Baseball: - Mike Leake, Jim Thome, Roger Maris, Dan Duquette, Orioles

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

Hot Stove: - Yu Darvish, Grady Sizemore, George Sherrill, Jim Thome, Jonathan Sanchez

 Yu Darvish – Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters - No, I’m not sure what a “ham fighter” is exactly, but he’s been a Fighter his entire career in Japan. While he could have sign straight out of college in an MLB, (the Mets were interested back in 2004) he decided to stay in Japan to pitch. He wowed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and his numbers in the NPB have been equally impressive. In 2007, at age 20, he went 15-5 with a 1.82 ERA in 207.2 IP, 12 complete games, 210 strike outs and 49 walks. And he’s been equally as good, if not better in the three seasons after that. 2010 might have been his best season, going 12-8 with a 1.78 ERA, 202 IP, 10 complete games, 222 strike outs and 47 walks. He just turned 25 in August, and he will reportedly ask the Fighters to post him to the MLB. Now I know people are scared to go after the Japanese pitchers after Daisuke Matsuzaka and Kei Igawa, but this guy looks really legit and there has been talk about him being posted to the MLB almost every off-season. http://mets360.com/?p=8342&mid=51

Grady Sizemore: In many ways, Sizemore fits exactly what the Nationals need. He's a Gold Glove-winning center fielder who sports a career .357 on-base percentage and has hit leadoff for 703 of his 869 career starts. He's only 29 years old, and his return to the organization that first drafted him in 2000 would make up for the Expos' terrible decision to include him in the ill-fated trade that also sent Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips to the Indians for Bartolo Colon. There's just one hang-up: Sizemore is a huge injury risk. He's played in only 104 total games over the last two seasons because of a smorgasbord of ailments, and he recently underwent arthroscopic knee surgery. It's entirely possible -- maybe even probable -- that he'll never come close to regaining his old form. But if he did ... wow, he would be a perfect addition for the Nationals. http://www.csnwashington.com/blog/nationals-talk/post/Whom-might-Nats-pursue-in-free-agency?blockID=587468&feedID=6358

George Sherrill (35) – After a disastrous 2010, Sherrill bounced back nicely in 36 innings with the Braves. He faced 81 left handed hitters in 2011 and struck out 32 of them, a 39.5 percent strikeout rate. His season ended early due to inflammation in his pitching elbow, but if he can prove to be healthy heading into 2012, there is sure to be a few teams looking to give Sherrill a shot as their go-to LOOGY. http://www.bloguin.com/theoutsidecorner/2011-articles/november/2012-free-agent-primer-top-10-left-handed-relievers.html

Jim Thome signified a rebirth of baseball in Philadelphia with his arrival in 2003.  He's coming back for possibly his final shot at a World Series championship. Sources said Friday evening that the Phillies and Thome have agreed on a one-year contract, pending Thome passing a physical. Terms of the deal were unknown, although it seems likely to be a low-risk signing.  http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20111104&content_id=25915372&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb&partnerId=aw-4965051331268096288-996

In an effort to free up money so they can pursue offensive upgrades, the Giants are willing to trade starter Jonathan Sanchez, according to major-league sources. The Giants have one of the best (and most expensive) starting rotations in baseball. One rival executive projected that, including salary arbitration awards, the team’s six returning starters – Sanchez, Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Ryan Vogelsong, Madison Bumgarner, and Barry Zito – could combine to earn as much as $60 million in 2012. That is roughly half of the team’s payroll. http://mlbbuzz.yardbarker.com/blog/mlbbuzz/sources_giants_willing_to_deal_jonathan_sanchez/7885915