The Athletics and Angels are currently positioned as the American League's two Wild Card teams. Both clubs made trades with the Brewers in anticipation of the non-waiver trade deadline, but the Angels' acquisition (Zack Greinke) led to considerably more headlines than the player the A's obtained (George Kottaras). Here's the latest on the other two AL West teams…
- Sosnick Cobbe Sports no longer represents Mariners right-hander Hisashi Iwakuma, ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick reports (on Twitter). Agent Paul Cobbe said it made sense for the sides to end their business relationship because of some personal differences.
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels will look out for possible August trade targets this month, Bryan Dolgin of ESPNDallas.com writes. "It's unusual to find an everyday player, a starting pitcher, but you can find some quality role players or relief pitchers out there," Daniels said.
- Recently-acquired Rangers starter Ryan Dempster said on ESPN 1000's The Waddle & Silvy Show that he never turned down a trade to Atlanta (link via ESPNChicago.com). "All I asked for was more time on one particular trade," the right-hander said. The Cubs sent Dempster to Texas for minor league third baseman Christian Villanueva and minor league right-hander Kyle Hendricks.
Dempster says he didn’t turn down a trade to Atlanta?? Well, they traded him and he didn’t go. Sounds to me like he’s a bit confused on what it means to not turn down a trade.
didnt he have 10-5?
Yeah, he sure did. Apparently it exists to never be used ever, according to people here.
Perfectly fine to use it, just don’t deny it after the fact.
Ya think he’s trying to just not get booed out of the stadium everytime he goes to Atlanta from now on?
What if he had been traded to someone like Philly? They never forget even when it’s them that don’t cough up the money, like with varitek and JD drew, like 15 years later. Imagine someone just flat out refusing to go there? It would have put another crack in the Liberty bell the uproar have been so loud.
I *loved* when the Sox were in Philly with Francona and Drew. Just a chorus of boos every time.
Honestly I’m impressed that they consistently knew to boo Drew (rhymes!!). How many fans know first round picks that failed to sign with their teams several years later?
Yeah, he’s playing semantics. He’s claiming the baseball equivalent of a pocket veto and going “no, I didn’t veto it! Do you see a veto on any paperwork?!”
he just de facto veto’d it by not not vetoing it, and now he’s trying to tidy things up a bit. Personally, I’m happy to not have to hear about Ryan Dempster for a couple months.
i dont think he denied it, but he also didnt accept it… he stayed neutral
Translation:
“I wasn’t sure if i wanted to play their so i tried to go where I wanted but if they come at me with alot of money it could work”
He didn’t turn it down, but from the sounds of it the Braves had a deadline and I doubt they wouldn’t have said anything to the Cubs. Whether the Cubs said anything to Dempster I don’t know, but if they did, by stalling he essentially did decline it.
I love the headline, It’s madness that a trade for an ace pitcher had more headlines than a deal for a backup catcher MADNESS!
Dempster, please just go. No one associated with the Cubs wants to hear or see you again. You can try to cya but it is NOT selling.
speak for yourself. I’m a Cubs fan Dempster gave us everything he had for 9 seasons. He earned the right to have a say in where he plays and it’s just unfortunate that Atlanta wasn’t his top choice.
I have no problem with you believing him. But then he should have told the Cubs no instead of dragging this out. And as a Cubs fan since 1961 I think he was one of our lamest pitchers in big games. I think he is a key reason we did not win when we had the opportunity. After all, he is 4 games under .500 for his entire career. I will not miss him. And that is me speaking for myself.
i think the Dodgers are more to blame for dragging things out than Dempster. The Braves seemed to have moved on to plan B pretty fast, so whatever Dempster said privately must’ve been a pretty clear veto.
As for the rest of it… yeah, blaming a single mostly average pitcher for not winning a world series when the offense produced something like 3 runs total against the Diamondbacks makes a lot of sense. Zambrano’s inconsistency, Wood’s injuries and the lack of a competent closer also played a large role in not winning the world series, among other issues.
It’s amazing how fast ‘fans’ turn on ‘fan favorites’ when they refuse to pack up and go on command.
the cubs had an opportunity to win?!?!?! That’s funny.