Rumors for May, 2011
Angels sign Russell Branyan
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According to John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Angels have signed free agent Russell Branyan.
Branyan was released by the Diamondbacks last week. He was hitting only .210 in 62 at-bats, and became the odd man out as the D-backs needed a starting pitcher for last Saturday’s game.
Branyan will provide depth for the Angels as he may also platoon with rookie Mark Trumbo at first base.
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Giants designate Rohlinger and Sosa for assignment
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The San Francisco Giants have added Brandon Crawford and Chris Stewart to the team’s 40-man roster and in doing so they designated Ryan Rohlinger and Henry Sosa for assignment, according to team’s official Twitter page.
In a parallel move, the Giants placed Buster Posey on the disabled list with a fracture to the bone in his lower left leg, Mike Fontenot was placed on the disabled list with a groin strain and Darren Ford was placed on the disabled list with an ankle sprain. (Source: Twitter)
Rohlinger, 27, is a lifetime .134/.183/.194 hitter in 67 at-bats over four seasons with the Giants.
The right-handed Sosa, 25, was 3-1 with a 10.41 ERA at Triple-A Fresno in 2011. He has yet to pitch in the Major Leagues.
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Detroit Tigers Robbie Weinhardt clears waivers
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In a Tweet by Jason Beck of MLB.com, he reports that Detroit Tigers’ right-handed pitcher Robbie Weinhardt has cleared waivers and is being outrighted to Triple-A. He was previously designated for assignment by the team on May 24.
In two appearances this year with the big league club, the reliever pitched in 1 2/3 innings and gave up four hits and two earned runs for an ERA of 10.80.
The team needed to create room on the 40-man roster for Adam Wilk who was then added to the 25-man roster in Phil Coke’s place.
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Buster Posey has a broken leg and torn ligaments
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Giants catcher Buster Posey was hurt in a collision yesterday and the news regarding his health is bad. Amy Gutierrez of CSN Bay Area reports that Posey has a broken leg and torn ligaments, so he’ll likely be out for the season.
Posey sustained the injury while blocking home plate in the 12th inning of yesterday’s game agains the Marlins. Scott Cousins collided with Posey to score the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Emilio Bonifacio.
“I felt like he was blocking the dish. It’s the go-ahead run to win the game, I got to do whatever I can to score,” Cousins said (via ESPN’s Buster Olney). “I’m not trying to end anybody’s season or anything like that. I just was trying to play hard and score the go-ahead run. He didn’t say much and you could tell he was in pain.
“And when their manager, when Bruce (Bochy) came out, he was pretty frustrated. I didn’t want to make things any more tense.”
The catcher’s agent, Jeff Berry, was not pleased with the situation, said today he is going to reach out to Joe Torre, the leader of on-field operations for MLB, and raise the idea of changing the rules regarding plays at the plate.
“You leave players way too vulnerable,” Berry said. “I can tell you Major League Baseball is less than it was before [Posey's injury]. It’s stupid. I don’t know if this ends up leading to a rule change, but it should. The guy [at the plate] is too exposed.
“If you go helmet to helmet in the NFL, it’s a $100,000 fine, but in baseball, you have a situation in which runners are [slamming into] fielders. It’s brutal. It’s borderline shocking. It just stinks for baseball. I’m going to call Major League Baseball and put this on the radar. Because it’s just wrong.”
The Giants will not only lose their everyday catcher and the cleanup guy for the rest of the season, but also a team leader. “It’s huge. He’s one of the leaders of the team already and what he brings every day is something you can’t replace,” teammate Nate Schierholtz said. “I’m just hoping for the best. I couldn’t really see what happened from out there. I was just hoping for the best. Maybe he got the wind knocked out of him or something.”
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Mets agree to sell minority share to David Einhorn
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Earlier this week, we learned that the Mets were close to selling a minority stake of the team for about $200 million. Today, according to the Associated Press (via ESPN.com), the Mets have entered into exclusive talks with investment firm executive David Einhorn for a minority stake in the team.
Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated adds that Einhorn will receive about 39% of the team for his $200 million, but the final percentage is yet to be determined The new minority owner won’t have control of the team, but he will have a say in things.
The Mets described Einhorn’s stake as a “minority, non-operating investment” in the franchise and his share won’t include a stake in SNY.
“(Einhorn’s) investment immediately improves the franchise’s financial position,” Fred Wilpon said. “Equally important, David’s intelligence, integrity and success in both business and civic affairs provides us with another perspective in evaluating what is best for this organization and our fans, and we welcome his input.”
The deal is still pending approval from MLB, and according to the team a definitive agreement is expected by late June.
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Mariano Rivera reaches 1000 appearances with the Yankees
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Not every baseball player gets to play in 1000 games throughout his career. And it’s even harder when you’re talking about a reliever. But today, Mariano Rivera became the first Major League pitcher to appear in 1000 games all for the same team.
The Panama native debuted in the Majors in 1995 with the Yankees at age 25. That season he appeared in 19 games, and started 10 of them, finishing with a 5-3 record with 5.51 ERA over 67 innings.
The next season, he appeared in 61 games, exclusively as a reliever and finished with a 8-3 record with a 2.09 ERA and five saves over 107.2 innings.
Fast forward to present time where Rivera has 572 saves in 1000 appearances, and has helped his team reach 15 post-season berths including five World Series titles.
In two seasons, Rivera has recorded 50 saves or more – 50 in 2001 and 53 in 2004. He has kept his ERA below 2.00 in eleven seasons and only two times during his 17-year career his ERA has been above 3.00. He has issued only 270 walks and has 1067 strike outs.
Rivera will probably hit the 600 saves mark later this year, and after his career is over he’ll be the all-time leader in saves.
He will also be remembered as the last active player to wear number 42 on his back. The guy who threw one of the nastiest cutters ever and the first person I think of every time I hear Metallica’s “Enter Sandman.”
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Dodgers sign Ian Snell to a Minor League deal
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According to Matt Eddy of Baseball America, the Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed to a Minor League deal with right handed pitcher Ian Snell.
Back in April, we learned that Snell was considering coming out of retirement. He pitched in two innings in one Grapefruit League game with the Cardinals this Spring.
In Snell’s seven Major League seasons, mostly with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he appeared in 152 games (136 starts), where the right-hander was 38-53 with a 4.80 ERA and 1.549 WHIP. Snell was 0-5 with a 6.41 ERA in 46.1 innings with the Mariners in 2010.
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Brewers claim Josh Fields and Josh Wilson off waivers
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The Milwaukee Brewers have claimed infielder Josh Fields off waivers from the Rockies according to Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. The 28-year old was hitting .391 with 7 HR’s and 33 RBI’s for Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate.
The team also claimed infielder Josh Wilson from the Diamondbacks according to the team official Twitter account. Wilson was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks earlier this week. He hit .200 with 1 RBI in 10 AB’s for the Diamondbacks this season.
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Barry Zito may return from the DL as a reliever
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Left handed pitcher Barry Zito looked sharp in a three-inning simulated game yesterday, but still no date has been set for his return reports Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News.
Zito threw roughly 100 pitches off a mound yesterday between his work in the bullpen and the simulated game. Zito is rehabbing as a starter, but that doesn’t mean he will be rejoining the team’s rotation anytime soon.
Ryan Vogelsong, the starter who replaced Zito in the rotation after he was placed on the Disabled List, is 3-0 with a 1.97 ERA in 32.2 innings throughout seven games, five starts.
Although there’s no room for Zito in the rotation at the moment, the team is using his time on the DL to make some tweaks, experiment with new grips to give him more resources to retire hitters more consistently.
Zito’s next step in his rehab will be extended Spring Training, and after that a Minor League rehab assignment in Single-A San Jose. Though the steps have been set, it is unclear if he will return as a starter, long reliever or situational reliever.
The left hander was 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA in 13 innings throughout three starts with the Giants before his DL stint.
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Rays claim Jay Buente off waivers from the Marlins
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The Tampa Bay Rays have claimed Jay Buente off waivers from the Marlins according to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times.
Topkin adds that the team optioned him to Triple-A Durham, and in order to create room on the 40-man roster the Rays designated right handed pitcher Rob Delaney for assignment.
Buente had a 9.00 ERA in three innings so far for the Marlins in 2011.
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