The Ultimate Free Agent

Webster defines Free as enjoying civil and political liberty or choosing or capable of choosing for itself. We as Americans sometimes take this for granted in my opinion. In addition the usage of words in specific instances sometimes just do not seem to really fit. The term Free Agency in sports means a player's contract with a team has expired, and that player is able to sign a contract with another team. Not entirely FREE as I am sure everyone would like to sign with a team that is most likely to make it to the World Series, but due to roster size and financial reasons, that is not an option. So, where am I going with this?

The World Baseball Classic opened our eyes to several highly talented ballplayers around the world that were/are not currently on the Major League Baseball stage. Americans will be able to see Daisuke Matsuzaka every fifth day for the Red Sox this season, but we will still not be graced with the abilities of Yulieski Gourriel. The world saw just a glimpse of this talented ball player during the World Baseball Classic, but there is a lot of excitement around his abilities. With the imminent death of Cuban Dictator Fidel Castro looming, will this change the way the United States and Cuba interact?

Gourriel is a 22 year old 3B/2B/SS for the Cuban National Team and Sancti Spiritus team of the Cuban National Series. Gourriel is the son of a former Cuban National Team member Lourdes Gourriel who was a major player for the Cuban National Team in the 70's and 80's.

Scouts who have seen Yulieski have stated that if he were available in the draft, he would be a guaranteed first rounder. Yulieski has been compared to a young Chipper Jones, Alex Rodriguez and even Hall of Famer Ernie Banks.

Accomplishments of the young Gourriel include winning the Junior Pan Am games as a 17 year old, hitting .433 while winning Gold in the 18-and-under tournament, Olympic and World Cup Gold Winner in 2004 and 2005 and lastly a second place finish to Matsuzaka's Japanese team during last seasons World Baseball Classic.

During the 2005 World Cup Gourriel destroyed world pitching with splits of .319/.385/.894 yielding an OPS of 1.279 in 11 games. His numbers in those 11 games included 47 AB's, 8HR's, 19 RBI's and 12 runs scored.

Last season as he led Sancti Spiritus to the Cuban National Series he became the first player in Cuban history to go 20/20. Yulieski homered in 5 of the last 6 games prior to the Series that capped off a 29-2 record over their last 31 games. To summarize his season, he led all Cuban players in Triples, Home Runs, RBI's, Total Bases, and was second in SB's. Over the 90 game Cuban season his numbers were:

349 AB's 89 Runs 114 hits 19 2B 11 3B 27 HR's 92 RBI's 21 SB's .327 Avg

Projected over a 162 game season, these numbers translate to one of the top 5 seasons in major league baseball history.

625 AB's 158 Runs 204 hits 34 2B 20 3B 49 HR's 166 RBI's 38 SB's .327 Avg

So, who would be interested in this talented ballplayer who will only be 23 next season? Of course it would include all the big money players and can only come to fruition if the new regime post Castro allows for players to come to the Major Leagues without defecting since Yulieski has already been rumored to have defected but strongly refuted those claims last summer after a tournament in Columbia.

With his abilities to play 2B, SS, 3B, it opens the possibilities for others besides the Yankees whom would have to be creative to find a position for him with Cano, Jeter and ARod manning those positions already.

So who do I think will/should bid for the services of Yulieski?

1. Florida Marlins
Jeffrey Loria should buck up and pay whatever it takes to get this kid on his Miami based club which city boasts the largest Cuban population which would only increase if things open between the U.S and Cuba after the death of Castro. Sliding him in at 2B over Dan Uggla would be a tremendous upgrade and give the Marlins an infield of Jacobs, Gourriel, Ramirez and Miguel Cabrera.

2. Boston Red Sox
Mike Lowell's contract ends at the end of this season and sliding Gourriel into that spot and the two hole in the lineup in front or Manny and Big Papi would make the Red Sox nation happy that they will have an offense comparable of the hated Yankees.

3. Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers have a $0.5 million buyout of Jeff Kent's $9 million he would be owed. This money could be used to get younger and better with the signing of Gourriel. With the talented Dodger system and the current players under contract, Ned Colletti will be a big player in the Yulieski Gourriel sweepstakes.

I know this is all hypothetical depending on what happens post Castro and even more so if Yulieski even decided he wanted to play in the major leagues but wouldn't it be an interesting scenario? I am not the kind of person who wishes any undue harm onto anyone, but I am really anxious to see what happens to relations with Cuba and the United States once Fidel Castro passes on.

Floyd"ed" in the Outfield?

The Tribune Company, who is up for sale by the way, has spent well over $300 million this offseason to try and put a competitive squad on the field for Lou Piniella? Is this per Piniella's request, or are the Tribune company executives making their final attempt at winning it all and using the championship to make their sales pitch more attractive. The signings of all these players to large contracts are quite interesting as they are quite back loaded. Surely, a World Series championship would be huge for the potential sale of the corporation, but it would leave the new ownership group sitting with some horrible contracts.

With todays acquisition of Cliff Floyd by the Cubs, they are now sitting with seven potential outfielders (Cliff Floyd, Jacque Jones, Matt Murton, Angel Pagan, Felix Pie, Mark DeRosa and Alfonso Soriano). Or are they? Will all those names be considered in the outfield mix come April 2 when Lou pencils in the lineup to face the Reds, or will a couple of them be in the infield? We all know Lou Piniella is used to having to score a lot of runs to win due to mediocre pitching staffs (see Mariners and Devil Rays). Well, the Cubs are no different this year. With a staff of Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis, Rich Hill, Wade Miller and Mark Prior, the manual scoreboard operators are going to be kept quite busy. So what lineup should Sweet Lou put out on the field that will allow them to outscore their opponents? If all are healthy, and that is a big if when Cliff Floyd is involved, this is the lineup and batting order that should be gracing the Bleacher Bum faithfuls on a regular basis.

Player		Position		HomeRuns		OBP
Soriano		2B		46		.351
Barrett		C		16		.368
Lee		1B		8		.368
Ramirez		3B		38		.352
Jones		CF		27		.334
Murton		RF		13		.365
Floyd		LF		11		.324
DeRosa		SS		13		.357
Zambrano		P		6		.316

Even with Derrek Lee's injury riddled 8 Home Runs, which we can pretty safely guess will be at least 20-30 more this season, that is some serious power to go along with a pretty impressive on base percentage. To put the OBP into perspective the formidable lead off hitter Juan Pierre would have ranked only ahead of Cliff Floyd and Carlos Zambrano last year with an abysmal showing of .330.

If Derrek Lee and Cliff Floyd stay healthy, and the rest of the Cubs lineup performs anywhere near last years numbers, this team could look to make a serious run at Houston's 2000 NL Home Run record of 249. Why do I think there could be some serious skirmishes out on Waveland Avenue.

Note to Bleacher Bums: Bring a glove to wear opposite your beer hand for your own protection.

Note to Tribune Corp: Lock up Zambrano or he will cost you a lot more than $100 million after 2007.

Where oh where will my little games be?

It is unfortunate that the monopolies known as DirecTV and Comcast cannot get along and allow the general public the opportunity to decide which format they want to receive their TV viewing from.

With the recent discussion of DirecTV offering Major League Baseball a cool $100 million per year for 7 years for the exclusive rights to show the Extra Innings package (approximately 1200 games), compared to the $70 million offered by inDemand, as reported by the Sports Business Journal, how will I get my fill of the great game?

Since 2002 when Comcast's inDemand worked out an agreement to allow cable subscribers the access to the Extra Innings package, several baseball fans have been able to watch their favorite teams on a daily basis. Being a Comcast subscriber, I was ecstatic when this option was available and definitely took advantage of its services.

So I am sure you are all thinking that I am completely disheartened today and pondering switching to the dish. That has not even crossed my mind. Actually, I am excited that it will make my decision easier to convert to mlb.tv. Since I live in the Pacific NW and a chunk of the games begin prior to my arrival home from work, I miss out on a good deal of East Coast action. With mlb.tv, I will now be able to log on as I am winding down my day and catch the beginning of the early games. Upon arrival home, I will log on to the laptop, load up the games, and enjoy them from the luxury of my back deck.

So, those of you that are completely disgruntled with this most probable move by Major League Baseball, find a positive in it and make it work for you.

2007 Inaugural Post

I have decided that this year I need to dedicate the time to post here on a regular basis.

If I am to succeed in my dream of breaking into the world of baseball, I need to get the word out expressing my views and opinions in a professional manner so they are able to be seen.

Recently, I have been accepted into an online program that teaches the fundamentals of the front office and scouting world of a baseball organization. As most of you who are acquainted with me know, it has always been a passion of mine to work in the baseball industry. With an online course conducted by Sports Management Worldwide, http://www.sportsmanagementworldwide.com/index.asp I am hoping to learn what I need to be able to network myself and fulfill that dream.

The new format of Diff's Diamond Drivel will consist of news and views of current issues in baseball that I feel I need to elaborate on. I hope you enjoy this format and will continue to read my drivel.