Well, the Reds certainly opened up the pocketbooks on this one.  Yahoo's reporting that Francisco Cordero signed with Cincy for $46M over 4 years, which averages to $11.5M per year.  Yahoo is also reporting that the Cordero contract includes a team option for a 5th year at approx. $11M.

This is the largest four-year deal ever for a closer, surpassing Billy Wagner's $43M/4 deal with the Mets two years ago.  It's not the richest contract ever for a closer, that would be Mariano Rivera's $45M/3 deal with the Yankees a week ago, but it's still a ton of money.

So what does everyone think about this one?  Cordero's got sick stuff and all, but he walks a few too many batters for my taste.  I don't think the move to GAB will hurt him as much as most, since he's familiar with pitching in offensive environments in Texas and Milwaukee.

Another blow for the Milwaukee bullpen, which has now lost both Cordero and Linebrink, although with Scott perhaps it's addition by subtraction.  Both departures were probably expected, so I'm sure the front office has a plan to shore the pen up.  It'll be interesting to see how Melvin responds.  The last 2 years, he's gone ouside the system and acquired bullpen pieces via trade.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=txredscordero&prov=st&type=lgns

Wow.

http://www.sfgate.com/flat/archive/2007/11/15/news/archive/2007/11/15/state/n141013S18.html

Some of you have probably seen the recent press about Rudy Guiliani, who's come out and said that he'll be rooting for the Red Sox in the World Series, because he's an AL guy.

He's getting some flack for it in the press, and it made me curious:  Who are Yankees fans rooting for in this year's World Series?  When I was a kid, I was raised to root for my League no matter what, but Boston/New York is such a heated rivalry, I wonder if that's true for y'all?

Hopefully, it didn't cost you too much, because you are tight with Bud and got a good, solid discount.  But regardless, now you've got to hire a GM to help you compete.

A few facts:

-- You're loaded, but you're also stingy.  Your financial whiz kid bean counter tells you that for 2008, a $80M major league payroll will still make you some money.  What happens after that is anyone's guess.

-- You're smart, and know that winning makes money, but also that making money is winning.

-- You understand and are committed to player recruitment and development.

-- Your ballpark plays fairly neutral.

So, which of the following young GMs do you take, and why?

OK, there's just no way to ignore what Carmona's doing.  Since the All-Star Break, Carmona's put up a 2.19 ERA in 13 starts, with a 65/24 K/BB rate.  He's also got 17 Ws on the year, and tonight's gem against the Royals dropped his ERA to 3.07, which leads the AL.  His 64.9% GB rate also leads the AL, and the strikeouts may have also started to come, as he rung up 9 today (with no walks) against KC.

So, the question is, how good can Carmona be?  He doesn't strike out quite as many as you might like (K/9 of 6.14 since the ASB), but he's otherwise got unreal stuff.  But don't just take my word for it.  Here's what Torii Hunter had to say about Carmona's slider, after a complete game shutout by Carmona earlier this year:

"It's not normal. He's not even human. It was so scary, I thought I was hung over. That dude is filthy. We've been struggling, but even if we had been playing good, we wouldn't have beaten him. If you've never played the game, listen to me, I'm a hitter. Right-handers have no chance unless they get lucky and get a hit on a broken bat."

So far into 2007, Wandy Rodriguez is putting up some seriously impressive component numbers.  In 77 IPs so far this year, he's registering ratios of 8.26 K/9, 2.09 BB/9, and 3.94 K/BB, which are #1/#2 starter-type credentials.  In fact, those almost exactly mimic Aaron Harang's numbers for the year.

What do people who've seen him regularly think?  Is he a good bet to keep putting up these kinds of #s this year, and will his counting stats like W/L come into line?  Has he been doing anything different, or is it just that he's locating better?

Thanks for any thoughts.

Metaphorically, of course.

Did my eyes deceive me, or did Brox really hit 101 on the gun last night during LoDuca's AB?

It looked like (I was on the phone with the GF, so I didn't hear what Scully said), Brox hit 101 with a fastball, and then 97 on a slider, later in the AB.  A 97 mph slider?  Is this even possible??  I'm guessing it was the splitter, but it looked an awful lot like a ridiculously-unhittable slider.

Anyway, don't know if anyone caught the AB, but all I can say is "Wow."

From today's LA Times, it looks like Brett "Bombko" Tomko is being moved to the bullpen again.  If his next start in Vegas "goes well," Kuo is the candidate to replace Tomko in the rotation, not Billingsley.  Not entirely clear who will get the start if Kuo pitches poorly.

http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-sp-dodrep24may24,1,5589268.story?coll=la-headl ines-sports-mlb-dodger&ctrack=2&cset=true

I kid, because I love.  After two excellent starts to begin the year, Cabrera looked a little shaky yesterday against Kansas City, giving up 3 ERs and 7 hits in just 5 innings.  He did, however, continue his progress in the K/BB department, issuing only one free pass against 5 strikeouts.

I watched part of the game, and Cabrera didn't look too bad.  It was cold and drizzly, and it's possible that affected him, but mostly I think the Royals came in with a plan to swing at the first straight thing they saw.

I know others have been interested to see how he would do in less-than-ideal situations, and a 5 IP, 3 ER performance, though not great, certainly isn't the kind of blow-up we've seen in the past.

Any Cabrera-watchers see yesterday's game and have any additional thoughts?

(And yes, he was just dropped in my fantasy league, but that's not the reason for the diary.)

Big news out of TB's camp today, Cantu's getting sent down, Upton's going to start the year at 2B, and (the big surprise!) Dukes will play CF until Baldelli gets healthy.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-devilraysmoves&prov=ap&type=lgns