Surprisingly Quiet

It should have been a really big news day in baseball. There's actually a lot going on, a lot to talk about- but most of this stuff is really flying below the radar. I suppose that Halloween and elections and football is monopolizing things, but listen up for a second- it's a big baseball day!

The new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) was signed by the owners and the players, and extends peace between the parties for another five years. Not only is this one of the longest CBA extensions, but this one happened with almost no fuss, and well before the deadline. Remember the work stoppages of the early 1980's or of 1994? I do too, but just barely now. The last CBA caused some stress, and they waited until (literally) the 11th hour to finalize it. This one was done with nearly a month to go. That's pleasing, but I suppose having everyone swimming in money helps.

The best part of the CBA, as I understand it (and I don't think that there is a full version released to the public yet) is that finally revenue sharing comes with a expenditure requirement. In other words, poor teams that benefit most from revenue sharing are now at least somewhat protected from their stingy, miserly owners. Owners in Minnesota, Florida, Kansas City, Milwaukee, etc. that take a big chunk of shared revenue must now invest a substantial portion of that in their on-field product. No more $15 million dollar payrolls. Though honestly, Minnesota and Florida have been doing pretty well on their tiny payrolls. It'll be good to see playing field a bit more level.

Another recent note is that the Yankees are likely to pick up Gary Sheffield's $13 million option for next year. He won't, however, be likely to displace either Damon, Matsui, or Abreu from the outfield. He also won't likely displace Giambi from the regular DH position. He will be trade bait. I have to give Brian Cashman credit for this one. That's a good move. There are several teams out there who could use a solid-hitting outfielder and who wouldn't mind trading a mid-level pitching prospect and picking up a $13 million salary to do it. Heck, the Red Sox are one of them. The market for Sheffield gives Cashman a couple of things. First, it ensures some return for the loss of Sheffield, even if it is only a AA pitcher or a couple of middling position prospects. Second, it gives him control over who gets Sheffield, and more importantly who doesn't get him. Trading him to the Angels keeps him away from Baltimore or Boston where Sheff can come back to haunt the Yankees 18 or 19 times a year. He won't be in Boston next year, which is fine for me. It saves me the heartache of having to boo someone in a Sox uniform.

There is also word out of Boston that Mike Timlin might be back next year. He'll be 41 and is coming off of two terrible months in the bullpen. His ERA for August and September was up around 6 or 7. He was hurt and tired. I worry a bit that his continued presence on the roster might slow down the rebuilding of the bullpen, but when he's fresh, he's still a solid reliever. In April and May, his ERA was still under 2, and that was coming off the World Baseball Classic. If we can keep him out of that debacle, he might be solid through July, at which time the front office had better have a strong bullpen in place. If he's not, and if they don't, things are gonna go downhill quickly.

Oh yeah, and I guess the World Series is still going on. Chris Carpenter pitched a hell of a game yesterday, and completely without the aid of pine tar. All the same, it's been sort of an underwhelming series. Placido Polanco, Ivan Rodriguez, and Carlos Guillen are something like 0-35 in the series. I was wrong about the Tigers winning in five, but I still think that the Cardinals don't have enough to close this out. Does anyone outside of St. Louis and Detroit care if I'm right or wrong? The TV ratings seem to indicate that they don't. Like I said, below the radar...