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      Olney: Blue Jays place Rios on waivers

      August 7, 2009 /

      In a surprising development, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney is reporting that the Blue Jays have placed outfielder Alex Rios on waivers and an unidentified team has already claimed him.

      The Blue Jays, it appears, have three options, and must make a decision by Tuesday, because the waiver period will roll through the weekend:

      • They could work out a trade with the team that claimed Rios.
      • They could pull him back from waivers, and keep him for themselves the rest of this season.
      • They could simply allow the team that claimed him to take him, at no cost.

      While this move definitely came out of nowhere, it makes sense that the Jays would want to dump Rios’ salary with his ceiling pretty much maxed out at 28 years old. He’s probably not going to play up to the $60 million that remains on his contract so if another team wants to take on all of his salary, then maybe Toronto is thinking it should jump on the opportunity and spend the money elsewhere.

      What’ll be interesting to find out is which team claimed Rios. According to MLB Trade Rumors, several teams including the Mets, Red Sox, Giants, Reds and Mariners did not put a waiver claim on him, so the mystery team remains at large.

      The first team that I thought of when I heard this news (and before I checked out MLB Trade Rumors) was the Giants. GM Brian Sabean foolishly toyed with the idea of trading Tim Lincecum for Rios two winters ago, so it would stand to reason that San Fran (who is still a hitter shy of making a serious World Series push) would go after him now. But with the way the waiver claims work in baseball, the Giants would be one of the last teams in line seeing as how they play in the NL (AL teams would have first crack at Rios) and they have the third best record in their league.

      Red Sox designate Smoltz for assignment

      August 7, 2009 /

      The AP is reporting that the Red Sox have cut starter John Smoltz and now Boston has 10 days to trade, release or send the 42-year-old veteran to the minors.

      “When he woke up today, he said, ‘How can I help the team win?'” Epstein said. “But he’s a realist and understands the results have not been what we were looking for.”

      After more than two decades of big wins in Atlanta, Smoltz signed with the Red Sox last January, hoping he could recover from surgery on his right shoulder. After eight starts, the numbers weren’t pretty for a pitcher with Hall of Fame credentials: 2-5 with an 8.32 ERA.

      Boston cut him while in a three-way race with the Yankees and Tampa Bay, and with Smoltz still searching for answers after one of the worst outings of his career.

      This is where I could write about how Smoltz would be a nice option as a fifth starter for a contender, but it’s hard to make that argument given how bad he’s been over the past month. Plus, he was the fifth starter (essentially) on a contender and he was brutal.

      Maybe he could wind up back in the National League and help a team like the Brewers or Giants, but again, he’s been so bad lately that it must just be time for him to hang ‘em up.

      MLB

      LeBron James will not sign an extension this summer

      August 7, 2009 /

      It was kind of a pipe dream anyway, but LeBron isn’t going to sign the extension that the Cavs have offered, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

      “I signed a contract in 2006 with an option,” he said. “It would make no sense for me to sign that contract if I didn’t keep my options open. I’ll let you fill in the blanks.”

      James is playing this one the right way. If he re-ups now, then he loses the leverage necessary to keep GM Danny Ferry’s feet to the fire in terms of bringing in some long-term help. Shaquille O’Neal is fine for a year or two, but he’s most definitely a short-term fix.

      The bad news is that with the long-term commitment the team made to Anderson Varejao, the Cavs aren’t projected to have any cap space next summer if they’re lucky enough to re-sign LeBron. It looks like Ferry sees the writing on the wall — with the salary cap likely dropping to $50-$51 million next season, he wasn’t going to have enough money to sign LeBron and another superstar, so he re-signed Varejao to make this year’s Cavs team as good as possible in the hopes that a Finals appearance or a championship would be enough to keep LeBron in Cleveland.

      NBA, News

      Tribe to lose $16 million this season according to owner Paul Dolan

      August 7, 2009 /

      In an interview with AP sports writer Tom Withers, Indians owner Paul Dolan revealed that the club will lose $16 million this season. Dolan also admitted that the recent trades of Cy Young winner Cliff Lee and popular catcher Victor Martinez were necessary long-term moves in order to move the franchise in a new direction.

      “Every four or five years, if we can have a shot at the World Series and compete for the playoffs like we did in ’05, that’s as good as it gets,” Dolan said.

      In a candid interview Thursday, Dolan projected that the Indians, currently in fourth place in the AL Central, will lose $16 million this season despite revenue-sharing from major league baseball. The Indians will need to borrow money over the next few years, Dolan said, but the club has no plans to ask the league for the loans.

      “After we traded Cliff, we had made a commitment toward a new direction for the franchise,” he said. “At that point, you don’t go halfway. We needed to make moves that put us in the best position to compete as soon as possible. The sense was in our organization that Vic (Martinez) was at his highest value and what we got back in return put us in a better position than we would have been had we kept them.”

      I’m sure Tribe fans will be excited to know that their favorite team is essentially trying to compete for the World Series and playoffs “every four or five years” when the Red Sox are competing for a World Series every year. Then again, not everybody can spend like the Red Sox and of course to a more extreme extent, the Yankees.

      It’s easy to see what the Indians are trying to do in re-stocking their farm in hopes that they can compete down the road, but it must be a deflating feeling to be a Tribe fan right now, knowing that your team just gave up on immediate success. After all, this team was on the brink of a World Series appearance just two seasons ago (2007).

      MLB

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