Page 1557 of 2957

      Indians trade Victor Martinez to Red Sox

      July 31, 2009 /

      The Red Sox had their sites set on possibly acquiring Padres’ slugger Adrian Gonzalez at the start of the day on Friday, but wound up trading for Indians’ catcher Victor Martinez instead.

      In a completely separate deal, Boston also swapped first baseman with the Braves, acquiring Casey Kotchman for Adam LaRoche.

      In this trade, the Tribe will receive right-hander Justin Masterson and minor league pitchers Nick Hagadone and Bryan Price. Masterson was Boston’s second-round pick in 2006, going 3-3 with a 4.50 ERA in 31 appearances including six starts this season. He also went 6-5 with a 3.16 ERA in 36 games last year after being called up from the minors.

      Hagadone was drafted No. 55 overall by the Sox in ’07 and missed most of the ’08 season after having Tommy John surgery. Price was the No. 45 overall pick in ’08 and has struggled thus far in the minors.

      For Boston not to have to give up Clay Buchholz in trade for V-Mart was huge. Martinez is a nice upgrade and adds pop to a Red Sox lineup that desperately needs it, but Boston would have overpaid in a deal involving Buchholz. Now with Martinez and Kotchman, they have options to play with regarding both their lineup and defense, where V-Mart will likely split time at both catcher and first base.

      As for Cleveland, it’s hard to determine if they got good value in this deal or not – and we may not know that answer for a couple of years, just like we won’t know if they got good value in the Cliff Lee trade.

      Pundits seem to like Masterson, but he seems to struggling against left-handers and really only has two pitches. Hagadone is a hard throwing reliever who could blow through the minors but he’s also coming off of Tommy John surgery and will likely start off in Double-A next year. Price is only 22, but he has struggled so far in the minors.

      So if you’re an Indians fan, you’ve got to be in flux right now. Your team traded away its best pitcher and its most popular position player outside of Grady Sizemore, but got a slew of prospects that may or may not develop. You’re club is building hope for the future, but the future may be three or four more years away and who’s to say that once all of this pitching develops that you might not have any hitting at that time? Then you’re just the San Francisco Giants of the American League.

      Every Tribe fan across the nation must be sighing right now and saying to themselves, “We’ll see.”

      By the way, it’s Victor Martinez bobble head night in Cleveland tomorrow. Whoops…

      MLB

      X Games 15 Preview

      July 31, 2009 /

      X Games

      XG15 is under way in Los Angeles.

      ESPN previews four different events…

      Skateboarding: “A confluence of factors makes this year’s Street competition one of the most fascinating to date. To begin with, there’s Ryan Sheckler. Arguably the most recognizable skater on earth, Sheckler comes to Los Angeles hot off a Dew Tour win, and the prototype for competition dominance. But a sagging economy has lured hardcore street skaters who normally focus on producing film segments to take a shot on the sport’s biggest stage. Can guys like Mike Mo Capaldi, Darrell Stanton and Nick Dompierre establish a new competition benchmark? And can any of them stop 15-year-old Chaz Ortiz from making the whole field look old?”

      Moto X: “In an event known for big names, perhaps none is bigger than James Stewart. The 23-year-old motocross superstar is on pace to shatter the all-time record for Supercross wins, but first he’s making his first pit stop at X Games. James is known internationally not just for his dominance, but also his breaking down of racial barriers as the sport’s first African-American champion. The X Games gives Stewart the opportunity to test his newfound acceptance of his own fame with a whole new fan base.”

      BMX: “Now that Dave Mirra has joined the Action Sports Retirement Tour (otherwise known as the Rally America Championship), it would seem he’s ready finally to cede the X Games BMX stage to other riders, except he’s still competing in both Park and Big Air and remains a gold-medal threat in both. He’s already the most decorated BMX rider in X Games history; will he pad his lead at XG15?”

      Rally: “Travis Pastrana has won two of the three X Games Rally events, and his healthy lead in the 2009 Rally America Championship indicates he’s driving as well as ever. The flip side of Pastrana’s consistency is Ken Block, who’s considered the fastest driver in North America, but with a reputation for recklessness that has cost him wins in the past. In six Rally America championships this year, Block has won twice, finished second once and failed to finish three times. Whether or not he can finally break through for X Games gold after winning two bronzes and a silver in the past three might be the most fascinating question at XG15.”

      ESPN also has coverage of the ever-elusive front flip, marketing guru Ken Block, 15-year-old skateboarder Chaz Ortiz, supercross star James Stewart and BMXer Van Homan.

      You can watch a well-made trailer right here as well.

      The Los Angeles Times has also run a series of stories detailing the this year’s events.

      On risk, injury, and death…

      On James Stewart’s debut…

      On women’s skateboarding…

      On Jake Brown’s aerial displays…

      Lastly, I think James Stewart sums up the excitement of the events perfectly in this quote:

      “The average person always thinks soccer, football and basketball players are the toughest athletes. But man, I think the guys that come to the X Games are probably some of the most gnarly and talented athletes in the world.”

      You can catch the games all week on ESPN and ESPN2.

      X-Games

      Marlins acquire Nick Johnson

      July 31, 2009 /

      According to FOX Sports.com, the Marlins have acquired first baseman Nick Johnson from the Nationals in exchange for Double-A left-hander Aaron Thompson. Washington will also pay the remainder of Johnson’s salary.

      This is a nice trade for both clubs. For the Marlins, they get a solid bat in Johnson (when healthy of course) to help Hanley Ramirez at the top of the lineup. Florida now has a nice 1-2-3 punch in the middle of their order with Johnson, Ramirez and Jorge Cantu.

      Not only that, but the Nationals reportedly wanted Ryan Tucker in a deal for Johnson, who is a much better prospect than Thompson. So for the Marlins to not only acquire Johnson and get the Nats to pay the remainder of his salary, but also not have to give up a prospect like Tucker was a win-win-win.

      In the end, this was a nice move for Washington as well. Johnson becomes a free agent at the end of the season and while he’s a solid hitter, he’s been injury-prone for most of his career and the Nats still got a decent prospect (Thompson) in return. They essentially got something for nothing seeing as how Johnson wasn’t going to be a part of the club next year anyway.

      MLB

      Tigers acquire Jarrod Washburn from Mariners

      July 31, 2009 /

      The Tigers acquired left-handed pitcher Jarrod Washburn from the Mariners on Friday in exchange for minor league prospects Luke French and Mauricio Robles. Both Fench and Robles are left-handed pitchers as well.

      Washburn is no spring chicken at 34, but his 2.64 ERA and 1.07 WHIP makes him one of the better values on the trade market and Detroit didn’t have to give up much to acquire him. His pitching approach should do wonders in spacious Comerica Park.

      Washburn is a workhorse and is a solid addition to a Tigers’ starting rotation that already features Justin Verlander, Edwin Jackson and youngster Rick Porcello. He’ll eat up some innings, give the bullpen a much-needed break and gives the club a boost as they contend with the White Sox and Twins in the AL Central.

      As for Seattle, they seeming undersold Washburn. French did post a 3.38 ERA in seven appearances this season, but his ceiling isn’t very high and Robles has some potential, but is extremely raw at this point.

      I love the move for the Tigers, but think the Mariners could have done better.

      MLB

      Schilling has less harsh view on Big Papi than he did Bonds

      July 31, 2009 /

      After news broke yesterday that David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, I got to thinking, “What’s Curt Schilling’s take on all of this?”

      Schilling was part of the 2004 Boston Red Sox team that Ortiz and ManRam helped win a World Series and is a close friend of Big Papi. He was also the one that absolutely lambasted Barry Bonds in a 2007 radio interview when the slugger was on the verge of breaking Hank Aaron’s record with the obvious aid of performance-enhancing drugs.

      Schilling said he thinks that Bonds’s achievements during his period of alleged steroid use — as detailed in the book “Game of Shadows” — should be “wiped out.”

      “If you get caught using steroids, you should have everything you’ve done in this game wiped out for any period of time that you used it,” Schilling said at the time of the book’s release.” A lot of players, I think, have said as much because it is cheating.”

      Now, Schilling did apologize for what he said about Bonds in the interview. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t mean what he said. And if he truly feels that way, I find it interesting that he wasn’t as harsh on Ortiz as he was on Bonds back in ’07.

      This is from Schilling’s blog 38pitiches.com (which was posted yesterday) in reaction to Big Papi’s positive test in ’03:

      Should any of David’s subsequent accomplishments be judged by this?
      That’s for you to decide. It seems to be an area of immense debate, but I am not sure how this could/should/will be resolved. Whatever you do you need to do it for anyone now, and if you do do something, make sure there is some detriment for anyone caught going forward. Given that so many people live on their accomplishments or stats, taking one or both away would be a decent way to deter some guys, I think.

      Should any of the Sox’ accomplishments in ‘04 or ‘07 be judged differently because of this?
      This makes me laugh. I have already seen the bandwagon fans start the *04 and *07 threads and remarks, people with teams who are far deeper into this than most other teams — as if this makes it all OK. Every team going back 10-15 years needs an * if you want to consider giving it to anyone. The hard part is that it’s turning into a situation where we are seeing every single GREAT player in the past 10 years caught, and they’re dragging what we thought were the majority, and are now turning into the minority, down with them.

      Well that’s certainly a more diplomatic approach now isn’t it, Curt?

      Look, I get it – Schilling isn’t going to blast his buddy like he did Bonds, nor is he going to say that anything he and the Red Sox accomplished this decade should be stricken from the record books because Big Papi and Manny were on PEDs.

      But I’m just wondering what happens if Big Papi says that he didn’t know what he was taking a la Bonds. Will Schilling come out and say the same things as he did in ’07? If he truly feels that (and I’m using his words here) if you get caught using steroids, you should have everything you’ve done in this game wiped out for any period of time that you used it, then he should say that Big Papi and Manny’s accomplishments should be wiped out as well. (That is, for whatever years they were doping, which of course couldn’t have been in ’04 when they won a championship right??)

      Granted, neither Ortiz nor Ramirez broke a sacred record like Bonds did. But still, wouldn’t it be a little hypocritical of Schilling to voice so boisterously against Bonds and not do it against Ortiz? If Schilling wants to be known as someone who isn’t afraid to speak his mind about steroids in baseball, then he can’t pick and choose whom he blasts. He can’t attack Bonds one year and then essentially give Ortiz a free pass two years later because the two were teammates and friends.

      Maybe Schilling is waiting for more details to emerge or for Ortiz to release another statement before he comments further. That’s certainly fair. I’ll wait too. I’ll wait for more details, and I’ll certainly wait for more from Schilling, because more should be coming.

      MLB

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑