• Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle: "Music blared and airhorns blasted. A throng of about 500 screaming fans sang Ron Artest's name and cheered his every thought. Artest had arrived, bringing his reputation from nine often tumultuous NBA seasons. The Rockets had become his fourth NBA team. But never before had he been so embraced."
• Michael Wallace of The Miami Herald: "Four years after tossing his bronze medal in a bag and later misplacing it, Dwyane Wade stepped off a flight from Beijing on Monday with his gold medal where it will be for the foreseeable future -- around his neck. 'I've seen a bronze medal before, and it looks nothing like a gold,' Wade said. 'When I put it around my neck, to feel how heavy it is -- if I hit somebody with it, it'll hurt. I can get used to it. I'm going to get used to it. I'm going to have it on for a while.'"
• Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel: "For months, Wade's sole focus had been securing the United States' first Olympic basketball gold since 2000. But now, almost immediately, the focus turns to erasing the stench of last season's NBA-worst 15-67 Heat finish. 'We have to come out of the gates early, and try to make a statement, try to make a stand real early,' he said, with the regular season opening Oct. 29 in New York. 'The Eastern Conference has gotten tough, so we can't come out and spar. We've got to come out and get some ballgames.'"
• Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News: "After more than an hour on a runway in Beijing, another 12 in the air, an hour clearing customs at Chicago's O'Hare Airport and three more waiting for a connecting flight, Spurs star Manu Ginobili arrived at San Antonio International Airport late Monday night and discovered the truth about heroes. When it comes to lost luggage, Olympic medalists get no special favors. Missing were three of the four bags he and his wife had checked in Beijing, where Ginobili collected a bronze medal as the leading scorer for the Argentine Olympic team. 'I actually got 25 percent -- three out of four (were missing),' Ginobili said. Ginobili's value to the Spurs was reinforced. There to retrieve him was coach Gregg Popovich, who planted a kiss on his cheek as he spirited him away from a brief interview session."
• Howard Beck of The New York Times: "Winning Olympic gold in Beijing depended partly on Team USA's ability to cope with the unfamiliar geometry of the international game: a trapezoidal lane, a shallow 3-point arc and a contorted array of driving lanes. But in two years, the trapezoid will be dead, the arc will be a little deeper and the international game will be a bit closer in style to the N.B.A.'s. The lane will become a rectangle, emulating the United States model. The arc will move to 6.75 meters (22.1 feet) -- closer to the N.B.A. standard of 22 feet 9 inches -- from 6.25 meters (20.5 feet). The changes were among several adopted, to little fanfare, by the International Basketball Federation, known as FIBA, in April. The new rules take effect after the world championships in 2010, so they will be in place for the 2012 Olympics in London."

We are entering the home stretch and four teams in the American League are having it out for three post-season spots. Presented below is relevant data pertaining to each contender's schedule make-up. One note; WAOWP means Weighted Average Opponents' Win Percentage.

Tampa Bay

W-L: 79-50, 1st in the AL East
Games Remaining: 33
Home: 16
Away: 17
WAOWP: .524
Home Record: 47-18
Road Record: 32-32

Boston

W-L: 75-55, 2nd in the AL East, 1st in AL Wild Card
Games Remaining: 32
Home: 20
Away: 12
WAOWP: .532
Home Record: 43-18
Road Record: 32-37

Chicago White Sox

W-L: 74-55, 1st in AL Central
Games Remaining: 31
Home: 13
Away: 18
WAOWP: .518
Home Record: 46-21
Road Record: 28-34

Minnesota

W-L: 74-56, 2nd in AL Central, 2nd in AL Wild Card
Games Remaining: 31
Home: 12
Away: 19
WAOWP: .491
Home Record: 46-23
Road Record: 28-33

So there you have it. Make of it what you will. Minnesota's schedule is easy but like the rest of the contenders they suck on the road. Boston has a bunch of home games but they play stiff competition. I am not sure we learn much from this, but there it is nonetheless.

In a 4-3 win over the Detroit Tigers last night, Grady Sizemore hit home runs number 30 and 31, pushing his season line to a phenomenal .271/.383/.532 mark. Having turned just 26 three weeks ago or so, Sizemore has affirmed that his outstanding 2006 campaign (.290/.375/.533) was no outlier. It seems safe to say that he has arrived as a superstar for years to come.

Of course that he may have reached a new, sustained performance level should strike fear into the rest of the league. Sizemore is already a player of historic significance, as there just have not been many center fielders able to produce, both with the glove and the bat, the way Grady has so early on in his career. He won the 2007 Gold Glove, and defensive statistics show him to have been one of the finest defenders before last season as well. Offensively, well, have a look at the table below.

          From   To   AVG   OBP   SLG   OPS+
Griffey   '89 - '93  .303  .375  .520   145 
Lynn      '74 - '78  .303  .372  .498   133
C Cedeno  '70 - '74  .294  .346  .476   131
Sizemore  '04 - '08  .280  .372  .494   126
Wynn      '63 - '67  .254  .336  .4444  125

Over the last fifty years, that's your list of center fielders who have managed a 125 OPS+ or better in their first five seasons. If Sizemore stays healthy and settles into the .375/.520 hitter it appears he is, Sizemore will eventually take his place among the finest center fielders ever to play.

As the baseball season finishes up the dog days of the season, I thought it would be instructive to take a peek at the upcoming crop of free agents.

With more teams signing young players to longer-term deals that buy out one or more free agent years, the talent pool is likely to age and/or diminish over time. These next few years could see the beginning of the end of the top 20-something players in their peak years turning to free agency. In the meantime, major-league baseball teams are still minting money, meaning there will be plenty of interest and dough for the best of the best. Moreover, the Yankees, with $88 million in salaries coming off the books, a new stadium that could produce a windfall in new revenues next season, and the strong likelihood of missing the post-season for the first time in more than a decade, will be bidding aggressively, driving up prices for the premiium players.

Mark Teixeira and C.C. Sabathia fit the bill this off-season, while Pat Burrell, Adam Dunn, and Manny Ramirez, among hitters, and Ryan Dempster, Derek Lowe, Oliver Perez, and Ben Sheets, among starting pitchers, and Brian Fuentes and Francisco Rodriguez, among relievers, should draw a lot of attention – and money – as well.

In the first of a three-part series, let's take a look at the catchers and infielders in the free agent class of 2009. We will follow up with the outfielders and pitchers in separate articles. Players marked by an asterisk after their names are subject to club and/or player options.

First Basemen      Club
Rich Aurilia       SF
Carlos Delgado*    NYM
Jason Giambi*      NYY
Wes Helms          PHI
Kevin Millar       BAL
Mark Teixeira      LAA
Daryle Ward        CHC

The Mets and Carlos Delgado have a $12M mutual option for 2009 (with a $4M buyout). The 36-year-old slugger got off to a poor start this season (.198/.297/.323 in April) but has hit .314/.407/.594 since July 1. Based on his buyout, the true cost of bringing him back is only $8M. He just may be a bargain at that price. However, Delgado, the team leader of the resurgent Mets, may not give his consent to such a deal. Stay tuned.

The Yankees will undoubtedly reject a $22M club option on Jason Giambi for 2009 and instead pay him a $5M buyout. Giambi, who turns 38 in January, is still productive at the plate, hitting .250/.381/.503 this season. Look for him to sign a one-year contract with an AL team.

Mark Teixeira (.302/.408/.541) is the prize of this year's free-agent class. The switch-hitting first baseman reportedly turned down an eight-year, $140 million contract extension from the Rangers last summer and is rumored to be seeking a ten-year deal for a minimum of $200M. The Angels need Tex's bat and approach (15 BB and 10 SO in 101 PA) but will be competing with the Yankees, Mariners, hometown Orioles, and perhaps the Mets, among others, for his services. If money is no object, sign him. However, I would be skeptical of Teixeira's performance in the final five years of such an agreement when he would be 34-38 years old.

Second Basemen     Club
Jamey Carroll*     CLE
Ray Durham         MIL
Mark Ellis         OAK
Mark Grudzielanek  KC
Orlando Hudson     ARI
Jeff Kent          LAD
Felipe Lopez       STL
Pablo Ozuna        LAD

Orlando Hudson (.305/.367/.450 in 107 games) is the best of a relatively weak group of second basemen. The three-time Gold Glover's season has been shortened once again as he underwent surgery earlier this month to repair ligament damage in his left wrist. The soon-to-be 31-year-old will become a free agent for the first time and will be looking to cash in. O-Dog has posted an OPS+ of greater than 100 for each of the past three campaigns. Only three other second sackers can make that claim: Ian Kinsler, Dan Uggla, and Chase Utley.

At 40, Jeff Kent has slipped noticeably this season, both at the plate (.283/.330/.424) and in the field (13 runs below average per 100 games). I guess it's possible that the Dodgers could bring him back for one more year, but it says here that the 2000 NL MVP and future Hall of Famer will retire.

Shortstops         Club
Orlando Cabrera    CWS
Alex Cintron       BAL
Alex Cora          BOS
Adam Everett       MIN
Rafael Furcal      LAD
Cesar Izturis      STL
Edgar Renteria*    DET

Orlando Cabrera (.272/.326/.357) is a solid, if unspectacular, shortstop. He doesn't hit for much power (7 HR in 585 PA) but still runs the bases well (18 SB in 22 attempts) and can more than handle the defensive requirements of the position. However, at the age of 34, OC may find the going tough this winter. Look for a team to ink him to a two-year contract as a stop gap awaiting a younger alternative.

When healthy, Rafael Furcal is one of the most productive shortstops in the game. He put up a .366/.448/.597 line through the first week of May before hitting the disabled list with a bulging disk in his back, which was surgically repaired in early July. The Dodgers were 18-14 in those 32 games and have been 47-51 without him. There is an outside chance that Furcal could return this season. Either way, the 31-year-old will have a tough time duplicating the three-year, $39M contract he signed as a free agent in December 2005.

Coming off a .332/.390/.470 campaign with the Braves in 2007, Edgar Renteria has been a huge disappointment for the Tigers. He is arguably having the worst year (.264/.314/.355) of his 13-year career. The 33-year-old is average at best defensively and no longer steals bases like he once did. Renteria has picked up the pace a bit in August (.290/.342/.449) and how he performs in September will probably determine the level of interest this winter.

Third Basemen      Club
Hank Blalock*      TEX
Joe Crede          CWS
Chipper Jones*     ATL

The Rangers can exercise a $6.2M club option on Hank Blalock for next season or let him go for a rather cheap $250,000 buyout. After missing more than three weeks, Blalock returned to action last Friday. Due to continued soreness in his right shoulder, Blalock may be relegated to first base, at least for the foreseeable future. Unless the seven-year veteran can man the hot corner, his value will be circumspect, especially given his career splits (.227/.282/.352 vs. LHP and .244/.301/.398 on the road). Put me solidly in the camp of the skeptics.

Joe Crede (.255/.323/.474) has been out of action with a bad back for more than a month. He is serving a rehab assignment with the Triple-A Knights and will likely join the White Sox before the month is out. His pluses (good power and excellent defense) and minuses (health and consistency) are well known. Crede will turn 31 next April and his best days are probably behind him. Put it all together and he looks like a poor man's Scott Rolen.

Make no mistake about it, Chipper Jones will be wearing a Braves uniform next season. According to Cot's Baseball Contracts, Atlanta has a club option that will vest between $8M and $11M (depending on performance and award bonuses). If anything, look for the Braves and Jones to work out a new deal that keeps the switch-hitting third baseman with the one and only club that he has known. Always an injury risk, Jones is more productive at the plate than ever. Look no further than his OPS+ marks the past four seasons:

YEAR   AGE   OPS+   
2005   33    151
2006   34    154
2007   35    166
2008   36    173

Jones (.359/.460/.568) is not only getting older, he is getting better. While I'm aware that the above trend is unlikely to continue, I would be comfortable tearing up his contract and signing him to an extension that would keep him in Atlanta for the next three seasons.

Utility Infielders Club
Craig Counsell*    MIL
Nomar Garciaparra  LAD
Nick Punto         MIN
Juan Uribe         CWS

Pass.

Catchers          Club
Rod Barajas        TOR
Henry Blanco*      CHC
Toby Hall*         CWS
Mike Redmond*      MIN
Ivan Rodriguez     NYY
Javier Valentin    CIN
Jason Varitek      BOS
Gregg Zaun*        TOR

There are two oldies but goodies...um...scratch that, oldies and formerly goodies...in this group. Ivan Rodriguez (.284/.329/.402 overall but .217/.265/.304 in 16 games with the Yankees) will turn 38 in November and is little more than a good defensive catcher at this point. He served as a two-month rental for New York but doesn't fit into the club's future plans as Jorge Posada is expected to return next season.

Jason Varitek is in the midst of the worst year (.223/.315/.370) of his 11-year career. Boston may have an interest in bringing back its captain, who turns 37 next April, for one more season but not at the $10M average he earned from 2005-2008. However, the question is whether or not Scott Boras' client can suck it up and accept such a deal.

As a segue to Bob Timmermann's guest column yesterday on "The World of Catcher's Interference," we bring you Foto Friday #8.

Nope, that's not a gas mask, folks. That's a holy cup, so to speak.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to name the player whose ear it appears as if the cup is growing out of and his two sidekicks. For bonus points, select the correct date, location, and what took place that day. Getting the correct answers may take a bit of digging, but all of these mysteries can be solved (except for the name of the stage "hand" in the background).

Good luck.

Answers (added at 4:30 pm PT): From left to right, the three players in the photo are Hank Bauer, Norm Siebern, and Yogi Berra. The date is June 17, 1956. The location is the visitor's clubhouse in Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Bauer, Siebern, and Berra all hit home runs to lead the Yankees to a 9-4 victory over the Indians.

The caption for the AP Wire Photo read as follows:

"CLEVELAND, JUNE 17--YANKEE SLUGGERS--This trio of hitters accounted for as many home runs today as the New York Yankees downed the Cleveland Indians 8-4 [sic] to make a full sweep of a three-game series. Left, Hank Bauer, whose three-run homer in the seventh; center, Norm Siebern, who came up from Denver and hit his first major league home run; and Yogi Berra. Siebern and Berra connected for two-run homers in the first off Early Wynn, who was charged with the defeat."

My Dad was working the desk at the Long Beach Independent, Press-Telegram back then and kept a copy of the photo, caption, and the following note to editors, entitled "WIREPHOTO ELIMINATION ... Wirephoto CD1 of today, showing New York Yankee players celebrating victory over Cleveland Indians, is eliminated to all points. Picture is of questionable taste because of object in background."

The photo and the note from the AP is what makes this one a classic (and perhaps never published before). Sadly, we almost never see such photos today...oh, not of a cup in the background but just three ballplayers arm-in-arm with smiles as if they had just won the World Series.

The box score, as provided by Retrosheet and Baseball-Reference.com, contains a wealth of information, such as the fact that future Hall of Famers Whitey Ford and Early Wynn were the starting pitchers and neither finished two innings with the latter failing to record a single out. Rip Coleman, who pitched the final six innings for the Yankees, was credited with the win.

Mickey Mantle, who went on to win the Triple Crown and MVP, was hitting .382 with a 1.248 OPS as of the date of this game.

There were 41,765 fans in attendance, Cleveland's largest home crowd of the season.

"X - reached first on catcher's interference"

The line above has often been used in baseball box scores to denote one of baseball's orphaned statistics: catcher's interference. It is an event that happens just infrequently enough for people not to care about it, but important enough that the official scorer has to report all instances of it in the totals of a game. The play doesn't count as an at bat for the batter, but the batter doesn't get credited in his on-base percentage for reaching base safely. But a batter who came up just once in a game and reached base on catcher's interference would keep a hitting streak going. A batter reaching base on catcher's interference who comes around to score is an unearned run, but batters who reach after him are usually earned runs.

For reasons I've never figured out, I felt that it was one of my missions in life to keep track of this play on my blog, The Griddle. I note the last instance of it on the sidebar and ask people to let me know when the play occurs, which invariably happens when I'm away from a computer, out of town, or busy with some other mundane task, like eating.

The baseball rule that spells out catcher's interference is Rule 6.08(c):

The batter becomes a runner and is entitled to first base without liability to be put out (provided he advances to and touches first base) when:

The catcher or any fielder interferes with him. If a play follows the interference, the manager of the offense may advise the plate umpire that he elects to decline the interference penalty and accept the play. Such election shall be made immediately at the end of the play. However, if the batter reaches first base on a hit, an error, a base on balls, a hit batsman, or otherwise, and all other runners advance at least one base, the play proceeds without reference to the interference.

All that boils down to is that if the catcher's mitt touches the batter's bat before he completes his swing, catcher's interference is called. And when it happens, nobody, except for the batter, catcher, and umpire really knew what is happening. The umpire calls time and the batter is told to go down to first and everyone sort of scratches their head for a while trying to figure out what happened. Eventually "Error 2" will flash on the scoreboard and then everyone will be puzzled and look around. On TV, the announcers will look at replays and try to figure out what happened. And, after a few minutes, the befuddlement ends and the game goes on. (In theory, any fielder could interfere with the batter's swing and get called for interference, but such an instance hasn't turned up.)

Why does the play happen? I've never gotten a good answer from watching it happen, but I think (and this is highly speculative) that most catcher's interference plays happen on breaking balls. And they often happen when the batter makes a very late swing or the pitch comes in to a location that the catcher isn't expecting. So you end up with the combination of a weird swing and the catcher trying to grab a pitch in an unexpected location. This puts the bat and glove on a collision course of sorts.

Pitchers, who tend to have very poor swings at the plate, seem to get a disproportionate number of catcher's interference calls. Baseball-reference.com lists 64 instances of a pitcher getting on base via catcher's interference since 1956. Chris Short accounted for 11 of them and he was also the last AL pitcher to reach base on catcher's interference, back when he was playing for the Brewers in 1973.

According to David Nemec's book "The Rules of Baseball," catcher's interference wasn't put in the rulebook until 1899. Prior to that time, catchers would occasionally try to disrupt a batter's swing by tipping the bat with his glove. Connie Mack claimed that he pioneered this strategy, but that's likely because he lived a long time and nobody was going to argue with him. However, it didn't happen too often because catchers tended to stand well behind (anywhere from 10 to 25 feet) behind the batter because they didn't have much protective equipment and valued keeping their hands, heads, and ... um ... manhood ... intact. Catchers would only move in closer if there were runners on (to prevent stolen bases) or there were two strikes on the batter (catching the third strike cleanly is one of baseball's oldest rules.)

I asked Phil Birnbaum to go through Retrosheet's data to find out how often catcher's interference had been called in the years that data is available (1956-2007). And Phil even made a graph. And after studying the graph, I believe that you really can't tell much about it.

The number of instances of catcher's interference has gone up in recent years, which I think can be attributed to the increase in the number of games and better protective equipment for catchers that let them set up closer to the batter, even if it's by a couple of inches. However, the number of occurrences isn't exactly staggering, although it does happen more frequently than a complete game shutout now.

Baseball's all-time catcher's interference king is Pete Rose, who reached on catcher's interference 29 times in his career. His first one came on August 8, 1963 when Clay Dalrymple of the Phillies was nailed for it. Rose's final catcher's interference came over 22 years later on September 19, 1985 when Larry Owen of the Braves was called for it during a 9-run ninth inning by the Reds.

The single season record is held by Roberto Kelly, who got eight catcher's interference calls while playing for the Yankees in 1992. Kelly's knack for reaching first on catcher's interference earned him a trip to Cincinnati the next season in a trade that netted the Yankees Paul O'Neill.

Dale Berra of the Pirates holds the National League record for catcher’s interferences in 1983 with seven. Berra never had another CI call the rest of his career. Although Retrosheet doesn't have complete data on Dale's dad, Yogi, it appears likely that the gene for reaching on catcher's interference wasn't passed down from father to son, as Yogi has none in his stats.

Five times a player has reached on catcher's interference twice in one game. Pat Corrales did it twice for the Reds in 1965 (August 15 and September 29). The others were Ben Geraghty of the Phillies back on April 26, 1936 and also two Mariners: Dan Meyer on May 3, 1977 and Bob Stinson on July 24, 1979.

Catcher's interference has turned up in the postseason seven times, five times in the World Series. Roger Peckinpaugh of Washington was the first player to get one and it happened in the first inning of Game 7 and Peckinpaugh picked up an RBI as the bases were loaded. Rose had one in Game 1 of the 1970 World Series. George Hendrick had the last one in the World Series in Game 3 of the 1982 World Series. Richie Hebner of the Pirates (Game 3 in 1974) and Mike Scioscia of the Dodgers (Game 5 in 1985) have the only LCS catcher's interferences.

The leader among active players in catcher's interference calls is Darin Erstad of the Astros with 13. Craig Counsell of the Brewers is engaged in a neck and neck battle with Erstad with 12 CI calls. Erstad is the only player I've ever seen reach on CI in person, back on July 19, 1998 when Chris Hoiles of the Orioles knicked Erstad's bat. Or at least that's what I believe happened as I recall also that I had to stare into the sun most of the game, so pretty much anything that happened at home plate was just a rumor to me.

Edwin Encarnacion of the Reds could be the next big thing in the world of catcher's interference, picking up eight early in his career. However, Encarnacion hasn't had a single call this year and he could be losing momentum in his quest to go after Rose's record.

In Boston, since the Curse of the Bambino has been lifted, it's now time to talk about the Curse of Darren Lewis. Lewis reached first on catcher's interference back on September 13, 1998 courtesy of Tigers catcher Paul Bako. And no Red Sox player has reached on catcher's interference since then, the longest current drought for any franchise in the majors. How much longer will the people of Boston have to suffer? (My book proposal about this has gone nowhere which shows that there is a limit in the publishing world to the number of Red Sox-themed books there can be.)

There have been just nine catcher's interference calls so far in 2008. Three of them have come from Lyle Overbay who had never had one prior to this year. Carl Crawford has had two. Other players who have had one haven't fared well. Claudio Vargas of the Mets found himself taken off the Mets 40-man roster and is now playing in AAA New Orleans. Travis Hafner has been hurt most of the year. Guillermo Quiroz of the Orioles has hit .202 as a backup catcher. Milton Bradley has had a solid year, although he seemed to be getting more and more mysterious injuries after his catcher's interference on June 28.

For many players, they can have long careers and never once have a catcher's interference. Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Cal Ripken, and Brooks Robinson are four notable players with long careers who never had an entry in the catcher's interference column on their ledger.

Frank Robinson received one catcher's interference in his long career and that came back on April 27, 1963 in Houston. John Bateman of the Colts interfered with Robinson in the seventh inning. Robinson must have been a little upset as he went and stole second and scored on an RBI single from John Edwards for the only run of the game.

There is only one documented case I know of when a game ended on catcher's interference. That was back on August 1, 1971 when the Dodgers were hosting the Reds. In the 11th inning of a 4-4 tie the Dodgers had the bases loaded with two outs and Willie Crawford up against Cincinnati reliever Joe Gibbon.

Manny Mota was on third for the Dodgers and either thinking that Gibbon wasn't paying attention to him or Crawford had no chance to get a hit against Gibbon, Mota tried a steal of home. Reds catcher Johnny Bench jumped out from behind the plate and stood in the base path to tag Mota.

This brought into play the seldom used Rule 7.07, to wit:

If, with a runner on third base and trying to score by means of a squeeze play or a steal, the catcher or any other fielder steps on, or in front of home base without possession of the ball, or touches the batter or his bat, the pitcher shall be charged with a balk, the batter shall be awarded first base on the interference and the ball is dead.

Home plate umpire Harry Wendelstedt called catcher's interference on Bench and a balk on Gibbon and Mota came home with the winning run. Rule 7.07 is peculiar because it imposes two different penalties for one act: catcher's interference, which allows the batter to reach first and the runners move up if forced, and a balk, which allows all the runners to move up one base. So how did Mota score? Did he score on catcher's interference or on a balk?

I discussed the play with Dave Smith of Retrosheet two years ago at the SABR Convention in St. Louis. And we agreed that the play had to be catcher's interference first because Crawford was awarded an RBI on the play, which he wouldn't have received for a balk.

So what have all these words taught people about catcher's interference? Likely very little. Catcher's interference is just a small freak play in the larger scheme of baseball. But it happens and you have to count it to make your box score balance. It's a loose end that you have to watch out for. You can take solace that I'm paying attention so you don't have to.

Bob Timmermann is a librarian who lives in South Pasadena, CA. He is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research. He writes about variety of baseball-themed topics at The Griddle. Some of them are even important.

The 2008 draft deadline has come and gone, and when the dust settled almost all the big-name amateur draft picks had signed on the dotted line - save for three. A trio of pitchers chose not to begin chasing their Major League Baseball dream right away, including Aaron Crow (Washington), Joshua Fields (Seattle) and Gerrit Cole (New York AL).

Both Crow and Fields are considering playing for independent baseball leagues, while Cole - a prep right-hander - is headed off to pitch for UCLA. Crow will have to wait to sign with a new club until next year. Fields, though, as a senior without the option of returning to school, did not have to sign at the deadline like everyone else. He has until the week before the 2009 draft to sign with Seattle, but what is he waiting for? He turned 23 years old yesterday and needs significant work on his control before becoming an effective Major League reliever (He has averaged more than five walks per nine innings in his last two college seasons). The market seems pretty simple to me, as Fields was taken sandwiched between two other college relievers who signed for $1.54 million (Andrew Cashner) and $1.48 million (Ryan Perry).

Cole will have to wait a full three years, which is a big risk considering the fragility of pitchers and the amount of money he turned down from the Yankees (more than $2 million). I can understand wanting to get a good education, but $2 million is a pretty good cushion if the Major League career does not turn out - and you are never too old to go back to school.

It came down to the wire but the top eight picks in the draft all came to terms. Top pick Tim Beckham and sixth round Kyle Skipworth both signed more than a month ago and have been able to benefit from valuable development time in the minors. Negotiations between Pedro Alvarez, the second overall pick, and Pittsburgh came down to the wire but he signed for $6 million. The Pirates needs to make the move after last year's debacle (Daniel Moskos). Kansas City threw out another $6 million to high school slugger Eric Hosmer, who is considered a very advanced offensive player. The club also gave seven figures to fourth round selection Tim Melville, a talented right-handed pitcher whom many thought was headed to college (which is why he fell out of first-round consideration). Interestingly enough, the small-market Royals spent more on the draft ($10-plus million) than any other club, according to Baseball America.

Baltimore signed top college pitcher Brian Matusz to a Major League contract with a signing bonus of $3.2 million, and with more than $6 million guaranteed over the life of his career. Catcher Buster Posey settled with San Francisco for a whopping $6.2 million, which might have been the biggest overpayment in the top eight. He's talented, but his bat may not be superstar quality, which is what I'd hope for from an amateur being handed that much money up front.

Yonder Alonso, on the other hand, could be the biggest steal of the draft for "only" $2 million. That said, he did receive a Major League contract and a guarantee of $4.55 million. Although he doesn't really fit in with Cincinnati's current 25-man roster (thanks to the presence of top rookie Joey Votto), teams always find a way to make room for players with star power. Alonso has been a consistent performer for three college seasons, and he has excellent plate discipline to go along with his 30 home run power potential. Gordon Beckham agreed to terms with the White Sox for $2.2 million and could move quickly through the club's minor league system.

The Rangers wrapped up Justin Smoak, the 11th overall selection in the draft, for $3.5 million. Smoak has 25-30 home run potential, as well as Gold Glove promise in the field. Despite concerns about his hip, San Diego gave Allan Dykstra $1.15 million to forgo his senior college season. Boston gave 30th pick and high school two-way player Casey Kelly $3 million to turn a blind eye to a college career. The organization also threw out seven-figure contracts to two other draft picks (Ryan Westmoreland and Pete Hissey).

Let's take a quick look now at the race for American League and National League Rookies of the Year, although I will go into more detail next week. On the offensive side of things, Geovany Soto (Chicago NL) and David Murphy (Texas) are tied for the lead in hits with 114. Evan Longoria is leading the pack with 22 homers (and slugging at .533), while Soto is just four behind. Murphy has driven in 74 runs for Texas, while Longoria is just three runs short. Boston outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury's 38 steals are 27 more than his closest competition. Soto's .286 batting average is good for first overall, while Cincinnati's Joey Votto is second at .281. Atlanta's Gregor Blanco leads all rookies with a .371 on-base average.

As for the pitchers, Nick Blackburn (Minnesota) and Jair Jurrjens (Atlanta) are leading the way with 152.2 and 151.1 innings, respectively. Blackburn has given up 170 hits (the most of any rookie pitcher) but he also has the lowest BB/9 ratio, having allowed just 26 free passes. Johnny Cueto (Cincinnati) leads the rookie hurlers with 136 strikeouts, which is 24 more than second-place Jurrjens. Armando Galarraga (Detroit) and Jurrjens are tied for the most rookie wins with 11. Galarraga also leads rookies with a 3.11 ERA. The most saves by a rookie goes to Cleveland's Masa Kobayashi.

So it looks like Greg Maddux is heading up the 5 to Los Angeles. Before you scoff, consider what Maddux will be asked to do. He is taking the rotation spot of all those pitchers not named Lowe, Billingsley, Kuroda and Kershaw. Here is how those pitchers have fared, versus how Maddux has in 2008.

         IP   K/BB   K/9   WHIP   ERA
#5 LAD  185   1.70   6.03  1.47   4.91
Maddux  153.3 3.07   4.70  1.22   3.99

Maddux should offer a nice boost to the back end of the Dodgers staff down the stretch. A one or two tick upgrade over the course of six or seven starts could be the difference between the post-season and early fall golf for Los Angeles. Assuming they did not have to give away too much here, this seems well worth it to me.

In the American League the Tampa Bay Rays have been the surprise story of the 2008 campaign. The Los Angeles Angels' dominance thus far comes in second, then the Boston Red Sox (if for no other reason than that they are the Red Sox, in all their loony glory), then the disappointing Yankees, etc.

Somewhere down the list you might find the Chicago White Sox, who have the AL Central's best record and MLB's third best run differential. They're a terrific team, and in case you have your doubts, check out some of the forensics. Below are their AL ranks in a number of different categories.

Offense

Runs: 3
OPS: 3
OPS+: 4
AVG: 7
OBP: 7
SLG: 2
HR: 1 (31 more than the second highest total)

Pitching

ERA: 4
ERA+:3
OPS Against: 5
K/9: 3
K/BB: 1
WHIP: 3
FIP: 2
Bullpen ERA: 4

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The White Sox do it all pretty well, and there are some excellent macro signs for the club as well. Alexei Ramirez, now the team's full-time second baseman, is slugging .515 and shows no signs of slowing down. With Ian Kinsler out for the remainder of the season, no AL team will trot out a better player at the position. Also coming around is Paul Konerko. He has battled injuries and horrendous BABIP luck all season long but he has reverted to form of late, posting a .293/.446/.561 line thus far in August. Oh and in case you haven't noticed, Carlos Quentin has outperformed Eric Byrnes this season (oops). The offense should continue to pound the ball.

There are those out there who believe that the pitching staff has been getting it done with smoke and mirrors. But they look about right to me. However lucky you think Gavin Floyd has been, and yes he has been lucky, take a look at Javier Vazquez. The man is second in the AL in strikeouts, his K/BB figure is in the top-10 as well and yet he sits with a 4.34 ERA. He has been lights out in August, though, so his higher profile stats should begin to come in line with his peripherals. John Danks continues to dazzle, Mark Buehrle is solid, and the bullpen, led by a resurgent Matt Thornton, is excellent as well.

It won't be easy for the Pale Hose from here on out. During the stretch run they will face the Rays, Angels, Red Sox, and then cap a ten game road trip with a critical three game set against the Twins in Minneapolis the final week of the season. Ten of their final thirteen games are on the road, and they also face their feisty division rivals, the Cleveland Indians, seven times. It won't be easy, but then, it's not easy for any team to get by the White Sox these days.