Baseball Rumor News

Justin Morneau is this years Derby winner, so congratulations to him, but I think he should be angry at ESPN for the way they handled post derby interviews. Immediately after runner-up Josh Hamilton made his final out, both finalists walked toward interviewer Erin Andrews. Rather than talker to the winner, she rudely waved him away to talk with Hamilton. While I understand that Hamilton set a record with 28 HR’s in the first round, give the winner his props. ESPN is so focused on Hamiltons wonderful comeback story, that they slapped Morneau in the face. Great story, whatever, but shouldn’t the focus be on the winner. Who cares about second place? Justin Morneau I have an idea…next time Andrews tries to interview you, just snub her and walk away.

I’m surprised that the AL East obsessed network didn’t run up and interview Jeter after the contest was over. That was so rude, ESPN once again appeared as more of E! news trash than anything related to sports.

In a Cubs Press Release today the team announced that they have acquired two pitchers from the A’s, Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin. While many people will speculate that this is a direct response to the Brewers acquisition of CC Sabathia, but this move was something the Cubs have needed all season. It is true that the Brewers move may have forced Chicago GM Jim Hendry’s hand a bit, but another top of the line starter was something that the team had coveted for some time. With the depth that the two new pitchers bring to the rotation and bullpen, the Cubs pitching just received a huge shot in the arm.

It appears to me that the Cubs really come out on top with this deal, even though it is hard to second guess A’s GM Billy Beane and his eye for talent. I thought that the Cubs would have had to give up more for these two pitchers. The A’s will receive four players in return: SP Sean Gallagher, OF Matt Murton, 2B Eric Patterson, and C Josh Donaldson. Gallagher and Murton have shown their potential, so they are both very low risk and will probably benefit the A’s this year. Particularly Murton should benefit from increased at-bats. Patterson has speed, but hasn’t shown he can hit Major League pitching consistently and Donaldson was the Cubs 2nd round pick in 2007. Donaldson was also very expendable do to the success of rookie Geovany Soto. The one way the Cubs might get hurt by this trade is if Harden is unable to remain healthy, but they are still deep at the position, having not included lefty starter Sean Marshall in the deal. Only time will tell, but the Cubs have reaffirmed that they are shooting for the top in 2008.

At this ate, expect the Cardinals to make some decisions very soon about where they want to take this season.

ESPN is reporting that the Brewers have acquired Indians ace C.C. Sabathia. Last years AL Cy Young award winner was the biggest name to be thrown out as a possible trade candidate this season. With the Indians unable to resign their star, it was inevitable that he would be traded. Outfielder Matt LaPorta along with a couple other Brewers prospects will be on their way to Cleveland in return for the huge addition to their starting rotation.

One thing is for sure, the NL Central race just heated up big time. The Brewers are only a few games behind the Cubs, who will need to make a huge splash on the trade market if they hope to maintain the lead in the division. Expect the Cubs, and possibly the Cardinals, to do something soon because if they don’t, they will see the Brewers pass them by. Milwaukee is a team that is playing great baseball right now and Sabathia will only add to their momentum.

I’m really not sure how they do the math on this one because the tournament was founded in 1915 but somehow its the 90th one this year. Apparently things didn’t really get going for the first three years. Anyway, this is a really big deal in Japan (remember, the country is physically only the size of California with a little more than half the population of the U.S.A.) and its gets the highest televison ratings every year. Most of the men in the offices I used to work in were watching on a tv in the corner somewhere of listening with one earphone. If anything really amazing happens we’ll be sure to point it out. As you can imagine, Ichiro (who was a high school pitcher), Hideki Matsui and Yu Darvish all attracted massive attention there.

In Ken Rosenthal’s most recent story (for Fox Sports) he touches on a plethora of trade possibilities that I found very intriguing. It’s a lot of information, so here are some of the key points:

Dodgers after a slugger: Some of the names that came up as targets for L.A> are Detroit’s Maglio Ordonez, Pittsburgh’s Jason Bay, and maybe even Colorado’s Matt Holliday. Bay and Ordonez seem like more realistic options. Holliday would require a boatload of young talent and I don’t think the Dodgers would love the idea of seeing Kemp, Loney, Ethier, or any other guys they have been developing playing for a division rival. For any one of the three OF vets, expect that Kemp would likely have to be included.

Milton Bradley: Rosenthal sees him as a very valuable commodity if the Rangers give up on the season. They got him on the cheap and could collect a couple high-level prospects for him. Bradley is currently leading the AL in OPS. Starters Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla are two other players that the Rangers will entertain offers for.

Pirates OF available: Either Bay or Nady will be traded, but probably not both. One point that surprised me, the Pirates’ outfield ranks first in the majors in OPS.

Cubs want pitchers: The story is already out there, but the Cubs will strongly pursue C.C. Sabathia, as he is the best starting pitcher who appears available. Chicago is also asking about Rockies’ reliever Brian Fuentes. Fuentes, who has assumed the closer role in Colorado, would be used as a setup man if the Cubs acquired him so that the workload for Carlos Marmol and Kerry Wood could be lessened.

Brewers still looking for a starter: This is nothing new, but the Brewers are still looking. Rosenthal thinks that they have the minor league talent to bring in just about whoever they want. Whether or not they will be in contention when trades start happening is another question, which may take them out of the ‘buyers’ market.

Yankees making LaTroy available:The Yankees are aggressively shopping right-hander LaTroy Hawkins, two rival executives say, intending to clear a spot for a reliever who currently is at Triple-A, Righty J.B. Cox. Hawkins has a 6.08 ERA in 22 appearances, so don’t expect there to be much interest.

Phillies want relief: Philadelphia wants to add another left-handed reliever to complement J.C. Romero. They really want another starter (C.C. Sabathia) but they realize they don’t have the prospects that the Indians will want.

If you want anymore details, click on the link at the top of the page.

According to The Kansas City Star, Gil Meche is not on his way to Chicago.

“How’s that going to happen?” was what Meche had to say regarding a trade. He has a no trade clause and doesn’t seem to be interested in waving it. One team executive seemed to echo Meche’s sentiments “If we’re going to make a run at this thing in 2010, how are we going to do it without Gil Meche?”

The rumor never held much weight with me anyway. It was probably a combination of the cubs going after Meche when he was a free agent and the new rumor that the Cubs are after a starter. While I see where the connection is made, Meche really wouldn’t fit with the Cubs. He hasn’t been very good this season (3-8 with a 5.54 ERA) and wouldn’t fill the top of the rotation spot the Cubs seem to be aiming for. Then there is the problem of Meche having more than 3 years left on his contract…which he is being overpaid for.

- The New York Post reports that the Yankees have released Morgan Ensberg. He was DFA’d a week ago and the are just going to be stuck paying his $1.75 million.

- The Tigers have demoted Dontrelle Willis to A-Ball following the worst start of his career. They say that they just want him to get back to form, but this is looking like one poor acquisition. Injuries aside, Willis has not even resembled a shadow of his ability from early on in his career.

- According to The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Brewers GM Doug Melvin is denying that there is any truth to the rumor the Brewers are interested in Brian Roberts.

- In a Mets press release, the club has announced that they have DFA’d catcher Raul Casanova. Recently he had been on the been on the Bereavement List from June 4th-June 6th.

The Baltimore Sun reports that the Orioles have designated veteran pitcher Steve Trachsel for assignment. Trachsel had fallen into a relief role with the club due to his terrible performance this season, going 2-5 with an 8.39 ERA in 10 games this season, the first eight as a starter.

This was Trachsel’s second time around with the O’s and it was hoped that he would add stability to an uncertain/inexperienced starting rotation. The decline in performance will probably signal the end of his career (he’s 37).

Today, Steve Stone was on The Score 670 Chicago discussing what moves he expected the Cubs to make by the trade deadline. He said he is almost certain that the Cubs will try and acquire a top level starting pitcher. Cubs beat reporter Carrie Muskat also thinks the club is in the market for starting pitching due to the unexpected decline in performance of both Rich Hill and Sean Marshall. While no names have surfaced as to who they may be targeting, here are some possible candidates…keep in mind, I’m leaving out starters of lesser effectiveness because I believe what Lou wants is another starter come playoff time. That means that this guy has to be better than what the Cubs already have.

C.C. Sabathia: I see Sabathia as a strong possibility. He isn’t going to sign an extension with the Indians and if they slip further out of contention, which seems likely, they are going to trade him. By not sending a ton of players to Baltimore for Roberts, the Cubs have enough to get this done…especially with Sabathia’s shaky performance so far.

Rich Harden: If he stays healthy Harden could be a great asset to any team. He would fit in nicely at the top of the Cubs rotation. Another Oakland pitcher the cubs might be interested in is Joe Blanton, but Harden has pitched much better this season. Oakland is always looking to make a deal to get valuable young players in return for proven vets.

Erik Bedard: Most people don’t think that the M’s will part with Bedard, after they gave up so much to get him. With the reality setting in that they are a team much further from competing than they thought, Bedard could garner them the up and comers to rebuild quickly.

Ben Sheets: You would have to think that the Brewers wouldn’t want to trade him to a division rival, but if they find themselves out of the picture, it could happen. They would want to move him rather than lose him to free agency and I’m sure the Cubs wouldn’t mind having him around.

Derek Lowe: This is a veteran pitcher who has been dominant this season. An experienced playoff competitor, Lowe could be a great addition for the short term, as he will be a free agent after this year.

Once again, I have to put the fight on here. This one is actually pretty entertaining. Both Crisp and Shields miss with hay makers, but the pile up is pretty cool to watch. I love baseball fights.