MY BASEBALL BIAS

OF David Dellucci’s PHYSICAL HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED

The Indians are going to be extra cautious here and finalize the deal AFTER the physical. Its rescheduled for next Tuesday. Upon successful completion of that physical, Dellucci will reportedly sign a 3 year, $11.5M contract. He should be the Indians starting left fielder next year if all goes well. He’s a solid player and the Tribe hope he can build on the strong finish he had with Philly last year. I just can’t wait to Grady Sizemore roam centerfield again. The guy is fun to watch.

The Boston Globe reports OKAJIMA DEAL IS FOR 2 YEARS @ 1.25M PER

The Red Sox continue to make inroads in Japan by signing Okajima and winning the bidding right on prized pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. Its a great marketing plan and one that could pay dividends in the scouting dept. for the Red Sox. I am concerned however, on how much these bids may climb over the next few years. Boston dished out $51M just to talk to Matsuzaka. What happens when the next prized player from Japan comes along? Are we talking about $60 or $70M? I think this could get out of hand if MLB doesn’t put some restraint in place. To me, its a very unfair system. What about a Japanese draft?

Anyway, Okajima will be 31 when the 2007 season begins and what can we expect? To tell you the truth, I have no idea. Everyone needs relievers and sometimes you just throw a few guys against a wall throughout the year and see which ones stick. That’s my take on Okajima plus when and if Matsuzaka signs, he’ll now have a companion.

Check out this site JapaneseBallplayers.com for everything on Japanese Baseball players.

Adam Eaton signs a 3 year, 24.5M contract with the Phillies.

Give me a break. He gets the Jaret Wright contract + 3.5M. The Phillies lose out on Randy Wolf who signed with the Dodgers and sign a guy with a career ERA of 4.40. He’s never won more than 11 games in a season which he did twice with Padres in ‘04 and ‘05 and in my opinion pitched horribly for the Rangers last year when he returned from an finger injury to pitch only 65 innings. He ended his 2006 season with a 7-4 record and 5.12 ERA. I know he’ll be a back of the rotation guy but 8M a year? I just can’t believe it.

In other Philly news, FA pitcher Joe Borowski had a hiccup with his physical and the Phillies have put his signing on hold. Shoulder problems. And so goes another pitcher.

The orioles apparently have an agreement in principle with backup catcher Paul Bako from Kansas City and have reached an oral agreement with first baseman Kevin Millar.

Here’s the link to Jeff Zrebiec’s piece in the Baltimore Sun which also discusses the Bradford and Williamson signings.

Millar is a good signing. I thought he might sign on with the Yankees and fill their need for a first baseman. He provides solid defensive play and is popular around the clubhouse adn with the fans.

Bako will backup starter Ramon Hernandez who had a solid 2006 campaign. “Bako the Backup” has a nice ring to it.

More on this deal when it becomes official.

The Orioles finalized the contracts of two more relievers today.

Two more relievers? Reminds me of what GM Wayne Krivsky was doing at the trade deadline in Cincinnati this past year. That totals FOUR new relievers (Danys Baez, Jaime Walker, Chad Bradford and Scott Williamson) that the O’s have signed this off-season in bridging the gap to closer Chris Ray. Listen, the O’s starting pitchers get beat up every year by the beasts of the AL East (Red Sox, Yankees ). They lost Chris Britton in the Jaret Wright trade with the Yankees and I’m sure don’t want to stomach anymore appearances by LaTroy Hawkins. Who knows how much this will help. Relievers can be a shifty bunch and what bothers me about the deals are that 3 out of 4 (Bradford, Baez and Walker) are signed for three years. I think that’s very risky but I give them points for not sitting back and doing nothing. Here are the contract details with links to their career stats:

Jaime Walker, 35-year-old LHP signed as FA for 3 years at 12M

Danys Baez, 29-year-old RHP signed as FA for 3 years at 19M

Chad Bradford, 32-year-old RHP signed as FA for 3 years at 10.5M

Scott Williamson, 30-year-old RHP signed as for 1 year at 900,000

Average age here is 30. I was impressed with Walker when I watched him this year. He’ll be extremely tough on lefties who batted only .200 against him in 2006. Pretty good pick-up.

Baez may be the O’s insurance policy for a closer if something happens to Ray. It’s a smart move but he got Kyle Farnsworth money and I don’t see him being much better than him. He had a rough 2006 with the Dodgers and Braves before an appendectomy ended his season in late August. He pitched pretty well against the Al East when he was with the Devil Rays in ‘04 and ‘05 so I’m sure the O’s hope he can shut down the powerful offenses in their division an be a strong setup man to Chris Ray.

Bradford certainly gives them a different look out of the bullpen. His submarine delivery is a positive and he’s pitched in the AL East before with Boston. A career 3.40 ERA (2.90 in 2006 for the Mets) is pretty solid.

Williamson throws hard but has had 2 reconstructive surgeries on his pitching elbow plus bone chips removed this offseason. A gamble yes, but a cheap gamble at 900K.