All the debate is over and the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) has decided for the eighth time in history to not induct a player into the Hall Of Fame.

The message should have been clear.  The message that was debated for the last few months that reflected on the character clause, the integrity of players and the game, as well as the unavoidable steroid discussion.  The BBWAA has stood very clear on the subject for the last few years: if you cheated, you don’t get in.  If we suspect you cheated, you don’t get in.  If you look like you might have cheated, you don’t get in.  This year, names like Roger Clemens, Mike Piazza, Barry Bonds, and Jeff Bagwell found themselves on the short end of the stick with many others.

But did the message come across loud and clear?

No.

The message here is that the hallowed halls of Cooperstown will recognize achievements by players that did not cheat or were not suspected of cheating.  In order to get that message across beyond a shadow of a doubt, the writers will need to show that the players on the other end of the spectrum, those that are not suspected of use in any way but are statistically qualified for consideration, are voted in quickly.

I present to you Craig Biggio.

Many assumed that Biggio would find his way into the Hall this year.  The statistics back up the normal mindset of voters, he was a historic player on his team and in his league.

Biggio’s career was worthy of the Hall Of Fame.  On top of that, he was never connected to performance enhancing drugs.  There are no rumors that he might have taken steroids.  He does not appear to fail the “eyeball test” suggesting that he got larger.  Biggio appears to be a guy that played the game the right way for more than 20 years of his life.  He is generally well liked among teammates, opponents, fans and the media.  He changed positions multiple times to better fit his team’s needs.  He spent his entire career with one team in an era where the almighty dollar has lured almost anyone away from the thought of doing that.  He is viewed by many as one of the best players to ever wear the Houston Astros uniform.

If the BBWAA wanted to send a clear and sound message to all of those suspected of steroid use, they had the perfect opportunity with Craig Biggio.

They had the perfect chance to induct a player that played the game the right way.

Unfortunately, they got so caught up in sending the negative message to the cheaters that they forgot to send the positive message to the clean players.

Biggio will be in the Hall Of Fame.  There is no doubt about that.

He deserved to go in on his first ballot.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
Follow him on Twitter here.

The Kansas City Royals have certainly had some historically terrible acquisitions over the years

Anyone who has been a fan of the Royals for any extended period of time has seen it multiple times. The off-season acquisition of a player another team was dying to get rid of (usually a malcontent), being sold to the Royals fanbase as a game-changing pickup. Every team acquires players that don’t pan out. But no team seems to pick guys up that they pencil in as top/middle of the rotation starters, middle of the lineup bats, or closers that end up embarrassing themselves and the rest of us like the Kansas City Royals. Here, we take a look at the worst of the worst, position by position.

Use the buttons below to scroll through the worst acquisition at each position for the Royals.

Catcher: Benito Santiago (2004)

◄ Back

Next ►

Picture 1 of 8

Santiago came to town with about as much excitement for playing in Kansas City as Juan Gonzalez did at the same time. He made it 49 games before coming down with his own phantom injury, and was then shipped off to Pittsburgh after the 2004 season.

Runner Up: Jason Kendall (2010)

Happy New Year to all of our fans and readers. 2012 looks promising for both the Cardinals and the Royals, but it also looks promising for i70baseball.com.

The first day of 2012 brings a big change, as you have probably noticed, for i70baseball. The site has ended it’s agreement with Fan Vs Fan and entered into an agreement to join Yardbarker.

I would like to take a minute to thank all the folks at Fan Vs Fan. It is a great network of sites and has a lot of growth potential. I personally hope that we have the opportunity to work together in the future on other projects. They were supportive and helpful and lived up to every part of the deal on their end.

That being said, I-70 has achieved a staff of 20 writers and we are bringing top quality content to our fans quickly, accurately, and multiple times a day. Yardbarker brings a larger audience to what the writers of I-70 work so hard to achieve. Everyone on this site is here for exposure of their work and Yarbarker offers us a greater opportunity to achieve that.

Through Yardbarker and their affiliates, Fox Sports and MSN Sports, I-70 will reach a national audience in a whole new way.

2012 is going to be big for I-70. We are glad you are along for the ride and we welcome each and every one of our new readers.

Play Ball!

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

The Zack Greinke saga is officially over, but Greinke may not be the only superstar that is headed out of Kansas City. The number one question that is on every Royals fan’s mind is: What will the Kansas City Royals do with their All-Star closer Joakim Soria? The Royals’ Front Office has stated multiple times that they are not willing to trade Soria, but the fact of the matter is that there may not be a better time than now.

Could Soria be the next star to go?

After the New York Yankees lost out on the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, Yankees GM Brian Cashman stated that his number one priority is to restock the Yankee bullpen. They had their sights set on resigning reliver Kerry Wood, but Wood decided to return to the team where it all started for him, the Chicago Cubs. They were able to lock up the machine that is Mariano Rivera for two more years, but they can’t expect to get much more out of Rivera beyond those two years. It would put a lot of minds at ease in New York if they knew that they had their closer of the future waiting in the wings in Soria.

Right now may be the time for the Royals to strike. Granted, they may not want to push their fan base any further away, but this would be a move much like the Greinke deal. They would be able to address both immediate needs, as well as continue to stockpile prospects for their already potent farm system. The Royals should take this opportunity to take advantage of a desperate Yankee Front Office. The Boston Red Sox landed the two biggest players not named Cliff Lee this offseason in signing Carl Crawford and trading for Adrian Gonzalez. With those moves, many people in the baseball world are saying that the Red Sox are the team to beat in the American League, which cannot be going over too well in New York. The Yankees were so sure that their huge offer to Lee would sway the southpaw to the Bronx that they did not focus on any other player. After Lee spurned the Bombers, there was little left on the board for the Yankees to throw their wads of cash at. Cashman now says that his motto for the remainder of the offseason will be patience, but do not let that fool you. There is a sense of panic in the Big Apple.

If the Yankees were to offer catcher Jesus Montero, the “lightning in a bottle” outfielder Brett Gardner, and possibly a young pitcher, it might be an offer that Royals cannot walk away from. Now, it may not seem like the Yankees would be willing to give up such a package for a reliver, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and the Yankees certainly do not want another team in the AL to swoop in and pounce on Soria before they have a chance. From the Royals’ perspective, GM Dayton Moore has said that he wants to be strong up the middle. After the return that he received for Greinke, the only spot that remains to be addressed is the catcher position. Now, the Royals did get a young catcher in Lucas May from the Scott Podsednik deal last season, but May struggled in his stint with the big club. The Royals, if they completed a deal like this hypothetical one, would have Montero catching, Alcides Escobar at shortstop, and either Gardner or Lorenzo Cain in centerfield. It would be safe to say that the Royals would be incredibly strong up the middle.

Obviously, there are many arguments for keeping Soria. He is under club control through the 2014 season for a considerably inexpensive amount, especially with how overpaid closers are in today’s game. Also, dominant closers, which Soria has been for the majority of his stint in Kansas City, are very hard to come by these days. If the Royals are committed to competing for a division championship in 2012, and they really believe that they can, it would be tough to do without Soria anchoring that bullpen.

So, now comes the time to weigh the pros and cons of dealing Soria. While the Royals’ brass has stated multiple times that Soria is not going anywhere, there is no doubt that some internal discussions have happened. If the Yankees come knocking, it would be worth it to at least hear them out.