Archives › 2009 › August

The Detroit Tigers must feel like the Mariners pulled some sort of elaborate switcheroo, sending them Jared Fogle, not Jarrod Washburn, in that deadline deal back in July. The veteran left-hander, who used an improved Mariners outfield defense, a spacious park, and the heavy Seattle air to put together an amazing first half, has simply…

This is part of a series of articles examining what every team’s roster would look like if given only the players it originally signed. I’m compiling the rosters, ranking them and presenting them in a countdown from Nos. 30 to 1. No. 30 – Cincinnati No. 29 – Kansas City No. 28 – San Diego…

It’s worked out well for the Cardinals, so now the Giants will try to give their rotation a boost by picking up one of Boston’s castoffs. In this case, it’s Brad Penny, who went 7-8 with a 5.61 ERA in his first and possibly last stint in the American League. Penny’s lack of success wasn’t…

- Tim Hudson versus Josh Johnson would have been tonight’s premier matchup, but the Braves have pushed Hudson back and opted to go with Kenshin Kawakami instead. Kawakami has lost both of his starts against the Marlins this season, amassing an 8.44 ERA in 10 2/3 innings. The last loss was in a matchup against…

* Yesterday the Pirates lost in Milwaukee for the 21st straight time, which as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes is the the fifth-longest streak in baseball history for one team losing in a road city. As manager John Russell put it: “I don’t have an answer for that. It’s a lot of games.” The amazing thing…

Phillies prospect Kyle Drabek, who was reportedly deemed “off limits” in trade talks with the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay, has been shut down for the rest of this season and won’t pitch in the Arizona Fall League or Florida Instructional League after logging 158 innings between high Single-A and Double-A. He’s not injured, so…

Last year Geovany Soto turned in one of the greatest rookie seasons ever from a catcher, hitting .285/.364/.504 with 23 homers, 35 doubles, and 62 walks in 141 games while gunning down 27 percent of steal attempts and helping Cubs pitchers post a 3.80 ERA when he was behind the plate. He started the All-Star…

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Bruce Levine of ESPNChicago.com reports that Rich Harden will remain with the Cubs because the Twins failed to work out a trade after claiming him off waivers. Harden is an impending free agent, so assuming the Cubs offer him arbitration and he declines they’ll receive draft-pick compensation if…

* Tim Lincecum’s next start has been pushed back one day after he threw a season-high 127 pitches while shutting out the Rockies for eight innings Friday. Lincecum has thrown 115 or more pitches in six of his last seven outings, so the Giants are definitely riding their 25-year-old ace extremely hard. * As expected…

There are reports that Minnesota is not willing to pay the price on their waiver claim of Rich Harden, but Phil Rogers of the Tribune says that “Twins general manager Bill Smith is going to wake up Monday, consider how catchable the Detroit Tigers remain and pay the price.” I dunno. The Twins are 4.5…

Paul Byrd’s gem couldn’t have come at a better time: Boston Red Sox right-hand pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed five runs in the first inning of a rehab start for Boston’s minor league affiliate Portland on Sunday. According to the article, he suffered from no physical problems. Which, on some level, is actually more disturbing than…

Tim Hudson was supposed to return for the Braves tonight, but because Nate McLouth won’t be returning from the DL as scheduled they would have had to lose a position player to make room for Hudson.  By waiting until tomorrow — when the rosters expand — there’s no worries. Given the Braves’ recent swoon, this…

Not a major trade by any stretch of the imagination, though there is some lightning-in-a-bottle precedent with this sort of thing for the Dodgers. For the Nats, any time you can unload a guy like Belliard for anything you’ve done yourself proud, and in this Luis Garcia guy they’re getting from the Dodgers, they got…

Nothing official yet, but the phrases “pulled from game due to elbow tightness” and “will know more after a series of tests” tend not to be followed by “will make his next start as scheduled” very often. Actually, they’re very often followed by the phrase “is scheduled to fly to Alabama to meet with Dr.…

I probably would have guessed five guys before I got to the real answer of that question, and given who he is and where he plays, I probably would have gotten him before most of you would have.

It’s almost as if someone is trying to tell Scott Boras something: A swarm of bees invaded his dugout-level suite at Angel Stadium  on Sunday, though Boras didn’t appear to be at the game between Los Angeles and the Oakland Athletics. The bees occupied his front-row seats directly behind home plate for the first two…

Giants 9, Rockies 5: What a difference a week makes. Heck, not even a week. Six days after the Rockies beat the Giants on a grand slam, the Giants do it to the Rockies, courtesy of Edgar Renteria. Given the Dodgers’ relatively uninteresting play lately, I think I’m going to squint my eyes until the…

As the Boston Red Sox continue to slog their way toward a potential playoff berth, there are three constant worries: Pitching, pitching and pitching. The rotation has been an adventure all season, from the failed experiments of John Smoltz and Brad Penny, the erratic behavior and performances of Daisuke Matsuzaka, and the quiet strength of…

Perhaps sick of watching the lowly Royals cost him victories with poor support from the bullpen and lineup, Zack Greinke took matters into his own hands Sunday with a complete-game, one-hit shutout against the Mariners. Kenji Johjima’s second-inning single was the lone hit allowed by Greinke, who struck out five and walked one while lowering…

You thought that was the deadline? Nope, THIS is the deadline. The July 31 no-waiver trade deadline came and went, and yet trades could still be made as long as the key parts involved could make it through waivers, witness the Angels’ acquisition of Scott Kazmir. But after Monday, even that door closes, at least…

This is part of a series of articles examining what every team’s roster would look like if given only the players it originally signed. I’m compiling the rosters, ranking them and presenting them in a countdown from Nos. 30 to 1. No. 30 – Cincinnati No. 29 – Kansas City No. 28 – San Diego…

There’s no discussion there, but Phil Rogers throws out Dusty Baker, Eric Wedge, Jim Riggleman, Cecil Cooper and Dave Trembley as managers who may be looking for a job soon. Setting aside the glaring omission of Trey Hillman, here are my insta-takes: I’m not a huge Baker fan, but there’s a lot more wrong with…

This morning’s New York Times article starts out as if this was something everyone knew about, but it’s the first I’ve heard of it: What first raised suspicion among the 2001 A’s was an early May series in Toronto. Tejada and Blue Jays third baseman Tony Batista, friends from the Dominican Republic, each put up…

Despite what Roy Oswalt has to say about motivation and all of that, the Astros’ problems run a heck of a lot deeper than Cecil Cooper.  But that’s not stopping Richard Justice from speculating about how installing a new manager will make everything all better: The first thing Drayton McLane ought to do this morning…

I don’t have the get-up-and-go on a Sunday morning to do a full-blown “And That Happened,” but here’s a quick tour of last night’s action: He’s worried! You cut him! You hurt him! You see? You see? He’s not a machine, he’s a man! We’ve secretly replaced Boston’s regular, inefficient fourth starter with one who…