Diamond Notes Deux

More news from the Wailing Onion...

- The Chechakos are off to a screaming hot start in the AL East. New York has a 8.5 game lead with 49 games played. The secret? Owner madmuldoon has taken a page from the film Major League. Chechako is Chinook jargon for newcomer, specifically a newcomer to Alaska. So, muldoon has put a cardboard cutout of former Gov. Sarah Palin in the locker room. With every win, the standup loses a bit of her mavericky outfit.

-Trent Milligan has jumped out of the gate as the NL's Cy Young leader. In 10 starts, he has posted some sick numbers -- 5-0, 53K, 19 BB, 1.04 WHIP, .212 OAV and a 1.49 ERA. Milligan attributes a winter training program in his hometown of Saranac, N.Y. The program consisted of shoveling his parents' driveway twice daily, adding to his stamina and upper body strength. (Saranac is about 100 miles away from my home base in Syracuse and got about 300 inches of snow last winter.)

-With Richard Takada in Buffalo, Philadelphia is experiencing a bit of a power outage. This has management talking trade. The bait being dangled? Cozy Thomas.

-Texas management is looking for a pitcher to fill the role vacated by Glendon Mercedes, who has been banished to the bullpen.

-Kansas City is looking for starters, relievers and power hitters. Operatives in the midwest hear that Royals management will toss in cases of KC Masterpiece as part of any trade.

-Peeing in a cup soon will be Javier Gardel. 25 homers in 177 AB = a ratio of one jack per 7 trips to the plate.

-On the flip side, Nerio Turner has 9 home runs.

-Draft night is August 25. Look for shortstops to dominate the Top 10. Lord knows there aren't any flippin' pitchers worth a look.

Diamond Notes

Peter Gammons is one of my heroes. As a kid, I would my father take me to the newsstand, so I could buy a copy of the Sunday Boston Globe and read his Diamond Notes column. Sadly, since he's gone all ESPN, all the time his rumors have become less true and more ESPN-ized. In that tradition of overanalyzing and getting it somewhat right, here's what's happening:

-Brett Favre is not signing with any Wailing Onions squads. Apparently, madmuldoon had made an offer competitive with the Minnesota Vikings, but apparently league rules got in muldoon's way. Ever since Nerio Turner's first season power surge, commish mark3313 has stepped up testing for PEDs and other illicit substances. And, since bullshit is an illegal substance, he was banned from signing.

-Vern Dunwoody is still on the block. Typically reliable, Dunwoody in mired in an off year -- 1-2, 6.70 ERA, 1.65 WHIP, .930+Opp. OPS. The 31-year-old may lose his rotation slot in Santa Fe and will likely land as the team's top long reliever.

Vern Dunwoody Santa Fe Booze Hounds Age: 31 B/T: L/L Born: Windsor, VA Position(s): P (SP3) View Hardball Dynasty Profile

-Rumors from Little Rock put all-world 2B Sammy Carr on the trade block. The S.6 MVP signed a four-year, $8.8m per deal and is due the pro-rata this year and the full tab next season. His power numbers have cooled off, but he's reaching base as a .389 clip.

Sammy Carr Little Rock Outlaws Age: 30 B/T: R/R Born: Elgin, OK Position(s): 2B/CIF/OF/DH View Hardball Dynasty Profile

More later...

Straight Cash Homey III: With a Vengeance

Let's see what damage was done in the off-season. This time, we're looking at budgets. I try not to criticize too much on this end. I'm a lousy budgeter in this game (and real life). But, it's worth looking at...

For fun, let's analyze area-by-area:

PLAYERS: Minnesota came in at $100m to top all teams, while Santa Fe's $45m was the lowest budgeted salary total. The North Stars still have about $3m to spend, while Santa Fe right around a $40m payroll. Seven teams have budgeted $90m or more for salaries, while the St. Louis River Cats have already done the budget shuffle to take them up to $90m. Tampa Bay has an astonishing $20m in cap space left (looks like someone plans to make a deadline deal), while Philadelphia is squeaking by with around $200k in cap space.

PROSPECTS: 13 teams are at $20m, with Santa Fe making a budget shift to take them to $22m. Three others--San Fran, DC and LA--have made $1m shifts. Austin and Tampa Bay are tied for the lowest prospect budgets with $6m each.

COACHES: We've gone over the individuals. There's a five-way tie for highest coaching budget at $15m. Burlington had budgeted an astonishing $19m. On the flip side, Houston is taking the "Coaches are stoopid" approach, budgeting $6m.

SCOUTING: Only two teams maxed out their college and HS lines--Santa Fe and Texas--which makes sense since we have the first two picks in the amateur draft. Five clubs have $20m budgeted for HS scouting while only three max out on colleges. Boston gets the Moneyball Award, spending $20m on collegiate scounting and zeroing out his HS line. Chicago and KC are the only two clubs with $20m invested in international. Three clubs--Austin, Minnesota and Texas--have no international budgets.

TRAINING/MEDICAL: Arizona is the only squad with maxed out training and medical numbers. St. Louis, on the other hand, is relying on Medicare and GNC for its programs, budgeting a combined $14m.

Straight Cash Homey II: The Electric Bugaloo

Looking back at the off-season, let's see who went for what and to whom. This time, we're talking about players like Lon Costello, Mikey Hall, Les Carroll, Herm Cheney and the Mike Morgan of the Wailing Onions World -- Doug Linton:

Mikey Hall: Back with Chicago at a bit of a paycut--from $5.6m per to a two-year, $3.6m deal.

Les Carroll: Also to Chicago. He cashed in, leaving DC for a $33.6m, four-year package.

Art Shelley: Guess who? Chicago claims this marvel from Arizona. The 32yo gets $45.2 million for the next four seasons.

Doug Linton: Buffalo is Linton's seventh club since season one. The journeyman gets a three-year deal at $3.5m per.

Herm Cheney: The poor man's Art Shelley also goes to Buffalo. The 'flo lock him up for three years at $5.9 per, with a $1m signing bonus.

Orber Nieto: Orber heads back to Chicago thanks to a three-year, $17.7m deal.

Lon Costello: As discussed in the forum, Lon Costello signs for four years, $62m. The fourth year is a $15m option for the 35yo hurler.

Magglio Rodriguez: MagRod signs with Chicago for two years, $10.4m.

Jamie Rollins: The former standard-bearer of contracts in the WO (signed with Augusta in season one for $13m per year) comes to Texas for $999,999.

Henry Wyatt: One of the leagues stud catchers, Henry Wyatt comes to Chicago for three years, $9m.

Larry Wilson: C-Springs locks up this reliever for three years at $5.2m per.

Len Heiserman: Going almost unnoticed this off-season was Len Heiserman. He resigns with Seattle at a discount--$525k. Heiserman was the league's second big multi-million dollar contract, signing with Seattle in S.2 for $63.9m over four seasons.

Esteban Hernandez: In my tradition of signing unproven talent to overpriced contracts, Texas gave a 65-win pitcher with rotator cuff and elbow problems $24.7m for the next four years.

Denny Katou: The final free agent signing of the year, Denny Katou inked a one-year, $1.7m deal with, wait for it, Chicago.

Straight Cash Homey: An off-season review

With the beginning of the regular season around the corner, let's take a look at what happened during the off-season, starting with the coaches.

I think we can all agree that coach hiring is painful. Takes too long. Eats up too much budget. We've gone round and round on this. Personally, I hate it. But, it's a necessary evil and a lot better than the Baseball Mogul features of having to manage ticket prices for revenue.

Clarence York and Dan Rusch were the big winners in the coaching lottery. York and his 87 pitching rating went to Burlington at $3.7m, making Harry Vega and his higher ratings look like a steal at $3.0m (San Juan). Rusch got $3.6m from Richmond to be its hitting coach. Burlington dropped $2.5m on benchman Bubba Lange and $2.4m on pitching coach Toby Rhodes. San Juan laid out $3.0m for hitting coach Stevie Parnell and $1.8m on its bench guy -- Nick Wayne.

11 coaches will make $3 million or more this season, including fielding instructor Chris Breen. Four glovemen will make $2.0+.

This year's award for the highest paid coach goes to Ralph in Portland who laid out $919k for a LoA hitting coach--Ajax Simon. Coming in second is Burlington's Cliff Chance, who will make $840k to coach up the AAA pitchers.

Here are your top 20 coaches, by salary:

Coach	Franchise	Role	Salary
Clarence York	Pitch Factory	Pitching Coach	$3.7M
Dan Rusch	Royal Flush	Hitting Coach	$3.6M
Matthew Menechino	Monarchs	Hitting Coach	$3.1M
Chris Breen	Royals	Fielding Instructor	$3.0M
Alfredo Urbina	Chechakos	Bench Coach	$3.0M
Harry Vega	Reales	Pitching Coach	$3.0M
Mel Decker	Webs	Pitching Coach	$3.0M
Stevie Parnell	Reales	Hitting Coach	$3.0M
Joe Liefer	Beavers	Hitting Coach	$3.0M
Garret Garcia	City Limit	Hitting Coach	$3.0M
Joshua Edmonds	Texans	Hitting Coach	$3.0M
Charlie Durrington	Come From Behinders	Pitching Coach	$2.9M
Alex Coronado	Come From Behinders	Hitting Coach	$2.9M
Joel Stein	Lake Effect Snow	Fielding Instructor	$2.8M
Timothy Mercedes	Outlaws	Bench Coach	$2.8M
Benito Estrella	Outlaws	Hitting Coach	$2.7M
Lariel Trajano	Beavers	Bench Coach	$2.5M
Norm Burke	Monarchs	Bench Coach	$2.5M
Bubba Lange	Pitch Factory	Hitting Coach	$2.5M
Alan Rivers	Gulls	Bench Coach	$2.4M

Do I smell a blog post coming soon?

I think so.

The OnIoNDEX #1

Here's the first power rankings of Season 5. We'll try to do this every 20-25 games this season as time permits. For those of you new to the Wailing Onion, the formula is pretty simple and rewards scoring and good pitching [Winning percentage + (team OPS-opposition team OPS) divided by runs scored margin.]

1. Atlanta Mad Dogs 0.785391892
2. Cincinnati Motorboaters 0.65019403
3. Philadelphia Flash 0.650176471
4. Tampa Bay Hurricanes 0.623125
5. Minnesota North Stars 0.598615385
6. Portland Beavers 0.598029412
7. Boston Minutemen 0.597636364
8. Little Rock Outlaws 0.597517857
9. New Britain Angry Bears 0.595867925
10. San Francisco Slingers 0.595695652
11. Chicago Black Stockings 0.5699
12. Kansas City Royals 0.56932
13. Las Vegas Mirage 0.543727273
14. Montreal Monarchs 0.543636364
15. Austin City Limit 0.543106383
16. Richmond Royal Flush 0.5416
17. Arizona Amberwoods 0.541125
18. New York Chechakos 0.5145
19. Colorado Springs Cricket Club 0.484636364
20. Buffalo Hot Wings 0.435791667
21. Chicago Cubbies, of course 0.4354
22. Pittsburgh Diamond Kings 0.43376
23. Seattle Steelheads 0.4305
24. Charlotte Webs 0.410333333
25. Washington D.C. Senators 0.4075
26. Burlington Pitch Factory 0.407
27. Columbus Come from Behinders 0.406114286
28. Santa Fe Booze Hounds 0.3522625
29. Los Angeles Stars 0.325716667
30. Rochester Rust Belts 0.325313433
31. Memphis In The Meantime 0.298777778
32. Monterrey Surf Riders 0.244595506

Journey of a Major Leaguer

Because baseball is a business, sometimes good players get shuffled around the league for a variety of reasons. Even though they may be solid ballplayers everywhere they go, they become unable to carve out an identity in any clubhouse. After being named Major League Pitcher of the Week this week, Chicago Black Stockings SP Chief Webster could do little but laugh about the whirlwind of experiences he's had over the past 5 years that have guided him toward this accolade.

Seasons 1 and 2 found Webster as a regular in the Philadelphia Flash's starting rotation. He went 28-18 in the city of brotherly love, with an ERA right near 4.00. But, come Season 3, the Flash suddenly had a surplus of arms, and decided to move the serviceable pitcher for young 3B Tony Moraga of the Monterrey Surf Riders. His two-year stint with the Flash remains his longest stay with any team.

Webster failed to flourish in his new setting (and nation), going 0-8 over 16 starts with a 5.46 ERA. Frustrated by his starter's uselessness, GM reigny of the Surf Riders cut Webster loose entirely, which left Webster wondering if he would even be able to find a home to finish the season. As it turns out, the Portland Beavers liked what they saw in Webster and thought he could still produce as he had in Philly. Portland GM rbedwell snagged Webster off waivers immediately, and "The Cheif" finished the year respectably, making 13 appearances (not all of them starts), and posting a 2.74 ERA.

Portland offered arbitration to Webster the following year, but an American League contender had big plans for the right-hander, and a day after his arbitration contract had been decided upon, Webster was headed to the junior circuit for the second time. A deal between the Beavers and the Tampa Bay Hurricanes sent Webster east for minor-league SS Jimmy Linton. Webster was likely overjoyed at the thought of jumping ship from a perennial NL cellar dwellar to a proud AL franchise. But, of course, we all know the ascension story of the Portland Beavers who turned in a world championship year in Season 4, which The Chief missed being a part of by 1 year.

At the time, Webster saw his latest change of venue as a great opportunity to be a part of a team capable of a deep playoff run. He started every 5th day for the Hurricanes, taking the ball 32 times and spinning a respectable 13-10 record with a 4.92 ERA. His Hurricanes claimed the 2nd best record in the American League, and for the first time in 2 seasons, Webster made a playoff start. In 4 playoff appearances, Webster's numbers are impressive, relative to his career numbers. Though only 1-2, he boasts a 2.77 ERA. Unfortunately, one of his 2 postseason losses came with Tampa, and they were swept out of their ALDS matchup with the Cleveland Wahoos.

Webster was not extended arbitration by the Hurricanes, and had to come to terms with the reality that he would now be pitching for his 5th team in 5 years. The Chicago Black Stockings were his most aggressive suitor, signing Webster for 2 years at $4.1M per, with a team option for the second year. As if to bring the story full circle, the Black Stockings also picked up SP Carl Oliver in the offseason. During seasons 1 and 2, Oliver and Webster pitched together in the Philly rotation, which is where Webster launched his major league career.

His journey far from complete, Webster looks better than ever this season. In earning Pitcher of the Week distinction, he has gone 4-0 in 4 starts, averaging 7.0 IP per appearance. He has surrendered just 1 earned run, for a sparkling 0.32 ERA. His sub-1 WHIP of 0.93 has also been impressive. The long season ahead likely holds more twists and turns for Webster, but after being tossed around the league like a hot potato, he is doing his damndest to build a home on the South Side.