Yesterday the Baseball Writers’ Association of America voted not to elect a single player to the baseball Hall of Fame for only the second time in four decades. You know that by now. What you probably don’t know is that I for one am thrilled.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s definitely players that were on the ballot yesterday that I’d enshrine in Cooperstown if it were up to me. Craig Biggio is one. Curt Schilling as another (surprise surprise). And yes, I’m solidly in the Dale Murphy should be in the Hall camp. If anything, this year’s ballot was filled with players that in my opinion are right on the brink of being good enough to get in. That said, there’s no doubt that the ballot was also filled with a number of players whose statistics would make them automatic first ballot Hall of Famers – and none of them came even close to getting voted in. And with that, ladies and gentlemen, justice was served.

So hear me out. First off, I know that “justice is served” is a bit of an odd statement when the likes of Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens haven’t technically been found guilty of steroid or PED use. This is America, innocent until proven guilty, right? While that’s true, I thought Curt Schilling made a fantastic point yesterday when he said, “I think, with a few exceptions, nobody knows [who used performance-enhancing drugs], so the whole lot of us are lumped in together. Nobody knows. We didn’t do anything about it. At the end of the day, we didn’t do anything about it. We knew about it. I think we all had an idea, a really strong suspicion, but we didn’t do anything about it. And we sat by, and we turned a blind eye, and I think this is one of the prices that we ended up paying.”

Everybody has their own opinions on who “used” and who didn’t, and in my opinion Schilling is one of the players who absolutely belongs in the Hall, didn’t use PEDs, and is not in the Hall because of the actions of his contemporaries who did use. But my point is not to convince you who used or who didn’t, who should be in or should be out. My point is that Schilling is right in his assertion that even the players who didn’t use are guilty to some extent by association – they didn’t step up, identify an issue within the game they love, and work to get it resolved. Now they are paying the consequences.

As for the growing camp of sports writers and fans whose general assertion is, “everybody did it, the best players of this generation deserve to be in the Hall,” well, I for one am disgusted by this point of view. Anyone who holds this perspective A) doesn’t love the game of baseball and B) is buying into some seriously flawed logic. Playing Major League Baseball is a privilege, not a right, and upholding the integrity of the game is part of that privilege. Because of the actions of a series of cheaters, an entire generation of baseball fans, my generation, does not have the heroes of the game that past generations had. There’s widespread disenchantment, and certainly a whole lot of bitterness. Yet you want to put these guys in the Hall of Fame and celebrate them, simply because “everyone was doing it?” Are you kidding me?

Let’s draw a parallel. I’m pretty sure the guys over at Enron broke the rules en route to running a fantastically successful business. Should we celebrate them as amazing business leaders? Not to mention enshrining them in a Hall where “character” is one of the defining criteria on which admission is granted. The guys over at Enron cheated, and their business would not have been as successful if they hadn’t. Even worse, they were far from the only business people making gains by sketchy means. So why should we celebrate any steroid user if we’re not going to celebrate the brilliance that went on over there at Enron?

The sad part is we all know that a Barry Bonds or a Roger Clemens type player never needed PEDs to get into the Hall. Any steroid user was greedy, selfish, and spat in the face of the game. And it’s worth mentioning that they all made millions of dollars more as a result of taking steroids. For all of their bitching and moaning about being locked out of the Hall, how many of those guys would give up their millions for a spot in Cooperstown? Don’t kid yourself – not a single one. These guys are babies that want it all and deserve nothing.

It’s deeply, deeply unfortunate that this will undoubtedly affect many players who did play the game the right way throughout their careers. It’s ridiculous that basically any barrel chested or stocky player, in particular, will have a much harder time ever getting elected. There’s two guys in particular who I’ll have my eyes on in upcoming years – Ken Griffey Jr and Greg Maddux (who I was happy to see Curt Schilling identified yesterday as the best pitcher in baseball history). I consider these guys to be the best pitcher and the best position player of my generation, yet both never went through any sort of body transformation nor were linked to steroids in any way. If these guys have trouble getting into the Hall on their first ballot, we’ll really know the extent to which PED users screwed over their peers who played the game the right way.

So while so many criticize the Baseball Writers’ of America, I for one applaud them for standing up for game.

When the the Red Sox were practicing their bunting down in Fort Myers this past spring, I would have told you that Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Adrian Gonzalez, or David Ortiz would end up being the team’s 2012 MVP. Needless to say, 2012 didn’t go according to plan.

Superstars left. Bobby Valentine stayed. Injuries were abundant. All the excuses in the world aside, it’s a pretty damn tough task to come up with a MVP of any sort on this year’s squad. Alas, despite years at the bottom of the AL East the city of Baltimore continued to employ baseball writers, who hungrily awaited a season like this one. The coin has now flipped on me, and I must say it’s been hard to find any inspiration worth putting in (web) ink. But I’ll trudge on, regressing into Boston traditions of years past like by repeating “There’s always next season” much in the way that Dorothy willed herself back to her native Kansas by repeating “There’s no place like home.”

So while my TV will cower this October, hiding from the familiar sounds of playoff baseball until the Yankees are eliminated, I’ll at least make an attempt to highlight a few guys who did contribute in a big way for the 2012 Red Sox. This was no Marissa Miller over Petra Nemkova decision, but my 2012 Boston Red Sox MVP goes to…

2012 Boston Red Sox Most Valuable Player: Cody Ross – Cody Ross provided pretty much the only positive memory I have from the 2012 Red Sox season – a walk-off home run against the White Sox way back on July 20th. Ross’ numbers were also among the best on the team: .274 average, 21 home runs, and 75 RBI in 119 games. That computes to 162 game averages of 28 home runs and 102 RBIs – not bad for a $3 million player with one of the best arms out of right field in the game.

But more than the late-game heroics or the numbers, Ross appears the be the rare player that thrives in Boston. He wanted to be here, was always smiling, and seemed to excel in front of a packed house of fans just waiting to heckle him to death. He seems to be cut out of a similar mold to Ortiz, and I see him as very much a part of the Red Sox solution rather than the problem. Keeping him around in 2013 should be an off-season priority. Well done, Mr. Ross.

Runner-up: David Ortiz – Big Papi got off to a blistering start this year (for once) and kept it going throughout the year until his season was derailed by injury. Sadly, his numbers are still among the best on the team despite that fact that he only played 90 games: .318 average, 23 home runs, and 60 RBIs. Had Papi stayed healthy he was on track for a 41 home run and 108 RBI season – not bad for an old DH deemed unworthy of a two year deal. And despite his injury Ortiz was standing on the front steps of the dugout, game in and game out, keeping his teammates lose and the fans entertained.

Honorable Mention: Scott Atchison – Scott Atchison is a right-handed reliever who is 36 years old and makes $510,000 per year – the guy must suck, right? Wrong. Atchison was the best pitcher in the pen for the Red Sox this year, putting together a 1.68 ERA and a 0.97 WHIP. In 48 innings pitched he struck out 35 while only allowing 9 free passes. In other words, in a season full of bleeding Atchison was the closest thing the Red Sox had to a gauze pad. I just have a hard time giving the team MVP to a reliever who only pitched 48 innings.

As for next season, I’m picking Jacoby Ellsbury – although I have a growing suspicion that there won’t be a “B” on his cap come spring.

Here it is; my 2011 MVP Award Winners. After last week’s 2011 Cy Young Award Winners, this selection was a bit of a douzy – especially in the American League. Here we go:

American League

In the AL, I had a terrible time deciding on my MVP for the season. I knew that picking a Red Sox player would be an instant loss of credibility (Yes, Yankees fans are that bad now) so I sought the most objective manner of determining and MVP that I could come up with. First, I narrowed the list down to the 5 candidates below. Then I compared them against themselves, stat by stat (minus steals and fielding considerations). For each statistical category the winner was assigned 1 point, the second best 2 points, and so on. The player who ended with the fewest points was then determined the MVP. Using this method, the breakdown went like this:

Miguel Cabrera: 16 points
Jacoby Ellsbury: 19 points
Adrian Gonzalez: 20 points
Curtis Granderson: 23 points
Jose Bautista: 25 points

Looking at these numbers, I see 3 factors that are still unaccounted for – defense, steals, and whether or not the player’s team made the playoffs. Granderson, Ellsbury, and Gonzalez all had excellent defensive seasons. Ellsbury and Granderson also had speed (39 and 25 steals, respectively) that should be taken into consideration. Finally, Cabrera and Granderson were on teams that got to the playoffs. With that in mind, I’ve added 2 points for each specific attribute each of the players in this group missed. The shakedown now looks like this:

Miguel Cabrera: 20 points
Jacoby Ellsbury: 21 points
Adrian Gonzalez: 22 points
Curtis Granderson: 23 points
Jose Bautista: 31 points

I do want to say that I think Justin Verlander was likely more valuable to the Tigers than Miguel Cabrera. That said, I already did my Cy Young picks and I wanted to recognize an offensive player with this award. But if I was actually part of the legitimate MVP voting, I’d give Verlander the nod.

howiGit’s 2011 American League MVP: Miguel Cabrera, Detroit Tigers, 1B
161 games played, .344 AVG, 30 HR, 105 RBI, 111 R, 197 H, .448 OBP, 48 2B

Runner-up: Jacoby Ellsbury, Boston Red Sox, CF
158 games played, .321 AVG, 32 HR, 105 RBI, 119 R, 212 H, .376 OBP, 46 2B, 39 SB

Honorable Mentions: Adrian Gonzalez, Boston Red Sox, 1B
159 games played, .338 AVG, 27 HR, 117 RBI, 108 R, 213 H, .410 OBP, 45 2B

Curtis Granderson, New York Yankees, CF
156 games played, .263 AVG, 41 HR, 119 RBI, 136 R, 153 H, .364 OBP, 26 2B, 25 SB

Jose Bautista, Toronto Blue Jays, RF
149 games played, .302 AVG, 43 HR, 103 RBI, 105 R, 155 H, .447 OBP, 24 2B

National League

In the National League, the decision was not so tough – ultimately it was either going to be Matt Kemp or Ryan Braun. I’m giving the nod to Kemp, as he was statistically better in most categories and didn’t have the benefit of playing alongside another MVP candidate.

howiGit’s 2011 National League MVP: Matt Kemp, Los Angeles Dodgers, CF
161 games played, .324 AVG, 39 HR, 126 RBI, 115 R, 195 H, .399 OBP, 33 2B, 40 SB

Runner-up: Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers, LF
150 games played, .332 AVG, 33 HR, 111 RBI, 109 R, 187 H, .397 OBP, 38 2B, 33 SB

Honorable Mention: Prince Fielder, Milwaukee Brewers, 1B
162 games played, .299 AVG, 38 HR, 120 RBI, 95 R, 170 H, .415 OBP, 26 2B

That’s it. Agree, disagree?

Ryan Lavarnway, God Bless you. Maybe the team down in Pawtucket is better than the Red Sox these days. Lavarnay blasted two home runs and had 4 RBIs last night to help the Red Sox eek out a crucial 8-7 win over the Orioles. It was Lavarnay’s first major league start, as he filled in for the battered tandem of Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jason Varitek. Now it all comes down to tonight.

The Red Sox will be starting Jon Lester on three days of rest against some scrub down in Baltimore. The Rays will be starting ace David Price against some scrub at home in Tampa Bay. A loss would likely eliminate either team from the playoffs. I generally feel like both teams will win, setting up a Thursday showdown at 4:07pm in Tampa. One thing that’s clear is that the Orioles seem to be out for blood whereas the Yankees seem to be coasting, but the Yankees certainly can pull off a win with less than their best. That said I’m certainly not brave enough to offer up a real prediction. Instead I’ll be curled up on the couch clutching my binky and sucking me thumb, afraid to look at the TV but unable to take my eyes off of it. I’m getting nervous for myself just thinking about it.

While this collapse has been nothing short of horrific, I will admit that the drama of it all has been kinda fun. I’ve felt like I’ve been watching playoff baseball for the last week or two, and that’s exactly how the Red Sox should approach the game tonight. This is their World Series – now go out there and put it all on the line.

By Jimmy Cunningham, howiGit New York Writer, Manhattan, NY

I have been very critical of one Czar Goodell on this site for his iron fist, zero consistency rulings in the past. But this weekend NFL commissioner Roger Goodell got it right and Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig got it wrong, very wrong. In fact he could not have been more wrong.

Sunday was the 10^th anniversary of September 11^th. The NFL had moments of silence and taps played before all the games and there were many commercials thanking those that helped and remembering those that were lost. NFL players wanted to show their thanks, remembrance, and pride by wearing red, white, and blue. These colors were mostly worn on their gloves and shoes. Players said they were ready to get fined but they were doing it anyway. Emperor Goodell did the right thing, and none of the players were fined for their “uniform violations.”

Bud Selig on the other hand could not have handled 9/11′s anniversary any worse. The Mets wanted to wear the FDNY, NYPD, and PAPD hats to honor those who rushed into burning buildings to help get people out. Major League Baseball decided that they could not; Mets catcher John Thole wondered aloud “what are they going to do fine us?” It turns out the answer was yes, and the fines were more than what a usual uniform violation would be. This answer came down from Joe Torre, who you may recognize for parading around in his NYPD cap after 9/11. And it gets worse – when David Wright was shown wearing the hat in the dugout, a MLB rep came down and PHYSICALLY TOOK THE HATS OUT OF THE DUGOUT. What slippery slope does this start Mr. Commish? What harm comes from honoring the people that you had a ceremony for? NYPD, FDNY, and PAPD members were allowed into the game for free, but DO NOT honor their fallen brothers and sisters; that would hurt the game of baseball.  Shame on you Bud, you are clueless.

By Dan Finelli, howiGit Contributing Writer, New York, NY

It has become more apparent to me over the last few years that baseball is in need of a change. I am not alone here as there have been many discussions about the potential playoff expansion. In my opinion, the current system has lost a lot of its luster recently. Many opinions will differ and this is mainly a conversation piece meant to get everyone else’s thoughts/opinions on this topic.

I had initially thought about writing this article back in May. I did some research on potential solutions, but then ultimately decided I had still not decided which side of the fence I was even on. However, I knew it needed to be discussed. As the end of August draws near, this taste of disgust sits at the bottom of my stomach. Why does the race for the AL East, which currently has the top 2 teams separated by one measly game (and these 2 teams just happen to be 2 of the top 3 teams in all of baseball), not seem to matter much? We have had this discussion before on howiGit. Is it the fact that Boston is up 10-2 on the season series? No. Is it because the national media has gotten ahold of 2 out of every 3 games in each Sox-Yanks series, leading to heavily commercialized marathon games? Maybe partially, but no. I think it has to do more with the way this season is shaping up, because odds are both teams will go to the playoffs and have little resistance from another wildcard contender (unless Tampa Bay decides to make a push). Although winning the division is great, it seems to be something that actually has minimal value for the playoffs (more on this later) and seems to have become something that means more to the fans than the actual ball clubs.

There must be a second wildcard team added to the playoffs if there is going to be any sustained interest in or meaning to the end of the regular season. Apart from the one or two races for a playoff spot each season, the end of the regular season is predominantly made up of resting starters for the playoffs, setting up pitching rotations to perfectly align with Game 1 of the first round, and working out who in your bullpen you are most confident in.

There have been too many times recently that the wild card team has not fought for the division because, plainly, it does not matter come playoff time (see: Yankees 2010). The Yankees purposely (I don’t care what management said) rested players and happily grabbed the wildcard spot so they could miss out on Cliff Lee in the LDS while taking care of the hapless Twins. This worked out perfectly for them (disregarding the outcome of the series) and in the ALCS only had to face Lee once due to him having to pitch game 5 of the ALDS. Congratulations Tampa Bay! You won the division and get to face the hottest team in baseball and face Cliff Lee twice! Meanwhile the Yankees happily took their rested lineup and went on the road to face a Minnesota team that posed much less of a threat.

The current system does not reward teams enough for winning the division. The difference given in the first round is not noticeable in a sweep or even a 4 game series win. Would you rather guarantee a starting pitching rotation of your 1-2-3-1 in the LDS or would you rather waste them trying to win the division, and then possibly have to pitch 3-4-1-2 in the first round? The simple prospect of playing the first two games at home, rather than away, is not nearly enough to make up for this potential pitching disparity.

There are many questions that need to be ironed out before a decision of this magnitude can work. What is the magic number of playoffs teams that will work best? 5 per league? 6? What will the playoff format look like with the added teams? What will the timing of the playoffs be? Timing is extremely important because the playoffs cannot go much longer, if at all, than they do now. Nobody wants to watch as baseball’s two best teams battle for the World Series and have it decided by weather (snow, freezing rain, freezing temperatures) after watching the near 6 month marathon that occurs during the warm summer months.

My last point of contention is the number of playoff teams relative to other professional sports in America. NFL – 12 of 32 (37.5%). NBA – 16 of 30 (53.3%). NHL – 16 of 30 (53.3%). We are left with baseball, which has the most prolonged season with almost twice as many games as the NBA and NHL, allowing 8 of 30 (26.7%) into the playoffs. There is no reason why additional teams couldn’t work, as they do in every other top sport in America.

My proposal would be to add one wildcard team to each league. This brings us to 10 of 30 teams (33.3%) making the playoffs. These two teams would face head to head in the “Wild Card Series.” The series would be a best of 3 (still need to figure out home field and how to accommodate travel), with the winner joining the 3 division winners in the LDS. The playoffs would then proceed as it does currently.

Let me pose this scenario. Going into the final weekend of the season, the Yankees and Red Sox are separated by 2 games with 3 to play at Fenway. The second wildcard team is 15 games back. Under which system will those 3 games actually matter? After winning 95-105 games, I’m sure the prospect of playing an additional best of 3 series where anything can happen, while the winner has 3 days to rest pitchers, would make that final weekend MUCH more interesting. I, for one, enjoy meaningful September games. What about you?

After a wild weekend of baseball at Fenway, the Red Sox clinched their season series against the Yankees and remained atop the AL East standings. Friday night saw a nailbiter as John Lester, Bartolo Colon, and their respective bullpens battled it out to a 3-2 Yankees victory. On Saturday the Red Sox continued their dominance of CC Sabathia en route to a 10-4 victory. Sabathia is now 0-4 with a 7+ ERA on the season versus the Sox while going 16-2 against all other opponents.

As for last night’s series concluding match-up, well, it was befitting of this rivalry to say the least. Josh Beckett pitched 6 innings of 1-run ball, yielding yet another no decision as Freddy Garcia threw 5 innings allowing a single earned run as well. The Red Sox squandered bases loaded opportunities in the 2nd and 6th innings, displaying nothing but an ineffective offense until the bottom of the 9th inning when they found themselves down 2-1. All of a sudden, three players executed perfectly. Marco Scutaro drove a double high off the monster, Jacoby Ellsbury laid down a perfect bunt to move him to third, and Dustin Pedroia (who was 0-10 against Mariano Riveira in his career) drove a ball to deep left field scoring Scutaro and tying the game.

Surprise surprise David Ortiz doubled in the bottom of the tenth, setting up a Josh Reddick game winning single. This hit was huge for Reddick, who has come out of the AAA gates hot as could be. After cooling off  bit as of late, I think this hit will help Reddick keep his momentum going and realize that he can contribute the the team’s success at the highest level. As I watched this game go into extra innings just after midnight you couldn’t tell from the atmosphere at Fenway that it wasn’t October.

The Red Sox are now 10-2 against the Yankees this season, so I have few major concerns there. But I must admit that watching Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon pitch so well against the Sox only adds to my hesitations about whether or not Boston will be able to beat the Phillies in October. We’re still a few months away, so for now we’ll savor this win.

By Thalia Bardell, howiGit Contributing Writer, Boston, MA

What’s happening to America’s pastime? People just aren’t watching as much baseball – the numbers don’t lie. An average of 14.3 million viewers tuned in to watch the San Francisco Giants play the Texas Rangers in the 2010 World Series and 106.5 million watched the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl that same year. You could bring a number of different arguments to this statistic – Hurricane Katrina and the country’s interest in watching the Saints win it for their city being the most obvious, but the fact is not even a hurricane can account for about 7.5 times more viewers than the World Series. Baseball’s popularity is on the slide.

Take Boston for example; when the Sox won the World Series in ’07 they topped Major League Baseball’s local broadcasting ratings – last year their ratings were half that number. I’ll admit it: Last year the Sox were boring. Of course they didn’t have the ratings of ’07, they finished third in the AL East and the team we ended up watching was the Pawtucket Red Sox featuring Adrien Beltre. Injuries aside the Red Sox just didn’t have the excitement, the “swagger,” if you will, that they’ve had in previous seasons. Last year there was no confidence and no intensity from the guys that we always expect it from. I’m looking at you Josh Beckett and Jonathan Papelbon. What happened to Badass Beckett? I want the guy who yelled at players, umpires, and managers alike, the guy who would throw a punch or drill a guy in the ribs with a fastball and not care – not Boringass Beckett with his bad back and pouty face.

Epstein, I think, gets it — he’s smart (although if you ask Buck Showalter he’ll tell you otherwise – get back to me when you’ve got a ring, bro) and he knows that by signing Gonzalez and Crawford he’s created one of the most anticipated Sox line-ups in a long time. But he’s got competition in both the Celtics and the Bruins and it comes down to this question: Did people just lose interest in last year’s Sox or are people losing interest in baseball as a whole?

We live in a fast-paced, instant gratification, capture your life in 140 characters or less society and baseball doesn’t fit in. There’s no quick up-and-down the court or ice action, nobody’s getting “jacked up,” and there’s no clock ticking away in the corner telling you how long before you’re on to the next thing. Baseball is slow, methodical, and to watch it takes a certain amount of patience. To be honest I think we’re moving away from it as a culture. The number of people who’ve told me that they won’t watch an entire baseball game, they only watch the highlights the next day, saddens me. Is baseball only exciting if you see all the great plays condensed into 5 minutes on the latest edition of Web Gems? I’d say no, because I think a Web Gem is much more gratifying if you’ve waited 2 hours and 8 innings for it instead of just from the top of the hour. The excitement lies in the anticipation of the great play. Baseball invites you to stretch out, take off your shoes, stay awhile; it’s summer where are you going so quickly anyway? In the words of Dustin Pedroia – relax. I like that about baseball. Chill out America, maybe turn off your CrackBerry and try to pay attention to something for longer than 15 minutes – this is our pastime we’re talking about.

By Thalia Bardell, howiGit Contributing Writer, Boston, MA

I’m just going to go ahead and skip right over the Super Bowl. The Steelers lost so I have nothing to gloat about and the only thing that matters to Bostonians is that Big Ben Roethlisberger is still one ring behind Tom Brady. I think it’s safe to assume that I can speak for most Pittsburghians and New Englanders alike when I say, I’m over it. Honestly, I was over it last Thursday. If I saw that Clay Matthews vs. Troy Polamalu hair montage one more time on ESPN I was going to tear my own hair out. Time to move on to more important things – like baseball.

Our fair city has one week left to wait for Red Sox pitchers and catchers to report to Fort Myers, Florida for spring training. I’ll tell you the first thing that I’m going to do, plop right down on my couch and watch The Sandlot. Now, I may catch some flak for this statement but it is my opinion that The Sandlot is one of the greatest baseball movies of all time. Yeah ok, Field of Dreams, The Natural, Eight Men Out, they’re good, but seriously, can anything top the scene of buck-toothed and be-spectacled Squints faking a drowning at the pool so he can get mouth to mouth from hottie lifeguard Wendy Peffercorn? I think not.

The sandlot clan played some pretty sweet ball too. The team’s conglomeration of neighborhood misfits and scrappy style of play remind me of the 2004 Red Sox; Kenny DeNunez’s windup looks a whole lot like Pedro’s, Benny “the Jet” Rodriguez is cracking homers like Manny,and “Yeah-Yeah” – totally Kevin Millar. They even have jacket and jersey clad, expensive bike riding rivals — the  Tigers — who are, of course, the New York Yankees. The sandlot crew  blew those snobs out in a backyard brawl just like the Sox blew out the Yanks in 2004′s ALCS game 7. Proving that dirt, heart, and a little trash talking à la round-faced catcher Ham Porter – “Is that your sister out there in left field, naked? She’s naked?” – were more important than expensive jerseys and highly paid free agents. Maybe it’s because I’m tired of trudging through ankle-deep slush or I’m nostalgic for a time in my life when bike riding wasn’t just for hipsters, but this movie feels like just what I need to get me through the next week and into the start of the Boston Red Sox 2011 season. I can’t wait to play ball.

I say……good for them! I don’t like this move because it obviously makes the Rays much more competitive than they would be without these guys. That’s a very solid lead-off hitter and an all-time great clean-up hitter. Sure, they are old, but I don’t want to hear it. Both of these guys are great players and have plenty left in the tank, although Manny is also an all-star head case. It’s good to see that the Rays aren’t simply dumping all of their players and are making moves to remain competitive in the AL East.

Both players signed one year deals, Damon for $5.25 mil plus incentives and Manny for $2 mil. In my book, both of those deals are straight up bargains. You can’t tell me that signing Manny Ramirez to the Red Sox for $2 mil wouldn’t have been a great move. Well played, Rays.