Tag: Philadelphia Phillies (Page 7 of 31)

      Cardinals in the hunt for Oswalt, but will they take on his salary?

      July 22, 2010 /
      June 10, 2010 - Denver, Colorado, U.S. - MLB Baseball - Houston Astros pitcher ROY OSWALT throws during a 5-4 win over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field.

      One day after reports surfaced that the Phillies were on the verge of acquiring Roy Oswalt via a trade, Craig Calcaterra of NBC Sports hears that the Cardinals are now the front-runners for the Astros’ ace.

      In fact, the Astros have been talking with Cardinals GM John Mozeliak for several days now, and Oswalt is quite amenable to go to St. Louis if the teams can agree on what players will head back to Houston. For their part, the Cardinals are convinced that matching Roy Oswalt up with Dave Duncan would take a guy who is already an ace and turn him back into the Cy Young candidate he was a few years ago. I’ll stop believing stuff like that when Dave Duncan actually fails for once. Which I wouldn’t bet on, frankly.

      Of course, the big issue everyone has been talking about today has been Oswalt’s desire that his 2012 option be picked up. That’s $16 million, and that ain’t hay. My source tells me, however, that Oswalt would be willing to work with the Cardinals to make the option more palatable, possibly in terms of deferring some money. The sides aren’t quite that far yet.

      The other issue is that the Cardinals’ farm system is tapped out, outside of top prospect Shelby Miller, who was the club’s first round pick in 2009.

      Would St. Louis be willing to give up Miller and take on Oswalt’s salary? That’s a reach, especially considering Oswalt and Albert Pujols are each due to make $16 million in 2011, Matt Holliday is set to make $17 million, Chris Carpenter $15 million, Adam Wainwright $6.5 million and Kyle Lohse $11.9 million. That’s a lot of dough for six players and that doesn’t even include Ryan Ludwick, who is due a raise soon.

      Speaking purely from a baseball standpoint, Oswalt makes every bit of sense for the Cardinals. But it’s a whole other story from a financial perspective.

      External Sports, MLB, Rumors & Gossip

      Phillies could be on the verge of trading Werth, acquiring Oswalt

      July 21, 2010 /
      July 18, 2010 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America - 18 July 2010: Houston Astros starting pitcher Roy Oswalt (44) delivers a pitch to the plate during the National League game between the Houston Astros and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates Paul Maholm.

      Several heavy-hitters in the media are proclaiming that the Phillies are on the verge of making a couple of trades.

      The first involves Jayson Werth, who is currently hitting .283 with 13 home runs and 50 RBI. ESPN’s Buster Olney and Jayson Stark report that the Rays are involved in discussions for the outfielder, who is a free agent at the end of the season and is unlikely to be re-signed in Philadelphia.

      The second trade rumor involving the Phillies has Astros’ ace Roy Oswalt as the key piece. Stark reports that the Phillies have spent a lot of time exploring a deal for Oswalt, who won’t come cheap seeing as how he’s still owed $16 million next season and has a $16 million club option for 2012 (or a $2 million buyout).

      While a trade for Oswalt would certainly bolster the Phillies’ starting rotation, is a move like that wise for GM Ruben Amaro Jr. to make? It’s not like his club is one starting pitcher away from fixing all of their current problems, even if that one starting pitcher is Oswalt. Plus, this is a team that needs to start preparing for the future and giving up more prospects in a knee-jerk trade in attempts to win now might not be the most advantageous move.

      We’ll see how this plays out.

      External Sports, MLB, Rumors & Gossip

      Mikey’s MLB power rankings

      July 17, 2010 /

      The all-star game is behind us now, which means pennant races are about to heat up for real. And there are so many teams in contention this season, it really promises to be a wild rest of the summer. Here is a look at our post-all-star-game power rankings…..

      1. New York Yankees (57-32)—Playing with heavy hearts this week after the passing of George Steinbrenner, but nothing else has changed. They just keep winning, and for the Yankees, that’s just what they do.

      2. Tampa Bay Rays (54-35)—David Price is the real deal, and one of many reasons this young Rays team is battling the Yankees for AL East supremacy. They’re one of a handful of teams that can compete with the boys from Gotham, but they’d better not get swept this weekend.

      3. Atlanta Braves (53-37)—They suddenly have a 5-game lead over the slumping Mets (and 5.5 over the Phils), and have the look of a team that wants to send Bobby Cox out on top.

      4. Texas Rangers (52-38)—Cliff Lee and that lineup? The Rangers can start printing playoff tickets now.

      5. San Diego Padres (52-37)—At this point, you can’t call it smoke and mirrors. Just like the Rays, this young team plays hard, manufactures runs and keeps games close with solid pitching.

      6. Boston Red Sox (51-39)—Someone has awoken the beast that is David Ortiz. Home run derby was just a tease of what’s to come at Fenway this summer.

      7. Chicago White Sox (50-39)—A 9-game winning streak was snapped yesterday, but the south side of Chicago is beaming. Too bad Jake Peavy is out for the year, but that doesn’t seem to matter much right now.

      8. Cincinnati Reds (50-41)—See Padres, San Diego. Dusty Baker is one heck of a manager, and that is showing again now. Of course, when you have Joey Votto, Brandon Phillips and Scott Rolen in the middle of your lineup, all is right with the world.

      9. Colorado Rockies (49-40)—This year, the Rockies won’t wait to make their move until September. They have already started making it, and the Padres had better watch their collective back

      10. Detroit Tigers (48-39)—They have quietly kept right up with the White Sox, just one game back and now 2.5 ahead of the Twins. And Jim Leyland is still one of the best managers in the game.

      External Sports, MLB

      All-Star Break Rewind: Taking a look back at preseason MLB predictions

      July 13, 2010 /
      May 23, 2010 Philadelphia Phillies' pitcher Roy Halladay leaves the game against the Philadelphia Phillies' at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA. The Red Sox beat the Phillies' 8-3.

      It’s always fun to take a look back and see how many faulty predictions members of the media got wrong in the preseason. It’s even more fun when you look back at your own faulty predictions and provide people the opportunity to all you a moron by laying out how wrong you were.

      Now that we’ve reached the halfway point in the 2010 MLB season, let’s see how my preseason predictions are holding up. (Click on the links provided to read the entire preseason prediction for that division.)

      AL East

      My Predictions: Yankees, Red Sox, Rays, Orioles, Blue Jays.
      Current Standings: Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles.

      Not too bad, although I thought that the O’s would be more competitive and without Roy Halladay, I thought the Jays would sink to the bottom of the division. I also underestimated the Rays a tad, but there’s still a lot of baseball to be played. It’ll be interesting to see if Tampa can stay ahead of the Red Sox, Tigers, Twins and Angels in the AL Wild Card race.

      AL Central

      My Predictions: White Sox, Twins, Tigers, Royals, Indians.
      Current Standings: White Sox, Tigers, Twins, Royals, Indians.

      Up until a couple of weeks ago, the White Sox were making me look like a bigger clown then I already am. But they’ve been on fire recently, winning eight in a row and nine of their last 10. The problem of course, is that Jake Peavy appears to be done for the season with a nasty back injury, so who knows how the Sox’s rotation will hold up in the second half. The rest of my predictions look good, although as I wrote in my preview of this division, the Central is a crapshoot.

      AL West

      My Predictions: Angels, Mariners, Rangers, A’s.
      Current Standings: Rangers, Angels, A’s, Mariners.

      Yeee-ikes. I missed badly on the Rangers, who have been the biggest surprise in the AL so far, and I also drank the Kool Aid on the Mariners before the season. I thought that Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee would make up for their shit-show of an offense, but I was wrong – way wrong. The Angels are only 4.5 games back of Texas and therefore could still win the division, but the Rangers are far and away the better team and I don’t think they’ve relinquish the lead. I need a mulligan for this division.

      Continue reading »

      External Sports, MLB

      Mikey’s MLB power rankings

      July 10, 2010 /

      Not much has changed at the top of this list, but the Rangers are making a statement. Meanwhile, the Mets, Cardinals and Twins have been playing such mediocre baseball that a few upstarts have knocked them off this list. Here are the pre-All Star game power rankings:

      1. New York Yankees (55-31)—It’s on. The Rangers out-bid the Yanks for Cliff Lee, but lookie here—the Bombers have won 7 in a row. They don’t need no stinkin’ Cliff Lee.

      2. Texas Rangers (50-36)—Yesterday, Nolan Ryan and company vaulted their team from playoff contender to World Series contender by obtaining Mr. Lee. The middle of their lineup with Vlad, Hamilton and Nelson Cruz just might be the most potent heart of the order in baseball.

      3. Tampa Bay Rays (52-34)—Sorry, Boston. Sorry, New York. These pesky Rays are not going away.

      4. Atlanta Braves (51-35)—This pains me as a Mets fan, but the Braves made a series-opening statement last night at Citi Field. They are for real and they are trying to pull away from the Mets and Phils.

      5. San Diego Padres (50-36)—You think the Mets wish they still had Heath Bell?

      6. Boston Red Sox (50-36)—They aren’t giving in either. The next two and a half months are going to be very exciting in the AL East.

      7. Cincinnati Reds (45-35)—That team dressed in red leading the NL Central is not the Cardinals. By the way, if Joey Votto didn’t win that online voting, it would have been one of the worst all-star snubs in baseball history.

      8. Detroit Tigers (47-37)—Don’t look now, the Tigers have won four in a row and the White Sox six in a row, and they are 1-2 in the AL Central while the Twins are suddenly floundering.

      9. Los Angeles Dodgers (48-38)—Will the NL West be like a stock market correction and have the Dodgers and Rockies take over the Padres’ lofty spot? The Dodgers are winning again and making their move.

      10. Colorado Rockies (48-38)—Always a late bloomer, the Rockies are also making a move, and their stud ace Ubaldo Jimenez is a positively sick 15-1 at the all-star break.

      External Sports, MLB

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