New Beginnings

Baseball is all about new beginnings. Each new season brings hope. Each new batter could start, sustain, or end a rally. Baseball is about anticipation, the drama, the action in the inaction.

The waiting is, undoubtedly, the hardest part.

The wait is almost over for the new MLB Network. It will launch this evening at 6:00pm (ET). You can check the network's website to see if you have the channel on your cable system.

Only 43 days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

Tribe acquires DeRosa; Cubs get scrappy Miles

The Indians have acquired Mark DeRosa from the Chicago Cubs for four minor leaguers. I like DeRosa a lot. He's a versatile hard-working player, and an all-around great athlete - you've probably heard the stories about him playing QB at Penn. Alan Schwarz of the NY Times writes this about DeRosa:

"DeRosa, 33, is the major leagues’ only former all-Ivy League quarterback and the only player with a degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. Yet he remains less white-collar Wharton than blue-collar Jersey. He is a thinking-man’s player not thinking too much, a late bloomer who has graduated from reserve to utility man to an everyday, versatile player."

I expect DeRosa to play 2B for the Tribe, moving Asdrubal Cabrera to short and Jhonny Peralta to third. Paul Hoynes of the Plain-Dealer, however, reports that DeRosa is expected to play third.

DeRosa is also a blogger.

Read more on this deal at The DiaTribe.


Aaron Miles, another versatile scrappy player, also has a new home. Miles was not re-signed by the St. Louis Cardinals and instead inked a two-year deal with the Cubs. Miles is a switch-hitter and primarily a middle-infielder, however, he also added third base and all three outfield positions to his repertoire. Also, get this... Miles has been known to pitch on occasion. Miles stands a David Eckstein-esque 5'8" and weighs about 170.

Reds think speed

With the signing of Willy Taveras to a 2-year deal, it looks like the Reds are thinking speed and defense rather than the usual slug-em-up outfield of the Griffey-Dunn era. Taveras is certainly a defensive upgrade over what the Reds have had the past few years and his 68 stolen bases in 2008 went unmatched by anyone in baseball.

I'm a old-school guy, so I like the new direction of the Reds outfield. Defense is a fundamental that the Reds have been severely lacking in, and speed never goes into a slump. Taveras' stats aren't very impressive (besides the SBs) but he's only 27, so he is liable to bounce back to 2005-2006 form, and a lot of what he does isn't going to show up on a stat sheet anyway.

Looking ahead... The Reds new outfield will probably consist of Taveras in center, Bruce in right, and Dickerson in left (maybe Hopper against lefties). The batting order... hmm... who bats second? ... cleanup? ... is Brandon Phillips going to continue to bat in the fourth spot in the order or does he move up to second? How about Chris Dickerson? Can EdE hit cleanup... or will it be Votto? Dusty will have some things to play around with... here are a few looks:

This one seems okay, but I'd rather see Phillips move out of the cleanup spot eventually...:

Taveras - CF
Dickerson - LF
Bruce - RF
Phillips - 2B
Votto - 1B
Encarnacion - 3B
Hernandez - C
Keppinger - SS
(pitcher)

I'm not sure how EdE will do in the cleanup spot, but switching him with Votto would lead to an unfavorable lefty/righty situation. I also don't like Dickerson at the tail end of the lineup in this one. Phillips in the cleanup spot may be the only way to go, because this doesn't look very good...:

Taveras - CF
Phillips - 2B
Bruce - RF
Encarnacion - 3B
Votto - 1B
Hernandez - C
Keppinger - SS
Dickerson - LF
(picther)

Update 7:35 PM

How about a Tony La Russa lineup? Batting the pitcher eighth allows the ninth batter to act as a second leadoff man. It also allows the third batter to bat cleanup the second time through the order.

Taveras - CF
Phillips - 2B
Votto - 1B
Encarnacion - 3B
Bruce - RF
Hernandez - C
Keppinger - SS
(pitcher)
Dickerson - LF

I don't know about you all, but I kind of like the looks of this. Ideally, Phillips would have a couple of guys on base when he comes up for the second time. Votto would be a three-hole hitter his first time up and then act as a cleanup hitter for the rest of the game.