Category: MLB (Page 212 of 448)

      Could Lee be a trade option for Giants?

      June 14, 2009 /

      The Chicago Tribune is speculating that the Giants could make a push to acquire Cubs first baseball Derrek Lee. The paper notes that San Fran’s pitching is good enough to keep them in contention, but the team desperately needs a big bat and Lee could be a viable option given that Chicago has a couple of replacements for him in Micah Hoffpauir and Jake Fox.

      While rumors are definitely fun to discuss, this one looks like it has no teeth. The Cubs haven’t given any indication that they want to deal Lee and even if they have considered it, he’d still have to waive his no-trade clause. (And why would he waive it to go to a team like the Giants?)

      The Giants make an easy target in all of this because yes, they do need a bat. Aaron Rowand, Pablo Sandoval, Bengie Molina, Randy Winn and Juan Uribe don’t exactly strike the fear of God into opposing pitchers. But GM Brian Sabean has to be smart here and even though San Fran is playing well, it’s probably not worth it for the Giants to trade young arms (which they’ve got plenty of) so that they can put a band-aid on a deep gash.

      Now, if a situation comes up and a club is willing to part with a young bat in order to get a couple of arms, then all bets are off. If the Giants can get a young, productive bat this season that could also add to their rebuilding process, then Sabean would be a fool not to jump on the opportunity. But how often do clubs make young bats available?

      The Giants have already been linked to the Marlins’ Dan Uggla and the Nats’ Adam Dunn. Now Lee’s name has been throw into the mix and while it would be tempting for Sabean to add a bat to his weak lineup, none of the aforementioned names are going to help the Giants win a World Series this year so why bother? Why sacrifice the future for half a season?

      We’ll see if this rumor grows any legs, but I hardly doubt it will.

      MLB, Rumors & Gossip

      Nationals to fire manager Acta

      June 14, 2009 /

      According to a report by SI.com, the Nationals are expected to fire manager Manny Acta, possibly as early as Monday.

      Acta, 40, is well-liked by his bosses but appears to be taking the hit for the team’s 16-43 start. Nationals bosses feel “something needs to be done,” a person familiar with their thinking said.

      Nationals bosses are said to admire Acta’s patience. However, they may not have the same sort of patience. He is 148-234 in his time in Washington.

      Nationals president Stan Kasten and interim GM Mike Rizzo did not return phone calls.

      The likely firing was first reported by foxsports.com, which said that Jim Riggleman would take over for Acta. Riggleman has managed the Cubs, Padres and Mariners.

      It isn’t known how the early report of the likely firing might affect the Nationals’ thinking. But normally the ultimate decision doesn’t change based on the reporting.

      Acta’s record speaks for itself, but what were the front office heads expecting? He’s got a young pitching staff that is going to need time to develop and although the offense is solid, the Nats are still a year or two away from competing (if not three, four or five years away).

      I don’t follow Washington too closely, so I don’t know how good or bad Acta’s game managing is. But I do know he’s not working with much and I’m a little surprised that the front office wants to make a move, especially to Riggleman, who isn’t going to be much of an upgrade.

      MLB

      Cardinals to go after Tejada?

      June 11, 2009 /

      According to a report by Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Cardinals have their eyes on Astros’ shortstop Miguel Tejada.

      The Cardinals have expanded their search for an additional hitter to include Houston Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada. Tejada fits the profile of what the Cardinals are seeking — an offensive deterrent capable of playing multiple positions. The Astros are experiencing financial problems and could part with a player owed $13 million this season. Tejada entered Wednesday leading the NL in batting with a .357 average and 21 doubles. He ranked third in the league with a .354 average against righthanded pitching. … Khalil Greene managed three hits Wednesday night in his second game on a rehab assignment with the Memphis Redbirds.

      It’s amazing how the Cards are scrambling to add a shortstop after being excited about picking up Khalil Greene this offseason. When I interviewed Tony La Russa before the season regarding his “ARF” Foundation, he mentioned Greene’s name several times in reference to how St. Louis was glad to have him in their lineup. Greene has missed time due to “anxiety-related issues,” but maybe he can bounce back and St. Louis won’t have to make a move in the end.

      Tejada has some tread on his tires, but the guy can obviously still hit. The Cards need to do something if they want to eventually separately themselves in a tight NL Central.

      MLB

      Ibanez irate over blogger’s PED speculation, but is Inquirer columnist to blame?

      June 11, 2009 /

      A story gaining major national attention over the last couple days is a story that Jerod Morris of Midwest Sports Fans wrote about 37-year old Phillies outfielder Raul Ibanez, who has been on a tear (.325, 20 HRs, 55 RBI) to start the 2009 baseball season.

      The motivation behind Morris’ article (which you can read in full here) was to prove that Ibanez’s incredible start wasn’t due to the possible use of steroids or any other form of performance-enhancing drugs.

      Here’s an excerpt from Morris’ article, although I implore you to read the entire piece because he dedicates most of the post to trying to prove that legit factors (i.e. the ball parks he’s played in, the pitchers he’s faced, etc.) have led to Ibanez’s fast start.

      Thirdly, it’s time for me to begrudgingly acknowledge the elephant in the room: any aging hitter who puts up numbers this much better than his career averages is going to immediately generate suspicion that the numbers are not natural, that perhaps he is under the influence of some sort of performance enhancer. And since I was not able to draw any absolute parallels between his prodigously improved HR rate and his new ballpark’s hitter-friendliness, it would be foolish to dismiss the possibility that “other” performance enhancers could be part of the equation.

      Sorry Raul Ibanez and Major League Baseball, that’s just the era that we are in — testing or no testing.

      The above except was enough to compel Philadelphia Inquirer columnist John Gonzalez to write a piece entitled, “A cheap shot at Ibanez.”

      Here’s an excerpt from Gonzalez’s article:

      Continue reading »

      MLB

      The MLB draft will never be popular

      June 10, 2009 /

      Joe Posnanski of SI.com wrote an interesting piece about why the MLB draft doesn’t work as a popular television event.

      1. The vast majority of players drafted will never get close to the big leagues. Take the 1994 draft … 15 years ago. There were 287 players taken in the first 10 rounds, and 190 of them — two thirds — did not get a single at-bat or throw a single pitch in the big leagues.

      2. Even the players who DO make it will not make it for years. If the NFL Draft is, as the cliché goes, like getting presents on Christmas morning, well, the baseball draft is like getting a savings bond from your grandmother that will mature when you turn 18.

      I love the analogy Posnanski used in his second point.

      Yesterday I DVR’d the MLB draft and was actually looking forward to watching it. The MLB Network had hyped the event up for a couple of weeks and being a Giants fan, I was excited to see who’d they take at pick No. 6.

      But once Bud Selig (who was awful, by the way) read Zack Wheeler’s name at pick six, I realized that I could care less about the rest of the first round. Unless you’ve lived under a rock the past couple weeks, you knew that the Nationals were going to take San Diego State pitcher Stephen Strasburg with the top pick and there was a good chance the Mariners would select North Carolina’s Dustin Ackley (arguably the best position player in the draft) at No. 2. So outside of hearing whom your favorite team picked, there wasn’t much excitement to the draft.

      Posnanski is right – the MLB draft as a televised event doesn’t work. I applaud MLB for trying to make the event even a smidgen as popular as the NFL draft, but there just isn’t enough quality substance in the end. As Posnanski points out, most (and that’s not an exaggeration) of the players drafted in the first couple of rounds will never see the big leagues and even if they do, as a fan you have to wait three to four years before that happens. By that time, most casual fans have forgotten where those players came from.

      Again, I think it’s great that baseball has embraced the idea of making the draft more of an event. But the reality is that I would rather watch the entire third round of the NFL draft than just one pick in the first round of the MLB draft. And I think others feel the same way.

      MLB

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