Greetings and salutations sports fans and moms everywhere. I wish the only the happiest Mother’s Day to you all. Where would we all be with out our mothers? They shuttled us to and from sports practices, cheered their loudest for us (some Moms louder than others), and brought snacks and drinks for the teams we played on. My Mom has also been a champ, patiently putting up with endless hours of sports chatter at her dinner table over the years. Moms everywhere have made countless sacrifices so we that could enjoy the hobbies that held our interests, and for that I salute you mothers! Happy Mothers Day!

One mother that must be especially proud of her son this weekend is Ms. Isabel Ramirez, mother of Hanley Ramirez. It was reported over the weekend by the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the Marlins are about to do something they’ve failed to do time and time again; sign one of their young talents to a long term contract. The report indicates that the deal is in the range of $70 million over 6 years, which would buy out 3 years of arbitration as well as Hanley’s first three years of free agency. You really can’t argue with a player for getting the guarantee of a large sum of money, when an injury could drastically affect their career earnings path at any time. Yet, this does seem like a great deal for the Fish. Hanley is already showing the skills of a Hall of Fame shortstop, and could stand to make at least half of that contract in arbitration. That means the Marlins have secured Ramirez’s age 28-30 seasons for roughly $12-14 million per year, whereas, Hanley would have been in line for an historic contract reaching free agency at age 28. Great work by the Marlins.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are those whose mother is the only one still proud of them. I’m looking at you, Eric Gagne. Despite the lack of any superior alternative, the Brewers removed Gagne from the closer’s role after he took the loss on Saturday. Well, now we know for sure what happens when a dominant closer stops injecting human growth hormone; they start sucking, and they grow big ugly beards to hide behind. As mentioned by Keith Schirripa in Saturday’s Pen Names, there is no definite guy to go out and grab, though the favorite seems to be Salomon Torres. Other guys you should consider and speculate on if you have spots are Guillermo Mota or David Riske. A real deep sleeper, who probably will not get the call might be 27 year old lefty Mitch Stetter, who, despite being labeled a soft-tosser, has struck out 13 against 2 walks in 11 innings pitched.

If Gagne were the only closer to lose his job this weekend it would have been a busy week for free agent bids. But no sooner had Pen Names been written and submitted than Tony LaRussa decided that Jason Isringhausen was temporarily unfit to close for the Cardinals. I’ve heard a few names bandied about as replacements, but I have to laugh when Mitchell report inclusion, Ryan Franklin, is mentioned as the best bet. The best bet to what? Strike out fewer batters than anyone else in the cardinal’s bullpen? Again if it were my choice I’d go with the young arm and see what Kyle McClellan can do. He’s got better control than Ron Villone or Randy Flores. If I had to make a bet for fantasy purposes though, I’d wager on Russ Springer, who is a good bit better than his numbers so far this year. Definitely hold on to Izzy though, as he will likely be back in the role as soon as LaRussa realizes he has  no better options.  

While writing these first few paragraphs I had the privilege of watching the Penguins take a 2 game lead on the Flyers. This is quickly turning into a great series, as both this game and Friday nights tilt were hard fought battles. Outside of a scoring outburst in the first period to start the game Friday, it’s been mainly the power play advantages that have made the difference. In the western conference the Red Wings are up two games on the stars and take to ice Monday night. Watch for emotions to be running high after some stick play by Wings goalie Chris Osgood and Mike Ribeiro. It began when Ozzy maliciously poked Ribeiro in the face with the butt of his stick as he was skating by, obviously Riberio was not happy about it and turned around and slashed Osgood across the chest with a two-hand chop. Luckily for both teams, neither Ozzy nor Ribeiro were suspended, but will face fines from the NHL. If you wrote off hockey after the strike season, it’s time to tune back in to see the young talent rising to the top in Pennsylvania. Especially now, that the games are shown in HD. You can actually see the puck! 

Finally, I offer my congratulations to Sergio Garcia for not choking on the way to victory at the Players Championship. Garcia, has built up quite a reputation as a guy that’s not incredibly clutch, and cemented that reputation after a monumental choke job at the British Open last year. Yet, today he persevered and watched as some guy named Paul Goydos blew his chances of winning the championship by hitting his tee shot straight into the water on the first hole of a playoff. Since there is hope for Sergio there must still be hope for A-Rod and that makes me happy.

Have a great week everyone and Happy Mothers day!