Beats a picture of Youk.

Dave Cameron over at FanGraphs has put together a super-comprehensive ranking of all 30 MLB teams, rating their franchise using five criteria: Ownership, Front Office, Major League Talent, Minor League Talent and Overall.

Rounding out the top three are the Red Sox at No. 1, with the Yankees and Rays tied for third. Cameron had this to say about the Sox:

Well capitalized owner who wants to win and invests in the product? Check
A cohesive front office that combines scouting and statistical analysis? Check.
A major league team that can win immediately and has pieces to build around? Check.
A minor league farm system that will replenish the major league roster? Check.

The Red Sox are the cream of the crop in baseball right now.

Hard to argue with that, though the AL East certainly remains up for grabs as the Yankees continue to spend and the Rays keep improving their young club.

The worst three franchises are the Nationals, Marlins and Astros. Cameron’s thoughts on the Nats:

It’s impossible to find an organization in worse shape than the Nats. They’re coming off a major league worst 102 loss season and their GM just resigned amidst a scandal over significant issues with their Dominican scouting operations. Rather than hiring a new general manager, the team president is just handling business himself while giving Asst. GM Mike Rizzo some increased authority without a promotion.

Yeesh.

Source.

Joe Blancato astros, dave cameron, fangraphs, marlins, nationals, rankings, rays, redsox, yankees

Unfortunately, Jean Valjean washed out in the minors.

Miguel Tejada has gotten his sentence for perjuring himself in front of Congress and the entire world. Our obviously seriously upset leaders saw that he got…

1 year of probation and community service.

For a professional group of angry white guys, the sportswriters histrionics union is curiously silent.

Look, personally, I give no crap about steroids. If I could double my income and tack five years on my career, I’d be screaming for a needle. But what I don’t get is the unequal treatment. If we’re going to watch the sports commentariat melt down in jowl-quivering rage because A-Rod used steroids back in the day, shouldn’t we be treated to similar temper tantrums when Tejada is convicted and sentenced for lying to Congress?

Or,  just gonna throw something out here, Manny Ramirez acting a little weird roughly makes him comparable to Hitler. Miguel Tejada lying to Congress gets a shrug of the shoulders.

Not that I’m saying we need more wordy columns with the word cancer in them, not by any means. All I ask is some consistency. Where should we be outraged, sportswriters?

Today’s justice lesson. Sporting superstar lies to Congress–and I always hear how these guys are role models even when they don’t want to be–in a pseudo-important investigation, 1 year of probation and community service. Hungry homeless man robs a bank of $100, 15 years in prison.

Source.

Rick Vaughn astros, espn, miguel tejada, steroids