Cardinals Sign J.C. Romero to 1-Year Contract posted by Jeff Ponder

The defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals have filled their need for a lefthander in their bullpen. 

Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak announced Thursday that the club has signed free-agent left-handed pitcher J.C. Romero to a one-year contract.  Romero has spent parts of 13 seasons in Major League Baseball.

Romero, 35, had his best season in 2007 as a member of the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies.  Pitching in a combined 74 games, Romero allowed just 12 earned runs in 56 1/3 innings (1.92 ERA). 

The Cardinals have opted to not re-sign veteran Arthur Rhodes, which leaves Marc Rzepczynski as the lone-lefty in the bullpen. 

The Romero signing is one of three made by the Cardinals in the past week.  Shortstop Rafael Furcal and utility-man Skip Schumaker both received two-year contracts.  This comes after the Cardinals lost Albert Pujols in free-agency to the Anaheim Angels.

"I think a lot was up in the air as we were in the Pujols negotiations,” Mozeliak told stlcardinals.com, “but when that was resolved it freed up a lot of time so that we were able to start accomplishing some of the things we did this past week.”

Betancourt Returns to Royals posted by Jeff Ponder

The Royals were in dire need of a utility infielder.  They did not have to look far to find one.

Yuniesky Betancourt and the Royals agreed to a one-year, $2 million contract with incentives.  If Betancourt can become a full-time player, he could be paid $2.5 million next season.

Betancourt, 29, spent the 2009 and 2010 seasons with the Royals.  In that time, he batted .253 with 20 home runs and 105 RBIs in 222 games played.  Betancourt spent that time as a shortstop and has only seen nine games at second base in his seven-year career.

Alcides Escobar is slated to be the Royals’ starting shortstop in 2012, as manager Ned Yost reportedly plans to play him 150-plus games in the position.  Johnny Giavotella and Chris Getz will be battling for the second base position in training camp.  According to Royals General Manager Dayton Moore, Betancourt has a better opportunity to overtake the starting role at second base, despite his inexperience at the position.

"He will require a lot of repetition [at second base] during Spring Training,” Moore said in a conference call Tuesday.  “But he has been a middle infielder his whole career. The skill set is one where we feel comfortable allowing him to play multiple positions on the interior of the diamond."

Twins Sign Jason Marquis to 1-Year Deal posted by Jeff Ponder

The Minnesota Twins are looking to improve their dismal starting rotation numbers in 2012.

Last season, the Twins starters combined to post the third-worst ERA (4.64), while also striking out just 617 batters in 961 innings-pitched.

The Twins have outsourced to fix this problem, signing veteran right-hander Jason Marquis to a one-year, $3 million contract. 

Marquis, 33, posted an 8-5 record with a 3.95 ERA as a member of the Washington Nationals last season.  He was then sent to the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 30, where he was 0-1, posting a 9.53 ERA in just three starts.  Marquis missed the last month and a half of the 2011 season with a broken right fibula after being hit by a line drive. 

Marquis was a National League All-Star in 2009 as a member of the Colorado Rockies.  His best season came in 2004 when he posted a 15-7 record and recorded a 3.71 ERA as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Marquis has a career .455 ERA in 12 MLB seasons.  He has played for the Braves, Cardinals, Cubs, Rockies, Nationals and Diamondbacks.

The righty will likely be the fourth or fifth starter as lefthander Brian Duensing is expected to be in the bullpen to start the season.

Mike Quade Gone As Skipper of Cubs posted by Richard Kagan

The Cubs managerial merry-go-round takes another spin as Mike Quade was not re-hired by Theo Epstein, the new honcho for Cubs baseball.  Epstein was recently hired in talks so compicated that they a resembled U.S.-Russia nuclear pact to reduce nukes.

So Quade is out.  He had a good showing in 2010 at the end of the year when he led the Cubs to a great finish.  That got him the full-time job in 2011 and he presided over a 71-91 team.  Not exactly great.  But oh so Cub-like.

The Cubs will get a makeover.  They will be young and  hungry, with a few veterans.  Shawn Castro, the shortstop will be the fulcrum of this re-building project.  Castro has star written all over---He had over 200 hits for the season. The youngest Cub player ever to do that.  The Cubs are not going to win it next year.  But they may be more exciting.  With this team, you never know.

Cubs: Don't Hire Terry or Theo posted by Richard Kagan

Now that Terry Francona is out as manager of the BoSox, due to their amazing collapse in September, the thought arises, is he good enough for the Cubs?  Theo Epstein may be right behind him? 

My sentiments are: What have you done in the past ten minutes of your tenure?  They both presided over the greatest fall out of the playoffs in the month of Sept.  They had this Wild Card berth practically signed and sealed and forget to stamp the envelope.  Pitchers ran up a generous 7.50 ERA during games when Boston played 7-20 in the month. An almost .320 winning percentage. Players made errors in the field, and hitters went in the tank.  At the end of the season, the team resembled the bad guys on the Walking Dead.   We've had enough of the Waking Dead or Walking Dead.  We need an new infusion of character and energy.  For that, you need to look around.

Cubs, don't take Terry, and don't take Theo.  Be more resourceful, look around, maybe you have major talent in your orgnanization?  David Hahn is often noted as a newbie GM.  How about for the Cubs?  The Cubs had a guy go the Blackhawks, and he helped turn around that team.  The urge to go for one of the two men maybe strong, but I caution against it.  What did you do for me lately?  They blew it big time.  I don't want to hear about World Series rings 4-5 years ago.  That was then?  Don't leap for the same tired formula.  It would be like getting Nolan Ryan to be your starting pitcher.  He's retired.

White Sox Woes posted by Richard Kagan

The Chicago White Sox are in one of their funks, on a losing streak and appear to be headed for a loss in Kansas City tonight.  Unless they can score 2 runs to tie the game.  This team is playing out the schedule.  The starting pitchers are getting roughed up and the guys aren't hitting the ball  The power quotient on this squad is pretty tepid.  Paul Konerko has one homer in like 85 at bats.  Of course that blast was a GS to ice a win.  If there was an award for not scoring runs with two outs, the Sox would win it. 

The big question lays with the status of Ozzie Guillen, the manager.  Does he stay or go?  I think time is running out.

Konerko and Morel Connect for ChiSox posted by Richard Kagan

The Chicago White Sox came up with a big seven run 7th inning at home against Cleveland on Thursday night.  Brent Morel broke a 1-1 tie with a 3 run homer and Paul Konerko, broke out of HR drought by hitting a Grand Slam to break open the game.  The Sox took a 8-1 lead into the 8th inning.  Perhaps the Sox can't win it this year, too far behind and too few games, but they can certainly finish in 2nd place a few games over .500.  The Sox are a decent team that looks good when it plays well and looks bad when it doesn't play well. 

They rarely hit in the clutch.  Konerko has the knack, and he comes up big and did so again in this game.  He has 29 Home runs and 96 RBi's and it pretty solid to finish over 30 HR's and 100 Rbi's.  Konerko is having another excellent season.  A real pro at the plate.  He doesn't get the good press that he deserves.  This guy is a star player.  He made the All-star team.  What do you want from him?  Give him a curtain call.  Good going, Paulie.

Up and Down White Sox All Season posted by Richard Kagan

The White Sox seem on the verge of beating Minnesota for the third straight time.  There was a time when the Sox couldn't beat the Twins.  They did beat them in a one game playoff a few years back to get into the playoffs.  Since then,  Minnesota has been dominant.  It looks like Chicago is getting a measure of payback.  It's about time.  I don't know if its all too late for this season.  Detroit leads the Sox by eight games and there aren't many left.  Chicago can't hope to go .500 and gain ground. And, that's what they've been doing all season.  Win four games here, lose 5 straight, pick up a few wins, drop a few...back and forth.  When a team does that, it's hard to gain ground.  It's like climbing a mountain and not going anywhere or walking in quicksand.  You get the picture. 

Losing 3 straight games on the road to the Tigers hurt this team.  That all but ended their playoff hopes.  The Tigers played like a better team and it has Jason Verlander, arguably the best pitcher in the American League.  The Tigers don't lose 4 in a row.  They have Verlander, who stops losing streaks cold.

It would be nice to see the White Sox play over their heads and make it interesting.  But, I don't think that can happen.  Chicago hasn't been firing all year.  Don't expect them to start with three weeks left in the season.

Almost Perfect Game for Stewart posted by Richard Kagan

Chicago White Sox pitcher Zach Stewart threw a 1-hitter in blanking the Minnesota Twins, 4-0 in the second game of a day-night doubleheader.  Stewart retired the first 21 batters he faced, a perfect game for 7 innings, until Danny Valencia hit a double to lead off the 8th inning for the Twins.  Stewart kept his composure and retired the next six hitters he faced for a 1 hitter in a terrific outing tonight.  Stewart was almost unhittable.  Where was that pitching in the Detroit series?

The White Sox got lambasted vs. Detroit and looked out-classed by a better team.  Then their pitching comes together and this team looks pretty good.  Stewart (2-3) struck out 9 and walked none in his first career complete game.  His effort was almost historic.  And, it was a night he won't forget. 

Marmol Blows Another Save posted by Richard Kagan

Derrick Lee hit a grand slam with two outs in the top of the 9th inning off of Carlos Marmol and the Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs in a stunner at Wrigley Field, 7-5.

Marmol gave up a slami blast to Houston recently which was the game winner in the bottom of the 9th.  This time he loads the bases and gives up a grand slam to Lee, the ex-Cubs power hitter.  Boy, the Cubs are experts at losing.

And, Marmol is hard to figure.  When he's good, he's almost unhittable, and when he's bad, he squanders leads late.  And, the Cubs are learning how to win.  This type of finish doesn't help matters any.  This is a blue-print for Cubs losses.  Get productive at bits from your 3-4-5 guys and still lose the game.  Guys were hitting the ball, but the BP couldn't close it. In the bigs, that can be the difference maker and today it was.  Add Lee's name to the list of Cubs Killers.  It constantly grows.

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