Baseball is Back

Ah, the budding of the trees, the increasing amount of sunshine each day, and the changing of wardrobes can only mean one thing… the return of Baseball!

My predictions for the 2009 season:

• AL East: Yankees
• AL Central: Indians
• AL West: Angels
• AL Wild Card: Rays
• NL East: Phillies
• NL Central: Cubs
• NL West: Dodgers
• NL Wild Card: Mets
• ALCS: Yankees over Angels in 6
• NLCS: Cubs over Phillies in 7
• World Series: In the most viewed World Series in who knows how long the Yanks beat the Cubs in 7

*If you have an Iphone/Ipod Touch, I highly recommend you get the MLB At Bat 2009 Application. I know ten dollars seems like a high price-tag, but if you use MLB Gameday frequently like I do, it’s a must have. Plus, this year’s version comes with Gameday Audio, which is fifteen dollars itself if you were to buy it off MLB.com.

I dislike when people say uneducated things

I was watching Sportscenter when they brought on Rick Sutcliffe to discuss A-Rod’s struggles last night.  He went on to make a comment about how the Yonkers haven’t made the playoffs since A-Rod’s arrival.  Brian Kenny explained to Sut that Rodriguez has had some of the best numbers in the league since his arrival, to which Sutcliffe told him that there is alot more to baseball then statistics, called leadership.  There’s another award for MLB, the “Rick Sutcliffe Most of a Leader Award”.  Anyway, I’d like to point out that no matter what Alex Rodriguez does to encourage his teammates they’re gonna put up the same numbers as they would with him talkin’ trash to ‘em.  Also, I thought being leader of the Yankees was the sole responsibility of media darling Derek Jeter.

UPDATE: Alex Rodriguez hit an RBI double with two outs in the first inning of tonight’s game.

Weekend Notes

Our prayers are with the Caray family as they mourn the loss of Skip, who passed away in his sleep this weekend. Onto the notes…

• Really, ESPN, really? You actually think anyone in the world other then you cares about Brett Favre. I will give ‘em credit for the live commercials they’ve been running as advertisements for the new Sportscenter, though.
• While we’re on the topic of ESPN fascinations, the play at the plate play the other day in the ’stros and Mets game wasn’t worth watching over and over and over.
• Back to baseball, Turner Field has a nice, fan-friendly ballpark. For about the first hour or so we were there we were able to get within talking distance of the entire Brewers’ pitching staff. Although, I can’t say the same for the Brew Crew. Ben Sheets promised to come over and sign some autographs for the kiddos close to me and…he never did, nice move.
• Dauthan and I were watching Suppan warm-up before the game started, and the “Brave Girls”, or whatever they call them, were shooting free t-shirts into the stands. They shot one in our direction and both of us were tracking it down until it hit the deck above us, and bounced into the bullpen where Sup was warming up. We called Bill Castro, some kind of coach, to throw it up, but he just kept TCBing (Taking Care of Business-ing). Then Mr. Mike Maddux, came out of the area we weren’t able to see from our point of view, decided he needed a sleep shirt because the one he’d been using had too many stains, so he snatched it up himself. Apparently no one informed Mike that he can get all the Brave gear he wants through Greg, oh well.
• I noticed for the first time this weekend that many of the Brewers’ infielders can’t seem to keep their shirttails tucked in, as soon as the game ends they untuck them, which leads to…
• Prince Fielder’s GINORMOUS jersey size. It’s pretty big.

A Quick Note

We’re both going to be out of town at a baseball game this weekend so there might not be any posting for a few days.  When we come back I’m sure we’ll have some posts for you, though.

Manny to Dodgers, Bay to Sox

I’m hearing both of these, and I’ll keep you informed, but I don’t want to write an article about it, like earlier today, only to find it’s been shot down.

UPDATE: Wow.

The new deal appears to be this:

Dodgers get: Manny and cash

Pirates get: from BOS- P Craig Hansen, OF Brandon Moss from LAD- P Bryan Morris, 3B Andy LaRoche.

Red Sox get: Jason Bay

Here’s a breakdown of the storylines that come from this trade:

• Torre will manage Manny.
• The Pirates will have the LaRoche brothers at first and third.
• The Dodgers hate young talent.
• This might not be a problem but, after watching Kent and Bonds, will Kent and Ramirez pose a similar problem?
• The Sox have now traded two of their three biggest stars of the past decade in two surprising, nobody-gets-news-of-the-deal-til-half-an-hour-past-the-deadline, deals over the past four years.
• The Pirates have set themselves up for a heckuva future with a lineup that will include: Pedro Alvarez, Andy LaRoche, Andrew McCutchen, Nate McLouth and Brandon Moss.

Jason Bay Not a Ray

A nail has just been driven through the coffin of the three-way Manny deal, as Jason Bay has been traded to the Tampa Bay Rays. The Pirates got back quite a haul in return, landing shortstop Reid Brignac and pitcher Jeff Niemann. Niemann should enter the Pirates rotation immediately, and Brignac oughtta be a solid shortstop of the future, that can hit well enough to land him in the middle of the Pirates’ order. Although, giving up Niemann wasn’t very hard for the Rays to do given the surplus of young starting pitchers they already have, unloading Brignac is a different story, by doing so they have put all their trust in Tim Beckham, this year’s number one, as their shortstop of the future.

UPDATE: The second rumored Jason Bay deal thought to be done has fallen through just like the first and it looks as if Bay will stay in Pittsburgh.

Manny to Florida; Bay to Boston Falls Through

A three team deal that includes the Florida Marlins, Boston Red Sox, and Pittsburgh Pirates appears to be in the last stages of development. The Florida Marlins would get Manny Ramirez, cash and a prospect all from Boston. Boston will get Jason Bay and John Grabow, and the Bucs will get Jeremy Hermida and some prospects. Of course, their might be some extra prospects here and there and when we see who those prospects are we’ll be sure to keep you updated.

Nice deal all around here. Florida probably got the worst deal out of it, but will end up selling a LOT more tickets and merchandise from this deal then any of the other teams. Boston got the middle of the order hitter that they wanted and added some depth to their bullpen, and Pittsburgh got a nice, young outfielder in Hermida. By making this deal, the Marlins are putting a lot of pressure on themselves to make the playoffs. They’ve certainly got the pop to do that, we’ll see if their defense can hold up for the rest of the year.

UPDATE: The teams are struggling to agree on players involved, reports are saying there is a fifty percent chance of this happening. In other future hall of famer news, the White Sox have agreed to a deal with the Reds that will send Junior to Chicago, but he has to approve the deal first.

UPDATE: The deal appears to be on life alert; another contender, in the Dodgers, has now entered the mix, though.

Special thanks to Will Carroll for help in the details of this trade.

Team-by-Team Trade Possibilities: NL East

Previous divisions covered:

AL East

AL West

AL Central

Mets: The Metropolitans have a long list of possible targets which include: Fuentes, Arthur Rhodes, Huston Street, Eddie Guardado, Jason Bay and Raul Ibanez. I doubt that Jason Bay will be shipped to the Mets as reports have said that the Rays have the best offer on the table. An Ibanez to Mets deal has been in the works for a few days and wouldn’t come as a surprise if that gets done before Wednesday is over.

Phillies: The Phillies are obvious buyers this deadline, but there are reports that they might trade Jayson Werth to the Rays, not likely though. They are looking heavily at relievers like Brian Fuentes, George Sherrill and Ron Mahay, although they got an encouraging start last night from Brett Myers which might convince them to lay off the bigger name relievers and go after someone like LaTroy Hawkins.

The front office has consistently denied anything to do with Manny, and now that Teixeira is off the market it seems likely the Sox will keep Manny.

Marlins: Recently, a Manny to Florida for Jeremy Hermida and Jeff Allison rumor came up, but no one has confirmed or dismissed it, yet.

On a more realistic note, the Marlins have been reportedly interested in Will Ohman, although they are more aggressively going after a catcher, due to Treanor’s injury. Their list of Catchers includes the likes of Bengie Molina, Ramon Hernandez and Gerald Laird and it seems certain they’ll land one of them before the deadline.

As I’m writing this I see that the fish are close to acquiring Arthur Rhodes…we’ll see.

UPDATE: Arthur Rhodes has been traded to the Marlins, but at a steep price, giving up prospect Gaby Hernandez.

Braves: After moving Teixeira last night, the Braves look like they might continue the selling outside of Mike Gonzalez. Those players that are available are Jeff Francoeur, Mark Kotsay and Will Ohman, who all should bring back a good return. The Braves are not actively shopping Francoeur, rather just making him available in case they are offered the right package. They do appear to be shopping Mark Kotsay and there is a decent chance he could be dealt.

As for Mike Gonzalez, It makes no sense that they wouldn’t trade him. He’s already thirty years old and while, sure, he could make an impact on the next Braves team to make a run at a World Championship, the players received in return would make a bigger impact if they got the right deal.

The Jason Bay to Atlanta deal that surfaced the other day has been dismissed by most. Will Carroll said it was one of the most ridiculous rumors he’s heard.

Nationals: The Nationals don’t appear like they’ll be very active in the next 24 hours, having already dealt they’re biggest chip in Jon Rauch. If they buy, they could go after someone like Adam Dunn.

Mark Teixeira to Angels

The Los Angeles Angels have traded Casey Kotchman and minor league left-handed reliever Stephen Marek to the Atlanta Braves in return for switch-hitting first baseman Mark Teixeira.  The Angels clearly won this deal, but it wasn’t terrible for the Braves, they got a better package then the two compensation picks they would’ve received if Teixeira would’ve become a free agent at the end of the year.  Sure, they gave up more at last year’s deadline then they received at this year’s but, they most likely weren’t going to make the playoffs with him and were right to get what they could.  As for the Angels, they got a nice bat to protect Vladimir Guerrero in the middle of their lineup and if the AL West wasn’t decided already, it is now.  It does come as a bit of a surprise, though, as the Angels have a history of balking at trading for big names, but this time they were willing to surrender what it took to land Tex.  This trade just further causes one to wonder why teams are willing to give up the packages they do for decent relievers when they could land a solid, middle-of-the-order hitter for a lesser price.

The “Switch Pitcher”: Pat Venditte

Pat Venditte has the chance to become the first real switch-pitcher in the modern era to reach the major leagues. I say real because back in the nineties Greg A. Harris, a right-handed pitcher who could throw well enough with his left hand, pitched left-handed for two batters in the second to last game of his career. Pat Venditte, though, throws with both hands in almost every inning he pitches (depending on the opposing batter’s handedness.) After four years at Creighton, he was drafted by the Yankees in the 20th round of this year’s MLB draft. Since making his debut on June 19, he has put up impressive numbers with the Staten Island Yankees, including an ERA of 1.65, as of July 27. As a right-handed pitcher, Venditte’s wind-up comes over the top, throwing two pitches- a fastball that can reach the low nineties and a curveball. As a lefty, he throws side-armed and has a slower fastball and a slider in his repertoire . Since we haven’t seen a consistent switch-pitcher, he brings up many questions. How much would an injury to one arm effect the other? Does he take twice as long as a normal pitcher to warm-up? What should his pitch count with each arm be held to? We can all hope this young man is able to make it up to the majors and we can witness the likes of something that might never be seen again.

More Information:

• Video of Venditte versus a switch-hitter
• Picture of delivery with both arms
• Statistics
• Wikipedia page
• Recent Interview with David Laurila of Baseball Prospectus