Baseball Prospectus: The Return of Pete Rose

Baseball Prospectus, a group of statistical baseball analysts that have published an annual for fantasy and baseball nuts like me for the last seven or eight years, is reporting that there has been an agreement to allow Pete Rose back into Major League Baseball.

MLB has has denied the BP report.

The crux of the BP report is that Rose has signed an agreement where he can return to baseball and does not admit to any wrongdoing.

Bud Selig is an absolute moron. How bad is he? He makes Gray Davis look like a genius. I am not even exaggerating. Aside from the fact he's an owner.... I mean, a blind trust in his name is the owner ... of a team, he has not done anything that is in the best interest of the game, to wit:

1. Interleague play - yes, interesting at first and still so with the local rivalries, but who cares if the Tigers play the Astros. I yearn for the days of exclusive intraleague play.
   
2. Claiming new stadiums were the panacea of a small market team's economic woes. Let's see, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Milwaukee, Cincinnati. The new stadiums are not drawing much better than the old ones. Granted, they look nicer but the reason stadiums in markets like Baltimore, Cleveland, Seattle, Houston, and Arizona were successful is because they put good teams on the field. How about that? Winning attracts fans! What a novel concept. Of course, Bud's Brewers wouldn't know much about that.
   
3. Trying to simply break the MLB Players Association under the guise that he is acting in the best interests of the game. Look, the owners, now finally showing some economic restraint, are now doing it right. You don't need to try to bust a union. The players have the right to earn every penny they get if they owners are willing to pay them. The salary cap is not necessary. Revenue sharing - perhaps. But baseball does not need a salary cap.
   
4. The All Star Game debacle. You know, I really didn't think last year's ASG was that big of a deal. It's an exhibition. If they tie, so what? But now: "This time it counts." Great. The players want to win. But don't determine home-field advantage from an exhibition.
   
5. The joke of the sale of the Red Sox last year. Bud handpicked owners he likes - not in the best interest of the Yawkey Trust. The current owners (who admittedly are good baseball people) were outbid by $100 million. But the highest bidders were perceived as mavericks that Bud didn't want to deal with.
   
6. And now, the Pete Rose mess. Most fans love Pete Rose. I don't. I think he's a fraud. Great player? Absolutely. Bad person? Even more so. But if he lets Rose back in without any sort of confession, Bud Selig is committing a great atrocity on the greatest game in the world.
   

Of course, this report may not be true. Baseball Prospectus, which is a very highly mathematical and analytical approach to baseball, is in its first foray into journalism and radio this year. This may be just a ploy to get some name recognition. But placing your entire credibility on the line here especially with a scuffling subscriber base ($40 for an online subscription - good stuff, but I'm not paying for it, I'll just buy the book for $16, thank you), this can make or break them.

And besides, I don't believe anything MLB says anymore. Thank goodness the game is so great. It's the only thing that keeps MLB afloat.