Whatever, the organization that continually strives for mediocrity continues to fall woefully short. Which is why we've decided to distract ourselves from the putridity by creating a roster of non-football-playing professional athletes who would immediately make the Browns better. That's not hyperbole.
When Lance Berkman left the Astros' game today with a neck injury (spasms, one would assume he's fine, panicky fantasy owners) that meant that off season signing and diiiiirty, hard nosed, old school OBP goat Darin Erstad was going to play first base. Erstad, of course, is not a great baseball player. Anymore than I was a "great" soccer goalie because I used to dive every time a ball got near the 18 yard line.
But regardless, Erstad, who interestingly was a punter in college, came into the game and because he's so freaking gritty and hardnosed, immediately spurred the Astros to a five run seventh inning, based simply on is presence in the lineup. Or at least that's what you'll be reading in some newspapers over the next few days. Erstad is beloved by old school sportswriters, all of whom think he "plays the game the right way."
The injury probably doesn't mean much, especially since the Astros still lost to the Cubs today, but if you enjoy ridiculously funny satirical writing, you should get your Fire Joe Morgan RSS feed rolling -- Erstad's continued presence in the lineup spurs on anti-statistical sports journalism almost as badly as when David Ecksteincommits an error takes a ball of his chest. And with Erstad going two for two and the Astros scoring runs in bunches, you can almost guarantee it.
Bonus Fantasy Spin: Berkman is an "OPS hog" (which might be my favorite term in all of fantasy sports) and he's slipped in drafts a bit this year because of the perception that he's aging. That's true, but he's still going to rake. A slow start (sample size alert!) coupled with this neck injury, which reeks of "lingering", make him a nice buy low right now. Please don't add Erstad.
Earlier this week the Angels added Jon Garland to their already deep rotation by sending Orlando Cabrera to the White Sox. Some speculated this move was a precursor to the team making a trade with the Marlins for Miguel Cabrera.
While we still wait to see where Miguel Cabrera is going to end up, there are rumors that the Angels are thinking of bringing back two former fan favorites: David Eckstein and Darin Erstad.
Before Angels fans get upset with [General Manager Tony] Reagins, let me be the first to report the whispers he is interested in bringing back shortstop David Eckstein and outfielder Darin Erstad, fan favorites from the 2002 World Series champions who are both free agents.
If the Angels did bring the two players back, neither would be expected to start. Erstad would serve as nothing more than a fourth outfielder and a backup first baseman, while Eckstein would back up both Howie Kendrick and Erick Aybar in the middle infield.
Personally I don't see why Eckstein would want to come back to Anaheim to take a backup role when he can probably find a starting job somewhere else, but stranger things have happened. As far as Erstad is concerned, I fully expect him to be signed by the Angels because from what I can tell, nobody else has expressed any interest in the oft-injured veteran since he was cut loose by the White Sox.
Of course, neither of these moves would add protection for Vladimir Guerrero, which is what the Angels really need. Not some kind of family reunion.
Back during the Red Sox' playoff run, we told you to be wary of the silly ways the average baseball pundit would describe Dustin Pedroia. Because Pedroia is small and white, he attracted nonsensical comparisons to Darin Erstad and especially David Eckstein, even though Pedroia is a considerably better hitter than both of those players, and has a ton more upside.
Thus, it feels nice to be able to credit Pedroia for being gritacular without feeling stupid about it; he actually did grit out the final games of the 2007 season with no less than a broken bone in his hand:
Pedroia admitted yesterday that he played the final two months of the season with a cracked hamate bone in his left hand.
The second baseman doesn't know when he suffered the injury, but it was discovered during an MRI and bone scan on Sept. 10. He didn't undergo surgery until Tuesday. He is wearing a soft cast and is restricted from using the hand until late November or early December.
"Some days I would wake up and it would be hard to grip a bat," Pedroia said. "I changed my grip a little bit on the bat and went from there. It was just one of those things you know you have to take care of after the season, but you have to play through. A lot of guys have done that. You definitely don't want to shut it down and have surgery during the whole thing. We just had to find a way to fight through it."
Who knows how much pain Pedroia actually went through; it could have been minimal, given the bone involved, or it could have been suffocating. Given the slight increase in Pedroia's power numbers during the injury, though, I'm betting it wasn't too limiting. Still, Pedroia deserves credit for putting the team before his own significantly bright future.
Now that this nightmare of a season is less than a week away from ending for the White Sox, most of the questions surrounding the team revolve around who's going to be back next season. One of the many players on the White Sox roster who aren't sure where they'll be next season is Darin Erstad.
Erstad signed a one-year deal with the Sox before this season, and it includes an option on 2008. If the Sox choose to pick up the option, Erstad will make $3.5 million next season. If not, they can buy him out for $225,000.
''I have no comment on next year,'' Erstad insisted over the weekend. ''I don't have a comment on that stuff. Year-to-year is so separate. I just am a firm believer in when it's over it's over, good or bad, you move on to the next year.''
So will the Sox pick up his option for next season? I don't know. Erstad spent a lot of time on the disabled list this season with ankle injuries, something that's plagued him the last few seasons. So the odds are the team isn't going to want to spend $3.5 million on a guy they aren't sure will be on the field.
The rumored waiver-wire trade talks between the Cubs and White Sox over Sox outfielder Scott Podsednik are dead, and, in fact, never had much of a pulse in the first place. One source suggested the chances were never better than ''one in a thousand'' from the outset.
Cubs general manager Jim Hendry says that he still has a couple of live claims on other players, but that he doesn't think he's going to be bringing anybody to Chicago.
As for the White Sox, I'm somewhat surprised that they didn't just let Podsednik go. While he has been a big factor for the team with his speed while he's healthy, he's just never healthy lately. Also, the likelihood of the team bringing him back next season is probably somewhere between slim and none.
With the emergence of Jerry Owens and Danny Richar in the everyday lineup, the Sox finally have the speed on the basepaths they've been missing all season with the injuries to Pods, Darin Erstad, and Pablo Ozuna.
There's also no reason to believe that Podsednik's injury history is going to change next season. Generally when a player's biggest attribute is his legs, and he starts having groin and leg issues in his 30's, they don't go away. It's something Scotty will be dealing with the rest of his career, and I'm pretty sure the Sox don't want to deal with it anymore.
Though I think I speak for all male White Sox fans when I say we'll miss seeing Podsednik's wife around the ballpark.
There was a glimmer of hope for the White Sox going into this weekend. They were hoping that with the return of Darin Erstad on Friday, and Scott Podsednik on Monday, maybe their offense would get a spark against the Cubs that could get something going.
Well, Erstad didn't take very long to make an impact, or an exit.
On the second play of the 5-1 White Sox loss, the CubsMike Fontenot hit a sinking line drive into center field which Erstad made a diving catch of. Darin then got up, through the ball back to the infield and went about his business. After the inning, with Erstad scheduled to lead off, Luis Terrero stepped into the batters box for him.
Turns out Darin re-aggravated the sprained ankle that had kept him out for three weeks while making the play and had to be removed from the ballgame. Nobody's sure of what's going to happen as the results of an MRI won't be known until Saturday morning.
For his part, Ozzie Guillen doesn't want to put Erstad back on the disabled list.
"Not yet," said Guillen of Erstad, who told Guillen he couldn't continue after the catch. "That's going to be a bad day for us, a worse day for us. It's already bad, it could be worse. I talked to Hermie [White Sox athletic trainer Herm Schneider] and he said he didn't have any color, any inflammation.
"Hopefully, the MRI comes clean," Guillen added.
Hopefully it does, Oz, but if you've been paying attention to your team this season you know it won't. In fact, it will probably come back with evidence that there are little gremlins inside Erstad's ankle eating away at the tendons and bone. You'll try to tell everybody else on the team, but nobody will believe you. You're out of your mind after all.
It's pretty tough to replace a town legend, especially the year after he helped his team win the World Series. That's what Brian Anderson had to do last season after the White Sox sent Aaron Rowand to Philly for Jim Thome.
Let's just say that it didn't turn out too well.
Sure, Anderson plays Gold Glove caliber defense out in centerfield, but he doesn't do much at the dish. Anderson finished the 2006 season with a .225 batting average, and that was only after he hit .296 over the last month of the season to pump it up.
This season the Sox signed Darin Erstad to play centerfield, and as a result, Anderson isn't getting any playing time. He's only had 8 at bats this season, and only one of them resulted in a hit. Considering that he was a former first round pick for the White Sox, the organization has expected a lot more out of him.
So how's Anderson dealing with such a lack of playing time, and a manager that seems to have little to no faith in him? He just doesn't care anymore.
Even the always-confident Anderson has reached the ''whatever'' point in the process.
''You know what? If I have to go somewhere else, that's the business,'' Anderson said. ''I might have more opportunity in another organization, but you do want to get it done with the team that drafted you.
''I don't know what plans they have for me. I'm kind of tired of thinking about that. I'm to the point where I don't care about what they want to do -- keep me, trade me, send me down. Pretty much everyone on this roster is from a different team, so it wouldn't be the first time it happened.''
If it were up to Ozzie and B.A., he wouldn't be in Chicago right now, but the decision isn't theirs. It's Ken Williams, and he's just not ready to give up on Anderson yet.
''I've seen so many guys come into this level, struggle, have to take a step back to take two steps forward,'' Williams said. ''If you give up on every one of your young players because they haven't had success right off the bat, I don't know if you'll have much of a team left. I would disagree that [Anderson's] better off somewhere else.''
If it were up to me, I'd send Anderson down to Charlotte to let him get some at bats. He's not going to magically find his swing in a batting cage or during BP. I don't think trading him would be the best option because with Scott Podsednik's frail groin, Darin Erstad's age, and Jermaine Dye's impending free agency, it's probably not the brightest of ideas to get rid of a young player with potential. Especially when he plays defense the way he does.
It didn't take long for the Indians to return to their offensive ways today. Grady Sizemore took the second pitch of the season and redirected it to the Cleveland bullpen at US Cellular this afternoon. It was the first of five runs that the Indians would put on the board in the first inning, as the Indians started their season with a 12-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox.
I have to say, as a White Sox fan, I looked forward to today for so long and after 15 minutes of watching I already wanted to change the channel.
C.C. Sabathia also ran into some trouble in the first inning when he gave up a two-run homer to Darin Erstad in his first at bat as a member of the White Sox. After that, Sabathia calmed down and lasted six innings while giving up 3 runs. For his counterpart on the mound, Jose Contreras, it was a much shorter day. The Count lasted only an inning plus, giving up 7 earned runs for that glorious 63.00 ERA.
It's kind of hard to pick an offensive MVP for the Indians today, as everybody contributed. Sizemore scored 3 runs, Trot Nixon went 3-for-4, Travis Hafner had two hits and an RBI, but I have to give it to Victor Martinez. Martinez knocked in 3 runs in a 3-for-4 performance.
Nobody doubts the Indians offense, or Sabathia, but if they're going to live up to the expectations they're going to need more solid outings from their bullpen like they got today.
As for the White Sox, it's the same story as last season. They have the offense, but Jose Contreras sure didn't alleviate any fears surrounding their starting rotation today.
Eric Byrnes, he of shaggy hair and reckless abandon, went 3-for-3 with a opposite-field homer in Arizona's 10-7 win against the Padres. Byrnes is batting .450 this spring on the field. I hear off it, he's batting 1.000 with the ladies. Ohhhhh yeah. Sippin' on some Hennessey.
"Russ has pitched well this spring and he pretty much has it locked up," Hennessey said. "There's not a chance to start for the Giants right now. There are other teams out there with plenty of pitching needs. We'll see what happens."
Oh snap, son. Somebody just called out his team.
Hopefully for Tampa Bay, this doesn't carry over to the real season.
Brian Anderson went 2-for-2 in Chicago's 12-7 win against the Mariners. He's hitting .348 on the spring. But be careful, Brian. Former punter Darin Erstad is primed to snatch that center field spot away from you!
When 
Earlier this week the Angels added 
Back during the Red Sox' playoff run, 
Now that this nightmare of a season is less than a week away from ending for the White Sox, most of the questions surrounding the team revolve around who's going to be back next season. One of the many players on the White Sox roster who aren't sure where they'll be next season is 
Don't pay any attention to what 
There was a glimmer of hope for the 
It's pretty tough to replace a town legend, especially the year after he helped his team win the World Series. That's what Brian Anderson had to do last season after the White Sox sent Aaron Rowand to Philly for Jim Thome.
It didn't take long for the Indians to return to their offensive ways today. Grady Sizemore took the second pitch of the season and redirected it to the Cleveland bullpen at US Cellular this afternoon. It was the first of five runs that the Indians would put on the board in the first inning, as the Indians started their season with a 
'Byrn-in' it up.
