Archives › 2010 › March › 22

The Rockies are close to an agreement to bring back Joe Beimel on a minor league contract, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. The new deal should be confirmed by the morning, according to the report. Beimel, who turns 33 in April, posted a 4.02 ERA in 26 relief appearances down the stretch for the…

Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com suggests that the Yankees could soon make a move with right-hander Chad Gaudin, who has struggled to an 8.68 ERA in 9 1/3 innings this spring. Gaudin, who turns 27 later this week, agreed to a one-year, $2.95 million contract in January, however like teammate Sergio Mitre, who inked a one-year,…

Gil Meche, who was limited to just 23 starts last season due to a lower back injury and shoulder fatigue, left Monday’s start against the White Sox after three innings due to a stiff right shoulder. Meche did his best to downplay the situation after the game, but what he told Dick Kaegel of MLB.com…

Update: The Reds announced that Chapman departed with lower back stiffness, a problem that had plagued him all week. Chapman was set to be examined after the game. The feeling is that this could knock him out of the competition for a rotation spot. … Aroldis Chapman left his appearance in his second inning of…

UPDATE: Pujols went for an MRI exam this afternoon and also had an anti-inflammatory shot in his sore lower back, so he may be out for most of the week. Albert Pujols was scratched from this afternoon’s lineup with what MLB.com’s Matthew Leach calls “a recurrence of tightness in his lower back.” No one seems…

I get the shakes if I don’t write something about the Rangers sale for more than 48 hours or so and right now I’m jonesin’ hard, so I’ll even settle for linking to Heyman: The snag in the Texas Rangers’ sale talks appears fairly serious. Two sources say they believe the banks are looking for…

Well, to the Indians bottom line at least.  Rob Neyer reminds us of the vesting option: The front office would never admit it, but Kerry Wood’s injury is just about the best thing that could have happened to the Indians, because it means he won’t finish 55 games this season, which in turn means his…

Hideki Matsui started in the outfield this afternoon for the first time since June of 2008, as the Angels hope his knees will be able to handle at least occasional defensive duties this season. In fact, according to Lyle Spencer of MLB.com “the Angels’ plan is to give him a few starts in left field…

Red Sox Nation, Yankees Universe, Rays Republic . . . the Nats are content to go with something more modest. Eh. What about an “Army?”  Worked for Kiss, so you think it would work for a baseball team. Sorry to be sticking with this subject today, but I don’t have to report for Death Panel…

Headline: “Did the Twins just lock up the next Jason Kendall?” The answer, ultimately, is “probably not,” but the article is worth reading if for no other reason than to be reminded that there was a time when Jason Kendall was pretty close to awesome. I like headlines that make people freak out for a…

Back in December the Nationals selected Dodgers minor leaguer Jamie Hoffmann with the first pick in the Rule 5 draft and then sent him to the Yankees in a pre-arranged deal for Brian Bruney. Hoffmann was thought to be a near-lock for a spot on New York’s bench, but apparently the Yankees decided against keeping…

It ain’t Kenny Lofton for David Justice and Marquis Grissom, but a spring training trade is always fun.  Today’s version: the Rangers trade infielder Ray Olmedo to the Brewers for catcher Matt Treanor. Matt Treanor is a backup catcher who can’t hit, and his presence in Texas is significant only insofar as (a) he’s, like,…

Joe Mauer getting the Twins to fork over $184 million has the other top catchers in the American League dreaming about their next contracts. Victor Martinez of the Red Sox is an impending free agent, so removing Mauer from next offseason’s catching market could have a huge impact on him. Alex Speier of WEEI.com speculates…

I’ve always known that players can’t hold equity stakes in their teams due to the Basic Agreement (see paragraph 4(c) on p. 213 of this massive document), but I never knew why. Today, however, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus explains. Once upon a time Rogers Hornsby got a cut of the Cardinals, was traded to…

Cito Gaston announced that Shaun Marcum will be the Blue Jays’ Opening Day starter, which is noteworthy given that he missed all of last season following Tommy John elbow surgery. Roy Halladay started each of the past seven Opening Days for the Blue Jays, but he’ll be taking the mound for the Phillies in Game…

Larry Stone of the Seattle Times reports that the Mariners are considering making Casey Kotchman their number three hitter behind Ichiro and Figgins. What’s more, Milton Bradley is probably going to bat cleanup. I haven’t been paying all that much attention to the Mariners’ spring, so my first thought was “that makes no sense!”  Upon…

Erik Bedard was slated to throw off a mound today for the first time since August shoulder surgery, but the Mariners canceled those plans with trainer Rick Griffin explaining: “He’s not ready, in our opinion.” Griffin went on to clarify that the cancellation isn’t a “setback” for Bedard, but given that the bullpen session was…

Who says you gotta move the Rays out of the AL East? They’re fitting in just fine. WEEI’s Alex Speier just passed along this quote from Joe Madden: “The Red Sox have got the Nation. The Yankees have the universe. We’ve created The Rays Republic.” I like it! But why stop there? How about the…

The all-time pinch-hit leader and current Dodgers’ coach was rushed to a hospital on Friday. They found severe blockage in four arteries and performed a quadruple bypass. Harris was said to be resting comfortably as of yesterday.  Word is, however, that he could see some action today if the Dodgers fall behind late and the…

John Fay writes about Aroldis Chapman’s efforts to learn the language and get used to life in the U.S.  A couple of interesting passages: The Reds are in uncharted territory. Players from the Dominican and Venezuela get assimilated before they get near the big leagues. Johnny Cueto was in the Reds’ system for four years…

Remember how the Pirates signed those two Indian reality-show winners?  Well, they’re back in camp this year, and unlike last spring, which was basically a publicity tour masquerading as baseball, this year they’re pitching and working out just like any other ballplayers. And they’re improving: The progress between last spring and now is remarkable, Pirates…

Buster uses the Mauer signing as a jumping off point for thoughts on the A’s and Rays.  For the A’s: Bud needs to make San Jose happen.  No argument there. My view is that the commish should offer the Giants some concessions, deem the move to be OK, and make the Giants sue if they…

FanHouse’s Ed Price reports that Jim Edmonds is surprisingly lukewarm about being a backup outfielder for the Brewers this year. Edmonds says “some days, driving in, I think [WTF?]” and questions whether the backup job is enough to keep him playing. He rebuffs the suggestion that he’s playing the game because he loves it, saying…

Last night Jon Heyman tweeted “Joba is out of the Yanks rotation debry.”  The basis for this?  The news that Chamberlain will pitch an intra-squad game today while Phil Hughes will pitch against the Phillies in Clearwater.  Left out of this is the fact that the intra-squad game and the need to get both pitchers…

Howard Megdal thinks so, arguing that Greenberg experienced an uncharacteristic spike in walk rates towards the end of his 1938 season.  Megdal says “the American League didn’t seem exactly thrilled with Greenberg’s pursuit,” and concludes that “the statistical record stands as evidence that Greenberg’s religion might have been an additional barrier” to him in surpassing…