Rumors for June, 2010
Dodgers move closer to signing top picks.
Posted by: | CommentsThe Dodgers who by now we all know are in the midst of a money crisis due to a messy divorce. They did nothing last week to put the money issues to rest when they drafted McKinney (Texas) High School right-hander Zach Lee. Lee has committed to play quarterback for the LSU football team in the fall and let it be known before the draft that he would be a difficult (and expensive) sign if he were to spurn college football for pro baseball. Lee was labeled as one of the hardest signings in all of the draft. If the Dodgers fail to sign Lee, who is expected to command a signing bonus far in excess of the recommended slot money for a 28th overall pick and possibly as much as $6 million, they will receive a compensatory first-round sandwich pick in next year’s draft.
There is good news as they are closing in on agreements with their second- and third-round selections though a final agreement would not be eached for another day or two.
Ralston Cash, a right-handed pitcher out of Lakeview Academy in Gainesville, Ga., was the Dodgers’ second-round pick and the 78th pick overall. He told the Gainesville Times earlier this week that he expects to finalize an agreement with the club by the end of the week and that he was in line for a signing bonus that would exceed $500,000. Cash also told the paper he would begin his professional career with the Dodgers’ Arizona Rookie League affiliate in Glendale, Ariz., the usual assignment for a high-school draft pick.
Cash is the cousin of Ethan Martin, the Dodgers’ top pick in the 2008 draft who is now pitching for the club’s high Single-A Inland Empire affiliate. Cash had signed a letter of intent to play for the University of Georgia before the Dodgers drafted him.
Leon Landry, a junior outfielder from Louisiana State University and the Dodgers’ third-round pick, has agreed to terms with the club, according to a report in the school’s student newspaper, the Daily Reveille, which cites LSU coach Paul Mainieri as its source.
Information from ESPN.com was used in this article.
Grandma bakes cookies for Yankees OF Brett Gardner and tells him to kick Phillies butt
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According to the New York Post, New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner was making an appearance at Duane Reade, a pharmacy, in New York City. An elderly woman came up to him and gave him a batch of homemade cookies in exchange for two autographed baseball for her grandkids.
“She said, ‘I am a huge fan, I made you some cookies so you can kick Philly’s butt,’ ” a witness recounted. “Gardner laughed, said thank you, then signed her balls.”
Philadelphia Phillies Chase Utley using voodoo to break out of slump?
Posted by: | CommentsLooks like Chase Utley is trying to be like Pedro Cerrano from the movie Major League. Utley is trying to break out of a month-long slump, and prior to Wednesday’s game, he had this shrine in front of his locker:
Utley was 1-for-4 and is hitting .260 after Wednesday’s game.
Courtesy of Kevin Kaduk of Big League Stew.
Kosuke Fukudome Rumors: Not headed to the Red Sox?
Posted by: | CommentsEarlier this week, John Paul Morosi of FOXSports said the Chicago Cubs needed to trade outfielder Kosuke Fukudome since rookie outfielder Tyler Colvin is taking much of Fukudome’s playing time in right field. One of the candidates to use Fukudome’s services was the Boston Red Sox.
Today, Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com, says the Red Sox could use Fukudome, but are not likely to acquire because of his salary liability. McAdam’s sources say the Red Sox and Cubs spoke about Fukudome and the Cubs aren’t willing to eat up a lot of his salary to deal him. He is owed the remainder of his $13 million for this year and has another $13.5 million due to him next year.
The Red Sox are said to be currently weighing the benefit of obtaining an external outfielder or waiting until Mike Cameron and Jacoby Ellsbury become healthier in the second half of the season.
New York Yankees sign INF Eric Bruntlett to a Minor League contract
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees Twitter page, the team has signed infielder Eric Bruntlett to a Minor League contract. He will be activated tonight the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate and start at third base.
Bruntlett, 32, was released by the Washington Nationals earlier this month. He did not play with the Big League club in 2010. Bruntlett has a lifetime .231/.303/.330 in 7 season with the Astros and Phillies.
Texas Rangers Rumors: Targeting Cliff Lee or Roy Oswalt?
Posted by: | CommentsT.R. Sullivan of MLB.com says the Texas Rangers are calling clubs and inquiring about the availability of starting pitching. Sullivan says the Rangers aren’t afraid of asking for some of the big names including Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt.
“We’ve had some preliminary discussions with clubs,” assistant GM Thad Levine said. “But to compel teams to move this far ahead of the [July 31st] Trade Deadline, it would take a very attractive package,” Levine said. ‘We’re still in the inventory stage and the information-gathering stage rather than the execution phase.”
Earlier this week, Craig Calcaterra of HardballTalk said the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros were “getting closer” to having a deal in place for Oswalt. At the time, those rumors were shot down by Ranger’s GM Josh Daniels.
The Rangers are somewhat in a bind because they are in the middle of bankruptcy and an ownership transition. They cannot take on a significant salary. If they were to go after a high-price name like Oswalt, they may need to involve a third-team that can pay the salary while the Rangers include prospects in the deal.
Chipper Jones Retirement Rumors: Not going to address retirement until after the season
Posted by: | CommentsAccording to Paul Newberry of the Associated Press (via The Washington Post), Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones won’t be making a decision on retirement until after the season.
Before Thursday’s game, Jones said he won’t be discussing “the r word” until the season is over.
Jones has been meeting periodically with team president John Schuerholz and GM Frank Wren about his future.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says that Jones doesn’t want to detract from the team’s playoff pursuit or from (manager) Bobby Cox’s final season.
Los Angeles Dodgers Manny Ramirez considered asking for drug exemption?
Posted by: | CommentsMichael S. Schmidt of the New York Times says Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez contemplated filing for a terapeutic-use exemption last season around the same time he was suspended 50-games for violating baseball’s drug policy.
Ramirez was suspended in 2009 for taking human chorionic gonadotropin, a drug used to treat low levels of testosterone, but is also used by bodybuilders and athletes to jump-start their bodies production of testosterone after they stop using steroids.
Ramirez’s agent, Scott Broas, ultimately decided not to ask for the medical exemption, but two months after Ramirez returned, the idea for seeking a medical waiver was resurrected. GM Ned Colletti and other Dodgers personnel discussed if Ramirez had enough of a medical problem to obtain an exemption for a testosterone-boosting drug.
There were 115 exemptions issued last season to players. All but seven received a diagnosis of attention deficit disorder (ADD). Two players received exemptions for drugs to boost their testosterone levels.
There is a fine line for medical exemptions since some players actually need the drugs for medical purposes, while users use it as a back-door to consume a performance enhancing substance.
New York Yankees ban vuvuzela from Stadium
Posted by: | CommentsLooks like the vuvuzela, the controversial instrument from the World Cup, is starting to make some noise in New York and the Yankees do not want any part of it.
When “bleacher creature” Anthony Zachariadis wailed on one of the plastic horns at Tuesday night’s game, Stadium security snatched it out of his hands.
“You gotta give me the horn,” the guard told him, inducing a chorus of boos from the bleachers. “You can’t blow it.”
According to Jeremy Olshan of The New York Post, you cannot “blow horns and all other distracting noisemakers” at Yankee Stadium, so if you are fortunate to own one of these instruments leave it at home before you head to the Bronx.
“I hid them in my shorts to get into the stadium, and when I pulled out the horns, the whole place went nuts,” Zachariadis said.
“Phillies fans would walk by and we would blow it in their ear,” he said. “They had a laugh — they knew we were playing with them.”
