Draft day parallel universes – My latest for The Hardball Times

In my latest article for The Hardball Times, I got to combine three of my passions…

Baseball
“What if?” alternate scenarios
And lame 1980s sci fi concepts like alternate universes.

If teams made slightly different choices on draft day, how would baseball history had turned out?

Would Reggie Jackson rule New York… as a Met?
Would Roger Clemens help make the strangest 1-2-3 starting pitcher combination in baseball history for the Twins?
Would Alex Rodriguez become a Dodger legend?

I spin a few alternate realities… and trust me, every single detail has been well thought out. So hard core Sci Fi fans can relax. Nobody understands the space/time continuum better than me!

To read the article CLICK HERE.

Bob Geren got fired? WHY? WHAT WENT WRONG?

I’ve been calling for Bob Geren to be axed for more than 2 seasons.
It’s amazing that he has lasted longer than a Presidential term, taking a team that was a regular playoff participant and seeing them turn into a sub .500 non entity.

It’s not ALL his fault but it clearly wasn’t working.
Bob Melvin is the new manager. During Geren’s first season (2007), Melvin took an unlikely and seemingly overmatched Diamondbacks team and led them to a 90 win season and homefield advantage in the NLCS.

They got to within 4 games of the World Series with Eric Byrnes as their top offensive threat and Livan Hernandez as their #3 starter.

In that time the D’Backs have been dismantled and rebuilt with 2 other managers.

And Geren stayed put in Oakland… until now.

The A’s could use a little overachieving.

Or who knows?
Maybe Geren should have gotten ANOTHER 4 1/3 seasons!

It was a good night to be named McCutchen in Pittsburgh

The Pirates do indeed have a budding star in long haired Andrew McCutchen. He is that rare player: A good first round pick by the Pirates. And a day after drafting Gerrit Cole, McCutchen sent a “Wish you were here” message. Three hits in the game. He drove in the Pirates first run, scored the game tying run in the 10th and hit a 12th inning walk off shot.

Not a bad day at the office.

That would be DANIEL McCutchen.
I do NOT believe they are related, but who knows?

One thing I DO know. It is more than 1/3 of the way through the season and the Pirates are at .500.

Granted, not exactly Everest, but for a team that needs to change its culture it’s not a bad first step.

For what it is worth, the Pirates are only games back in the loss column for first place.

There are 102 games left to play. Is that enough to make up for 4 games?

Let’s hope they drafted some McCutchens.