New (old) URL: baseballnews.blogspot.com.

The Minnesota Twins: A Plan for the Future by Aaron Gleeman (part 2). (Baseball Primer)

World Series Prospectus by Chris Kahrl and Keith Scherer. "The core story is that we've got two very evenly matched teams who arrived at this point after a wee bit of dragon slaying. How their duel plays out should make for a great series whether it goes four games or seven." (Baseball Prospectus)

Chat wrap with Dave Pease, Chris Kahrl and Rany Jazayerli. Took place during and after Game 2 of the World Series. Rany: "It wouldn't surprise me if both of these teams finished under .500 next season, assuming Kent doesn't resign with the Giants. Realistically, I think the Giants will be competitive next year, because Bonds is still Bonds and I really do believe that Jason Schmidt is ascending to the next level. The Angels? I've been calling them the second coming of the 1988 Dodgers for over a month now. The 1989 Dodgers finished 77-83." (ESPN.com)

Pinstripes is listed on the left as a team-specific (NYY) weblog, but LD's been doing a great job blogging the Series. Check it out.

King Kaufman likes the wild card after all. (Salon)

Jonah Keri interviews Dr. Mike Marshall, the former Cy Young winner who now teaches exercise physiology and runs an instructional pitching clinic. (Baseball Prospectus)

Thomas might become free agent after contract shrinks. "The White Sox sent [Frank] Thomas a letter on Oct. 6 telling him they were invoking a 'diminished skills' clause in his contract, a lawyer with knowledge of the talks said Tuesday on condition of anonymity. That clause would reduce his base pay to $250,000, and defer most of his nearly $10 million salary." (ESPN.com)

Bob Matthews: "If the 34-year-old Thomas can’t revive his career he might join Dale Murphy (a fellow two-time MVP) and Jim Rice as players who lost it quickly and didn’t last quite enough or do quite enough to be elected to Cooperstown." (Democrat and Chronicle)

The Minnesota Twins: A Plan for the Future. Excellent analysis by Aaron Gleeman (of Aaron's Baseball Blog). (Baseball Primer)

World Series Preview from Only Baseball Matters.

John Simerman: "For lack of a true baseball rivalry, the World Series shapes up as a north-south culture clash. Think 'Vertigo' vs. 'Dumbo.' Dirty Harry vs. Snow White. Country Joe McDonald vs. Country Bear Jamboree." I've got one: 'Full House' vs. 'The Brady Bunch.' (Contra Costa Times)

Underdog teams topple baseball's caste system. "[T]his postseason shows that the savviest can survive – and even succeed – in a sports world run by big spenders. 'The nature of the game is to have some imbalance, but the question is whether the imbalance has gotten to the point that rich teams can win and poor teams can't,' says Jules Tygiel, author of 'Past Time, Baseball as History.' He adds, 'This postseason has shown that is not the case.'" (Christian Science Monitor)

Jo[i]e Morgan Chat Session de Vivre from Mike's Baseball Rants.

Gary Huckabay on The Winner's Curse. (Baseball Prospectus)

Derek Zumsteg offers a "list of who you should be cheering for, and why" in the World Series. (Baseball Prospectus)

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I can't blame Blogger this time; things have just been crazy. I do hope to get back to posting four or five days a week until the end of the postseason. Thanks for your patience.

Jonah Keri: "When The Boss goes looking for a new vessel to take millions of his dollars this off-season, priority number one should be addressing his atrocious defense up the middle. Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams have all the range of doped-up manatees. Alfonso Soriano won't make anyone forget Frank White either. Jeter and Williams need to move to other positions, maybe Soriano too if the Yanks can find the right new bodies. And no, a $20 million deal for Steve Finley isn't the answer." (Baseball Prospectus)

Allen Barra: "[W]hen teams start gathering under the grapefruit league sun next spring, the Yankees will have, at least, Derek Jeter, Jason Giambi, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte and, yes, an older and presumably less mistake-prone Alfonso Soriano, as well as a couple of the most desirable free agents around regardless of cost. I can't name anywhere near as impressive a group of names for the Angels, Twins or A's, or, for that matter, the Cardinals, D'Backs, or Braves, so come to think of it, maybe baseball has a team of the future after all." (Salon.com)

Derek Zumsteg revisits his A's-Twins forecast. "Trying to predict the outcome of a short series is folly. I'd rather try and predict next week's Seattle area weather." (Baseball Prospectus)

Baseball Primer's 2002 AL MVP Award. Garret Anderson in a landslide!

Baseball Primer's 2002 NL MVP Award.

Baseball Primer's 2002 AL Cy Young Award.

Baseball Primer's 2002 NL Cy Young Award.

Baseball Primer's 2002 Rookies of the Year.

Schmidt dominant in Game 2. The Giants are almost there. (SF Gate)

Chris Kahrl's Transaction Analysis for September 11-15. "The interesting contest in the AL Central is among the young catching all five teams can boast...No, it isn't Piazza and Posada, but all five teams have interesting choices to make in the next couple of seasons, and most of these guys are plausible starters or prospects." (Baseball Prospectus)

Chris Kahrl: "The most basic problem this year's Braves team has is its lineup. Make no bones about it, the Braves are the weakest of the NL teams headed into the postseason." (ESPN.com)

Derek Zumsteg proposes some new awards. "Sure, we had the Hank Aaron Award, which was supposed to clear some of this up, but MLB managed to botch that (way to honor Hank there, by the way). Some may argue we don't need any more awards. But if three/league are good (MVP, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year), I say, the more the better. As rosters expand, so should our hearts." (Baseball Prospectus)

Baker's Dozen: The week in preview. "The Cardinals sure are in a nice 91 to 95 or 96-win groove these past few years. The Diamondbacks, however, are one of the minority World Series champion teams to better their record the following season." (ESPN.com)

Jim Caple: "I like that David Wells used to go out to the mound with his shirt unbuttoned. I like that Eric Gagne wears the same sweat-stained cap the entire season. I like that Seattle's Charles Gipson wears his pants a little baggy and his blue socks up to just under his knees." (ESPN.com)

Rob Neyer: "I don't watch baseball to see players expressing their sartorial tastes, I watch baseball to see players playing as well as they can. If I had my druthers, all 25 players on each club would be compelled to wear their uniforms exactly the same, like the Reds were back in the days of the Big Red Machine." (ESPN.com)

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