Everyone knows that when you’re negotiating a salary for a new position that you ask your potential employer to give you less money than they’re offering. I mean, I bet there’s hardly a job offer interaction that goes down in this country where the employee doesn’t say, “hey, I might mess up at the deadline, and then how would I ever deal with the guilt of that salary?”
I mean, I know I’ve asked, even begged, for a reduction in pay. I bet you have, too. Isn’t it time that A-Rod took a lesson from people like us?
Well, whether this is a bunch of hooey like the Gold Glove awards or not, the Louisville Slugger Silver Slugger Award winners for 2007 have been announced:
National League:
C – Russell Martin, Dodgers
1B – Prince Fielder, Brewers
2B – Chase Utley, Phillies
3B – David Wright, Mets
SS – Jimmy Rollins, Phillies
OF – Carlos Beltran, Mets; Matt Holliday, Rockies; Carlos Lee, Astros
P – Micah Owings, Rockies
American League
C – Jorge Posada, Yankees
1B – Carlos Pena, Devil Rays
2B – Placido Polanco, Tigers
3B – Alex Rodriguez, Yankees
SS – Derek Jeter, Yankees
OF – Vladimir Guerrero, Angels; Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners; Magglio Ordonez, Tigers
DH – David Ortiz, Boston
The selections are made by major league managers and coaches, who are not allowed to vote for players on their own teams. The specially designed award, a three-foot high trophy engraved with the name of the winner and those of the other winners in his league, will be presented some time during 2008 to each player by a representative of Hillerich & Bradsby Co., which manufactures the Louisville Slugger bats that are the official bat of major league baseball.
Posted in NL Central. Comments Off on Silver Sluggers Announced
Chuck Tanner, the manager of the Pirates “We Are Family” championship team of 1979, has been named a senior advisor to new Pirates’ GM Neal Huntington.
The term “senior advisor” is an apt one since Tanner is 79 years old. He had been working for the Indians as a scout, and before that had been a special assistant to the GM in Milwaukee.
Tanner first broke into baseball in 1946 as an outfielder in the Milwaukee Braves’ farm system and managed in the major leagues for 19 years, serving four different clubs – the White Sox, A’s, Pirates, and Braves..
The Houston Astros today acquired outfielder Michael Bourn, third baseman Michael Costanzo, and right-handed pitcher Geoff Geary from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for right-handed pitcher Brad Lidge and infielder Eric Bruntlett.
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“One of our goals coming into the offseason was to find a quality speed centerfielder who could hit at the top of the order and give us a spark,” said Wade. “Bourn is an outstanding young player who will make an immediate impact and should be productive for a long time. Plus, his addition allows us to move Hunter Pence to right field, where he will continue to grow into the All-Star caliber player that we know he’s capable of becoming.”
More importantly, Bourn coming to the NLC will give Reds’ broadcaster Steve Stewart yet more chances to make one of his favorite jokes:
You could say he wasn’t born yesterday…but he was.
And Brandon Phillips isn’t one of them, which is all you really need to know.
American League
C – Ivan Rodriguez
1B – Kevin Youkilis
2B – Placido Polanco
3B – Adrian Beltre
SS – Orlando Cabrera
OF – Grady Sizemore
OF – Torii Hunter
OF – Ichiro Suzuki
P – Johan Santana
National League
C – Russell Martin
1B – Derrek Lee
2B – Orlando Hudson
3B – David Wright
SS – Jimmy Rollins
OF – Carlos Beltran
OF – Andruw Jones
OF – Jeff Francouer
OF – Aaron Rowand
P – Greg Maddux
Is it really likely that Greg Maddux is still the best fielding pitcher in the NL? I don’t think so, but neither can I come up with a better fielding pitcher, and apparently neither could anyone else.
Jimmy Rollins is the one pick I can get behind, but I’ve been unfairly biased toward J-Roll since I heard him rap on Oh Say Can You Sing? lo these many years ago.
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