Category: MLB (Page 213 of 448)

      Manny: ‘I didn’t kill or rape anyone.’

      June 10, 2009 /

      Breaking his silence for the first time since he was suspended 50 games for testing positive for PEDs, Manny Ramirez told the Los Angeles Times that he vows to “make it up” to the Dodger fans by leading the team “to another level” upon his return.

      He also dropped this little ditty in the interview:

      “I didn’t kill nobody, I didn’t rape nobody, so that’s it, I’m just going to come and play the game,” Ramirez said.

      You know what? I agree with him. He didn’t kill or rape anybody and if he did take steroids, in the grand scheme of things when you really get down to the nuts and bolts of the issue, he only endangered himself.

      But the problem is that he was so arrogant reaching this point that nobody has a problem chastising him to no end. He flat out quit on the Red Sox (not just the organization – but an entire team) last year, only to be traded to the Dodgers and be made a hero.

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      MLB

      Is Stephen Strasburg the next great thing or the next Mark Prior?

      June 10, 2009 /

      After the Washington Nationals took San Diego State phenom Stephen Strasburg with the first overall pick of the 2009 MLB Draft, the first question that came to everyone’s mind was – will he sign?

      Strasburg’s agent is Scott Boras, who is someone that would rather sell his mother on eBay than not overcharge a team for one of his client’s services. The pre-draft buzz was that Washington is willing to pay whatever it takes to sign Strasburg, but we’ll see what happens when the two sides actually come to the negotiating table.

      The second question on everyone’s mind is – how good is this kid?

      As a sophomore at SDS, he went 8-3 with a 1.57 ERA and struck out 133 batters in 97.5 innings of work. Four of his 13 starts that year were complete games and two were shutouts. Through May this season, he posted a 13-1 record with a 1.32 ERA and 195 strikeouts in 109 innings pitched.

      The scouting report on Strasburg is eye-popping; his fastball tops out at 103 mph, his curve has excellent movement and his slider can clock in the 90s. If the Nationals absolutely needed him to pitch this season (which they don’t – there’s no reason to rush him), some believe that he’s even major-league ready now.

      But there’s no such thing as a “can’t miss prospect” and Strasburg isn’t immune to criticism. Some believe he could be the next Mark Prior in that he’s injury prone because he puts too much pressure on his wrist and his elbow comes up too high in his release (which usually signals arm problems down the road). Throw in the pressure that comes along with being the No. 1 overall pick (not too mention a No. 1 pick who will eventually sign for $50-plus million) and all of a sudden you realize that transportation to bustville runs 24 hours a day.

      Personally, I hope Strasburg lives up to the hype. The Nationals need him to be great and so does baseball, which is slowly starting to clean up its image. There has been a major buzz surrounding him and fans can’t wait to see him go toe to toe with major league hitters. Here’s hoping he has a bright and successful future ahead of him.

      MLB

      Team by team MLB draft rankings: Best drafts of the last 10 years

      June 9, 2009 /

      With the 2009 MLB Draft set to kickoff at 6:00 ET tonight on the MLB Network, SI.com did a cool feature in which they rated how each club has fared over the past 10 years when it comes to the draft.

      The Brewers were rated number one and it’s hard to argue with the ranking after looking at the names Milwaukee has drafted over the years: Prince Fielder, Corey Hart, J.J. Hardy, Manny Parra, Rickie Weeks, Ryan Braun and Yovani Gallardo. Amazingly, this club also drafted Hunter Pence (Astros), but couldn’t sign him.

      The Red Sox were rated No. 2, with Kevin Youkilis, Jonathan Papelbon, Dustin Pedroia, Jon Lester and Manny Delcarmen leading the way, but the site left off a glaring omission: Jacoby Ellsbury. The Rays actually drafted Ellsbury in the 2002 draft, but never signed him. The Sox then nabbed him with the 23rd overall pick in 2005 and he’s currently their starting centerfielder.

      Speaking of the Rays, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Tampa ranked higher than No. 4 in the next couple of years. Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton, James Shields, Andy Sonnanstine and David Price are just some of the names they’ve drafted in the past 10 years. Don’t forget that they were the team that also drafted Josh Hamilton before he got injured and then became the poster child of what not to do when you’re an inspiring ballplayer with loads of free time on your hands.

      You look at a club like the Nationals ranked No. 8 and you wonder why they’ve been so awful over the years despite drafting so well. Then you realized they dealt Grady Sizemore, Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips all in the same trade for Bartolo Colon and it all starts to make sense.

      If you’re wondering whom SI had ranked last, it was the Astros; only Hunter Pence was worth noting of the players Houston drafted the past 10 years. The White Sox were second to last, although if Josh Fields, Chris Getz, Clayton Richard and Gordon Beckham develop like the club hopes, I highly doubt Chicago will be ranked that low again if SI does another ranking like this in the next couple of years.

      MLB

      Red Sox desperately seeking a shortstop

      June 9, 2009 /

      According to the Boston Globe, the Red Sox “have left no stone unturned” in looking for a shortstop to replace Julio Lugo. The club would love to plug Jed Lowrie into the position, but the 25-year old hasn’t played since early April due to a wrist injury.

      Some of the names that the Sox have been linked to around the league include Omar Vizquel, Jack Wilson, J.J. Hardy, Orlando Cabrera, Bobby Crosby, Jason Donald and Miguel Tejada, but so far no trade has come to fruition.

      I’m not a Red Sox fan, but even I’d rather scratch my eyes out with an ice pick than watch Lugo play another inning. He’s absolutely brutal in all facets of the game and it’s flabbergasting how much Boston is currently paying him ($9 million this year, $9 million in 2010, $9 million in 2011) to be the worst player on the diamond most nights. At some point, the Sox are just going to have to eat that contact to ensure Lugo never plays in Boston again.

      Getting back to the club’s options, Vizquel has openly said that he wants to play for the Sox (which is a bit of a slap in the face to his current team the Rangers, but moving on…) and is currently batting .345 this season. He’s 79 years old (at least), but the guy still plays shortstop like he’s 30, so he would be an immediate upgrade over Lugo defensively.

      It’ll be interesting to see if the Red Sox make a move or if they’ll just wait for Lowrie to come back (whenever that may be). If they decide to wait, here’s hoping for Boston fans that Nick Green continues to see the field and not that suck-the-life-out-of-you Lugo.

      MLB

      Will Scott Boras ruin the Major League Baseball Draft?

      June 8, 2009 /

      stras

      Well, Michael Rosenberg from Fox Sports thinks so. When the MLB Draft kicks off tomorrow, the Washington Nationals are expected to take top pitching prospect Stephen Strasburg from San Diego State University as the No. 1 pick. Unfortunately, his agent is evil mastermind Scott Boras who is already throwing out a ludicrous asking price.

      Boras has floated a $50 million signing-bonus demand for Strasburg to the media. The number is absurd, of course, and Boras knows it, but he doesn’t care. By leaking the $50-million figure, Boras has created an artificially high starting point for negotiations — and keeps the Nationals from claiming they did not know Strasburg would be so expensive. Boras has already built public pressure on the Nationals to pay Stephen Strasburg a ton of money.

      Major League Baseball needs a true slotting system — not just a ridiculous, unenforceable commissioner’s recommendation. It needs a system like the NBA, where the top pick is locked into a certain figure and the contract values diminish with each subsequent pick. The only way to get one is to negotiate it into the next collective bargaining agreement.

      The draft is just the first domino. Consider: in recent years, the Detroit Tigers paid above the commissioner’s recommendation for draftees Cameron Maybin, Andrew Miller and Rick Porcello. Not long after, they sent Maybin and Miller to the Florida Marlins for a package that included Miguel Cabrera. If the Tigers had not paid above their slot, they probably would not have acquired one of the best hitters in the game.

      The NFL Draft has a similar problem — signing bonuses for the top players have gotten so huge that nobody wants the top three or four picks. Those picks are supposed to be the most valuable commodity that any losing team has. Instead, they often become anchors.

      The problem is worse in baseball, because at least bad NFL teams get some marketing juice out of the draft. Most baseball prospects don’t play in the majors for at least two years.

      This should be a rare chance to give losing teams an advantage, but it isn’t. Teams routinely pass on superior talent because of signability concerns, and with the economy in the toilet, that may be worse than ever this year.

      It is past time to take the draft out of Scott Boras’s hands.

      Rosenberg couldn’t be more dead on. Baseball does need a slotting system like the NBA. It’s truly ridiculous for a college phenom to be offered a multi-year or multi-million dollar contract. Baseball players seem to be the most fickle of athletes. They can have an amazing year in their early twenties, then teeter off, then come back and perform amazingly in their late 30s. This is why the Rays and Dodgers deserve some respect for the way they’ve cultivated their teams. Neither organization offered their prospects big money out of the draft and instead monitored them closely in their farm system. The Nationals offering Strasburg a huge contract would be idiotic despite the current problems with their organization. Pitchers, more than any position, are more prone to career-ending injuries and young guns aren’t often able to continue pitching at a top level. Tim Lincecum is an exception while Fausto Carmona is not.

      The Nationals should make the correct decision and give Strasburg a decent two-year contract that lets him develop in their farm system. If he performs well there against older players, then see how he does in the bigs. Young pitchers should have two successful consecutive seasons in the majors before they’re expected any significant arbitration. If the Nationals don’t want to follow this plan, then they should let another team take Strasburg’s (supposedly) huge contract.

      MLB

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