Rumors for March, 2011
Livan Hernandez could be suspended for hitting Colby Rasmus
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The Opening Day starter for the Washington Nationals, Livan Hernandez, could be suspended for beaning Colby Rasmus and then admitting to the crime, Mark Zuckerman of CSNwashington.com reports.
“I hit the guy because he [Cardinals' pitcher Chris Carpenter] hit somebody,” Hernandez said.
Carpenter hit Laynce Nix earlier in the game, but it wasn’t until Cardinals’ right-handed pitcher Miguel Batista hit shortstop Ian Desmond with a pitch that the benches cleared. The game was delayed for about 15 minutes and even the managers, Jim Riggleman and Tony LaRussa, were jawing it up.
Hernandez could be suspended without pay to begin the season, but he’ll likely appeal the decision to get the Opening Day start against the Braves on March 31.
The 36-year-old pitcher had his contract extended by the Nationals for the 2011 season in August 2010. He’s under contract for $1 million in base salary, so for every game that he is suspended without pay, Hernandez will lose about $6,173 before taxes.
Milwaukee Brewers looking for starting pitcher
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The Milwaukee Brewers are trying to fill their fifth starter spot and while they may get that done from within, they are keeping an eye on the waiver wire and trade market, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.
“We probably will” fill from within, general manager Doug Melvin said. “It’s very difficult to make trades at this time of year because other teams are trying to preserve their depth. We’re making a lot of calls.”
The team is already short an ace with Zack Greinke out due to a cracked rip and right-hander Shaun Marcum is experiencing shoulder stiffness.
McCalvy says the team is not interested in free agents Doug Davis, Oliver Perez or Kevin Millwood.
Internal candidates that could fill the void include Wily Peralta, Marco Estrada, Eulogio De La Cruz La Cruz and Tim Dillard.
Daughter of former baseball player Jeff Lahti is dating Tiger Woods
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If you don’t like reading the juicy TMZ-like content, then stop here. Here’s one from our partners at TerezOwens.com who first reported the rumor:
The daughter of former right-handed pitcher of the St. Louis Cardinals, Jeff Lahti, is dating the recently divorced golfer Tiger Woods. The 22-year-old Alyse Lahti Johnson is also the stepdaughter of Alastair Johnson, former vice chairman of IMG, a high profile sports academy and management agency. Some IMG alumni include Joey Votto, Mark Buehrle, Vernon Wells, Gary Sheffield and Ben Sheets.
Lahti Johnson was originally from Cleveland, but attends Northwood University in Florida which coincidentally is the area that Tiger resides in.
But back to baseball… So who’s Jeff Lahti?
The 54-year-old played five seasons with the Cardinals and went 17-11 in 205 appearances (1 start). He helped the team in the 1982 World Series with two appearances over 1 2/3 innings pitched. He also pitched in three games in the 1985 World Series and finished both of them.
If things go well, he may be best known for being Woods’ father-in-law.
Bryce Harper sprains ankle in a Minor League game
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Washington Nationals’ prospect Bryce Harper injured his ankle during a Minor League intrasquad game in Viera, Florida today. The 18-year old outfielder left on a cart after spraining his left ankle, according to a statement released by a team spokesman (via Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post).
The 2010 first overall pick was immediately examined by the Nationals’ training staff and he is believed to be “day-to-day”. Harper was also pulled out of a game on Saturday, but apparently it has nothing to do with today’s ankle injury.
Harper was sent to Minor League camp last week. In late February, we learned that the Nationals’ prospect wanted to make the Opening Day roster, but it was considered a long shot since the Nationals don’t want Harper to be eligible for arbitration too early.
It’ll be interesting to see how the injury affects his progression to the Major Leagues. If he’s out for a long period, his inevitable promotion to the big league club could be delayed.
Joe Maddon has fan removed for racist comments
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Here’s a case from manager/fan incident that occurred over the weekend. According to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times, Tampa Bay Rays manager, Joe Maddon, had security remove a fan removed for yelling racist comments at B.J. Upton. The fan was wearing an Orioles jersey.
He said something racial and I didn’t like it,’’ Maddon said. “He can say whatever he wants, but don’t go there. And I didn’t want B.J. to go up into the stands or do anything at that point. So I just wanted to make sure he was taken out of there. There is no room for that at all.’
A Twitter account appeared on Sunday evening from a fan claiming to be the one who was kicked out of the game. They said, “by no means did I use any racist terms against Upton or anyone else. I simply yelled he sucks because I don’t like him. Maddon is a liar.” The Tweet has since been removed.
Indians did NOT waive Jensen Lewis
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The Cleveland Indians did not waive right-handed pitcher Jensen Lewis, according to Jordan Bastian of MLB.com despite earlier reports this morning by Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports that the team placed him on the waiver wire.
The team previously committed $650,000 for the pitcher. The right-hander had a 14.29 ERA this spring which could have prompted the team to give up on him.
In 2010, Lewis was 4-2 with a 2.97 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 36 1/3 innings throughout 37 games.
What is the key for success in baseball?
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In the last decade, we’ve had nine different world champions in the Majors. Including a couple of teams that won it for the first time in their franchise history, the Arizona Diamondbacks (2001) and the Los Angeles Angels (2002).
You can’t help but ask yourself what should a team do to win a World Series. That is not an easy question to answer. You will hear people talk about teams needing a solid rotation, bullpen depth, solid defense, effective offense, and a deep bench in order to win a World Series, but to achieve all of the above is merely an illusion.
If you think this through, you can see what a difficult task team owners and General Managers have to build successful franchises. You have to fill every hole you have in the organization with a limited budget (unless you are the Yankees) and try to keep all the players happy and motivated.
Yesterday, I caught a tweet from Buster Olney of ESPN that said that the Giants also have a great rotation, a great bullpen and deeper offense than the Phillies. The Phillies are pinpointed as the early favorites to be the NL Champions and possibly the World Champions by a lot of people, but favoritism has not paidoff very well this last decade. If you don’t believe me I’m going to give you a little history lesson right now.
In 2001, the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the often-picked New York Yankees in a seven-games World Series. In 2003, the Yankees were defeated again, but this time by the Florida Marlins, who reached the post-season as the NL Wild Card. In 2004 although the Red Sox were favorites to win the World Series, they had to overcome a 0-3 deficit in the ALCS against their long-time rivals the Yankees. In 2007 and 2008 two underdogs teams, the Colorado Rockies and the Tampa Bay Rays reached the World Series but eventually lost. Last season, the Giants beat the favorite Rangers in five games to give the San Francisco city their first World Series title.
So what did those teams have in common the year they won the World Series? I don’t know. They all had good seasons followed by better post-seasons, but the only common denominator I can find is “inspiration”. It definitively helps to have the best players in the league on your team, but even with that you’re not a lock to win a World Series.
New York Yankees discussed Oliver Perez
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The New York Yankees have discussed Oliver Perez, according to Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated. Heyman believes that Cashman is not that enthused about signing the left-hander.
The Mets released Perez early on March 21, as first reported by Brian Cost of the Wall Street Journal.
Perez has been in the dog house with New York since last year and his 2/3 innings of relief where he gave up three hits (two home runs), one walk and two earned runs against the Washington Nationals may have done him in.
Perez, who is due $12 million, acknowledged that he did “a really bad job”.
Any team that decides to pick up Perez will only have to be responsible for the Major League minimum of approximately $400,000. The Mets would then be responsible for approximately $11.6 million.
Bud Selig still plans to retire after 2012
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The commissioner of Major League Baseball reiterated last week that 2012 will be his final season in charge.
“This is my 19th year,” Selig told reporters last week as reported by Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. “But I’ve said it before and I really hope and believe that Dec. 31, 2012, I’ll be done. And at that time, it will be 20 years. And in a job like this, that’s a long, long time. And I still believe it.
“Well, they (the owners) don’t believe I’ll be gone. But I really do at this point.”
So what will Selig do after he hangs it up?
He says that he enjoys teaching a sports law class at Marquette University and he plans to write a book.
I think it will be an interesting book from somebody who has spent the last 45 to 46 years of his life in baseball,” Selig said.
“I’m very proud of my legacy,” Selig said. “There’s more change in the past 18 years than ever before, but there are things you want to do. You want to keep the sport growing. No one can ever conceive we’ve had 16 years of labor peace.”
Mets fan to sue team after 300-pound drunk man falls on her
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The Barry Bonds trial isn’t the only court case to follow today. Ellen Massey, a New York Mets fan, is suing the team because 300-pound Timothy Cassiby fell five rows onto her neck in 2007. While most people would sue the person inflicting the pain, Massey is suing the Mets because she said the team continued to provide alcohol to an obviously drunk patron of the Shea Stadium.
Today a Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Judith Gische said that there was plenty of evidence for a case.
Here’s what Dareh Gregorian, of the New York Post had to say:
A female witness said that before the incident, Cassidy walked up to her and “randomly took nachos from [her] plate without asking.”
“He took I think two chips and scooped [her fixings] . . . and ate, and then walked back to his seat,” the woman said at a deposition.
He was also being “loud and boisterous,” and another witness testified that “he became real vulgar, started trying to pick a fight with anybody he can. He told me and my cousin he would kick both of our – pardon my French – asses.”
That witness said Cassidy had tried to pick a fight with at least three other people.
“Regardless of whether Cassidy’s fall was sudden and unexpected, a jury could find that it was foreseeable Cassidy’s conduct was putting the safety of other members of the public at risk. The security guards could have confronted or ejected Cassidy from the stadium based on his aggressive behavior towards other fans,” the judge wrote.
“In fact, Sterling’s own policy provides that ‘drunk or disorderly fans will be denied admitance to the stadium.’”
At the end of it all, Cassidy said that he wasn’t drunk and only had three beers – he was just enjoying himself at the game. Cassidy’s friends said that he wasn’t drunk and that he only had “four or five beers”.
Cassidy blames the fall on another man, Eric Metzger, who said he pushed him “after some banter back and forth during the game . . . more or less about the game itself, players, things of that nature.”
