Champions League draw

I'm a bit tired and won't analyze much, just give my very early predictions

Chelsea beats Juventus
Villarreal beats Panathinaikos
Bayern Munich beats Sporting
Atletico beats Porto
Barcelona beats Lyon
Liverpool beats Real Madrid
Arsenal beats Roma
Manchester United beats Inter

Here we go again...

Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid...

Cristiano Ronaldo will sign for Real Madrid in the summer according to a director of the Spanish giants.

Newspaper El Mundo is quoting director Pedro Trapote as saying Real already have a deal in place but cannot announce it officially.

Sure, feel free to take this skeptically (I do). But that would take care of Real's right wing, wouldn't it? :-)

Methusalah

Jamie Moyer re-upped, 2 years

With his return, the Phillies have four certainties in the starting rotation -- Moyer, Cole Hamels, Brett Myers and Joe Blanton. A crew of others, including J.A. Happ, Kyle Kendrick, Carlos Carrasco and new acquisition Chan Ho Park -- with whom the Phillies agreed to a deal on Monday -- will battle for the fifth spot.

He might get to 270 wins should he pitch effectively through this contract. Maybe a run at 300? He'll also be closing in on 50.

Rank the pitchers

ESPN asks you to

When you look at the options, you'll see some... notable omissions. The list dates back to the mid-1940, so segregation-era stars such as Walter Johnson, Cy Young and Lefty Grove need not apply. But what about Bob Gibson, Robin Roberts, Jim Palmer (and Bert Blyleven, for that matter)?

Anyway, this is fun, so I ranked them (with, admittedly, some guesswork with the active/recently retired ones):

1. Clemens
2. Maddux
3. Seaver
4. Carlton
5. Big Unit
   
6. Spahn
7. Pedro
8. Perry
9. Ryan
10. Niekro
11. Koufax
12. Glavine
13. Wynn
14. Sutton
    

Hall of Fame

It's that time of the year again.

I had done a post on this last year, so go read it for further reference. Since back then, Gossage got elected and Concepción exhausted his 15-year period. The other five (Blyleven, McGwire, Murphy, Raines and Trammell) keep my support, along with:

DAVID CONE: Yes, this might turn some heads, and while he is quite the borderline choice, I feel comfortable placing him among the best 200 or so major leaguers of all time, which is more or less where the Cooperstown borderline lies. His case is built on his mid-90's peak, reaching its top with a Cy Young award in the strike-shortened 1994 season. While he is at best the tenth starter of his era, I think that's a safe number of HOFers to have, given expansion.

RICKEY HENDERSON: What else is there to say? He's the greatest of all time.

Bats are coming

Yanks will chase Manny, Tex

According to several baseball officials, the Yankees remain in the Mark Teixeira hunt. But the same connected voices insist if the Yankees don't land the switch-hitting first baseman, they will turn their money toward controversial slugger Manny Ramirez.

"If they can't get Teixeira, they are right there on Manny," an official with knowledge of the Yankees' plan said yesterday.

All else being equal, I'm trending towards preferring Teixeira. But things will not be equal.

It took some work...

.... but in the end, trends were confirmed.

Oh well....

More... Arms....

AJ Burnett, Yankee:

Free agent right-hander A.J. Burnett has reached preliminary agreement on a five-year, $82.5 million contract with the New York Yankees, a baseball source told ESPN.com.

While Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and Burnett's agent, Darek Braunecker are still negotiating final contract terms, the deal is expected to be complete once Burnett passes a physical exam, the source said.

While the rotation right now looks good, a five-year deal has the potential of ending up not-so-goodly. Now, how about some bats? Please?

Ibañez to Phillies

They agree to 3/30 deal

The Phillies have agreed to a three-year contract with free-agent outfielder Raul Ibanez, pending a physical. The deal is believed to be worth $30 million over three years.

The 36-year-old Ibanez will become the Phillies' new everyday leftfielder, and his signing means the Phillies no longer will pursue their longtime leftfielder, Pat Burrell, who is also a free agent.

Ibañez is a gifted and graceful defender who takes solid routes to get to the ball, has soft hands and a powerful arm.

(GIFs courtesy of Lookout Landing)

The nerve...

From Mr. "I spend in payroll less than what I get from revenue sharing":

Marlins President David Samson, whose team had the lowest payroll in baseball last year at $22 million, said he hopes the signings don't send the wrong message to fans in lower-revenue markets like South Florida.

"The Yankees can do they want to, but I would caution the public to draw any relationship between how the Yankees operate and how other teams operate,'' he said.

This year, the Marlins are projected to have a $35 million payroll. Sabathia himself will earn an average of $23 million per season.

"I very much feel like the producer of an independent film trying to compete with a big-budget studio blockbuster,'' Samson said. "That's hard.

No comments from me here.

Dayton Moore goes crazy with relievers!

Ramirez, Waechter, Farnsworth...

Left-hander Horacio Ramirez returns to the Royals with the opportunity to win a job in the rotation, while right-handed relievers Doug Waechter and Kyle Farnsworth replenish a bullpen depleted by previous trades.

“Based on the opportunities that we had to acquire talent,” Moore said, “I think we were able to do what we needed to do. Horacio Ramirez and Doug Waechter are great make-up guys. We think there is still upside for both of those players.”

The Royals confirmed one-year agreements for Ramirez and Waechter but declined to comment on Farnsworth, although a two-year deal should be confirmed in the next few days.

Even if we were talking about good pitchers... what's the point?

Cameron to Yanks?

So says the Daily News

The Yankees have found their center fielder for 2009, as they are set to send Melky Cabrera to Milwaukee for veteran outfielder Mike Cameron on Thursday, according to two major league sources.

I guess the Yanks have really changed direction in their team-building priorities. Besides Swisher, all their actual and expected acquisitions make their impact on the run prevention side of things. Sure, Cameron should be an offensive improvement over what the Yanks put in CF this past season, but over his career his glove has won more accolades than his bat.

Cameron has a pretty good deal with the Brewers, and haven't send much indication of a desire to shed salaries. So, I'm not sure about this deal from their point of view. They must really really like Melky. Maybe there are prospects heading to Milwaukee...