TWiB #6: May 8 - May 14

[Bored 0]

Monday, Monday, Monday

 

Twins (Brad Radke) at Rangers (John Koronka) ESPN

Angels (Jeff Weaver) at Blue Jays (Roy Halladay)

Rockies (Jeff Francis) at Cardinals (Jason Marquis)

Indians (Paul Byrd) at Royals (Denny Bautista)

Cubs (Greg Maddux) at Padres (Chris Young)

Devil Rays (Casey Fossum) at Mariners (Gil Meche)

Astros (Roy Oswalt) at Bonds (who cares?)

 

Tuesday

 

Mets (Pedro Martinez) at Phillies (Brett Myers)

Tigers (Nate Robertson) at Orioles (Daniel Cabrera)

Diamondbacks (Miguel Batista) at Pirates (Ian Snell)

Red Sox (Josh Beckett) at Yankees (Randy Johnson)

Braves (John Thomson) at Marlins (Brian Moehler)

Athletics (Danny Haren) at Blue Jays (Josh Towers)

Nationals (Tony Armas Jr.) at Reds (Brandon Claussen)

Angels (Kevin Gregg) at White Sox (Freddy Garcia)

Twins (Carlos Silva) at Rangers (Kevin Millwood)

Rockies (Josh Fogg) at Cardinals (Chris Carpenter)

Indians (Jason Johnson) at Royals (Jeremy Affeldt)

Brewers (Doug Davis) at Padres (Clay Hensley)

Devil Rays (Doug Waechter) at Mariners (Felix Hernandez)

Astros (Andy Pettitte) at Dodgers (Jae Seo)

Cubs (Rich Hill) at Bonds (Dave Dravecky)

[Hawk 34 0]

Reds had trouble against Arizona, so getting another series with Washington is like playing the JV team to warm up before facing a real team against Philly.

[tominator89 0]

Apparently Billy Wagner was called a "rat" by Pat Burrell last season.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2436959

[KingPK 0]

Even if you hate the two teams, Johnson/Beckett and Mussina/Schilling are going to be some GREAT pitching matchups this week.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Who is this Barry Bonds fellow people keep talking about?

[CanadianChris 0]

I think he's an ESPN employee.

[Guest Felonies!]

Oh hey, that Cubs game Saturday night, for those who missed it, curiously featured a long shot of Michael Barrett adjusting his jock after sliding into third. The essence of baseball is not the battle between pitcher and catcher, or manager v. manager, baseball is all about guys in white polyester pants grabbing their junk.

 

Sociology exam, gotta run!

[Bruiser Chong 0]

They were worried it was a groin problem right up until he physically pulled his cup out while leading off third.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

http://www.hittrackeronline.com/index.php

 

Here's a neat home run related site.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

Victor Zambrano has admitted he's been pitching in pain since he got traded back in 2004.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Hey, a couple of my buddies make it into 1 of the game clips over at mlb.com.

 

Click here. Then go to "other Phillies games", select the 5/5/06 Phillies/Giants game, then the clip for Vizquel's HR. Check out the row behind the guy who ends up catching the ball. The guy in the red hat w/ the glove who turns to his right with an "aw, man!" reaction is my buddy who has a partial season ticket plan. My other buddy is in the Phillies shirt behind the dude in black. That's where I sit when I go down w/ my buddy. Prime HR territory.

[devo 0]

Victor Zambrano has admitted he's been pitching in pain since he got traded back in 2004.

 

That explains a lot.

 

I'm really, really hoping that the Mets make the sensible choice here and promote either Heilman or Oliver to the starting rotation. Bannister will be back soon, and I feel that he and Heilman anchoring the rotation would be just fine. There's a decent selection of pitchers in Norfolk to take the empty spot in the bullpen.

 

If the Mets make the trade that they're rumored to, I'll be pretty upset to say the least.

[naiwf 0]

Victor Zambrano has admitted he's been pitching in pain since he got traded back in 2004.

 

That explains a lot.

 

I'm really, really hoping that the Mets make the sensible choice here and promote either Heilman or Oliver to the starting rotation. Bannister will be back soon, and I feel that he and Heilman anchoring the rotation would be just fine. There's a decent selection of pitchers in Norfolk to take the empty spot in the bullpen.

 

If the Mets make the trade that they're rumored to, I'll be pretty upset to say the least.

 

Which trade are you talking about because there's rumblings of trying to get Zito or the D-Train who is awesome at Shea. I don't want to give up on Lastings, but if we can get a young lefty to be our # 3 this year, and eventually move up to the 1 or 2 spot when Glavine and Pedro retire, I think you have to consider it just because it's always easier to acquire a big bat in free agency.

[devo 0]

I was specifically talking about Milledge/Zito, yeah. I'm not comfortable giving up Milledge for either Zito or Willis, mainly because Zito isn't what he used to be and Willis' nagging injuries will probably prevent him from contributing very much this year. What's more, both Zito and Willis are only signed through this year. If they cut and run after this season, the Mets are right back where they started, only without Milledge.

[naiwf 0]

N/M

[The Man in Blak 0]

The Marlins already offered Dontrelle Willis to the Mets for David Wright a couple weeks back, IIRC. I don't think offering Milledge alone would get it done, unless the Mets plan on sweetening the deal with Pelfrey or other prospects.

 

In other less-publicized injury news, Sidney Ponson was taken out of the Caridnals' final game in Florida after three scoreless innings due to a twinge in his right elbow. Here are the notes from MLB.com:

 

Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan said the club has two days off in the next eight, so they may be able to get by using four starters and simply give Ponson some rest, provided he isn't injured severely. Duncan seemed against using either Anthony Reyes, the team's best pitching prospect at Triple-A Memphis, or reliever Adam Wainwright if Ponson's injury isn't serious.

 

"When a guy is in a routine, especially a young guy who's trying to get established, I hate to do anything to change that," Duncan said of Wainwright. "We'll probably go with four pitchers, if we can."

 

Cardinals trainer Barry Weinberg said Ponson told him he felt a twinge in the back of his elbow on a pitch in the second inning, then the problem continued in the third.

 

Unless Paletta's examination reveals something much more sinister in Sidney's elbow, you can probably hold off on those Anthony Reyes waiver claims for the time being.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

How about this story about Bonds refusing an autograph to the guy who caught the homerun ball last night? He gave the ball up with no problems and just wanted an autograph, but got shut down. What an ass.

[sfaJack 0]

I was specifically talking about Milledge/Zito, yeah. I'm not comfortable giving up Milledge for either Zito or Willis, mainly because Zito isn't what he used to be and Willis' nagging injuries will probably prevent him from contributing very much this year. What's more, both Zito and Willis are only signed through this year. If they cut and run after this season, the Mets are right back where they started, only without Milledge.

Wouldn't Dontrelle be three (or even four) more years away from free agency?

 

As for any proposed trade, the Mets should really think about acquiring Zito or Willis if they can, even if the price is Milledge. The top of their rotation is old and with the NL looking to be pretty ripe for the taking this year, now might be the time to acquire a big time, younger pitcher who can give you a great shot this year and likely be an anchor for the future.

[Bored 0]

Personally I think the Zito/Milledge rumor is completely made up (nothing in the Bay Area media about it) and I see zero chance of it happening. Before the season I'd do such a deal in a heartbeat but with the A's injury problems they wouldn't be able to depart with Zito at the moment.

[devo 0]

Wouldn't Dontrelle be three (or even four) more years away from free agency?

 

As far as I know, he's only signed through this year. Here's the details of his contract.

 

Dontrelle Willis p

1 year/$4.35M (2006), plus $0.2M in incentives

 

re-signed 1/06 (avoided arbitration)

$4.35M for 2006 paid as follows:

$0.2M up front,

$2.65M during 2006 season

$1.5M deferred

$0.2M in incentives

$50,000 for 35 g

$100,000 for Cy Young award

$25,000 each for All-Star selection & Silver Slugger award

 

2006 contract is record for first-time arbitration-eligible starting pitcher

 

1 year/$0.3785M (2005), re-signed 2/05

 

1 year/$0.3535M (2004), re-signed 3/04 (split contract paying $188,891 in minors)

agent: Matt Sosnick

ML service: 2.143

[the max 0]

How about this story about Bonds refusing an autograph to the guy who caught the homerun ball last night? He gave the ball up with no problems and just wanted an autograph, but got shut down. What an ass.

 

I'd have kept the ball then. It's not like he asked for the insane things that these guys used to get (one guy got season tickets for whatever team it was, another got a sum of cash).

[Guest]

Bonds also called him an idiot for having given it back to him in the first place. He said, "Why give it back to me? You can make a fortune off that ball, you're an idiot if you give it to me."

[The Man in Blak 0]

Wouldn't Dontrelle be three (or even four) more years away from free agency?

 

As far as I know, he's only signed through this year. Here's the details of his contract.

 

Dontrelle Willis p

1 year/$4.35M (2006), plus $0.2M in incentives

 

re-signed 1/06 (avoided arbitration)

$4.35M for 2006 paid as follows:

$0.2M up front,

$2.65M during 2006 season

$1.5M deferred

$0.2M in incentives

$50,000 for 35 g

$100,000 for Cy Young award

$25,000 each for All-Star selection & Silver Slugger award

 

2006 contract is record for first-time arbitration-eligible starting pitcher

 

1 year/$0.3785M (2005), re-signed 2/05

 

1 year/$0.3535M (2004), re-signed 3/04 (split contract paying $188,891 in minors)

agent: Matt Sosnick

ML service: 2.143

 

If I remember the situation correctly, the current contract listed for Willis bought out one year of arbitration, but he'll still only be eligible for free agency until after 2009.

[devo 0]

I apologize, you're right. A quick search on Google brings up a bunch of stories compelling the Marlins to trade Willis, citing the fact that he won't become a free agent until '09 as a main reason.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Who the hell cares about a Home Run ball that amounts to nothing? It's not the Home Run ball that tied or passed Babe Ruth. Given how dislked Bonds is, you have to wonder how much someone could get for one of the milestone home run balls?

[The Man in Blak 0]

The Brockton Rox challenge the Kansas City Royals

 

Brockton President Jim Lucas declared today that he thinks that the Brockton Rox will win more games in their 92-game season than the Kansas City Royals will win in their 162-game season. “This is a sign of confidence in our GM Andy Crossley’s ability to put together a great ballclub and our ability to win 55-60 games this season.” Last year, the Rox won 50 games while the Royals won 56.

 

The Rox don’t want to call this “a bet” per se because they understand organized baseball’s rules against gambling, but more of a challenge. “However to make this challenge this interesting, “ Lucas continued, “the Rox will put up $500 and because we are spotting the Royals 70 games, we expect them to put up $5,000.” If the Rox lose, they will contribute their money to the YMCA of Greater Kansas City to assist in the creation of the Kansas City YMCA Challenger Division Baseball Park, a field designed for children with mental and physical disabilities. The Challenger Field will be custom-designed using a synthetic turf to accommodate wheelchairs and other assistive devices in order to remove the barriers that normally keep special-needs children off the baseball field. If the Royals lose, they would make their contribution to the Brockton Challenger Division of Little League Baseball

 

The only ground rule that Lucas insists upon, “Because the Rox regular season ends September 4th, the Royals can't purchase any Brockton player when their roster expands in September to assist them in trying to catch the Rox.”

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Did anyone hear about this Sports Illustrated article about the ten most overrated and the ten most underrated players, as voted on by current major leaguers. Derek Jeter, Carlos Beltran and A-Rod were the top 3 on overrated.

 

Thoughts?

[Guest]

I didn't think that Beltran was overrated anymore.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Did anyone hear about this Sports Illustrated article about the ten most overrated and the ten most underrated players, as voted on by current major leaguers. Derek Jeter, Carlos Beltran and A-Rod were the top 3 on overrated.

 

Thoughts?

I didn't see the article but I believe Abreu was on the underrated list. It's funny how sometimes these lists are 2-3 years behind, as Abreu generally gets his due.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

This was a topic on Around the Horn last week. Not for the list as a whole, but because of Jeter's inclusion. Naturally, the entire panel was outraged. Derek Jeter overrated? NO! He jumped in the stands! Leadership! Intangibles! October Magic!