Rumors for May, 2011
Don’t count on Kendrys or Kendry Morales anytime soon
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Last May, Kendrys Morales (at that time he was playing under his stage name Kendry) broke his left ankle as he celebrated a walk off home run. When it first happened, Morales was scheduled to be out the rest of the season, but was set to be back at 100% for the start of Spring Training.
“We’re anticipating him to be full go in Spring Training,” said manager Mike Scioscia at the Winter Meetings in December. Morales continued to take two steps forward then one step back and then take a break in his recovery road. The first day of Spring Training came and Morales was not ready to join the team for workouts. “I have no doubt he’ll be 100% by the start of the season,” Scioscia added.
Fast forwarding to the sixth week of the season, and Morales is still not playing and his rehab has been stopped. After a meeting with doctors and team officials, the Angels now do not see Morales back until at least June, but more than likely it will be towards the end of the Summer.
In his last full season (2009), Morales hit .306 with 34 home runs and 108 runs batted in.
Rookie Mark Trumbo has been the main guy at first filling in for Morales and has hit .255 with 6 home runs and 17 runs batted in. Though Trumbo has been able to hold down the fort so far, the Angels will need more production out of their rookie first baseman as they have scored only the fifth most runs in the AL (138).
Information from Mike DiGiovanna from the LA Times was used in this article.
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Liriano’s ‘no-no’ could help his trade value
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At the beginning of the week, Twins’ left handed pitcher Francisco Liriano threw the first no hitter of the 2011 season, and trade rumors involving Liriano have heated up since then.
ESPN’s Jayson Stark said today that if the Twins keep on “sliding”, Liriano’s “no-no” could wind up as a big trade chip in July. Even though Liriano struggled at the beginning of the season, his “no-no” came after he worked with the team’s pitching coach, Rick Anderson, on his mechanics and release point.
“He still has really good stuff,” said one executive team. “But he’ll never be a real strike-thrower because he has a very inconsistent delivery. He doesn’t land in the same spot. And his release point is all over the map. But I’m sure there will be some people out there who think, ‘We can fix this guy.’ There will be countless teams looking for pitching in July. And all it takes is one pitching coach who says, ‘I can fix him.’ But personally, I don’t know.”
During the offseason, there were rumors that the Yankees were inquiring about the possibility of acquiring Liriano. The Yankees decided to go with veterans Freddy Garcia, Bartolo Colon and more recently Carlos Silva (as insurance) to fill the back-end of the rotation, but Phil Hughes‘ injury could heat up the Liriano trade talks again.
Before Liriano’s “no-no” he had a 9.13 ERA in his first 5 starts. Now he is 2-4 with a 6.64 ERA in 32.2 innings. Also, the 27-year old pitcher can become a free agent after the 2012 season. He was 14-10 with a 3.62 ERA in 191.2 innings throughout 31 starts in 2010 with the Twins.
Potential fits for Max Ramirez
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Earlier today, we learned the Chicago Cubs Triple-A team released catcher Max Ramirez. The Cubs claimed Ramirez off of waivers from the Boston Red Sox in early January 2011. He was previously designated for assignment by the Texas Rangers on January 3.
The 26-year-old has is a lifetime .217/.343/.357 in 115 career at bats for the Rangers over the 2008 and 2010 seasons. Ramirez showed a great deal of power in the Venezuelan Winter League a couple of years ago, something that he hasn’t in the majors.
Given the lack of options at the catcher position, Ramirez should find a job quick says Jason A. Churchill of ESPN. Two teams that could be interested in him are the Seattle Mariners who lost Adam Moore to a season ending knee surgery and the Minnesota Twins who have been having trouble with Joe Mauer.
Ramirez’s defense is not a plus and the fact that he wasn’t showing power lately was part of the reason the Cubs released him. Recently Ramirez was traded from his team in Venezuela and will be playing under Don Baylor this winter. Maybe Baylor could work with Ramirez to get his hitting and power back.
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White Sox won’t be making changes…yet
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There have been a lot of rumors lately involving Ozzie Guillen being on the hot seat. The White Sox are off to an awful start and currently rank last in the AL Central (11-21) and are already 11 games behind the Indians.
Guillen was asked on Wednesday if he had spoken to chairman Jerry Reinsdorf about his immediate future. “At this point, I don’t trust anyone,” he said. “You think Jerry [would] come to me and say, ‘We might fire you?’” (via Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times).
According to Cowley, Guillen seems worn down, and quoting his own words “he sounded like an old-time prisoner from a Sly Stallone movie”. Guillen has said in other opportunities that he’s not afraid of being fired and that he would find another job right away, but he can’t hide his frustration right now.
Williams said that the team has no plans of firing Guillen or anybody on the coaching staff at the moment. Cowley said that there were rumors Thursday morning that not everyone would be making the trip home from a West Coast trip, but apparently that’s not true.
The White Sox are the third worst offensive team in the American League, just above the Mariners and the Twins. They rank ninth in pitching in the American League including a league high six blown saves, and rank eight in fielding in the American League.
It is hard to blame the slow start entirely on Guillen or the coaching staff. But as I always say in cases like this, the chain always breaks at the weakest link and in this case Guillen may be the weakest. It is easier to fire a manager than to trade six or seven players, not that anybody deserves being fired or traded. I’m sure all the players, Guillen, coaches and management are trying their best to get things going.
Before the season started, I picked the White Sox to win the AL Central division. I liked the additions of Adam Dunn and Jesse Crain, and how they got rid of Bobby Jenks, to name a few moves. They looked like a solid, balanced team that could top the Tigers to win the division (yes, I thought the biggest threat for the White Sox were the Tigers).
The other day I heard an interview that Omar Vizquel did on a radio show here in Venezuela. There, Vizquel mentioned how the team remains supportive of Guillen, and how he always gathers the team to talk to them.
We will have to wait and see what’s going to happen with Guillen, Williams and the entire coaching staff. As a big fan of Guillen, I really hope he gets through this and bring the team back to the top of the AL Central.
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Phillies injury notes: Chase Utley and Roy Oswalt
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Here are a few injury notes on the Philadelphia Phillies via Mandy Housenick of The Morning Call:
– Chase Utley is on a plane right now headed to Florida. He’ll be playing in extended Spring games starting on Saturday.
– Roy Oswalt will miss his start on Saturday due to lower back problems. He will see the team physician tonight and he could “possibly go on the DL. “He felt a little discomfort in Arizona… and we feel like we could be putting him in danger if we throw him out there [Saturday],” GM Ruben Amaro added.
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Jason Heyward hires Casey Close as his new agent
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Braves right fielder Jason Heyward has decided to swtich agents according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Heyward ended his affiliation with Career Sports Entertainment after being with them since the Braves selected him in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft.
Sources close to Bowman said he will now be represented by Casey Close. Close representatives include Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard and Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter.
Bowman believes the team will try to lock the 21-year outfielder into a multi-year deal before he becomes arbitration-eligible after the 2012 season, but so far there has been no negotiations.
Heyward is hitting .233/.336/.466 with 7 HR’s and 14 RBI’s in 116 AB’s so far this season. Last year, he hit .277/.393/.456 with 18 HR’s and 72 RBI’s in 520 AB’s.
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Cubs release catcher Max Ramirez
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According to a press release by the Triple-A Iowa Cubs (via Matt Eddy of Baseball America), the Cubs have released catcher Max Ramirez.
The Cubs claimed Ramirez off of waivers from the Boston Red Sox in early January 2011. He was previously designated for assignment by the Texas Rangers on January 3.
The 26-year-old has a lifetime .217/.343/.357 in 115 career at bats for the Rangers over the 2008 and 2010 seasons.
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Yankees claim Jess Todd – designate Kevin Russo
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According to Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger, the New York Yankess have designated infielder Kevin Russo. The team also announced that they have claimed right-handed pitcher Jess Todd off of waivers from the Cleveland Indians.
Russo, 26, played in 31 career games with the Yankees – all in 2010. He has a career .184/.245/.224 average.
The 25-year-old Todd, has a career 0-1 record with the Indians and St. Louis Cardinals with a 7.62 ERA in 25 relief appearances.
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Texas Rangers notes: Feliz, Hunter, Hamilton and Cruz
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Here are some Texas Rangers related notes from ESPN’s Buster Olney:
– Rangers closer Neftali Feliz is expected to be activated for today’s game against the Yankees. GM, Jon Daniels, reported that the last three pitches of Feliz’s rehab game yesterday were clocked at 99MPH, 99MPH and 100MPH.
The Rangers decided to shut down Feliz a couple of weeks ago when he experienced shoulder soreness just to be cautious. “We did not want to look up in August and feel like we had been short-sighted,” Daniels said.
– Right handed pitcher Tommy Hunter threw up to 95MPH in his last rehab start, but he is expected to get at least one more rehab outing before the team decides what to do next.
The team will have to make decisions regarding Hunter’s future in the organization, given the early success that pitchers like Alexi Ogando and Matt Harrison have shown as starters.
– It appears that outfielder Josh Hamilton could be back sooner than expected. The team expected Hamilton to be back after 6-8 weeks, but he seems to be making rapid progress. If all continues to go well he might be back before the end of May.
– The other injured outfielder Nelson Cruz, could be back in the lineup this weekend against the Yankees.
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Injury updates: Morgan, Broxton, Lyon, Bautista and Hill
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Here’s a running list of injury updates around the Major Leagues:
– Center fielder Nyjer Morgan, who was just returning from the Disabled List, fractured his left middle finger and is expected to be out 2-4 weeks reports Tom Haudricourt of the Journal Sentinel.
Morgan was struck on the finger while executing a sacrifice bunt in the eighth inning of today’s game. The center fielder was coming off the Disabled List after recovering from a thigh bruise.
– An MRI on Jonathan Broxton showed no structural damage to his right shoulder reports Broxton’s agent, B.B. Abbott (via Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times). The MRI also showed a bone spur and a bruise at the back of the elbow.
The team will wait a couple of days to see how the elbow responds before determining if Broxton needs to be placed on the 15-day disabled list.
– According to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, Astros closer Brandon Lyon has been diagnosed with a partially torn rotator cuff and bicep tendinitis. The right handed pitcher is heading to the Disabled List and he won’t be pitching for a while although no surgery has been scheduled adds McTaggart.
– Jose Bautista is expected to be back in the lineup on Sunday according to Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. He is expected to hit tomorrow.
– Aaron Hill is also expected to be back on Sunday adds Chisholm. He was scheduled to make a rehab appearance tonight at Single-A.
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