|
Baseball’s winter meetings are under way and that means it is trade time. From ESPN-
The Texas Rangers have traded veteran starting pitcher Kevin Millwood and $3 million to the Baltimore Orioles for reliever Chris Ray and a player to be named later, the club announced Wednesday.
*****
Millwood, who turns 35 later this month, earned that vested option after pitching more than 180 innings in 2009. He was 13-10 with a 3.67 ERA in 198 2/3 innings pitched. He did have lower back and gluteus muscle soreness in September but returned to finish the season.
*****
Ray was a former closer for the Orioles before surgery to repair ligament damage in his right elbow set him back. He was 0-4 with a 7.27 ERA in 46 appearances in 2009. Ray, 27, has 49 career saves for the Orioles. Ray’s best season was 2006, when he sported a 2.73 ERA and had 33 saves.
Texas made this trade strictly for financial reasons. Acquiring Ray in light of recent health and performance. The worth of Millwood to the Orioles, who will be his fifth MLB team, isn’t likely to be a whole lot more in light of Millwood’s age and lack of durability. This could end up as a nothing for nothing deal.
He previously played for the Phillies from 2002 to 2005. From ESPN-
Placido Polanco is returning to the Philadelphia Phillies, signing a three-year, $18 million deal, with a mutual option for a fourth year.
The 34-year-old infielder arrived in Philadelphia on Thursday morning to take a physical, and told NBC-10 TV’s John Clark that he’s “excited to join a championship team.”
Before Wednesday, the Phillies appeared to be locked in on three potential free-agent third basemen — Polanco, Adrian Beltre and Mark DeRosa. But talks intensified with Polanco’s agents Wednesday, a day after his old team, the Tigers, declined to offer him arbitration.
Polanco is a Type A free agent, so the decision to not offer him arbitration means the Phillies signed him without losing their first-round draft pick.
Polanco played for the Phillies from 2002 to 2005. And their mutual familiarity appeared to be a major force driving their pursuit.
*****
The Phillies declined the option on third baseman Pedro Feliz last month to see if they could find a righthanded-hitting offensive upgrade who could help balance their left-leaning lineup. They envision Polanco hitting second behind Jimmy Rollins, a move that would drop Shane Victorino lower in the order.
Polanco batted .337 at Citizens Bank Park while with the Phillies, with more walks (23) than strikeouts (20).
Philadelphia likes Polanco’s plate discipline. I think the signing was a good move. Polanco a more than solid Major League Baseball player.
The 38-year-old Southpaw pitched for Boston last year. From ESPN-
The Atlanta Braves have agreed on a one-year contract with veteran left-handed reliever Billy Wagner.
The deal will pay Wagner $7 million in 2010 and includes a $6.5 million club option for 2011, as well as a $250,000 buyout. The option would become guaranteed if Wagner finishes 50 games next season.
“We feel this is a great start for us to put together a championship-quality team for 2010,” Braves general manager Frank Wren said in a statement. “Billy has been at the top of our list as a player we wanted to acquire for some time, and we’re excited to have him anchoring our bullpen.”
*****
The Boston Red Sox offered salary arbitration to Wagner, so they’re entitled to draft-pick compensation when the deal with Atlanta becomes official.
*****
Wagner, 38, ranks sixth on baseball’s career list with 385 saves, second among left-handers behind John Franco (424). He posted a 1.72 ERA and struck out 26 batters in 15 2/3 innings with the Mets and Red Sox last season after returning from Tommy John surgery.
The Wagner signing looks like a reasonable if pricey gamble to me. Based on this 2009 stats, I think Wagner can still help a team.
The previous mark was set 49 years ago. From AP-
Yankees designated hitter Hideki Matsui has driven in six runs in Game 6 against the Phillies to tie Bobby Richardson’s record for most RBIs in a World Series game.
Matsui hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second, a two-run single in the third – both coming off Philadelphia starter Pedro Martinez – and a two-run double off J.A. Happ in the fifth inning on Wednesday night to give New York a 7-1 lead.
Richardson accomplished the feat for the Yankees on Oct. 8, 1960, in Game 3 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Yankees are up 7-3 with two outs in the ninth inning. It’s looking like the Yankees will win yet another World Series and this NY Met fan isn’t happy. My wife is rooting for the Yankees too!
Did the Philadelphia Inquirer just jinx the Phillies? From ESPN-
A Philadelphia newspaper has apologized to readers for mistakenly running an ad congratulating the Philadelphia Phillies on winning back-to-back World Series titles.
The New York Yankees held a commanding 3-1 lead in the championship as of Monday, the day the ad was printed in the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The three-quarter-page Macy’s ad is on the back of the front section and features a T-shirt with the Phillies logo, the commissioner’s trophy and the phrase “Back To Back World Series Champions.”
The Inquirer said it deeply regrets the error. It is instances like this, the Mark Whicker controversy of a few months ago, that make me believe newspapers that newspapers will print almost anything. You can’t tell me not person screened the advertisement before hand and then didn’t ask themselves- “Isn’t this premature?” It shows a horrifying lack of standards at best and at worst that a publication will run anything for a dollar. Is it any wonder newspapers are dying right this minute?
Surgery kept him off the Phillies’ postseason roster. From AP-
Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Jamie Moyer was hospitalized this week with a blood infection, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Friday.
Moyer, who underwent surgery Oct. 2 to repair three torn muscles in his groin and lower abdomen and was to miss the rest of the season and postseason, was “doing fine” and has been in Thomas Jefferson University hospital in Philadelphia since Wednesday, Amaro said.
Moyer has “some type of blood infection and will likely stay one more night, getting the fever down and taking antibiotics,” Amaro said, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. “Not sure how he got it.”
Moyer’s wife, Karen, confirmed in an e-mail to The Associated Press on Saturday that her 46-year-old husband was doing OK.
That’s good news and I wish Moyer a speedy recovery.
I myself just spent four days last September in the hospital due to an infection. It wouldn’t surprise me if Moyer gets antibiotics at home. For 10 days I had a portable I.V. machine attached to me.
Today’s Philadelphia Phillie-Colorado Rockie game has been postponed.
Game 3 of the Phillies-Rockies playoff on Saturday night has been postponed because of cold, snowy weather.
Major League Baseball rescheduled the game for Sunday night at 10:07 p.m. ET, and Game 4 was pushed back to Monday, at a time to be determined. Game 5, if necessary, will be played as scheduled on Tuesday in Philadelphia, without a day off for travel.
Has a MLB postseason game ever postponed before due to snow?
Will the extra day in Denver disrupt cause problems with Philadelphia’s hotel accommodations? The Tampa Bay Rays had to find a new hotel during when last year’s World Series was extended due to weather.
He was an All American for the U of Georgia and pitched a minor league no-hitter. Powell left behind a wife and three children. RIP.
A sheriff’s official in Georgia says former major league pitcher Brian Powell has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was 35.
Capt. Liz Crowley of the Decatur County Sheriff’s Office says Powell died Monday at a hospital in Tallahassee, Fla. Powell was from Bainbridge, Ga.
Powell was 7-18 with a 5.94 ERA in 59 games for Detroit, Houston, San Francisco and Philadelphia. He last pitched in the majors with the Phillies in 2004, and spent 2005 in Triple-A for Washington.
The rare play has only taken place fifteen times in MLB history. From The Philadelphia Inquirer-
From shallow center field, Shane Victorino was frantically yelling to teammate Eric Bruntlett: “Touch everybody. Touch everything.”
Afterward, Bruntlett said he wasn’t certain if he heard anything. He was somewhat occupied at the time. The Phillies utility infielder was indeed touching everybody and everything, making history in the process.
In a blink, the second baseman pulled off one of the rarest occurrences in the wacky game of baseball – a game-ending unassisted triple play in a 9-7 win over the New York Mets yesterday at Citi Field.
It was the second time in the cockeyed history of the major leagues that a game ended on an unassisted triple play. The first was May 31, 1927, when Detroit Tigers first baseman Johnny Neun ended a game against Cleveland, but it’s not likely Neun got the same sense of satisfaction as Bruntlett.
*****
His unassisted triple play was only the 14th in the regular season in big-league history – a 15th occurred in a World Series game – and the first by a Phillie since Mickey Morandini pulled one off on Sept. 20, 1992.
Morandini was accused of trying to sell ‘the ball’ when videos clearly showed him disposing of it after the play was over.
There must be a ‘I need another ancient relief pitcher’ virus going around the offices of MLB teams at this moment. From the St. Petersburg Times-
The Rays had interest in adding veteran Russ Springer to their bullpen anyway. After going through two extra-inning games in four days, they believed it was even more important to make a move.
The 40-year-old right-hander was claimed on waivers from Oakland, with the Rays assuming the nearly $1 million remaining on his $3.3 million contract.
*****
Springer was 0-4 with a 4.10 ERA in 48 games with Oakland but had a 1.61 ERA over 25 games since early June.
The addition of Springer required Tampa to make another personnel move.
The Rays’ decision to designate IF Joe Dillon for assignment to make room for Springer wasn’t cut-and-dried. Ultimately, the Rays decided to go with eight relievers and three bench players in large part because they had played two extra-inning games this week.
Though Dillon rarely got off the bench, Maddon said he didn’t like having to cut him loose. In addition to being a fan of Dillon’s approach to the game, Maddon will have to be especially creative with the way he uses his bench.
That’s an understatement. Only three bench players severely limits a manager’s options. One of those backups has to be a catcher, the most likely player to get injured in any given game. Managers are a cautious lot, and will be cautious in using their only backup catcher. That limits a team’s strategy moves with only three bench players even more.
Springer, like the recently traded David Weathers, has been all over the major leagues for fifteen plus years. He is a decent reliever, but for the reasons I already stated, I don’t understand why Tampa needed this guy.
Lee was the 2008 American League Cy Young award winner. From ESPN-
The Cleveland Indians traded Cliff Lee and outfielder Ben Francisco to the Philadelphia Phillies for four minor leaguers on Wednesday.
Triple-A right-hander Carlos Carrasco, Class A righty Jason Knapp, catcher Lou Marson — the likely heir apparent to Victor Martinez — and shortstop Jason Donald were sent to Cleveland.
“At the root of this deal was balancing the conviction of our ability to compete in 2010 with the opportunity to impact the team’s construction for years to come,” Indians general manager Mark Shapiro said in a statement. “Without the sense of confidence in the team’s ultimate competitiveness, we acted aggressively to add players that will impact the organization in 2010 and beyond.”
Why don’t team owners come out and say why certain personnel transactions are made instead of lying? Indians fans know why Lee was dealt. Salary considerations and the fact Lee was likely to be lost to free agency after the 2010 season.
The Phillies weren’t required to give up pitcher J.A. Happ or the three prospects they balked at trading for Roy Halladay — outfielders Dominic Brown and Michael Taylor and pitcher Kyle Drabek.
*****
Lee, the 2008 AL Cy Young winner who turns 31 next month, is having another solid season for the Indians, posting a 3.14 ERA while walking just 33 in 152 innings. He will make $8 million in 2010 and then be eligible for free agency.
*****
Lee would be the sixth Cy Young winner to be traded in the offseason or during the season following his Cy Young win. Last season, 2007 AL Cy Young winner CC Sabathia was traded by the Indians to the Milwaukee Brewers.What does it say about an organization when it trades its best player year after year? Nothing good is the answer. It angers a team’s fans, who are ultimately the customers of the business/Major League baseball team. Cleveland is already finding it difficult to fill its stadium because of their dealing away people like Lee, Sabathia, and others.
Lee gives the Phillies another top starter to join Cole Hamels. Hamels, who was MVP of the World Series and NLCS last fall, has been inconsistent this season. He’s 7-5 with a 4.42 ERA, though he pitched well in a Tuesday night victory over the Diamondbacks.Hamels has been worked awfully hard at a young age(He’s only 25, but this is his 4th season as ML starting pitcher). As baseball stats man Bill James has documented in some of his books, young pitchers who are worked hard before their arm matures are more likely to have their careers shortened by arm trouble. Some Baseball people recognize that, Earl Weaver for instance who said the best place for a young pitcher was long relief.
|
|
