A Baseball Christmas Carol

No, not a poem or a story. Just a few of the santas and scrooges of various major league baseball teams this Christmas Season.

As we near Christmas, several Major League Baseball owners have shown the Christmas spirit and delivered nice gifts under their fans' trees, while others are Scrooges who have spent nothing and are stuffing their fans' stockings with coal.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have re-signed Nomar Garciaparra and added an elite starter to solidify an already reputable pitching staff in Jason Schmidt. Dodgers fans can sip eggnog and have visions of strikeouts by Schmidt dancing in their heads. The Red Sox, thus far, appear to be overstuffing their fans' stockings with shiney gifts and glee. Or is it fools gold? They have added J.D. Drew and just today announced Matsuzaka's $52M deal. However, it's still to early to judge the Sox. They are dangling Coco Crisp as trade bait for a relief pitcher, and haven't yet dismissed the rumors about Manny Ramirez. Would they dare trade yet another leadoff hitter or Manny? Although the red-stockings appear to be stuffed with joy, expect to find some lumps of coal before it's all said and done. The Chicago Cubs have given their fans a Christmas to remember with the signing of Alfonso Soriano, although they allowed an important leadoff hitter to slip away in Juan Pierre.

Those three teams appear to be the biggest gift givers this year, but there are others which are worth noting. The Yankees' fans already recieved their Christmas gift early on when the Phillies dealt them Bobby Abreu back in the summer. Yet, expect George to add another cozy gift under the Yankee fan's trees before Christmas day arrives. The Royals have acquired two young arms for their rotation and are close to acquiring Chris Reitsma to fill the hole in the bullpen. They are at least trying to give their fans a competitive team next season. The Astros appear to be both Santa and Scrooge this season. They signed Carlos Lee, gave away Willy Taveras. Got Jason Jennings (For Taveras), but let Pettitte get away. They're more like "Indian Givers" this season.

The Mets appear to be last minute shoppers but are sure to deliver a nice Christmas gift for their fans. The Phillies appear to be bah-humbug once again. The biggest scrooges of them all this season are the SF Giants. They are hoarding money from their fans, baiting them with Barry Bonds, all the while filling their fans' stockings with lumps of coal and bitter herbs. In fact, Giants fans will have Christmas nightmares with the Ghost of Christmas present being Jason Schmidt.

Mark C. - (Baseball Etc.)

Update: Lol. It looks like the Mets fans found their stockings empty too. Bah Humbug!