>By The Common Man Yesterday, Dan Graziano of AOL Fanhouse announced that he was not voting for Jeff Bagwell because of lingering suspicions he had regarding whether or not Bags used steroids, “I don’t know for sure that Bagwell took steroids or any other performance-enhancing drugs to help him attain his Hall of Fame-caliber numbers. […]

>The final SweetSpot Roundup of 2010.  We’ll be back on our regular offseason schedule in 2011. Austin’s Astros 290 Blog: When I knew the Astros were headed for disaster“Af I had to pin down a moment I knew the Astros were headed for disaster, it was Dec. 13, 2006.”  Ah yes, the day a dream […]

>By The Common Man Just landed back in America’s Frozen Heartland after a little less than a week in the desert of Scottsdale (soon to be rename Klawtonia).  Lots of stuff burning in TCM’s bloggy brain, but he owes the St. Louis Cardinals answers to these questions three. The Cards remain a team driven by a few, […]

>For what other reason would you come to The Platoon Advantage but for hoary old clichés? The Common Man will not disappoint you. Here’s what each team wants for Christmas, along with whether they will get it: Arizona Diamondbacks: A bullpen Phoenix doesn’t have to be ashamed of. Because…oh my God, it burns! Don’t make […]

>By Bill It’s that time of year, when most people just think about Christmas and stuff, but baseball freaks like us spend way too much of their time thinking about Hall of Fame voting.  And for the last few years, it’s been that time of year when everybody talks about Bert Blyleven and Jack Morris.  […]

> OK, The Common Man will bite. He’s a sucker for when Rob throws out one of his mysteries (first George Strickland, then Ted Abernathy, now this), and yesterday he started wondering about Gene Bearden, a rookie sensation for the Indians in 1948, who won 20 games and quickly faded into obscurity. Rob writes, “Most […]

> By Bill Continuing to go in order of 2010 record from top to bottom, we’ve come to the last AL team that finished above .500 in 2010.  Gone are first baseman Lyle Overbay, starting pitcher Shaun Marcum, catcher John Buck and reliever Scott Downs. Coming in to replace them is…well, nobody, basically. Pretty much […]

>Austin’s Astros 290 Blog: Astros add strikeouts…I mean power…to middle infieldAustin gets a little more apopleptic over a $3.25, one-year deal and the loss of the immortal Jeff Keppinger than is probably warranted. Capitol Avenue Club (Braves): Baseball America’s Top 10 Braves ProspectsNew contributor Kevin Orris reviews the Braves farm system as seen by BA.com. Disciples of […]

>By The Common Man TCM’s done with the NL West, which means it’s time to move on in our 3 Questions series. And given the events of this past weekend, it’s pretty clear who should be in the crosshairs next, isn’t it?  (As always, you can find the rest of the 3 Questions series here) […]

>By The Common Man A couple of days ago seemed to be Hall of Fame Day around the internets, as SI’s Jon Heyman released his ballot which was predictably non-sensical and haphazard (Update: Heyman has since published a column explaining his voting. While TCM doesn’t agree with his vote, nor his criteria (“in some ways you […]

>Hey, a huge congratulations to the SweetSpot Network’s newest blog, Baseballin’ on a Budget, which is representing the Oakland A’s in our little family.  My first question is whether Dan Hennessey and Chris Martinez thinks Billy Beane’s lost it (or if he never had it to begin with).  But Chris has a nice retrospective up […]

>By The Common Man Four years ago, the Diamondbacks were a surprising 90 win playoff team, whose young talent all came together at the right time for a postseason run. Chris Snyder, Conor Jackson, Stephen Drew, Mark Reynolds, Chris Young, and Carlos Quentin were all under 27 and considered building blocks. Alberto Callaspo (24) couldn’t […]

> By Bill I was a bit surprised to note that, going backwards by 2010 win total, the White Sox (at 88) are the next team on the list.  They just didn’t seem nearly that good.  And in fact, part of that is because, after losing eight in a row and ten out of twelve […]

>By The Common Man As you no doubt know by now, the Phillies have locked up the pole position in the National League and will go into 2011 as the favorites to make the World Series from the Senior Circuit. By no means guaranteed to make the Big Dance, it’s clear that Philadelphia has greatly […]

>Capitol Avenue Club: Roster Update/Rant/ExtensionsCAC’s got the breakdown on what the Braves will look like in 2011, and he’s pretty satisfied. Disciples of Uecker (Brewers): Winter Meetings SummaryJack’s pretty pleased with the Brew Crew’s Winter Meeting haul.  But all he’d like for Christmas is Carl Pavano. Fungoes (Cardinals): How does Crawford’s deal affect Pujols?“The domino […]