Left on Base: 15 Year-Old Phenom, a Rally for Manny, and More

Left on Base is MLB FanHouse's link dump.

You wanna see a future Hall of Famer at the age of 15? He could start in the bigs right now! I kid. Hyperbole aside, though, this 15 year-old player named Bryce Harper is already being touted as the first overall draft pick in 2011. He's a catcher who can run, bats left-handed, and already hits with major league power. Here's a highlight film of this young George Herman Ruth reincarnation.

*Some Mets fans simply will not let go of their Manny Ramirez desire. They have now staged a "Manny Rally," hoping to persuade Mets' brass into signing the eccentric slugger. Sure, there were only 40 people, but it still had to be quite the scene. I'm siding with the fans here, Manny just makes too much sense for the Mets to not go after him.

*The Mariners love Bobby Abreu. In fact, they have said he'd be a perfect fit on their team. The only problem is they don't have any money to spend. Too bad they wasted $48 million on Carlos Silva last offseason. Maybe they can trade him. I'm sure there's a huge market for an atrocious starter who makes $12 million a year in this economy.

*Pedro Martinez is pitching for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, and he's using it as his audition for a major league job. I'm pretty sure he could at least be as effective as Silva (ok, I'm done being mean to poor Carlos).

*Remember C.J. Nitkowski? He apparently used to work out with Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte in their Brian McNamee days. The feds are building a case against Clemens, so they are questioning Nitkowski. I think they should ask him why he didn't get any of the good juice. I mean, if those numbers are tainted, how bad would he have been clean?

*Cecil Coopercan't figure out where he should batMichael Bourn -- he of the .288 on-base percentage. May I suggest the bench -- as a pinch-runner?

*Congress could be stepping in on the naming rights to Shea Stadium's sequel. Citigroup received a $45 billion buyout because of their financial woes, yet they still plan on paying the Mets $400 million over the next 20 years to have the new stadium named Citi Field. I'm not sure why, but apparently that doesn't really add up? Hmm ...

*The Cubs have brought back their 2003 backup catcher to reprise the same role. Paul Bako will spell Geovany Soto from time to time this summer. While Bako represents a downgrade offensively from Henry Blanco, he is left-handed, so it's a natural platoon situation, whenever Lou Pinella should decide to rest Geo.

*Jason Giambi -- pitching coach?

Left on Base: 15 Year-Old Phenom, a Rally for Manny, and More originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on Fri, 30 Jan 2009 18:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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