Rumors for May, 2010
PRO Rumors Editorial: Buster Posey – Wait Your Turn, Kid
Posted by: | CommentsBuster Posey is good. Real good. Real good especially because he plays a position that doesn’t often lend itself to offensive production, which just so happens to be what ol’ Buster does best.
Bengie Molina, well, he’s not so good. He’s old, slow, doesn’t throw all that well anymore, doesn’t hit all that well anymore (ignore the batting average for a moment and get with the new century), and the last time he saw a pitch he didn’t feel fit to swing at was when little brother Yadier was throwing to him in the backyard.
Molina also makes $5 million this year. Posey? Let’s just say he’s slightly under that.
The paying, and subsequently playing, of an older, unproductive, and expensive player is the thing that can show the ineptness of an organization quicker than anything else. The defending of such moves because of those pesky little things unseen (he’s a leader!)shows the real ignorance of generations past in how they view baseball and how they choose to construct a roster. It’s sad really.
Teams all over baseball do this. Well, not necessarily the winning teams. Funny how that works out.
The Royals do it. They signed and continue to play Scott Podsednik even though his already empty batting average is proven to be more the byproduct of an unreal, unsustainable, start to the season, rather than his talent.
The Cubs are doing it because they signed Bob Howry instead of bringing up either Jay Jackson or Andrew Cashner.
The Astros do it, although by not really blocking a well-known prospect, by electing to pay Pedro Feliz to play perfectly average defense and little else.
The Royals do it. (See a pattern with this franchise?) They signed Rick Ankiel which meant pushing a younger, better, cheaper player in Mitch Maier to the bench before Ankiel got hurt. Thankfully.
Why do teams do this? It must be something in the comfort of the name. Organizations that are strapped for money, or organizations that constantly lose, must feel like they can’t afford to not sign these guys. I mean, they’re names. Some are relatively big names. Not big names like Pujols, or A-Rod, or Mauer mind you, but big enough names that the fans know who they are. And thus, the organization knows who they are.
So I suppose that’s it. It’s the fear of the unknown in the young players. I would contest the fear shouldn’t be in the “what if Buster Posey doesn’t perform?” camp, but rather the “what if Bengie Molina performs exactly how he’s proven he’s going to?” camp.
The numbers can be pretty.
Molina hit 20 homeruns last year and drove in 80. He’s good!
Feliz had 82 RBI last year. What other third baseman on the market will give us that kind of production? He’s good!
Rick Ankiel used to be a pitcher. Now, he’s an outfielder! He’s good!
However each of these players when put in the correct context should only be seen as struggling to be average and nothing more. Unfortunately for the teams that employ them though, they are not paid like average players.
Molina has a .323 wOBA (an average wOBA is about .340) which would be a perfectly acceptable number from a catcher if he were making say, what Posey would be making, league minimum.
Feliz has a .548 OPS so far this year. .548! Let’s pause for a moment to let that number sink in. That’s bad. That’s phenomenally bad. It’s so bad in fact that the Astros are willingly paying him $4.5 million this season. Well, you say, that’s because he had a good year last year and they’re paying on past performance. Okay. Last season, Feliz had a .694 OPS. Yeah, that’s really bad too.
For some teams, and I suppose the Giants would consider themselves in this category, keeping a player down to hold back his service time which means delaying arbitration is a big issue. It could mean the difference between 2, 3, maybe even as much as 5 million dollars a few years down the round. That’s quite a lot of money that could be used on other good players to surround someone like Posey in a couple of years.
Then again, if Posey is the player everyone thinks he is, or at least the hitter everyone thinks he is, the difference between the playoffs and not for a franchise like San Francisco means a heck of a lot more than the possibility of $5 million three years from now.
Just think, if the Giants didn’t resign Molina in the first place, well heck, there’s that $5 million right there.
Dodgers John Ely makes $400K but can't afford to buy game tickets?
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Los Angeles Dodgers John Ely was born and raised in the Chicago area and is making his first hometown major start on Thursday at Wrigley Field. Despite growing up in the area, he was a White Sox fan, so he will not have any emotional conflict in today’s game.
“I had no other choice,” he said. “My dad would have disowned me if I was a Cubs fan.”
Despite Ely making the league minimum of approximately $400,000, he will only leave 10 tickets for family and friends. He expects dozens more friends to attend, but he says he cannot afford tickets for all of them.
“I need a couple more paychecks before I start giving out those kinds of tickets,” he said.
We understand that it’s a tough economy and even though you make $400,000, after all the taxes and union fees, you’re take home is probably $250,000. We completely understand John.
BTW: At the time of this writing, Ely pitched 7 1/3, giving up 1 ER and 4 hits. Not bad for a homecoming. He may take the loss though. The Cubs are leading 1-0 in the top of the 9th.
Information from The Los Angeles Times was used in this article.
VIDEO: Yankee fans fight in left field seats
Posted by: | CommentsTotal Pro Sports shares fan footage of Yankees fans getting in a fight as their team took on the Rays.
This is how Total Pro Sports believes it all went down:
- Punks probably were spewing vile, hate speech and many profanities.
- Older gentlemen told them to shut up.
- Young punks tell them, “Why don’t you make us?” and likely included a comment about the older dudes weight.
- Older dude tells them to “Come on down and I will!”
- Young dudes have too much liquid courage and obviously no discernible combat skills. They throw some really weak stuff at the older dudes, who probably laugh and then give them the beatings of their sorry lives.
David Ortiz Rumors: Unlikely to be with Boston next year
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According to NESN Red Sox analyst Jerry Remy (via Nick Bove of WEEI.com) who was on the Dennis & Callahan show, he believes that Red Sox slugger David Ortiz will not be around next season despite his huge production this month.
“Probably not,” Remy said. “I think they’re hoping to get the best they can out of him this year and let next year play itself out. The nice thing about this is now that he comes to the plate, you have confidence in him again and more importantly, he has confidence in himself.”
Dennis & Callahan asked Remy, “If David Ortiz were to hit 40 home runs and drives in 135, do you think the Red Sox would then consider picking up his $12 million option for next season?”‘
Remy responded,
Probably not. I think they’re hoping to get the best they can out of him this year and let next year play itself out. The nice thing about this is now that he comes to the plate, you have confidence in him again and more importantly, he has confidence in himself. You can tell a difference in his personality, just the way he pimps around the clubhouse and the way he’s been acting. He feels good about himself again and that’s a good thing.
That’s part of being a player. When you’re not playing well, you’re down, you’re not yourself — the normal, good natured guy he has been — and when you are playing well, you feel good about yourself. That’s what he’s feeling now. When he comes to the plate now in big situations, I have confidence that he’s going to get the job done where a month ago, you went, “Oh God. He’s got to get pinch hit for now.” He’s back to being his old self.
Dodgers Ramon Ortiz Designated for Assignment
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According to Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times, the Dodgers have designated Ramon Ortiz for assignment.
Ortiz, 37, was 1-2 with a 6.30 ERA in 16 appearances (2 starts) for the Dodgers this season. The Dodgers have called up right-handed pitcher Justin Miller from Triple-A to take Ortiz’s place.
PHOTO: Evan Longoria sends pictures of his private parts on Facebook
Posted by: | Comments5/27 10:05: According to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times says that MLB officials are working hard to get the graphic picture of Evan Longoria taken off the web.
Here’s the link to the NSFW picture of what supposedly are the family jewels of Evan Logoria.
“There’s nothing to comment on; there’s nothing to pursue,” said Paul Cohen, Longoria’s agent. “It’s a joke. This has nothing to do with him. There’s no story. The appropriate people are dealing with it. This really has nothing to do with him.”
MLB spokesman Pat Courtney said MLB security personnel are “pursuing the situation and working to get the pictures taken down,” most likely through cease-and-desist orders.
Longoria, through the Rays, said of the issue: “I am not going to dignify that with a response.”
5/25 14:41: Barstool Sports says that Tampa Bay Rays Evan Longoria, while a player in the Cape League a few years back, was Facebook stalking girls with hopes to meet up with them. According to one Barstool Sports writter Jenna, he sent a picture of his “Schlongoria” with a note that said “Like that babe?”
Here’s the link to the NSFW picture of what supposedly are the family jewels of Evan Logoria.
It doesn’t surprise PRO Rumors that he gets girls through this method. Last month, Longoria was texting girls in the Boston area with hopes that he could hook up with them while the Rays were in town.
Roy Oswalt Trade Rumors: Yankees unlikely to trade for pitcher?
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According to Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated, he tweets, “bad news for #’stros. #yankees unlikely to become heavily involved in Oswalt. “we like our starters,” one official said.”
Over the last few weeks there has not been a strong indication that the Yankees would make a play for Oswalt. He spent his entire career in the National League, so it may be a gamble to bring him to American League. Buster Olney of ESPN said that it was unlikely that the Yankees (and Red Sox) would spend the $33 million owed to Oswalt.
New York is likely to make a World Series, something that Oswalt wants to do, so you can never count out the Yankees.
Cleveland Indians Trade Rumors: Kerry Wood, Jake Westbrook and Russell Branyan
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports
, the Cleveland Indians would like to move closer Kerry Wood and his $10.5 million contract. The team also may be willing to deal right-handed pitcher Jake Westbrook ($11 million owed) and first baseman Russell Branyan.
Rosenthal says the Phillies could be trade partners for Westbrook and Wood. Which pitcher they decide to pursue will depend on the immediate need of their oft-injured pitching staff.
The Indians may be willing to sweeten up the deal by including cash to land better prospects from whomever they decide to deal with. A deal for Wood and Westbrook may require a cash exchange due to their high salaries.
Other long-shots to be traded include left fielder Austin Kearns, third baseman Jhonny Peralta, second baseman Mark Grudzielanek and backup catcher Mike Redmond since they are all in the last year of their contracts.
VIDEO: Power outage at Wrigley Field during Cubs and Dodgers game
Posted by: | CommentsDid somebody not pay the electricity bill at Wrigley Field? Check out the video:
Just as Cubs starter Tom Gorzelanny walked Dodgers Blake DeWitt, some lights went out and then all of the lights eventually went out. The Dodgers were leading 5-2 at the time.
The game was halted at 8:25 PM CDT and resumed at 8:43.
Power failure has occurred at Wrigley Field before. It happened twice during 2003.
On May 6, 2003 a power outage in the Lakeview area hit Wrigley in the ninth inning of the Cubs’ 9-6 loss to the Brewers. The game was delayed for about 15 minutes. On June 24, the Cubs-Brewers game was stopped for 16 minutes by an outage in the first inning.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.
