Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
December 18, 2008, Washington Post

Hot Stove League Is Heating Up

There's a baseball league where no games are played. But every year this league helps determine who will be the World Series champion.

It's called the hot stove league. It's the time during the offseason when teams make trades and players sign with new teams.

How did the hot stove league get its name? Years ago folks heated their homes with big potbellied stoves and baseball was the most popular sport. Fans would gather around the warm stove during the cold months and talk baseball.

Things are heating up. Let's talk about the big news from this year's hot stove league.

Mark Teixeira: The Los Angeles Angels first baseman is this winter's big prize. Several teams, including the Washington Nationals and the Baltimore Orioles, are trying to sign the free agent slugger.

Is Teixeira worth it? He is young (28 years old) and a consistent hitter who has averaged more than 30 home runs and 100 runs batted in (RBI) during his six-year career. So Teixeira would greatly improve any team, especially a team like the Nats, which lost 102 games last season.

But signing one player for lots of money is always a big gamble. Just ask the Washington Wizards. They signed Gilbert Arenas to a big contract. Arenas got hurt, and now the Wizards are one of the worst teams in pro basketball.

The Yankees: The Yanks are always big news in the hot stove league. This year they have signed frontline starting pitchers CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett.

The risk in signing pitchers is that pitchers get hurt. At 6 feet 7 inches and almost 300 pounds, Sabathia looks indestructible. He has averaged more than 30 starts every year and has never been seriously hurt. Burnett, on the other hand, has had a history of arm problems. If they stay healthy, Sabathia and Burnett should help the Yanks get back in the playoffs.

K-Rod: The most important free agent signing so far this winter may be the New York Mets getting the Los Angeles Angels' ace reliever, Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez. The Mets bullpen was terrible last season, allowing opponents to come back and win 29 games. Rodriguez, who had a major league-leading 62 saves in 2008, should put an end to that nonsense.

Tampa Bay Rays: One team that is not trying to sign any expensive, big-name free agents during the hot stove league is last season's surprise American League champs. The Rays have been winning with a formula of finding good, young players and letting them play.

Maybe the best way for a team to play the hot stove league is not to play at all. You might get burned.

Fred Bowen writes KidsPost's sports opinion column and is an author of sports novels for kids. To listen to Fred Bowen talk about writing, go to http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/bookcast.

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