Happy birthday to the Big Cat, Johnny Mize! The Hall-of-Famer was born on January 7, 1913 in Demorest, Georgia. Other notable players born on this day include Jon Lester, Alfonso Soriano, Eric Gagne and Francisco Rodriguez.
Onto the news items….
- A reunion between Freddy Garcia and the Tigers is "possible, though unlikely at this point," writes MLB.com's Jason Beck. Garcia, who made three starts for Detroit in 2008, "is believed to be open" to the idea and Tigers officials at least discussed the prospect, Beck reports. The right-hander appears to be behind at least Jeremy Bonderman and Brad Penny on the club's list of veteran depth options for the rotation.
- Carlos Delgado is recovering from his third hip surgery but still hasn't ruled out a Major League comeback, writes Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun.
- The Nationals are counting on a much-improved defense to help them in 2011, reports Thomas Boswell of the Washington Post.
- While the Rockies haven't made any huge additions, their moves to keep their young core players gave them the most successful offseason in the NL West, writes Tracy Ringolsby of FOXSports.com.
- Ed Wade says the Astros might consider acquiring a replacement for Jeff Keppinger if none of their young infielders can fill the backup role in Spring Training, reports Zachary Levine of the Houston Chronicle.
- Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com says the Indians need to start seeing some production in 2011 from the young players the team received in the Cliff Lee and C.C. Sabathia trades.
- Frank McCourt met with executives from the comissioner's office to outline his plans for keeping control of the Dodgers amidst his divorce proceedings, reports the Los Angeles Times' Bill Shaikin.
I really hope that Carlos can rebound and sign with someone in the AL, i miss watching him tear the cover off the ball for the Mets.
2008 seems so long ago…..
It really is hard to believe, he was top 10 in MVP voting in 2008 now it seems like a miracle if we will ever see him in the bigs again.
funny…remember when the NY media had him out to be a bad clubhouse presence..
the guy is one of the most popular guys in Tor for years…has a relatively quiet but great 2005 under Joe Girardi, but then Adam Rubin ( and then all the other reporters ) turn him into a lazy, malcontent who purposely struck out so he could get Willie Randolph fired. ( his recovery from wrist surgery apparently had nothing to do with his slow 2008 start )
I wonder why the Tigers are using Phil Coke in the rotation… go after Penny, they still have some money left don´t they?
Because the last time Brad Penny was in the AL he was hammered.
Literally?
Yes. Shortly after joining the Red Sox Penny attempted to fix a screen door and accidentally hammered his own thumb. By all accounts, it was a gruesome scene.
the way he pitched, i would’ve guessed hammered as in DRUNK.
screw you big chief , i hope you break your arm an then give the phills back there money so we can give it to cliff lee ,
jays can invite delgado to camp, can make for a nice distraction, and if he makes the team as a LHB off the bench or odd DH stint, what a great story! nothing to lose ..
carlos delgado was perhaps my favourite blue jay of all time. i think he actually had a great perspective on things. he stood up to what he believed in. it’s so easy to lose perspective as a profesional athlete, and think the game you play is the be all and end all. he never did. he spoke out against the war in iraq. he wouldn’t stand for god bless america as in his words, “if there is a god, he should bless the whole world.” he gave much time and money to charities around toronto. never a mention of steroids in the middle of that era. i’ll never forget him hitting 4 homers in one game. the greatest jays slugger of all time. i bet we’ll see him back as a hitting coach one day. he keeps a book on every pitcher. very smart hitter. we’ll definitely see him back on the jays “level of excellence”…hall of fame? 500 homers used to be a sure bet. he’s 27 away. it’d be a shame that not having a nice round number would keep him out.
I still have the commemorative bat they gave away to honour his 4 home run game ^.^
why are people saying the tigers need a pitcher? we just magically started trusting the player who smashed through a wall, kicked the ball, and made two errors on one play in left field. The greatest player ever, ryan. raburn.
why are people saying the tigers need a pitcher? we just magically started trusting the player who smashed through a wall, kicked the ball, and made two errors on one play in left field. The greatest player ever, ryan. raburn.
Because 1) if you look up Raburn’s #’s after the allstar break, when he started playing fulltime, you could argue that they were better than MCab’s. And 2) he has an absolute cannon of an arm. You have to remember he is an infielder by nature but has only moved to the outfield these last cpl of years. While he isn’t the greatest OF his routes and judgement of hit balls has been getting better. His arm will make up for his misplayed balls. And no I’m not a Raburn fan but I watch the Tigers alomst daily. He has been a beast the last two years when played fulltime, instead of coming of the bench. So, I say give him his shot. If he bombs, then we have Boesch and Wells to plug into his spot. It’s 1 position spot we’re experimenting with as opposed to the 3-5 we had last year.
Hey chris, check out rayburns stats for last year an year before, 2010, 113games 104hits,62 RBIs, 16 hr,s. Im gonna start calling him , Homerun Rayburn. I just have a Hunch that him an Peralta are gonna have a breakout year.
Tigers considering adding Garcia, Penny or Bonderman!?!?! I’ll take a pass – that’s like choosing between which strain of flu you want… with Bonderman obviously being the ‘swine’ flu strain.
I’m all for adding depth or a possible 5th to replace Coke or Ragga in the rotation, but i wouldn’t be looking at these three.