Ivan Rodriguez to sign with the Astros

MLB.com reports that catcher Ivan Rodriguez will sign with the Astros pending a physical exam after the World Baseball Classic. "Pudge" is currently batting .600 for the Puerto Rican team in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. The Astros have been auditioning many of their prospects in hopes of solidifying the catching position after the departure of Brad Ausmus to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Houston was one of the few teams able to offer Rodriguez their number one catching position. Hopefully durability is not an issue, as Rodriguez will be entering his 19th Major League season. His recent performance at the WBC hopefully indicates that Pudge is poised to have a strong 2009 season after batting .219 during the last two of months of 2008 with the Yankees.

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Suitors For Pedro Martinez?

While Pedro Martinez's audition at the World Baseball Classic was unexpectedly cut short by the Dominican Republic's elimination at the hands of the Netherlands, hopefully his six scoreless innings of relief piqued the interest of a GM willing to take a flyer on the three-time Cy Young Award winner. His former Mets manager Jerry Manuel has already went on record saying that he is not interested in bringing Martinez back to the New York, however, Dodgers GM Ned Colletti expressed some interest in a recent LA Times interview. Colletti said, "He's someone we're curious about." If and when that curiosity turns into courtship, only time will tell.
Martinez still has the guile and tenacity to make himself effective against Major League hitters, but he has to prove that he is fully recovered from his arm injury and can withstand the rigors of an entire Major League season. Martinez has said that he is looking for much more than what Tom Glavine accepted, which was $1 million for the upcoming season. With rosters and payrolls close to being set, Martinez will likely have to come down on his asking price for teams to take a chance on him for 2009.

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Marmol Implodes as Netherlands Wins In Extra Innings

Carlos Marmol, you might have to relocate after surrendering two runs during the 11th innings to a Netherlands team that fielded just three players with Major League experience. Grossly overmatched at the plate, the Netherlands squad struck out 14 times going into the 11th inning. After the Dominican Republic scored a run in the top of the 11th inning, Marmol was summoned to close the game. Game, set, match, right? Not for the Dominicans in the 2009 World Baseball Classic!

Immediately after taking the mound, Marmol gave up a leadoff double to pinch-hitter Sidney de Jong, who hit the first extra base hit for the Netherlands in this year's Classic. After getting Curt Smith to ground out, Marmol then allowed a bloop single to former Oriole Eugene Kingsale which scored de Jong. With the speedy Kingsale on first base, Marmol wildly threw the ball away from first baseman Willie Aybar to advance Kingsale all the way to third base. Looking visibly shaken by the error, he regained his composure long enough to strike out Sharlon Schoop. After intentionally walking Randall Simon, Marmol ran Yurendell de Caster to a 2-2 count, when de Caster hit a one hopper to Aybar that went off of his glove, allowing Kingsale to score.

In a match of David and Goliath proportions, the Netherlands proved they weren't a fluke, winning not once, but twice over the star studded Dominican Republic. The dejected look in the dugout of the Dominican team said it all, as the Netherlands team ran wildly over the field celebrating their unlikely victory. The Netherlands will play Puerto Rico on Wednesday, with the winner advancing to the next round of the World Baseball Classic.

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Corporate Sponsors on Uniforms at the World Baseball Classic

"Now batting, #7 sponsored by Best Buy, Ivan Rodriguez." It's not exactly how it went down during the opening day of the World Baseball Classic, but Best Buy patches were rather conspicuous on the uniforms sleeves of the Puerto Rican team in their game against Panama. While uniform sponsorship is prevalent during winter ball, one has not seen sponsors on uniforms during spring play. If this trend passes with little fanfare during this year's World Baseball Classic, how soon will we begin to see uniform sponsorship in Minor or Major League Baseball?
While the foreign countries may be used to having sponsors on their uniforms during league play, I am curious as to how the Americans will react to seeing their favorite players play under the logo of a major corporation. Is the Puerto Rican team ahead of the curve regarding opportunities to generate advertising revenue, or are they tainting the game by having sponsors on their uniforms?

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Sparky Anderson - No More Mail (TTM) Autograph Requests

Hall of Famer Manager Sparky Anderson asks his fans to stop sending him autograph requests in the mail. Recently he has sent out cards with the following message: "Because of the overwhelming amount of requests, I can no longer sign items sent through the mail. I appreciate all of your kind thoughts and trust you understand the situation. Please accept the enclosed signed card and I thank you for your courtesy." - Sparky

I can imagine with the proliferation of websites that discuss autograph collecting, that the word of Sparky's generosity with his autograph in the mail has spread with collectors recently at a rate greater than when he was an active manager. I hope that the readers of this blog and fellow collectors are appreciative of his past generosity and respect Sparky's wishes at this time in his life. He was one of the few members of the baseball Hall of Fame who signed in the mail without charging for requests.

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Ex-Yankee Pitcher Tom Sturdivant Dies at 78

Ten year Major League veteran pitcher Tom Sturdivant died in Oklahoma City at 78 on February 28th. Sturdivant initally was signed as an infielder by the Yankees in 1948. After returning from Military service in 1952, he converted to a pitcher while playing for Beaumont in the Texas League. Sturdivant pitched in three World Series for the Yankees (1956-58), and is also a member of the select club of players who appeared in games with both the Yankees and the Mets. Nicknamed "Snake" for his devastating curveball, Sturdivant posted a record of 59-51 with an ERA of 3.74.
For an excellent interview with Sturdivant from 2006, check out Todd's Baseball Dugout.

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Washington Nationals GM Bowden Resigns

After firing special assistant Jose Rijo three days ago in his connection with the Esmailyn Gonzalez scandal, ESPN.com reports that Jim Bowden has resigned as General Manager of the Washington Nationals. While claiming his innocence regarding the dealings with foreign prospects, Bowden felt that he has become a "distraction", and his "ability to properly represent the Washington Nationals has been compromised because of false allegations contained in the press."

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