As the Blue Jays battle to stay alive in the ALCS, they’ll finally be able to turn to lefty Aaron Loup if the need arises. He’s been sporadically absent over the post-season, creating challenges for the team’s pen, but it turns out that much more important matters have arisen. His wife went into labor much earlier than expected, giving birth to a premature baby boy on Wednesday, as Jays play-by-play man Mike Wilner tweeted earlier this evening. Fortunately, Loup’s son is in stable condition. MLBTR extends its congratulations and very best wishes to Loup’s young family.
Here are some notes from the American League:
- There was some important news yesterday regarding the Rays’ efforts to land a new stadium, as Charlie Frago and Tony Marrero of the Tampa Bay Times reported. After long and tough negotiations, the St. Petersburg City Council approved a deal to let the club seek new stadium sites in surrounding counties. Tampa Bay would still be required to pay significant break-up fees to get out of its lease at Tropicana Field, with some saying the cost will be too high for the Rays to participate, so the path to keeping the team in the area remains to be cleared.
- The Tigers face some tough questions with righty Shane Greene, who was an important trade acquisition last winter. As Chris Iott of MLive.com writes, the team expects to give him a shot to earn a spot with the club, but it’s not yet clear whether he’ll make the rotation. Greene had surgery on his shoulder, though it was for an “arterial issue” rather than some structural concern, and is set to be ready for the spring. But it was his rough season before that which leads to concern over his long-term outlook. “I can tell you right now that [Greene] is a starting pitcher,” said GM Al Avila. “But we feel that he can also go into the bullpen if we needed him to or because we think it’s the best thing for him and organization.” Something of the opposite is true of Alex Wilson, who Avila says will remain in the pen despite a history of starting in the minors.
- Chad Jennings of the LoHud Yankees Blog takes a close look at the Yankees’ options with Dustin Ackley, writing that the deadline acquisition could take the bulk of the time at second base — being spelled frequently or occasionally against left-handed pitching — or end up in more of a super-utility role. Jennings also discusses the idea of replacing Ackley with a better version of himself — presumably, Ben Zobrist — while also utilizing youngsters Rob Refsnyder and Jose Pirela more heavily.
Tigers need Greene to be Porcello 2.0. At least there is a reason for his poor performance. He was incredible for the first few starts… then he was awful. Makes sense now.
Speaking of Porcello, the Tigers got 2/3rd of a year of Cespedes AND 2 prospects (Fulmer probably will start for them at league minimum salary next year) AND Wilson (who might be their best relief pitcher) AND Speier for Ricky. A great deal for them.
It might be better to not count on Greene at all and put him in Lobstein’s role – long relief/spot starter. While it can be hoped that the surgery will correct his lack of effectiveness, it is unknown whether the injury was the cause of it. Also, while Wilson was one of their more effective relievers, its kinda like mentioning who the best pilot on the Titanic was. He seldom was used in meaningful situations. I expect him to have to earn a spot on the team next spring.
Not a Rays fan per se, and I don’t know if this is even allowable under the CBA, but their stadium situation is a time when I would support MLB itself digging into their pockets to help get them the heck out of there.
I’m not a fan of them either and only live cpl hours away.. Could have saved the entire headaches and mess of it all, not to mention the 33m proposed “getaway fee” from the lease and outrageous 5m demolition fees for a stadium St Petersburg built long before the Rays/D-Rays were ever a team by just folding the franchise, then in another year.. 2 max awarding Montreal, maybe another city an expansion team with Sternberg as the franchise owner, teaching the greedy council of St Pete a much needed business lesson(s)..
1, not to spend tax payer money on stadiums when no team is there to fill it and 2nd? When the stadium is a combo of awful, rarely half filled and no future of ever being viable to the long term sustainability of a franchise? Don’t try to gouge a team and let them move close by so the community can attempt to keep them.
Cities like Oakland could learn something here from this and get scared into movement off of San Jose really quick.
If the beat writers continue to think that how the Yankees are going to use Dustin Ackley is so crucial to their offseason, they will miss the big picture. The rotation is much more vital to next year. Whether Ackely is even on the team is pretty irrelevant.
Tons of local speculation about Loup. Don’t know why it needed to remain such a mystery. I get privacy concerns but premature labor is something most every fan would accept