This weekend's series between the Rays and Red Sox has made things a little more interesting in the AL East. With another win today, Tampa Bay would pull to within 3 1/2 games of the second-place Red Sox. Both teams have only intra-division games left on the schedule, including four more against each other next weekend. Here's a round-up of the morning's AL East links, as Jon Lester and James Shields prepare to square off in St. Petersburg:
- Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald discusses the upcoming arbitration case for Jacoby Ellsbury, who is putting up MVP-caliber numbers while earning $2.4MM this season. As Lauber writes, it's not easy to find appropriate comparables for the Red Sox outfielder. Lauber cites Andruw Jones, Hunter Pence, and Carlos Beltran as some names that could come up during negotiations. Last month, MLBTR's Tim Dierkes explained that Ellsbury's salary should exceed $6MM.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post praises the Yankees' bench, pointing out that the club's depth is one reason for its AL East lead. GM Brian Cashman noted that the Yanks weren't desperate for reinforcements at the trade deadline this year: "We did our trade deadline deals in the winter. Our supplemental moves kept us from having to trade assets in July for answers."
- The Orioles can't go into next season with Kevin Gregg as their closer, argues MASN's Steve Melewski. The right-hander is under contract for 2012 ($5.8MM), but has been inconsistent at the back of Baltimore's bullpen this year, posting a 4.45 ERA and 6.3 BB/9. Another reason why the O's may want to keep Gregg away from the ninth inning next season? He has a $6MM option for 2013 that would vest if he finishes 50 games in 2012. As the team's closer this season, he has just 43 games finished, but he recorded more than 50 in each of his previous four seasons.
- For the latest updates on the Orioles closing situation, along with 29 others, be sure to follow @closernews on Twitter or visit CloserNews.com.
No way any team can go into next season with Gregg and his 1.67 WHIP or 4.92 xFIP or +4.00 ERA as their closer.
If Gregg had a 0.00 ERA the O’s wouldn’t be anywhere near .500.
sure, but for the same amount of money they could employ someone to fill that roll and at least be closer to .500.
i would actually stay internally and use jim johnson…just a thought….
“Both teams have only intra-division games left on the schedule, including three more against each other on the season’s final weekend.”
what are you talking about? the red sox play the YANKEES on the final weekend of the season and have a 4 game set with the rays in boston next weekend. come on guys, this is amateurish.
Intra division means within ones own division.
As a Jays fan, Ive seen this scenario too many times last year. The frustrating part is that Gregg self destructs in slow motion… anyone in the ballpark can tell he doesn’t have it… walk, walk, K, walk, wild pitch. It’s not like a bloop and a blast and the game is over.
Unfortunately, Bucky and Cito before him are locked into the “you live and die with your closer” mentality, instead of actually managing and getting him out of there before he loses the game. Cito did pull him once, the Jays won and Gregg was not happy about it.. Next time, Cito left him in however, with the predictable result.
Gregg could be successful a lot of times if you kept him on a short leash
I like Cashman, but c’mon, that quote makes it seem like it was all part of the plan. He did a great job, but I have a hard time believing that this season — this team — was what he envisioned…maybe in a dream. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining — I love how he’s like “yeah, I knew we didn’t need Cliff Lee or any other big shot. I rock.”