Archives › Aaron Gleeman
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Twins starters Scott Baker and Nick Blackburn undergoing elbow surgeries
Oct 19, 2010, 11:49 AM EDT
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Twins right fielder/first baseman Michael Cuddyer had arthroscopic knee surgery shortly after they were swept out of the playoffs by the Yankees and now starters Scott Baker and Nick Blackburn are both going under the knife as well. Joe Christensen of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Blackburn underwent minor elbow surgery last week and…
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Rangers won’t move slumping Vladimir Guerrero out of the cleanup spot
Oct 19, 2010, 11:16 AM EDT
Vladimir Guerrero is 7-for-32 (.219) with one RBI in eight playoff games after hitting just .278/.322/.426 in the second half, but manager Ron Washington made it very clear that he won’t be moving out of the cleanup spot: That’s the way I ran the lineup all year and it’s going to stay that way. A…
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Rangers relying on a shaky Game 4 starter of their own in Tommy Hunter
Oct 19, 2010, 10:48 AM EDT
Lost in the various teeth-gnashing over Joe Girardi sticking with A.J. Burnett for tonight is that the Rangers are turning to a less than stellar Game 4 starter of their own in Tommy Hunter. On the surface Hunter’s numbers this season look great, as he went 13-4 with a 3.73 ERA in 23 starts, but…
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Bruce Bochy ended any speculation about the Giants making rotation changes by saying yesterday that Madison Bumgarner will start Game 4 of the NLCS “no matter what.” Bochy has always been pretty clear about Bumgarner getting the Game 4 nod, but that didn’t stop some people from predicting that he’d use Tim Lincecum on short…
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Here’s the Rangers’ lineup for Game 3 of the ALCS tonight against Andy Pettitte: 1. Elvis Andrus, SS 2. Michael Young, 3B 3. Josh Hamilton, CF 4. Vladimir Guerrero, DH 5. Nelson Cruz, LF 6. Ian Kinsler, 2B 7. Jeff Francoeur, RF 8. Bengie Molina, C 9. Mitch Moreland, 1B While the Yankees have gone…
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After taking a few weeks to consider his options Tony La Russa has decided to return as the Cardinals’ manager, agreeing to a one-year deal with an option for 2012. Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that the Cardinals will offer 2011 contracts to La Russa’s entire coaching staff except for bullpen…
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Here’s the Yankees’ lineup for Game 3 of the ALCS tonight against Cliff Lee: 1. Derek Jeter, SS 2. Nick Swisher, RF 3. Mark Teixeira, 1B 4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B 5. Robinson Cano, 2B 6. Marcus Thames, DH 7. Jorge Posada, C 8. Curtis Granderson, CF 9. Brett Gardner, LF New York has faced a…
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Now that Eric Wedge has been hired as the Mariners’ new manager Milton Bradley’s odds of playing a second season in Seattle are seemingly extremely slim. That is if they weren’t extremely slim already, of course. Back in 2003 the Indians had Wedge as their manager and Bradley as their center fielder, and while the…
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John Perrotto of Baseball Prospectus reports that “the Twins have no plans to re-sign Orlando Hudson,” which jibes with what I’ve been told from various people who know about such things. Outwardly he has a reputation for being a chatty jokester who lightens up a clubhouse, but I’m told he rubbed some people the wrong…
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Ellen Massey broke her back when a 300-pound man named Timothy Cassidy fell on her at Shea Stadium on Opening Day of the 2007 season. Now she’s suing the Mets, claiming the team should be held responsible for her injuries because vendors continued to serve Cassidy beer after he was clearly intoxicated. Lawyers for the…
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Seattle decided to hire Eric Wedge as its new manager last week, but no official announcement was made because MLB generally frowns on teams overshadowing playoff games with that type of thing. However, according to Jim Street of MLB.com “the Mariners have received permission from the commissioner’s office to announce the hiring” and could make…
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Rangers setup man Frank Francisco likely out for playoffs
Oct 18, 2010, 11:49 AM EDT
Frank Francisco initially expressed some optimism that he could return from a strained rib cage to pitch at some point in the playoffs, but Bill Ladson of MLB.com reports that the Rangers have all but ruled out the setup man until 2011. Francisco threw a 20-pitch bullpen session yesterday and reported no problems, but he’s…
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With the NLCS tied 1-1 following Roy Oswalt’s gem last night the Phillies are still planning to start Joe Blanton in Game 4 of the series Wednesday. However, there’s plenty of speculation that Charlie Manuel would instead turn to Roy Halladay on short rest for Game 4 if the Phillies are down 2-1 and the…
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According to Joe Frisaro of MLB.com “indications are Bo Porter has emerged as the frontrunner” for the Marlins’ managerial opening. Porter was the Diamondbacks’ bench coach this season before being let go in the housecleaning that went along with Kirk Gibson being named full-time manager earlier this month. Prior to that he was the Marlins’…
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According to Jason Beck of MLB.com the Tigers have denied the Mets’ request to interview Al Avila as a potential general manager replacement for Omar Minaya. Avila, who is currently Detroit’s assistant general manager under Dave Dombrowski, has a contract that allows the Tigers to deny such requests. Beck reports that the Tigers also denied…
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Disastrous eighth inning dooms Rangers as Yankees steal Game 1 in Texas
Oct 16, 2010, 12:46 AM EDT
Pictures may say a thousand words, but the shot of Nolan Ryan and George Bush after the Rangers’ implosion in the eighth inning of the ALCS opener can probably be boiled down to just one: Yuck. Texas chased CC Sabathia from the game after four innings, got an excellent start from C.J. Wilson, and then…
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News that Bobby Valentine and John Gibbons are both out of the running for Seattle’s managerial opening has people starting to connect some dots suggesting that the Mariners are leaning very heavily toward Eric Wedge as their new manager. Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com writes that “all signs point toward” Wedge getting the job and Buster…
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Here are the lineups for Game 1 of the ALCS tonight …
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Phillies fifth starter Kyle Kendrick was left off the NLDS roster, but with Philadelphia potentially needing to use someone other than The Big Three to start against the Giants he’s back on the roster for the NLCS. Kendrick won’t start, because Joe Blanton will get the assignment if Charlie Manuel turns to a mere mortal…
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Don Baylor is out as the Rockies’ hitting coach, which at first glance may seem strange after Colorado scored the third-most runs in the league this season. However, thanks to playing half their games at Coors Field the Rockies always score a ton of runs. In fact, they’ve finished among the league’s top five in…
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Over at the Replacement Level Yankees Weblog there’s a very interesting post showing “heat maps” for Mariano Rivera’s pitches, which are unique in that they’re rarely thrown over the middle of the plate. That may sound obvious, but as you’ll see if you click the link Rivera is actually an oddity compared to MLB pitchers…
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Bruce Bochy hasn’t announced anything official about his Game 4 starter choice, leaving room to change his mind depending on how the Giants fare through three games, but Chris Haft of MLB.com writes that rookie Madison Bumgarner “almost surely will start Game 4.” Turning to Tim Lincecum on short rest is the other option for…
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Red Sox owner John Henry buys Liverpool soccer team for $476 million
Oct 15, 2010, 12:18 PM EDT
New England Sports Ventures, which is a group headed by Red Sox owner John Henry, has officially purchased the Liverpool soccer team in the Premier League. Henry told the London Telegraph that he’s “proud and humbled” by the 300-million pound sale and “guaranteed” that New England Sports Ventures will not be participating in a leveraged…
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Rangers acquired Neftali Feliz and Elvis Andrus by trading Mark Teixeira in 2007
Oct 15, 2010, 11:22 AM EDT
Surprisingly little has been made of Mark Teixeira facing his old team in the ALCS, perhaps because he had stints with the Braves and Angels in between going from the Rangers to the Yankees. Selected by Texas with the fifth overall pick in the 2001 draft, Teixeira hit .283/.368/.533 with 153 homers and 499 RBIs…
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Minnesota attempted zero stolen bases while being swept out of ALDS in three games, but you can be certain that Texas will test New York’s ability to control the running game early and often in the ALCS. Texas swiped 123 bases during the regular season to rank seventh among all MLB teams and second to…
