Getty Images ESPN’s Buster Olney reported late last month that the Dodgers were “open to the idea” of trading away right fielder Andre Ethier this offseason.
But it doesn’t sound like it’s going to happen.
A source told Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times on Saturday that Ethier is “not on the trading block.” Presumably because the Dodgers couldn’t find an organization willing to take on the $85 million in guaranteed money that remains on the 30-year-old’s somewhat-freshly-inked contract.
Ethier has posted an underwhelming .288/.359/.442 slash line since the start of the 2011 season. He has topped 30 home runs just once in his career and he’s trending in the wrong direction defensively.
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Barry Bloom of MLB.com has a fun, wide-ranging interview with Don Sutton. Lots of good stuff in there as Sutton is never short of opinions. But this is easily my favorite part: MLB.com: Did you cheat? Sutton: No, I never got caught cheating. Bloom did not, sadly, follow up on that. Maybe his mind was…
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Red Sox place Victorino and Middlebrooks on DL, call up Aceves and Iglesias
May 24, 2013, 4:16 PM EDT
AP
David Ross is returning from a concussion tonight but the Red Sox are far from healthy, placing Shane Victorino and Will Middlebrooks on the disabled list. Victorino has a strained hamstring and Middlebrooks has lower back spasms, and Boston has added infielder Jose Iglesias and right-hander Alfredo Aceves from Triple-A to replace them. Iglesias, who’s…
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AP
I get the sense that if Alfonso Soriano is on the trading block this summer he’s not gonna have a big problem waiving his no-trade rights. From Carrie Muskat at MLB.com, here’s Soriano venting about losing: “You think we’re going to win that game 3-0, and in five minutes, [we're down] 5-3 … I’m tired…
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David Ross, who’s missed the past two weeks with post-concussion symptoms, has been cleared to return to the Red Sox and will be active for tonight’s game. That means Ryan Lavarnway is headed back to Triple-A after filling in for Ross as Jarrod Saltalamacchia‘s backup. Ross played in one minor-league rehab game at Double-A yesterday,…
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For the second time this season Reds left-hander Sean Marshall is headed to the disabled list with shoulder problems. Last month it was tendinitis and now it’s being called a sprained shoulder, so it seems likely that Marshall will be out of action for more than the minimum 15 days. In between the injuries he…
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Not long ago the Mariners benched Brendan Ryan for Robert Andino. Not realizing, it seemed, that while neither of then could hit their way out of a wet paper bag, at least Ryan could flash some serious leather. Someone finally figured that out, however: Andino has been designated for assignment. Andino was hitting .184/.253/.237 in 85…
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As of last year Alex Rodriguez had his house in Miami on the market for an asking price of $38 million and Darren Rovell of ESPN.com reports that he finally sold the place for $30 million. According to Rovell he paid $7.4 million for the place in 2010 and then dropped another $7.4 million or…
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He’s still employed by the Dodgers. And Davey Johnson is still employed by the Nats. But the latter situation is only going to last for this year and the former could end at any time. In light of that Danny Knobler of CBS Sports.com hears some chatter that the former could replace the latter: People…
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AP
How long is a pitcher sidelined after he punches a locker with his pitching hand and breaks it (the hand, not the locker)? Well, in Ryan Mattheus‘ case 4-6 weeks. That’s the official word from the Nationals and as Amanda Comak of the Washington Times notes the good news is that the reliever won’t need…
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I was a big fan of Drew Sheppard’s Gif of Yu Darvish throwing five different pitches. As were some folks in Japan, who inexplicably made that post the most-read thing in the history of HardballTalk. By a wide margin. But I think I’m more impressed by Drew putting six Miguel Cabrera home runs into one…
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Hey, Kay asked me buy or sell, I gave my answer.
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Blue Jays left-hander Darren Oliver has been his usual effective self this season at age 42, posting a sub-3.25 ERA for the sixth straight season, but now he’s headed to the disabled list with a strained shoulder. To replace Oliver on the roster Toronto called up Double-A left-hander Sean Nolin, a 23-year-old who was their…
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Richie Ashburn’s gravesite is being threatened by development
May 24, 2013, 11:37 AM EDT
Phillies great Richie Ashburn died in 1997. Until now he has been resting in peace. Some, as Victor Fiorillo of the Philly Post repots, are worried that won’t be the case for long: His family buried him in the cemetery outside of Gladwyne Methodist Church, where all was quiet until some developers announced plans to…
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AP
After two injury wrecked seasons the Twins have been remarkably healthy so far, but their lone significant injury has provided a glimpse into the same question health marks that got the head trainer fired this offseason. Backup outfielder Darin Mastroianni injured his ankle late in spring training, but instead of simply placing him on the…
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Today is Bob Dylan’s 72nd birthday. Bob Dylan likes baseball a lot. He devoted a whole episode of his radio show to baseball songs a few years back and it was fantastic. He also wrote and recorded a song about Catfish Hunter for the “Desire” album in 1976 but he left it off. No reason…
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Mike Trout hit for the cycle Tuesday, notched two more hits Wednesday, and took Ervin Santana deep last night for the longest homer of his career. Trout watched Santana serve up a league-high 39 homers when they were teammates last season and the Angels homered off him four times last night, including this 463-foot monster…
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There’s a lot of projecting Miguel Cabrera‘s season forward going on today. Saw Buster Olney doing it on Twitter. They’re doing it at High Heat Stats today too. If you play the on-pace game, Cabrera could have, like, 200 RBI. Odds don’t favor that, of course. He’s likely to slump at some point. Well, maybe.…
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Dodgers shift former first-rounder Aaron Miller from pitcher to outfielder
May 24, 2013, 10:15 AM EDT
Dodgers prospect and 2009 first-round pick Aaron Miller is giving up on pitching and moving to the outfield. Miller fared well in the low minors, but the left-hander posted a 5.03 ERA with 101 walks in 168 innings at Double-A and also dealt with some injuries. He played some outfield in college at Baylor University,…
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Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s baseball bonafides are beyond reproach. A big Yankees fan from youth. The judge who effectively ended the strike in 1995. She knows her stuff. So she was the perfect choice to sit in on a mock oral re-argument of the famous Curt Flood case, which sought to end the reserve…
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And it’s not just saying “robot umps now,” no matter how satisfying that is. Writing over at Murray Chass’s blog, the former Commissioner of Baseball Fay Vincent says that MLB needs to take total control of umpiring: MLB should buy the umpire schools and take over the training and development of all umpires in professional…
