On Wednesday night, Clint and I were honored to have Major League Baseball agent Matt Sosnick, of Sosnick Cobbe Sports, as a guest on The Baseball Show. We discussed a little bit of everything including the rise and fall of Dontrelle Willis, sports agency as a profession, Matt’s experiences in Major League Baseball, stories about his clients, Josh Willingham and Ricky Nolasco’s off-season contract negotiations, why Adam Dunn can’t find a permanent home, and a lot of interesting stuff in between.

In our discussion on Josh Willingham, Sosnick mentioned that the 31-year old outfielder’s next contract is contingent on both his ability to stay healthy, as well as whether the Nationals ultimately decide to re-sign slugger Adam Dunn.

After earning $4.6MM in 2010, Sosnick stated that Willingham would be happy to accept a one-year deal. Entering the third and final year of his current contract with the Nationals, he will be eligible for arbitration during the offseason and it is possible that his 2011 salary could approach $7MM.

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Tonight on The Baseball Show, Clint[Diamond Hoggers] and I welcomed Matt Sosnick from Sosnick & Cobbe Sports Agency.

We discussed a little bit of everything including the rise and fall of Dontrelle Willis, sports agency as a profession, Matt’s experiences in Major League Baseball, stories about his clients, Josh Willingham and Ricky Nolasco’s off-season contract negotiations, why Adam Dunn can’t find a permanent home, and a lot of interesting stuff in between.

We also spent a solid portion of the show discussing Jay Bruce and what the future holds for the 23-year old outfielder. If you are familiar with our program, then you know that Clint is a die-hard Reds fan, as well as Jay Bruce’s biggest fan.  Matt was kind enough to offer some insight into the possibility of a long-term contract for his client.

You can read all about it and much more on Jay Bruce over at Diamond Hoggers

The Golden Sombrero presents MLB Look-alikes Playoff Edition: Lance Berkman and [Fat] Elvis Presley

Walter Johnson Award (Cy Young)

National League:
First Place Vote – Roy Halladay (Philadelphia)
Second Place Vote – Ubaldo Jimenez (Colorado)
Third Place Vote – Adam Wainwright (St. Louis)
Fourth Place Vote – Josh Johnson (Florida)
Fifth Place Vote – Tim Hudson (Atlanta)

American League:
First Place Vote – Felix Hernandez (Seattle)
Second Place Vote – David Price (Tampa Bay)
Third Place Vote – CC Sabathia (New York)
Fourth Place Vote – Trevor Cahill (Oakland)
Fifth Place Vote – Jered Weaver (Anaheim)

On Wednesday, Alexei Ramirez of the Chicago White Sox was named the shortstop on The Sporting News American League All-Star Team, as voted on by a panel of 326 major-league players, 25 managers and 24 general managers.

Ramirez, 29, hit .282 with 29 doubles, 18 home runs and 70 RBI in 156 games with the White Sox in 2010.  He is just the third shortstop in White Sox history to be honored by The Sporting News and the first since Luis Aparicio in 1970.

After a slow start to the 2010 season, Ramirez ultimately led all AL shortstops in average (.282), home runs (18), slugging percentage (.431) and total bases (252) and ranked second in RBI (70), third in runs scored (83) and tied for third in doubles (29).

He also led the league with 768 total chances, the most by a Sox shortstop since Ozzie Guillen in 1989 (806), as well as assists (499) and range factor/games at SS (4.79).

Ramirez joins South Side legends Aparicio (1968, ’70) and Luke Appling (1936, ’40 and ’43) as the only three White Sox shortstops to receive the prestigious recognition.

Next up for Ramirez is the Silver Slugger.