All you need to do is post your question(s) in the comments section of this post (we’ll try to stick to the same day of the week, although it might move to Sundays eventually) or if you don’t want the whole world to read your question feel free to e-mail it to us at mailbag@baseballreflections.com
and we’ll start posting the answers to those questions the following week in either the late afternoon or evening.

No question will be considered as dumb by the staff as there are all kinds of fans with different levels of understanding of the game. If we can help the casual fan gain a better understanding of the sport we all love then it will be well worth it! On the other hand, no question, I hope, will be too hard that we couldn’t find the answer (within reason, we don’t have access to why teams do what they do, but we can offer up our opinion) within a week’s time.

If questions come too close to the next mailbag, we might have to answer it in the next weeks batch!

The success of this project is up to you! Have fun with it and I’m sure we’ll have just as much fun answering them.

LET’s PLAY BALL!

If you missed it, submissions can be sent to the following e-mail address: mailbag@baseballreflections.com!

All you need to do is post your question(s) in the comments section of this post (we’ll try to stick to the same day of the week, although it might move to Sundays eventually) or if you don’t want the whole world to read your question feel free to e-mail it to us at mailbag@baseballreflections.com
and we’ll start posting the answers to those questions the following week in either the late afternoon or evening.

No question will be considered as dumb by the staff as there are all kinds of fans with different levels of understanding of the game. If we can help the casual fan gain a better understanding of the sport we all love then it will be well worth it! On the other hand, no question, I hope, will be too hard that we couldn’t find the answer (within reason, we don’t have access to why teams do what they do, but we can offer up our opinion) within a week’s time.

If questions come too close to the next mailbag, we might have to answer it in the next weeks batch!

The success of this project is up to you! Have fun with it and I’m sure we’ll have just as much fun answering them.

LET’s PLAY BALL!

If you missed it, submissions can be sent to the following e-mail address: mailbag@baseballreflections.com!

To celebrate this momentous event we have decided to host a weekly (we hope) mailbag. This is where YOU, the Baseball Reflections readers, get to ask questions of the Baseball Reflections staff (me and probably one or two others depending on the question) on any baseball related topic of your choosing. It can be on Fantasy Baseball, sabermetrics, specific team related or just baseball in general.

All you need to do is post your question(s) in the comments section of this post (we’ll try to stick to the same day of the week, although it might move to Sundays eventually) and we’ll start posting the answers to those questions the following week in either the late afternoon or evening.
No question will be considered as dumb by the staff as there are all kinds of fans with different levels of understanding of the game. If we can help the casual fan gain a better understanding of the sport we all love then it will be well worth it! On the other hand, no question, I hope, will be too hard that we couldn’t find the answer (within reason, we don’t have access to why teams do what they do, but we can offer up our opinion) within a week’s time.

If questions come too close to the next mailbag, we might have to answer it in the next weeks batch!

The success of this project is up to you! Have fun with it and I’m sure we’ll have just as much fun answering them.

LET’s PLAY BALL!

Please help us to promote the BBA to the media so we can attain a more prominent voice in future award voting. We thank you for your patronage!

3 — Terry Francona, Boston Red Sox (95-67)……………………..1 point

Without a legitimate SS for most of the year, with neither Penny nor Smoltz working out, the David Ortiz difficulties for the first 49 games of the season and the shutting down of Matsuzaka for the better part of the year, it’s amazing the Sox were still Wild Card winners. Francona has continually found a way to keep his players loose, focused and hungry throughout a 162 game season.

2 — Ron Washington, Texas Rangers (87-75)…………………….3 points

I honestly don’t know if this vote should go to Washington or team president and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan as the change in pitching philosophy and NOT their once potent offense is what turned this team around. They have changed how pitchers train, letting them throw more and I personally hope that it catches on. I’m tired of how pitchers are babied and i hope it overflows into their use of the bullpen, too. It was only their second winning season in the past 10 years, the other was in 2004.

1 — Mike Scioscia, Los Angeles Angel of Anaheim (97-65)……5 points

Angels Manager Mike Scoscia

I have two words for you…Nick Adenhart! How many teams recover from this sort of tragedy, let alone win their division with 97 wins? This was Scioscia’s 10 season managing the Angels and in that time he has proven to be an excellent manager as most catchers are in my opinion. In those 10 seasons he has managed the Angels to 90 wins or more six times hitting 100 wins last year (2008). And this year he didn’t have his typical bullpen or closer. Scot Shields was either ineffective or hurt and Fuentes is no K-Rod or Percival either. He normally excels in strategy and use of his pitching staff, especially his bullpen corps.

It’s been a while since I’ve introduced a few of our writers and in the past I have done so before they actually posted on the site. But, I guess I’m just a little rusty

Daniel Shoptaw comes to us from his site C70 At the Bat and you can find his first post on Baseball Reflections by clicking HERE.

Rex Jaybels comes to us from his site i94Sports (which focuses on Chicago and Milwaukee sports) and you can find his first post on Baseball Reflections by clicking HERE.

Jim Lakely comes to us from the Examiner where he writes on the Dodgers and you can find his first post on Baseball Reflections by clicking HERE.

Wayne Lin comes to us from his site Texas Rangers News and you can find his first post on Baseball Reflections by clicking HERE.

Now it’s time to say goodbye, after just one post, Bob Ruffolo has gotten bogged down with working on his blog’s new direction and design which will prevent him from writing here again. In parting, he has given us a sneak peek into the New Yankees Stadium with a collection of over 70 pictures. They can be found by clicking HERE.

Taking over for Bob will be Joe O’Rourke, who will have his first Mets post hit the site this coming week. Taking over for Joe writing on the Mets and filling in for Aaron on the Phillies will be Stan Whyte who also comes to us from PSU (the same as Joe) and Bloggle Heads ! You can find his work on their site by clicking HERE.

We still have the following teams that are looking for writers write about them on a monthly basis. They are the Braves, Marlins, Nationals, Twins, Royals, Reds, Pirates, Angels, A’s and Padres.

I would also like to get a one time post (more specifically, a review) from a woman’s perspective on Alyssa Milano‘s Touch line of women’s MLB apparel. Someone who actually owns something from that line.

If anyone is interested in either writing for one of these remaining teams or the Touch post, please contact me at peter@baseballreflections.com

From the site Baseball Evolution , we have Asher who participated in my post/interview on InterLeague Play and Keith . Asher will write monthly reflections on both the Rays and the Cubs. Keith will reflect upon the Diamondbacks. We are now just 1 team shy from full AL East coverage (O’s).

Kurt from Mack Ave Tigers will also be writing for us. That’s 2 in the AL Central!

Nick will be writing periodically on Fantasy Baseball. He use to write for Maury Brown on his Biz sites (football and basketball).

Joining the team to write about the Mariners and periodically about SABR, we have Mike.

We have just recently added Joe O’Rourke formerly of SABR Neighbor and currently of Bloggle Heads!. Joe will be writing to you concerning the Mets.

Last, but not least, we have MLB Expert from NBC Sports.com and the Examiner , Tony DeMarco covering the Rockies.

If I have missed anything, please don’t hesitate to let me and/or the group know. These men will join myself (Red Sox), Bill (Indians), Bob (Yankees), Aaron (Phillies), Matt aka The Zoner (White Sox) and both Hugo and Rincewind (Blue Jays).

If any of you know of anyone who would like to write on any of the remaining MLB teams, please put them in contact with me.

I am also looking to get a one time female writer/baseball fan who has purchased and worn apparel from Alyssa Milano‘s Touch line of Baseball clothing to do a one-off review of the line. So if any of you can help with that as well, I’d appreciate it.

Aaron Schimpf from RBI Magazine

Aaron will be writing on the current World Champion Philadelphia Phillies. Here’s a sneak peek of Aaron’s work over at RBI Magazine, this article is called, Phillies Looking At Nomar Garciaparra. He will be making his first post with us either this month or early next month.

Bob Ruffolo from Yankees Rumors

Bob will be writing on the New York Yankees. Here’s a sneak peek of Bob’s work over at Yankees Rumors, this article is called, The Best Yankees during the Bush Administration. He will be making his first post with us this month.

Theo Fightmaster from the SF Giants Examiner

Theo will be writing on the San Francisco Giants. Here’s a sneak peek of Theo’s work over at SF Giants Examiner, this article is called, Is the window closing on this Giants team?. He will be making his first post with us either this month or early next month.

His exact question was:

I live in Terre Haute, Indiana, and I would consider myself a die hard Cubs fan. Anyway, for some reason my cable company, Time Warner Cable, does not carry Comcast Sportsnet Chicago even though both the Cubs and White Sox claim Terre Haute is part of their area as per the MLB Blackout may that can be found on Wikipedia. The Reds and Cardinals also claim us, and we do have FSN Ohio (Reds) and FSN Midwest (Cardinals). I don’t understand this. If we are considered the territory for the Reds, White Sox, Cubs and Cardinals, then shouldn’t we get all the FSN’s that have these teams? U was told by Time Warner that they do not carry it because of the blackout policy. I contacted CSN Chicago and was told that they wished to be on in Terre Haute. I checked with both Dish Network and DirecTV, and CSN Chicago is provided with some of their more basic packages. I don’t understand any of this/ Is someone lying to me or is it a complex legal problem? Any answers or insights that you could provide would be greatly appreciated.

After checking with many sources, the most useful answer on the issue came from Maury Brown, president of the Business of Sports Network.

His reply was:

While the territory might be available to one carrier or another, it has to do with agreements between those carriers and MLB. As an example, Comcast SportsNet Portland is available in my area, but I have DirecTV. DTV does not have an agreement for carriage of CSNP, so I wind up missing Portland Trailblazer games.

Baseball Reflections encourages readers to submit their questions about any aspect of the world of baseball to either one of their e-mail addresses (which can be found in the “About Us” tab at the top of the website). If neither member knows the answer, they will be sure to track down someone who does, as was the case this time.

Bill Jordan is a contributor to BaseballReflections.com. He can be reached by e-mail at BillJordaniv@yahoo.com.

Baseball Reflections: The Phillies did not hit 100 wins in 2007 and in my opinion, they did not improve their pitching staff enough to win 100. It takes more than just a strong offensive team to win 100 games in Major League Baseball these days! A team needs a good # 3 starter before they should even be thinking about a 100 win season.

Then throw into the mix the possibility of having to face arguably the best left hander in the game in Johan Santana around 4 times and the Phillies might not even be good enough to beat out the Mets for first place because of the Santana trade. The Mets saw that they needed a better 1-2 punch at the top of their rotation and they went out and got Santana. That’s a huge advantage for the Mets over the Phillies right now in  the race for their division and Spring Training hasn’t even started yet!

I hope that answers your question Nathan! J

It’s reader interaction time! 

Who has a baseball question they have always wanted to ask but have never gotten the answer to? I may not get to all of these, but I’ll do my best. It can be about a player, a team, fantasy baseball, asking for my specific views on a given baseball topic, you name it! 

Please list your name and where you’re from on each question. 

If this is popular, we can do this again on a regular basis!

Reader Questions

Andrew wrote:

With the NL East fairly stagnant, barring a Mets Johan Santana trade, how do you see this division shaking out?

The Braves and Phillies haven’t really done much, the Nationals are something of a wildcard, and the Marlins have sunk to a new low.

Will it be Mets, Phils, Braves fighting for the top spot, or do you figure a team will fall out of it early?

My reply: 

If the Mets land Santana, I’d have to give them the edge, but I’m not sure manager Willie Randolph bounces back well from their choking at the end of 2007 without a pitcher like Santana. Maybe a healthy Pedro Martinez will be that answer, but I wouldn’t bet on it! I don’t trust his health.

That leaves us with the Phillies and the Braves because neither the Nationals nor the Marlins will be .500 in 2008.

The Phillies have at least tried to bolster their rotation by adding closer Brad Lidge, moving Brett Myers back to the rotation. On the Braves, you have added Tom Glavine, but he is only going to be good for about 10-15 wins and an ERA in the 4’s.

This division may end up being decided on who makes the best deal either before the season starts or at the trading deadline. As they stand right now, I agree, it’s a three team race with the only edge being that the Phillies won it last year and that might account for something. That plus they have one heck of an offense!

Thanks for the question Andrew!