The blog has been awfully quite for a while, I am sorry.

I was away for two weeks on vacation in Tenerife. First "real" vacation in nearly ten years. But now I am back for some exciting September baseball.

A lot of things have happened while I was away:

1. The Angels trade for Scott Kazmir
   I liked the trade initially, but after finding out that the PTBNL in the deal turned out to be Sean Rodriguez, an 24 year old middle infielder with a 1.017 OPS in Triple AAA this season, I think the Angels overpaid. Then again, their infield is already crowded, they needed a pitcher and they should really try to win it all now.
   
2. The Dodgers trade for Jim Thome (and Jon Garland)
   Garland is a very logical move. Not an ace, but someone who eats innings, saves the pen (might be the most important thing here IMO) and gives you a good chance to win on most days. Thome however? Is he really just a very expensive pinch hitter? Then why did the Dodgers make this deal? And why did Thome agree to it? Better title chances? I don't see another explanation, pinch hitting is not going to help him get a contract next season.
3. Kendry Morales for MVP
   It's nice to see the Angels first baseman get some respect. He certainly surprised everyone, especially Angels fans who have quickly forgotten that other guy, Mark Teix-something. But if Joe Mauer does not win this year, something has gone terribly wrong.
4. The races
5. The Yankees are essentially through and can start resting guys for the postseason, as they do with Joba. So are the Phillies and the Cardinals. The Dodgers had to endure a little scare when the Rockies came withing two games, but with Colorado and San Fran 5.5 and 6.5 games behind, respectively, they need to pull a Mets run to not play in October. And I don't see the Red Sox losing out on the AL Wild Card.
   The Angels lead Texas by only 4.5 games and they have the tougher schedule with series against the Yankees and the Red Sox, so this may still get very exciting. The same goes for the Central, where the Tigers have a four game lead, but since their rotation remains shaky even with Jarred Washburn coming over from Seattle (8 ER in his last start), this could change quickly. The most exciting finish however seems to be the NL Wild Card, where the Rockies and Giants go back and forth. And both could be dangerous in October (though the Giants offense could be better, obviously).
6. This just in: Curt Schilling may try for Ted Kennedy's Senate seat.
   Ok, this is a good story, but please don't let this really happen. I had just regained faith in the American democracy, please don't ruin it again so soon.

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