Ballpark Savvy

I guess I gave away my thoughts in the title.

Vlad signed with the Rangers for $5M for one year this week. I think it is a great signing because Vlad has owned Texas in his career. He has hit .394 in 50 games at the Ballpark in Arlington, and is only 35 years old; which is unbelievable.

Granted he is an injury risk, but give me Vlad at DH vs. Milton Bradley making $5M this year and $9M in 2011. He has lost some thump, but if he is healthy is still a great 5 or 6 hitter.

Want to watch Vlad play this year, don't pay too much; check out my Ballpark in Arlington page.

The Cincinnati Reds have inked a deal this week with Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman. The Cuban Missile can bring it at speeds up to 100 mph, and is only 21 years old. The deal is for 5M per year, for 5 years.

Signing Aroldis Chapman  is a great move for the Cincinnati Reds. The Cincinnati Enquirer mentioned this as a "high risk" move, but I disagree. I say the Reds signing Eric Milton a few years ago for about 9M per year was high risk. The Reds have a recent history of overpaying for guys that make no sense for the team; see Paterson, Corey.

The Chapman deal is yet another step in the right direction for the team, who has made aggressive signings of young Latin players over the last few years.

These types of arms come around about once in a generation, especially from a lefty. You take young arms like this an hopefully teach them how to pitch, not take washed up arms and try to salvage them for the same price. I hope Chapman is a dominant starter for years to come.

If he doesn't work out, we could all think of 25 million we have wasted on worse.

I had the Phillies in 7, so I was wrong. Here are my observations from a Fall Classic gone by.

First of all, as a Cincinnati Reds fan, I realize just how far away the Reds are from winning another World Series. A local sports talk host pointed out the fact that there may not be one Red who would start for either the Phillies or the Yankees. I guess Brandon Phillips would start over Robinson Cano, but that is probably a close call.

• Baseball needs a salary cap. Every other major sport has it, and how can anybody be expected to compete with the likes of the Yankees and Red Sox year in and year out. There are definitely examples where they have, but they are few and far between.
• I know Ryan Howard puts up big numbers, but man does he strike out a lot. I would be much more fearful of a high average hitter with two outs and a runner on. He was almost useless in the Series.
• Will Mariano Rivera pitch forever? It seems as though he will, and that he could just pitch every game and throw one pitch. I don't get it.
• 2010 World Series will be the Reds over the Yankees in 6. Write that down.