  The quality of the trade depends on Dave Duncan.

I know we're only a few weeks into the season, and I know it is way to early to be talking awards, but I wanted to start looking at the front runners for the various awards.  I plan to follow the ups and downs of these front runners throughout the year.

It should be noted that last year's American League Rookie of the Year, Evan Longoria, wasn't even on the opening day roster.  So the men on our list may not even be the included in the final tally.  Time will tell.

Thus far, only two guys have enough at bats to qualify:  Jordan Schafer and Colby Rasmus. 

Schafer started hot but cooled off.  Rasmus is in the mix in the Cardinal outfield, but hasn't earned an every day job yet.  And the NL doesn't have anything going with regards to pitchers, so these two are the current front runners for the Senior Circuit.

The AL has a bit more going on.  Ricky Romero and Trevor Cahill have thrown some quality innings thus far, putting them in the lead.  Romero probably has the edge at this point.  Right behind them the Elvis Andrus, who is supposed to be good enough to move Michael Young over to third.  So far, so good.

A lot can change over a season, but right now these are the rookies to watch.

Gary Sheffield became the 25th player to hit 500 home runs with a pinch hit shot last night off of Mitch Stetter.

The homer is sure to end much af the talk about whether or not he belongs in Cooperstown.  He does.  His career numbers make him one of the best to play, ever. 

He will run into some potential problems if his relationship with Barry Bonds and the "accidental" steriod story blow up and hurt him in the eyes of sportswriters.  They shouldn't, but who knows. 

The Mets, in the present, have to be happy that there is some thunder still in the bat.

Well done, Gary.

Last Thursday Angels’ pitcher Nick Adenhart was killed in a car crash.  We already have a short article about that incident, but since then there have been two more passings in the baseball community: former pitcher Mark Fidrych and Cincinnati Reds announcer Harry Kalas.

Mark Fidrych, age 54, was found dead on Sunday.  He appears to have died in an accident while working on a dump truck.  So far, little more information is being released by authorities.  As a ballplayer, Fidrych pitched for the Detroit Tigers from 1976 to 1980, winning 19 games and the Rookie of the Year award after pitching 250 innings in 1976.  His career was shortened by injuries, however, and he never pitched more than 81 innings in any of his other seasons.

Harry Kalas, former announcer for the Philadelphia Phillies, died Monday, April 13 at age 73.  While Kalas had been the announcer for the Phillies since the early 70’s, he is also popularly known as the voice for many of the NFL Films productions.

We've only got a handful of games to look at, but we can still review.

So you've probably heard, but the ace's kind of sucked.  That's all. 

Hats off to the Kansas City staff thus far.  They held the defending AL Central champs to a meager 1.67 runs/game, and that would have been better had Kyle Farnsworth not given up a three-run blast to Jim Thome opening day.  We'll see where KC goes after the first three starters throw, though.  Lots of question marks.

It looks like Derek Lowe has finally clicked and taken it to the next level.  Braves fans should be excited. 

The Cardinal bullpen is at it again.  Someone please put out that fire.  This team is too good to look this bad. 

The Rangers can hit.  Period.  They should trade for some pitching.

The Yankees will be just fine.  Until the postseason.

I know the Nationals pitching staff is not that great, but the Marlins really smacked them around.  Four starters left that series with an OPS on the north side of 1.000.  Poor Dan Uggla is fifth at .985.  I know its just one series, but that was a beat down. 

How bad do you have to be to have a team ERA near 11.00 after three games?  Carl Pavano bad (81.00 ERA), that's how.

I used to keep saying that Carlos Silva couldn't be this bad.  He about two starts from me publicly rebuking him.  The rest of the Mariners pitched well.  That will be the key to any success they have this year.  On paper, that staff is pretty good.

Anybody got the lowdown on Chris Jakubauskas?  That's the best new name in baseball. 

Also, who is Walter Silva and why is he holding my Dodgers down?

Angel's starter Nick Adenhart was killed this morning in a hit and run car crash in Fullerton, CA.  He was only 22.

The crash came just hours after he threw a gem of a game, 6 ininngs of shutout baseball. 

The baseball world will miss him.

Our prayers go out to his family and anyone who knew him.

For more news:  From SI, From MLB.com, From ESPN.com

Opening day is here, and we all have something to look forward to every day after work.

We're going through and posting 2009 outlooks for the various teams.  They are located under the Team Pages.

Look for the updates to increase in frequency as the year goes on.

This is our year.

In a new and interesting twist to the game, Japanese sidearm knuckleballer Eri Yoshida has debuted as the first female professional baseball player in Japan.

Apparently, she's got some game.  A sidearm knuckleball?  I'm glad its not me in there.

She went a third of an inning, walking one and striking out another.

Is this a sign of things to come.

MLB.com has an article Here, and ESPN one Here.

The votes have been counted, all the plans have been approved, and the Marlins will get to stay in South Florida. 

The new retractable-rof stadium to be built in Miami will break ground later this year, with the hope that it will open in 2012.

This is good for baseball.  First off, baseball is really meant to be played in baseball stadiums, not football stadiums.  It'll be nice to get out of playing ball at Dolphin Stadium.

Second, this is actually a quite accomplished franchise that should be rewarded with a stadium.  This team had two world titles.  This is a model franchise when it comes to player development and managing payroll while still being competitive.  This team deserved a stadium.

Third, this sort of redevelopment has to be good for the city of Miami.  And in times like these, we should be rooting for opportunities like this.

One minor side note:  everyone will have to get used to the Miami Marlins.  Alliteration aside, that take some getting used to.

Interesting articles from MLB.com and ESPN Here and Here.

It took ten innings, but Japan beat Korea 5-3 Monday to take the second World Baseball Classic title.  With the score tied 3-3 with two outs in the top of the tenth, none other than Ichiro Suzuki banged out a two-run single that brought the go-ahead run across for Japan.  Moments before, Korea tied the game with two outs in the ninth off of Japanese pitching phenom Yu Darvish.

Dice-K repeated as Classic MVP.

Eric Neel has a great article about the atmosphere at the championship game over on ESPN.com