Links for Wednesday, as the lights go out at Wrigley Field…
- Tigers pitcher Zach Miner will undergo Tommy John surgery, writes MLB.com's Jason Beck.
- The Tigers are better-known for developing power arms, but as Beck shows, the Tigers have successfully developed some position players, too.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports says the Cubs don't appear to be involved in serious talks to trade Tom Gorzelanny, but wonders if clubs like the Tigers and Rangers could inquire if the lefty becomes available.
- You knew Jason Heyward was good, but Dave Cameron of FanGraphs puts the outfielder's amazing start in perspective, saying he's on his way to "one of the great rookie seasons of all time."
- Meanwhile, Cameron wonders if the Rays should deal B.J. Upton to a team looking to capitalize on talent. It would save the Rays money and improve their chances of keeping Carl Crawford around.
- One AL assistant GM told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick that he doesn't expect the Twins to trade for a reliever this summer.
- 2010 draft prospect and Arlington native Michael Choice tells Chris Cox of MLB.com that it would be "a dream come true" to play for the Rangers, who pick 15th this year. Jonathan Mayo, Frankie Piliere and Keith Law all predicted Choice would be selected before that in their most recent mock drafts.
Sure…let’s trade our younger, more effective, cost-controlled lefty for a relief pitcher. Normally, I’d say that will never happen. But when it comes to dumb things, never say never when you’re a Cub fan.
That Ozzie link at the top is gold!
The best part is his assessment of Joe West is right on the money.
I must be blind. Which link?
I think it’s a case of selling high on Gorz. We’ve got 6 starters now that they’re jumping Zambrano back in- who goes out? They’re set on a change and a change they’re making. How about a swap to the Mets or Astros for a bullpen arm- takahashi or lindstrom maybe?
I think we should keep Gorz. If he keeps pitching this way the whole season, we will have our Lilly replacement for rock bottom prices. We need to keep these young guys around and try to phase out the older players at the end of their contracts.
Cubs are going to win the world series this year, they have to go all in!!!!!!!11111
/[sarcasm]
They can’t even beat the Pirates. I don’t think they should be looking into trading good cost controlled young pitchers even if people think he is having a fluky season.
The Rays would be foolish to sell low on Upton right now, and they are not a foolish front office; they also already have the perfect replacement for Crawford sitting in the minors in Desmond Jennings.
25-year-old Upton will rebound and he will be more valuable to them later on.
The problem with Upton is that we’ve been waiting on his “potential” for quite a while now. If the Rays feel Jennings is ready and can contribute more than Upton (which he probably can b/c of BJ’s terrible season so far), then why not trade Upton for some pieces that could help NOW, such as a DH.If the Rays really want to take a shot at a WS, they will eventually need a DH. Does a deal for the Nationals’ Dunn make sense? I don’t know how it would get done, but it kind of makes sense for both parties. Obviously, the Nationals’ best days are 1-2 years from now, when Upton could potentially get it figured out. For the Rays, to win a WS you will need a strong DH, which Dunn could provide.
However, I do understand that selling low on Upton would not be wise for an organization like the Rays who need to take advantage of talent when it is young and cheaper.
The Nationals are not sellers. Lance Berkman could be available, but the Astros don’t need outfielders, and the Rays don’t like big contracts.
Upton has not been the same ballplayer since midway through the 2008 season think it was when he severely hurt his shoulder. His power numbers have tumbled, K numbers taken a spike forward and his OBP and BA hit the floor since, only his lack of motivation seems to be in doubt at times, like his absence in tonight’s game, supposedly to get him “refocused” on the games at hand. This is a fairly often occurrence with him during each season also.. Swinging at pitches way out of the K-Zone, jogging to 1B on a grounder, then peeling of part way to 1B and returning to the dugout. He seems to lack either motivation, or a manager to control him.
During the past off season may have been the last chance to get any key piece back via trade, now with nearly 2 full seasons and little out of him other than defense and speed, it will be hard to get a ton for just unfulfilled potential and a distant memory 2007 season.
Shame too, because this guy really looked like the real deal back then and a force on both sides of the diamond.
While I understand the whole buy low-sell high game, no one can say for sure that B.J. will rebound. Maybe he was just over-hyped and is not living up to what everyone expected him to be, it surely wouldn’t be the first time this has happened with an athlete. Personally, I don’t see what all the fuss is about. By most standards he’s had one great year, that’s it. And during that year, 2007, he only played in 129 games, so we’ll never know if he would’ve been able to maintain that year through 162. Am I wrong?
Upton has such a horrible approach at the plate, and I don’t really see the big deal about selling low on him. This team has to worry about winning now because unless they stretch their budget more, it may be tough to keep this core around for a while. Their fans don’t seem to appreciate how great of a team they have and that’s just sad.
I can still imagine some teams who would give something of value for him. The Royals, Nats, Reds, Blue Jays, Giants, Mariners, Padres, and Tigers are all teams that could use him now or take him after the season is over.
I think by the time he reaches his potential, if he ever does, he will be costly and would be a burden on the Rays and would be tough to trade seeing how you never know what you’re going to get from him. So they should trade him by the deadline or in the offseason, but it still might not give them enough money to keep Crawford around.
As a Rays fan, I had seen enough of BJ Upton. He has ran out of excuses and is a sloth of a player that doesn’t try at all. At this point, Andy Sonnanstine is a better hitter than BJ; at least Sonny can make put the ball in play. Desmond Jennings has been cold lately in Durham and had spent some time on the DL. I can see Jennings as a September callup to provide OF depth. Shoppach and Joyce are soon to begin their rehab assignments and this could be the end of Navi as a Ray and S-Rod (Mr. March) down to AAA where he belongs.
I used to live in central Florida and attend Rays games as much as I could, and let me tell you NO ONE goes to Tropicana. It’s not super accessible, but it’s not so much of a pain that it ever deterred me from going, I’m not sure what it is but people in Florida just don’t seem to have a passion for baseball.
I suspect it has alot to do with Florida having such a substantial snowbird population. There’s more people living in Florida who retired there than there are young people who were born there.
Nobody is a “born and raised” Rays or Marlins fan. They’re born and raised [insert northern climate team] fans.
It’s why the Grapefruit League games sell so many tickets (people get a chance to see the teams they actually love) and the Rays/Marlins sell so poorly.
Yeah I know all about the snowbirds and retirees, and yeah that probably has a lot to do with it. Plus, where I lived there were plenty of “country folk” that didn’t seem to like the pace of baseball, always complaining that it was a slow game.