Joe Maddon talks about practice, not a game, practice

When I was at The Beacon-News, I never missed an opportunity to post Allen Iverson's infamous practice rant on my blog.

Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon was spoofing on that rant at one of his recent press conferences, so I figure it would be fitting to link to it here.

I was initially going to post the video itself, but I think it's copyrighted by MLB, which could get me busted.

In any case, it's too bad Maddon didn't ask, "How the hell can I make my teammates better by practicing?" That's the best part of the whole Iverson rant.

Baltimore Orioles take a flier on Johan Santana

The Baltimore Orioles continued their recent habit of shopping in the bargain bin on Tuesday, signing two-time AL Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana to a minor league deal.

Santana, who missed the entire 2013 season, is attempting to come back from a second major surgery on his left shoulder. Reports indicate he had trouble getting his fastball over 80 mph when he threw a bullpen session for interested teams last week, but apparently Baltimore saw enough to take a flier on the former Minnesota Twins ace.

Since it's a minor league deal, it's not much of a gamble. If Santana is unable to regain his arm strength, the Orioles can just cut him and be none the worse for wear. If Santana impresses this spring, the Orioles can add him to the 40-man roster at a relatively low cost.

The 34-year-old lefty would get a $3 million, one-year deal if he is added to the roster and would have the chance to earn an additional $5.05 million in roster and performance bonuses. He would receive the full amount for 120 days and 25 starts.

Baltimore earlier added pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez and outfielder Nelson Cruz to its roster late in free agency. I was critical of the Jimenez signing, but I can't blame the Orioles for picking up Santana. They still need pitching help, they don't have anything to lose by giving Santana a shot.

In his Minnesota heyday, Santana's out pitch was his changeup. He threw it from the same release point as his fastball, and there was such a wide variance between his heater and his change that opposing hitters had their timing completely disrupted. But if his fastball is going to top out in the low- or mid-80s, there isn't going to be enough variance between that pitch and his changeup for him to be effective.

The Orioles need to hope Santana can get his fastball back up into the 88 or 89 mph range. If he does, he might have some good innings left in his arm.

Be a smart fan: Don't draw grand conclusions from spring results

I was looking at some of the baseball stories on the Chicago Tribune website this morning when I took note of a Cubs-related web poll. It read: Barney at SS over Baez, right move?

Starlin Castro

I clicked on the poll and voted "yes," because that is the right answer. Not surprisingly, only 24 percent of the poll's 607 respondents agreed with me. That means 76 percent of the people who answered this poll are full of beans, and here's why:

OK, the Cubs' regular shortstop, Starlin Castro, is out 7-10 days right now with a hamstring injury. It's not believed to be serious, and there's every reason to believe Castro will be at shortstop when the North Siders open the season March 31 in Pittsburgh. But, hypothetically, let's say Castro isn't ready. You know who the likely Cubs starter at shortstop would be under than scenario? Darwin Barney. And that's why manager Rick Renteria is going to give him some playing time at that spot while Castro is out.

I'm sorry, but this is an obvious move. It's not even a matter of debate.

However, it's being debated because the moron contingent in Chicago mistakenly believes highly regarded prospect Javier Baez is ready for the major leagues. Baez is 4 for 9 with a home run so far this spring. Those nine ABs are enough for the meathead division of the Cubs fan base to be sold on the idea that Baez should be the team's starting shortstop -- even over Castro, according to some.

Not to be a wet blanket, but that ain't happening. Baez has only played 54 games in his life above the Class-A level. He isn't ready for the bigs. And, yes, I know he hit a combined 37 home runs between High-A and Double-A ball last season.

But you know what else is true? Baez also made 44 errors in 123 games at shortstop last year. 44 errors! I'm going to go out on a limb here and say his defensive game could use a little more refinement before he's ready to play a middle infield spot in the major leagues every day.

Baez also struck out 147 times last year against that lower-level pitching. I haven't seen enough of the kid yet to comment on his swing, but that strikeout total suggests there is still some refinement needed in his offensive game, too.

Cubs brass no doubt knows this, and I believe they will wisely ignore the din and send Baez down to the minors for the start of the regular season.

All the talk in Cubs camp is about prospects right now, but Renteria has 162 major league games to manage this year. He has to have his players prepared for all possible scenarios. Unlike Baez, Barney is going to be on the 25-man roster when camp breaks, and Renteria knows he needs Barney to be ready to play shortstop in a pinch. It's a point that should be painfully obvious to anyone with a brain.

Nine good at-bats from Baez isn't going to change the Cubs' plan for this prized 21-year-old prospect, nor should it.

South Side fans not immune from stupidity, either.

A co-worker of mine suggested yesterday the White Sox sign free-agent pitcher Ervin Santana because "Felipe Paulino is struggling right now."

No lie. And I think he might have been serious.

First off, Santana is a bad fit for the Sox, but that's another argument and beside the point for this discussion.

Everyone needs to remember Paulino missed almost the entire 2013 season after arm surgery. The sum total of his year was 27.2 rehab innings in the minor leagues. He's barely pitched over the last 18 months, so nobody should be surprised he gave up four runs and eight hits over 1.2 innings in his first spring training start.

My reaction to those results: So what?

Here's what I care about: Paulino's fastball was sitting between 92 and 94 mph, right where it should be. He threw 31 of 47 pitches for strikes, a good ball-to-strike ratio, and he felt good physically after the outing.

That's all that counts right now. We'll worry about results later.

Some other instructive reading

Any fan worried about spring training numbers should read this piece from Jim Margalus over at South Side Sox.

Jim notes the 2013 Sox put up a robust .299/.358/.494 slash line during spring training. It was hardly a foreshadowing of the regular season, when the Sox posted a .249/.302/.378 line on their way to scoring the fewest runs in the American League.

The article shows several examples of individual players whose spring training numbers lied, but perhaps the most telling was infielder Jeff Keppinger's line.

In spring ball last year, Keppinger looked like the answer to the Sox' third base woes when he put up a solid .412/.483/.510 line in 58 plate appearances. Too bad his regular season totals were .253/.283/.317 in 451 plate appearances.

The moral of the story is this: Nothing that's happening now means much in the grand scheme of things. Don't fall in the trap of drawing grand conclusions from spring results.

Smart fans are the ones who stay away from this kind of nonsense.

If Gordon Beckham is traded, it probably won't be soon

It's become a White Sox spring training tradition to wonder if Gordon Beckham can fix what's been wrong for him at the plate since the start of the 2010 season.

After posting promising numbers (.270/.347/.460) as a 22-year-old call-up during the 2009 season, Beckham has mostly fallen flat with the bat (.244/.306/.364). Gone is the power he flashed during his debut, and with it his ability to get on base and hit for much average.

Beckham's saving graces have been been his solid defense at second base, and his affordable paychecks that have made him a decent value for his salary while his offense only approaches adequacy.

Here's the problem for the Sox: Because of his glove and contract status, Beckham has value, just not much value to them as they seek to rebuild.

Beckham, and his two relatively cheap years of team control remaining, are probably enticing to a team in need of a second baseman. It makes more sense to kick the tires on him and at least get good glove work at second base than to trade for someone like Brandon Phillips, Rickie Weeks or Dan Uggla, who are all available because they were worse than Beckham last year and have huge, expensive contracts.

He's less useful to the rebuilding Sox because they're not a contender looking to fill a hole with a guy who is minimally useful. He's also less useful because they have at least one guy (Marcus Semien) who might be as good or better, and cheaper, right now. They've got another guy who might be near as good and cheaper right now (Leury Garcia). They've got another guy (Micah Johnson) rocketing through their system at second base, and another guy at the position (Carlos Sanchez) who the Sox hope can overcome a tough year to return to his top-prospect status.

With the cheaper in-house alternatives, the second base situation is similar to the one GM Rick Hahn had on his hands last August after trading Jake Peavy for Avisail Garcia. The Sox still had Alex Rios in right field, but suddenly had a player who was maybe just as good, certainly cheaper, and definitely more likely to be a part of the team's future.

Instead of pulling the trigger right away on a Rios deal in which he had to eat money, Hahn waited it out until the Rangers agreed to take on most of the remaining contract and send the Sox a useful player in return (Leury Garcia).

Here's why Hahn is likely to exercise patience again:

• Beckham's value will only go up if he hits well to start the year. 
• If Semien plays a while in Charlotte before a Beckham trade, the Sox limit his service time and maybe get an extra team-controlled year.  
• It probably wouldn't hurt to make sure Semien doesn't implode like Sanchez a year ago. If he does and the Sox haven't dealt Beckham, the team at least has another option for 2015 depending on how everything else pans out. 

At this moment, it's hard to envision Beckham as part of the Sox's long-term future. While the natural temptation is to rush to turn the page, there's no need to act fast, so the Sox probably won't.

Let's catch up on some White Sox spring training news

We haven't written much about the goings-on in Glendale, Ariz., so let's take a few moments to catch up on some of the White Sox spring news....

1. Pitchers and catchers reported almost two weeks ago, but there is still no sign of free agent acquisition Ronald Belisario, nor is there any timetable for his arrival.

This isn't the first time Belisario has had visa issues, and reports indicate his off-the-field problems contributed to the Dodgers' decision not to tender the right-handed reliever, who signed a one-year, $3 million deal with the Sox this offseason.

“It’s something that’s beyond our control,” White Sox GM Rick Hahn told ESPN.com's Doug Padilla. “It's not entirely unexpected with immigration, especially with a player that had issues with immigration in the past. We’ve got to keep in mind that we're dealing with a relief pitcher who needs to get stretched out to one inning, maybe two, by the end of camp and there's more than enough time for that.”

True enough, but if I were a White Sox player, I would be annoyed if I were in camp working to get ready for the season while one of my teammates is still at home doing whatever. Yes, the visa process can take time, but players know what day camp starts well in advance. Is it too much to ask a player to start his visa process early to ensure that he can report on time? I don't think it is.

Like Belisario, right fielder Avisail Garcia is from Venezuela. Yet Garcia reported to camp early. He didn't seem to have any problems. So what's the deal with Belisario? I'm not sure, but I hope reporters question him, if he ever arrives in Arizona.

A couple days late is one thing. A couple weeks late and it's hard not to find that irritating.

2. Designated hitter Adam Dunn may struggle to hit his weight, but he is going to the Oscars. Dunn is an investor in the production company that made the film "Dallas Buyers Club," which is nominated for six Academy Awards, including best picture.

Dunn has a cameo in the film as a bartender.

Sox manager Robin Ventura gave Dunn his blessing to leave camp and attend the event with one caveat: Dunn has to go on stage if "Dallas Buyers Club" wins.

So, if you watch the Oscars on Sunday, just maybe you'll get to see a Big Donkey up there accepting an award.

3. What was your favorite memory of the Jake Elmore Era? It didn't last long.

The infielder played 52 games with the Houston Astros last season, and the Sox picked him up on waivers this offseason.

Alas, there is no spot for Elmore in the Sox' crowded infield. He was designated for assignment and traded Thursday to the Oakland A's for cash considerations.

We hardly knew ye.

4. The Sox will play their first spring game Friday afternoon against the Los Angeles Dodgers. This game will air on MLB Network on tape delay at 4 p.m. local time. Ace left-hander Chris Sale will get the start.

Not that we should read anything into Ventura's batting order for the first spring game, but here's how he's going to line them up: Adam Eaton, cf; Alexei Ramirez, ss; Garcia, rf; Jose Abreu, 1b; Dayan Viciedo, lf; Paul Konerko, dh; Matt Davidson, 3b; Gordon Beckham 2b; Tyler Flowers, c.

Late, great (and not-so-great) additions, Part 2

The White Sox have a modest record when it comes to late free agent additions, and the Cubs haven't done that much better, if they've done better at all adding pieces after Feb. 1 and before Opening Day .

Here are the five best late free agent additions for the Cubs in recent history (just like with the Sox list, we're excluding the strike-affected 1995 season):

1. Terry Mulholland (Feb. 2, 1998)
Mulholland was no stranger to signing late in the offseason or playing for the Cubs. The left-handed pitcher went to camp on a February contract with the Phillies just a couple years earlier, and played for the Cubs in 1997 before being claimed on waivers by the Giants in August.

Having been primarily a starter in his career, Mulholland was an effective swingman for a surprising Cubs team that made the playoffs. In 70 games -- which included seven starts -- he recorded a 2.89 ERA in 112 innings. It was a pretty good value for the one-year, $600,000 contract.

Mulholland was less of a good deal when he signed a two-year, $6 million contract to stay after that season, posting a 5.15 ERA before being packaged with Jose Hernandez for a pitching prospect (Ruben Quevedo, if you must know).

2. Kent Bottenfield (March 9, 1996)
Bottenfield is probably most famous for being a guy who won 18 games out of nowhere for the Cardinals in 1999 before being traded for Jim Edmonds the following year. Talk about buying low and selling high. The Cubs actually had an opportunity to get in on the ground floor, signing the right-hander after spring training was underway after Bottenfield spent the previous year laboring in the minors for the Tigers.

Without much service time, Bottenfield spent two seasons with the Cubs, appearing in 112 games, all as a reliever. He logged a respectable 3.34 ERA in 145 2/3 innings for teams that finished in fourth and fifth place, respectively.

Figuring they'd seen the best Bottenfield had to offer, the Cubs didn't offer him arbitration after the 1997 season. Instead he went to the Cardinals, where on balance, he was only slightly above average despite the gaudy win total. The year after he was let go, he really only filled the same role for the Cardinals that Mulholland did for the Cubs, only less effectively.

An earlier version of Edmonds than the one the Cubs eventually dragged in years later sure was a nicer return than Quevedo, though.

3. Hee-Seop Choi (March 3, 1998)
OK, this one is cheating. Choi was a international amateur signing and the Cubs had no intention of him playing for several years. He was annually one of the team's best prospects, and even after a rough rookie season, was valuable enough a commodity to be the centerpiece of a trade for Derrek Lee, who we know had some big years for the Cubs.

T4. Jeromy Burnitz (Feb. 5, 2005) / Cliff Floyd (Feb. 1, 2007)
Part of the ongoing efforts by the Cubs to plug a decade-long hole in right field. Since smashing Sammy Sosa's boombox and shipping him and the pieces to the Orioles, the most frequent starters for the Cubs in right field each season have been: Burnitz (2005), Jacque Jones (2006), Floyd (2007), Kosuke Fukudome (2008), Milton Bradley (2009), Fukudome (2010), Fukudome (2011), David DeJesus (2012) and Nate Schierholtz (2013).

Burnitz just wasn't much of a hitter anymore at 36 years old, and faded from respectable to bad in the second half. His one-year, $4.5 million deal was an acceptable risk. Floyd, who came on a cheaper-still one-year, $3 million deal, still hit for a good average and on-base percentage as a 34-year-old, but the power he had in his late 20s wasn't ever coming back. He was still a piece of a playoff team, filling a gap in the outfield as a part-time player.

5. Will Ohman (Feb. 11, 2004)
Ohman was actually a draft pick by the Cubs back in 1998 and had spent years in the organization. He also spent years battling injuries, missing all of 2002 and 2003. The Cubs released the left-hander just after the 2003 season, and when he couldn't find a home all winter, welcomed him back on the eve of spring training.

While Ohman was never great, even as a lefty specialist later in his career, he did give the Cubs mostly solid relief work and a 3.97 ERA over 145 innings from 2004-07. He was traded along with Omar Infante to Atlanta for some guy who definitely wasn't as good of a reliever as Ohman, or as good a second baseman as Infante.

The home plate collision rule: Much ado about nothing

I saw a web headline this morning that read "Plate collisions banned with exceptions." I figure now is the time to brush up on new MLB rules, so I clicked the link and read the article.

Thing is, I don't think this new rule changes much. I felt like the headline should have read "Plate collisions OK with exceptions."

Basically, there are two parts to the rule. First, catchers cannot block the plate unless they have the ball. Second, the runner can't leave the basepath in order to initiate contact with the catcher.

In other words, at least 90 percent of the home plate collisions I've seen in all the years I've been watching baseball are still legal under these rules. If the catcher has the ball and is blocking the plate, the baserunner is within his rights to try to knock him over and dislodge the ball. That's always been legal, and it sounds to me like it's still legal.

The only real change here is if the baserunner goes out of his way to give the catcher a shot, he's automatically out and could be subject to league discipline. Honestly, I haven't seen too many situations like that through the years, Torii Hunter and Jamie Burke in 2004 notwithstanding.

This sounds to me like much ado about nothing. Am I wrong in my intepretation?