The pitch/fx system is quickly becoming on of the most informative and enlightening tool for both baseball analysts and more traditionally minded scouts.  The system burst on the scene in 2006 and it quickly raised eye brows.  Some of you may remember Joel Zumaya scorching the radar gun on FOX with 101 MPH and 102 MPH — at the time,  a lot of people called shenanigans on

Once more we’ll delve into the Pitcher Projections in  The Bill James Handbook 2009 , published by  ACTA Sports , to see what the book, described by ESPN Baseball Analyst Peter Gammons as, “The prize of our winter hibernation,” in online advertisements, predicts the Nationals will get out of their reconstructed bullpen next season.  This comes just a day after Washington outrighted former closer, Chad Cordero and his fellow DC reliever Ryan Wagner, and then saw the two (along with IF Pete Orr) opt for free agency rather than accept the demotion to Triple-A Syracuse.  MLB.com’s Bill Ladson , in his report on the roster movement entitled, “Cordero’s Nats tenure likely over”, writes that Cordero has softened his stance about a possible return to DC, with the Montreal Expos’ 1st Round pick, 20th overall in 2003, quoted as saying: “‘ Yeah, I’m open to coming back. I’m not going to close the door on anybody,’ Cordero said. ‘Obviously, I had a great time in D.C.

Lee Thomas was primarily a First-Baseman for the 1961-64 Angels, although he could be found in any outfield position on a semi-regular basis, as the young expansion team was still discovering itself. Angel Career Highlights: 2005 Top 100 Angel (#94) ALL STAR, 1962 11th Place in the AL MVP voting, 1962 61 HR (23rd All Time) 231 Runs scored (38th All Time) 360 Hits (37th All Time) 723 Total Bases (35th All Time) CAREER STATS

Torry Holt? Phased out? Oh,  words like that hurt

At his Freep.com blog , WRIF’s Jamie Samuelsen (my new Facebook friend!) thinks Ramon Santiago is a suitable stopgap at shortstop until  Cale Iorg is ready for prime time: The list of potential free agents doesn’t move me all that much.  Omar Vizquel had his best seasons, what, EIGHT years ago?  Orlando Cabrera is such a head case that he made Ozzie Guillen lose his mind in Chicago, and that is a tall task.  Rafael Furcal made $13 million in the final year of his Dodgers contract.  I’m guessing he won’t want too much of a pay cut, and his numbers just don’t support that salary.  He is fast and is one of the few base-stealing threats left in baseball, but with Granderson and Polanco at the top of the Tigers’ lineup, he doesn’t seem to fit there.  And would you really want to pay $10 million-plus for a No. 8 or No. 9 hitter

(AP Photo/Tom Mihalek) The Knicks were surprisingly impressive in their first game of the season. As for their second run…not so much.

So in the midst of my net surfing here this evening, I came across this little story from NOLA.com .  It’s about the Saints players that are currently caught up in the current StarCaps/Bumetanide row.  The interesting part comes from this little bit at the bottom of the article. McAllister said he had been taking the StarCaps pills for at least four years, and that he had sent them in for testing when he began taking them

Last month, I considered whether we should keep faith in John Salmons . A few weeks ago, section214 offered another viewpoint

With the conclusion of the World Series this week, eligible players can now file for free agency, and the first of the Detroit Tigers to do so was pitcher Freddy Garcia .  (Unless you consider Edgar Renteria the first to hit the open market, after the Tigers declined his $12 million contract option.) Garcia’s decision is really just a formality, however, as this was the agreement he and the Tigers reached when he signed a minor-league deal with the team in mid-August.  It was a low-risk transaction for both sides, with Garcia getting to prove that he was major-league ready and the Tigers having an opportunity to show that Detroit could be a long-term home.  Since leaving his last start of the season with a tight neck/strained shoulder , Garcia hasn’t thrown a baseball from a mound, which is behind schedule from where he hoped to be at this point.  He intends to pitch winter ball in Venezuela.

  Date: Opponent: Score: Record: Opponent’s Record: Sept. 15 Minnesota Vikings L: 24-20 0-1 1-0 Sept. 22 Baltimore Colts L: 20-14 0-2 1-1 Sept