Baseball: - Theo Epstein’s Value, Carl Ermer, Catching in AFL, Is Baseball Too Hispanic, A.J. Burnett

That brings up a pretty interesting question – what is a Major League General Manager worth? As Buster Olney wrote over the weekend, GMs draw salaries in the range of $800,000 to $2.5 million per season, and their supporting staff make significantly less than that. Olney quoted a “high ranking executive” as saying that “you could fund an unbelievable front office for what it takes to pay a couple of utility infielders.” And he’s right – the cost of acquiring talent to fill your baseball operations department is a fraction of the cost of acquiring talent that actually puts on a uniform.  As is theorized in Olney’s piece, maybe the current market inefficiency is the pay scales of those in charge of building the rosters of the Major League teams, and Tom Ricketts could save himself a lot of cash by building a “dream” front office rather than investing in marginal upgrades on the field. If Theo Epstein could initiate an organizational overhaul that would save the Cubs significant amounts of money in free agency and streamline their player development, maybe they should just pay whatever price is necessary to get him out of his contract in Boston? - http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/what-is-theo-epstein-worth

One of the game’s best storytellers was the late Cal Ermer, the popular manager of the Chattanooga Lookouts in the 1950s. He went on to manage the Minnesota Twins in 1967-68 and continued to make Chattanooga his home until his death in 2009. The press box at AT&T Field is dedicated in Ermer's memory, because it was there while scouting for the Twins that he opened his treasure chest of baseball lore gleaned from 67 years in professional baseball and shared it with all who would listen - http://www.nooga.com/18944_baseball-memories-stories-make-the-game-great

Catching is rarely strong in the AFL since the grind of a full season takes its toll. The Best: The Reds first-round pick in 2010, catcher Yasmini Grandal (Desert Dogs) reached Double-A in a fine full-season debut, but he's also stuck behind one of the best catching prospects in the game in Devin Mesoraco. Playing in one of the most heavily scouted environments in baseball, he could generate some heavy trade interest in the off-season. Others: Derek Norris of the Nationals (Scorpions) impressed here last year but then returned to hitting like Mickey Tettleton at Double-A, making up for a disturbing low average with tons of power and walks. Braves farmhand Christian Bethancourt (Saguaros) began to show some offensive potential this year, and some scouts still think there is some power in his game while being universal in their praise for his defense. - http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=15234

This season, 27 percent of major league players and more than 42 percent (conservatively) of minor league players are Hispanic. Which raises an uncomfortable but inevitable question: Is baseball too Hispanic? It's a sentiment that occupies a quiet but steady undercurrent throughout the game. How else to explain radioman Tony Bruno's decision to use Twitter -- a technology that sits poised and ready to ruin careers -- to call Giants reliever Ramon Ramirez an "illegal alien" after Ramirez sparked an August fight with the Phillies by hitting Shane Victorino? - http://espn.go.com/espn/commentary/story/_/id/7058357/are-there-too-many-hispanics-major-league-baseball

A.J. Burnett has been a source of frustration for both the Yankees and their fans with his inconsistent performance since he came to New York in 2009. At times, Burnett looks like one of the most dominant starters in the game. At other times, he looks like he barely belongs in a Major League rotation. It has been that way for most of Burnett’s career as his potential had never really caught up to his results. The word potential is thrown around quite a bit in Baseball circles. It is usually reserved for young, unproven talent with a lot of tools. But, that word has followed Burnett into his 30′s. His tools always leave us wanting more.

The source of frustration stems from the trademark Burnett inconsistency. Has has never, in any of his 13 seasons, put it all together for a complete season. The Marlins stuck with him through injuries because the young right hander could reach into the upper 90′s. Once he learned some control and how to be consistent, the Marlins would have an ace. He never really fulfilled his promise in Florida, but Toronto decided they could harness that potential and gave him $55 million over 4 seasons. He showed glimpses and seemed to have, at the very least,  learned how to stay healthy from Roy Halladay. The Yankees decided that his half season of dominance in 2008 was enough to give him a five year, $82.5 million deal. Potential can make you do some crazy things, not to mention spend an insane amount of money. - http://www.baseballdigest.com/2011/10/04/yanks-hopes-rest-on-burnett