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Baseball's Not So Average Joes

By Matt Snyder 2/04/2010 4:00 PM ET

Joe MauerFrom the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

While they have a pretty solid franchise in place and several other stars (including former MVP Justin Morneau), Joe Mauer is the Minnesota Twins. He was born in St. Paul, Minn. His senior year, he was selected by USA Today as the National Player of the Year in both baseball and football for Cretin-Derham Hall High School (St. Paul), in addition to being an All-State basketball player. Then, in the 2001 MLB draft, Mauer was picked first overall by his hometown Twins over more ballyhooed prospects Mark Prior and Mark Teixeira.

It didn't take long for Mauer to reach the majors. He hit .308 in 2004 as a 21-year-old rookie. Since then, he's made three All-Star appearances and won two Gold Gloves and three Silver Sluggers all while racking up a .327 career batting average and .408 on-base percentage. He can run, handle the pitching staff and has added power to his repertoire. In 2009, he won his first AL MVP. And he's still only 26.

Simply put, Minnesota's favorite son is well on his way to a Hall of Fame career. What a shame it would be if he played part of it away from the Twin Cities, a possibility with free agency on the horizon. He's only under contract through 2010 and if the Twins can't lock him up long term before he hits the open market, they'll likely be buried in the bidding process by the Yankees or another large-market team.
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Grady Sizemore Regrets Nude Photo Flap

By Josh Alper 2/04/2010 12:00 PM ET

Cleveland Indians outfielder Grady Sizemore took the stage at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards on Wednesday night with all of his clothes on. It's one of his first public appearances since nude photos of him surfaced around the Internet in November and he discussed their release with the crowd. His main message was that he regretted that the photos came to light.

And, just so we're clear, Sizemore's regret has nothing to do with the way he or any of his body parts looked in the naked photos. He remains steadfast in the claim that the photos were stolen from his girlfriend's e-mail account and disseminated without either of their permission.

"It's tough," he said. "This is a situation where it's a private matter and personal photos were stolen illegally. I've always tried to represent myself and the Cleveland organization as best as possible and to put everybody through this is a terrible feeling and I apologize to everybody."
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Winter Meetings Wrap: AL Central

By Matt Snyder 12/10/2009 2:30 PM ET

INDIANAPOLIS -- Not sure if you heard, but there was a trade involving an AL Central team at the annual Winter Meetings. The Tigers teamed up with the Yankees and Diamondbacks to form a three-team, seven-player blockbuster trade. It was easily the biggest news of the meetings and the rest of the division was relatively quiet.

The Royals released Mike Jacobs, closing the chapter on the embarrassing trade they made for him last winter (sending the Marlins their present closer, Leo Nunez) and were tied to free-agent catcher Jason Kendall (though nothing has come through just yet). Though manager Manny Acta said the Indians are open to bringing in a first baseman, it's been reported they don't have any money to spend. The White Sox were tied to several players, but nothing ever came of that, aside from extending the contract of someone they already controlled (Mark Teahen). The Twins sent Boof Bonser to the Red Sox for a player to be named and Carl Pavano accepted arbitration.
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Odds and Ends From Tuesday in Indy

By Matt Snyder 12/08/2009 11:30 PM ET

INDIANAPOLIS - Tuesday at baseball's annual Winter Meetings, a blockbuster trade went down, two free agent signings were announced as officially complete and nine managers addressed a media throng. Here are some notes from the day.

• There's a report that the White Sox have joined the Angels in heavy pursuit of Hideki Matsui. Earlier today I warned against reports stating managers are "interested" in Matsui due to the fact that some international media are asking every single manager if they like Matsui and would like to manage him. This report, however, is unconnected and could be legitimate.

I do question what the White Sox would want with Matsui, because Ozzie Guillen specifically said he'd want someone to be able to play the outfield consistently and is really excited about being able to use multiple players in the designated hitter slot. He discussed how having an everyday DH handcuffs him in keeping his bench fresh. Then again, he also stressed Kenny Williams makes all personnel decisions. Stay tuned.
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Rays Acquire Kelly Shoppach From Indians for Player to Be Named

By Pat Lackey 12/01/2009 4:17 PM ET

Kelly ShoppachThe Tampa Bay Rays made their second trade of the young offseason this afternoon when they acquired Indians' catcher Kelly Shoppach this afternoon for a player to be named later, the team has announced. According to reports, the Indians have until Dec. 20 to select the player from Tampa. The Rays will have to make a second move this afternoon to free up space on the 40-man roster for their new catcher.

After Dioner Navarro's disastrous 2009 season (he hit .218/.261/.322), the Rays were clearly in the market for an upgrade behind the plate. Shoppach, though, provides a limited upgrade at best because of his severe lefty/righty split; against lefties his OPS is .999. Against righties it's .703. A year after breaking out with 21 homers, Shoppach had his own struggles in 2009 with a .214/.335/.399 line.
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Footprints in the Snow: Indians

By Tom Fornelli 11/20/2009 6:00 AM ET

Footprints in the Snow is FanHouse's look at the paths to be forged by MLB teams this winter as they look ahead to 2010.

The baseball season ended in a way that Cleveland Indians fans had been dreaming it would for a few years. There starting in a World Series game were CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee. The only problem was neither was wearing a Cleveland Indians uniform.

Needless to say the 2009 season was not kind to the Indians.

Last winter they hit the free-agent market to bring in guys like Mark DeRosa, Carl Pavano and Kerry Wood. By the time the season had ended, only Wood remained on the team, and he wasn't used very often since Cleveland didn't have much use for a closer.

Now they enter the winter with a brand new manager and some talented players, but if you're hoping for some kind of turnaround in Cleveland next season, then you should probably see a doctor because your dementia has taken a severe turn for the worse.
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Cleveland Rocks ... With Regret Over World Series Aces

By Ed Price 10/27/2009 8:00 PM ET

Cliff Lee / CC SabathiaNEW YORK -- People in Cleveland will tune in for Game 1 of the World Series, Brian Anderson said, as a sort of masochistic ritual.

Sort of like attending a Browns game.

"Cleveland fans," Anderson told FanHouse on Tuesday, "as much as it kills them to watch things, be part of things, get emotionally involved, they do it anyway. I bet a lot of people watch it for the ironic, do-you-believe-who's-facing-each-other kind of deal."

Who's facing each other is CC Sabathia of the Yankees and Cliff Lee of the Phillies. They were Cleveland Indians teammates just 16 months ago, each winning a Cy Young Award for the Tribe and getting traded the following July.
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Indians Hire Manny Acta as Manager

By Pat Lackey 10/25/2009 3:56 PM ET

The Cleveland Indians announced Sunday afternoon that they've hired Manny Acta as their manager. They also interviewed Bobby Valentine, Torey Lovullo, and Ron Roenicke, while Acta also interviewed for and reportedly rejected the Houston Astros managerial position.

Acta was fired by the Washington Nationals just before this year's All-Star Game after a 26-61 start and a 158-252 record over 2 1/2 seasons in D.C. The interest shown by both the Astros and Indians seems to indicate pretty clearly that teams aren't holding his ugly record over that span against him, though, and he's quickly going to have a chance to rehabilitate his reputation now that he's got another job.
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The Dugout: Shapiro Narrows It Down

By B. Thompson Stroud 10/19/2009 11:55 PM ET

To me, the playoffs mean one thing: the wise decision-making skills of Cleveland Indians General Manager Mark Shapiro! After firing Jim Thome/snapping turtle hybrid Eric Wedge as the Tribe head coach, Shapiro has really gotten down in the dirt to find a new skipper, looking in the only place you're allowed: the big recycling bin of failed coaches who didn't do a good job somewhere else and were fired by someone else. Why they sound PERFECT!

Fun fact: That guy in the photo to the right was eating in Heritage Park and just throwing his trash on the ground. Thanks a lot for your contributions, Cy Young! Have an eighth of a hot dog!

Tonight's Dugout is after the jump.
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Bobby Valentine, Manny Acta, Travis Fryman Named Finalists in Cleveland

By Pat Lackey 10/19/2009 10:29 AM ET

Bobby ValentineThe Indians' managerial search has apparently whittled its way down to just three names after a round of phone interviews last week. Paul Hoynes at the Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that the Indians have called Bobby Valentine, Manny Acta, and Travis Fryman to Cleveland for a second round of interviews and that GM Mark Shapiro is likely to name a manager before the World Series ends.

Valentine's name is the big one that's obviously going to get people talking. He's got over 1,000 career wins and a National League pennant over his 15-year career with the Rangers and the Mets, plus a Japanese Series title in 2005 with the Chiba Lotte Marines. It's been rumored that he's made it clear there are teams he won't manage for in 2010, so presumably the Indians are a job he would want.
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