Archives › Aaron Gleeman

Brian Anderson was the White Sox’s first-round pick in 2003 and twice ranked among Baseball America‘s top 50 prospects, but proved to be a good-glove, no-hit outfielder during five seasons in the majors. Despite hitting just .227/.290/.370 in 883 plate appearances Anderson somehow talked the Royals into giving him a one-year, $700,000 contract this offseason,…

Shaun Marcum has exceeded expectations in his return from Tommy John surgery, going 7-4 with a 3.44 ERA and 88/27 K/BB ratio in 107 innings after missing all of last season, but unfortunately the Blue Jays placed him on the disabled list today with more elbow problems. The good news is that general manager Alex…

Today is the start of the international signing period, where teams throw millions of dollars at teenagers from the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and various other locales. Ben Badler of Baseball America reports that the A’s have made the first big splash, signing 16-year-old Venezuelan third baseman Renato Nunez for $2.2 million. According to Badler “several…

Travis Wood has boosted his prospect stock dramatically by posting great numbers in the minors since coming back from shoulder problems in 2008 and turned in an impressive debut yesterday against the Cubs, taking a shutout into the eighth inning. He exited with two runners on base and they both scored off reliever Nick Masset,…

Elijah Dukes is a 26-year-old former top prospect with good speed, experience in all three outfield spots, and a .771 OPS in 240 career games, but he’s apparently such a horrible human being that no MLB team is willing to even sign him to a minor-league contract and stash him at Triple-A. Dukes has been…

As expected the Orioles placed Luke Scott on the disabled list today after he suffered a hamstring injury rounding the bases on a home run last night, but in a surprise move they replaced him on the roster by calling up Josh Bell rather than activating Felix Pie from the DL. Bell was acquired from…

Out since mid-May with a strained lower back, Josh Beckett threw a two-inning, 41-pitch simulated game today at Fenway Park and reported no problems. Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe reports that Beckett could be cleared to begin a minor league rehab assignment as soon as Tuesday, but the Red Sox still don’t expect him…

Erik Bedard could be making his final rehab start when he takes the mound tonight at Triple-A, with manager Don Wakamatsu saying the Mariners “are looking at starting him against Kansas City” next week. Bedard will obviously have to avoid a setback with his surgically repaired shoulder and look decent in his final tune-up, but…

Traded from the Yankees to the Braves this offseason in the Javier Vazquez-for-Melky Cabrera swap, 19-year-old pitching prospect Arodys Vizcaino has been placed on the Single-A disabled list after being diagnosed with a partially torn elbow ligament. He’s expected to miss six weeks, which is a tough break given how well Vizcaino was pitching with…

Luke Scott may be headed to the disabled list after injuring his hamstring last night during his home run trot. Scott took Cedrick Bowers deep to left-center field in the seventh inning, but ran hard out of the box before knowing it was gone and pulled up lame after rounding first base. MLB.com has the…

Astros prospect Koby Clemens participated in the Texas League Home Run Derby on Wednesday night. His father, Roger, was dealing.

Manny Ramirez is out of the Dodgers’ lineup today after leaving last night’s game with a hamstring injury and Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times reports that he’ll undergo an MRI exam tomorrow to determine whether a stint on the disabled list is needed. Ramirez’s injury opens the door for Matt Kemp to sneak…

In what is evidence of baseball being a funny game or the National League being way worse than the American League–or maybe both–Pat Burrell homered last night and is now 19-for-58 (.328) with four homers and three doubles for the Giants. Burrell spent the first nine seasons of his career in the NL playing for…

No doubt motivated by watching teammate Jim Thome leg out what must have been one of the most leisurely triples of all time Monday night, Denard Span amazingly hit three triples last night … in the first five innings. He had a chance to set the post-1900 record with a fourth triple, but drew a…

As expected, the Diamondbacks announced that Edwin Jackson’s next start will be pushed back two days after he threw 149 pitches in Friday’s no-hitter against the Rays. Jackson has said that his arm feels fine following the massive workload, but instead of pitching tomorrow against the Cardinals he’ll start Friday versus the Dodgers in Arizona.…

David Freese has been playing through a sprained ankle for the past several weeks, but after giving him Monday off the Cardinals placed him on the disabled list today. Handed the starting job at third base after putting up strong numbers in the minors, the 27-year-old rookie hit .296 with a .361 on-base percentage and…

Dayan Viciedo has started just twice in 10 games since the White Sox called him up from Triple-A, but manager Ozzie Guillen isn’t feeling sorry for the 21-year-old rookie: Hell no. Viciedo is the luckiest man on earth. He’s making $10 million and living out of Cuba, he has cars better than mine, he spent…

Last night’s Twins-Tigers game featured Joel Zumaya’s gruesome-looking arm injury, but before that Jim Thome provided a much more amusing sight with his first triple since 2004. As you might expect, there were some unusual circumstances at play. In the fourth inning Thome clobbered a Jeremy Bonderman fastball into the gap in right-center field and…

Last week general manager Mike Rizzo said the Nationals were “looking into” a contract extension for impending free agent Adam Dunn and “have been talking about it since spring training.” Dunn has made it clear that he’d like to remain in Washington beyond his current two-year, $20 million contract, but my sense has been that…

Ryan Dempster, on what (former) rotation-mate Carlos Zambrano should do following his suspension-earning dugout tirade: When you do those things and react the way he did you have to be the one to stand up and go out there and accept responsibility. I think he will be willing to do that but we’ll have to…

Designated for assignment over the weekend, Garrett Atkins said he’s not willing to accept an assignment to Triple-A from the Orioles but would “definitely be willing” to sign a minor-league deal with another team once Baltimore lets him go. Atkins hasn’t been a productive hitter since 2007, although for a while at least calling Coors…

Buster Olney of ESPN.com reports that “the Royals are really pushing to move Jose Guillen and continue to tell teams they will eat a lot of dollars.” I’ll be shocked if the Royals can get any kind of decent prospect for Guillen, which is why I suggested last month they’d be better off simply dumping…