This just in...

Jason Michael Barker

This late in the off-season, baseball news items are often few and far between. Just ask our editor, who compiles the news on a daily basis. Add in the Super Bowl hype factor, and it's been even harder to find those tasty morsels of baseball news the past two weeks.

Fear not, readers. Strikethree.com is here to recap the more meaningful transactions you may have missed recently. Note: the key word here is "meaningful." This article will not contain the list of those seven non-roster players the Phillies invited to spring training, because if you really cared about them you would have found out already.

Cardinals ink 2B Carlos Baerga. Having lost last year's starter Delino DeShields to the Orioles via free agency, the Cardinals found themselves in need of a double-play partner for new SS Edgar Renteria. Some would say that even after signing Baerga, 30, to a one-year deal they STILL need one, but you didn't read it here.

The once-productive Baerga has seen his career take a turn for the worse ever since being traded away from Cleveland, where he put up good offensive numbers relative to his position on the field. He was never one to get on base much (career highs: 48 walks in 1991, .355 OBP in 1995), but for the most part he made up for it by hitting for decent power, peaking at a .525 SLG in 1994. In two and half seasons with the Mets, however, he didn't show any signs of power, failing to reach even the modest .400 SLG plateau, and his OBP hovered around .300.

The good news is that Baerga is just 30 years old, young enough that it's possible he could rebound a bit in 1999. He's also a switch hitter, and you know how managers love to have them around. Just don't tell Tony LaRussa that he hit a whopping .204 against lefties last season. The move completes a major overhaul for the Cards, with Mark McGwire and Ray Lankford the only expected opening day starters left from last season.

Padres' Hitchcock cashes in. Desperate for starting pitching, San Diego locked up Sterling Hitchcock to a three-year, $15.5M deal last week, avoiding his potential free agency following the 1999 season. Hitch was just 9-7 last season after beginning the year in the bullpen, but went 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA in the post-season. Much was made of his beating three Cy Young award winners (Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine) for those victories.

The deal is good for the Padres for several reasons. First, it locks up a solid pitcher to a reasonably priced contract. Second, it's a good move to show the fans that the team is serious about winning, despite losing Kevin Brown and Ken Caminiti to free agency. It's also something of a gamble, however.

Hitchcock benefited greatly from his home park last season, one of the more pitcher-friendly stadiums in baseball, going 6-2 with a 2.63 ERA at home versus 3-5 and 5.26 on the road. He also allowed 29 home runs in just 176.1 innings, or 1.5 per nine innings. Finally, the biggest reason for his improvement last season was working with pitching coach Dave Stewart, a fierce competitor and not a bad pitcher in his day. Stewart left the Padres after the World Series, however, opting for a front office job with the Blue Jays. How will this affect Hitchcock and the rest of the Padres pitching staff next season?

Seattle lands 2001 All-Star Game. Pending an official announcement on Monday, Seattle's Safeco Field, scheduled to open this July, will host the 2001 edition of baseball's midsummer classic. Now here's the irony. Seattle's two stars, Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez, are up for free agency following the 2000 season, and neither player will discuss signing an extension until the team shows that it's serious about winning.

Rodriguez is represented by Scott Boras (he of Kevin Brown's $100M deal), who has hinted that his client will command more than Brown, while Griffey has specifically demanded that the team acquire more pitching. If both players chose to leave following the 2000 season, the 2001 All-Star game will be one of the few chances for Seattle fans to see two of the players who were directly responsible for the stadium being built in the first place.

And finally... MLB Commish-for-Life Bud Selig still hasn't responded to Pete Rose's request for reinstatement, filed over 15 months ago. Rose remains ineligible for baseball's Hall of Fame, although he did receive six write-in votes in the most recent balloting. He was recently hired as a hitting instructor by Sacramento of the independent Western League. Rose knows a thing or two about hitting, having retired with more hits than anyone in baseball history.

It seems everyone has to make their point on this issue, so here's mine. At this point it seems extremely unlikely that Selig will overturn the lifetime ban placed upon Rose in 1989, and this writer is beginning to wonder if that isn't for the best. With baseball doing so well right now, why drudge up one of the game's darkest moments, one that most people have either forgotten about or put behind them?

In my humble opinion, the benefits of reinstatement and potential election to the Hall outweigh the detriment of reminding the everyone of baseball's corrupt past, not to mention the issue of whether he even deserves to be reinstated in the first place.

about the author

Jason Michael Barker wishes he could take back those not-so-nice things he said about Albert Belle last week, but alas it was late and that was probably just the pineapple juice talking. Promise not to share Jason's home address with Mr. Belle when you write him at jmb@strikethree.com.