Help!

Can someone explain the space between my last post and its table to me? There was not a space in the compose screen; yet, there is one on my blog.

Outfield News

The Chicago White Sox have signed Darin Erstad to a one-year deal with a club
option for 2008, and they have announced that Scott Podsednik will be sidelined
for six weeks with a groin injury. The assumption here is that Erstad has been
signed as a replacement for Podsenik.

At one time, Darin Erstad was a great player. He finished in the top 15 in
MVP voting in both 1998 (14th place) and 2000 (8th). In 2000 he had a .409 OBP
with 28 stolen bases. These would be great numbers if he could put them up
today. However, he has not been the same player recently. In fact, he only
appeared in 40 games last season while compiling a horrible .279 OBP. Erstad
will likely be a part-time player once Podsenik returns, so there is no reason
for him to pace himself. The White Sox are going to need him to refind his mojo.

Darrin Erstad's Career Statistics
Year	AVG	OBP	SLG	HR	RBI	SB
1996	.284	.333	.375	4	20	3
1997	.299	.360	.466	16	77	23
1998	.296	.353	.486	19	82	20
1999	.253	.308	.374	13	53	13
2000	.355	.409	.541	25	100	28
2001	.255	.331	.360	9	63	24
2002	.283	.313	.389	10	73	23
2003	.252	.309	.333	4	17	9
2004	.295	.346	.400	7	69	16
2005	.273	.325	.371	7	66	10
2006	.221	.279	.326	0	5	1
Career	.286	.341	.416	114	625	170

Two More Years of Crede

The White Sox have avoided arbitration with Joe Crede by offering him a one year deal worth $4.94 million. Crede will not be a free agent until 2008, and Rick Hahn says that it is not out of the question that he could be around even longer. Hahn said, "Too much has been made of [Crede being gone after next season]. A lot of the speculation is premature."

Another Trade

The White Sox have traded catcher Chris Stewart to Texas for pitcher Johnny Lujan. In his minor league career, Stewart was a .252 hitter with 19 homeruns in 390 games played. Lujan posted a 1-4 record with a 5.74 ERA last year at Bakersfield (A).

However, Lujan sounds better than his record indicates. The following are some blurbs from around the web about Johnny Lujan. This sounds like a pretty good deal to land this kind of arm for Chris Stewart.

From his JUCO coach:

Coach’s Comments: Lujan comes to NMJC from Waco, Texas. An outstanding pitcher that has reached 94 mph in the fall with an 80 mph slider, Lujan has profession scouts extremely interested. Lujan’s development as a pitcher is important to NMJC’s success this year. Command of his fastball and breaking ball will make Lujan one of the top pitchers in the country.

From Rangers Farm Report:

Coming out of New Mexico Junior College in 2004, Lujan was among the national JUCO leaders with a sub-1.00 ERA before his final outing and finished 11-2, 1.61 with 103 strikeouts in 78 innings. There was a consistent theme in all of the reports on Lujan coming out of NMJC as the Rangers picked him in the 15th round: talented, but very unrefined. The MLB scouting report on Lujan called him “very raw; just a thrower now.” Baseball America noted that he had “so-so command.”

The Core Numbers: 4-4 with a 2.80 ERA for Low-A Clinton; fanning 56 and walking 27 in 64.;1 innings.

The Story Behind the Core Numbers: Lujan’s 2005 season at Low-A Clinton was good but far from dominant...until August rolled around. The Waco native went on a dominant run down the stretch, posting a 0.44 ERA with 19 strikeouts in 20 innings while holding the Midwest League to a .143 average during the final full month of the season. Over the winter, Lujan virtually erased any notion that his huge August was just a fluke. He went off to the Puerto Rico Winter League where he exploded, tossing 20 scoreless innings while holding the league to a miserable .131 average.

That’s right: 20 innings, no runs. None. And his fastball sat at 97 mph.