Welcome Back, Blogger... the triumphant return

Where in the world did two months go?

The Great American Baseball Adventure did its best impression of a hibernating animal the last few months, dropping completely off the face of the Earth about the time the Milwaukee temps started their dive toward winter. We've spent the last two months (sandwiched between holidays) dealing with and adjusting to the new climate, producing a college basketball special, and mostly sleeping (I had no idea how much cold weather makes me want to stay in bed all day!) Anyways, with the faint heartbeat of spring training off in the distance, it's time to get the GABA and its blog ready for the 2010 baseball season. Wind sprints, anyone?

Obviously, a ton of transactions since the last entry. I won't bore you with them all... just suffice to say Halladay's a Phillie, Cliff Lee switched coasts, Jason Bay signed a Mets contract without getting hurt (a statement on the team, not Bay), and a couple of free agents have waited waaaaay too long (Jermaine Dye, Johnny Damon) and may still be hangin' around come March.

And yes, there were two Counting Crows references at the end of that last statement. I really do have some rust to shake off!

This morning, the A's continued their weirdest offseason in years by getting Willy Taveras from the Reds for Aaron Miles. Obviously, if this were a fantasy trade (or even something out of Strat-O-Matic), it would look lopsided in Oakland's favor. But this is real life, people, and...

Stop the presses! Breaking news! Twitter alerts are going off everywhere. Literally as I'm typing this, the A's have designated Taveras for assignment. The weird gets weirder... sort of. I was just about to launch a rant here, detailing the A's sudden glut of outfielders and how Billy Beane's 2010 entry should carry a giant, flashing neon sign saying "these players can be yours by July, if the price is right!"

But this changes a few things. These players, or at least Taveras, can be yours today. All you have to do is pony up $4 million and you too can have the one player who typifies the old baseball adage "you can't steal first".

The more likely scenario, as Rotoworld hit right on the head a few minutes ago, is that another trade is in the works. Beane's team is, as always, a work in progress. Shelling out $10 million for Ben Sheets is still a bit baffling for a team that lives (and dies, and dies, and dies) by Moneyball, but he does give the young pitchers a veteran presence... at least until the trade deadline. Maybe Beane's hope is to flip Taveras for another pitcher, or perhaps some infield help (Cliff Pennington's hardly a lock at SS after 6 errors in the team's last 11 games).

Or maybe Beane just wanted Aaron Miles off the roster. Can't really fault him there.


GABA update: baseball's greatest road trip will have to wait, at least for a little while. I've found gainful employment in Milwaukee (and not as a relief pitcher), meaning the plan to visit all 150 full-season teams' home stadiums will have to stay on the drawing board... for now. Putting the trip together was so much fun, though, that I'll still chronicle the games we were planning to see on this blog once the season starts.

That doesn't mean we won't be taking in lots and lots of baseball in 2010. There's already a Florida Spring Training trip planned for March... any ideas on the best teams to see this spring? The re-loaded Phillies? The (hopefully, for their sake) healthier Mets?

And as for the summer, our annual pilgrimage is on once again. It'll be the sixth summer of the GABA in its original form (packing several games and sightseeing into six summer days). Right now, we have two finalists for the summer trip:

1) Fenway, the two new stadiums in New York, and hopefully DC (haven't seen the new Nationals park yet)
2) Cubs, Tigers, Blue Jays, White Sox (all new parks for us except Wrigley)

Lemme know your thoughts. Which trip looks better? We'll be hitting up Target Field in Minnesota this year too, and of course, taking in plenty of mid-summer games at that stadium I see from the living room windows - Miller Park. And no, baseball fans, the Brewers are not, I repeat, NOT moving to Orlando. Don't even get me started on that rumor.

Good to be back, baseball fans. The 2010 season is right around the corner... the faster it gets here, the quicker this snow melts away...