Keith Foulke Attempting Comeback
Stan Grossfeld of the Boston Globe talked extensively with Keith Foulke, who currently closes for the Newark Bears. It's an amusing read.
Foulke hopes the independent league stint is a springboard back to the bigs:
"I'm not hoping to lead the Atlantic League in saves. I hope the phone rings today and it's the Diamondbacks and I can pack my stuff and get out of here. Any big league city is better than being here. I'd even play for the Yankees. I still think I have something to offer."
Grossfeld talked to a couple of scouts who gave Foulke mixed reviews, but he does have an 0.75 ERA in 12 innings with seven saves. Other members of the Bears' pitching staff include Armando Benitez, Bobby Brownlie, Ryan Bukvich, Shawn Chacon, and Aaron Fultz.
You may recall that Foulke walked away from $5MM from the Indians in 2007, choosing to retire due to injuries. Foulke commented on Curt Schilling, who was paid $8MM last year without pitching for the Red Sox: "He's got to wake up and look himself in the mirror every day." Grossfeld adds that Foulke hinted the A's did not pitch him in September last year due to his incentive-laden contract.
Pirates Claim Steven Jackson
The Pirates have added another Yankees pitcher, claiming righty reliever Steven Jackson off waivers today according to Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Injured pitcher Jimmy Barthmaier was released to make room.
Jackson, 27, posted a 1.88 ERA in 14.3 Triple A innings this year. This is his third stint at that level. He'd joined the Yanks in the Randy Johnson-Arizona deal, and was the last remnant of that 2007 trade. Jackson works with a low-90s sinker, according to Baseball America.
Damon Doesn’t Expect To Be Back
With the future in his sights, Johnny Damon is on pace for a big contract year. Columnist Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News says Damon, who has spent time on four different clubs despite years of consistent production, is not sure he'll be brought back in pinstripes next year. Harrington provides Damon's quote:
Bryan Hoch of MLB.com says Damon's aiming to play for 5 more seasons and retire at 40. He has played in at least 140 games in 13 straight seasons. He could join Paul Molitor, Rickey Henderson, and Craig Biggio as the only players to have 200 homeruns, 400 stolen bases, 1,000 RBI, 1,500 runs and 3,000 hits.
Gammons On Ackley, Red Sox, Relievers
ESPN's Peter Gammons has a new blog post up. Let's take a look.
- Gammons writes in praise of North Carolina's Dustin Ackley, who is likely to be chosen by the Mariners at #2 in June. Ackley may wind up at center field or second base.
- The Red Sox don't appear willing to trade young pitchers like Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden, and Nick Hagadone. The Sox have looked at bats such as Colorado's Matt Murton and Ryan Spilborghs, but for now aren't desperate enough to trade pitching. Gammons wonders if, for the right bat, Boston would part with Manny Delcarmen. He believes Delcarmen could close in the NL.
- Gammons says the Mets think they could have Carlos Delgado back by August if he has hip surgery, allowing them to stay in-house for his replacements.
- The Dodgers, Indians, Yankees, and Twins are looking for relief help. Gammon names Jose Valverde, Huston Street, Danys Baez, Russ Springer, and John Grabow as future trade candidates.
Pirates Acquire Hacker For Sanchez
2:21pm: According to MLB.com's Noah Coslov, the Yankees will receive right-handed reliever Romulo Sanchez. The 25-year-old was one of the Pirates' first cuts this spring. As of Friday, he had a 4.38 ERA and 15/5 K/BB ratio in 12 1/3 innings for Triple-A Indianapolis.
1:17pm: According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Dejan Kovacevic, the Pirates have acquired minor league right-hander Eric Hacker from the Yankees. It's not yet clear who, or what, the Yanks were given in return.
Hacker, 26, was designated for assignment by the Yankees last Saturday. He posted a 2.43 ERA and a 115/37 K/BB ratio in 144 1/3 innings last season between Single-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton. He was tried at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre this season and had a disappointing 7.88 ERA in three starts, prompting his departure.
Odds And Ends: Jones, Peralta, Liriano
Lins for Saturday morning…
- As ESPN.com's Buster Olney reports, Adam Jones is pleased that the Orioles have so much pitching approaching the majors, but he wants to win now.
- SI.com's Tom Verducci calls Jones baseball's most improved player and breaks down the outfielder's hot start.
- Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports that Jhonny Peralta is playing third base for now.
- Rob Neyer of ESPN.com writes that there are no guarantees for Francisco Cervelli once Jose Molina and Jorge Posada are fully healthy.
- Neyer adds that the Twins need Francisco Liriano to take his game to the next level and regain the form that saw him dominate the American League in 2006.
- In a third piece, Neyer weighs in on the White Sox, concluding that there's no reason to panic in a division that the Sox could take with 85 wins. Still, the team has issues in center field and in the middle infield.
Odds & Ends: Bonds, Armas, Strasburg
Links for Wednesday…
- MLB.com's Joe Frisaro says the Royals received righty Eric Basurto as the player to be named later in the Ross Gload trade.
- Tom Glavine hopes to pitch in the Majors this month, according to MLB.com's Mark Bowman.
- Back on May 3rd, Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times wrote about the possibility of Barry Bonds signing with the independent league Long Beach Armada (the team already employs Hideki Irabu and Jose Lima). But Bonds' agent Jeff Borris said, "He's not going to do that."
- It appears that Tony Armas Jr. signed a minor league deal with the Braves after the Mets released him.
- Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News says Padres beat writer Tom Krasovic of the San Diego Union-Tribune will be out of a job come August. Sorry to hear it; Krasovic does excellent work.
- MLB.com's Jonathan Mayo talked to Tony Gwynn about Stephen Strasburg.
- Johnny Damon talked about his future again, this time with MLB.com's Bryan Hoch.
- Jim Thome would like to return to the White Sox next year, based on his comments to MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
Yankees DFA Eric Hacker
Marc Carig of the Newark Star-Ledger reports that the Yankees have designated right-hander Eric Hacker for assignment. The 25-year-old was 1-1 with a 4.11 ERA this season in three starts for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Yankees needed his 40-man roster spot for Brett Tomko, who was added to the bullpen mix this afternoon.
Hacker posted a 2.43 ERA and a 115/37 K/BB ratio in 144 1/3 innings last season between Single-A Tampa and Double-A Trenton. He’s likely to latch on with another organization.
The Yankees’ Catching Predicament
MLBTR hosted a discussion on the Yankees' catching situation yesterday that drew a nice response. With Jorge Posada and Jose Molina sidelined, the Bronx Bombers are stuck with a real lack of depth behind the plate. As Ben Nicholson-Smith explained, the club could either decide to let Francisco Cervelli and Kevin Cash man the position until Posada returns, sign a veteran free agent, or make a trade.
Peter Abraham of The Journal News asked Yankees GM Brian Cashman which course of action he'll take on Friday night, and it appears the Yanks have decided to wait out the storm. "A trade would be difficult at this point," admitted the general manager.
Yankees Scouting Yu Darvish
According to Japan's Sports Hochi, via Patrick Newman of NPB Tracker, the Yankees had three scouts on hand to watch Yu Darvish pitch Friday night. Darvish didn't dominate, but he held the opposition to one earned run on four hits and fanned four batters.