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- Gallery: Steve McNair killed in Tennessee
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Paul Hagen: McNair had a flair for baseball, too
The Padres are a mess and general manager Kevin Towers now thinks his decision not to re-sign outfielder Mike Cameron after the 2007 season, when San Diego came within a game of making the playoffs, might be part of the reason. "That [2008] club had veterans like Greg Maddux and Randy Wolf and [Trevor Hoffman], but it just didn't click," he said. "I take some blame because now I understand the value of a guy like Mike Cameron ... He kicked everybody in the rear. Not having him was a huge void for this club."
SIGN OF THE WEEK:
When Manny Ramirez and the Dodgers visited Citi Field to play the Mets this week, one New Yorker held up a sign that read: "Welcome Back From Maternity Leave." That's a reference, of course, to the female fertility drug that Ramirez tested positive for, earning him a 50-game suspension.
KNUTE ROCKNE OF THE WEEK:
Diamondbacks infielder Mark Reynolds ripped into his teammates last week. "It seems like we get down one or two runs and no one [cares] anymore," he fumed. "I don't want to say guys are packing it in, but it sure seems like it. And it upsets me." He added that it sometimes seems like some Diamondbacks are "loafing" and that such behavior is "unacceptable at any level."
Arizona promptly won five straight going into last night.
Finally
There has been a lot of talk this week about the wisdom of trading top prospects to get a top starting pitcher. Here's a cautionary tale.
The Mariners won 88 games in 2007. They thought they were close to being a legit contender, so they sent five prospects to Baltimore for lefthander Erik Bedard. What happened next wasn't pretty.
Bedard was on the disabled list twice last season. The M's lost 101 games and manager John McLaren was fired.
Meanwhile, one of the players the Orioles received, George Sherrill, is now their closer. He made the All-Star team last year. Another, outfielder Adam Jones, made the All-Star team this year. And the key to the deal, 21-year-old righthander Chris Tillman, has been named to the All-Star Futures team as well as the Triple A All-Star team.
Just saying ...
