Mike Leake burst onto the scene in 2010 as the latest player to make the leap directly into the majors after being drafted. He showed some great promise in his first two MLB seasons. Now, will this level of production continue into 2012? The 23-year-old relies on mixing up his various pitches for success. He doesn’t have over powering stuff especially for a right handed pitcher. His average fastball speed isn’t over 90 MPH. Even though he doesn’t seem to be a strikeout machine, he does get a fairly decent amount of strikeouts with a 6.3 K/9 in 2011. Also, he has the shown great control by having a 2.0 BB/9 for 2011. To top it all off, his GB% of 48% is better than league average. His 2011 stats are similar to his 2010 stats, except his BB/9 improved from 2.9 to 2.0. Combining all these together, he is not great, but a serviceable starter. http://www.fangraphs.com/fantasy/index.php/mike-leake-2012-steal
The Phillies made a quick move to sign the veteran slugger to a one year, $1.25 million deal. Aside from his appearance at third base last season in an Indians’ uniform, Thome hasn’t needed a glove since 2007. With Ryan Howard sidelined for much of next season–or, at least the early going–the Phillies may ask Thome to dust off his first baseman’s glove. Most likely, however, Thome serves as a pinch hitter and tremendous presence in the Phillies’ clubhouse. Ordinarily, signing veterans who are accustomed to playing is a bad idea, but Thome isn’t that type. He’ll be content with a pinch hitter role and DH action during inter league play. Perhaps, he can play first base once a week, but the Phillies are busily pursuing Michael Cuddyer, who likely gets the gig on a full-time basis. Thome is still a big power presence. He’ll be a quality bat off the bench and still has enough power to make the opposing Manager think about facing him or pitching around him. It’s a great match as long as the Phillies don’t thrust him into an everyday role. http://thebaseballscribe.com/2011/11/05/quick-hits-early-hot-stove
Much as Maris’ many supporters and former teammates continue to decry his omission from the Hall of Fame, it needs to be reiterated that the basic criteria for a true Hall of Famer is at least 10 Hall-of-Fame caliber seasons - or, if you must, in the case of a Sandy Koufax, 5-6 of the greatest seasons ever. Maris had two, although even in his record-setting 61-homer season in ’61, he hit only .269. The bottom line on Maris is that he hit .263 lifetime, didn’t even hit 300 homers (275), much less 400 or 500 like his Hall-of-Fame contemporaries, and in 12 years in the majors led the league only three times in anything (homers in ’61 and RBI in ’60 and ’61). http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/burning-questions-baseball-hot-stove-include-draft-slotting-moving-oakland-a-article-1.972780?localLinksEnabled=false
Dan Duquette signed a three-year contract Sunday to become the Baltimore Orioles' president of baseball operations. A person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press of the move on condition of anonymity because the Orioles haven't announced the hiring. The 53-year-old Duquette, who interviewed with the Orioles over the weekend, was farm director of the Montreal Expos from 1987-1991 and their general manager from 1991-94. He then served as general manager of the Boston Red Sox from 1994-2002. He has not worked in a major league front office since leaving the Red Sox. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7200237/dan-duquette-signs-deal-baltimore-orioles-gm
The Orioles are a lost organization. They do have one of the best field managers in the game in Buck Showalter. They do have some intriguing talent in catcher Matt Wieters, center fielder Adam Jones, and right fielder Nick Markakis. JJ Hardy proved to be a quality addition and Robert Andino looks to be a quality role player. The Orioles even boast a young pitching staff in Zach Britton, Jake Arrieta, Brian Matusz, and Chris Tillman. All four were battered and bruised in 2011, but there is still hope that the foursome can form a rotation strong enough to battle in baseball’s most difficult division. http://fcpbaseballreport.com/2011/11/07/os-wise-choice-in-duquette/#more-389
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