Archives › 2009 › September

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…

Lots of “players to be named later” have been swapped recently and this afternoon two of them have actually been … well, named later. * Sean Rodriguez joins Matt Sweeney and Alex Torres as the third prospect heading from the Angels to the Rays for Scott Kazmir. Rodriguez has split time between second base and…

Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the Twins decided against claiming Brad Penny off waivers after they learned that he wanted to go back to the National League. Instead of the Twins assuming Penny’s remaining contract and taking the Red Sox off the hook for about $1.2 million, he was released after…

Johan Santana and Oliver Perez each went under the knife this morning, with Santana having bone chips removed from his left elbow and Perez having scar tissue removed from his right knee. Mets medical director Dr. David Altchek did the honors for both pitchers and afterward the team announced that the surgeries were successful. Obviously.…

Teams will be calling up players throughout the day as rosters expand to 40 spots, so keep an eye on Rotoworld’s player news page for all the latest transactions. Along with the Brewers bringing back J.J. Hardy once his service time was sufficiently suppressed, here are some of the other noteworthy early moves: * As…

Earlier this season Luis Ayala talked his way out of Minnesota by walking into manager Ron Gardenhire’s office and complaining about his role, suggesting that he should be the Twins’ eighth-inning setup man despite sporting a 4.18 ERA and .306 opponents’ batting average in 32.1 innings spent primarily in middle relief. Here’s what Gardenhire said…

Jarrod Saltalamacchia revealed yesterday that he’s “50-50″ to undergo season-ending surgery after leaving a minor-league rehab game over the weekend with reoccurring numbness in his right arm. Saltalamacchia has been diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome, which is described as “a rare condition” that involves a rib pressing against a nerve in his shoulder and causing…

The team that hasn’t passed up an opportunity to gouge its fans all year passes up an opportunity to gouge its fans: The Yankees today announced 2009 postseason ticket pricing for potential games at Yankee Stadium in the American League Division Series, American League Championship Series and World Series. Prices for the vast majority of…

Twins’ president David St. Peter is telling the Pioneer Press that, yes, the money is there: Joe Mauer, the Twins all-star, Gold Glove winner and batting champion, can become a free agent after next season. Negotiations will begin after this season. Will the Twins be able to afford Mauer? “Yeah, we can afford him,” team President Dave…

Brandon Phillips was hit on his wrist during a game against the Nats on August 15th, and claims he has a hairline fracture. Like any normal human being, Phillips has written the perpetrator’s name down in permanent marker and has vowed revenge: “J.D. Martin,” Phillips said. “You can look at my hat and his name…

Mel Gibson’s death scene in “Braveheart” didn’t last this long: Old Glory still flies in Tiger Stadium’s center field, surrounded by foothills of concrete and twisted steel, shards of scrunched up plastic. The half-gutted carcass of an elevator shaft looms high over the rubble, bearing witness to incomplete destruction, bureaucratic folly, bad timing and the…

I have no idea how ballplayers function when stuff happens with their families while they’re on the road: While in Denver on Thursday, Rafael Furcal got an alarming call from his wife. Authorities had issued a mandatory evacuation of their Flintridge neighborhood as the raging Station Fire approached, and she didn’t know what to do.…

If a guy makes an error that costs his pitcher a perfect game, and the very next hitter laces a single into the outfield, my sense of it is that you can’t really dwell on the error, because, hey, the no-no and perfecto would have been gone a minute later anyway.  Then again, I don’t…

Reds 4, Pirates 3; Reds 6, Pirates 3: Darnell McDonald scored on a wild pitch by Jesse Chavez with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to win the first game of the doubleheader. There was no one there. Like, 2000 people. Which is a crime considering how nice a day it was in…

The Brad Penny pickup set off a chain reaction in the NL West, as the two remaining contenders also picked up pieces before the Monday night deadline to have new acquisitions qualify for postseason play. The Dodgers landed a potential Hall of Famer in Jim Thome, but right-hander Jon Garland may well prove to be…

J.J. Hardy is headed back to Milwaukee now that rosters have expanded, but three weeks spent at Triple-A is just enough time to delay his free agency by another year. Rather than being arbitration eligible for the final time next season Hardy is under the Brewers’ control through 2011, which should come in handy when…

Have you seen this ring? It would be hard to miss. Police are investigating the disappearance of a 2008 World Series championship ring, which a member of the Philadelphia Phillies organization has lost. The ring, which is worth $15,000 and contains more than 100 diamonds, is not considered stolen at this point, just missing. The…