Video: Diary of a Sad Cat - Hysterical!!

This was so funny I had to post it here so I'd be able to watch it whenever I feel like it ... it IS exactly what goes on inside a cat's head. Although I think if the cat was a little more on the evil side it and it had more diary entries it would eventually plot the murder of "the authorities." The cat would have to be slightly evil to begin with though because I am sure Harry would never plot my murder or Hermione either! But Littles, on the other hand ... that cat has been and still is plotting my death since I brought her home ... like seriously! LMAO! This is too good tho so ENJOY!

I don't always take the time to watch every video I'm sent online but this one hella nails it! If you aren't a cat person you will still laugh and if you love cats then it's even better ... Have a lovely Saturday everyone! :-D

(Here's the link to the video ... just because ...)

Billy Beane Trading Machine ....

MLB's Winter Meetings, The A's and the End of The Hot Stove Season

Major League Baseball's Annual Winter Meetings are held for four days every December. This years' meetings were held in Lake Buena Vista, Florida beginning on Monday December 9th and concluding with the Rule Five Draft on Thursday December 12th. The last day of the meetings is usually considered the end of what is called MLB's "Hot Stove Season."  Transactions between teams can be and are still often made after this extravaganza that is attended by general managers and representatives from all 30 MLB organizations, more than 160 minor league teams, international players and of course the media.

In the week before the meetings Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics were on the move completing six transactions in nine days. Beginning with the signing of free agent and starting pitcher Scott Kazmir and continuing with five trades that brought the likes of closer Jim Johnson from the Baltimore Orioles, OF Craig Gentry from the Texas Rangers and RHP Luke Gregerson from the San Diego Padres to the Oakland Athletics. Through those trades the A's did not send any big names to their opposition instead trading away some of their top minor league prospects like OF Michael Choice, catcher David Frietas and second baseman Jemile Weeks.

With all that activity leading up to the winter meetings it seemed that the Athletics might have a nice quiet four days ahead of them as has been their method of operation in recent years. Billy Beane, having just been voted MLB Executive of the Year by Baseball America for the second time (the first coming in 2002), is not known for enjoying the busy, chaotic, fast paced atmosphere of the winter meetings. Usually preferring to come late, leave early and keep as low a profile as possible for such a big name general manager. The 2013 winter meetings went a little differently for Beane who while still arriving late and leaving early managed to conduct two big trades in two days.

The first trade involved starting pitcher, southpaw Brett Anderson. The A's have quite a bit of depth to their starting rotation already with six guys competing for the coveted five spots. Anderson, 25, has been brilliant with the A's in the past and was even their opening day starter last season. Unfortunately the young pitcher has been sidelined much of his career with injuries ranging from requiring Tommy John Surgery to last season breaking a bone in his left foot while warming up for a game. He would be commanding $8 million from the A's this season. With an already packed pitching staff of mainly rookies on much lower salaries, Anderson seemed the most likely to go.

During the meetings talks about Anderson between the Athletics and the Colorado Rockies intensified quickly. Anderson was traded to Colorado along with cash considerations for left-hander Drew Pomeranz, 25 and Class A right-hander Chris Jensen, 23.

Lenny Ignelzi, Associated Press

Pomeranz, also a big lefty similar to Anderson, went 0-4 with a 6.23 ERA with the Rockies last season though he spent more time in the minors with Class AAA Colorado Springs. He was a top prospect for the Indians, drafted in the fifth round in 2010 but has yet to take his strong potential and convert it to major league production. Still the A's believe he has time to come into that production as and the A's with the depth of their rotation have time to spare. Beane said,

"He's only 25 and a lot of people still think very highly of his abilities, and we felt it was a good time to acquire him. Guys like this aren't that easy to acquire -- this young with this kind of upside."

Rumors of moving Anderson had been heard a lot since the end of the 2013 MLB season but suddenly in a surprise move Beane traded famed Twitter extraordinaire and fan favorite left handed reliever Jerry Blevins to the Washington Nationals for their Minor League Player of the Year, speedy out fielder Billy Burns.

Blevins would seemingly be a huge loss for the Athletics' being one of the few left handers in their bullpen, their longest tenured player and the team's player representative. Yet since the A's acquired Pomeranz who can be a bullpen option and fellow southpaw Fernando Abad from an earlier trade with the Nationals their bullpen should still be one of the best in baseball. When asked about the trade Blevins, who made his MLB debut with the A's in 2007,  took the news in stride saying,

"I'm kind of sad to say goodbye to Oakland but It's exciting to try National League baseball. Still the Oakland organization will always have a piece of my heart. It's bittersweet."

He even posted a photo on his Twitter account of him making what he called a "seamless transition" to the Nationals.

@JerryBlevins_13 on Twitter

The picture was of him in a homemade Nationals uniform, a gray shirt and red had with the Nationals' logo pinned on. His close friend, fellow reliever and well know Twitter comedian, Sean Doolittle talked seriously of Blevins saying,

"You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who had more of an impact on my career than Jerry. Any questions, I went to him first. He was my throwing partner, the guy I learned how to prepare from, the guy I'd go over scouting reports with. We drove to the field together. There was definitely a bond there. ... For all intents and purposes, Jerry was like the dad in the bullpen, the leader."

Besides the loss of a fan and player favorite in Blevins the A's came out of the winter meetings stronger than when they went in. With most of the work apparently done in the nine days leading up to the meetings no one expected Beane to make two more trades and to do so in such quick fashion. Beane told reporters that the trades were made to strengthen the Athletics' farm system after having traded away a few of their highly touted top prospects like Michael Choice.

The A's are known for their stellar farm system and Beane apparently wanted it to stay that way. Burns should start the season at AAA Sacramento and could be a likely replacement for CF Coco Crisp after the 2014 season.Though the A's did not participate in the Major League phase of the Rule Five Draft, they did pick up RHP Tim Atherton from Minnesota in the Triple A Phase to help bolster their farm system,

There was talk from both fans and critics that Beane should have gone after a big bat that would help the A's get past the American League Division Series woes that have plagued them for over the last decade. But many forget that RF Josh Reddick played with an injured wrist most of last season. If he were to return to his 2012 form the A's should be just fine. In 2012 the Gold Glove winner finished the season with 32 home runs and 85 RBI.

Overall the Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics have come out of the last two weeks looking more than ready to win their third straight American League Western Division title in 2014.

What is the Rule 5 Draft?

A lot of even the most die hard baseball fans haven't even heard of the Rule Five draft or if they have they don't know a lot about it or the impact it can possibly have on their favorite team. Honestly, I learned a lot about it last season because of one ballplayer who did make a difference on the A's,  a tall guy named Nate Freiman.

But let's first look at what the Rule 5 Draft is and how it works. As stated by MLB.com a team can select any player who is not already on a 40 man roster who has played at least four years of professional baseball since signing at age 19 or who has played at least five years of professional baseball since signing at the age of 18. 

There are three phases of the draft Double-A, Triple-A and Major League. If a player is selected from the minors then the money does not exchange hands between the player's existing organization and their new one. This changes however in the Major league phase of the Rule Five draft.  A team must pay $50,000 to the team they choose a player from.  The selected player must be kept on their new team's 25-man roster for the entire season. The player may not be not be optioned or designated for assignment. 

If a selecting team feels the need they have the option to waive Rule Five player and if the player clears waivers but does not sign with another MLB team he must be optioned back to his original team for $25,000.

A Rule Five player must be active for 90 days which stops teams from placing a Rule Five draftee on the disabled list for the majority of the season. Even if the draftee is placed the DL for a number of days the remainder of the 90 days carries over to the next season. Once a Rule Five player has spent a full 90 days on a MLB team their status reverts to normal and they may be optioned or designated for assignment. 

Yes, this all sounds clinical and confusing at first. Now let's look at Nate Freiman. Freiman who was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2009, spent the first four years of his professional career making waves but was kept in the minors due to Padres regular first baseman Yonder Alonso. Now eligiable for the Rule Five draft he was selected in the second round by the Houston Astros but by March the Astros had to waive Freiman due to the signing of first basema/designated hitter Carlos Pena, the acquisition of 1B/DH Chris Cater from Oakland and their already everyday 1B Brett Wallace. There was just no room left for Freiman who cleared waivers and was picked up by the Oakland Athletics. 

At this point Freiman had not yet started to fulfill his 90 active days so the A's had to keep him on their roster those 90 days. Freiman stayed on the A's the entire year making some important contributions at first base and at the plate. On April 3, he had two hits in three at-bats in his major league debut and it seemed the A's had found the right handed hitting first baseman they had been looking for to complement their current staple at first base, left handed hitting Brandon Moss. Freiman was also named Rookie of the Month for the month of May after going 13-37 with a .351 batting average. 

The most notable moment of 2013 for Freiman and his real introduction to the rest of the major leagues was a walk off single against New York Yankees' iconic closer Mariano Rivera. Rivera, pitching in his final season and final game at Oakland's O.Co Coliseum, came in during the 18th inning of a marathon game to pitch to Freiman. Freiman hit a walk off single to left field scoring catcher John Jaso thus ending what was becoming (I can tell you because I was there) an almost unbearably hot July day that was beginning to turning into evening! Now Freiman has a job with the Athletics platooning regularly with Moss at first base. 

Find the rest of this article on Sports Unbiased your site for all Sports News, Polls and Predictions (and stuff written by yours truly! lol) ..... 

Mark Mulder Staging a Comeback!!

Mark Mulder was once one of the elite pitchers in the game. He was drafted number two by the Oakland Athletics in 1998 and thus began his stellar career yet short career. As part of Oakland's "Big Three" along with Barry Zito and Tim Hudson, he helped lead the Athletics to four straight playoff appearances from 2000 to 2004. And in 2001 at the young age of 23 he finished second to Roger Clemens in the CY Young balloting, going 21-8 with a 3.45 ERA.

In 2004 the Athletics moved Mulder to the St. Louis Cardinals in a four player trade that brought pitcher Dan Haren to Oakland. 2005, Mulder's first year in St Louis was almost as good as his 2001 season. He finished the year 16-8 with a 3.64 ERA.  But then things slowly began to fall apart for the southpaw. He under went surgeries on his left shoulder in both 2006 and 2007. Unfortunately Mulder reportedly said that his throwing arm "never worked right" after the surgeries.

With his hopes of continuing in the majors seemingly dashed, Mulder officially retired from baseball in 2009. In 2011 he became an analyst at ESPN and spent his spare time traveling with his wife and three children. Then in October of this year, just a few months ago everything changed.

Mulder, now 36, was watching the MLB playoffs from the comfort of his home near Scottsdale, AZ when he saw something in the delivery of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher, Paco Rodriguez. It was something he was able to imitate without irritating his throwing arm and shoulder that had been an issue throughout his entire career with both Oakland and St. Louis.

To read the remainder of my article go to Sports Unbiased, your site for all Sports News, Polls and Predictions! (& my articles! lol)

Why I'll always be a La Russa fan!

(and why I don't care if he goes in to the HOF as an Athletic or a Cardinal)

La Russa and Two Others Voted into Major League Baseball's Hall Of Fame on Monday!

It was announced Monday, on the first day of Major League Baseball's winter meetings, that legendary baseball managers Tony La Russa, Bobby Cox and Joe Torre were unanimously voted into MLB's Hall Of Fame. Who votes on this? No, not the members of the Baseball Writers Association of America (BWAA) who as we know get the privilege of electing players to the Hall (The players elected by the BWAA will be announced on January 8, 2014). Managers are elected to the HOF by the 16 members of the Expansion Era Comittee and each of the were elected by a unanimous vote. 

Of course you should be able to guess who my favorite is  of the three, even though I do have mad respect for each of them.... come on it's the obvious choice of any A's fan - Tony La Russa. As the manager of the A's he led us to what is considered by many of my generation (three in a row in the 70's is obviously insanely HUGE) the most important World Series Title of all, 1989 where we defeated our arch rivals the lame ass gnats! Woohoo! Anyways, I digress because really that's all that matters to me! Well, not exactly because don't get me wrong I was as a young child happy to see my team succeed for many years, winning three American League Pennants under La Russa.  He was basically the inventor of the "closer" role that we know so well today. He took my personal fave baseball player of all time, starting pitcher and fellow Hall Of Famer Dennis Eckersley and turned him into a one inning shut down machine. **side note: I understand that yes, this is a true statement except for most notably game 1 of the 1988 World Series, Gibson, etc, etc. Yes! We all remember and still hate Kirk Gibson, however I personally (and I think ppl should follow suit) do NOT hate the Dodgers - they are the other mortal enemy of the gnats and they hate the Angels ... we have some things in common! Just saying** He is the only manager besides Sparky Anderson to have World Series Titles in both the AL and NL and has more managerial wins than any other manager save for Connie Mack and John McGraw. And he is one of few who have taken three different teams (A's, White Sox, Cardinals) to the postseason. The guy knows his stuff.

Recently there has been conversation on facebook, etc as to how much La Russa knew about the use of PED's during his tenure with well, mainly the A's but it applies to his other teams as well. Whether or not La Russa had knowledge of their usage during the time doesn't matter to me, he was an icon of my childhood who helped my team do what's most important and that's to win! It's the best gift a life long baseball fan can ask for especially at an impressionable age.

He also started the Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) whose head quarters are in my home town of Walnut Creek, CA and where I used to volunteer! The people at ARF are amazing, its shelters are no-kill and there are greAt programs for children to learn about animal rights, raising their pets, etc. He has done a greAt deal for the East Bay Area and that I appreciate! It will always be my own .... So I don't really care if he chooses to go into the Hall Of Fame wearing a Cardinals hat instead of an A's hat. He DID win two of his three World Series in Saint Louis but I would also not be surprised to see him wearing an A's uniform at his induction because of his ties and work in the Bay Area along with his managerial career with the Athletics .... either way, I'll always be a La Russa fan!

*Joe Torre long time player and manager of the Yankees, Dodgers, Mets, Braves, Cardinals and Dodgers ranks 5th on the all time wins list and is one of only five managers to win the World Series at least four times.

*Bobby Cox managed the Braves for a total of 25 seasons (in two stints besides 4 years with the Blue Jays), won 3 NL Manager of the Year Awards and one AL Manager of the Year title and is ranks fourth on the all time wins list .... 

MLB Hot Stove: A's Busy In Week Leading Up To Winter Meetings

The Oakland Athletics were having a quiet Major League Baseball Hot Stove Season up until early last week. Last Monday they signed free-agent pitcher Scott Kazmir to a two year, $22 million deal thus ending their pursuit of veteran pitcher Bartolo Colon.

They also traded minor league infielder Jemile Weeks and a player to be named later, for the Orioles’ closer Jim Johnson who will replace free agent closer Grant Balfour. Balfour is in talks with a handful of teams, including the New York Yankees. After coming off a career year in 2013, Balfour will command more money than the Athletics would be willing to spend. Coming off an All Star year in 2012, Johnson, the American League saves leader, went 3-8 with a 2.95 ERA and 50 saves with Baltimore last season.

Finally it seemed like general manager Billy Beane and the A’s were making some big deals this off season, yet Oakland’s movement did not end with the signing of one key player and the trade for another; the organization made quite a few other changes and decisions as well.

The A’s decided to tender contracts to each of their nine arbitration eligible players: outfielders Josh Reddick and Seth Smith, infielders Brandon Moss and Jed Lowrie, relievers Jesse Chavez, Jerry Blevins, and Fernando Rodriguez, catcher John Jaso, and to the surprise of many, their longest tendered player, backup first baseman, Daric Barton. The A’s then turned around and traded Smith to the San Diego Padres for set up man, Luke Greggerson.

Image courtesy of Getty Images

In keeping Barton the A’s kept with their strategy of recent years emphasizing a focus on team depth and player on base percentage. Barton will likely back up the A’s usual platoon duo Brandon Moss and Nate Freiman.

Read the rest of my article on Sports Unbiased, your website for all Sports News, Polls and Predictions! (and my articles! lol)

A's Sign Free Agent Lefty Scott Kazmir to 2 Year Deal

In a surprise move the Oakland Athletics signed free-agent LHP Scott Kazmir to a two year $22 million deal Monday.  This is a gutsy move for Oakland but it is the type of acquisition Billy Beane is almost expected to make. In Kazmir, Beane found a potential star player who's market value is low. Once a promising All -Star starting pitcher, Kazmir was released by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2011 seemingly ending his baseball career.

Kazmir had a promising career debuting in 2004 at the age of 20 with the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays (now Tampa Bay Rays), making the All Star team in 2006 and again in 2008. After a string of injuries and a drop in velocity he was traded to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in August 2009. After a decent showing for the Angels in 2009 and part of 2010 his production dropped and he was released in 2011. Not picked up by any other teams he was thus out of the major leagues at the young age of 27.

During 2012 Kazmir still clenched tightly and diligently to his major league dreams. He played independent ball that year and moved on to play in the Puerto Rican League that winter. In December 2012 he signed a minor-league deal with the Cleveland Indians, giving him an outside opportunity to make Cleveland's starting rotation.

Surprisingly, Kazmir made Cleveland's 2013 roster as their number five starter. Kazmir was 10-9 in 2013 with a 4.04 ERA, not stand out numbers but it did make him an intriguing free-agent this off season and one that the A's could afford. Not only that in 2010 Kazmir's velocity had dropped from the mid 90's to barely being able to hit the 90 mph mark. But with Cleveland in 2013 his velocity was back up to 95-96 mph, the same form as when he led the American League in strikeouts in 2007 with 239. At only 29, he is young but with two All-Star games under his belt he could be the, albeit young, veteran that they Athletics' have been seeking to lead their young rotation. The A's rotation consists now of Kazmir (29), Jarrod Parker (25), A.J. Griffin (25), Dan Straily (25) and Sonny Gray (24) with Tommy Milone (26) also in the mix for the fifth rotation spot

This of course changes a lot for the Athletics and the many predictions of what they were planning this off season. It was as recently as this week still rumored that Oakland was going to try and re-sign 40 year old Bartolo Colon who despite his age and being suspended 50 games for PED use in 2012 had two good years for the A's ending 2013 second in the American League in both wins(18) and ERA (2.65). Colon, however, was asking more than the Athletics were able to pay and it was looking as though they would lose out to other interested clubs like the Angels. The acquisition also answers the questions surrounding trading starting pitcher Brett Anderson to another team in need of good pitching who is also willing to gamble on a player with a long history of injuries. Hopefully for the Athletics that team in need will have a strong bat that they will be willing to part with.

Signing Kazmir seems like the perfect Billy Beane move. If Kazmir remains healthy and consistently reaches his optimum velocity the Athletics may just have found a young veteran and key southpaw starter to lead their young rookie rotation at a price that Oakland can afford.

Read the rest of my article on Sports Unbiased, your website for all Sports News, Polls and Predictions! (and my articles! lol)