Category: MLB (Page 102 of 448)

      The self-implosion of Carlos Zambrano continues

      June 26, 2010 /

      Carlos Zambrano, who may or may not be certifiably nuts, was suspended indefinitely by the Cubs following his outburst in a game against the White Sox on Friday night.

      Here’s what happened (via the Chicago Sun-Times):

      Zambrano stormed up and down the dugout, turning on several of his teammates, including first baseman Derrek Lee. Zambrano accused his teammates of failing to dive for ground balls that went for hits.

      Piniella, pitching coach Larry Rothschild and other coaches interceded as Zambrano appeared ready for a physical confrontation. He was held back and sent to the clubhouse before the Cubs took the field in the bottom of the second.

      Big Crazy also apparently went into a tirade with some cameramen on his way out of the stadium last night, which should be really, really fun to watch whenever it reaches the light of day.

      Roughly $45 million is still owed to Zambrano, but it might be time for the Cubs to cut him like a dead limb and move on. He’s been nothing short of an absolute disaster both on and off the field the last two seasons and this latest outburst may have bought him a one-way ticket out of town – Milton Bradley style. I’m not sure if the Cubs could get anything in a trade for him (at least not without paying most of his salary), but if I’m Jim Hendry I’m on the phone right now figuring out which GMs didn’t see the outburst last night.

      “Hey Jon, it’s Jim. I was just wondering if you caught SportsCenter last night or early this morning? No? Great…I’d like to talk about Carlos Zambrano and what he’d look like in a Rangers uniform…”


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, MLB

      D-Backs’ Edwin Jackson pitches MLB’s fourth no-no of the year because, you know, they’re easy to do now

      June 26, 2010 /

      The year of the pitcher continues.

      Edwin Jackson became the fourth pitcher this season to throw a no-hitter, after he blanking the Rays 1-0 on Friday night. He walked seven of the first 13 batters he faced and threw a career-high 149 pitches, yet still managed to stay in the game in order to make history in the end. Perhaps what’s most amazing about his feat is that he did it against a very good hitting offense in Tampa.

      Just what in the name of David Cone is going on here? It used to be that we would see one or two no-hitters a season, but we’ve already been privy to four this year alone. It’s not even July; we haven’t even reached the All-Star break yet.

      Not since the 1991 season has baseball seen four pitchers throw no-hitters in a single year. The Rangers’ Nolan Ryan, the Phillies’ Tommy Greene, the Expos’ Dennis Martinez, the White Sox’s Wilson Alvarez and the Royals’ Bret Saberhagen all threw no-no’s in ’91, while members of the Orioles and Braves each threw combined no-hitters that year as well.

      Considering there have already been four thrown this season, we could be looking at a potential record-breaking year for no-hitters. It’s almost like fans are expecting them every month now. I saw that Jackson threw his last night and the first thing that crossed my mind was, “Yeah, that’s about right.”

      Not to pile it on, but had Jim Joyce not blown Armando Galarraga’s perfect game in Detroit a couple weeks ago, this year would have already matched 1991’s output. That’s incredible.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, MLB

      Report: Marlins to offer manager job to Bobby Valentine

      June 25, 2010 /

      The Marlins have apparently already found their replacement for Fredi Gonzalez.

      From the Miami Herald:

      Bobby Valentine is expected to be offered the job as the Florida Marlins’ next manager.

      Valentine, an analyst for ESPN, confirmed through an e-mail he was flying to South Florida to meet with close friend and Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria and several team executives.

      That’s when Loria is expected to offer the 60-year-old former Rangers and Mets skipper a four-year contract to become the organization’s 11th manager, ESPN reported Thursday night.

      Team president David Samson confirmed he called Valentine moments after the team fired its winningest manager, Fredi Gonzalez, Wednesday morning. Samson said Thursday that Valentine’s interview Friday would be the first in a series with “several” candidates.

      It was a little strange that the Marlins decided to fire Gonzalez after winning two straight games. (Usually owners wait until the team is on a downslide to fire the manager.) But if they already had Valentine lined up as a candidate and felt good that he would agree to come aboard, then their timing with Gonzalez makes more sense.

      Valentine last managed in the big leagues from 1996 to 2002 with the Mets. He was with the Chiba Lotte Marines from 2004 until he was fired in 2009 and has spent the last year with ESPN.

      I’m dying to see how he and Hanley Ramirez will get along.

      External Sports, MLB

      Baker: Mariners can’t keep Cliff Lee

      June 24, 2010 /

      Despite their recent hot streak, Seattle Times columnist Geoff Baker writes that it’s too late for the Mariners to keep starter Cliff Lee.

      Recent play aside, Cliff Lee is likely to be shopped. The Mariners need to start filling holes for next year and beyond and the Lee trade is the best place to start since there is no way he will sign here beyond 2010. He’s in line for a $100-million contract, which he probably has a better shot at getting now than he did last off-season, and is not going to take the massive (try 50 percent) discount the M’s would need to get to keep him. Why would he give them that? He’s been here only two months. … We can dream and dream about a 1-2 punch in the post-season, but this lineup is not good enough to get the M’s there.

      Coming into the 2010 season, the Mariners believed that if they pitched well enough and played good defense that they could mask their deficiencies on offense. But seeing as how they’re 13 games back in the AL West and have scored the third fewest runs in baseball, that game plan is shot to hell. Not even Lee and Felix Hernandez can save them.

      Baker’s right: at some point, the M’s are going to have to go out and get a big popper for the middle of their lineup. What good is it to have Ichiro on base all the time if he has nobody behind him to knock him in? It’s hard to fault Jack Zduriencik for building the roster around pitching and defense based on the park they play in, but clearly the M’s don’t even have enough offense to be a .500 team.

      They need to get a bat in exchange for Lee – that should be Zdurienkcik’s main priority as the trade deadline approaches.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, MLB

      TMZ: Johan Santana accused of sexual battery

      June 23, 2010 /

      According to TMZ.com, Mets’ ace Johan Santana was accused of sexual battery on a golf course in Ft. Myers, Florida last year.

      TMZ obtained a copy of the report filed with the Lee County Sheriff’s Office on October 28, 2009 — one day after the alleged attack in Fort Myers. In the document, the accuser (referred to only as Jane Doe) claims she and Santana were walking on the golf course when he “began to kiss her and pull up her top, unclasping her bra.”

      The report continues: “Johan began to pull at [the accuser’s] skirt/skort and attempt [sic] to place his hands into her underwear.” According to the document the alleged victim “told Johan no multiple times but Johan persisted.”

      The report gets more graphic, when the accuser claims Santana penetrated her, grabbed and bruised her calf, and “ejaculated on her upper thigh.”

      The accuser claims she “cleaned her thigh with her underwear” — and then returned to a tennis court with Santana, and actually watched him play tennis with someone else.

      According to the report, a detective collected all of the accuser’s clothing as evidence.

      Here’s Santana’s response:

      “I’m aware of the situation,” Santana read from a prepared statement before the Mets-Tigers game at Citi Field. “What I can tell you is that police have investigated these claims last year, and I was never charged with anything, and the case is closed. Unfortunately at this time, that’s all I can say. And I have no further comments.”

      I’m surprised that no one has reported the story until now since it happened in October of 2009. But seeing as how the investigation is closed, I doubt he’ll face any punishment from MLB or the Mets – especially considering he was never charged with anything.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, MLB

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