Tag: Cliff Lee (Page 16 of 17)

      MLB Trade Rumors: Lee, Dye, Atkins & Sanchez

      June 30, 2009 /

      – After trading Mark DeRosa to the Cardinals over the weekend, many speculate that the Indians could be setting up for a fire sale soon and would look to deal ace Cliff Lee. But according to MLB.con’s Anthony Castrovince, the Tribe aren’t keen on dealing Lee, who the club has an $8 million option with a $1 million buyout option on in 2010. Cleveland might be inclined to part with Lee if the right deal comes along, but they’re not going to just give the ace of their staff away because they’re out of contention this season.

      – Garrett Atkins started at third base for the Rockies on Monday and while manager Jim Tracy said it’s because of his hot bat, ESPN’s Buster Onley believes the club is trying to drum up more trade interest for the 29-year old by getting him on the field. Colorado is in need of some bullpen help and already have Ian Stewart to man the hot corner if they’re successful in trading Atkins.

      – The Giants seem to be heating up their pursuit for White Sox outfielder Jermaine Dye, who would have to waive his no-trade clause if Chicago were to work out any deal involving him. San Fran, who leads the NL Wild Card race by a game and a half over the Rockies, are desperate for a middle-of-the-order bat and would love to put a package together to acquire a hitter with some pop.

      – Speaking of the Giants, the club would seemingly love to trade former starter Jonathan Sanchez now that they have found a replacement for him in the rotation in 26-year old Ryan Sadowski, who pitched masterfully in his big league debut against the Brewers on Sunday. The problem is that Sanchez’s trade value has never been lower as he’s struggled with his command all season and has been demoted to the bullpen. Still, he was once viewed as a potential No. 3 behind Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain in the Giants’ rotation, so some team may still be intrigued by his potential.

      – The Mets are apparently reluctant to part with reliever Bobby Parnell according to the New York Daily News.

      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

      Top 5 MLB surprises and Top 5 busts in 2009 so far

      May 23, 2009 /

      We’re approaching Memorial Day and are already about a quarter of the way through the baseball regular season. Some players historically take a while to get going, and some start off blazing hot and then cool off. Here we take a look at five pleasant surprises, and five busts through the first 40 or so games of the 2009 season.

      Top 5 Suprises

      1. Zack Greinke, SP, Kansas City Royals—One of the reasons the Royals are off to a great start is that Greinke has found his rhythm, to the tune of 7-1 with a 0.82 ERA, as well as 73 strikeouts and 12 walks in just 66 innings. Greinke has given up a microscopic six earned runs so far. Six! It’s not like the kid wasn’t talented, but his career record before 2009 was 34-45 and his ERA 3.96.

      2. Jason Bartlett, SS, Tampa Bay Rays—Before this season, Bartlett was a career .285 hitter with 16 career home runs. So far this season, he’s off to a wicked start–.376 batting average, 6 homers, 23 RBI, 9 doubles, 12 stolen bases and an OPS of 1.004.

      3. Raul Ibanez, OF, Philadelphia Phillies—This is looking like the free agent signing of the off-season. Or maybe coming over to the world champs from soggy Seattle was a good move. Ibanez was a respectable .288 hitter and was averaging 22 homers and 95 RBI, but so far in 2009 he’s hit 15 home runs and driven in 40 runs, while hitting .349 with 10 doubles, 4 stolen bases and a .724 slugging percentage. You think the Mets should have made a run at the guy instead of wasting all that money on P Ollie Perez?

      Continue reading »

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, Fantasy Baseball, Happy Hour, MLB

      MLB Daily Six Pack 4/8

      April 8, 2009 /

      1. Nice start for Josh Beckett
      This season hasn’t gone the way of the ace so far, with CC Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Justin Verlander and Tim Lincecum all struggling for their respective teams. But one No. 1 that didn’t struggle in his ’09 debut was Boston’s Josh Beckett, who fanned 10 in the BoSox’s 5-3 victory over the Rays on Tuesday. You hate to make claims that a pitcher is already in midseason form after only one outing, but Beckett’s two-hit, one-run effort against Tampa was impressive.

      2. Speaking of Tim Lincecum…
      Boy did he struggle yesterday for the Giants. But the good news for San Fran and the reining NL Cy Young winner is that his velocity wasn’t down, it just looked like he had a major case of the yips in his Opening Day debut. He looked too pumped up from the start and just never settled down. Fortunately, Aaron Rowand, Bengie Molina, Travis Ishikawa and the rest of the G-Men offense helped Lincecum out as SF romped the Brewers 10-6. Huh, what a concept – the Giants offense bailing out the pitching for once…who would have thought?

      3. Dombrowski better be taking heat today in Detroit
      In the offseason, Tigers’ GM Dave Dombrowski’s answer to solving the bullpen issues in Detroit was signing former Arizona closer Brandon Lyon instead of pursuing other avenues like J.J. Putz (who is now a setup man for the Mets). At least for one day, the decision backfired as Lyon blew Edwin Jackson’s (7.1, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 K) gem in Toronto by giving up three runs on three hits as the Jays knocked off the Tigers 5-4. Granted, Lyon has plenty of time to bounce back but if he doesn’t, the Tigers will be left with mental midget Fernando Rodney to close games, who didn’t necessarily earn the role this spring with a 7.00 ERA. Considering Joel Zumaya may never pitch again due to freak injuries and Nate Robertson (who Dombrowski just gave a 3-year, $21 million deal in January of ’08) is pissed about being taken out of the starting rotation, Dombrowski has quite a mess brewing in Detroit.

      Continue reading »

      MLB

      MLB Daily Six Pack of Observations 4/7

      April 7, 2009 /

      1. Sabathia, Teixeira choke on applesauce in debuts
      The Yankees’ two big offseason free agent signings got off to rough starts yesterday as CC Sabathia allowed six runs on eight hits in just 4.1 innings of work and Mark Teixeira went 0-4 in NY’s 10-5 loss to the O’s. Sabathia didn’t strike out one batter as his control looked completely out of whack and Teixeira left five men on base. Who knew spending gobs of money doesn’t guarantee initial success?

      2. Tony Clark and Felipe Lopez: The New Bash Brothers
      Clark and Lopez each went deep yesterday…twice. What’s amazing about the feat (besides the fact that Tony Clark and Felipe Lopez each hit two home runs in the same game) is that they were the first pair of switch-hitting teammates to homer from both sides of the plate in a game since Jorge Posada and Bernie Williams did if ro the Yankees on April 23, 2000. The D’Backs edged NL West rival Colorado 8-7.

      3. Looks like Hanley Ramirez will be okay in the three-hole
      Generally a leadoff hitter in previous seasons, the Marlins moved shortstop Hanley Ramirez into the three-hole this year and he responded on Opening Day by hitting his first career grand slam in the Fish’s 12-6 victory over the Nats. Ramirez also had an RBI double and walked. I know it was only the first game of 162, but Ramirez looked awfully comfortable at the plate.

      Continue reading »

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑