Feeling a little baseball fever today, I spent some time looking through random team rosters. My goal was to just rejig my memory and get a lay of the land. As we orbit further away from the Royals, my knowledge, or memory, of other rosters gets weaker and weaker. And that's doubly true given that the National League is just so... National League. Blah teams running in place for the win. Yay random free agent movement!
Here are some fellows that surprised me with their current place of residence:
Bill Hall- Astros: So Bill Hall is an Astro now. Which makes sense. I think. He'll always be a Brewer to me, but he actually is now on his fourth team. Honestly, did you remember he was a Mariner in 2009? He's 31, will be worth 1 WAR if everything goes well, and is now an Astro. Perfect.
Dusty Hughes- Twins: The hated Twins claimed him off of waivers in January. Guess this didn't register with me. Expect him to post a 2.20 ERA in 40 innings with Minnesota this year, leading to a special on-field ceremony at a September KC-MIN tilt at the K in which Ryan Lefebvre dramatically walks across the diamond to join the Minnesota organization as a backup broadcast guy or something. As Bill Simmons would say, "tell me you wouldn't watch this!"
Brad Hawpe- Padres: Huh? This just seems like an odd fit, but perhaps that would be unfair to Bradley Bonte Hawpe. The notoriously poor-gloved Hawpe might do less damage at 1B for the Padres, I suppose. Also amazing, he played 15 games for the Devil Yars (Google it) last year. Why wasn't I told?
Rick/Dick Ankiel- Nationals: I wish I was blessed with Ankiel's tremendously strong and shapely jaws. Sure, we expected Dayton Moore to make a mistake by signing him. And sure, obviously, the precious Braves were next up to prostrate themselves before his tools. Does he ever need to actually play? For an Atlanta team that needed every last win, Ankiel "hit" .210/.324/.328. Do results ever matter? No, Ankiel didn't sign a minor league contract with a NRI this year. He's earning $1.5 million from Washington this year. In any case, his signing didn't set Washington ablaze. I live here and I hate Ankiel (kinda, more just symbolically in that I hate people who everyone loves and gives zillions of chances to) and I missed his arrival.
Lance Berkman - Cardinals: OK, I was perfectly aware this had happened. I still don't get it. Best fans in baseball though.