Odds And Ends: Manny, Rangers, Pie
Links for Saturday morning…
- On ESPN Radio, Keith Law says no team would pass on Manny Ramirez if he's available for $5MM in the near future, regardless of his suspension. He won't be available at that rate this offseason, as he has a $20MM player option for 2010.
- Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News passes on a quote from Dodgers GM Ned Colletti: "My concern is still with the pitching."
- Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune believes the Dodgers' pitching will carry them while Manny serves his suspension.
- Jamey Newberg suggests on the Newberg Report that the Braves would deal the haul they received for Mark Teixeira– Casey Kotchman and Stephen Marek– for any one of four players they gave up to get Tex- Elvis Andrus, Matt Harrison, Neftali Feliz or Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
- The Chicago Tribune suggests the Orioles may try to sneak Felix Pie to Triple-A through waivers.
An Upside To The Manny Suspension?
Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News has an interesting thought:
Odds And Ends: Bay, Boras, Danks
Links for Friday afternoon…
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports revisits last year's July 31st trade deadline and breaks down the decisions that sent Jason Bay to Boston instead of Tampa Bay.
- Michael O'Keeffe of the New York Daily News lists off a number of Scott Boras clients who have been linked to PEDs. To be fair, Boras has a lot of clients and baseball's had a lot of users so it would be a surprise if none of his clients had connections to PED use.
- John Danks told Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times that the extension he passed up hasn't affected his performance this season.
- MLB.com's Jim Banks compares Zack Greinke to Fernando Valenzuela and Walter Johnson. It's not often you see Ty Cobb quoted in 2009.
- Adam Rose of the LA Times asks whether the Dodgers should have signed Manny Ramirez in the first place and 62% of his readers say the deal was still worth it.
Baseball Blogs Weigh In: Bay, Holliday, Hudson, Cameron, Mets, Yankees, Rays
On this date 27 years ago, Adrian Gonzalez was born. The former first overall pick by the Marlins has been traded twice. He was originally dealt to the Rangers in a deal that sent Ugueth Urbina to the Marlins. Later he was dealt to the Padres along with Chris Young for Adam Eaton and Akinori Otsuka. As we enter the second month of the season, let's take a look at what is being written in the Blogosphere…
- Around the Majors looks at Jason Bay and Matt Holliday in an effort to find the best value in the free agents-to-be.
- Feeling Dodger Blue declares Orlando Hudson the best free agent signing of 2009…so far.
- The Eddie Kranepool Society thinks it might be time to break up the core of the Mets by shopping Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado.
- The Fowl Balls makes a case for the Yankees signing Paul LoDuca.
- River Ave. Blues argues that the Yankees have gotten lazy with the roster and have missed opportunities to improve the bench.
- Brew Crew Ball writes that Mike Cameron has been a great signing for the Brewers and wonders what the team should do with him as he nears free agency.
- Over at my home base, Rays Index, we are playing a game with other Rays bloggers (and Tim Dierkes) called "The Tampa Bay Rays Trade Pool," based loosely on "The Dead Pool."
Cork Gaines writes for RaysIndex.com. If you have a suggestion for this feature, Cork can be reached here, and followed on Twitter here.
Odds And Ends: Hinch, Manny, Longoria
Links for Friday…
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports believes the D'Backs' new manager, A.J. Hinch, is a "strange choice" because he has no managerial or coaching experience.
- Newsday's Ken Davidoff says signing Manny Ramirez was the best move the Mets never made.
- MLB.com's Doug Miller and Ken Gurnick sift through a year's worth of Ramirez-related drama.
- Tim Sullivan of the San Diego Union-Tribune wonders if the Dodgers will have enough payroll flexibility to take on Jake Peavy's contract, now that Manny has been suspended without pay.
- Kirk Kenney of the Union-Tribune asks where Stephen Strasburg belongs in college baseball history.
- Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle has a plan to fix the Astros. He'd like to see them trade veterans like Jose Valverde and Carlos Lee and try to win with youth, even if it means losing first.
- Tyler Kepner of the New York Times says the contrast between what the Yankees owe Alex Rodriguez and what the Rays owe Evan Longoria illustrates the difference between the AL East rivals.
- Buster Olney profiled Longoria for ESPN the Magazine.
- More sad news for baseball: Dom Dimaggio died this morning, as MLB.com's Bobbie Dittmeier reports.
What Manny’s Suspension Means For The Dodgers
We know that Manny Ramirez has been suspended for 50 games after failing a drug test, but what does it mean for the Dodgers? ESPN.com's Buster Olney breaks down the consequences for baseball's winningest team so far.
- Ramirez loses between $7-8MM in salary this year.
- He'll miss 50 games and return in early July.
- Olney says "no team with any sanity is going to match the money that Ramirez stands to make in the second year of his deal" (he makes $20MM next season).
- So Manny will not opt out of the contract.
- The Dodgers, like the Yankees with Alex Rodriguez, have been "duped," but there's nothing they can do about it.
Some other consequences for the team:
- Juan Pierre will presumably play every day in left field and bat eighth.
- Could the $7-8MM be used to acquire a free agent like Pedro Martinez or Ben Sheets?
- Could it give the team the flexibility to make a deal for a premier player?
Manny Ramirez Suspended 50 Games
2:48pm: ESPN.com's Peter Gammons says he believes the positive test was triggered because of a "personal medical issue," not HGH or steroids. Gammons spoke with a Red Sox official who doesn't believe "for a second" that Manny cheated.
1:30pm: ESPN's T.J. Quinn and Mark Fainaru-Wada say the drug was HCG – "a women's fertility drug typically used by steroid users to restart their body's natural testosterone production as they come off a steroid cycle. It is similar to Clomid, the drug Bonds, Giambi and others used as clients of BALCO."
12:39am: Tim Brown and Steve Henson of Yahoo say Manny tested positive for…drumroll…a sexual enhancer (not Viagra). Ramirez tested positive in Spring Training, and then again recently. Manny did not test positive for a steroid or human growth hormone.
11:41am: In a statement, Manny apologized and explained what happened:
Recently I saw a physician for a personal health issue. He gave me a medication, not a steroid, which he thought was okay to give me. Unfortunately, the medication was banned under our drug policy. Under the policy that mistake is now my responsibility. I have been advised not to say anything more for now. I do want to say one other thing; I've taken and passed about 15 drug tests over the past five seasons.
10:50am: According to Bill Shaikin and Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times, Dodgers star Manny Ramirez "tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and will be suspended for 50 games starting today." The journalists have word on Manny's defense:
Ramirez is expected to attribute the test results to medication received from a doctor for a personal medical issue, according to a source familiar with the matter but not authorized to speak publicly.
Manny was hitting .348/.492/.641 in 120 plate appearances and figures to be replaced by Juan Pierre. Ramirez will be back in July, and the Dodgers are already up 6.5 games in the division. So they'll probably be fine. But this certainly throws a wrench into Manny's contract situation. He has to decide in November whether to opt out of his $20MM 2010 salary. Also, Manny will lose nearly $8MM in salary.
Odds And Ends: Draft, Stark, Selig
Links for Wednesday night…
- ESPN.com's Rob Neyer argues that the Nats shouldn't take Stephen Strasburg unless they're sure he'll help their team more than any other player, regardless of the hype surrounding the college righty.
- Neyer also weighs in on the possibility of Bill James appearing as a cartoon in the upcoming Moneyball movie.
- Speaking on ESPN radio, Jayson Stark says the Dodgers should win the NL West by 15 or 20 games.
- He says they're a starter and a bullpen arm away from becoming much stronger and adds that they have the pieces to deal for the pitching they need.
- Jenny Vrentas of the New Jersey Star-Ledger reports that Bud Selig says teams are making the necessary adjustments to cope with the struggling economy. Selig was speaking with the commissioners for the NBA, the NFL and the NHL.
- MLB.com's Ken Gurnick writes that the Dodgers are thrilled to have added Orlando Hudson.
- MLB.com's Bill Chastain spoke with Carl Crawford about the 100-steal plateau and heard that the speedy left fielder doesn't expect his stolen base tally to reach triple digits. Crawford, who has 20 steals, will likely become a free agent after 2010. How much could he command as baseball's first 100-steal man since Vince Coleman in 1987?
Odds & Ends: Crow, Matsuzaka, Harrington
Links for Monday…
- I hosted a fantasy baseball roundtable question: what is your single biggest regret so far?
- Talking real baseball, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe has his list of possible offseason-related regrets.
- Jim Callis of Baseball America says Aaron Crow and Tanner Scheppers will make their independent league debuts today. MLB.com's Bill Ladson says the Jim Bowden-less Nationals haven't ruled out taking Crow at #10, and they'll scout him today.
- Kirk Kenney wrote about the possibility of Stephen Strasburg skipping the minors.
- David Waldstein of the New York Times discovers how the Seibu Lions spent the $51.1MM posting fee from Daisuke Matsuzaka.
- Sadly, Tony Jackson was let go by the L.A. Daily News. Diamond Leung talks about Jackson, while Jon Weisman notes that the Dodgers are now down to two full-time beat writers.
- Weisman also writes about the Saturday night gathering involving Kim Ng and others.
- ESPN's Amy K. Nelson has an excellent story on Matt Harrington, who is out of baseball now.
- Maury Brown of The Biz of Baseball looks at a bunch of young players who were locked up through their arbitration years.
The Dodgers’ Rotation
They're 15-8, in first place in the NL West, but the Dodgers face questions about a rotation that includes three ERAs of 5.50 or more. Behind Chad Billingsley and Randy Wolf, they have Clayton Kershaw, who hasn't pitched out the the fifth inning his last two starts, James McDonald, who has walked a batter an inning this year, and Eric Stults, who's allowing two baserunners an inning. Yahoo's Tim Brown takes stock of the rotation and how Ned Colletti will progress with it.
- Brown says it's unlikely the Dodgers will add Pedro Martinez, Paul Byrd, Odalis Perez or Freddy Garcia.
- One scout's analysis: "There's plenty of pitching available. None you'd want."
- Brown suggests the Dodgers need a club like the Indians, Reds or Mariners to fall from contention so some quality arms become available.
- If David Price pitches his way into the Rays' rotation, Jeff Niemann could become trade bait.
The Dodgers could rely on pitchers already in the organization. Hiroki Kuroda is rehabbing, though MLB.com's Ken Gurnick reports the righty is likely weeks away from a return. Jason Schmidt is rehabbing too, according to Gurnick. Jeff Weaver pitched well against the Padres last night and Eric Milton and Shawn Estes are stashed away in the minors.