Broadcaster Jerry Coleman has died, the Padres have announced (on Twitter). He was 89. Coleman suffered a fall in early December and had been in and out of the hospital since then, Chris Jenkins of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. As a player, Coleman debuted with the Yankees in 1949 and played for them until the end of his career in 1957. He also served in World War II and the Korean War. Coleman began his broadcasting career in 1960, calling games for the Yankees and Angels before settling in with the Padres beginning in 1972. He managed the Padres for one year, in 1980, but was better known as a broadcaster, winning the Ford C. Frick award in 2005. Here are more notes from around baseball.
- The Rockies are not interested in free-agent infielder Jamey Carroll, Troy Renck of the Denver Post reports (on Sulia). Now that they've traded Jonathan Herrera, the Rockies intend to have Josh Rutledge and Charlie Culberson compete for their utility infielder job.
- The Red Sox have a number of starting pitching prospects on the verge of being able to contribute in the big leagues, and they'll need to have a plan to find Major League roles for them, Scott Lauber of the Boston Herald writes. That could be tricky because of their sheer number (they include Allen Webster, Rubby De La Rosa, Anthony Ranaudo, Brandon Workman, Matt Barnes, Drake Britton and Henry Owens) and because young starters often have "hiccups," as GM Ben Cherington describes it. Nonetheless, the Red Sox do not currently seem to have plans to trade anyone currently in their rotation. Instead, they want to preserve their depth in case there are injuries.
- A variety of current and former big-league front-office types with Western Pennsylvania roots meet every December in Pittsburgh, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reports. Attendees have included Pirates president Frank Coonelly, Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik, Marlins assistant GM Mike Berger, Indians senior director of scouting operations John Mirabelli, Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava, former Pirates GM Dave Littlefield, Royals special assistant Tim Conroy and Pirates national scouting supervisor Jack Bowen. "It's open to anyone in the area with even a loose affiliation to major league baseball," says Berger. "It's neat to see the different guys who roll in, from part-time scouts to team officials, young guys just getting their start, interns. You'd be surprised how many of us call Pittsburgh home."
I think Ryan Theriot deserves his own post to announce his retirement. The guy played 8 quality years in the game and was never a burden to a team.
No Aubrey Huff post, either.
Well, Aubrey was a burden to the Giants late career, but I suppose they were both quality veterans.
I remembered Takashi Saito got one after only 330 IP in the Majors, so I figured Theriot has done enough to get one as well.
I thought about it, but he didn’t play last year, and we covered him pretty closely last spring while he was deciding what to do.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/ryan-theriot/
So I figured it was probably more of a bullet at this point. Tim may disagree. I’m not sure.
Eh, maybe you’re right, actually. I went ahead and put one up.
Not to nitpick or anything, but it may sound more pleasant to change “died” to “passed away” on Coleman.
You know, political correctness and everything these days…
Red Sox already well underway of “plan” to add rookie pitchers. 3 current starter’s contracts expire at the end of ’14 (Lester, Dempster and Peavy), and another at end of ’15 (Lackey). Plenty of room. All seven will not be big league starters.
Side note: The more De La Rosa pitches the more it seems he’ll be middle relief. Something happened with his fastball since TJ surgery. Reports of 100mph fastball haven’t materialized since coming to Boston.
Lackey’s last year he makes $500k too
In 2011 the Red Sox were scrambling to find starters, now they have to much pitching. A lot can change in a short amount of time!
There’s no such thing as too much pitching
“You go through The Sporting News for the last 100 years,
and you will find two things are always true.
You never have enough pitching, and nobody ever made money.”
– Donald Fehr, executive director, MLBPA
Maybe, maybe not. If that means someone like Ryan dempster is making starts, while Brandon Workman is in the BP? Too much pitching while Allan Webster, Anthony Ranaudo, RDLR and Matt Barnes are all probably going to be throwing in the bigs by July, if not already have in the case of RDLR and Webster.
I think that old analogy is made for teams that don’t already have 6 veteran SP and at least one other rookie who has pitched well enough in multiple big league starts, as well as the previous WS in relief.
Red Sox should trade some of that excess pitching to get Kemp, Stanton,or one of the big sluggers in Toronto rather see Dempster, Peavy or Rubby go in a trade but do what you got to do to land one of them.
Toronto’s not going to trade one of their top guys to a division rival without a truly massive overpay and the same could probably be said of Stanton. The Red Sox are in an ideal position for pitching for 2015. They’ve got young guys and salary space to make adjustments if 2014 doesn’t go according to plan. No reason to sacrifice that for Matt Kemp unless the Dodgers want to send a ton of money over.
I have a feeling the Sox have made a very strong offer for Stanton but were told “Bogaerts or bust” by the Marlins. If the Marlins WERE willing to accept a Bogaerts-less package for Stanton, I think the trade gets made.
The Red Sox should keep all of this pitching until at least the early part of the season unless somebody wants to give up a star CF or 3B. They’re in a position where Dempster and Peavy’s salaries are not stopping them from doing anything and pitchers tend to get injured even if you have 8 of them like the Dodgers. Might as well keep them around until a fair trade is proposed.
We were really fortunate in the health department this past season. So I think Ben has the right idea holding onto the depth. Because as we all know depth can turn into a shortage real quick. I am more than confident that we will find time for the young guys. Workman is in the pen and the first people up for an injury will be Rubby, Britton, and Wilson. Webster or A-Ran I could see taking a role mid season if an injury happens or someone under performs. Owens I hope to see in AAA all season with a shot at starting out of spring training 2015. And if our current starting five all hold up and that causes problems finding room for A-Ran and Webster so be it because it probably means we are playoff bound.
RIP Jerry Coleman. “Oh, Doctor! You can hang a star on that baby!”
I grew up in San Diego. While not a fan of the Padres I still watched more than my fair share of Padres games. The team was largely terrible, you could count on Jerry to do a great job calling the game. He was a terrific baseball guy. Unfortunately, I think he was just overshadowed by Vin Scully. Felt like Coleman rarely got his due as a broadcaster.
A great man whose absence will be sorely felt.
Yes, unfortunately the tribute above does not give Jerry his due. The man won 4 World Series (and was MVP of the 1950 edition), and is the ONLY major leaguer to see action in two wars. He’s as beloved in San Diego as Gwynn or Hoffman.
Disappointed by this from MLBTR.
Seems like a more apt way to sum up his career would be as a great combat pilot with 120 combat missions, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, 13 Air Medals and three Navy Citations, who also played baseball.
RIP to the Colonel!! You will be missed here in Padre land!