Let's Hope He's The Anti-Hampton

Pretty damn shocking when the reports started circulating late last night that the Rocks had inked an extension until 2020 with Tulo that involved over $130 million. Unexpected, exciting, refreshing, and potentially a really smart, although somewhat risky, maneuver on the part of the Monfarts/O'Dowd. Of course as a fan, I'm thrilled that there's no chance Tulo could depart for the Yankees after three more years (unless he's traded, as the contract does not include a no-trade clause). Still, that's a large sum of guaranteed money for a team that doesn't have bottomless pockets. But what the hell, I'm not going to fret over the prospect of things going south for a guy who had 40 RBI in the last full month of baseball he played.

Almost equally surprising, and more important for the 2011 season, the Rocks somehow appear to be ready to sign DLR for at least two more years (potentially four years with player/club options). Hard to overstate how important it is to have a power lefty in a projected starting rotation packed with righties. Welcome back DLR. May 2011 be a healthy, productive one for you.

After a snooze fest of a hot stove season thus far, things got interesting quickly. Still, there is more work to be done. Let's not forget these aren't additions to last year's team - and Tulo wasn't going anywhere soon anyway. O'Dowd needs to find at least one bat out there that provides some backup for Tulo and Pony. The fact that these two deals were made gives me some hope O'Dowd has at least one more trick up his sleeve.

Boom, Barmey Outta Here

I'm guessing this was a low and outside slider that Barmes bit on to strike out. It's kind of sad to see him go: great fielder, good teammate apparently, could hit some dongs, and was actually sort of clutch during the first half of last year. On the other hand, his strike outs were a liability, his average sucked, and was probably going to be let go anyway, so at least we got something for him. The contingency of players that were on the '07 WS team is dwindling pretty quickly. I also don't like the implications of this trade on the DLR situation. Looking like he's gone, which is not good.

No More Corpas To Unwar

Not that he was going to play this year anyway, but the Rocks flat released Manuel today. They still owe him almost $4mil. That's as exciting as Hot Stove season gets in these parts. Corpas had a ton of potential and I'll admit I thought his contract extension was a good move by O'Dowd at the time. Things just went down hill after 2007. Maybe it's because he never used VH's Panama as his theme music....adios Manny.....

Yo Pittsburgh Pirates (and their down trodden fanbase)....you ready for a hell of a lot more talk that will involve the term "barrel"?

Golden Gloves

Way to go fellas. But you know, these personal awards don't mean anything if there aren't rings to go along with 'em.

Boom, Miggy Outta Here

Not totally sure how to react to this one. If it was the first half Miggy, this would obviously look foolish as hell. Hard to argue with wanting to go in a different direction than the 2nd half Olivo. Crappy at the plate and made some pretty horrible throwing errors that were costly down the stretch. All of that said, O'Dowd better not be putting all of his catcher eggs in the I-Dog basket. I would like to think Lansford is going to be the catalyst that transforms I-Dog into an every day catcher, but that seems like a big leap of faith (read: stupidity). There better be a hot stove Plan B that emerges from all of this....