ESPN really puts coverage of baseball on the backburner once the season has ended. I was watching SportsCenter Monday morning and they didn’t feature the story about Alfonso Soriano’s $136 million contract until 44 minutes of the show had expired. Yes, nearly three quarters of an hour before reporting in any detail one of the biggest signings of the winter. Do we really have to be subjected to that much of the NFL Blitz? Man, come November, it’s all-NFL all the time on the sports leader. They ought to rename it EPFN—the Entertainment and Pro Football Network…

Aside from the ridiculous amount of money that the Cubs have thrown at Soriano, the most notable part of this story involves Chicago’s intention to play him in center field and then sign Cliff Floyd to play left field. Soriano certainly has the speed and throwing arm to play center field, but doesn’t it seem like a bit of a risk to pay a guy nearly $140 million before finding out for sure? An outfield of Floyd in left, Soriano in center, and Jacque Jones in right field has a chance to be horrifically bad, giving nightmares to Carlos Zambrano and Kerry Wood every time a fly ball is hit into the wind at Wrigley Field. I think the Cubs would be a lot smarter to keep Soriano in left field, where he’s already achieved a level of comfort, and pursue someone like Gary Matthews, Jr. to play center field. Matthews would probably cost more than the injury-prone Floyd, but his defensive ability would be worth it…

I had to laugh at comments made over the weekend by free agent infielder Wes "Dark Helmet" Helms, who spurned the Yankees to sign a multi-year deal with the Phillies, where he’ll play third base. Helms claims he turned down a bigger offer of guaranteed money from New York—that claim is denied by GM Brian Cashman, who says the Yankees offered fewer dollars than Philly—because he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of living in New York City. As with most players who cite the perils of residing in New York, Helms’ comments reek with ignorance. First of all, most players with the Mets and Yankees don’t live in the Bronx or Queens; most of them reside in the suburbs of Westchester County or New Jersey and make the commute to the ballpark. Second, the greater New York area is filled with beautiful and safe neighborhoods located a short drive from Yankee Stadium. I should know; I was lucky enough to grow up in a terrific town called Bronxville, which is all of about 20 minutes from the Bronx. Geography aside, perhaps Helms thinks there will be less pressure playing in Philadelphia than there would be in the fishbowl of New York. If that’s the case, he might find out quickly just how impatient the fans and media of Philadelphia can be with players who don’t live up to monetary expectations…

With Helms out of the equation, the Yankees have turned their eyes to three other free agent targets to play first base. Their first choice is Shea Hillenbrand, who doesn’t have the power that’s ideally found in a first baseman but would be a decent fit batting eighth or ninth in the New York order. Hillenbrand, who likes to hit at Yankee Stadium, would also give the Yankees a built-in backup to Alex Rodriguez at third. The other two choices are really third basemen who could be asked to play first base in the Bronx—Rich Aurilia and Pedro Feliz. I think the Yankees will beg off Feliz because of his atrocious on-base percentage, but the Brooklyn-born Aurilia would be an interesting choice because of his ability to play all four infield positions. When’s the last time the Yankees had a starting first baseman who could also play shortstop? We might have to go back to the days of Roy Smalley to find the answer to that one.

ESPN really puts coverage of baseball on the backburner once the season has ended. I was watching SportsCenter Monday morning and they didn’t feature the story about Alfonso Soriano’s $136 million contract until 44 minutes of the show had expired. Yes, nearly three quarters of an hour before reporting in any detail one of the biggest signings of the winter. Do we really have to be subjected to that much of the NFL Blitz? Man, come November, it’s all-NFL all the time on the sports leader. They ought to rename it EPFN—the Entertainment and Pro Football Network…

Aside from the ridiculous amount of money that the Cubs have thrown at Soriano, the most notable part of this story involves Chicago’s intention to play him in center field and then sign Cliff Floyd to play left field. Soriano certainly has the speed and throwing arm to play center field, but doesn’t it seem like a bit of a risk to pay a guy nearly $140 million before finding out for sure? An outfield of Floyd in left, Soriano in center, and Jacque Jones in right field has a chance to be horrifically bad, giving nightmares to Carlos Zambrano and Kerry Wood every time a fly ball is hit into the wind at Wrigley Field. I think the Cubs would be a lot smarter to keep Soriano in left field, where he’s already achieved a level of comfort, and pursue someone like Gary Matthews, Jr. to play center field. Matthews would probably cost more than the injury-prone Floyd, but his defensive ability would be worth it…

I had to laugh at comments made over the weekend by free agent infielder Wes "Dark Helmet" Helms, who spurned the Yankees to sign a multi-year deal with the Phillies, where he’ll play third base. Helms claims he turned down a bigger offer of guaranteed money from New York—that claim is denied by GM Brian Cashman, who says the Yankees offered fewer dollars than Philly—because he wasn’t thrilled with the idea of living in New York City. As with most players who cite the perils of residing in New York, Helms’ comments reek with ignorance. First of all, most players with the Mets and Yankees don’t live in the Bronx or Queens; most of them reside in the suburbs of Westchester County or New Jersey and make the commute to the ballpark. Second, the greater New York area is filled with beautiful and safe neighborhoods located a short drive from Yankee Stadium. I should know; I was lucky enough to grow up in a terrific town called Bronxville, which is all of about 20 minutes from the Bronx. Geography aside, perhaps Helms thinks there will be less pressure playing in Philadelphia than there would be in the fishbowl of New York. If that’s the case, he might find out quickly just how impatient the fans and media of Philadelphia can be with players who don’t live up to monetary expectations…

With Helms out of the equation, the Yankees have turned their eyes to three other free agent targets to play first base. Their first choice is Shea Hillenbrand, who doesn’t have the power that’s ideally found in a first baseman but would be a decent fit batting eighth or ninth in the New York order. Hillenbrand, who likes to hit at Yankee Stadium, would also give the Yankees a built-in backup to Alex Rodriguez at third. The other two choices are really third basemen who could be asked to play first base in the Bronx—Rich Aurilia and Pedro Feliz. I think the Yankees will beg off Feliz because of his atrocious on-base percentage, but the Brooklyn-born Aurilia would be an interesting choice because of his ability to play all four infield positions. When’s the last time the Yankees had a starting first baseman who could also play shortstop? We might have to go back to the days of Roy Smalley to find the answer to that one.

Who will be the first major free agent to sign? With Alfonso Soriano and Barry Zito likely to take their time while weeding out the pretenders from the contenders, J.D. Drew has moved to the top of the quick-fix list. The Red Sox and the Cubs appear to be the two leading contenders to sign the free agent outfielder, with the Astros considered a long shot. Both Boston and Chicago have reportedly offered two-year contracts in the neighborhood of $30 million. (One report has the Red Sox’ offer at four years and $48 million, which would continue Boston’s winter theme of irrational spending.) While the annual salary of $15 million may be a bit steep, both teams are smart to keep their offers at two years for the oft-injured right fielder. If Drew wants to play for an immediate contender, he’s better off signing with Boston, but his personality might be a better fit in Chicago. Drew’s laid-back demeanor could be a problem in Beantown, where the fans and media are as rabid as they come. Chicago fans, while hungry for a pennant, seem to be a bit more tolerant of losing than their Boston counterparts… One added benefit that Drew brings to the table is his ability to play center field. The Red Sox have no intention of playing him there—they are still committed to Coco Crisp in center—but the Cubs might be thinking differently here. They already have Matt Murton and Jacques Jones to play the outfield corners, which leaves only center field open for Drew, barring a trade…

Speaking of center field, Gary Matthews, Jr. is being hotly pursued by the Giants, who would like to move Randy Winn to one of the outfield corners. The Giants also have interest in Juan Pierre, but he is clearly an inferior player to Matthews. While some critics have emphasized Matthews’ career year in 2006, let’s remember that he was also productive in 2005 and has been a top-flight defender for most of his career. For a team playing in a park with a spacious outfield like the Giants, Matthews figures to be a good fit… As for Pierre, the Giants should just stay away. He’s not nearly the defender or basestealer he once was and has never really gotten on base as much as teams would like. At this stage of his career, Pierre is really a fourth outfielder, but someone foolish will pay him to be a starter in 2007…

Now that Daisuke Matsuzaka is off their radar, the Mets and Yankees are targeting various free agents. Not surprisingly, the Mets have targeted Barry Zito as their No. 1 choice. (He makes so much sense for them that it probably won’t happen.) If Zito falls through their clutches, they’ll target a second or third-tier left-hander like Ted Lilly, Mark Mulder, or Randy Wolf. Omar Minaya wants a southpaw badly since he has no minor league left-handers who are remotely ready, but has an overload of young right-handers (John Maine, Mike Pelfrey, and Brian Bannister, among others)… As for the Yankees, they remain conspicuously indifferent to Zito, but like both Lilly and Wolf. The Yankees’ situation is similar to the Mets; their pitching prospects are right-handed and not left-handed, leaving them with an aging veteran nearly ready for retirement (Randy Johnson) as their sole lefty starter for 2007. The Yankees also have interest in free agent right-handers Gil Meche and Miguel Batista, but have backed off of postseason hero Jeff Suppan now that Mike Mussina is set to return… Staying with the Yankees, they had interest in catcher Henry Blanco, but he decided to return to Chicago to resume his role as Michael Barrett’s caddy. There are still three veteran receivers of interest to New York—Rod Barajas, Benji Molina, and Gregg Zaun—but all three would like to be starting catchers, which can’t happen with a resurgent Jorge Posada in town. If the Yankees could ever convince Mike Piazza to give first base another try, he’d made perfect sense in pinstripes. Piazza could become the No. 1 first baseman, balance the lefty-leaning lineup, and also be used as Posada’s backup. But like I said earlier, it makes so much sense, it won’t happen.

As if we didn’t already know about the crying lack of starting pitching around the major leagues, that notion has only been reinforced with two developments in recent days. One involves the out-of-control bidding for Japanese pitching sensation Daisuke Matsuzaka and the other involves a pitcher whose trade value has apparently not ceased to exist.

Simply put, the Red Sox’ $52 million bid to negotiate with Matsuzaka’s agent Scott Boras has to rank among baseball’s grossest overexpenditures. Based on what I’ve read about D-Mat, I’m a firm believer in his talent—he throws five pitches, all for strikes, and has a Hall of Fame caliber slider—but there are still limits as to what teams should reasonably spend for unproven major league pitchers. For starters, the Red Sox bid about $20 million above and beyond every other major league team. On top of the $52 million bidding fee that would go to the Seibu Lions, Matsuzaka is likely to command a minimum three-year contract worth about $45 million. That would put the total price package on D-Mat at $97 million over three years, for an average of nearly $33 million per season. Of course, the $52 million posting bid would not count toward the Red Sox’ payroll for luxury tax purposes, but that’s still a bottom-line annual payout of $33 million, or $8 million more than what Alex Rodriguez originally signed with the Texas Rangers a few years back. And since that contract is generally considered exorbitant, then how do we describe the payout for a pitcher like D-Mat, who has never pitched in a major league game in his life? For that price, Matsuzaka will have to pitch like Roy Halladay or Johan Santana. Otherwise, he simply won’t be worth the money.

The bidding for D-Mat tells us only part of the story about the desperate search for pitching in both leagues. Let’s now move on to the saga of Carl Pavano, who has pretty much made himself a laughingstock in the greater New York metropolitan area of with his succession of injuries and deceptions in a Yankee uniform. In spite of Pavano’s heavy baggage, rumors out of the general managers meetings in Naples, Florida indicate that some teams are still interested in making a trade for Pavano. Among the rumored suitors are the Rockies, though it’s not certain how much Colorado would be willing to pay to have Pavano pitching at Coors Field. (A backup catcher or first baseman might do the trick.)

If Brian Cashman can secure a player of any tangible worth for Pavano in a trade, that might cement his growing reputation as one of the wisest general managers in the game today. Cashman has already done well in netting four young pitchers for two players (Gary Sheffield and Jaret Wright) that he wanted no part of in 2008.

The first trade of the offseason is a stunner. Josh Barfield, a Rookie of the Year candidate for the Padres at second base, has been dealt to the Indians for two highly regarded prospects: third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff and pitcher Andrew Brown. I like Barfield a lot—he’s got power at the plate and fine range in the middle infield, plus the good bloodlines with father Jesse—but the trade does bring in two major young talents for San Diego. Kouzmanoff will either make Russell Branyan expendable or allow him to be shifted to the outfield, while Brown could step into the Padres’ bullpen right away in 2007. The Indians did well with this move, too. They were doubled up at third base with uber-prospect Andy Marte, and thus could afford to trade Kouzmanoff, and have effectively filled the hole at second base created by the mid-season trade of Ronnie Belliard. All in all, a good start to the Hot Stove League season…

Cooperstown, New York, does not have a professional team to call its own. Given that predicament, some fans in Central New York have adopted the nearby Oneonta Tigers as their favorite sons. After all, Oneonta is located only 22 miles away, with its old-fashioned ballpark set amidst a picturesque backdrop of countryside hills and mountains. Well, the short-season O-Tigers (as some of us like to call them) have taken a bit of a hit this week. The parent Detroit Tigers have taken away Oneonta’s manager and pitching coach, Tom Brookens and Ray Burris, respectively, and promoted them to the West Michigan team that plays full season Class-A ball in the Tiger chain. Brookens and Burris had come to be a delightful pairing in Oneonta, with both of them bringing a vital combination of hard work, energy, and enthusiasm to the ballpark, while imparting to their young players some of the vast baseball wisdom they’ve accumulated over the years. As an added bonus, Brookens and Burris had developed a reputation as media-friendly storytellers, willing to talk to writers and broadcasters of all sorts. (They both had good senses of humor, too.) The willingness to talk is sometimes a tough commodity to find among former major leaguers who became minor league coaches and managers down the minor league food chain; sometimes they think they’re too big league to talk to the media folks in a small town. Thankfully, that was never the case with Brookens and Burris. They will both be missed—by the media, the fans, and the young Oneonta players hoping to follow their footsteps to the major leagues… By the way, the Tigers have replaced Brookens and Burris with new manager Andy Barkett and pitching coach Mark Johnson. They’re both former major leaguers, but relative no-names who spent little time in the bigs with the Pirates and Tigers, respectively. As an amateur, Barkett played on an American Legion team that featured Doug Mientkiewicz, Alex Gonzalez, and Shannon Stewart. That legion team was so good that a fellow named Alex Rodriguez was initially limited to the B-team…

While the O-Tigers will have a new skipper and pitching guru in 2007, three major league teams continue their search for new managers: the A’s, the Nationals, and the Padres. With Ron Washington now in Texas, Oakland’s search has been reduced to one primary candidate. It will be the upset of the millennium if Bob Geren is not named manager by power GM Billy Beane. Geren has all the traditional qualities of a manager; he’s a former catcher, has worked in Oakland’s farm system, has been the A’s’ bullpen coach, and, not to be overlooked, remains best friends with Billy Beane…

The Nationals and Padres have less certain scenarios with regard to their new managers. Washington has apparently narrowed the search to Mets third base coach Manny Acta and Yankees first base coach Tony Pena, with the possibility that Joe Girardi might throw his hat back into the ring. Ordinarily, I like to see fresh managerial talent receive its chance (that would be Acta) rather than a managerial retread, but Pena did such a wonderful job in completely retooling Jorge Posada’s defensive game that it makes you take note. In the span of one season, Pena overhauled Posada’s pitch-calling tendencies and his physical technique behind the plate, turning him from a major liability into a Gold Glove contender. Pena also knows pitching, based on his days as one of the better defensive catchers and handlers of pitchers in Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Boston, among other locales. He also seems to have bounced back from some of the personal problems that plagued him during his managing days in Kansas City. This just might be the right time to give Pena, a onetime Manager of the Year, his second chance in the dugout… As for the Padres, they have a large pool of six candidates, but the principals appear to be Angels pitching coach Bud Black (who seems to be a perennial managerial candidate), Trey Hillman (who at one time seemed like a favorite for the Rangers’ job), and Giants bench coach Ron Wotus (at one time the favorite to manage San Francisco). I like Hillman the best, but wouldn’t be upset to see impressive rookies like Black or Wotus get the job.

The Texas Rangers have made an excellent move in hiring Ron Washington to be their new manager. Washington is a hard-line old school guy, but doesn’t have the kind of micro-managing tendencies that make him grate on players the way that Buck Showalter did. A hardworking, diligent sort, Washington was regarded as one of the best third base coaches in the game and also garnered respect for the work he did as Oakland’s infield coach. (He can probably do wonders for the Rangers’ double play combination of Ian Kinsler and Michael Young.) A’s general manager Billy Beane may regret not having acted faster in hiring Washington to be his manager, but he’s now free to hire longtime chum Bob Geren as Ken Macha’s successor…

It’s good to see an old face back in the major leagues on a fulltime basis. Over the weekend, the Reds announced the hiring of Brook Jacoby as their batting coach, succeeding the fired Chris Chambliss. Jacoby was one of my favorite players of the late 1980s and early 1990s, an underrated hitter and a good all-around third baseman at a time when it was hard to find capable men at the hot corner. For years I wanted the Yankees to put together a trade with the Indians for Jacoby, but they insisted on giving tryouts to the Mike Blowers, Steve Kiefers, and Torey Lovullos of the world. Now Jacoby isn’t particularly well remembered today, basically for reasons of longevity. For some reason, Jacoby’s promising career flamed out quickly. By the time he was 32, he had played his last game in the major leagues… Jacoby actually worked as a hitting coach in the major leagues last season, but only on a fill-in basis while the Rangers’ fulltime batting instructor, Rudy Jaramillo, was out on leave receiving cancer treatment. Jacoby says he’s learned a lot from Jaramillo, which can only be a good thing given Jaramillo’s standing as one of the game’s best batting coaches…

I find it laughable that some internet writers have criticized those members of the Chicago media and fan for daring to point out some of the flaws in Aramis Ramirez’ approach to the game. I’m sorry, but if you’re going to demand a five-year contract worth about $70 million (which is likely what Ramirez will want), then the team signing you has a right to wonder why you don’t run out ground balls and pop-ups all the time. The unwillingness to hustle, a legitimate criticism of Ramirez, could be an indicator of a more serious problem with his work ethic, and that’s something to worry about with a player who wants a five-year contract. Now I happen to like Ramirez as a player and consider him the best available third baseman in this year’s free agent class, but his tendency toward laziness is a legitimate concern, one worth exploring for any team interested in making such a financial commitment. Is it too much to ask a guy who will probably command $14 million a season to run out four to five balls a game? Jeez…