Rumors for May, 2010
PRO Rumors: Alan Embree released, Jack Hannahan DFA, umpire Joe West fined
Posted by: | CommentsHere are a few Friday afternoon PRO Rumors:
- According to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, relief pitcher Alan Embree was released by Triple-A Charlotte, an affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. He was 0-1 with an 8.22 ERA in six appearances.
- The Mariners have designated infielder Jack Hannahan for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster for catcher Eliezer Alfonzo who was called up from Triple-A. (Geoff Baker, The Seattle Times)
- According to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, manager Ozzie Guillen, pitcher Mark Buehrle and umpire Joe West were fined but not suspended for their actions the other day in Cleveland.
Yankees designate Randy Winn for assignment
Posted by: | Comments
According to Ben Shpigel of the New York Times, the Yankees have designated Randy Winn for assignment to make room for Curtis Granderson.
Winn, 36, signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Yankees in January. He was hitting .213/.300/.295 in 29 games with the Yankees in 2010.
New York Yankees Rumors: Looking for hitter and reliever?
Posted by: | Comments
According to Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated, he tweets, “#yankees plan to seek 2 players this trading season: a hitter (to replace nick johnson) and a reliever.”
Heyman did not name any specific trade target or trade partner. We’ll keep our eye on this.
Chicago White Sox Rumors: Ozzie Guillen and GM Kenny Williams not on good terms?
Posted by: | Comments
According to Fred Mitchell and David Kaplan of the Chicago Tribune, White Sox GM Kenny Williams likely will not have manager Ozzie Guillen over for dinner in the near future.
“Kenny and Ozzie do not have anywhere near the relationship they once had and it appears that they only deal with each other when absolutely necessary,” said a longtime scout who has been around the big leagues for a long time. “If the team continues to struggle throughout the rest of the season it could become a bigger problem that will have to be dealt with.”
There have been rumors that the White Sox are ready to wave the white flag and start selling off the team. Both men have been answering to players and the media as to what direction the team is headed. This internal stress is likely the root cause of the friction between Williams and Guillen.
New York Mets Rumors: Looking for starting pitching?
Posted by: | CommentsIan O’Connor of ESPNNewYork.com
says that the Mets owe it to their fans to add another pitcher in addition to their No. 1 and No. 2 Johan Santana and Mike Pelfrey.
O’Connor says, “(COO Jeff) Wilpon needs to make something crystal clear to his general manager, Omar Minaya. In the coming weeks, when the Astros and Mariners cry uncle and begin shopping Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee for real, Wilpon has to send Minaya into the marketplace with the understanding that the Mets will pay for that third elite starter required to reach October and beyond.”
Neither Wilpon or Minaya would comment on their intentions to acquire a starting pitcher.
Buster Olney of ESPN The Magazine says, “The Mets are within two games of first place, and what’s great for them, going forward, is that the trade market is shaping up in a great way for them. There will be lots of starting pitching available, whether it’s Roy Oswalt or (perhaps) Cliff Lee or Ben Sheets or Jake Westbrook or Fausto Carmona or Kevin Millwood or Ted Lilly — and so it’ll be a buyers’ market as the Mets look for a pitcher.”
VIDEO: San Francisco Giants vendor gets hit by Ryan Zimmerman foul ball in face
Posted by: | CommentsThe churros vendor at the San Francisco Giants AT&T Park never saw the Ryan Zimmerman foul ball coming. Check out the video:
VIDEO: YES Reporter Kimberly Jones loses pork chop on TV
Posted by: | CommentsCheck out this video of YES reporter Kimbery Jones at Minnesota’s Target Field. She’s reporting back to the broadcasters as a Yankees’ fan takes a bite out of her Porkchop on a Stick.
On her Twitter account, she ends up saying:
Not sure what exactly happened as the porkchop situation spiraled out of control. Sadly, we prob haven’t seen the last of it.
I have the next few days off. A lil holiday before the holiday. When I return, porkchop will be long forgotten. Be nice to @JackCurryYES.
From Deadspin.
Here are the videos:
VIDEO: Chicago Cubs Ted Lilly caught cheating – pitching off the rubber?
Posted by: | Comments5/27 23:02: Here’s the video:
5/27 22:18: The Dodgers had a few things to be frustrated with today as they blew a beautiful game by John Ely. The opposing starter was just as dominate as Ely. But did he have an unfair advantage? Casey Blake who had two hits off of Cubs starter Ted Lilly, felt he was cheating. After a sixth inning single, Blake exchanged words with first-base umpire John Hirschbeck to the verge of ejection and was still hot after the game.
What was Blake so worked up about? He accused Lilly of pitching from in front of the rubber.
“I know the guy doesn’t have the fastest fastball and he’s trying to get any edge he can, but the guy is just cheating,” said Blake. “John wouldn’t at least tell him to get on the rubber or move to get a better look at it. That’s what made me mad.”
Hirschbeck said he “couldn’t tell” if Lilly was in contact with the rubber, but couldn’t leave his position to get a better look.
“It’s a hard thing to see and you’ve got to know for sure [to issue a warning],” Hirschbeck said.
“There were a couple times I would get it and throw it. I think I was a little bit ahead of the rubber. I don’t know if it was that much. It wasn’t one of those things where I was thinking about it. [First baseman] Derrek Lee told me what he was saying to the umpires. If I was doing that, I might have done that a couple times, but I wasn’t real conscious of it. I was just trying to get good footing.”
In the end, the Dodgers had no hard evidence to prove Lilly may have been cheating. A man once said, “If it doesn’t fit you must acquit.“ Time to lick your wounds and move on to the next series.
Information from MLB.com was used in this article.
Here are a few excerpts from ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark and the latest rumors on Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt:
Cardinals: Oswalt has told friends that he’d love to go to St. Louis, but unfortunatly the Cards lead the Majors in quality starts so they don’t necessarily need him, nor do the Astros have a desire to trade Oswalt to a division rival.
Rangers: Two old friends of Oswalt say that Texas would be No. 1 on a very short list of AL teams.
Dodgers: The McCourt divorce makes it hard for the team to absorb the nearly $31 million owed to Oswalt.
Nationals: “They’re the one team that would pay the whole freight on the contract,” an official of one contender said.
Reds: Highly unlikely given that the Astros won’t trade him to a division rival.
Twins: The team lacks a true ace.
Braves: There is zero indication that the Braves are interested.
Mets: A friend of Oswalt said, “I can’t see that at all” when asked if he would be headed to Queens.
Angels: “This is the only team I see,” an official of one club said. “I know they have some money. They desperately need pitching. And they can afford him.”
Torii Hunter charters private plane to attend the high school graduation of his son
Posted by: | Comments
“I didn’t tell him I was coming,” said the Angels Torii Hunter, who missed his game on Tuesday night. “He was shocked. When he saw me, he almost burst into tears. It was nice to see him walk across the stage [and get his diploma].”
Hunter, chartered a private jet to fly from Los Angeles to Little Rock, Arkansas, to attend his son’s, Cameron, graduation ceremony. He also agreed to donate his salary from the game he did not play, about $100,000, to charity.
“It was worth it,” Hunter said. “I’ve been gone for a lot of the 18 years of his life. I never got the chance to hang out with him much. I missed a lot of his games…. Whatever I made yesterday will go to a good cause.”
Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times said that Hunter kept track of Tuesday’s game by cellphone alerts and caught the end of the game on television.
“I was screaming in my bedroom watching it,” Hunter said. “I can only imagine how the fans feel.”
