Author: Anthony Stalter (Page 401 of 1503)

      Report: Marlins fire manager Fredi Gonzalez

      June 23, 2010 /

      In a rather surprising development, the Marlins have fired manager Fredi Gonzalez according to the Palm Beach Post.

      Here is part of owner Jeffrey Loria’s statement regarding the firing:

      It is never easy to make a change in managers. Fredi has been with our Club for four years. We have become close, and I am extremely fond of Fredi. I, along with all our fans, am grateful for Fredi’s contributions. At the same time, we can’t let personal feelings get in the way of taking steps that we believe are necessary to improve our ballclub.

      Decisions on individual personnel cannot supercede our overall goal, which is to win. We believe we can do better and be better. We owe it to our fans to put this team in the best possible position to win. Everyone knows how I feel about winning. That’s the reason we’re making this change.

      We still have a very long season in front of us, and plenty of time to turn things around. Everyone – our fans, our team, our organization, and myself – wants us to win. That continues to be, and will always be, the goal.

      Along with Gonzalez, bench coach Carlos Tosca and hitting coach Jim Presley were both let go as well. Triple-A New Orleans skipper Edwin Rodriguez was named interim manager, while Brandon Hyde was named interim bench coach and John Mallee was named interim hitting coach.

      I couldn’t even begin to speculate why Gonzalez was fired (the Marlins are only two games under .500, although are 7.5 games back in the NL East), but I can assure you that we don’t know the full story yet. He was named The Sporting News Manager of the Year in 2008 and with a win over the Cardinals earlier this year, he won more games than any other skipper in Marlins history. Something doesn’t add up here.

      One club that could be interested in Gonzalez’s services is the Braves, with whom he spent a couple of years with before being named manager of the Marlins in 2006. Bobby Cox is retiring at the end of the season and Gonzalez might be the perfect fit.

      Either way, Gonzalez will have suitors. He earned a lot of respect for the way he handled an incident with Hanley Ramirez earlier in the season and I’m sure he’ll be back on someone’s bench next season.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, MLB

      The Broncos’ upcoming contract dilemma with Bailey and Dumervil

      June 22, 2010 /

      Mile Klis of the Denver Post brought up an interesting point recently in regards to Elvis Dumervill and Champ Bailey’s contract situations.

      Both players will become free agents at the end of the season and both could command salaries that push north of $10 million per season. If the Broncos give one player a long-term deal, will they be able to do the same with the other?

      Dumervil is 26 and coming off a season in which he led the league in sacks with 17. Bailey is 32, but is still playing at a Pro Bowl level, is a fan favorite and recently told the media that he doesn’t plan on hanging ‘em up for at least another five more years.

      Generally, teams pay younger players first and legit pass-rushers like Dumervil are hard to come by. But Pro Bowl caliber cornerbacks don’t fall off trees either and Bailey hasn’t shown signs of decline.

      What is owner Pat Bowlen to do? If he pays both of them market value, he’ll cripple his team’s budget and the Broncos probably wouldn’t be able to be major players in free agency next year. If he only pays one of them and allows the other to walk, he’ll have an angry fan base on his hands and worse, he’ll have a huge hole to fill defensively. If he gives one player a long-term deal and franchises the other, he could sabotage his short-term budget.

      Even though Dumervil has toed the company line his entire career, this is one of the reasons why the Broncos have chosen to wait to give him a long-term contract. If he plays well this season, then they’ll have a huge decision to make at the end of the year. If he doesn’t play well, they might have an excuse to let him hit the free agent market and then they can invest long-term money in Bailey.

      Either way, it doesn’t appear that Bowlen and the Broncos are ready to make a decision, which is why Dumervil still doesn’t have a multi-year deal.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, NFL

      Report: Rangers have to change bankruptcy plan

      June 22, 2010 /

      According to ESPN.com, the Rangers will have to change their bankruptcy plan to avoid having it killed by upset creditors.

      In a ruling issued Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge D. Michael Lynn in Fort Worth said creditors and team owners were adversely affected by the Rangers’ plan. That plan calls for paying creditors $75 million and selling the team to a group led by Hall of Fame pitcher and team president Nolan Ryan and Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg.

      The judge didn’t take issue with the $75 million figure but with some creditors’ rights being removed.

      The ruling allows the team and two groups of creditors to vote on the plan. Because creditors have said they would vote against it, the Rangers are expected to change the plan before any vote happens.

      Rumors have it that the Rangers are interested in acquiring a pitcher (they’ve already been linked to Roy Oswalt) at the trade deadline this year. But in their current financial state, I don’t know how they’ll be able to pull that off unless Major League Baseball pays at least part of the player’s salary.

      It would unfair to the current players if the Rangers couldn’t acquire a much-needed arm in order to get them to the postseason because of their financial mess, but those are the breaks.

      External Sports, MLB

      2010 World Cup: France, South Africa both finished

      June 22, 2010 /

      France, South Africa, you can both exit stage left now.

      Despite their 2-1 victory over France on Tuesday, South Africa didn’t survive its group stage, making it the first host nation not to advance from the opening round.

      But hey, at least they won a game, which is more than what France can say.

      From FOX Sports.com:

      French soccer has been a mess ever since sports daily L’Equipe printed details of striker Nicolas Anelka’s expletive-filled rant at coach Raymond Domenech during halftime of last Thursday’s 2-0 loss to Mexico.

      The French soccer federation sent Anelka home Saturday and the French players protested by refusing to practice the following day. Footage of the players refusing to come out of the team bus were beamed back to a shocked nation.

      Not even a dressing down by French sports minister Roselyne Bachelot on the eve of the match could inspire Les Bleus. Bachelot called an emergency meeting Monday to tell the players they had let the country down and had one last chance to redeem themselves.

      In the stands, one fan flew a French flag with the word “shame” emblazoned on it.

      France has not won any of its six matches in major international tournaments (Euro 2008, 2010 World Cup) since the retirement of Zinedine Zidane.

      Excuse me while I…

      External Sports, Soccer

      SI.com: 20 best MLB decisions of the past year

      June 22, 2010 /

      SI.com’s Jon Heyman put together a list of the 20 best decisions made by MLB teams over the past year.

      His No. 1 was the Nationals’ signing of Stephen Strasburg, while his No. 2 was the Cubs’ decision to trade Milton Bradley to the Mariners in exchange for pitcher Carlos Silva (who is leading the club in wins, ERA and WHIP).

      Heyman’s No. 4 best decision involves a team that has been one of the bigger surprises so far this season:

      4. The Padres’ decision not to trade Adrian Gonzalez and/or Heath Bell

      Everyone assumed new Padres GM Jed Hoyer would want to make a big splash and set the team up for the future by trading All-Star 1B Adrian Gonzalez, who could bring a haul with his reasonable contract ($10 mil over two years) and big-time talent. Word supposedly was that Hoyer had an obvious landing spot in his old haunt in Boston, where Hoyer had been an assistant GM and knew the system. That assumption was supposedly bolstered by Padres marketing materials that allegedly omitted Gonzalez.

      However, Hoyer and Padres decision-makers held both Gonzalez and top reliever Heath Bell, fortified the rotation by adding stable veteran Jon Garland and kept their fingers crossed. To everyone’s surprise — except maybe San Diego’s brass — the Padres have been at or near the top of the NL West all year. Hoyer didn’t disrupt what former Padres GM Kevin Towers built in San Diego to satisfy his ego. Instead, he did the prudent thing. Just because Towers was fired by new owner Jeff Moorad doesn’t mean he did a bad job. It turns out there were some very good pieces in place, including what appears to be the majors’ best bullpen.

      There is still some concern in San Diego that the Padres will be sellers at the trade deadline, but if they stay in contention in the NL West it’s hard to envision that happening. This is just speculation on my part, but I have to believe that if Hoyer does make a big move (i.e. trading Gonzo and/or Bell), it won’t come until after the season.

      Until then, the Padres’ current roster will have every opportunity to make a run at the postseason this year.

      External Sports, MLB

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