On this date in 2005, Byung-Hyun Kim hit Craig Biggio with a pitch to give the Astros' second baseman the modern all-time hit-by-pitch record. It was the 268th plunking of Biggio's career, and he went on to retire with 285. Jason Kendall has not played since 2010 but also has yet to officially retire, and he currently sits third on the all-time list with 254 hit-by-pitches. Here's the best the baseball corner of the internet had to offer this week…
- Over The Monster thinks trading Kevin Youkilis may not have been a good idea for the Red Sox.
- Sports of Boston analyzed the Youkilis trade from all angles.
- Talkin' Sox with Dan has some thoughts on Youkilis following the trade.
- Red Sox Beacon believes the Red Sox did right by Youkilis with the trade.
- South Side Sox looks at the what the White Sox have left after acquiring Youkilis.
- BoSox Injection mused about a long-term deal for David Ortiz.
- MLB Prospect Watch says the Red Sox have enough to acquire Cole Hamels.
- Brotherly Glove wonders if the Phillies should trade Shane Victorino.
- Disciples of Uecker wrote about the Zack Greinke trade rumors.
- Tomahawk Take believes Greinke is a good fit for the Braves.
- 85% Sports thinks the Rockies should explore a Carlos Gonzalez trade.
- Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness is happy to see the Dodgers spend big on Yasel Puig.
- Call to the Pen explored a potential Starlin Castro extension.
- Prospect Insider wrote about the idea of the Mariners trading Felix Hernandez.
- U.S.S. Mariner says the Mariners should look for an upgrade over Justin Smoak.
- Cole on L.A. explains why third base is the Dodgers' greatest need.
- Feeling Dodger Blue lists some potential moves for the Dodgers.
- Wahoo's on First looked at players the Indians should try to trade before the deadline.
- Burning Down The Yard lists some free agent outfield options for the Orioles.
- Rays Colored Glasses wrote about the Rays and the recently released Brad Lidge.
- Pumped Up Jays wonders if Stephen Drew is a potential target for the Blue Jays.
- Marlin Maniac thinks it's time for the Marlins to let Hanley Ramirez be himself.
- Seedlings to Stars isn't sure what to make of Franklin Morales.
- Through the Fence Baseball wrote about Mike Trout, the Rookie of the Year Award, and the MVP.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.
Braves need to jump on Greinke. With Beachy down, we need an ace. Brewers gave up a lot to get Greinke and they have an opportunity to get some of those pieces back. The Braves have that. Brewers need an SS and some pitching. Trade Tyler Pastornicky, Mike Minor, and a lower level pitching prospect. Get it done Wren!
huge braves fan and would love if thats all it would take but the brewers would not take that
Pastornicky’s and Minor’s values have greatly diminished. Hes the best player that is going to be available before the deadline. That is not going to get it done.
” and still needs to prove he can maintain his velocity deep into games”
I guess that means still throwing 94-96mph 75-80 pitches into a game isn’t maintaining velocity very well? Bard was throwing 94-5 at the start of games and then dropping down to the lower 90’s around the 70 pitch mark.. THAT is not maintaining velocity.
Morales has thrown as hard from start to finish so far.
He was hitting 95 in the 7th last night (at ~100 pitches), so I don’t know what they’re talking about (I didn’t read the article either, so I really don’t know what they’re talking about…).
Exactly. 75-80 pitches was as many as Morales was limited to in his
previous 2 starts, so went with that amount, but yes.. 106 believe he
threw last night and was maintaining velocity from start to finish and
his “stuff” was nearly unhittable.
The 1st 7 innings of that game it was like watching an old fashioned
Carlton vs Seaver duel.. Nobody could hit anything and it was Morales’s
power (Carlton) vs a tad less power, though better command and finesse
Hernandez (Seaver).
Hopefully we continue to see Morales in the rotation much longer and the
pressure of contracts and AAAA people (Cook) does not send him back to
the pen.
Boston might not need to go looking for anyone when they already have this guy. Give him the chance.
I tried to find similar recent midseason trades for a benchmark to establish roughly what it would take to acquire Greinke.. here’s a couple I gathered:
2008 – Mark Teixeira to the Angels for Casey Kotchman and an irrelevant pitching prospect. Kotchman was a former top 10 prospect pre-2005, but his MLB track record was only mediocre. Teixeira also came with compensation picks if the Angels lost Teixeira to free agency after the season. (they did and those picks ended up being Mike Trout and Tyler Skaggs)
2009 – Matt Holliday to the Cardinals for 2 inconsequential prospects and Brett Wallace, who at the time was ranked around the #40 prospect. The Cardinals would have received compensation if he left via free agency at the end of the year but they ended up signing him.
2009 – Victor Martinez to the Red Sox for essentially Justin Masterson, who had been the #60 prospect pre 2008 but with limited success in the majors. VMart also came with 1.5 years cheaply under contract and with compensation picks if Boston lost him via FA after 2010.
2011 – Carlos Beltran to the Giants for Zack Wheeler, who was also ranked around #40 at the time. No compensation picks for the Giants if Beltran left via FA.
These are the biggest, most comparable midseason deals in the last few years. Based on these trades, I don’t forsee the Brewers acquiring anything better than one #40ish prospect. Even then, the Zack Wheeler deal was widely panned last year and it was the only one that the acquiring team didn’t potentially receive compensation picks. Logically it wouldn’t make sense that the Brewers would receive more than any of the aforementioned trades. They might even be better off just letting him walk after the season and attempting to land a good prospect via draft.
None of those are the best comparisons either because they are all position players. I would probably look at the Lee, Haren, Edwin Jackson, Oswalt, Peavy, and Washburn trades (I haven’t looked at them, so I don’t know what you’ll find, but I think they would give you a better comparison).
edit: sorry. replied to wrong post.
As much as I like Carlos Gonzalez’s numbers, I can’t see him putting up anywhere near those stats without 81 games at Coors.