Random Baseball

I've been quiet lately, so here's a little off season baseball.

1. First, and foremost, The Hawk Is In! Andre Dawson will be the only player inducted into the Baseball Hall Of Fame. I have a lot of issues with the Baseball Writers Of America and their voting (not just for the HOF but also MVP, Cy Young, etc.) but this is a well deserved and long over due honor for a great player.
   
   That said, Bert Blyleven and 1st time balloters Roberto Alomar and Tim Raines all deserve to be in.
   
   
2. My Cardinals have finally finished a deal to keep slugger Matt Holiday with the team. It's a 7 year deal worth between $120M and $136M depending on Holiday's production. As a rule I do not like long term deals for any team. There are too many unknowns about the future (injuries, better players, economics) to get tied down with long term contracts. The Cubs are dealing with this problem with Soriano and Zambrano. Unfortunately, the market on some level demands these kind of terms.
   
   In this case the Birds may have been bidding against themselves. It didn't look like there were too many other suitors. The Red Sox seemed like an early player but dropped out quickly and Baltimore made some kind of offer but no one seemed to take it seriously. On the other hand the Birds gave up quite a bit of future prospects to get Holiday. Retaining him can justify that sacrifice. Additionally, the signing demonstrates to Pujols, the best player in baseball IMHO, that the team is serious about winning championships. Whit Pujols contract up after 2011 that was an important goal.
   
   Overall, I'm happy with the signing.
   



3. DiaTribe has a good post with an idea to restore competitiveness across MLB. His basic idea, instead of the Luxury Tax being distributed to small market teams to use as they see fit the money is placed in a pool that would allow small market teams to bid against the big market teams to keep their stars. It may not be the best answer but if you are interested in leveling the playing field in MLB it is well worth the time to read.