Category: MLB (Page 404 of 448)

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Giants traded embattled closer Armando Benitez to the Marlins for relief pitcher Randy Messenger. After Benitez’s balk-a-thon Tuesday night in the 12th inning at New York, a tuna sandwich would have been enough from the Marlins.

Check out Giants’ GM Brian Sabean’s comments after dealing Benitez:

“The first game here (in New York) we had three players who were not available. That was not Armando’s fault. Tonight we had three hits and looked dead as a doornail. That was not Armando’s fault. We are at a crossroads in my mind, and apparently the fans, the press and some people in the clubhouse felt he needed to go…”

Oh please Brian, don’t act like the fans or media made this decision for you. Benitez was a bum in the clubhouse, a bum on the field and was never worth the $21.5 million he duped you into paying him. And the offense that “looked dead as a doornail” the other night was one that you put together big boy. It’s amazing how you still have a job after trading Francisco Lirano, Boof Bonser and Joe Nathan for freaking A.J. Pierzynski.

Plenty of people are up in arms over Alex Rodriguez’s “Mine!” or “Ha!” call while running behind Blue Jays’ third basemen Howie Clark in the Yankees’ 10-5 victory Wednesday night. Jays manager John Gibbons called the play “bush league” after the game:

“Everybody in the games respects the Yankees; they play the game right,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “They play hard, and that’s what they are known for. But I thought it was bush league. That’s not Yankee baseball, man. Everybody respects them, but maybe I am wrong, I haven’t been around that long.”

First and foremost, I agree with Gibbons in that this move wasn’t very Yankee-like. The New York Yankees are always supposed to be the epitome of a team that respects the game to its fullest. However, isn’t this being blown up a bit because it was A-Rod? I would never expect Derek Jeter, Albert Pujols or Torii Hunter to pull a stunt like this, but what if they had? I guarantee some people would have called it a “strategic move”, but because it was an ass like Rodriguez, everybody just piles on. I’m not defending what he did, because really, we never see this kind of thing and I don’t want the MLB to turn into a Little League atmosphere where anything said, goes. But lets keep everything in perspective here. When you factor in how some first basemen fake throws back to the pitcher after pickoff attempts and how infielders sometimes fake tags in order to keep a runner from taking an extra base, what A-Rod did is kind of pair for the course. Bush league? Maybe, considering most players would never do something like that for respect of the game, but overblown? Definitely.

Plus nobody bitched when Willie Mays Hayes from “Major League” did it for the Cleveland Indians back in 1989.

After seeing highlights of yet another Roger Clemens minor league pitching recap and checking out its home page which features two separate articles on the two MLB stars, I’m wondering who ESPN has a bigger hard on for, Barry Bonds or Clemens?

Ever catch a Giants’ highlight anymore? Me neither. I see Bonds flying out, walking and singling, but no actual San Francisco Giants highlights. Do they even bother with posting the final score anymore? And Clemens, do we really need to see how he struck out a minor leaguer who will be working in Target’s CD section next week? Can we get back to just showing the highlights of the previous day please? I can’t even watch Boo-Yah Center anymore.

Anyway, I’m giving my vote to Clemens right now, but just because Bonds has been in a mega slump (he hit a bomb on Sunday, but that was his first since May 8th). Once Clemens makes his 2007 debut, Bonds is going to come storming back into the picture. So, ESPN’s bigger hard on, Bonds or Clemens? Voting is now open.

Francisco Liriano took the baseball world by storm last year at the age of 22, becoming the biggest sensation in the game before injuring his elbow. With Liriano on the shelf, who are the must-see young starters in the game? In my latest column for Bullz-Eye.com, I rank baseball’s best pitchers under the age of 25.

To check out the column, click here, or to tell me how wrong I am, feel free to post your opinions right here on The Scores Report.