EVIL~! alkeiper

David Crockett is at his absolute peak during the six-man tag match.

This trading deadline is already more interesting than last year's. Harden is a risk, but the Cubs did not give up a single crucial piece of their ballclub. Acquiring Chad Gaudin in the deal as well is a nice touch. Even if Harden blows up, this is a risk the Cubs have to take. For the A's, I imagine they have a higher opinion of the B level prospects than the Cubs. Eric now has a .301 batting average in the minors. Murton is a 294/362/448 hitter in the majors, but somehow only got into 19 games this year. Gallagher is the type of guy who would thrive with the A's emphasis on defense. Donaldson, we'll see. For Cub fans, I noticed Jose Ceda has gone apeshit on the Southern League since his promotion. 10 innings in six appearances, where he's struck out 17 and walked two. 0.90 ERA.

Pedro Feliz. Low sliders.

They've got to let the tying run get to the plate before I'd say verge.

Flipped over to the Phils/Mets again in time to catch R.J. Swindle's debut appearance. Swindle did not make Baseball America's list of top 30 Phillies' prospects, and was not even listed with their unranked players on the Phils' prospect depth chart. Three months later, he's the LOOGY.

Bingo. And to think they made the great commercial parodying the Wii.

I've lost patience for the Phils/Mets game, and the patriotic pandering Southwest commercial sealed the deal for me. Instead it's game two of the 1975 World Series via Netflix. Bill Lee FTW!

Correct.

That 1994 one should be decent at least. Dusty, Dustin, Arn Anderson, Terry Funk, Terry Golden, Rob Fuller, the Nasty Boys. Every one of those guys is either a good worker, or well suited for that type of match.

Possibly. But if you have a player who is clearly blocked at two positions (he's been put in left but Ryan Braun is now there), you need to do something with him. And besides LaPorta, the Brewers now have a prospect named Mat Gamel who is hitting .381 at Huntsville. Gamel's a third baseman with an .870 career fielding percentage, so obviously his future lies at another position. Figure he could step in by 2010, and again you have a talent surplus.

I'm waiting on doing an MLB draft until a later date. However, I'm interested in doing a sort of mini-draft on my blog. An All-Yankees draft. I'd want no more than six people for it, myself and five others. Only serious inquiries. Anyone interested?

1. Sabathia is a free agent after the season, while Bedard had two years left until free agency. The Brewers are guaranteed less than three months of Sabathia's services. 2. LaPorta has slugged .616 career in the minors. He's an elite hitting prospect, probably better than any individual player the O's got.

He pitched 7 innings in 7 games, one of which came in a 9 run deficit, two outings were with 3 run leads, 3 others came with two run leads and he pitched one game with a one run lead. So he pitched in a grand total of one tight game since his last blown save, and blew another two run lead today against the division leading Mets' daddy Phillies. Wagner comes up small whenever the Mets NEED him to close out a win, and he loves to blow the few amazing performances our starters have given us with "unlucky" pitches. How come those three games with two run leads don't count and this one does? The problem is that fans have this mindset, usually with superstars but often with all closers, that they must come through in EVERY situation. Baseball is a competition. Across from the pitcher is a talented hitter, and vice versa. Jayson Werth is a very good hitter with a .500+ slugging percentage career against lefties.

I hope to God Czech doesn't see this. Because of the IronPigs or the "my favorite team won a game" angle?

From the Holy Crap department, IronPig Les Walrond struck out 17 Louisville hitters in a complete game shutout today. That is certainly the most by a Phillies' AAA starter since 1989, and maybe ever.

Let's check this a moment. Wagner hadn't given up a RUN since the last blown save on June 12. He got two strikes on Werth, and made ONE bad pitch. But he's a choker. Yeah.

Hell yeah Jayson Werth!!!

ESPN.com says the Sabathia deal is all but official.

Morgan is annoying at times, but Jon Miller is top notch. Much better than Michael Kay. If ESPN Radio is an option, see if Dan Schulman is calling the game.

This is overmanagement that annoys me. Burrell walked to load the bases in a 1-0 game, and there's a pinch-runner. Burrell is not the potential tying or go-ahead run. He is likely to be more useful as a hitter than as a runner.

For anyone interested in Mets/Phillies, it will finally resume in about ten minutes.

I don't want to see it either. But to expect the leagues to enact a rule when it would benefit none of the partners? Won't happen. Possible solution, erase the unbalanced schedule. This would place the Yankees and Red Sox against other opponents more often, at least giving the other team some exposure.

May I state as well that Ricky Bottalico is one of the worst commentators I've listened to in quite some time.

Sabathia for LaPorta and co. makes a LOT of sense for everyone involved.

Frustrating to see the Phils in a rain delay while it's bright and sunny up here, and Lehigh Valley is kicking off now.