Jul 28th 2008 7:00AM by Jon Bois (author feed)

Sorry, Red Sox and Tigers fans. I skipped your teams because their Wikipedia entries are largely well-written and free of vandalism. We’re moving on to the Blue Jays. Serial murderers on Craigslist, an astral dream-scape, boogers, and farts can be found after the jump.Continue Reading

Jul 28th 2008 5:54PM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)

- The Blue Jays are back above the .500 mark and might not even be willing to deal right-handed pitcher A.J. Burnett at this point, but if they decide to move him, the Cardinals remain the most likely destination. Burnett, an Arkansas native, grew up rooting for St. Louis and Tony La Russa’s club could use a pitching upgrade, particularly following Milwaukee’s acquisition of CC Sabathia and Chicago’s acquisition of Rich Harden.

For now, GM John Mozeliak appears resolved to wait and see what the rehabbing Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter can provide and pursue relief help. Still, it’s hard not to wonder about Burnett, particularly as the Cardinals muse about converting Wainwright back to relief for the remainder of the season. Wouldn’t St. Louis look a lot tougher to beat if on Aug. 1 Burnett was in the rotation and Wainwright was closing out games as he did when the Cardinals won the World Series in 2006?

- Other than the Rockies, the Braves have been the toughest team to figure out over the last few weeks as they vacillate between punting the season and going for it in the NL East. Even as they move closer and closer to dumping Mark Teixeira, the team has apparently been working on a deal for Pittsburgh’s Jason Bay, which was only nixed when Pirates’ ownership stepped into the fray. Bay has long been thought to be the Bucs’ best trade chip, but that’s made the price tag too steep for many clubs. Still, Atlanta was close to dealing a package of four prospects, including Brent Lillibridge and Brandon Jones, for the left fielder. For a team like the Braves, with little hope of contending this year, that might seem strange, but Atlanta expects to be back in the hunt in 2009 and Bay is already under contract for next season.Continue Reading

Jul 29th 2008 9:21PM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)

- Mark Teixeira is off the board, leaving a bunch of lesser players in the rumor mill. The best non-Teixeira rumors continue to surround Manny Ramirez, despite the fact that he is unlikely to be moved before the July 31 deadline. The Red Sox might be more reticent than ever to deal Ramirez with Teixeira off the table. He was the most obvious replacement for Ramirez’s production (with Kevin Youkilis moving to left field in a potential deal). But Boston seems so fed up with the slugger it might move him anyway. So the question is, where?

The Dodgers have moved to the front of the line for Ramirez, offering an outfielder in return — believed to be either Matt Kemp or Andre Ethier and perhaps prospects. When Teixeira was still available, it was believed they would spin those players to Atlanta for the first basemen, but the Red Sox could hold onto someone like Kemp, who could equal Ramirez’s value when you account for defense. The Diamondbacks are unlikely to make a move for Ramirez, especially considering GM Josh Byrnes’ familiarity with the slugger (he worked under Theo Epstein in Boston). Ditto for the Phillies. The Mets are very difficult to read, with the team claiming they have no interest and media reports saying otherwise.

- The Royals could infuse some late life into the outfield market if they decide to make Jose Guillen available. Guillen signed a three-year, $36 million deal with Kansas City this winter, but there are rumors that he’s unhappy with manager Trey Hillman. Guillen has denied the reports, but he is not known as a great clubhouse guy and he had a very public and messy feud with Mike Scioscia in his last days with the Angels. On the other hand, he is only 32 and is still productive. After hitting .183 in April, Guillen has hit .288 since.Continue Reading

Jul 30th 2008 1:35PM by Eamonn Brennan (author feed)
The Star has a pretty good roundup of the verbal slapfighting going on between Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi, he of the tactless public disposition, and Gregg Zaun, 37-year-old catcher and mediocre hitter extraordinaire. Zaun wants to be traded, Ricciardi wants to trade him, but the two can’t seem to agree on anything else: “I’m just disappointed that he went to the media with this,” general manager J.P. Ricciardi said when told of Zaun’s comments. “We have a good enough relationship that he can talk to me.”

“This shouldn’t be a controversial moment for anybody. I just answered a simple question: `Would I welcome a trade,’” an exasperated Zaun said. “It’s unfortunate that he feels like I’m addressing it through the media, because I really am not.”

“We’ll gladly move him if we can find someone who wants him and that’s where we’re at,” Ricciardi said. “Right now, there’s been no takers for him, there’s been no inquiries about him.”It seems difficult to believe that nobody wants Zaun. Zaun is a switch hitter and he’s a catcher with a decent bat and an average OBP. A few teams could platoon him — say, the Yankees — and get decent return for their trade. It doesn’t help that Ricciardi seems bent on destroying Zaun’s value before trading him. Saying “no one wants you, dude” is not exactly the best way to get people to, you know, want your player.

Aug 16th 2008 10:00AM by Mullet (author feed)

It’s time to face facts, boys and girls: The Tampa Bay Rays aren’t going away. They lose Carl Crawford. They lose Evan Longoria. They lose Troy Percival. Those are their two best hitters and their closer. Does it matter? No. They just keep on winning … three out of four since both Crawford and Longoria have been out of the lineup. This team will be a team to watch not only tonight, but all this week, as they visit the Angels and then host the White Sox after this Texas series ends. It’s a tough go without three of their best players, but the way the Rays have gone, doubt them at your own risk.

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Aug 22nd 2008 12:26PM by Pat Lackey (author feed)
It seems likely that the bulldozer that Neal Huntington is using to rebuild the Pirates with will not rest until it’s eliminated most of the ruins left behind by his predecessors. After trading away Xavier Nady, Jason Bay, and Damaso Marte for prospects, he shipped Jose Bautista (the team’s former “third baseman of the future”) off to Toronto yesterday for a player to be named. All indications are that he’s not done. When the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette asked him about Jack Wilson’s future in Pittsburgh, Huntington said this about the longest tenured Pirate:
“The reality is that we can’t make emotional decisions on any player. Jack certainly has proven his worth again defensively, and we can see that the whole club solidified with him out there. But we always need to leave ourselves the ability to make the team better. Jack, hopefully, will be a big part of this turnaround going forward. But, as it was with Jason and Xavier and Damaso Marte, if the right baseball trade is out there, we’ll have to entertain it.”
In less than a year in Pittsburgh, Huntington has already turned over more than half of the Pirates’ 40-man roster. That seems dramatic, but it was what needed to be done. Pittsburgh is still a long ways removed from contending again, but cleaning house is certainly a first step in the right direction.

Jul 15th 2008 2:22PM by Eamonn Brennan
Alex Rodriguez has had his name besmirched in the most embarrassing ways lately. Madonna? Lenny Kravitz? Couldn’t he and his wife at least find two semi-relevant entertainers to shack up with? Madonna is the best we can do? Joe DiMaggio got Marilyn Monroe, and A-Rod gets Madonna? That just ain’t right.

Anyway, we haven’t really heard A-Rod’s side of things; his comment has been limited to “no comment.” Such is A-Rod’s new media technique: “You have to take the good with the bad and not take yourself too seriously,” he explained later. “I think that’s the one thing that over the first four or five years [in New York], I kept knocking myself over the head, and trying to re-explain myself. If this gentleman asked me that question, I probably would’ve been here for three or four hours trying to explain my personal life — and kind of made an ass out of myself, really.” In other words, A-Rod knows that no answer is good enough for the tabloid jackals, so he gives no answer at all. That it took five years for Mr. Rod to figure this out is most shocking. Derek Jeter never answers anything, dude — why do you think so many people like him?

Also, Jeter gets with, like, Jessica Alba and Jessica Biel and God knows who else. A-Rod gets with Madonna. Sigh.

Jul 15th 2008 3:00PM by Josh Alper
July 31 is rapidly approaching. Buy or Sell lets each team know where they stand.

It’s amazing that the Yankees are just five and a half games out of a playoff spot at this point in the season. At one time or another, Chien-Ming Wang, Alex Rodriguez, Jorge Posada, Johnny Damon, Hideki Matsui, Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy have been on the disabled list. Hughes and Kennedy were epic disappointments in the rotation and players like Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano haven’t produced resulting in an offense that’s only been league average at scoring runs.

They’ve been saved by surprising returns to form by Mike Mussina and Jason Giambi, as well as the continued brilliance of Rodriguez, but the Yankees enter the second half in a precarious position. That would seem to point to making trades for help in both the lineup and on the pitching staff.

A player like Adam Dunn would make sense as an offensive boost. His high OBP and lefty power are well-suited for the Yankee lineup but if Damon and Matsui come back and stay healthy, how to juggle a lineup that would be overloaded on the left side. The biggest offensive need is getting Melky Cabrera out of the regular lineup but Dunn wouldn’t help on that front either because he can’t play center.Continue Reading

Jul 15th 2008 3:09PM by Eamonn Brennan

Baseball people have long known the story of Josh Hamilton, but 2008 — which now includes last night’s thrilling Home Run Derby performance, not to mention a Sports Illustrated cover story and a hunt for the Triple Crown — has made Hamilton a household name. He’s a tribute to the power of redemption and determination and faith and other nebulous morals that get Rick Reilly warm in the britches, and what good is fighting your way back to the majors if you can’t cash in on your ability?

Get ready, Mr. Hamilton. Baby, you’re (about to be) a rich man: “This is a marathon and we’re very protective of not losing sight of that,” Moye said. “In the beginning, we said we’d wait until the off-season to look at things, but if there’s some association that works out before that, we’ll obviously take a look at it. I’ve been doing this for 25 years and it’s certainly the most amazing story I’ve ever come across. The baseball junkies definitely knew Josh, but I think America learned who he was last night,” Moye said. “The phone has definitely been ringing.” The one downside? Hamilton could still be seen as a risk — is drug use, even conquered, something Gatorade and Nike want to associate their product with? I say yes. Not everyone can relate to the otherworldliness of LeBron James, but plenty of people can relate to the human strength required to beat a universal menace like addiction. Hamilton could be an endorsement beast not in spite of his past, but because of it.

Jul 15th 2008 4:15PM by Josh Alper
Earlier today Will Brinson wrote a thoughtful piece about why we should ease back our discussion of Josh Hamilton the former drug addict and just focus on the fact that he’s a terrific baseball player. It’s a very strong point, especially when we’ll be facing a steady dose of his comeback tale during tonight’s All-Star Game.

If there’s a reason why Hamilton’s redemption should never fall too far from the public eye, though, it’s because of the inspiration it may bring to others struggling with addiction. People like Jeff Allison, the 2003 first round pick of the Florida Marlins. Like Hamilton, Allison’s baseball future was brighter than the sun and, like Hamilton, it has dimmed because of drug use. Allison is sober now and trying to follow in Hamilton’s footsteps.
“He has inspired me. I sometimes get emotional when I just talk about Josh Hamilton. The things he’s doing now versus the things he used to do, to choose life over what he did, is unbelievable. I know what he went through.”
After missing the past two seasons, Allison is pitching for Single-A Jupiter and is 5-7 with a 4.39 ERA. Unspectacular numbers for a 23-year old in the Florida State League, although he did make the All-Star Game for that level, but the numbers are only part of the story.

Just as they are for Hamilton. He has shown people like Allison that there is a road back from addiction. Even if the road doesn’t lead to Yankee Stadium and the All-Star Game, it’s a road worth traveling.