Archives › 2011 › April › 12

Angels manager Mike Scioscia has benched the struggling Vernon Wells for tonight’s game against the Indians, according to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times. Wells, who was acquired from the Blue Jays for Mike Napoli and Juan Rivera in January, is batting just .091 (4-for-44) over his first 10 games this season and currently…

UPDATE: Dodgers manager Don Mattingly said earlier tonight that Rafael Furcal‘s broken thumb won’t require surgery, but that he’ll still be sidelined for 4-6 weeks. 8:48 AM: The Dodgers shut the Giants down yesterday, but now it looks like their shortstop is going to be shut down too: Rafael Furcal broke his left thumb sliding…

According to Larry LaRue of the Tacoma News Tribune, Mariners catcher Adam Moore will be sidelined for 4-6 months after undergoing “major” surgery to repair the torn meniscus in his right knee. Moore suffered the injury in the eighth inning of last Wednesday’s game against the Rangers while trying to chase after a ball in the…

The Yankees signed left-hander Pedro Feliciano to a two-year, $8 million contract with a club option for 2013 over the winter, but their new investment was forced to begin the season on the disabled list with a strained left rotator cuff. And it doesn’t sound like we’ll be seeing him anytime soon. According to Andrew…

Bad news for the middle of the Mets’ projected lineup. According to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said this afternoon that Jason Bay is unlikely to return from the disabled list until at least April 26 against the Nationals. “I think it’s unrealistic to expect him before then,” Alderson…

See, this is what I’m talking about when I say that Power Rankings are tricky things this early in the season.  I go and do something like put the Indians in the top 10 and all of a sudden we have bedlam: LOS ANGELES OF ANAHEIM, CA—Since the Indians are a consensus  Top 10 Most Powerful…

Designated for assignment by the White Sox last week, Lastings Milledge has cleared waivers and accepted and assignment to Triple-A, according to Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune. That means he’ll remain in Chicago’s organization, but won’t take up a spot on the 40-man roster and can’t be called up again unless the White Sox…

When the Blue Jays sent Casey Janssen to Triple-A last week I wrote that it was an undeserved demotion for a veteran reliever with a strong track record in the majors. I expected a quick return to Toronto for Janssen, but not this quick: Today the Blue Jays recalled him from Triple-A, as placing Rajai…

I wrote this morning about the lawsuit Frank McCourt’s former law firm filed against him, seeking a declaration that they did no wrong. Since that time I’ve had a chance to read the complaint (thanks Dodger Divorce!).  It seems sillier to me now than it did then. Basically, the firm admits — as it must…

Adam Dunn underwent an appendectomy last Wednesday and six days later he’s back in the White Sox’s lineup, starting at designated hitter and batting third tonight against the Trevor Cahill and the A’s. Chicago went 4-2 in his absence with Mark Teahen (three times), Carlos Quentin (twice), and Juan Pierre (once) filling in at DH.…

On the disabled list while doctors try to determine the cause of his now year-long stomach problems, Franklin Gutierrez told reporters yesterday that he’s recently begun feeling better and putting back some of the 15 pounds he lost. Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times reports that Gutierrez “will work out with the Mariners the next…

I scanned this column from John Steigerwald of the Observer-Reporter of Washington, Pennsylvania for traces of satrie and other Onion-esque tells, but no, it appears to be serious.  In it, Steigerwald — a longtime Pittsburgh sports anchor — blames Bryan Stow for the beating he took at the Dodgers-Giants game because he had the nerve…

Injuries struck the Cubs’ rotation as soon as they decided to cut bait on Carlos Silva, but today they added a little pitching depth by signing veteran left-hander Doug Davis to a minor-league contract. Davis worked out for a bunch of teams a few weeks ago after being limited to just eight starts last season…

Lots of back and forth in the comments today about how Manny Ramirez and friends tainted the 2004 and 2007 Red Sox World Series championships. In response, Red Sox fans are citing the Yankees teams for having tons of PED-connected dudes. If it helps, you’re all right! But enough of the he-said, he-said (women never…

ESPN Los Angeles’ Tim Keowan says something that I’ve been thinking since Sunday when I watched the Giants-Cardinals game and heard the broadcasters talking about how baseball rivalries shouldn’t be taken so seriously. And last night when the Dodgers and Giants players implored fans to keep their animosity limited to the action on the field.…

Josh Hamilton, who started today’s game as the Rangers’ designated hitter and smacked an RBI triple in his first at-bat, exited after injuring his shoulder sliding into home plate in the first inning. There’s no word yet on the severity of the injury, but according to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com the Rangers are calling it…

Ryan Zimmerman is headed for the disabled list with an abdominal strain and Mark Zuckerman of CSN Washington reports that the Nationals will replace him on the roster with Jesus Flores, which would give them three catchers along with Ivan Rodriguez and Wilson Ramos. All three guys hit right-handed, so there isn’t really a natural…

We’ve seen all kinds of “teams who start 0-X on the season have only made the playoffs Y times since nineteen dickety-seven” stats in the past week and a half. Here’s one more look at that from ACTA Sports, who looked at the first ten games of the season for every team since 2002, with…

Jake Fox led spring training in homers and his monster exhibition production made lots of headlines last month, but Orioles manager Buck Showalter instead smartly focused on his defensive deficiencies and extensive track record containing thousands of plate appearances. All of which is why Fox has played in just two of the Orioles’ first nine…

There were no mentions of the considerable ambivalence regarding the opening of the NPB season in Japan today, but open it did: Local TV showed people in shelters watching the game, before which there was a moment of silence, and each fan in the Chiba cheering section held up signs of support for the disaster…

Takashi Saito strained his hamstring while pitching in the Brewers’ home opener on April 4 and the team initially hoped he’d be able to return in a few days, but now he’s been put on the disabled list and replaced on the roster by Triple-A call-up Brandon Kintzler. Saito, who missed the end of last…

There’s all kinds of Manny Ramirez hate floating around the web right now. It’s expected and understandable and you kinda gotta let it run its course. But some of it is just plain insane. Like this post at Business Insider by Cork Gains. In it he argues that Manny Ramirez was responsible for Bob Melvin…