Archives › Aaron Gleeman
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Giancarlo Stanton is going to be pitched around a ton this season, so who the Marlins pick to bat behind him in the cleanup spot is an important decision. And first-year manager Mike Redmond told Joe Frisaro of MLB.com that he’s giving serious consideration to using Placido Polanco. Yes, that Placido Polanco. Polanco is 37…
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Travis d’Arnaud, the stud catching prospect the Mets acquired from the Blue Jays as part of the R.A. Dickey trade, has been assigned to Triple-A after an impressive spring in big league camp. d’Arnaud is considered the best catching prospect in baseball and hit .333 with 16 homers and a .975 OPS in 67 games…
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Not so long ago Jemile Weeks looked like the A’s long-term answer at second base, but they briefly sent him to Triple-A after he struggled in the first half last season and now he’ll begin this year back in the minors. He hit .370 this spring, but the offseason trade for Jed Lowrie crowded the…
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Jeff Karstens was scratched from yesterday’s scheduled start with a sore shoulder and Michael Sanserino of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports that he’ll “likely will start the season on the disabled list.” Karstens first complained of shoulder pain in mid-February and “felt like he couldn’t pitch” yesterday, according to general manager Neal Huntington. He was…
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Pedro Feliciano failed to win a spot in the Mets’ bullpen and may decided to opt out of his minor-league contract rather than accept an assignment to Triple-A, according to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York. “They told me I’m going to Triple-A for a month and get my strength back,” Feliciano told Rubin. “I…
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Brett Lawrie to start season on disabled list with WBC injury
Mar 25, 2013, 11:51 AM EDT
The rib cage injury that caused Brett Lawrie to drop out of the World Baseball Classic will also cause him to begin the season on the disabled list, the Blue Jays announced. Lawrie suffered a strained rib cage in one of Team Canada’s exhibition games before the WBC tournament and initially hoped to miss just…
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Luis Ayala pitched very well for the Orioles last season, throwing 75 innings with a 2.64 ERA, but Dan Connolly of the Baltimore Sun reports that they’re trying to trade the 35-year-old reliever. Connolly speculates that they’re looking for backup catching depth or a minor leaguer in return after bringing Ayala back for 2013 by…
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David Freese is slated to get an anti-inflammatory injection for his injured back today and time is running out for the Cardinals third baseman to be ready for the season, although general manager John Mozeliak told Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch that “Opening Day has not been ruled out.” That quote from…
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Three weeks ago when Aaron Hicks had a three-homer game against the Phillies it seemed all but certain that he’d be the Opening Day center fielder in Minnesota and now the Twins have made it official. Hicks, who ranked among Baseball America‘s top 100 prospects this year for the fourth time, will be making the…
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Bill Hall’s attempt to win a spot on the Angels’ bench was limited by a strained calf muscle and today they released the veteran infielder. Hall should be able to find a Triple-A gig somewhere and possibly make it back to the majors based on his defensive versatility, but at age 34 he’s definitely finished…
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Between now and Opening Day, HardballTalk will take a look at each of baseball’s 30 teams, asking the key questions, the not-so-key questions, and generally breaking down their chances for the 2013 season. Today: the Minnesota Twins. The Big Question: Did the Twins do enough to improve their AL-worst rotation? After a decade-long run as…
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Kansas City released 35-year-old outfielder Endy Chavez, who was trying to win a bench spot after signing a minor-league deal in December. Chavez had a nice season for the Rangers in 2011, but hit just .203 with a .515 OPS in 64 games for the Orioles last year and was even worse during a brief…
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San Francisco released a pair of players who had opt-out clauses in their minor-league contracts, cutting loose reliever Ramon Ramirez and infielder Wilson Valdez. Valdez is a pretty typical utility infielder–although for a brief, hilarious time some Phillies fans loved him–but Ramirez has actually been a solid reliever with a 3.32 ERA in 438 career…
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Making official what was expected, manager Ned Yost announced that James Shields will get the Opening Day start for the Royals. Kansas City gave up a ton to get Shields (and Wade Davis) from Tampa Bay this offseason, parting with a four-player package that included stud outfield prospect Wil Myers, and a huge part of…
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Twins place would-be Opening Day starter Scott Diamond on disabled list
Mar 22, 2013, 1:20 PM EDT
Scott Diamond was in line to start Opening Day for the Twins, but instead he’ll begin the season on the disabled list. Diamond had a bone chip removed from his elbow in December and at the time the Twins insisted he’d be fully healthy for spring training, but setbacks followed and now Diamond is aiming…
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During a radio interview with 1090-AM in San Diego general manager Josh Byrnes confirmed that Padres pitching prospect Casey Kelly will undergo Tommy John elbow surgery. He’s scheduled to go under the knife on April 1 and will miss the entire season. Kelly, who was acquired from the Red Sox in the Adrian Gonzalez trade…
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Clay Rapada, who was very effective as a situational left-hander for the Yankees last year, is expected to begin the season on the disabled list with a shoulder injury. Rapada latched on with the Yankees last February after being released by the Orioles and appeared in 70 games, posting a 2.82 ERA and holding left-handed…
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In yesterday’s Nationals-Braves game Adam LaRoche came to the plate against his longtime friend and former teammate Tim Hudson and jokingly signaled for a knuckleball. Hudson figured why not and tossed a 47-mph pitch to the plate for a ball. “I didn’t think he would do it,” LaRoche told Bill Ladson of MLB.com afterward. “I…
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Texas released reliever Yoshinori Tateyama, who re-signed with the Rangers on a minor-league contract back in December after spending most of last season at Triple-A. Tateyama has an ugly 5.75 ERA in 61 innings for the Rangers, but that comes with an excellent 61/17 K/BB ratio and he also has a 1.48 ERA and 71/11…
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Minor elbow surgery, plasma injections in both knees, and mechanical adjustments were supposed to address whatever ailed Ricky Romero during his disastrous 2012 season, but the Blue Jays left-hander is still struggling. Pitching in a minor-league game yesterday Romero walked five batters, struck out zero, and allowed four runs in 2.1 innings. He also has…
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J.C. Romero‘s work as a late-inning reliever for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic convinced the Nationals to sign him to a minor-league contract. Romero is 36 years old and allowed 13 runs in 12 innings for the Orioles and Cardinals last season. Overall since 2009 he’s thrown 90 total innings in the majors…
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Stephen Drew has been sidelined by post-concussion symptoms since March 7, but the Red Sox shortstop has been cleared to resume baseball activities after being examined by a specialist in Pittsburgh. There’s no timetable for his return to game action and Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports that once Drew does resume playing in…
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Between now and Opening Day, HardballTalk will take a look at each of baseball’s 30 teams, asking the key questions, the not-so-key questions, and generally breaking down their chances for the 2013 season. Today: the Kansas City Royals. The Big Question: Are the Royals finally ready to contend? For a while the Royals were a…
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Atlanta announced that Tim Hudson will start on Opening Day for the first time since 2008, getting the nod over Kris Medlen. Derek Lowe started Opening Day for the Braves in 2009, 2010, and 2011, with Tommy Hanson getting the honors last season. Medlen was amazing after joining the rotation in late July, going 9-0…
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Extension talks between Adam Wainwright and the Cardinals have dragged along, but Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that the right-hander’s agent met with the team today. “We want to get something done before spring training ends, and that’s our goal,” agent Steve Hammond told Goold. “They have communicated clearly that they…
