Since the inimitable John Gizzi has seen fit to crib his own material by introducing "Notes from Nowhere" -- long a staple to close his ESPN.com column -- I'll follow suit with this first edition of "Elliptical Information," which used to close my own efforts for the Worldwide Leader.
So read on for an Andujar update, a Jose Cruz Jr. sighting, the wisdom of Mike Hargrove and other random thoughts and jumbled jottings ...
According to Forbes magazine, the Los Angeles Dodgers were the biggest financial losers last season with an operating deficit of $25 million. The Rangers were next at $24.5 million, followed by the Blue Jays ($23.9 million), Diamondbacks ($22.2 million) and Marlins ($14 million). Followup question ...
... Which of these franchises has NEVER won a World Series? Related question: which of these franchises has a single player contract of greater value than last year's deficit? ...
With a rotation including David Cone, Tom Glavine and Al Leiter, the Mets look like a lock to win the 1997 National League East ... Seriously, if your family name is "Bradley," what could possibly inspire you to name your child "Milton"? ... The Royals can lose every game they play this week and still end up with a better 16-game record than the Chiefs. This is because Runelvys Hernandez and Mike MacDougal are both more accurate than Trent Green ...
Sure, it's early, sure there's that ugly Jeff Fassero 10-saves-in-April mirage of a precedent, sure Antonio Alfonseca is starting to worry about his job and push along in his rehab, but fantasy baseball players everywhere are starting to get that "Ex-Independent League Hack Jeff Zimmerman feeling" about Joe Borowski ...
Pre-season Andujar favorite John Halama leads the pitching-rich A's with a 2.53 ERA, but has a more indicative 1.31 WHIP. If Ted Lilly stays healthy, Halama will find it harder and Harden to keep his rotation slot ... Because we love the April illusion of "on pace for" projections, you might like to know that Jose Cruz Jr. is on target for a 2003 that includes .340/58/127, 23 SB and 1.153 OPS ... You might be even more interested to know that Esteban Loiaza is on pace to finish 25-0 with a 1.23 ERA ...
Headline on the Milwaukee Brewers Web site: "Hammonds lands on DL." Do you think they had that one queued up and ready to go, oh, in January? ... Sean Casey's wife is named "Mandi." That just needed to be said ... Mike Hargrove on Omar Daal: ""If he's pitching good, I feel real good about him. And if he's not, I don't feel real good about him." Get Grover a seat on the Joint Chiefs ...
How long do you think it will take this Hideki Matsui character to adjust to MLB pitching? And do you think the agent for countryman (but not a relative) Kaz Matsui is cackling and adjusting the spreadsheet every time the new Bronx Bomber knocks in a run? ... Speaking of the Yankees, former pinstriped stalwart Ramiro Mendoza has a 16.71 ERA in seven appearances for the Red Sox, allowing 13 earned runs and 18 hits in seven innings ... That pretty much balances the earlier Sox/Yankee pitching defection when a portly lefty headed the other direction back in 1920 ...
The Cubs hired Ron Schueler as a professional scouting assistant ... Let us not forget that Schueler once drafted his own daughter when he was in the White Sox front office. So that should work out real well in Wrigleyville ... ESPN.com reports that "The A's are 63-24 in LHP Barry Zito's 86 starts." I wasn't a math major, but I am curious as to how that worked out ... It's April 16 and your team is 10 games out of first place. It's ugly to be a Detroit Tiger fan these days, huh? ...
Sure, but I was referring to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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