Winter Balls, not coal, Found in Stockings

Its that time of year again when winter baseball begins to heat up. Many of the MLB's Latino stars head south to sharpen up their diamond skills.
Yankee second baseman, Robinson Cano, was playing in the Dominican League, batting .389 when his parent club put an end to his season.
Other notable MLBPers basking in a Caribbean Winter are Baltimore's Miguel Tejada, Tampa Rays' first baseman Carlos Pena and Red's third sacker Edwin Encarnacion. Along with the Dodgers speedster Rafael Frucal, Encarnacion and Tejada combine to power one of the Dominican league's best lineups.
usually a hesitation to let their stars play. In Cano's case, the Yankees have a lot vested in their young second baseman. Nursing a sore calf, Cano needs to consider resting until spring training. With today's multi-million dollar, guaranteed contracts, there's calf, Cano would be foolish to continue playing.
The Yankees, too, would be up a creek. Since it's late in the offseason, they would pay through the nose for a second rate second baseman, such as a Marcus Giles or Jose Valentin.
MLB 2K8 cover boy Jose Reyes is also playing winter ball in Santo Domingo. Hopefully the Gigantes have figured out a cure for laziness.

Biggest Free Agent You've Never Heard Of

The Kansas City Royals made a huge splash in this winter's free agent pool, and it's possibly one of the best signings that you've never heard of. Left handed reliever, ERA of a 2.55, batters hit a weak .218 against him last season, in 67 innings pitched over 58 appearances.
Let me introduce you to Ron Mahay, ex-Texas Ranger/Atlanta Brave reliever.
It's great to see Kansas City opening up their wallets. By also adding Jose Guillen, the Royals are starting too break away from that lovable loser label they've been wearing for the past decade or so.

According to ESPN, the Giants and Yankees also looked into signing Mahay.

Phillies Sign Geoff Jenkins

Free agent outfielder Geoff Jenkins and the Philadelphia Phillies seem to have agreed on a contract. What does this mean for fantasy owners? Lets take a peak:
Jenkins was just waiting out his contract as a member of the Brew-Crew; he didn't really wear out his welcome, but was more a casualty of a up and coming Brewer farm system.
Jenkins has decent power and is a .280 hover hitter. His power number could benefit from a playing 81 games in the pinball machine park that the Phillies call home.
Jenkins signing would also effect Pat Burrell, potentially. ESPN suggests that Jenkins could replace Burrell whenever there's a righty on the mound. That would be disastrous for Burrell Fantasy Owners, because they're taking a huge gamble by owning him in the first place, now he's going to lose a good chunk of plate appearances.
With Shane Victorino now the everyday center-fielder, Jenkins could also spit time with Jason Werth.
With Aaron Rowand leaving via free agency and Michael Bourn traded to the Astros in the Brad Lidge trade, the Phillies outfield should probably be left alone on your draft day.

MLB 2k8

Looks like the folks over at 2K Sports have released the cover boy of this year's installment in its baseball franchise, MLB 2k8:
Interesting choice of player, since Derek Jeter had been the front man for the past versions of the game. In a press release on their website, MLB 2K8 developer Ben Brinkman said;
"This year we have signed one of the most exciting players in all of Major League Baseball® as our official cover athlete. Jose Reyes is a multi-talented player – a great baserunner, fielder and hitter, making him the perfect spokesperson for Major League Baseball® 2K8.”
The game will be available for the XBox360, Playstation 2 and 3, PSP, and Wii consoles. Gone, it seems, is the version for the regular XBox...

Mitchell Report

I've been hearing a lot of grumblings lately, of people just looking for a simple list of the names on the Mitchell Report. ESPN has somewhat of a preliminary list, but it's missing some names (Mark McGwire, for instance). Here's a list courtesy of BaseballReference.com that lists, in alphabetical order, those named in the report:
And if you're interested in reading the entire report, enjoy.

Manny Alexander
Chad Allen
Rick Ankiel
David Bell
Mike Bell
Marvin Benard
Gary Bennett
Larry Bigbie
Barry Bonds
Ricky Bones
Kevin Brown
Paul Byrd
Alex Cabrera
Ken Caminiti
Jose Canseco
Mark Carreon
Jason Christiansen
Howie Clark
Roger Clemens
Paxton Crawford
Jack Cust
Brendan Donnelly
Chris Donnels
Lenny Dykstra
Bobby Estalella
Matt Franco
Ryan Franklin
Eric Gagne
Jason Giambi
Jeremy Giambi
Jay Gibbons
Troy Glaus
Juan Gonzalez
Jason Grimsley
Jose Guillen
Jerry Hairston
Matt Herges
Phil Hiatt
Glenallen Hill
Darren Holmes
Todd Hundley
Ryan Jorgensen
Mike Judd
David Justice
Chuck Knoblauch
Tim Laker
Mike Lansing
Paul Lo Duca
Nook Logan
Josias Manzanillo
Gary Matthews
Mark McGwire
Cody McKay
Kent Mercker
Bart Miadich
Hal Morris
Dan Naulty
Denny Neagle
Rafael Palmeiro
Jim Parque
Andy Pettitte
Adam Piatt
Todd Pratt
Stephen Randolph
Adam Riggs
Armando Rios
Brian Roberts
John Rocker
F.P. Santangelo
Benito Santiago
Scott Schoeneweis
David Segui
Gary Sheffield
Mike Stanton
Ricky Stone
Miguel Tejada
Derrick Turnbow
Ismael Valdes
Mo Vaughn
Randy Velarde
Ron Villone
Fernando Vina
Rondell White
Matt Williams
Todd Williams
Steve Woodard
Kevin Young
Gregg Zaun

All-Steroid Team

Usually, we might have titled this the season ending all-star team, a collection of the best athletes the majors had to offer this past season.
Not this year!
Here's a ster-studded cast of individuals that make up the 2007 All-Steroid Team, with their best season stats listed next to their names:

C Benito Santiago (1996; 30HR, 85 RBI, .264 BA)
1B Jason Giambi (2000; 43, 137, .333)
2B Brian Roberts (2005; 18, 73, .314)
SS Miguel Tejada (2004; 34, 150, .311)
3B Ken Caminiti (1996; 40, 130, .326)
OF Barry Bonds (2001; 73, 137, .328)
OF Gary Sheffield (1996; 42, 120, .314)
OF David Justice (93&00 - almost identical 40/41, 120/118, .270/.286)
DH Mo Vaughn (1996; 44, 143, .326)

SP Roger Clemens (1997; 21-7, 292 KO, 2.05 ERA)
CL Eric Gagne (2003; 55 SVs, 1.20 ERA)

Here's an interesting statistic too; almost every one of those players had their best season after either setting career lows the year before, or had injuries that severly hampered their production.
For example, lets take a look at Sheffield:
In 1995 Sheffield only plays in 63 games, hits 16 home runs and drives in 46 RBIs. Next season, he almost triples his stats from the year before. Sheffield doesn't reach those numbers again for another five seasons.
Need more proof? Clemens:
1996 he posts a 10-13 record, 3.63 era, and walks 106 batters. Clemens begins to hear those whisphers, and he signs with the Blue Jays the next season. Response? Twenty one wins, shaves a whole point off his era, and wins the Cy Young award.
Still not enough? Case #3, my favorite whipping boy; Barry Bonds:
Not even on the Nation's radar during the Big Mac/Sammy Sosa assault on Roger Maris' record in 1999, Bonds' home run totals begin to climb, rapidly; 34-49-73....during a career point that should have been focusing on hanging on for one more year....