In no particular order:

1. Wrigley

2. The 1975 Houston Astros uniforms

3. Alexander Cartwright

4. Abbott and Costello

5. Rookies

6. Annie Savoy

7. Triples

8. Minor league road trips

9. No-hitters

10. Near-no-hitters

11. The seventh-inning stretch

12. Manual scoreboards

13. #42

14. Leaping catches

15. Bench-clearing brawls

16. The bottom of the 9th

17. Vendors who throw peanuts really, really far

18. Fenway

19. Doubleheaders

20. Baseball on the radio

Please add your own!

As the financial turmoil surrounding Citigroup unfolded this past week, resulting in the proposed bailout by Congress (and you and me), a very pertinent question that at one point seemed a settled matter popped into the minds of many: Is it fair that the word “Citi” as in “Citigroup” is associated with the Mets’ new stadium, aka Citi Field?

In 2006, Citigroup signed a 20-year deal with the Mets, worth $400 million, in order to provide a name and a sponsor to the team’s new home. Now that the financial institution is the latest behemoth to fall prey to the mortgage crisis and the bad economy, that deal is begining to rub some people the wrong way – especially so after Citi announced massive layoffs of historic proportions.

So far Citi has maintained that their “commitment to the Mets and [the] new ball park is firm,” as Jay Horwitz, the team’s Vice President for media relations, told mlb.com last week.

Steve Silverman, spokesman for Citi, told the New York Times that their commitment to the Mets is firm; “it’s important to us,” he said.

But the Citi bailout isn’t going down easy. This week’s announcement that Citigroup would be given a helping hand by the government, was the second such injection of cash in a span of a couple of months, and understandingly, people are pissed.

What’s more, NY politicians are pissed, as two Staten Island councilmen, Vincent M. Ignizio and James S. Oddo, have proposed renaming the stadium “Citi/Taxpayer field:”

“Perhaps a name change is in order, since it will be the taxpayers of the country who will foot the bill for not only part of stadium, but for the company itself,” Mr. Ignizio said. “The taxpayers are spending billions for this company to maintain its operations and deserve the recognition for their largess.”

Mr. Oddo quipped: “Not naming the field after Jackie Robinson in the first place: mindless. Tom Seaver stepping onto the new mound for the first time: timeless. Actually acknowledging the contributions of the hardworking taxpayer: priceless.”

Now, Taxpayer Field doesn’t have that nice of a ring to it, but it would be a more accurate reflection of the financing behind the stadium given the situation. Let’s follow the money: The construction of Citi Field is being subsidized with about $450 million in public funds, and now Citigroup is getting a shot in the arm of tax payer money, so yea, maybe a nod to taxpayers is in order. Stadium name changes aren’t unheard of, you are aware that Minute Maid Park was once called Enron Field?

Let’s put it up to a poll, shall we? Now that Citigroup is being rescued, it’s tentatively safe to asume it’ll stick around, but it’ll have the specter of the bailout hanging over its head:

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After their lightning-in-a-bottle season in 2007 in which a 21-1 streak took them all the way to the World Series, the Rockies decided their team was much better than it actually was a and stood pat.  The results were highly predictable, as the Rockies crashed down to earth in 2008, falling 14 games below .500 on the season.

Of course it is true that the Rockies were hurt by some injuries to key players like Troy Tulowitzki, Jeff Francis, and Todd Helton, but the main problem was that the Rockies management had overestimated their core level of talent.

It’s been said before, but the Rockies of 2007 had an entirely undeserved aura of being a “young” team, when in fact they were just a team of relative unknowns, but were actually mostly in their peak years.  The idea that the Rockies would be an NL West power for many years to come was thus misguided from the outset, as most of these players were set to enter their post-peak years in which production could not reasonably be expected to do anything other than decline.

In other words, what the Rockies *should* have done after their glorious 2007 was to trade off a lot of their older pieces for younger talent while their value was still sky-high, but of course they instead fell into the common trap of World Series teams of trying to keep all of their players.

However, although the Rockies players have lost a good bit of their luster in the ensuing year, the good news is that it should still be possible to get a decent return for some of them, while everyone still remembers the 2007 run.

Although certainly not what they could have gotten for him a year ago, the Rockies did get a pretty reasonable return on one year of Matt Holiday from the offense-hungry A’s. Carlos Gonzalez is still a very good prospect, and Greg Smith may not be quite as good as the Rockies think he is, but part of winning at Coors is just getting fresh bodies with live arms to throw out their and eat up innings in the never-ending war of attrition with the thin air.

What the Rockies need to do now is keep trading away chips that have perceived value.  They should start out with Garret Atkins, who was always overrated at the plate, with GIGANTIC home/road splits, and was never a good defender anywhere on the diamond. Even more than Holliday, Atkins should have been traded off as soon as the 2007 World Series ended, but he still retains some aura from that run, and should be shipped out of town while he still has any perceived value left around the league. Ian Stewart will be a more than adequate replacement at third.

The Rockies should then look at trading Yorvit Torrealba, who is still highly regarded but made redundant by the arrival of the superior Chris Ianetta, as well as possibly the arbitration-eligible Clint Barmes and Willy Taveras. As always, they should try to cash in these chips for as much pitching as they can get, and maybe another outfield prospect if they opt to trade Taveras.

The Rockies are actually not that far away from contention in a weak NL West.  It’s just that they need to learn and absorb the valuable lesson that to stay on top in the major leagues of today, you can’t rest on your laurels – you have to be constantly adapting, adjusting, and upgrading whereever possible, because the other teams are not going to stop upgrading.  Trading away Matt Holliday was a bold step in this direction, and a sign that the Rockies are aware of this lesson.  They shouldn’t stop now.

– What They Need Index –

If you look at the Diamondbacks, they are actually pretty stacked compared to most teams, especially given that they only lost the weak NL West by 2 games last season, and the Manny-less (not to mention Lowe-less and Penny-less) Dodgers look sure to take a step backwards next year.

In the rotation they will still have the best 1-2 punch around in Brandon Webb and Dan Haren, with fireballing sensation Max Scherzer looking set to join Doug Davis and a likely returning (and surprisingly effective) Randy Johnson in a solid back end.

Looking to the everyday lineup, the Diamondbacks have good young players at almost every position, with continued improvement being a reasonable expectation for many, including still-on-the-upswing young stars like Justin Upton, Stephen Drew, Chris Snyder, Mark Reynolds, and Chris Young.

The only place the Diamondbacks have a somewhat glaring hole is at second base, where Orlando Hudson is a free agent and seems determined to test the market. But even here, the Diamondbacks have some internal options. In one scenario, they could take advantage of Eric Byrnes returning from a hamstring injury to shift Connor Jackson back to first base from left field, and then move Chad Tracy back to his natural position of third base and shift Reynolds over to second.

Another option would be to hand the job over to Chris Burke, who is still young and talented, but whose star has fallen significantly since his first callup with the Astros.

Then there is also the free agent market, which is not super promising, but still, it would probably not be a terrible idea for the D-Backs to bring in an aging but still capable veteran like Ray Durham, Mark Loretta, or the ageless and ever-.300-hitting Mark Grudzielanek on a one-year deal to provide competition and a backup/stopgap plan.

– What They Need Index –

I sent an email to the Umpbump staff last week. I was working on a post about the Pittsburgh Pirates, who haven’t had a winning record in 16 seasons, and I needed some help. It’s not that I didn’t know what the Pirates needed, it’s that I didn’t know where to begin.

Here’s what Paul had to say about the Pirates:

There’s nothing that’s going to save the Pirates in the next decade. Nothing. They’ve botched everything. They traded away Bay and Nady already so they’re low on movable pieces. No one’s taking for Jack Wilson’s contract or his performance. Freddy Sanchez is one of the worst regulars in baseball. Ian Snell is lost. Tom Gorzelany came back down to earth. Zach Duke is a #4 at best. Their best pitcher and three best hitters in 2008 (Paul Maholm, Ryan Doumit, Adam LaRoche and Nate McLouth) are arbitration eligible and getting decent raises.

Yes, they’re very young, which is good for them. But they are young and bad. Maybe they’ll give Andrew McCutchen a shot in the outfield next year. I’d see what McLouth can bring you in a trade after his “Gold Glove” season (but not trade him unless you get a great deal). But the problem with that is you’d end up with an outfield of McCutchen, Brandon Moss, and Nyjer Morgan. They may slug .600 COMBINED. They’ll have the LaRoche duo at the corners, and the worst up-the-middle duo in baseball.

I think that about sums it up, don’t you? The Pirates, it seems, need a miracle. Barring that, they’ll need to continue to commit to player development in the hopes of competing several years from now.

Fortunately, the Pirates are way ahead of the competition when it comes to player development. While other organizations are scouting college players and youngsters in Cuba, Japan and Korea, the Pirates are cornering the India market. They recently signed two reality show winners to minor league contracts. The two Indians are represented by Jeff Borris, who estimates they will need three to four years of minor league experience before becoming major league ready.

Three to four years for two kids who have never pitched in a baseball game? That sounds about right. I’ll be holding my breath for that.

To say that the Orioles pitching staff was decimated in 2008 – not by injuries but by opponents’ bats – would be an understatement. Going into the season, the team knew that they would not have reliever Chris Ray for the entire year following Tommy John surgery. But for the most part, the Orioles were healthy in 2008. They just weren’t very good.

As a team, they gave up 5.4 runs per game (13th of 14 AL teams), struck out a meager 5.5 batters per game (last in AL) and walked 4.1 (last again). Opponents hit 184 HRs (last) and had a statistical line of .277 (13th)/.361 (13th)/.436 (12th). Beginning to see a pattern here?

Things have gotten so “interesting” that the team is reportedly considering putting Danys Baez into the rotation next year. I don’t think it will happen (I mean, try giving him 160 innings and you’re going to lose your job), but it acts as a microcosm of their current situation.

As it now stands, the only pitcher with a guaranteed spot in the rotation is the oft-ignored Jeremy Guthrie. I do think that the arbitration-eligible Daniel Cabrera ought to be there as well, although I am no fan (where did those strikeouts go?). The moment a half-way decent offer is made for him the Orioles should pounce. But until that time, Cabrera should keep getting the opportunity to drive up his own trade value.

Beyond that? Who knows. I really don’t. The trip of Garrett Olson, Brian Burres, and Radhames Liz combined for 65 starts and none of them had ERAs south of 6. At this point, I’m not entirely sure that this is even all that important just because there aren’t better options out there. The O’s are better suited going this route than signing mediocre free agents to long-term deals that will have no payoff.

However, there is one thing that the Orioles absolutely need – patience, especially with their prospects.

The group is led by Matt Wieters, the 22-year old catcher who has produced eye-popping numbers in Single and Double-A in 2008, en route to becoming perhaps the best prospect in all of baseball. Their young arms are led by Chris Tillman, who, along with centerfielder Adam Jones and reliever George Sherrill, was acquired in the foolish (for the Mariners) Erik Bedard deal and Brian Matusz, the 4th overall pick in the 2008 draft. Add in Nick Markakis and the aforementioned Jones and the Orioles have quite the solid base upon which to build.

Here’s the bad news, however. They play in the AL East. They’re up against financial juggernauts (Red Sox and Yankees) and neither of them were division champs in 2008. The Rays’ future has been mentioned so often that I think we’re all bored with them already. And I quite like the Blue Jays’ chances in a couple of years.

So where does that leave the Orioles? On the outside, I’m afraid for the next few seasons. However, this should suit the Orioles just fine for the time being. Ever since the organization hired Andy McPhail in June of 2007, we all knew what that meant – a slow development. And that’s exactly what they’re facing at the moment. But with a solid farm system, and a potential franchise player in right field (Markakis), the Orioles certainly aren’t hopeless. They just need to sit tight and look towards the future.

P.S. I will bet my life that Aubrey Huff will never, ever, ever win a Silver Slugger Award ever again. I mean, who saw THAT coming?

- What They Need Index -

Joe Mauer got a little MVP love from the BBWA

Before the 2008 season, a common grievance among Twinkie faithful was how little they got in Johan Santana trade, and almost lost in the gloominess were the contracts to Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. And while in a perfect world, the Twins would’ve kept their former Ace, things didn’t turn out so bad after all. They did challenge for the pennant with a young and agile team, and both of their young stars were among the top four in AL MVP voting.

Think about it, the Twins needed to win one more game than the White Sox won to go to the playoffs. Had they let Livan Hernandez go sooner, had Liriano been available earlier, had Carlos Gomez been a little more patient at the plate, had Delmon Young hit two percentage points higher; they might have gone to the playoffs. Sure all of that is in the past, but the key to 2009 is the realistic possibility of all these scenarios coming together because there’s a core group of players that already produce good numbers.

The Twins were quick, they stole 102 bases, and they were on base a lot, putting up a .340 OBP, both good for fifth in the AL; they had the third best batting average, and scored and produced more runs than the White Sox did. So what do they need?

Well, there was a noticeable absence of power. As much as it’s true that the White Sox rely on home runs to win, the Twins didn’t make it over the hump due to the dearth of long balls: they hit a measly 111, good for dead last in the AL.

Lots of running, but no long ball.

Lest we think 2008 was a fluke, the Twins have been in home run cellar-ville for the past four seasons. Last time they hit more than 150 home runs was 2004, and guess who won the division that year…

The good news: The Twins are on the case. They’ve been looking to upgrade the left side of the infield, giving Adrian Beltre some consideration and being mentioned as possible destinations for Garrett Atkins if the Rockies decide to trade him, but all signs point to Casey Blake as their choice at third, and Orlando Cabrera as a possible upgrade at short.

As far as pitching is concerned, their starters were relatively stable, with all five regulars earning double-digit wins; now that Francisco Liriano is healthy, one full season of his services will only improve their rotation. If anything, they might need one or two more bullpen arms to pitch in the sixth and seventh innings before turning the ball over to Dennys Reyes and Joe Nathan.

Now, the million-dollar question is (quite literally), can the Twins afford bigger moves? In a word, no. Frugality is the Twins’ game, and they’ve come close to mastering it, going to the playoffs four times since 2002. Yes, there is a new stadium being built, but it’ll be ready for the 2010 season, so until then, don’t expect anything more than what we’ve already used to from the Twinkies.

Soon enough Twins fans, soon enough...

– What They Need Index –

Heading into the offseason, the Marlins had 17 arbitration-eligible players. The notoriously cheap Fish wasted no time in starting to deal them, and have already shipped out Kevin Gregg, Josh Willingham, Mike Jacobs, and Scott Olsen.

We’ve gotten used to watching Florida bring ‘em up (it will be Cameron Maybin this year) and ship ‘em out, World Series victories or no. For years, they’ve claimed they can’t afford to keep their young stars until they’re allowed to build a new stadium. But recently, there was a major breakthrough on that front, as a judge ended the lawsuit blocking them from breaking ground. (Of course, there might well be an appeal by the time I post this, but for now the issue is resolved.)

Does this mean that the Marlins will now, maybe, finally start keeping some of their good players around long enough to reach a critical mass and add to their ‘97 and ‘03 World Series wins? Aside from beefing up their pitching a bit (an incentive-laden deal for Carl Pavano is a mutually beneficial idea), they shouldn’t need to do too much to contend; down on the farm, they have a healthy stockpile of young talent to supplement the young stars currently on their major league roster, and the front office has made it clear that they don’t expect the team’s offense to produce at the rate it did last year, and so will focus this winter on improving their pitching, defense, and speed. I can’t argue with that.

And yet….and yet.

One reason the Marlins have been agitating for a new stadium is that they have the worst attendance in baseball (they share the Miami Dolphins’ stadium). But is it unreasonable to suggest that part of the problem is that the fans get no chance to become attached to their players? Whether or not they’re arb-eligible, the Marlins are almost always willing to deal, and always willing to listen. The turnstile approach may lead to low payrolls and the odd World Series ring, but it doesn’t necessarily win the hearts and minds of fans.

I have never accepted the proposition that money is as tight in Florida as the front office claims — MLB these days is flush with cash, and the small-market teams do benefit from revenue sharing and luxury taxes. Florida has been very good at evaluating young talent, and with a little more effort on the part of the FO — and by signing some of their best young players to long-term deals before they hit arbitration — they should be contenders or spoilers in the NL East almost every year. New stadium or no.

-What They Need index -