Rolen for Glaus

I'll say it. I'm upset that we broke up the MV3 but I respect Scott's wishes. This is going to be a very different team than we have seen in prior years but I trust that they will play hard.

Glaus and Rolen are very similar when it comes to the offensive numbers that they put up when they are healthy. Troy Glaus is a 4 time all-star and a past recipient of the World Series MVP award.

Rolen, on the other hand, won Rookie of the Year in 1997 and went on to capture six gold gloves, five of which came in consecutive years. The defense that we lose in Rolen is not comparable at all.

The irony of this all is that Toronto is my favorite team in the AL, if that's even a real league at all.

2008 BBWAA Hall of Fame Results

Congratulations to Goose Gossage on his pending induction on July 27, 2008 to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY!

Players are followed by their total number of votes in parentheses and their total percentages.

Rich Gossage (466) 85.8%
Jim Rice (392) 72.2%
Andre Dawson (358) 65.9%
Bert Blyleven (336) 61.9%
Lee Smith (235) 43.3%
Jack Morris (233) 42.9%
Tommy John (158) 29.1%
Tim Raines (132) 24.3%
Mark McGwire (128) 23.6%
Alan Trammell (99) 18.2%
Dave Concepcion (88) 16.2% - last time on ballot
Don Mattingly (86) 15.8%
Dave Parker (82) 15.1%
Dale Murphy (75) 13.8%
Harold Baines (28) 5.2%

Players being removed from the ballot:
Rod Beck (2) 0.4%
Travis Fryman (2) 0.4%
Robb Nen (2) 0.4%
Shawon Dunston (1) 0.2%
Chuck Finley (1) 0.2%
David Justice (1) 0.2%
Chuck Knoblauch (1) 0.2%
Todd Stottlemyre (1) 0.2%
Jose Rijo (0) 0%
Brady Anderson (0) 0%

Major League Baseball's official release:

Rich "Goose" Gossage, who may be better known for his first tour with the Yankees (1978-83), was elected on Tuesday in his ninth year on the ballot. He'll join his former Padres manager, Dick Williams, on the stage behind the Clark Sports Center this coming summer.

Williams, who won the World Series twice as manager of the A's and will go in wearing an Oakland cap, teamed with Gossage in 1994, as the Padres won the first National League pennant in franchise history.

Jim Rice, the former star of 16 seasons, all with the Red Sox, barely missed by 16 votes as he fell 2.8 percent (72.2) below the necessary 75 percent to gain admission to the hallowed red-brick Hall on Main Street in Cooperstown. He'll undoubtedly go in next year, when Rickey Henderson will be an obvious first-time favorite. Rice then will be on the writers' ballot for his 15th and final year.

Gossage, who fell short by 21 votes in 2007, was this time named on 85.8 percent or 466 of the 543 ballots cast.

Andre Dawson, who hobbled on bad knees through many of his 21 seasons with the Expos, Cubs, Red Sox and Marlins, received almost a 10-percent uptick to 65.9 percent and may be right on the bubble in 2009. Voters from the Baseball Writers' Association of America also are taking another look at Bert Blyleven, a pitcher whose career ended after 22 seasons, just 13 victories shy of 300. Blyleven finished fourth behind Gossage, Rice and Dawson with a healthy 61.9 percent of the vote.

In the wake of last month's Mitchell Report, Mark McGwire, the first star player tainted by the steroids era to face the electorate, finished at 23.6 percent, almost exactly the same place as last year, when he also received 128 votes despite hitting 70 homers in 1998 to win his famous record home run race against Sammy Sosa and finishing with 583 in his career. In 2007, McGwire also received an underwhelming 23.5 percent.

Of the 11 first-timers on the ballot, only one -- Tim Raines -- received the requisite 5 percent to remain on the ballot. Raines earned 132 or 24.3 percent. Dave Concepcion, the shortstop on Cincinnati's great "Big Red Machine" teams of the 1970s, received 88 votes or 16.2 percent on his 15th and final chance among the writers.

Pre-Hall of Fame Announcement Blogging

As far as the 2008 Hall of Fame announcement of the final ballots are concerned, here are my choices amongst those elgible for induction:
Harold Baines
Bert Blyleven - anyone in the 3,000 strikeout club belongs in the Hall of Fame.
Andre Dawson
Rich "Goose" Gossage - you can't put Sutter in without Gossage or Smith
Tommy John
Don Mattingly
Mark McGwire
Jack Morris
Dale Murphy
Tim Raines
Jim Rice
Lee Smith