One year ago today Sean Taylor was shot during a robbery in his home in Florida. He died the next day, which means his family will be holding their first Thanksgiving without Taylor on the first anniversary of his death.

There will be tributes all around the web about this, including this one from the NY Times. 

Taylor's name will be added to the Redskins' "Ring of Fame" at Fedex on Sunday before the game against the GIants. Per the Times article:

Knowing this would be an emotional week — the Giants game would have been important under any circumstances — the Redskins’ first-year coach, Jim Zorn, brought up the sunject of Sean Taylor's death before reporters started asking about it.

“I just wanted to make sure that these guys knew that he was the kind of player that these guys wanted to practice like and play like,” Zorn said. “And that’s part of the memory that we need to keep alive here on this football team, just the kind of player he was.”

It's still kind of jarring to think that he isn't with us. A tremendous loss for the team, for his family, for football fans everywhere. 

In other news, the Redskins released Shaun Alexander yesterday, presumably because of the improved health of Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts.

UPDATE: Hat tip to HH regular dr WNC, who posted the Alexander release below with the news that we may be re-signing DT Ryan Boschetti.

mlb.com is having a one-day sale of 30% off everything.

That means you can save about $50 on the new road unis, normally $159.

Sorry to be hawking for mlb.com, but I thought people would want to know!

According to the NY Post, they are preparing offers to Sabathia AND Burnett... with the idea of landing them both:

The Yankees, according to several industry insiders, spent yesterday preparing an offer - perhaps a five-year deal worth about $80 million - for Toronto righty A.J. Burnett. This would come after they offered Milwaukee lefty CC Sabathia a six-year contract worth between $140 million and $145 million.

So, at $16M per year for A.J., and $24M per year for CC, they would have $40M invested in TWO pitchers.... which is just a little less than what the entire Rays team made last year. 

Dear New Yorkers: You might see ticket prices goin' a little berzerk the next few years. 

Sickels' report is posted over at Minor League Ball. 

The top 10 are all As and Bs except for Patton:

1) Matt Wieters, C, Grade A: Best prospect in baseball. Mutant cross between Mauer and Piazza.
2) Chris Tillman, RHP, Grade B+: Want to see sharper command, but I’m very impressed overall, especially given his age.
3) Brian Matusz, LHP, Grade B+: Not David Price, but should advance quickly due to sharp command of solid stuff.
4) Jake Arrieta, RHP, Grade B+: Very high ceiling, command still an issue at times, but can dominate.
5) Brandon Erbe, RHP, Grade B: Made progress after difficult ’07 season. Double-A transition critical. 
6) Nolan Reimold, OF, Grade B-: A bit old for a prospect now, but power bat should carry forward.
7) Zach Britton, LHP, Grade B-: Love the groundballs this guy gets, young, good stuff, a sleeper.
8) Brandon Snyder, 1B, Grade B-: Horrible glove, but bat took a big step forward last year. 
9) David Hernandez, RHP, Grade B-: I still think people are underrating this guy. Needs to lower walks.
10) Troy Patton, LHP, Grade C+: If health reports are accurate, he should rebound. Useful pitcher but not likely a star.

And Sickels' take on the farm system is encouraging....

SYSTEM IN BRIEF: This organization has rapidly improved over the last couple of years. Drafting early has helped that, but willingness to actually spend money on good players (Wieters, Arrrieta, Matusz) is a key factor that some other early-drafting teams have missed. Trades have helped bring additional depth, and they’ve shown some ability to develop sleeper types. High school bats such as Snyder and Rowell have brought mixed results, but overall the level of talent in the farm system is something that Baltimore fans should be happy about.

It's all a good read and worth your heading over there to look at. And yes, I also posted this to move certain other non-Oriole info down the page. 

Sabathia with Cleveland (i.e., the American League) had an ERA of 3.83 and a WHIP of 1.32. It wasn't until he played for Milwaukee and got a free out every time through the order that those numbers came down. 

I'm not saying the guy isn't a great pitcher, but $137M? Really. 

Don't the Yankees actually play in the American League? 

This should really be a fanshot, but with less activity here in the offseason, I'm always afraid the fanshots are too far down to be read by anyone.

Anyhoo, great article in the NY Times by Doug Glanville, a 6-year major-leaguer from 1996 to 2004 with the Phillies, Cubs , and Rangers. 

 

The best way to tell who had way too much time on their hands: they’ve bought something that they realized was absurd — a timeshare in a war zone, or an alpaca farm — but instead of admitting that, say, alpacas wouldn’t fare well in downtown Philadelphia, they try to sell you one, too.

 

...The off-season would not be complete without creating the ultimate drill to fix your broken swing. Hit with one eye. Hit blindfolded. Hit with your back to the pitcher. Or maybe kneel on this hand while biting a piece of tree bark, and then swing. The best part about these homemade drills is the special bats or strange machines players usually invent so the drills can be executed correctly. Landfills near major league cities are full of ballplayers’ discarded off-season mock-science contraptions.

Go read the whole thing. It's pretty well-written, and a fun diversion from the HoT sToVe.

If you're bored, you can predict your favorite Oriole's or ex-Oriole's offseason regimen in the comments. Beyond, say, drinking and punching judges. 

per La Confora's column after practice today:

Clinton Portis is questionable at this point and his chances of facing Dallas on Sunday are "50-50," Coach Jim Zorn said after practice today. Portis has a knee sprain that has worsened since the team last played Nov. 3.

Zorn remains optimistic that Portis will play, but conceded that "it would be a major issue for all of us," if he cannot. Zorn said that second-string back Ladell Betts may be back from his knee injury for Sunday's game, but that he is not "expecting" that result.

"50-50" is perhaps better than the "doubtful" of my headline; yet I say "doubtful" for two reasons. One is, coaches tend to put a more positive shine on situations than they actually are because it's better for morale. The other is that the knee has actually worsened over the past week. If it's trending the wrong way, it has to turn around and trend the right way in the next 6 days. Ugh.

With Betts also likely inactive, we are potentially looking at Cartwright and Alexander doing all the RB work, which I imagine would mean a gameplan involving more of Cooley and lots of slants to Moss, who is expected to play, In the good news department, both Springs and Taylor are also expected back.