Category: MLB (Page 103 of 448)

      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

      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

      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

      Strasburg continues to laugh at big league hitting

      June 19, 2010 /

      Nationals’ phenom Stephen Strasburg once again dominated his competition in his third start of the season, striking out 10 White Sox in seven innings on Friday night. Unfortunately for him he picked up a no-decision, but he walked zero batters against the best lineup he’s pitched against since he was called up.

      Thus far, he has struck out 32 batters in 19 1/3 innings and has compiled a 1.86 ERA. The 32 Ks is the most for any pitcher in baseball’s modern era (1900 – present). He’s also the first pitcher in the modern era to have two 10-strikeout, no-walk games in his first three MLB starts.

      Granted, the Pirates, Indians and White Sox don’t have powerhouse offenses, but so what? These are still major league hitters that he’s managed to look like toddlers swinging those big, red plastic bats for the first time in the backyard. His stuff is absolutely out-of-this-world.

      Strasburg is scheduled to face the Royals in his next matchup, which will be the best offense he has seen to date.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, MLB

      Mikey’s MLB power rankings

      June 19, 2010 /

      We’re about 40% through the current major league baseball season. That means we’re about to enter the warmest part of the season both on the field and in the standings. Contenders will begin to emerge and pretenders will begin to fade if they haven’t faded already. So we thought it was a good time to have our first installment of MLB power rankings…..

      1. Tampa Bay Rays (41-26)—Amazingly, the Rays have a better road record (23-11) than a home record (18-15). Also amazingly is how they jumped out of the gate and have stayed in front—with their usual formula of strong pitching (3.55 ERA leads the AL), speed (major league best 76 steals) and defense.

      2. New York Yankees (41-26)—Don’t look now, but the Yankees have caught up to Tampa. They just have too much talent for the Rays to keep them down all season.

      3. Boston Red Sox (41-28)—Struggling to keep pace with the Rays and Yanks, but now just one game back and right in the thick of it. Does anyone else feel bad for the Orioles and Blue Jays?

      4. Atlanta Braves (40-28)—A huge surprise to be leading the NL East on June 19, but not as big a surprise as the Phillies sitting in third place.

      5. Minnesota Twins (38-29)—Ignited by a new ball park and a fat new contract for their superstar catcher Joe Mauer, the Twins are going to run away with the AL Central because no one else wants to.

      6. San Diego Padres (39-28)—Definitely the surprise of the first two months, Bud Black has this Padres team over-achieving. They recently relinquished first place, but took it right back, and the Padres may stay in the hunt because of how well they fare in those close, low-scoring games.

      7. New York Mets (39-28)—Here’s another shocker. The Mets were picked by most pundits to be a fourth or fifth place team. And here they are battling the Braves for NL East supremacy. But the biggest surprise has been the starting rotation, where guys like Mike Pelfrey, RA Dickey and Jon Niese are reminding Mets fans of the Seaver/Koosman/Matlack days. And we haven’t even mentioned Johan Santana.

      8. Los Angeles Dodgers (38-29)—They’ve quietly made their move from bottom feeders to frontrunners, and they have the talent to stay there. But seriously, Manny Ramirez has SEVEN home runs on June 19? Hmmmm.

      9. Texas Rangers (39-28)—Everyone thought the Mariners would be the team to beat in the AL West this year, but they have one of the worst records in baseball at 26-41. Meanwhile, the Rangers are riding a frightening middle of the lineup (Guerrero/Hamilton/Cruz) to the division lead

      10. San Francisco Giants (37-29)—With Barry Zito looking like his old self, this team is extremely dangerous with him, all-world Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez.

      Tie 10. Detroit Tigers (37-29)--A 7-game winning streak has them right here and only a half-game back of the Twins.

      External Sports, MLB

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