Random Fandom

With news that pitcher and major Eagles fan Mike Koplove signed a 2-year deal with the Diamonbacks, $825,000 in 2005 and $1.75 million in 2006 (which seems a bit high, perhaps, for that second year, but I don't know how a sixth-year player like Koplove will be in 2006 would fare in arbitration next February), I think it's time to bring back the D-Backs payroll discussion. Originally discussed a few weeks back, there are some, well, additions and subtractions, no?
The grand total? $61,470,000. (And that's not counting the $19 million in cash the team received from the Dodgers and Yankees.)

Again, consider this "open-source" -- please let me know if I've made any errors. Possible errors include: 1) there are 41 names on that list, 2) that list doesn't include Halsey, Jimenez, Peterson, or Stinnett (how should players with minor league contracts and spring training invites be counted, anyway?), 3) the $350,000 numbers are just averages.

(Pulled directly off the website; the first number is their jersey number.)

Pitchers (Total = $26,020,000)
41 Greg Aquino R/R 6-1 190 01/11/78 -- 350,000
30 Brian Bruney R/R 6-3 225 02/17/82 -- 350,000
-- Jason Bulger R/R 6-4 215 12/06/78 -- 50,000
33 Randy Choate L/L 6-2 195 09/05/75 -- 650,000
32 Lance Cormier R/R 6-1 190 08/19/80 -- 350,000
16 Casey Fossum L/L 6-1 160 01/06/78 -- 800,000 (The thought that he might make $1.35 M is too terrible to contemplate, so I'm going with the D-Backs' offer)
49 Edgar Gonzalez R/R 6-0 215 02/23/83 -- 350,000
-- Enrique Gonzalez R/R 5-10 195 08/06/82 -- 50,000
44 Mike Gosling L/L 6-2 210 09/23/80 -- 350,000
-- Shawn Estes -- $2,500,000
22 Mike Koplove R/R 5-10 180 08/30/76 -- 825,000
38 Brandon Lyon R/R 6-1 180 08/10/79 -- 330,000
57 Brandon Medders R/R 6-2 195 01/24/80 -- 50,000
-- Bill Murphy L/L 6-0 190 05/09/81 -- 50,000
-- Dustin Nippert R/R 6-7 200 05/06/81 -- 50,000
48 Russ Ortiz R/R 6-1 210 06/05/74 -- 6,500,000
-- Ramon Pena R/R 6-2 190 01/09/82 -- 50,000
34 Stephen Randolph L/L 6-3 200 05/01/74 -- 350,000
58 Phil Stockman R/R 6-6 200 01/25/80 -- 50,000
47 Jose Valverde R/R 6-4 255 07/24/79 -- 350,000
56 Oscar Villarreal L/R 6-0 205 11/22/81 -- 350,000
55 Brandon Webb R/R 6-2 230 05/09/79 -- 715,000
-- Justin Wechsler R/R 6-2 240 04/06/80 -- 50,000
-- Javier Vazquez -- 10,500,000

Catchers (Total = $700,000)
15 Koyie Hill S/R 6-0 190 03/09/79 -- 350,000
19 Chris Snyder R/R 6-3 220 02/12/81 -- 350,000

Infielders (Total = $13,450,000)
10 Alex Cintron S/R 6-2 200 12/17/78 -- 350,000
-- Royce Clayton R/R 6-0 185 01/02/70 -- 1,350,000
-- Craig Counsell L/R 6-0 185 08/21/70 -- 1,350,000
2 Jerry Gil R/R 6-3 185 10/14/82 -- 350,000
25 Troy Glaus R/R 6-5 240 08/03/76 -- 8,250,000
5 Scott Hairston R/R 6-0 190 05/25/80 -- 350,000
-- Tony Clark -- 750,000
8 Matt Kata S/R 6-1 185 03/14/78 -- 350,000
18 Chad Tracy L/R 6-2 200 05/22/80 -- 350,000

Outfielders (Total = $21,300,000)
-- Reggie Abercrombie R/R 6-3 210 07/15/80 -- 50,000
-- Shawn Green -- 10,500,000
20 Luis Gonzalez L/R 6-2 200 09/03/67 -- 10,000,000
43 Josh Kroeger L/L 6-2 200 08/31/82 -- 350,000
27 Luis Terrero R/R 6-2 205 05/18/80 -- 350,000
-- Marland Williams R/R 5-9 175 06/22/81 -- 50,000

One indicator of a region's quality of life -- besides being able to produce healthy drinking water for its citizens (and, sigh, who before the past 48 hours would've pegged the over/under on mentions of "Phoenix" and "Third World" in the same sentence at something near triple digits?) -- is the quality of the region's radio stations. By which I mean, of course, how well the radio serves not-yet-middle-aged-slightly-elitist-rockists like myself.

So I've been occasionally pleased to listen to the Edge 103.9, which has, I don't know how exactly, morphed itself into an "alternative rock" station that's not entirely without merit. I actually recognize -- even own -- some of the current songs they play, and they'll occasionally play some good cuts from the '90s.

But compared to a new station in the Twin Cities, the Edge is like those people from high school who decide they want to remain 18 forever, including listening to all those tunes the 18-year-olds still listen to.

A few days ago, Minnesota Public Radio -- yes, public radio, my friends -- started "The Current," whose playlist (a loose word because I don't think they've repeated any song within a 24-hour period yet) seems tailor-made for those not-yet-middle-aged-slightly-elitist-rockists like myself. The Shins! The Thrills! Wilco! On the mother-freakin' radio! Mixed in with some oldies (classic R.E.M., Beck, etc.) and some very oldies (Dean Martin, Billie Holiday)! And good local (Minnesota) music! Reminds me of the very, very classic Rev-105 radio station whose status as Best Radio Station Ever could be in jeopardy. (Of course, with a lot of talent who worked at Rev-105 a decade ago, that's not surprising.) These are the people from high school who decided they wanted to listen to new music, but not necessarily music for 18-year-olds.

Non-commercial. And they stream, too. Sigh...

… that is not the question, at least for the Diamondbacks.

The D-Backs signed Tony Clark to a one-year, $750,000 contract. This means that the Diamondbacks finally have a "true" first baseman on the team. Of course, they have no less than four "faux" first basemen in their starting lineup -- Troy Glaus, Shawn Green, Luis Gonzalez, and the starting first baseman (for the first time), Chad Tracy -- so the purpose for the signing is not entirely clear to me. According to Win Shares, Tony Clark is, surprisingly enough, average (8 Win Shares, 1 WSAA, or 0 WSAA if you adjust Win Shares for Pythagorean totals, which inflate every 2004 Yankees player total by nearly 12%). Of course, Clark's offensive VORP is just 5.7, so there's a limit to his averageness. Again, I'm not quite sure what the point is, given this surplus of potential first basemen. There may be another shoe or two left to drop.

Given Clark's signing, it seems like Robbie Hammock is destined to start the season at Tucson. Why have another utility infielder? Of course, that means that Kelly Stinnett might actually be in Phoenix come April, which means that Cintron or Kata might be starting the season at Tucson, too (if not in some other organization as part of a CF trade, though that possibility seems to fade away daily).

I'll try to have some more stuff throughout the week, so check back...