Sorry, no Foul Ball post today. Instead I'm going to link to stories from yesterday concentrating on the first round of the MLB Draft and the compensation round.
- Pitching was the dominate theme of this draft. Out of the 33 first round selections 19 were pitchers. Two of the top three picks were pitchers from UCLA. The top four picks were pitching prospects. Pitching is a premium in baseball and the draft is like a swap meet. I'm sure some of the pitchers drafted this year will be used as trade pieces in the next couple of years.
- John Sickels of Minor League Ball lists his steals and stretches and no surprise the Los Angeles Dodgers reached for a guy they shouldn't have. The Dodgers drafted Chris Reed out of Stanford because of their financial situation and Reed will sign for the cheap money.
- The biggest surprise of the draft was the fact that Anthony Rendon of Rice slid all the way down to the sixth pick where the Nationals picked him up. Injury reports heading into the draft said that Rendon has a bad shoulder and that's possibly why he slid as far as he did.
- There's still plenty of talent left in the draft. Josh Bell is a big prospect with lots of power. Matthew Purke and Josh Osich are still left on the board but they both have injury concerns. Then there are players like Daniel Norris out of high school who can jack up their price tag because they're committed to a college that are still left.
From everything that I have read about this year's draft, there isn't a consensus number one overall pick but the draft is deep with talent. That's why I'm interested in this year's draft. While the Giants pick near the end of the first round, they should be able to get a talented player. Oh yeah, there's a Lincecum clone in this year's draft.
"What if?": I'm a sucker for the "What if?" game. It was my favorite part of the Bill Simmons basketball book. It's always fun to look at the past and think in hindsight. That's exactly what Peter Gammons did today concerning the MLB Draft. My favorite "What if?" question Gammons asks is, "what if the Royals had selected Mike Schmidt over George Brett in the 71 draft? The Royals could have also selected Jim Rice in that draft. Not that the Royals made the wrong pick, but could you have imagined Schmidt in Royal blue or Brett in Phillies red?
What?: The Mets should play all their games with Yakety Sax playing in the background. Evidence: This Mike Pelfrey balk that happened last weekend against the Phillies.
Mitch Williams "Columnist": I don't know who edits the writing over at MLB.com or who hires the writers, but having Mitch Williams write "columns" probably isn't a good idea. Chris Berman thinks Mitch Williams uses a lot of cliches like, "When I played with Towers, he pitched when all of us knew he was hurt -- a gamer." At least he didn't say, "Towers always hustled" or "Towers was gritty."
"Dat Dude" Sounds Like a Good Guy: "Dat Dude" I'm talking about is Brandon Phillips. Cardinals fans might not think Phillips is great guy, but Phillips did do a great think this past week. During an off day, a fan asked Phillips if he would show up at his little league game via Twitter. And Phillips showed up!
No, for proof of that, we turn to a Little League field in West Chester, Ohio, on a Thursday afternoon earlier this month. A 14-year-old named Connor Echols had tweeted Phillips on the Reds' day off and told him he should come watch his team, the Cincy Flames. Phillips tweeted back, asking for the address, but the kid didn't think an appearance was really possible until he saw Phillips strolling over to the field.
"Brandon!" Connor yelled from the dugout. "It was me! I'm the one who tweeted you!"
Phillips took in the entire game, in which Connor went 3-for-5 in a 13-2 win. He met all of Connor's teammates and their parents, watched the kids grab their postgame oranges and turkey sandwiches and felt like a kid himself again.
Oranges and turkey sandwiches? What happened to the days when you would get the ticket to the snack shop and you would get nothing but candy? What is happening to our youth? What kind of communist country do we live in if we are feeding children oranges and turkey sandwiches after little league games? ANSWER ME! Oh yeah, Brandon Phillips sounds like a nice guy.
How Slow Are the San Francisco Police?: In this video it takes the San Francisco police a minute and ten seconds to finally arrest this guy on the field. (This happened last season, I just found the video.)
Things the SFPD were doing before finally running onto the field. 1. Eating garlic fries 2. Drinking a Gordon Bierch Beer 3. Finishing writing all the names on their scorecard 4. Take a trip down the coke slide 5. Buying a Posey jersey in the dugout store 6. Feeding seals 7. Hitching a ride on a rickshaw 8. Chatting with Kruk & Kuip 9. Singing "Lights" 10. Waiting for the old man balldude to finish his stretching
Chase Utley Returns Tonight So The Rest Of The NL East Should Concede the Division To Philadelphia: Chase Utley returns tonight which means Florida and Atlanta should just give up on the season. Hey the Marlins and Braves had a nice season, but the rightful kings always deserve the top spot. Especially when they have OMG Halladay and OMG Lee. Peons south of the Mason Dixon line should just go to the back of the line just like the peons west of Harrisburg.
How The Hell Does BABIP Work?: I once did a feature on various Sabermetrics explaining their basic use. I even once described what BABIP is. Fangraphs though is better at explaining BABIP than myself and they did it today. A quick reminder about BABIP, it's the stat that basically explains how lucky you are at hitting or pitching. In this article though, Fangraphs talks about how they are changing how you talk about BABIP. Instead of using a decimal point, example Matt Joyce has the best BABIP at .410, you use this number as a percentage. Matt Joyce's BABIP is 41%, meaning 41 percent of Joyce's balls for hits. Easier to understand now?
Power Rankings!: Grant Frisbee Brisbee of Baseball Nation does these little power rankings each week. Grant thinks he's very clever so this week he did a power rankings of the most annoying players/broadcasters/whatever with AJ Pierzynski as number one. I respectfully disagree. His eighth ranked player, Shane Victorino, should be number one. Victorino likes to touch people's junk while sliding into second base. Shane Victorino likes to pretend he's Willie Mays, except he's a complete failure. Shane Victorino's face looks like a rectum. Vote Shane Victorino number one!
Fred Wilpon Is Old: Seriously look at this picture of Fred Wilpon in the New Yorker. Wilpon looks like a turkey vulture sitting with David Wright and Jason Bay. Oh yeah, he's broke. That article will definitely make you think twice about giving money to another investor again. And also he thinks David Wright and Jose Reyes suck. Did I mention he's also old?
WHY HAVEN'T I SEEN THIS BLOG BEFORE?!?!: Anyone who reads this blog knows I have a weird fascination with Ozzie Guillen. Seriously though, who isn't fascinated by Ozzie Guillen? Check out this tweet by the guy and tell me another manager who talks like that on Twitter? Could you imagine Jim Leyland on Twitter saying "Good shit Chris Rock. U are funny." Could you imagine Jim Leyland on Twitter? Please save me your Joe Maddon nomination as the most fascinating manager in baseball. Maddon is a wine drinking, hair coloring snob. Ozzie runs circles around Maddon.
That's why I'm disappointed in the fact that I'm just now finding out that Ozzie Guillen is a part of the MLB blogging network. Yes, Ozzie Guillen has his very own blog! Psh please, it's the best blog in the entire world. Your blog and mine are now invalid.
Brawl And A Good Story: A bawl erupted between the Yankee and Red Sox single A teams the other day with the Yankees top prospect Slade Heathcott at the center of everything. Come to find out Heathcott's story is pretty inspirational. Heathcott battled alcohol problems before ever turning 21 and has already gone to Alcoholics Anonymous to become clean. He's now one of the Yankees top prospects in their system.
Old Man Talks About Old Record: Old man columnist Hal Bodley of MLB.com talks about how on May 15, 1941, Joe DiMaggio started his incredible 56-game hitting streak. Bodley talks about how DiMaggio's hitting streak is the holy grail of sports records and generally just comes off old sounding.
While I appreciate DiMaggio's record, my biggest problem is with columnists like Bodley romanticizing records like it. Baseball is seen as a dying sport and romanticizing about a 70-year old record does nothing but further the perception of baseball as an old sport. 90's 1st Basemen!: If you haven't read the running series on 1990's MLB 1st basemen over at Pitcher & Poets, you need to. Guest writers have talked about John Kruk, John Olerud, Jeff Bagwell, J.T. Snow and even Jeff King. I'm biased, but my favorite profile was on J.T. Snow. Snow was one of my all-time favorite Giants and I remember being at a Giants game when Snow hit a grand slam. My uncle who was with me at the game said "I smell a grand salami." Sure enough, Snow hit a grand slam and the Giants would go on to win that day. I've never forgotten that and will always remember J.T. Snow.
Mike Schmidt Wants You America: The 700 Level has a piece on Mike Schmidt who is now a spokesperson for the World Fishing Network. Schmidt wants America to find the "Ultimate Fishing Town USA".
This makes me want to grab my pole right now and start trolling for Trout. Damn you Michael Jack Schmidt. Damn you for making me want to go fishing right now.
The Yankees Are Old: And they're not getting younger. And as Joel Sherman pointed out today in the NY Post, Jorge Posada is just a part of the problem. Derek Jeter is aging faster than the Nazi in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and is apparently angering his bosses. Nick Swisher has completely stopped hitting. Their rotation is poor. Tampa Bay isn't going away. Boston got their act together by thrashing the Yankees this past weekend. It's going to be a long year in the Bronx and unless they start making major trades for pitching health and the "core four" stop pouting, they're not going to improve. The Great Escape: Just watch.
What Pitch Is That?: Grant over at McCovey Chronicles posted this .gif and asked a simple question. What is this pitch that Brian Wilson? Is it a cutter or a changeup? Also that's not the first crazy pitch Brian Wilson has thrown this year. (Note: Don't look at this Kris. With the Orioles closer situation, you'll just stare at this .gif and start crying.)
Mock Draft, Baseball Style!: John Sickles of Minor League Baseball has posted his first mock draft for the baseball draft. There's one thing clear about this year's baseball draft is that there is no Bryce Harper or Stephen Strasburg to choose from. There isn't a clear cut number one choice. Just the Pittsburgh Pirates luck. Sickles has the Pirates taking Anthony Rendon with the first pick, a third baseman from Rice. The other player the Pirates could possibly choose is Gerrit Cole a pitcher from UCLA. Overall this draft class looks very weak.
The Baseball Update takes a look at the stories and happenings in baseball.
Great Timing Nationals: The Washington Nationals, the team of many screw-ups, actually perfectly timed something. Tonight the Washington Nationals will host Military Appreciation Night tonight against the San Francisco Giants. Any military personnel with valid ID will be allowed to watch tonight's game for free.
To celebrate Military Appreciation Night, thousands of complimentary tickets will be donated to military personnel and their families to see the Nationals face the defending World Series Champion San Francisco Giants on Monday, May 2 at 7:05 p.m.
Military personnel can receive four complimentary tickets with a valid ID, available for pick up at the Grand Staircase Box Office beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. Tickets may also be picked up prior to the game at the Main Box Office during non-game hours.
The Baseball Update takes a look at the stories and happenings around Major League Baseball.
Creepy Pirate is Creepy: If you thought the Pittsburgh Pirate was creepy before, watch this video.
There's just something about Pirates that have always fascinated me. The laughing Pittsburgh Pirate though is just creepy and should be set ablaze.
Expanded Playoffs?: Oh yes folks it's coming. Major League Baseball is going to water down their product in a couple of years by adding another Wild Card to each leagues and then the two wild card teams would play each other in a best of 3 round to decide who moves on from there to face the division winners. Does that sound convoluted to you? It does to me.
Some of the players are not happy about this possible move including Tim Lincecum who I didn't know had an opinion on anything until this topic was brought up. Baseball Prospectus brings up the fact about scheduling.
Here's another point though, you're watering down the product Bud. The best thing about baseball in my opinion is that it is extremely hard to make the playoffs. Only one team can win six divisions and only two teams can win the Wild Card. Basketball and hockey in my opinion have watered down playoffs because half of their teams in the league can make it to the postseason. In baseball only a handful of the teams can reach the postseason. That in essence makes the regular season meaningful to teams fighting for a playoff spot. Don't ruin this Bud by adding another team and another round of playoff games. You're going to do it anyways, but at least think about what you are doing.
With no Foul Ball this morning, I thought I would give you an Baseball Update. A look at stories and happening in baseball at the moment.
Humidor Hate: The Giants travel to Colorado to play the MLB leading Rockies. The Giants started the season 2-4 on the year but have gone 7-3 in the past 10 games. The Rockies meanwhile have beaten everybody to reach their MLB best record of 12-3. This should be a great series, especially because Lincecum starts tonight for the Giants.
If you remember last season the Giants accused the Rockies of tampering with the humidor balls at Coors Field. There's the video of Lincecum throwing the ball back to the umpire and yelling "juiced ball." There's the comments from Jon Miller basically saying the Rockies cheat by bringing non-humidor balls onto the field of play. Now MLB will closely monitor the baseball balls at Coors Field, presumably because the Giants ratted the Rockies out. This has caused a feud between the two teams and their fan bases. Should be an interesting series.
Who's That Leading The AL Central?: The biggest surprise of the young season is that the two teams picked to finish in the bottom of the AL Central are actually the two best teams in the AL Central. Yes the Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals are first and second in the AL Central while everyone else is below .500. Amazing to think about. The Royals are doing everything on offense while the Indians are doing everything with their pitching. Can these teams keep with this pace? I don't see why not. Every team in the AL Central has showed they have one major flaw. The Indians and Royals certainly have theirs, but their flaws aren't a major weakness like the Twins injury concerns and the White Sox bullpen.
Yesterday was an epic night for baseball. Three teams clinched playoff spots (Rays, Yankees, Reds) and one team is four games closer to the playoffs (Giants). The Yankees claimed a playoff spot behind a one-run performance of C.C. Sabathia. The Rays claimed their playoff spot behind a David Price shutout. No one still showed up to the Rays game. Predictably Rays fans made excuses saying it's too hard to commute to St. Petersburg to watch the Rays. The Tampa Bay area is just a bad baseball town. Like Phoenix, it's a retirement community. People move there to get out of the harsh winters of the Northeast. They're fans of other teams. I'm sure Rays fans will show up for the playoffs and claim they've followed the team all year.
The most epic playoff-clinching game last night happened in Cincinnati. With the game tied in the ninth inning, Jay Bruce launched a ball to the moon to clinch the NL Central for the Reds. Hell of a way to win your division. A walkoff home run.
So for the first time in 15 years, the Cincinnati Reds are going to the playoffs. The Babes listed off stuff that was invented back in 1995, the last time the Reds went to the playoffs. The last time the Reds went the playoffs, Prime Time was still playing baseball.
With all the playoff spots filled except two, everyone's attention now shifts to the Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, and San Francisco Giants. The Padres have been slipping down both the NL West standings and Wild Card standings by losing three games in a row, including two against the Cubs. If the Padres continue to lose, the Giants could wrap up the NL West before they even have to play the Padres during the weekend. Needless to say everyone's attention will be stuck on the two California teams and the Atlanta Braves.
(I decided to take a break from previewing college football and the NFL for today and give you an update on the baseball season.)
Why Was Don Wakamatsu Fired?: Yesterday the Seattle Mariners fired manager Don Wakamatsu. There are two sides of the story why Don Wakamatsu was fired. Big League Stew claims Wakamatsu was scapegoated because of the failings of the front office. Joe Posnanski agreed with this assessment. Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times says Wakamatsu lost his clubhouse after the Ken Griffey Jr. falling asleep in the clubhouse during a game story was leaked. So what was it? Was Wakamatsu fired for losing the clubhouse or fired to be made out as the scapegoat for the terrible Seattle season? I think it was a combination of booth.
Wakamatsu did lose the clubhouse after the Griffey falling asleep in the clubhouse story was leaked. Wakamatsu lost the trust of the players and everything snowballed from there. There was the dugout fight between himself and Chone Figgins. There was the Milton Bradley benching. Then Griffey Jr. finally retired. While not all of these instances are Wakamatsu's fault, he did play a part in them.
You can follow all the trade rumors over at SB Nation or MLB Trade Rumors. The latest rumors is that the Colorado Rockies are considering selling. Melvin Mora, Brad Hawpe, and Ryan Spilborghs could be moved by the deadline. The latest rumor surrounding the Giants is that they are interested in hot head slugger Jose Guillen. Use this thread to discuss the latest trade rumors. I'll update through the day if anything happens.
In a surprise move the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim traded for Arizona pitcher Dan Haren. Haren was traded for Joe Saunders, minor league pitcher Patrick Corbin, reliever Rafael Rodriguez, and a player to be named later.
This is a surprise because the Angels weren't expected to make a deal. The Phillies and Yankees were the ones supposedly in the running for Haren. Now the Phillies and Yankees will have to look to make a deal for Roy Oswalt or Ted Lilly. (More on this later.)
The immediate reaction to this trade doesn't look good for Arizona. The immediate reaction was that this was a salary dump for Arizona, but that isn't the case. Compared to Joe Saunders though, Haren is actually underpaid compared to market value. Joe Sheehan says the deal isn't a salary dump."It's not even an effective salary dump. Saunders will be 4+ and probably make $6M next year. (Haren: $12.75M.)"
Where will Prince Fielder Go?: Prince Fielder won't become a free agent until after next season, but there are already talks of the Brewers moving Fielder. Yahoo's Jeff Passan notes that Fielder's agent Scott Boras is asking for a contract for Fielder that settles between $125 million and $180 million. The Brewers will not be paying that much for Fielder.
Two teams that could trade for Fielder are the Chicago White Sox and the San Francisco Giants. The White Sox may not have enough to trade for Fielder at the moment. Fielder to the Giants has been a rumor now for two years and it has become a popular meme at McCovey Chronicles. If the Giants traded for Fielder, they would have to send either Matt Cain, Jonathon Sanchez, and Madison Bumgarner. That may be too steep of a price for the Giants to pay. Also since Sanchez is very inconsistent, the Brewers may ask for more than just Sanchez. By the trade deadline though, I see Fielder in a Brewers uniform. They'll probably try and trade him during the off-season when more teams have the cash to trade for Fielder
The baseball season is officially at the All-Star break. With the trade deadline looming at July 31st a lot of contenders will look to bolster their rosters with talent to help them contend for the rest of the season. Cliff Lee was the first big name player traded last Friday when he was dealt to Texas. There will be more players on the move and more teams looking to add simple elements to their team such as bullpen help.
Corey Hart- With the Brewers heading nowhere, Milwaukee may be looking to move all-star right fielder Corey Hart for pitching prospects. When the Giants were in Milwaukee last week, there were talks that the Giants would trade Jonathon Sanchez for Hart. Nothing ever materialized and both teams seem to have moved on. Now the Tampa Bay Rays have shown interest in Hart. With the Rays two games out of first in the AL East and leading the AL Wild Card, the Rays are showing interest in Hart. Depending on what pitching prospects the Rays are willing to send to Milwaukee, this deal could happened. Wherever Hart goes, hopefully he shields his daughter from a beer bath.
Roy Oswalt- With Lee off the market, Houston Astros pitcher Roy Oswalt has suddenly become a hot commodity for a trade. With Jake Peavy injured again, the White Sox will try and trade for Oswalt. Oswalt could veto a trade to the White Sox via his no-trade clause. The Minnesota Twins have also said they have interest in Oswalt. Two things stand in the way of Oswalt moving to Minnesota: 1. His no-trade clause 2. His salary. Oswalt can pick and choose where he wants to go. Also any team that trades for Oswalt will have to pay for salary until 2012. Even if the Astros pay a portion of Oswalt's salary, the Twins may not want to pay for the remaining costs. Adam Dunn- Reports so far say don't be surprised if the Nationals don't trade Dunn and instead re-sign the popular first baseman. With young sluggers such as Ryan Zimmerman and Josh Willingham and Stephen Strasburg anchoring the pitching staff with Matt Capps as the closer, the Nationals are a team of the future and may need Dunn to anchor the lineup next season.
Kerry Wood- Yes, that Kerry Wood is a trade prospect. With teams such as the Giants and Phillies in need of bullpen help, Wood could be a nice acquisition at the right price. Wood has been a closer with Cleveland but would be just another reliever on another team. Wood's stats haven't been that bad this season. He has eight saves and only three blown saves with a 1.60 WHIP and a .263 BAA. Wood could be a nice addition to a bullpen if he isn't on the disable list.
Ted Lilly- With the Cubs not going anywhere and not looking to re-sign Lilly in the off-season, Ted Lilly is a valuable trade piece. The Dodgers, Yankees, and Reds might be looking to add Lilly to their rotation.
The Majors' Hardest Team to Strikeout is The Royals?: According to the stats wizards over atBeyond the Boxscore the Kansas City Royals are the hardest team in the majors to strikeout. The Royals don't strike out because they make contact and avoid striking out. So why are the Royals 9 1/2 games back of the Twins for 1st place in the AL Central? Because the Royals don't score with runners in scoring position. Lesson learned: Baseball is a goofy sport that still requires teams to outscore the opposing team to win.
"If you look at our team, as we move forward, just about every player who is here now will be here again next year," he said. "We're committed to the development of our players and that goal, that objective, has never changed for us. But part of that development process is also winning games. We want our players to be able to experience winning games this year. And we're trying to do what we can to give them what they need to get there."
Makes sense right? Oh okay it makes no sense at all. Zduriencik traded away two prospects for an aging veteran to help improve his team for next season. So how does an aging veteran help out the Mariners for next season? I know it doesn't make sense. Zduriencik must come from the Brian Sabean school of General Managing.
The Tigers Can't Catch a Break From the Umpires: The poor Detroit Tigers can't catch a single break from the umpires this season. First Jim Joyce blew a call at first base that cost pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game. Jim Joyce apologized for blowing the call and everyone was cool. Well it happened again. Another umpire blew a call in favor of the Tigers opponent and once again the umpire apologized for the call.
"Well I kicked it," admitted Cederstrom. "I knew it right away," Cederstrom added. "But it was brutal on TV."
I'm a fan of instant replay in baseball, but not for balls and strikes. After looking at the photo above though, it might be time to use instant replay for all instances in baseball. Especially in situations like the Tigers were in on Saturday. Or at least when the Tigers are playing.
5 Reasons to Fire White Sox GM Kenny Williams: The Dugout Doctors presented five reasons why the White Sox should fire their GM Kenny Williams. I love their number one reason because they say it's either Ozzie or Kenny and Ozzie is the only reason why people pay attention to your ballclub. Good enough for me, I only pay attention to the White Sox because of Ozzie.
Brian Sabean is Better Than Billy Beane?: According to Bay Area writer Monte Poole, the Giants GM has had a better offseason than the A's GM.
Sabean spent the offseason scouring the free-agent market for offense and bought, in order, Mark DeRosa (two years, $12 million), Uribe (who re-signed for one year, $3.25 mil) and Huff (one year, $3 mil).
With plenty of revenue-sharing cash available, Beane spent the offseason shopping for an ace and an outfielder. His major purchases were Ben Sheets, coming off major surgery, at a salary of $10 million, and Coco Crisp, also coming off injury, at a salary of $5 million.
DeRosa and Crisp haven't played much because of injuries. Sheets is 2-6 with a 4.93 ERA; he was the losing pitcher Saturday night. Huff (10 homers, 33 RBIs, .303 average, .395 on-base percentage) and Uribe (10, 41, .290, .356) have given the offensively challenged Giants more than they could have imagined.
Giants fans have always been huge fans of Billy Beane. After all Sabean is our GM. I have to give credit where it is due. Sabean has done a great job this year. Despite the De Rosa signing, the Giants free agent pick ups have worked out well. Uribe has been the Giants biggest run producer. Huff has played three positions this season and leads the team in Home Runs. Pat Burrell has been a nice addition to the lineup. Calling up Buster Posey and letting him play everyday has been a nice change of pace. So I'll give Sabean credit where credit is due, he's done a nice job this season. I will forever be a Billy Beane fan boy though.
Chicks Dig the Long Ball: This old Nike commercial is funny in retrospect. Think about how baseball has changed since it was first aired? Steroids have made every fan and writer question whether a power hitter is hitting home run naturally or is "helped" by an illegal medication. Also we have seen five no-hitters or perfect games in the span of a season and almost had two others. I want to see a commercial with Albert Pujols and Ryan Howard saying, "Chicks dig the Perfect Game."
Time For a New Start: If there was one player in the majors who needed a new start with a different team, it was Dontrelle Willis. Since Willis was traded to the Tigers at the end of 2007 and signed that three-year extension, Willis has fought a variety of injuries, anxiety, and inconsistency.
Yesterday the Tigers traded Dontrelle Willis to the Arizona Diamondbacks for RHP Billy Buckner( He's not related to this Buckner). Willis needed a new start and hopefully he will get that in Arizona. Willis is only 28-years old and has a World Series ring from his days in Florida. So it's not exactly like he's washed up. I will be rooting for Willis in Arizona, except of course when he plays against San Francisco.
It's June, Time For Fire-sales: When the calendar turns to June, most of Major League Baseball is set. You should know who the contenders are and who the sellers will be. The Chicago White Sox look like they will be sellers. The White Sox are 22-29 on the season and are eight games behind Minnesota in the AL Central.
The White Sox might be looking to trade A.J. Pierzynski, Mark Buehrle, Paul Konerko, and Bobby Jenks. There have already been rumors that the Phillies are interested in Jenks. With Kendry Morales blowing out his leg in Anaheim, the Angels are said to be interested in Konerko.
Other teams that could be Fire-selling: Seattle, Houston, Milwaukee, Arizona, Baltimore, and you never know about Florida.
Make Commercial Less Long!: During last night's Rays-Jays game, Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon was ejected in the ninth inning for arguing with home plate umpire Angel Hernandez. Maddon was upset because Hernandez didn't grant Carlos Pena a timeout while Pena was in the batters box. While discussing a way to speed up the games, because the umpiring crew did feature Joe West, Maddon made a simple suggestion as to how the game can be sped up.
"Make commercials less long." Very eloquent Maddon, but I doubt that will happen.
Once again it's time to look at the individual divisions within baseball. The NL West is actually one of the better divisions in baseball this season. Every team is within 6 and a half games of first place. And since it's only the middle of May, every team has a reasonable chance to win this division. The Padres have been the surprise team of the year in baseball with a record of 22-15.
The Padres have been able to maintain the top spot in the NL West on the backs of their pitching staff. The Padres are second in the league in WHIP, first in BABIP, third in FIP, and second in batting average against. All of this has happened without a true ace of the staff. The Padres traded away Jake Peavy last season and Chris Young has been injured. The Padres have relied on cast aways (Kevin Correia), low draft picks (Wade LeBlanc), one-year free agent pickups (Jon Garland), and nobodies (Matt Latos). With a pitching staff like that, you wouldn't expect them to keep up this pace but you never know. It's going to be enthralling to see if the Padres can keep up with this pace.
Series of the Week, Giants at Padres: There is no other way to say this, but the Padres flat out own the Giants this season. The Padres are 6-0 against the Giants with sweeps in San Diego and San Francisco. The Padres pitching staff only allowed 8 runs against the Giants in six games. That's domination. So this two-game series in San Diego versus the Giants has a lot of meaning. If the Padres sweep again, they take a 2.5 games lead over the Giants in the West. If the Giants sweep they take a 1.5 games lead over the Padres and if they split both teams will be tied for the division lead. So yeah, this little two-game series has a lot of meaning. Team of the Week, Dodgers: Since getting swept by the Mets in late April, the Dodgers have gone 12-4 including winning their last seven games. The resurgence of the Dodgers can be directly linked to Andre Ethier's blistering pace. Ethier is .392 batting average, .457 On Base Percentage, 11 home runs, 38 RBIs, .388 BABIP, and a 1.6 WAR. One problem though, Ethier will probably go on the DL soon with a broken pinkie. With Ethier possibility missing time, Matt Kemp, James Loney, and Manny Ramirez will have to pick up their pace if the Dodgers want to contend for the division.
Worst Team of the Week, Diamondbacks: So I'm cheating here because it's actually Arizona's relievers that are terrible. The Diamondbacks relievers have a combined 7.68 ERA and have blown a league-leading nine saves. Epic Facepalm!
Did Matt Cain Inadvertently Screw Up David Wright's Career?: According to Rumors & Rants, Mets 3rd baseman hasn't been the same since Giants pitcher Matt Cain beaned Wright in a game last season. Before being hit by the Cain fastball on August 15, 2009, Wright had been hitting .324. Since that day when Wright returned from the DL, he's only hit .253. Since getting beaned, has that been in the back of Wright's mind?
According to Buster Oleny(Subscription Only) that could be a distinct possibility. Olney revealed that scouts are noticing that Wright “is flinching at breaking pitches, a tendency that they believe started after Wright was beaned last summer.”
I guess Matt Cain did inadvertently screw up David Wright's career. In all seriousness, I could see where Wright would be wary whenever he steps in the box. The guy was beaned by a 90 MPH fastball in the head. He had a concussion. You could see where Wright might be afraid of any inside pitches. I hope the guy gets better, because he's truly one of the good guys and was a great baseball player.
Keith Hernandez's Mustache Talks Trash: When Keith Hernandez isn't falling asleep in the announcers booth, he's selling Bloomsberg Fantasy sports. At least his mustache is. Bloomberg Sports has put together 41 Youtube videos called "Mustache Talk" where Keith Hernandez's mustache talks trash about your fantasy team. As you could imagine, these videos are just as epic as Hernandez's appearance on Seinfeld.
When the AP Notices How Bad You Are, Then Your Really Bad: The Associated Press is known as just a news story organization. They don't provide analysis or opinion. So when the AP came out with this story about how bad the Kansas City Royals are, I was taken aback. The AP is actually critical? Take a look at what they said. "Defending AL Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke hasn't been as sharp to start this season, yet still should have at least one win. The bullpen, somehow, is on pace to be even worse than last season's train wreck.
This was the year the Royals hoped to take a step forward from 25 mostly sorry years. Instead, it's been another backpedal to the bottom of the standings."
Harsh words from the AP. Let's continue with the beating.
"The Royals have been baseball's masters of mediocrity since their only World Series title in 1985, failing to reach the playoffs since and posting a winning record just once in the past 15 years."
Masters of mediocrity? Slow down AP and remember who you really are. Just a news wire organization. Reading this article though reminds you of how bad the Royals have been over the years, because when the AP recognizes how bad you are then your really bad.
