THE GAMBLER

I worked for the filmmaking duo, the Coen brothers, for a year in the mid-1990s, first as their personal assistant, and then as an assistant film editor on "The Big Lebowski." I started working for them just before the Yanks won the World Serious in 1996. Joel couldn't have cared less about baseball, but Ethan was a casual fan, and kept up with the box scores and the headlines. As you can imagine, he was anything but a Yankee fan.

I thought it fitting however that Ethan's favorite Bronx Bomber at the time was none other than that lovable loser, Mr. Square Jaw himself, Kenny Rogers. He is a sap directly out of one of their movies.

Well, Rogers signed with the Coen brothers' hometown team, the Twins, yesterday. Here what Lee Sinns had to say about the deal, which will bump the highly touted Johan Santana back to the bullpen for the time being:

1) The Twins signed free agent P Kenny Rogers to a 1 year, $2 million
contract, contingent on him passing a physical.

Rogers has gone to 2 extremes in the past 2 years. His 6.19 ERA/-23 RSAA in
2001 was the worst year of his career, while his 3.84 ERA/28 RSAA tied 1998
for his 2nd best RSAA figure. Rogers has a 4.20 career ERA, compared to his
league average of 4.57, and 90 RSAA in 589 games.

The 38 year old ranked 5th in the AL, among LHP, in RSAA over the past 5
years--

RSAA
1 Barry Zito 88
2 Jamie Moyer 77
T3 David Wells 65
T3 Mark Buehrle 65
5 Jarrod Washburn 58
6 Kenny Rogers 53
7 Chuck Finley 48
8 Andy Pettitte 44
9 Mike Sirotka 39
10 Arthur Rhodes 37

2) Twins MGR Ron Gardenhire says that, with Rogers's signing, Johan Santana
is going to move back into the bullpen, but the team still views him as a
future starter.

Santana, who turns 24 today, is coming off a 2.99 ERA/17 RSAA season in 27
games (14 starts) and set a Senators/Twins single season record for best
SO/9 IP, vs. the league average (min: 100 IP)--

STRIKEOUTS/9 IP YEAR DIFF PLAYER LEAGUE
1 Johan Santana 2002 5.12 11.38 6.26
2 Tom Hall 1970 5.03 10.68 5.65
3 Joe Krakauskas 1938 4.15 7.71 3.57
4 Tom Hall 1971 4.06 9.48 5.42
5 Camilo Pascual 1960 3.60 8.47 4.87
6 Juan Berenguer 1988 3.42 8.91 5.49
7 Walter Johnson 1910 3.40 7.61 4.21
8 Dave Boswell 1966 3.32 9.21 5.90
9 Walter Johnson 1912 3.15 7.39 4.24
10 Bert Blyleven 1974 3.06 7.98 4.91

WHO YOU CALLIN' FUNNY LOOKIN?

Steve Keane, who recently launched a Mets blog, aptly titled, The Eddie Kranpool Society has a good call on Godzilla Matsui: Shemp from the Three Stooges.

PEACE

I want to take a moment to thank all the readers who have sent me e-mails wishing the best for my girl, Emily today. Thanks, I'll pass those good vibes along when she comes to.