plus 1, Baldelli retires, takes job with Rays - Philadelphia Daily News

Baldelli retires, takes job with Rays - Philadelphia Daily News

Posted: 26 Jan 2011 11:58 PM PST

Posted on Thu, Jan. 27, 2011

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Rocco Baldelli has retired and accepted a position as a special assistant with the team.

The 29-year-old spent six of seven major league seasons with the Rays. In 519 career games with Tampa Bay and Boston, he hit .278 with 60 homers and 262 RBI.

Baldelli played in just 10 games last season, but was part of the Rays' postseason roster. He was removed after going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against Cliff Lee in Game 1 of the Rays' division series against Texas.

Baldelli missed all or parts of four seasons because of a variety of injuries. In 2008, he was diagnosed as having mitochondrial disorder, a condition that causes muscle fatigue.

When he was removed from Tampa Bay's playoff roster in October, the Rays cited "left leg fatigue."

Baldelli will be involved in scouting and player development in his new job as special assistant to baseball operations.

Noteworthy

* Johnny Cueto finalized a $27 million, 4-year contract that allows the Cincinnati Reds to avoid arbitration with the righthanded starter and locks up another young player.

Cueto gets $3.4 million this year, $5.4 million in 2012, $7.4 million in 2013 and $10 million in 2014. Cincinnati has a $10 million option for 2015 with an $800,000 buyout.

The deal includes an option for 2015 and leaves righthanded starter Edinson Volquez as the only Reds player still in arbitration. Volquez asked for $2 million and the Reds offered $1.3 million.

Cueto's deal is the latest in an offseason spending spree by the defending NL Central champions. They've committed more than $150 million to four players: Cueto, righthander Bronson Arroyo, outfielder Jay Bruce and first baseman Joey Votto, the NL's Most Valuable Player.

"We're continuing our efforts to keep our good young nucleus together," general manager Walt Jocketty said.

The 24-year-old Cueto went 12-7 last season, establishing career highs in wins and innings. He led the staff with 138 strikeouts and made 18 quality starts. The bullpen blew six save chances behind him, the second-highest total for any pitcher in the majors. Cincinnati was shut out in three of his seven losses.

* Former Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon, out of the major leagues since 2009, has agreed to a minor league contract with the New York Yankees.

The 37-year-old righthander was released by the Chicago White Sox in September 2009 after going 3-6 with a 4.19 ERA in 12 starts.

He went 21-8 for the Angels in 2005 and won the AL Cy Young, but is 14-21 since.

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Is It Your Job? Or Is It Your Personality? - Huffingtonpost.com

Posted: 27 Jan 2011 06:32 AM PST

How did you choose your profession?

Did you lie awake at night as a child fantasizing about spending 10 hours a day hunched over a computer?

If you're like most people, you probably fell into your profession.

When I was a kid, my secret dream was to be a televangelist. But I gave up on that after my mother informed me that I'd have to start going to church.

Gallup polling data reveals that a mere 20-30 percent of people are actively engaged in their work. That means, a good two-thirds of the people schlepping to work everyday are going through the motions, toiling away in jobs they don't particularly enjoy.

And we wonder why depression is on the rise.

We can blame bad bosses or poor management practices. But I believe one of the root problems is that most people stumble into their professions without enough self-knowledge to figure out what they would actually be great at.

We tend to choose a job based on the pay, what other people tell us we should do, and what happens to be available at the time. In the current economy, many feel lucky just to have a paycheck.

But if you're in a job you're not suited for, it's only a matter of time before you become miserable. And if you're miserable, chances are, you're not delivering superstar performance for your company or colleagues. As my dad says, "If you're unhappy with them, it's only a matter of time before they're unhappy with you."

I would know. I spent first five years of my career in the wrong job until a quick personality test (Myers-Briggs) revealed that I was never going to be happy in a job with no creativity.

One common source of career misery is people who are working in the right subject area but in the wrong role.

For example, many people become teachers because they liked history, biology or English Lit. Yet they get into the job and realize that they don't actually like preparing lessons or patiently helping poor students learn. A love of Chaucer isn't enough; a good teacher is someone who enjoys making personal connections with students.

The same thing applies to any other profession. If you're a quiet introvert who recharges by being alone, you probably don't want to be a customer service representative. You may love books or computer games, but the last thing you need is a job selling them.

When we're unhappy with our work, it's easy to blame our misery on the boss, company or the working conditions. It's scarier to admit that we might simply not be a fit.

Acknowledging that you're not well suited for your profession feels like failure.

But it's not.

It simply means that your job isn't a good match for your inherent skills or personality.

If you're an analytical, or a touchy-feely type, or a laser focused creative, that's probably how you were born. No amount of training or incentive pay is going to turn you into something you're not.

But it's not the boss's job to figure out where you would be better suited; it's yours.

People who hate their jobs wind up not being very good at them. You deserve better that that. And so does your employer.

Lisa Earle McLeod is a keynote speaker, author, columnist and business consultant who specializes in sales and leadership training. Her newest book, "The Triangle of Truth," has been cited as the blueprint for "how smart people can get better at everything." Visit www.TriangleofTruth.com for a short video intro.

Follow Lisa Earle McLeod on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lisaearlemc