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By Gary Armida

Some pending free agents are simply good. Others simply have good timing. In the case of C.C. Sabathia, he has both. First, he’s the best pitcher to hit the free agent market in years (and, he’s closer to Johan Santana than you think if Santana had hit the market) and he is in the midst of an incredible run that will make teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, White Sox, Rangers, Cubs, Dodgers, and Phillies reach deep into their pockets. If Santana received $150 million from the Mets, then Sabathia could be looking at a $200 million dollar deal (or in that general neighborhood). Sound crazy? Well, in the real world it is crazy, but in the baseball world, it would seem to be the norm for the best pitcher in the game. Yes, who wouldn’t want to be C.C. Sabathia right about now? [Read more →]

By Gary Armida

It’s been awhile since we’ve done a Fungos column. As baseball is midway through the “Dog Days” of August, pennant races are heating up. The NL East, AL Central, and the NL West leaders are seperated by just one game. Fans are watching in amazement at CC Sabathia (see above article), the Rays staying in first despite losing the core of their team, and the Yankees offense just absolutely tanking when it counts most. Yes, the 2008 season has been good to the fans thus far with the promise of more drama to come. Let’s take a quick look around the world of baseball [Read more →]

By Gary Armida

The word inept is defined as without skill or aptitude for a particular task; maladroit. If one were to look up that word, the Washington Nationals’ logo would be next to that particular definition. Besides the fact that the Nationals have the worst record in the major leagues at 44-81, they are an organization with no blueprint, no direction, and no identity. General Manager Jim Bowden takes most of the heat, but this is an organization-wide issue. From the ownership acting as if it were a small market team (they play in the Nation’s capitol, how small of a market can that be?) even when they have a brand new stadium, to the transactions made every day, to the product on the field, the Washington Nationals are in need of serious help. The lack of on-field results is a direct relation to the lack of direction and poor decision making by management. This is not just a case of a team having a bad season. This is a case of a team being so bad that they are irrelevant. Remember, teams can have bad seasons, even historically bad like the 2003 Tigers. The difference is that the Tigers were discussed. The Nationals are simply three wins on everyone’s schedule. Just how bad is it? It’s worse than bad; it’s forgettable. [Read more →]

By Bill Campione

The New York Yankees have received a ton of negative press and fan reaction as they have followed up an eight game winning streak after the All Star break with a record of 7-13 (as of August 16). You can point to any number of reasons; age, poor hitting, or Hank Steinbrenner’s favorite excuse, injuries. The point is, their ills are deep rooted and won’t be corrected easily. But one aspect of their futility has stood out recently and that is the curious decision making of Joe Girardi. I am very aware that Joe Girardi is not the cause of the Yankees’ failures, nor do I think he is a bad manager. It does, however, need to be addressed when he continually makes the same poor decisions. I know his hands are tied with the injuries the team has to withstand ad the bench he has been given, but he’s just not making the best of the hand dealt to him.

[Read more →]

By Gary Armida

As discussed many times on this site, the Oakland A’s and their General Manager, Billy Beane are an interesting study in baseball management. On one hand, they are a team who generally competes with a limited payroll using the famed Moneyball approach, which is finding undervalued talent who possess good on base skills. On the other hand, they are a team who has never gotten to the World Series and one that is fading fast off the radar in the American League West. After a surprising start to the season, the A’s are 5-25 in their last 30 games. That’s right, they’ve won exactly five games in a month’s time. To put that into perspective, the Brewers C.C. Sabathia has won four games in the past month. With a pathetic offense and uncharacteristically weak performing pitching staff (they are -8 in run differential), the A’s are suffering through a horrendous and potentially damaging (for the long-term) season. With that, the once lauded Billy Beane is coming under fire for failing to produce a winning, entertaining team like he had in the past. Quite simply, there is trouble in Oakland. Is this a team in the midst of a simple rebuilding rebuilding year or is this a team that will never win the big one? The San Francisco Chronicle’s long-time sports columnist, Ray Ratto, will help FCP break down the situation in Oakland. [Read more →]

By Gary Armida

Ray Ratto has been a sports writer/columnist for 30 years. In that time, Mr. Ratto has worked in the San Francisco area for most of his career after spending time with the short-lived sports newspaper, The National, and San Francisco Examiner. In his career he has written for ESPN.com. Currently, he writes for the San Francisco Chronicle as well as for CBS Sportsline. He has seen the evolution of the sports media coverage from a strictly newspaper business to a millions of websites business. With that in mind, let’s ask Mr. Ratto to give us some background on the sports media. [Read more →]