Let’s check in with some news from around the AL East…
- Hyun Soo Kim suffered a hamstring strain while running out a grounder and had to leave Sunday’s game after just an inning of play. The Orioles outfielder will undergo some tests on Monday and manager Buck Showalter told reporters (including Dan Connolly of Baltimore Baseball) that he hopes Kim can heal during the All-Star break and not require any DL time. Kim entered today with a very impressive .331/.413/.457 slash line over his first 172 plate appearances in the big leagues.
- Jose Bautista has begun to hit off a tee and the Blue Jays are hopeful the slugger can return before the end of July, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith writes. Bautista has been sidelined since mid-June due to turf toe, already missing a bit more time than expected with the injury. The outfielder was hitting .230/.360/.455 with 12 homers in 286 PA — a down year by Bautista’s standards, though he’ll still have at least two months to position himself for a big contract in free agency this winter.
- Alex Rodriguez will take grounders at first base over the All-Star break and continue to work at the position once the season resumes, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News reports. Rodriguez made the first two appearances of his long career at first base last season, though those were two of just six total games A-Rod played in the field in 2015. This season, Rodriguez has appeared only as a DH and pinch-hitter, and his playing time has been cut due to both his season-long slump and the Yankees’ desire to use Carlos Beltran as a DH (for both injury reasons and to improve their outfield defense). With Mark Teixeira also a health question mark, A-Rod could get some limited action at first, particularly against left-handed pitching.
- Oswaldo Arcia is happy to be with the Rays but is still disappointed the Twins traded him, the outfielder tells Fangraphs’ David Laurila. “I don’t think I got the opportunity to show what I could really do,” Arcia said. “I know the class of player that I am. I don’t know that I got the time to show that. You’re going to struggle — there are ups and downs in this game — and you’re going to make adjustments. Everybody in this room is making adjustments every day.” Arcia also said he pressed too hard after being demoted to Triple-A last season, which didn’t help his path back to the bigs: “If you try to do too much, you’ll end up doing less.”
- In other AL East news from earlier today, we covered some Red Sox and Yankees items in the latest edition of AL Notes, and the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo shared several interesting trade buzz items from around the division (and all of baseball).
Dear Yankees, please listen to your fans once. Get rid of AFraud and bring someone in that could actually be useful. Anyone with common sense would see the writing on the wall.
If I were to make a wild guess about why yanks haven’t gotten rid of ARod yet I’d think they want to make sure if he hits home run number 714 they can get the media blitz and potential money coming out of it. It may not be the great record breaker, but Ruth is still considered the gold standard of power hitters. Any player that passing Ruth will have a spectacle made out of them.
Bingo. I can’t stand A-Rod, but if the Yankees are going to rebuild and be an average team over the next two years while the continue to develop young talent and let the big contracts expire, keeping A-Rod around might not be such a bad idea, as he still puts butts in seats.
The question becomes… Does A-Rod really put butts in seats? I’d love to see those stats.
Who would you like to see the Yankees bring in?
Ryan Braun is said to be on the block.
Heck no, promote Judge or play Refsnyder in RF before trading for Braun.
The Yankees aren’t bringing anyone in anytime soon. They’re in rebuilding mode. All of these old, big contracts will need to expire before you see the yanks make anymore moves. For once, I think cashman is making all the right moves.
Sorry, will believe it when I see it. Yes, they are saddled with those contracts and won’t be able to trade them. If they actually trade Miller, Chapman for example, then I will believe they are actually trying to build a future. Will see
I wouldn’t bet money on them not bringing anyone else in soon. I believe the front office is foaming at the mouth over Machado and Harper. Depends on what you consider soon.
They won’t make another big splash until that vaunted 2018 FA class is available.
Arcia deserved a call up after he came off the DL last year but he totally tanked after that… he had plenty of opportunity over the years but is a statue in the field and inconsistent as a hitter. Being out of options is why he got moved.
He wouldn’t surprise me a bit if he becomes a decent power hitting regular… he’s got the ability and could be a middle of the lineup presence… But I wouldn’t be surprised if he burns out and ends up as a quadruple A bench guy either.
As far as the Twins: They should be a winning team this year. After a 19-11 spring with a 43 run differential they sure looked ready to make a serious run at the AL Central. The wheels obviously fell off the bus on the way north. Although they have been playing better ball as of late winning 12 of their last 19, this club is all but certain to be blown up before Aug 1. I thought TR would stand pat except for a couple obvious moves but after recent comments, I’ve changed my mind.