Expanded instant replay was included in the new collective bargaining agreement, but Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports hears that the league is no rush to implement a new system. MLB executive vice president Joe Torre told Morosi they want to "make the game better without dragging it on."
Here's the latest from the around the league as Thursday turns into Friday…
- "I have no idea," said Kevin Youkilis to ESPN's Gordon Edes when asked what the arrival of Will Middlebrooks means for his future with the Red Sox. Youkilis can become a free agent after this season and is in the middle of a make or break year.
- The Nationals may have a better chance of trading Chien-Ming Wang than John Lannan, writes Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com. Wang is currently on the DL with a hamstring issue, but Lannan has a 6.10 ERA in Triple-A.
- "This is just something that we've got to do right now," said Twins manager Ron Gardenhire to LaVelle E. Neal III of The Star Tribune following last night's roster shakeup. "We need to make some changes. We need some hits. We need some new life in here, the whole package."
- Dan Wheeler declined to comment when asked if he though about accepting the Red Sox's offer of arbitration last offseason, writes Brian MacPherson of The Providence Journal. Wheeler would have received a guaranteed big league contract had he accepted arbitration, but he instead settled for a minor league deal with the Indians.
Twins would take either of the two Nats pitchers happily, Pavano cant hit 89 on the gun anymore… Everyone else is a joke!
LOL. Twins can give the Nats back another garbage thrower just like Lannan who came from the Nats.. Jason Marquis and tell Rizzo to throw in 2m in order to pay for what he over paid for him by settling with him by avoiding arbitration…
I know it’s his job, and players should understand that baseball is, first and foremost, a business, but it still bugs me when players are asked questions like the one Edes asked Youkilis.
I mean, how is Youkilis supposed to know anyway? He has nothing to do with it, really.
That said, it really is going to be a sticky situation is Middlebrooks keeps hitting. And I just got a Middlebrooks t-shirt, so…
It really probably wont be much of a situation at all, at least it shouldn’t be. Once Youkilis is healthy you put him back at 3B and send WMB back to AAA; it’s pretty much that simple.
Yeah. It’s unfortunate he got hurt at this time also and even worse is that story earlier on.. Was it WEEI, or was it ESPN Boston about a temporary positional shift to the OF for Middlebrooks this season to keep his bat in the lineup? Imagine that.. Probably one of the better gloves on the team and a far better defensive 3b than Youk moving to a brand new professional position, where they can get put under even more pressure than normal (beside being a raw rookie) under the immense NE hyped upped media, where everything is magnified x20 and expected to perform… A recipe for disaster.
On the positive side, if he survives such an experience and manages to perform I’m not sure anything would faze him
True also there. Anderson played some OF in ST in preparation and Pawtucket before coming to Boston and playing LF in a couple of games, then his hype has long since passed and Shaugnessy hasn’t anointed him the next Ted Williams yet…
If Middlebrokks goes out and makes a few errors and then went into an 0-fer-20, that guy would then proclaim him the next Joe Charboneau..
Just think he would have to be sent down to Pawtucket for at minimum a month 1st to practice and then it would have to be LF, where CC plays and is expected back around the AS break another issue altogether with RF being one of the tougher ones to field in the league at fenway.
Could they stick a “green” defensive OF, rookie heralded as he is in fenway’s RF? Move the (hate to use this word) bust so far CC, coming off of an injury and already under immense pressure CC to a new position.. RF?
Problems there also.. Unless CC maybe finally agrees to play CF (he never wanted to at Tampa) Ells moves to RF and Middlebrooks goes to LF? Just throwing that out there.
Yeah, as much as I’d like to keep Middlebrooks’ bat in the lineup, the offense isn’t really the problem, and Middlebrooks would be best served to play 3B everyday even if it is in AAA (he’s still only had about 100 PAs in AAA, so he hasn’t had a lot of time to be challenged with good breaking stuff, so it would probably be good to send him back down and give him time to adjust to that down there rather than in the majors).
It’s already time to look towards 2013. At seasons end, Youk and his 12 mill should go. jenks’s 6 mil will be gone, and papi, as good s he has been has to be go, clearing another 15 mill. Thats 33 million off the books. Then, they had better spend it on any or all of the following: Hamels, Cain,Napoli, or Anibel Sanchez.
I’m not sure that they shouldn’t (and wont) bring Ortiz back for another year. He’s definitely found his old swing again, and if he can keep it up he’s probably the best hitter on the team still.
You can’t argue those wouldn’t be huge additions for Boston but they need to be careful. Hamels would likely be the best bet if they signed a big name. He succeeds in Philadelphia so there’s no reason to believe he wouldn’t be able to in a Sox uniform.
As much as I want Middlebrooks to stay in the majors, I agree. They need to show respect to Youk, he has given this team a lot and doesn’t deserve to lose his spot over an injury. I do think they should shop him closer to the trade deadline.
I know it’s not Boston’s MO but they should start moving pieces and loading up the farm for future years… if they can get people to bite on Youk (especially if he returns and gets hot – deadline bat who might be appealing to a number of teams), Beckett, Salty… hell at this stage you’re better off replenishing the minors with some legit talent than sticking with those guys. 2012 looks to be a lost season even if Ellsbury, Crawford and Bailey return. At least loading up on potential help for 2013 would be useful. And for god’s sake, cut Darnell McDonald already…
So the question is whether the Nats will need to show off a healthy Wang before interest is piqued.
it never hurts to show off your healthy Wang if you got one
Ba-ZING!
Nice. They let you back? Awesome.
I can’t help but feel bad for some of these players at time. Asking Youk if he thinks the new kid will push him off the roster? Ouch!
“Hey Wheeler, still kicking yourself for not taking that guaranteed big league money?” Double ouch!
Beckett’s comments after the game have finished him in Boston. I wonder if even a season of 20 wins will get this guy back in the graces of the Fenway Flock? Dealing him is virtually impossible since the return would be ten cents on the dollar. Along those lines it seems his “Mini-Me” Buchholz is going down the same path. The sense of entitlement is frightening and as I have stated before this is a return to the mentality of the 1950s.
Getting this team back on track will be daunting as most of the players are locked into deals that have significantly reduced their value. The only out may be a tight pennant race and clubs willing to assume contracts. At this point I would gladly shuffle Crawford and Gonzalez off to anyone who is willing to just accept the contract but if I was a GM of another team I’d be nuts to assume that fiscal burden.
The future is not the waiver wire or someone else attempting a salary dump but to see how many holes can be filled with prospects. In that context if the Sox do make moves let it be for prospects.
IMO this season is now long gone. There is a stench from that clubhouse that all the lysol in the world will not eradicate.
I’m sorry but if I am the GM, I cut Beckett today. I don’t care about the monetary loss, your start is moved back because of your back and you go play golf. Then you pitch 2 innings against the Indians and give up 7 runs. After that you give a postgame interview without even showing any remorse or worrying. He seems like he has no urge to win and he doesn’t care. If I am Bobby Valentine I don’t want this type of attitude on the team. I don’t care who else comes into pitch, even a guy from the minors will have more urge to win than Beckett. I liked him before but I can’t listen to this guy anymore. Either cut him or eat 90% of his salary and trade him.
That would be absolutely ridiculous. Beckett has been arguably your best pitcher for years, and before last night one of your more consistent so far this season. And if you are going to move him he would have enough value to at least get someone to take his contract, or if you are willing to eat his contract anyway you could get a good player or two for him.
What he did is ridiculous! You would assume he would think stuff through after what happened last year but I guess not. He is supposed to be a leader and thats not the stuff you say as a veteran of a team. If you can get someone to take his contract and get a good player in return then that would be great but hes getting paid like $16million per year and is not very consistent. His career era is close to 4. I wouldn’t mind having the Red Sox take the majority of his contract for a few good players in return.
Maybe it was ridiculous, but you don’t just cut him, that would be the worst thing you could do. If you (the GM) think he has become a problem, and you think you need him off the team you trade him, you don’t just cut him.
Yeah maybe that was harsh but I was watching the highlights from his interview while writing that. Thinking about it now though, do you think this could just be the players response to Bobby Valentine? I mean, clearly Bobby was sent in there to change the demeanor of the clubhouse and is not very popular with some of the players.
The attitude could be (although it started before Bobby because the manager), but the lack of performance almost certainly isn’t.
do you care about the baseball loss? if not, what do you care about?
With his attitude I would argue there is very little baseball loss. I care about having a team with a winning attitude. I hate to use the Mets as an example but their roster is filled with no names and they are doing pretty well right now. Beckett basically said he doesn’t care in that postgame interview, not exactly what you want to hear from a veteran on the team.
with his performance, i would argue that the baseball loss is significant
you are hyperfocused on two things: how bad he just pitched and how obnoxious he has been for the last, what, 6 months. you are right about both of those things
but there’s a long way to go between those 2 things and “he’s useless and we should get rid of him”
He basically had two bad starts this season in which he gave up 7 runs each time. But over the years he hasn’t been a model of consistency either. He’s not useless but I do think he should be traded.
Read the piece Dave Cameron just did at fangraphs about Beckett. The attitude is annoying, and if it’s affecting other players it might be a problem, but it isn’t the problem.
I haven’t read the whole piece yet but basically he is saying it’s Beckett’s fastball velocity. However, he’s only had two bad starts this year, his first one and his most recent one. All the other starts he pitched quite well giving up 2-3 runs. His era is inflated by the two bad starts. Having said that Beckett has always been pretty inconsistent in his career. I’m not sure if its a mental thing or what but he definitely has the stuff to pitch well but the attitude is not there.
Even in his good starts he hasn’t had his good fastball, and he hasn’t been striking guys out.
the sky is falling? wouldn’t expect that from a boston sports fan
So tell me, was it you behind home plate with a bag on your head last night?
no, but i was pleased to see all the empty seats. time to thin the herd
Couldn’t agree more
youk come home to cincy and replace rolen next year
If I am the Dodgers, I offer the Red Sox Guerra and Eovaldi for Youkilis.
Red Sox need pitching pretty bad (especially with Beckett really spiraling).
Let’s face it, Middlebrooks is the future at 3B and he’s hitting and AGon is going nowhere.
Dodgers give up some decent, young arms, but that’s fine because they really need a 3B.
jansen please
Jansen is probably not on the table since he will likely be the Dodgers’ future closer, but Sox will get a pretty decent bullpen arm in Guerra and Eovaldi should be a serviceable starter for the Sox as well.
I wouldn’t mind giving up those two for Youkilis. Plus Eovaldi is projected to be a pretty decent starter. Who knows it might be one of those trades the Espn guy are going to be making fun of in 10 years.
Atlanta should make a run at Youk. Could play PT 3B role in 2012 then full-time when he’s healthy in 2013. I’m completely speculating but could be a fit if BOS starts shopping him…