A quick 3 UP today because I am hosting the Sirius/XM baseball show this morning (and also tomorrow, Wednesday morning) from 7-10 a.m. on Sirius 210 or XM 175 if you care to listen:
1. Kobe Bryant scored a new Madison Square Garden record 61 points Monday night and the Lakers improved to 38-9 by far the best record in the Western Conference. Why do I tell you this? Because I want to dispel the notion that Joe Torre is going to have clubhouse problems in Los Angeles because of the book he has co-written, The Yankee Years.
Shortly after the 2003-04 season, Phil Jackson left as coach of the Lakers and wrote a book, the Last Season, that did pretty much everything Torre has done in this book, including revealing private conversations and ripping into a big-ego, big-talent star named Kobe Bryant. Among other things, Jackson called Bryant “narcissistic” and “uncoachable.” Jackson wrote in the book that it was a misrepresentation that he left because he wanted too much money. He said the money he asked for was just a way to determine how much the Lakers really wanted him back. He also dismissed that his act was growing stale and that he was no longer able to motivate his players.
Of course, a year later, Jackson was re-hired as Laker coach. Bryant has played brilliantly for him, and because of his personality and accomplishments it appears as if Jackson is having no trouble in the coaching/trust department with his players.
Now we have Torre, dishing on his big-ego, big-talent star in Alex Rodriguez. We have Torre revealing private conversations. We have Torre saying it wasn’t about money in the end with the Yankees, it was about trust and being wanted back. We have Torre saying he did not have to be motivated via bonus money because he knew how to continue to get his players to the playoffs.
And now we even have Joe Torre in L.A. along with Jackson. I continue to believe Torre should not have written this book. I think it removed the moral high ground he owned after leaving the Yankees and does take a shot at his stature for taking the money to trash those he left behind. However, sports – like most walks of life – are filled with raging phonies, short memories and self-interest. Thus, Torre will return to the Dodger clubhouse much like Jackson returned to his locker room and there will be some early buzz about the book. But if Torre is as successful as Jackson, the issue will disappear quickly. After all, until you read these words did you even remember that Jackson had written a book trashing Bryant?
2. Obviously, there are some huge names out there still on the free-agent market such as Manny Ramirez, Adam Dunn, Bobby Abreu and Pedro Martinez. But there also seems to be some useful players remaining that could help a lot of teams. I will point to two that intrigue me: Jose Vidro and Ty Wigginton.
Vidro had a miserable season in 2008 (.234) and was released by the Mariners, probably as much to make sure his vesting option did not trigger as anything. But he is just a year removed from hitting .314. Maybe he is finished at age 34. However, he was a pretty good hitter from both sides of the plate for a long time who might be able to play several positions in the infield. To me, he is worth a low-base, incentive-filled contract for a team looking for bench support.
The more surprising one to me is Wigginton. I keep asking executives if there is something about him that I don’t know because – to me – he should have a job. He is not a good defender, but you can put him at first, second, third or the corner outfield and not be destroyed. He really hits lefty pitching well and is fine against righties. He plays hard. He was instrumental late last season in getting the Astros back into the race.
I look at the Mets, who lean so heavily left-handed, and think that Wigginton would be an ideal player to spot Carlos Delgado at first, Luis Castillo at second and Ryan Church/Daniel Murphy in the corner outfield.
3. There were many Met officials who badly wanted to have Oliver Perez back. They loved that he was still just 27 and that he is lefthanded and that he has shown no fear of pitching in New York. They see the stuff and continue to imagine what an Oliver Perez who can concentrate full-time would look like over 34 starts. And that is the fascinating story for the next three years. Does Ollie Perez grow up? Does he fulfill his abilities? Or does he remain the talented, but frustrating entity whose results fluctuate wildly. Three years from now, we may look back and say the Mets got a steal to retain Perez in his prime for $36 million over three years. It is equally possible, to me, that we look back in three years and say the Mets knew Perez the best and, thus, should have known better than to get back involved with him.