Fouled-Off Bunts: Sick Of Sosa Edition

Can we make this story end?

Phil Rogers says that Sosa should try to redeem himself by playing in the WBC. A big hit here or there, and teams would be jumping all over him, right?

Banks of the Anacostia reports that someone else reports that Alex Rodriguez met with Sosa the other day, perhaps in an attempt to grease the skids for Sosa to end up in pinstripes. The Yankees almost pulled off a trade for Sosa a few years ago, and he could split time at DH with Bernie Williams. How can we help grease those skids?

But what are Sosa's chances of success? If you like analysis by table, they're not good. Players his age who had seasons as bad as his last year usually don't play much longer. Kinda intuitive, huh?

Moving off of Sosa.... Chad Cordero and Brian Schneider made the cut for the American team in the World Baseball Classic. Gary Majewski is an injury alternate. Being a blogger, I guess I'm supposed to say something cynical about the WBC, the increased chances for injury, about how it's all for money, how Bud Selig sucks, etc, etc. But I think this is a good thing. Even if we don't get excited over it, other countries are sure to. And anything that expands baseball's reach and encourages more people to get involved is a good thing.

The Evansville Courier-Press (a paper I read religiously) writes about Jamey Carroll. Registration is required, but the good Commisar of baseball has taken care of that for you (bselig@mlb.com / bselig).

"When you see them getting other guys who are the same type of player ... that tells you something," Carroll said. Bowden reportedly questioned whether Carroll could be an everyday shortstop.

"In the media, he more or less said I wasn't even gonna make the team," Carroll said.

Banks of the Anacostia, on top of his Sosa speculation from above, also looks at the Soriano mess, and uncovers the raising and dismissal of Soriano to the Cubs rumors.

One of the Nats TPers takes Nats fans who didn't renew their tickets to task, attempting to dismiss their arguments. I disagree with his argument, and would dispute a number of facts he lays out, notably that Bowden is hamstrung by not having a budget increase. Right now, the payroll is roughly $14 million higher than it was at the start of the previous season.

He's right in that MLB (and this goes for all teams, not just our beloved Nats) don't 'care' about the individual fans. They're just a conduit for revenue. It's hard to dispute that. But his attitude that we should lay back and take it reeks a little bit too much like something Bobby Knight would say.

There are a number of rational reasons why people would not renew their tickets. And altruism, which he seems to suggest, probably isn't a reason why others did renew -- it most likely had more to do with business purposes, and a desire to have renewal priority in the new stadium. That's enough for now, I guess...