Rumors for May, 2011
Who’s on third for the Giants?
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Yesterday, Mark DeRosa re-injured his wrist as he was cocking his bat for a pitch from Clayton Kershaw. Although he’s day-to-day manager Bruce Bochy said “It looks like he’s going to be out for a while.” (Via Chris Haft of MLB.com).
With Pablo Sandoval also on the Disabled List, the Giants will probably use Miguel Tejada at third base and Mike Fontenot at shortstop until late June, when Sandoval is ready to come off the DL.
Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle, believes the Giants could play Aubrey Huff at third base and recall Brandon Belt to play first. According to Schulman, the idea supposedly came up as a way to ignite the offense, and with DeRosa’s injury this idea could “gain more traction” he says.
Huff has started 344 Major League games at third base, more recently in 2008 when he was playing with the Orioles, and apparently he’s open to the idea.
“The fielding part is easy,” he said. “It’s the throwing. I’ve got to get used to throwing again, because I don’t throw at first base. I went to the outfield last year. I made a lot of throws and my arm was getting a little ‘eeeech.’ Once I get the arm going, that’s the thing.”
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Stephen Strasburg is close to throwing off a mound
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Right handed pitcher Stephen Strasburg went to see a orthopedist in Washington yesterday reports Bill Ladson of MLB.com. It was a routine checkup on his right elbow and according to Ladson “was found to be sound.”
Strasburg’s next step on his road to recovery would be to throw off a mound, and Nationals GM, Mike Rizzo, said that could happen “any day.”
The right hander hopes to be ready to pitch in September, but no official timetable for his return has been set.
Strasburg was shelved in August 2010 after recurring right shoulder problems. The team announced shortly thereafter that Strasburg would undergo surgery that would remove him from play for 12 to 18 months.
He made 12 starts in his Major League debut in 2010 and went 5-3 with a 2.91 ERA with 92 strikeouts in 68 innings.
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Jamie McCourt set to ask judge to make Frank sell the team
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The Dodgers entered Wednesday night at 20-23 and are currently averaging just over 36,700 fans down from 43,979 last year. The team’s finances are currently under the watchful eye of MLB and Frank McCourt is making it known that he doesn’t know how he will make payroll come the end of the month.
It seems only right that the next move would come from Jamie McCourt as she has been sitting back waiting for the right time to strike. According to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times, Jamie is expected to ask a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to order the immediate sale of the Dodgers. Her opinion, is Frank has endangered the value of the Dodgers as he looks for every last drop of money (TV deal with FOX) that could help him save the team.
Jamie will go before Judge Scott Gordon tomorrow who will then set a date to hear her argument. Essentially, she will ask Gordon to act before Selig can seize the Dodgers so that the couple, not the league, would control the sale process. Judge Gordon who according to sources close to PRO Rumors is a Dodger fan, can not be very happy with the direction the team has gone under the McCourt regime.
With Jamie set to ask the court to force her ex-husband to sell the team, it could benefit Bud Selig and MLB as they will not have to intervine any further by seizing the team from the McCourts and selling the franchise.
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Boston Red Sox have called Kevin Millwood
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In a Tweet by Peter Gammons, he mentions that the Boston Red Sox have called free agent pitcher Kevin Millwood to see if he is willing to go to Triple-A Pawtucket.
The right-handed starting pitcher opted out of his contract with the Yankees in early May. He originally signed a Minor League deal with the team for $1.5 million plus incentives but had a May 1 opt-out date in his contract should he not make the big league club.
He reported to extended Spring Training and then to Triple-A where he saw mixed results. In his first few starts, Millwood found success but his fastball was sitting in the mid-to-upper 80s. In his last start, Millwood lasted only 2 innings while giving up seven hits on six runs which probably impacted him not being called up.
Millwood in 2010, made 31 starts went 4-16 with a 5.10 ERA while throwing 190 2/3 innings.
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‘Zero discussions’ about Yankees releasing Jorge Posada
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According to an official close to Andrew Marchand of ESPNNewYork.com, there has been “zero discussion” about releasing Yankees’ designated hitter Jorge Posada in the wake of his refusal to play last weekend.
The team will reconsider their options if Posada’s offensive numbers do not improve by the All-Star break, but one insider said that the team will likely stick with Posada.
“When it comes to Posada, I think he’s going to be better,” said one Yankee insider.
Posada was held out of Wednesday’s game – the third straight time he’s been held out against a left-handed starter.
If the team does decide to part ways with Posada, they will owe him the balance of the $13 million that he’s under contract for this season. It will also be a publicity nightmare for the Yankees to give up on one of the longest tenured active players on the roster.
Diamondbacks place Melvin Mora on bereavement list
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The Arizona Diamondbacks have placed infielder Melvin Mora on the bereavement list according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.
The team also reinstated Willie Bloomquist from the Disabled List and recalled Sean Burroughs from Triple-A Reno adds Steve Gilbert of MLB.com.
Burroughs was hitting .386/.434/.571 with 1 HR and 15 RBI’s in 70 AB’s at Triple-A. He hasn’t played in a Major League game since 2006. Mora was hitting .262/.278/.310 with 11 RBI’s in 84 AB’s with the Diamondbacks.
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Is interleague play hurting the American League teams?
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In 1997, Major League Baseball introduced interleague games during the Regular Season for the first time in MLB history. From 1997 to 2001, each division played against the same division from the other league (NL East vs. AL East, NL Central vs. AL Central and NL West vs. AL West).
Starting in the 2002 season, MLB instituted a new format for interleague play where teams play interleague games against various divisions.
I’ve always enjoyed watching interleague games, you get to see former rivalries, old World Series rematch, etc. Another interesting aspect of iterleague play for me is to see AL pitchers hit when they play in NL parks. Or how managers have to juggle their lineups so they don’t lose productive DH’s like David Ortiz or Victor Martinez.
Although for me that’s fun to watch, Tigers manager, Jim Leyland, says that it’s “totally unfair” according to Tom Gage of the Detroit News. If you think so, he might be right, AL teams have to change their game style while playing in NL parks, but I don’t see it as something that negative.
After all, AL teams have to play that way when they get to the World Series. So you can use interleague play to adjust their lineups and figure out things like when you have to change your pitcher for a pinch-hitter, or when you have to use a double switch, etc.
Interleague play appears to be going nowhere, and I really hope it doesn’t, so AL managers either take advantage of the games or do nothing and stop complaining about it.
Even though Leyland is complianing about interleague play, the AL has been dominating it since the beginning. Last year, the AL went 134-118 in Interleague Play for their seventh consecutive year winning the series and are dominating the all time series 1808-1652 (via MLB Public Relations).
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White Sox release Miguel Negron
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The Chicago White Sox have released converted left handed pitcher Miguel Negron according to Matt Eddy of Baseball America.
Negron spent 11 seasons as an outfielder, and this was his first season as a pitcher. He was 1-0 with a 6.23 ERA in 8-2 innings throughout seven games.
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Royals designate RHP Kanekoa Texeira for assignment
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In a Tweet by Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star, he reports that the Royals have designated right-handed pitcher Kenekoa Texeira for assignment to clear space for left-handed pitcher Danny Duffy on the 40-man roster.
In six relief appearances for the Royals this year, the right-hander is 0-0 with a 2.84 ERA over 6 1/3 innings pitched. He’s given up 13 hits and three walks with two earned runs.
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NL Central team interested in Rockies Franklin Morales
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In an article by Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post, he mentions that Felipe Paulino and Franklin Morales are out of options and the Rockies are expected to measure trade interest for them. Renck adds that at least one National League Central team has expressed interest in Morales.
