Best Minor League Contract Signing?

Every offseason general managers rummage through the free agent market in hopes of striking it rich with a minor league contract signing. Last year Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon were integral members of the Yankees rotation. Ryan Vogelsong garnered Cy Young votes and was an All-Star with the Giants. Casey Kotchman manned 1st base, hitting .306 for the AL Wild Card Rays. Listed below are some of the more notable minor league contracts signings so far this offseason. Who do you think will turn out to be the biggest bargain?

Miguel Batista/Mets - he will be 41 years old by the time Spring Training begins, but over the past 3 years he's made 149 appearances with a 3.79 ERA and 1.45 WHIP over 214 innings. That type of durabilty is always useful in a bullpen.

Casey Blake/Rockies - he is now 38 years old and coming off an injury plagued 2011 season (63 games). However, his bat remains above average and his defense adequate. Moving his home games to Colorado should help too. He's likely the Rox starting third basemen in 2012.

Brad Hawpe/Rangers - he was a beast in Colorado (.280/.866 over 7 seasons), but a lamb in San Diego (.231/.645 last year). He's unlikely to post an OPS north of .850 again, but going to a stacked lineup in hitter friendly Arlington Park in Texas should help his bat recover from its slumber.

Rodrigo Lopez/Cubs - over the past two seasons he's amassed 297.2 innings with a 4.81 ERA and 1.44 WHIP (which are in line with his career averages). He's not flashy, but he's a cheap 5th/6th starter.

Kevin Millwood/Mariners - had success in a brief stint with the Rockies last season (4-3 with a 3.98 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 9 starts). He's only had 1 good season out of his last 6 though, but remember Safeco Field is a pitcher's friend.

Peter Moylan/Braves - in 6 seasons with Atlanta he's made 287 appearances with a 2.60 ERA. Impressive. He's coming off a lost cause in 2011 due to injuries (13 G, 8.1 IP), and that's why he only got a minor league deal. If healthy, this guy is an absolute steal.

Vicente Padilla/Red Sox - okay, he's a bit of a headcase and hasn't been healthy since 2009, but reports have his fastball speed in the 95 mph range in winter ball. The BoSox need pitching and taking a flier on Padilla seems like a good idea (3.84 ERA, 1.14 WHIP in 33 games over past 3 seasons with the Dodgers).

Joel Pineiro/Phillies - a durable starting pitcher, who had a miserable 2011 season with the Cardinals (5.13 ERA, 1.51 WHIP). However, in the previous two seasons, he was a quality arm in the rotation (25-19, 3.64 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 366.1 IP, 5.2 WAR). Pineiro pitches to contact and is unlikely to crack the rotation in Philly, but he's an excellent insurance policy.

Brian Sanches/Phillies - over the past 3 years in the Marlins bullpen he has made 147 appearance with a 2.92 ERA and 1.29 WHIP (although his ERA balooned to 3.94 in 2011). Still, those are quality numbers for a reliever.

Minor League Melee

Here's some minor league melee for your manic Monday morning.

FootBaseBall

Today the country's focus turns to the National Football League, as the NFC and AFC's championship games are being played. The winners make their way onto the Super Bowl. Football and baseball are America's most popular sports. Deion Sanders and Bo Jackson have been two players that were successful in both. Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija didn't go the same route as Neon Deion or Bo Knows, instead he chose baseball over a likely 1st round choice as a wide receiver in the NFL draft. There have been numerous players over the history of each sport to dabble in each.

Baseball is Gross

Baseball is not typically thought of as a gross sport, but the following players buck that mindset. Don Gross, Gabe Gross, Greg Gross, Kevin Gross, Kip Gross, Wayne Gross, Emil Gross, and Turkey Gross have all made baseball gross over the years. Emil started the trend way back in 1879. Next came Ewell, or as his friends called him "Turkey", in 1925. Then there was Don in the 50's, followed by Wayne and Greg in the 70's and 80's. Kevin, Greg's brother, took the Gross tradition into the 90's, where he overlapped with Kip. Lastly, Gabe carried the Gross torch until 2010. Currently there are no Gross players in the Majors, but maybe Gabe will make a comeback or Billy Gross, previously of the Orioles organization will attempt to revive is baseball career.




This is More Harball's 1000th post. Thanks to all who have contributed over the years (since 2006).

Plan for Mets to Draw Fans

Lets be honest, the New York Mets are going to suck in 2012, likely finishing in a distant 5th/last place in the National League East division. The Phillies have the tremendous trio of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels. The Braves have Jair Jurrjens, Tommy Hanson, Brandon Beachy, and Tim Hundson. The Marlins just added Heath Bell, Jose Reyes, and Mark Buehrle. The Mets...David Wright and a highly questionable Johan Santana. Yep, times are tough in Queens. So how do the Mets plan on drawing fans to Citi Field? I propose hiring some of these hotties to be permanent fixtures in the stands.

Baseball Themed Vehicles

Cubs fans actually do this? That's a sledgehammer to door waiting to happen...

What the hell happened to the doors?

For the Canadians...

The ultimate tailgating truck, and also my dream vehicle...

For the punch buggy fan...

Miami Marlins Reality TV

What do you get when you put the flamboyant Jose Reyes, whiny bawl-baby pissy-pants Hanley Ramirez, the combustible and highly volatile Carlos Zambrano, Twitter-happy Logan Morrison, and fellow Tweeter and explicit mouthed Ozzie Guillen all in the same clubhouse? A humongous f'n disaster!!!

The new look Miami Marlins are likely to be competitive in 2012, but all these strong personalities on the same team is sure to lead to some reality tv worthy moments. This should prove to be interesting...