Matthew broke down the free agent catchers last night, giving detailed predictions into where they are likely to go, and for how much money.

It all gets one to thinking about what you should value most in a catcher: Is it offense? Defense? Calling a game? Handling pitching staffs and dealing with umpires?

They're the quarterbacks of baseball. Perhaps the most important -- and often undervalued -- position in the game.

Which brings me to a fascinating column on Baseballanalysts.com by former catcher Brent Mayne, who delves into the "Intangibles of Catching," giving us a good look at what goes on behind the plate.

Allow me to explain and show you how I see it from a catcher's perspective. For every pitch, you've got about eight million variables coming at you. Who is the hitter and how have I attacked him in the past? What is the game situation? What are your pitcher's strengths and weaknesses? What is the game plan/scouting report? Who is the umpire and what is his strike zone today? What does your manager want? The list goes on and on. And you need to process all this information and put down the correct number...right now.

Mayne, who hit .263 in 15 seasons in the majors (1990-2004), goes on to write about his disgust for managers who call pitches from the bench (particularly in the minors and amateur ball), the importance of communicating with pitchers (that's Mayne above trying to calm down Jose Lima in 2003), calling pitches and controlling the pace of the game.

It's an interesting story. I suggest you check it out.

Follow me on Twitter at @bharks. For more baseball news, go to NBCSports.com.

Good news for San Francisco fans: "Operation Panda" is underway, and if things continue at this pace, the Giants are going to be the biggest winners in the end.

Joan Ryan of the MLB.com blog Inside the Giants Clubhouse reports that budding star Pablo Sandoval has already dropped 10 pounds as he attacks his offseason conditioning program like a jelly donut, even though the season is still nearly five months away.

Head trainer Dave Groeschner said of the one-man camp: "We've never had a player do anything like this - ever.''

"There are no guys who show up in November to get ready for the season,'' Groeschner says. "But this is something Pablo wanted to do. He knows how important it is for him and for the team that he has the endurance to play every game. And what he's doing is not easy. It's an entire life-style change.''

For the first time in his life, Sandoval is lifting weights. He's eating vegetables. He is meeting every Wednesday while he's in Scottsdale with a nutrition professor from Arizona State University, who is teaching him about healthy food choices and portion control. He and his brother, who Sandoval brought with him for motivation and support, are eating catered meals - delivered to the Giants complex every morning in a cooler -- of low-cal entrees like broiled chicken or salmon, and lots of salads, veggies and fruits.

First of all, I love the term "portion control." Don't eat three chickens, Pablo, when one will fill you up just fine.

Secondly, the sloppy, overweight version of Sandoval is already a freak of nature, putting up a .333/.381/.543 line in his first full season while smashing 25 home runs and driving in 90 runs. All of this despite a portly physique (listed at 5-11, 245) and a Guerrero-esque penchant for swinging at anything within reach.

But now the Panda is getting serious. He's replacing cheeseburgers with carrots, fat with muscle. Be afraid NL West. Be very afraid.

Follow me on Twitter at @bharks. For more baseball news, go to NBCSports.com.

The Chicago Cubs are eager to get rid of Milton Bradley. That much is clear.

And here is Jim Hendry's pitch to potential trade partners (as imagined by yours truly):

Milton Bradley is a fine young man who is generally misunderstood. He has a wealth of talent, much of it as yet untapped. Just look at his career line of .277/.371/.450! Who couldn't use that on their team? I know there was some controversy surrounding him in Chicago this past season but I'll tell you how I'm going to help you forget about that: I'm going to eat half of the remaining $21 million left on his contract. Just for you, because I like you. How's that sound for a deal? Are you ready to sign? *Pulls out pen*

Hendry's used-car pitch is apparently effective. There have been rumors of a trade in the works with Toronto, as Matthew detailed earlier today. And the Rangers, obviously remembering Bradley's league-leading .999 OPS in 2008, have shown interest in bringing him back.

Enter Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, who makes a point-by-point plea for the Rangers to avoid such temptation.

Grant mentions the poor 2009 season Bradley had in Chicago, and his durability issues (124 games in 2009, 126 in 2008), but things get even more interesting when the author gets into chemistry issues.

Bradley said after signing with the Cubs that he didn't play in some selected games with the Rangers down the stretch in 2008 to protect his statistics in order to put himself in the best negotiating position. The Rangers have harped on a team-first approach as a big rallying cry for the 2010 season. There is no way that Bradley's comments and actions can be viewed as anything but selfish.

I hadn't heard that story before, but from everything I've seen about Bradley, it's hardly surprising. Wherever he goes, Bradley makes himself the centerpiece story. He never shies from telling everyone how the world is out to get him, or how he has been wronged in some way.

It has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. With 10 big-league seasons under his belt, Bradley does get ripped frequently, sometimes unfairly. But when you spend your career going on self-indulgent diatribes, hurling things at fans, throwing temper tantrums, trying to charge press boxes, and insulting your fan base, you're going to get a lot less slack from fans and writers alike.

So if you're the Blue Jays, Rangers, or any other team sniffing out a potential bargain in Milton Bradley, don't be fooled by Hendry's spin. And think long and hard about what kind of presence you want in your clubhouse and on your roster.

Remember, if an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Follow me on Twitter at @bharks. For more baseball news, go to NBCSports.com.

Forget the Hall of Fame, Pete Rose has a new, far worthier cause to throw his lobbying efforts behind. Yes, that's right, baseball's all-time hit king is pushing for Playboy to feature his girlfriend in a pictorial.

Rose took his pitch public in an interview with KGOW in Houston (from SportsRadioInterview.com, via USA Today):

"My girl has finally decided to try to shoot for Playboy, and they were kind enough to give her an opportunity to come to Houston next week for an interview, and we're excited about that. She's beautiful, she's young, educated -- there's a lot of qualities."

That's Rose and his girlfriend - he hasn't revealed her name - above at a Vitaly Klitschko bout in Los Angeles in September. Rose, who turns 69 in April, wasn't shy about gushing about her in the interview, but did somehow keep his ego in check when asked about their age difference.

"Oh, no. You got to stay young, keep yourself young. And that's all part of it. You know, I work in Vegas 17 days a month at The Field of Dreams store, and you know, my girl's a real educated girl -- she graduated from Arizona State. She had a very prestigious job several years ago when she was a flight attendant for Korean Airlines, which is really a big deal in Korea, and she's Korean. And let's just hope that the Playboy people like her, and if they don't, that's okay too. We'll just turn the page and thank them for the opportunity."

Rose notched the last of his 4,256 career hits back in 1986, yet he continues to impress. First Playboy, then Cooperstown? Whaddya think?

If I were a betting man, I'd say Rose eventually gets into the Hall of Fame, probably some day long after Bud Selig retires. But despite his girlfriend's obvious attributes, including her aforementioned education and job history, I'm not sure a high quality publication like Playboy is right for her. (They gave us Kendra!) They've got standards over there, after all, and her boyfriend bet on baseball, which just isn't right.

You can listen to the Rose interview here.

Follow me on Twitter at @bharks. For more baseball news, go to NBCSports.com.

Who would you take, Mike Cameron or Jason Bay?

It seems like a silly question on the surface. Bay is widely considered the No. 2 position player on the free agent market behind Matt Holliday, while Cameron is largely ignored even in Milwaukee, where he has played the last two seasons.

Over at Fangraphs.com, though, Dave Cameron makes a strong case that Mike Cameron (no relation, I hope, otherwise this whole thing is a sham!) is actually the better player despite his age (36, while Bay just turned 31). Cameron will also come cheaper, making him the better value.

So how can a guy who hits for a lower average and less power (they both strike out a ton) be the better player? The answer is defense, dummy.

Cameron covers center field like a gazelle, while Bay only looks decent in left field at Fenway because Manny Ramirez preceded him there. A run saved is just as good as a run driven in right?

If you think Cameron's on the verge of collapse (he's shown no signs of it) and you don't trust defensive metrics (in this case, the conclusions are pretty obviously true), then you think that they're similarly valuable. In reality, the odds are pretty good that Cameron is going to outperform Bay next season, just as he's done in most every season recently, and he's going to do it for far less money.

If you want a right-handed hitting outfielder this winter, and you don't want to pony up for Matt Holliday, Jason Bay is not the alternative. Call Mike Cameron instead.

OK. You've got me convinced. Now where did I leave my checkbook?

Follow me on Twitter at @bharks. For more baseball news, go to NBCSports.com.

The biggest hit of the holidays won't be a Roy Halladay trade. No, it will be "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2", a new shoot-em-up video game with rockin' graphics and a great multiplayer feature set to hit store shelves on Tuesday in PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 formats.

It's expected to bring in half a BILLION dollars in the first week alone. So yeah, Roy could buy the Blue Jays with that kind of cash. So what does any of this have to do with baseball? Plenty, actually.

There is some controversy around the game, all of it outlined nicely below by my Msnbc.com colleague Todd Kenreck.

Among the issues creating a stir is a viral video that was released by the game's creator featuring none other than Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels. In the video, a pixilated Hamels emerges from a humvee, dressed in military gear and a Phillies cap.

He goes on what seems like a light-hearted rant against "random grenades", but then drops a couple of curse words as he is blown up by some of the very items he despises.

The language in itself doesn't seem like much of a big deal unless you let young children play these games and surf the web at will, which would be your own fault.

But then the video ends with a "brought to you by" message that contains a thinly veiled homophobic slur. As Kenreck reports, the video was pulled amid concerns that it "promoted hate speech in the gaming community," but it of course lives on at YouTube. (Watch it here, unless your ears are sensitive)

Not sure what I think about the seriousness of this. The video is light-hearted in tone, but does it go too far? One thing for sure: this isn't the kind of publicity Hamels needs. Not after his performances in the playoffs.

Follow me on Twitter at @bharks. For more baseball news, go to NBCSports.com.

According to a report from SI.com's Jon Heyman, the mother of former big league pitcher Victor Zambrano was kidnapped sometime Sunday morning from Zambrano's farm outside of Maracay, Venezuela.

The information came to Heyman via a telephone call from Zambrano's agent Peter Greenburg.

Earlier this summer in Venezuela, the son of Colorado Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba - as well as  two of his uncles - were kidnapped. They were later rescued, and Torrealba moved his family to Florida.

Zambrano finished up a seven-year big league career in 2007, compiling a 45-44 record and 4.64 ERA with Tampa Bay, the New York Mets, Toronto and Baltimore.

Follow me on Twitter at @bharks. For more baseball news, go to NBCSports.com.

Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune is reporting/theorizing that the L.A. Dodgers are re-thinking the whole idea of re-signing pitcher Vicente Padilla in the offseason.

According to Rogers, the Dodgers are "asking hard questions" about the incident last week in which Padilla shot himself in the leg (or was shot by his bodyguard) in what was apparently an accident in his native Nicaragua.

Padilla was let go by the Rangers last season, and there was plenty of talk of him being a negative presence in the clubhouse. Now with the shooting and the lack of clarity behind what happened, it's understandable if the Dodgers are getting cold feet. It certainly seems unlikely Padilla will receive the $12 million he made last season, from the Dodgers or anyone else.

Follow me on Twitter at @bharks. For more baseball news, go to NBCSports.com.

The Philadelphia Phillies are already talking about a possible extension for Cliff Lee, who immediately became the team's ace and postseason star after Philly acquired the left-hander from Cleveland in a July trade.

From the Inquirer:

The Phillies have not yet decided whether to offer a contract extension to pitcher Cliff Lee this off-season, but they have discussed the possibility internally.

"Clearly, it's on our minds, but we haven't made a decision if we will yet," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "Naturally you have to think about it, but we're more focused on him pitching in this series."

Lee is 7-4 with a 3.39 ERA with the Phils this season, and 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA in the 2009 playoffs. The Phillies can bring Lee back in 2010 simply by exercising their $9 million option, which has to be a slam dunk if an agreement on an extension isn't reached.

But how far will they be willing to go to sign Lee long term? A couple of things to consider: Lee is 31, and the Phillies are already on the hook for at least $108 million in payroll for 2010 (they spent $113 million this season). That counts Lee's option, but not arbitration raises for players like Joe Blanton, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth.

The fact they're already talking about it shows the Phillies are eager to keep Lee, and rightly so. Ideally the Phillies and Lee can find common ground on a mutually-pleasing deal. But what if that doesn't work out?

Should they be willing to give Lee a Sabathia-esque 7-year, $161-million deal, or should they just take the option and see how 2010 plays out?

What do you think Phillies fans?

Follow me on Twitter at @Bharks. For more baseball news, go to NBCSports.com.

Akinori Iwamura, who went to the World Series with the Tampa Bay Rays last season, is putting the most optimistic spin possible on his recent trade to the Pittsburgh Pirates:

Iwamura, acquired to be the Pirates' starting second baseman, is hoping his new team can be a contender soon. Really.

"I know, of course, about Roberto Clemente and that it is a great organization," Iwamura said after being traded from Tampa Bay to Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.

Maybe Iwamura is just a really nice guy trying to say the right thing. Maybe he's naturally more optimistic than Richard Simmons.

Or maybe he simply needs a refresher course in Pirates history. The Pirates were, indeed a great franchise, with five championships and nine pennants to their credit. But the 30-year-old Iwamura was 13 the last time the Bucs made the playoffs, which was also the last time they even managed a winning record.

I'm just hoping Iwamura isn't too disappointed come spring time when the truth smacks him in the face like an A.J. Burnett shaving cream pie. But from what we've seen of him so far, maybe he'll just be happy to play in one of the prettiest stadiums in baseball.

Follow me on Twitter at @Bharks. For more baseball news, go to NBCSports.com.