Rumors for Top Stories
Casey Blake to retire
Posted by: | Comments
Veteran third baseman, Casey Blake, is retiring from baseball according to the DesMoinesRegister.com. Blake was released by the Rockies back in March, but according to the Des Moines Register the Rangers were interested in the 38-year old infielder.
“My wife (Abbie) has been telling people I’m retired, but I’ve kind of been giving her a look,” said Blake. “But I think I knew in my heart that I am (retiring), but I just haven’t announced it.”
“My career has to end at some point,” he added. “If I was going to play, it would probably only be one more year anyway. I just decided to shut it down. And I’m OK with the decision.”
Blake missed 88 games in 2011 due to injuries, and in 63 games with the Dodgers he hit .252/.342/.371 with 4 HR’s and 26 RBI’s.
He is a career .264/.336/.442 hitter with 167 HR’s and 616 RBI’s. His career VORP (Value Over Replacement Player) is 201.8 and his FRAA (Fielding Runs Above Average) -9.3.
Image by pvsbond under the Creative Commons License.
Early trade candidates- National League
Posted by: | Comments
Just like the AL East, in the NL East every team has a chance to compete right now, and the gap between the first place (Nationals) and last place (Phillies) is just 5.0 games, so I’m not messing with teams from that division.
In the NL Central, the Cubs and Pirates seem to be off track already, and the Astros are another fan favorite to fall out of contention soon and become sellers at the trade deadline, so I will analyze those three teams to see which players could be dealt.
When we go to the NL West we see a solid Dodgers team leading the division followed by the Giants 5.0 games behind, the Diamondbacks 5.5 games behind, the Rockies 6.5 games behind and the Padres 9.5 games behind and clearly out of contention. From this division the only team that I’m going to dismantle is the Padres, who are probably not coming back from the grave to compete this season.
– Houston Astros: Among the players in the last year of their contract we have Carlos Lee and Brandon Lyon. Lee could be dealt if the Astros eat a substantial portion of his deal ($19 million for 2012 and if Lee waives his no-trade clause). Lee is hitting .289/.355/.392 with 2 HR’s, 14 RBI’s and a 108 OPS+ in 97 AB’s for the Astros. Lyon could be a good piece for a team looking for bullpen help (0-1 with a 2.89 ERA, 1.0 HR/9, 1.9 BB/9 and 8.7 SO/9 in 9.1 innings), but again, the Astros would have to eat most of the $5.5 million left on his contract.
Brett Myerscould be another trade chip, the closer has a $10 million vesting option with a $3 million buyout for next season and even though he’s earning $12 million this season, a team looking for relievers could work out a deal with the Astros to land him. He’s 0-0 with a 1.04 ERA, 1.0 HR/9, 1.0 BB/9 and 6.2 SO/9 in 8.2 innings so far with the Astros.
– Chicago Cubs: The Cubs have four players in the last year of their contract, Ryan Dempster, Jeff Baker, Reed Johnson and Shawn Camp and another two more with a 2013 option, Kerry Wood and Paul Maholm. Camp, 36, seems like an interesting piece. He’s only making $550K and he has gone 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA, 0.6 HR/9, 1.8 BB/9 and 7.2 SO/9 in 15.0 innings so far.
The 35-year old Dempster is off to a great start, leading the league with a 0.95 ERA in 28.1 innings. Even though his record is 0-1 he is walking 2.9 per nine innings and striking out 9.2 batters per nine innings. If the Cubs agree to eat half of his contract they could get something value in return. As part-time players, Johnson is hitting just .189/.250/.351 with a 64 OPS+, while Baker is hitting .240/.310/.320 with a 75 OPS+, both don’t seem like valuable additions to any team. Even though Maholm is off to a slow start (3-2 with a 5.13 ERA, 1.7 HR/9, 2.1 BB/9 and 4.8 SO/9 in 26.1 innings), he could find a new team who needs help at the back end of their rotation if he turns his season around. The 29-year old lefty is making $4.25 million this season and the Cubs have a $6.5 million option.
– Pittsburgh Pirates: The Pirates have two obvious trade chips in Erik Bedard (2-4 with a 2.65 ERA, 0.3 HR/9, 3.7 BB/9 and 9.8 SO/9 in 34.0 innings) and Kevin Correia(1-2 with a 3.38 ERA, 0.9 HR/9, 2.8 BB/9 and 3.7 SO/9). Both are on in the last year of their contracts and are affordable at $4.5 million (Bedard) and $4 million (Correia). Jason Grilli seems like a good deal at $1.1 million also. He’s 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA, 1.6 HR/9, 4.1 BB/9 and 16.4 SO/9.
The only position player in the last year of their contract is Nate McLouthwho is making $1.75 million, but he’s not off to a good start (.211/.286/.263 with a 56 OPS+ in 38 AB’s) so he doesn’t represent too much trade value either. Same goes for Rod Barajas, who has a $3.5 million option for 2013 and is just hitting .133/.200/.183 with a 9 OPS+.
– San Diego Padres: The players that are in the last year of their contract in San Diego are Carlos Quentin, Mark Kotsay and Jeremy Hermida. Quentin has yet to play a game this season, so as for right now he doesn’t represent any trade value. Kotsay, 36, could be an intriguing option for teams looking for a part-time outfielder that can hit from the bench and provide some offensive pop. He’s making only $1.25 million this season and is hitting .276/.344/.448 with 1 HR and a 124 OPS+.
Hermida, 28, is hitting .250/.333/.375 with a 102 OPS+. He’s making $800K, but I don’t see him as a valuable trading chip, although that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be available. Another player that could be available and could represent some value is their closer Houston Street, but the Padres would have to eat most of the $7.5 million owed to him and buy out his $9 million option ($500K buyout). The 28-year old closer is 0-0 with a 0.93 ERA, 0.0 HR/9, 1.9 BB/9 and 12.1 SO/9 in 9.2 innings and seems like a nice addition to any team looking for bullpen help, though he is currently on the DL.
Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License Agreement.
Darth Vader, Lex Luthor, meet Cole Hamels
Posted by: | Comments
To be honest I don’t think Darth Vader and Lex Luthor fit in the same category as Cole Hamels right now. Because what he did yesterday was even lower than what Vader and Luthor did throughout their lives combined. And the worst part is that Hamels acknowledged that he did it on purpose and thinks it was OK to do it.
Yesterday, Hamels decided to intentionally throw at rookie sensation Bryce Harper because, and I quote (via Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Enquirer), he was “trying to continue the old baseball.” Harper got plunked in his low back with a 92 mph fastball in his first AB of yesterday’s game because of a tradition that according to Hamels he was once victim of.
“I remember when I was a rookie, the strike zone was really, really small and you didn’t say anything. That’s the way baseball is. Sometimes the league is protecting certain players. It’s that old-school prestigious way of baseball.”
That’s sweet from Hamels. He’s just trying to keep a non-sense baseball tradition of trying to avoid young super-star-caliber players from reaching their potential, apparently. Or sending a message that says “yes, I’m a jerk, learn to live with it.”
What Hamels did was wrong on so many levels that the team should call a press conference so he can back down from his words and say that he was drunk when he said what he said. He not only set a bad example for young players saying its OK to hit rookies because they’re rookies. He also said that Major Leaguers and umpires are evil people that hate rookies, because they plunk them to “welcome them to the show” and don’t call fair games to them while pitching.
Hamels could have also unleashed an uncalled for hatred filled rivalry between both clubs and their fans. Actually, Nationals GM, Mike Rizzo already had something to say about the incident. “Players take care of themselves,” said Rizzo (via Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post). “I’ve never seen a more classless, gutless chicken [bleep] act in my 30 years in baseball.
“Cole Hamels says he’s old school? He’s the polar opposite of old school. He’s fake tough. He thinks he’s going to intimidate us after hitting our 19-year rookie who’s eight games into the big leagues? He doesn’t know who he’s dealing with.
“With all the bounty [stuff] going on in professional football, the commissioner better act with a purpose on this thing,” he added. “Players have a way of monitoring themselves. We’re not here to hit people and hurt people.
“He thinks he’s sending a message to us of being a tough guy. He’s sending the polar opposite message. He says he’s being honest; well, I’m being honest. It was a gutless chicken [bleep] [bleeping] act. That was a fake-tough act. No one has ever accused Cole Hamels of being old school.
“This goes beyond rivalry and all that stuff. This points to, you take the youngest guy in baseball. He’s never done a thing. And then Hamels patted himself on the back. Harper’s old school. Hitting him on the back, that ain’t old school. That’s [bleeping] chicken [bleep].”
I know this isn’t the first time a hitter gets hit “just ’cause,” but you usually don’t see pitchers saying “I hit him just to welcome him to the show” every day, and I’m obviously against all that. There’s no room in baseball for a player who tries to intentionally hurt another player. What he did was reckless and he should be punished. What if he hit him in his wrist and breaks it? There’s no way he could say he knew exactly where he was going to hit him. Pitchers make mistakes and miss pitch locations everyday, what if that pitch missed his location and ended pluncking Harper’s wrist, elbow, or even worse, his head? What was Hamels going to say if Harper would have ended up injured. “Too bad you’re going to miss a couple of months of your first Major League year, but welcome to the show bro!”?
Hamels’ comments and actions during yesterday’s games are, BY FAR, worse than Ozzie Guillen’s comments about Fidel Castro. And I really hope Hamels isn’t as bad of an example to his kids as he is for young baseball players right now. Because, dude, let me tell you YOU SUCK AT IT.
Image by furnstein under the Creative Commons License Agreement.
Early trade candidates- American league
Posted by: | Comments
Even though the season is just underway, it’s never to early to talk trade candidates. We’re going to name a few players that could be trade candidates as the July Trade Deadline approaches. First, lets take a look at the American League.
The American League East is a really fun division to watch right now, led by the surprising play of the Orioles who are half a game above the Rays. The Blue Jays are third and in my opinion they could be contenders for one of the Wild Card spots, and then the Yankees and Red Sox close out the standings, but for how long are they going to stay there? My guess is probably not for long. But either way I’m not making judgements about who is going to get last and who they will probably trade, let’s just enjoy what the Orioles are doing and hope they remain in contention for the reminder of the season.
The AL Central is different. Even though the Tigers are in second place right now, they remain the clear favorites to take the division. Many writers projected the Royals to finish second and even to contend for a wild card spot. Clearly, their slow start are threatening their aspirations of a second place finish, and I think things are not going to get easier for them. The Twins are on a really bad track and its obvious they’re not going to be contenders this year either.
In the AL West the Rangers are leading the way with a 3.5 game cushion on the A’s who are off to a good start (15-14). Then the Mariners, who are not on the contender track are 6 back. Then there comes the Angels who are off to an awful start, but will certainly improve as the season continues.
The teams I’m going to “dismantle” here are the Royals, Twins and Mariners, because they are the teams that are already out of contention.
– Kansas City Royals:
The Royals have four players in the final year of their contract, Jonathan Sanchez, Jonathan Broxton, Yuniesky Betancourt and Humberto Quintero. The club holds options for Joakim Soria, who is recovering from a Tommy John surgery from 2012 to 2014 and Bruce Chen, Brayan Pena and Jeff Francoeur have one more year on their contracts.
Among those players, the only ones I think could generate interest from other teams is Broxton, who is off to a good start (0-1, 2.08 ERA, 0.0 HR/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 7.3 SO/9 in 8.2 innings) and Francoeur, although he is not off to a hot start (.242/.281/.319 with 4 RBI’s in 91 AB’s), but is coming off a solid season where he hit .285/.329/.476 with 20 HR’s, 87 RBI’s and a 119 OPS+.
– Minnesota Twins:
The players on the Twins payroll who are in the last year of their contract are Carl Pavano, Francisco Liriano, Ryan Doumit and Jason Marquis. The club holds options for 2013 on Scott Baker and Matt Capps. Justin Morneau and Alexi Casillas are under team control for one more year and the Twins hold an option for 2014 for Nick Blackburn.
To be honest, all of the players in the last year of their contract are off to a slow start, especially Liriano, but at $3 million Marquis could help at the back end of any rotation. His career record is 106-98 with a 4.57 ERA, 1.1 HR/9, 3.4 BB/9 and 5.2 SO/9 in 1693.0 innings. Another interesting player could be Doumit, who is also making $3 million and is a career .270/.332/.438 hitter with 68 HR’s, 278 RBI’s and a 105 OPS+ in 2,249 AB’s. Doumit could help behind the plate, at first base and as a designated hitter (if he goes to an American League team).
– Seattle Mariners:
Ichiro Suzuki, Brandon League, Hisashi Iwakuma and George Sherrill will all be free agents at the end of the season, although Sherrill is out for the rest of the season due to an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. To think that the Mariners would trade Suzuki is kind of complicated, he’s the face of the franchise and at $18 million is not exactly a bargain for any team, so I don’t think he’s going anywhere.
League is another story, the 29-year old reliever could be a fit for a lot of teams looking for bullpen depth, including their division rivals the Angels. League’s career record is 17-24 with a 3.67 ERA, 0.8 HR/9, 2.9 BB/9, 6.6 SO/9 and 52 saved games in 355.2 innings. Iwakuma, the other free-agent-to-be is off to a slow start (9.00 ERA, 3.6 HR/9, 3.6 BB/9 and 7.2 SO/9 in 5.0 innings) so its hard to determine his true value on the trade market.
Given the fact that the season is just one month under way, it is hard to say what players are likely to be dealt near the July Trade Deadline, but we could have an idea of what the market is going to be as the season continues. Right now, we could assume that these three teams are going to be sellers at the trade deadline, but things could change as the season continues and more teams will become sellers and maybe one or more of this teams could become buyers.
Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.
Mariano Rivera likely out for the season with torn ACL
Posted by: | Comments
The all-time saves leader, Mariano Rivera, suffered a torn ACL yesterday while shagging fly balls at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City and according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com it is still unknown if he’ll ever pitch again.
“At this point, I don’t know,” Rivera said, repeating softly (via Hoch), “At this point, I don’t know. I have to face this first.”
According to Hoch, Rivera will be evaluated by the Yankees’ physicians in New York, but “they’re not expecting a miracle,” so his season is likely over. The future Hall of Famer also acknowledged that his career could be over.
“If I had to do it over again, I would do it over again,” he said. “No hesitation. There’s reasons why it happens. You have to take it the way it is and fight through it. Now we just have to fight.”
Rivera, 42, is the all-time saves leader with 608 and probably will go down as the best reliever baseball has ever seen. His career record is 76-58 with a stellar 2.21 ERA, 0.5 HR/9, 2.0 BB/9 and 8.3 SO/9 in 1,219.2 innings. He ranks 26th all-time in SO/9 (8.3), second all-time in WHIP (0.99), fifth all-time in SO/BB (4.04), first all-time in ERA+ (ERA adjusted for park effects) with 206. The closest one in that department is Pedro Martinez with 154. Rivera’s postseason numbers are also incredible, 42 saves, 0.70 ERA, 0.1 HR/9, 1.3 BB/9 and 7.0 SO/9 in 141.0 innings and five World Series rings.
“The Sandman,” for his walk-up song (Enter Sandman by Metallica), is one of the most beloved players in the majors. Even though he’s the greatest reliever to ever walk the earth, at least in my opinion, he doesn’t act like one, he’s a humble person and a relentless hard worker.
Sometimes when we read about players like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Cy Young, just to name a few, we wish we could’ve seen them play. Everybody sees them as the greatest players the game has ever seen, but we tend to forget those who play in our era. Sometimes we don’t realize how lucky we are to have seen a guy like Rivera pitch. I feel extremely lucky to have lived in the Rivera, Derek Jeter, Cal Ripken Jr., etc. era and I’m sure I will tell my kids stories about these great players that helped make baseball the greatest game in the entire world.
I really hope we could see Rivera pitch at least one more year, he deserves to retire after entering a game with the song “Enter Sandman” blasting through Yankees Stadium’s speakers and achieving another 1-2-3 inning save.
Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License Agreement.
Dodgers agree to deal with Bobby Abreu
Posted by: | Comments
The Los Angeles Dodgers have reached to a deal with outfielder Bobby Abreu CBSSports’ Jon Heyman reports. He adds that Abreu will be a pinch hitter and a part-time outfielder with the Dodgers.
I don’t foresee any chemistry issues or issues with playing time as Abreu knew what his role would be before he signed with the Dodgers.
Two days ago, we reported that both parties were in “serious talks,” but details still needed to be worked out. Abreu, who is making $9 million this year (which will be paid by the Angels minus the pro-rated veterans league minimum which his the Dodgers will pay), was released by the Angels last week to make room for top prospect Mike Trout. The 38-year old OF/DH was hitting .208/.259/.333 with 5 RBI’s in 24 AB’s for the Angels this season. He is a career .293/.397/.480 hitter with 284 HR’s and a 129 OPS+.
Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License Agreement.
Padres trade Ernesto Frieri to the Angels
Posted by: | Comments
The San Diego Padres have traded right handed pitcher Ernesto Frieri to the Los Angeles Angels for infielder Alexi Amarista and right handed pitcher Donn Roach according to the Padres official Twitter account.
Frieri, 26, is 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA, 0.6 HR/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 13.9 SO/9 in 11.2 innings with the Padres.
Amarista debuted in the Majors in 2011 when he hit .154/.182/.250 in 52 AB’s. Roach is 5-0 with a 2.16 ERA, 0.2 HR/9, 0.6 BB/9 and 6.3 SO/9 in 41.2 innings with the Angels Class-A team.
Image by SD Dirk under the Creative Commons License Agreement.
Yankees sign Cuban outfielder Adonis Garcia for $400K
Posted by: | Comments
According to Ben Badler of Baseball America, the New York Yankees have signed Cuban outfielder Adonis Garcia for $400,000. The 26-year old Garcia played in the Venezuelan Winter League this year and hit .270/.313/.461 in 152 AB’s.
To read a scouting report I wrote about Garcia back in February click here.
Image by Ed Yourdon under the Creative Commons License Agreement.
Jered Weaver throws no-hitter against Twins
Posted by: | Comments
Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels has thrown a no-hitter against the Minnesota Twins, driving the Angels to a 9-0 victory. His final line was 9 innings, 121 pitches, 9 strikeouts and one walk to Josh Willingham in the 7th (Chris Parmalee also reached on an error).
Weaver’s no-hitter was the tenth in the clubs history. He joins Nolan Ryan (4), Bo Belinsky, Clyde Wright, Mike Witt, Mark Langston/ Mike Witt and Ervin Santana.
What makes the no-hitter even sweeter for Weaver is that he was able to do it at home and infront of his family. Last season, Weaver signed a five-year $85mm extension that many around the league felt was a huge hometown discount as he would have received well over $100mm on the open market. When Weaver was asked after throwing his no-hitter, he stated “This is why I stayed here, for you guys.”
It was Weaver’s first career no-hitter, though he teamed with reliever Jose Arredondo on an eight-inning no-hitter the Angels lost at the other LA team in 2008 but lost the game.
Last season on July 27th,also on a Wednesday, teammate Ervin Santana also pitched a no-hitter against the Indians.
Earlier this season, Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox pitched a perfect game.
Image taken by Keith Allison and used under the Creative Common License Agreement.
The Angels have inquired about Grant Balfour, Joel Hanrahan and Brandon League
Posted by: | Comments
The Los Angeles Angels are having difficulties closing out games as the season gets underway. According to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, the Angels have inquired about Grant Balfour (34) of the Oakland Athletics, Joel Hanrahan (30) of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Brandon League (29) of the Seattle Mariners.
Cafardo notes that the most logical choice for the Angels would be Balfour. The right hander is making $4 million this season and has a club option for 2013 with a $350,000 buyout. Hanrahan, on the other hand is making $4.1 million and has one more year of arbitration left, while League is making $5 million this season and will be a free agent at the end of this season.
I agree with Cafardo when he says that Balfour would be the most “logical choice.” Though Balfour is the oldest, he continues to put up quality numbers. Balfour has accumulated a 2.1 HR/9, 2.8 BB/9 and 6.9 SO/9 in 13.0 innings so far with the A’s, while Hanrahan has 1.3 HR/9, 7.7 BB/9 and 12.9 SO/9 in 7.0 innings and League has 0.0 HR/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 5.4 SO/9 in 11.2 innings.
Throughout their respective careers, all of them have posted similar HR/9 and SO/BB, with a slight edge to Balfour in SO/BB, so the Angels could easily go after the “cheapest” player among those three, in this case Balfour. The 34-year old veteran is has a 0.9 HR/9 and 2.44 SO/BB throughout his career, Hanrahan 0.8 HR/9 and 2.34 SO/BB and League 0.8 HR/9 and 2.30 SO/BB.
Image by Keith Allison under the Creative Commons License.
