Opinion

It didn’t take Jim Riggleman long to make his first decision as full-time manager of the Washington Nationals.

Starting shortstop Christian Guzman will be moved over to second base in 2010. The Nationals became concerned with Guzman’s range at short last year, and now coupled with off-season surgery on his throwing shoulder, it makes sense for the Nationals to move Guzman to second base.

Guzman’s move to second base presumably opens the door for Ian Desmond to take over the starting shortstop job for the Nationals in 2010.

Building and maintaining a consistent winner in baseball is one of the hardest things to do in all of sports. In football, basketball, and hockey rosters can completely change over within the course of two or three years.

The economics of baseball don't allow such turnover to take place. Guaranteed contracts and no-trade clauses tie a team to player regardless of performance or injury. While reconfiguring the economics of the game is an entirely different discussion, the Houston Astros are one of the teams most affected by the current set up.

There have been many outlandish claims made when comparing the relative merits of baseball players, but to conclude that Johnny Damon is in the same league as Derek Jeter is as graphic an example of specious reasoning as baseball fans have ever heard.

The only way to accept the claim is to facetiously state that they are in the same league because they are both American Leaguers.


It Hurts Johnny Damon's Case

To give Johnny Damon a long-term contract borders on insanity. Comparing Johnny to Derek Jeter only weakens his position.

The Atlanta Braves and starting pitcher Tim Hudson agreed to a three-year, $28 million contract extension on Thursday.

Hudson originally joined the Braves in a trade in December of 2005, and signed a four-year, $47 million extension that would take him from 2006 through this past season.

Remember 1997? Spice Girls. Titanic. The Simpsons (back when it was still good). And Ken Griffey Jr.

Ok, so maybe Griffey wasn’t a pop culture icon like Baby Spice, Leo, or Homer J(ay), but he was the unquestioned king of baseball.

He hit home runs. He made great plays. He smiled. He had fun playing. We had fun watching.

Griffey was the type of superstar professional sports yearn for. Yes, he was a little cocky with his home run strut, but what star athlete isn’t?

Griffey had a presence.

Reports circulated that Mets general manager Omar Minaya is hesitant to throw money around in this year's free agent class. His approach is to build around the team with lower-level free agents.

Typically, Minaya loves to target the big names and get them to the dotted line, and he has been successful with that approach, but with the team playing awful these last two years, he felt it was time to go to another direction.

One of the most important attributes in building a pitching rotation is the durability of the pitchers. When a team can rely on a starter to go out every fifth day to make his start, they have the foundation for a very good rotation.

When Brewers' GM Doug Melvin looks over a list of available starting pitchers this winter he'll find few pitchers that are more reliable and durable than Jon Garland. The Dodgers have declined their option on Garland, making him one of the more attractive options on the open market.

When Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro declined the $5.5 million contract renewal of incumbent third baseman Pedro Feliz, he suggested the Phillies could upgrade the position.

I heard Randy Miller of the Bucks Country Currier Times on WIP today and he said Chone Figgins, with more than 40 stolen bases and near .400 on-base percentage, would probably be too much money for the Phillies to pay.

A story on SI.com suggested teams were perhaps going to have lean winters, free-agent wise.

Of all the sights that Blue Jays fans were subjected to over 162 games this year, the one above is one that I never got sick of seeing.

For their incredible efforts this season, Adam Lind and Aaron Hill were rewarded as recipients of the American League Silver Slugger awards . The two brought strength and power back to the heart of the Blue Jays lineup in 2009, combining for 71 home runs and 222 RBIs.

The Boston Red Sox are certainly in for an eventful offseason.

Already there's been the seemingly surprising move of acquiring Jeremy Hermida from the Florida Marlins.

But there are still many decisions to be made regarding players. In this article, I'll breakdown a few of the players rumored to be heading to, or from, the Red Sox.

If you think I've left any player off this list, leave me a comment. This article is in no particular order.

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