Marinerds, etc.

In a fit of Boonesque irony, the Pirates had a "batting around with Ty Wigginton" article on their site, then released him a few days later. Cute. I don't blame them, since Ty Wigginton sort of sucks. Was he really worth trading Anna Benson to New York? Well, wait, don't answer that.

Speaking of wacky Pirates roster moves, I'm also a little sad that the Pirates are trading away Rob Mackowiak. Yeah, I know I have an irrational love for Whack-o-Mack much like most of Kitsap County has an irrational love for Willie Bloomquist, but at least Mackowiak is a lefty-hitting utility guy with slightly more sock and a much cooler name. Besides, who can forget the "Mack-daddy" game where he hit two 9th inning game-winning-or-tying homers in a double-header, the same day his son was born? Oh well -- I guess in theory there's more chance I'll see him play with the White Sox than I would with the Pirates, though who knows. And at least Chicago is his hometown, so that's sort of cool for him.

Speaking of hometown boys, Sean Casey does look pretty good in a Pirates uniform, I think. The Reds uniform was just too much red.

And speaking of red, after trading Johnny Estrada, the Braves signed Phillies catcher Todd Pratt to a one-year deal to mentor Brian McCann. That's just too cute for words.

Then, speaking of Braves, they decided not to offer arbitration to the Old Man of Baseball himself, Julio Franco. So what happens? the Mets sign Julio Franco for 2yr/2.2mil. Holy crap, that's just got to be weird. Sort of like how Jamie Moyer made his MLB debut a few months after Felix Hernandez was born, Julio Franco made his MLB debut before either David Wright or Jose Reyes was born. But still, a two-year deal for a 47-year-old? Wow.

Speaking of Francos... actually, I don't have much to speak of other Francos. I haven't seen anything on what the other Old Met J. Franco is doing, or what's up with whether Matt Franco's staying with the Marines next year (though I assume he is).

And speaking of the Chiba Lotte Marines, a whole bunch of them are on Japan's WBC team. Sweet. I really wish I could go down to Anaheim for the second round of games, but I'd rather save my vacation time for another baseball trip to Japan next summer, I think.