Baseball Rumor News

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.

- Scott Munter is back with the Giants after signing a minor league deal. Munter, now 28, was recently released by the Rays Triple-A affiliate. In 2005, Munter was a solid performer for the Giants, coming away with a 2.56 ERA.

- A partial tear of a tendon sheath in his left wrist will sideline Bostons DH, David Ortiz, for a minimum of 2 weeks, according to USA Today. This should create more playing time for Jacoby Ellsbury and Coco Crisp, who have been splitting OF time. It could also result in Manny spending time at the DH spot.

- OK, this one happened a few days ago, but I missed it and decided to put it in anyway…The Daily Herald reports that Jim Brower was sent to the Cubs from the Reds for cash considerations. Its not really a big deal, but the journeyman reliever has pitched for 8 teams throughout his career and had some success in the majors at a few points. With a very overworked bullpen in Chicago, Brower may only be an injury or two away from a shot at the big league team.

- The New York Yankees Kei Igawa is homesick. Igawa asked the Yankees if they could send him back to Japan, but they couldn’t find any takers. He has not performed since coming to America and probably misses succeeding, but for now, he’s stuck in New York while the Yankees are stuck paying him $11 million.

Jonathan Mayo now has his predictions for the upcoming draft for picks 1-30. Some have changed, but for those of you that haven’t been keeping up with the predictions here is a list:

1. Tampa Bay Rays: Tim Beckham, SS, Griffin HS, Griffin, Ga.
2. Pittsburgh Pirates: Pedro Alvarez, 3B, Vanderbilt
3. Kansas City Royals: Eric Hosmer, 1B, American Heritage HS, Plantation, Fla.
4. Baltimore Orioles: Aaron Crow, RHP, University of Missouri
5. San Francisco Giants: Buster Posey, C, Florida State
6. Florida Marlins: Brian Matusz, LHP, University of San Diego
7. Cincinnati Reds: Yonder Alonso, 1B, University of Miami
8. Chicago White Sox: Gordon Beckham, SS, University of Georgia
9. Washington Nationals: Kyle Skipworth, C, Patriot HS, Riverside, Calif.
10. Houston Astros: Justin Smoak, 1B, University of South Carolina
11. Texas Rangers: Andrew Cashner, RHP, Texas Christian
12. Oakland A’s: Aaron Hicks, OF/RHP, Woodrow Wilson HS, Long Beach, Calif.
13. St. Louis Cardinals: Ryan Perry, RHP, University of Arizona
14. Minnesota Twins: Christian Friedrich, LHP, Eastern Kentucky
15. Los Angeles Dodgers: Zach Collier, OF, Chino Hills HS, Calif.
16. Milwaukee Brewers: Brett Lawrie, C/3B, Brookswood SS, Langley, B.C.
17. Toronto Blue Jays: Brett Wallace, 1B/3B, Arizona State
18. New York Mets: Ike Davis, OF, Arizona State
19. Chicago Cubs: Casey Kelly, SS, Sarasota HS, Fla.
20. Seattle Mariners: Shooter Hunt, RHP, Tulane
21. Detroit Tigers: Ethan Martin, RHP, Stephens County HS, Toccoa, Ga.
22. New York Mets: Jason Castro, C, Stanford
23. San Diego Padres: Daniel Schlereth, LHP, University of Arizona
24. Philadelphia Phillies: Anthony Hewitt, SS, Salisbury School, Conn
25. Colorado Rockies: Jake Odorizzi, RHP, Highland HS, Ill.
26. Arizona Diamondbacks: Josh Fields, RHP, University of Georgia
27. Minnesota Twins: Brett DeVall, LHP, Niceville HS, Fla.
28. New York Yankees: Brett Hunter, RHP, Pepperdine University
29. Cleveland Indians: Jemile Weeks, 2B, University of Miami
30. Boston Red Sox: Lance Lynn, RHP, University of Mississippi

Those are the predictions, but we’ll find out for sure in two days.

- The Royals have claimed Brayan Peña off waivers from the Atlanta Braves. The 26 year old switch hitting catcher defected from Cuba in 2000.

- Daisuke Matsuzaka is headed to the DL, according to MLB.com. He has been diagnosed with a strained right rotator cuff, but it doesn’t look to be that big of a deal as there is no structural damage.

- The A’s have DFA’d Jeff Fiorentino, Lenny DiNardo and Kevin Melillo today. These were just a few of the moves that the Oakland club made in a crazy day of call ups, send downs, and placing guys on the DL. DiNardo was really underperforming, so the move isn’t surprising. Melillo and Fiorentino were not really making any impact at all.

-Mark Mulder has told St. Louis Today that further surgery will not be an option. If surgery is needed once again to repair his throwing arm, he will opt for retirement. Mulder has only made three starts since 2006 and has been in a perpetual state of rehabilitation for a twice repaired left shoulder. While many critics pointed out that the Cardinals couldn’t work without Mulder or Chris Carpenter, their rotation so far this season has been nothing short of spectacular. If it turns out to be the case that Mulder does not return, I think that the other guys that have stepped up in the St. Louis rotation can tow the rope.

MLB.com reports that the Milwaukee Brewers have signed Julian Tavarez. The pitcher, who was recently released by the Red Sox will be added to the Brewers bullpen. It had been rumored that Tavarez might be traded to the Rockies, but no deal was ever worked out, so the Sox had no choice but to cut him.

Tavarez won’t be the answer to the Brewers pitching problems. He will see action out of the pen, but what they really need is a boost to the starting rotation. While I doubt that Milwaukee is done beefing up the pitching staff, they would be mistaken to think their problems are solved with the addition of Tavarez.

Kenshin Kawakami, a 33 year old starting pitcher currently playing for the Chunichi Dragons in Japan, plans on coming to the MLB next season. This is not news to most, but it recently came out that a few teams may be leading the pack to acquire his services as a free agent. He has already completed his free agent application, so now it is a matter of where he will play in the U.S., not if he will play.

Fortunately for you, we can translate this article for you into English (If you can read Japanese check it out here) and I will just point out a few of the interesting points. Kawakami has been scouted by both New York teams for some time, due to his impressive cutter. While the Mets and Yankees are both interested, Kawakami seems to be leaning towards Boston. He has an established relationship with someone in the organization and he says he is looking forward to talking with them more. The person he is referring to is on the management level, but I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that both Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima are on the team and could ease his transition to the United States.

Just like the NL picks, consider these standouts through about 5/10/08, not just April.

The Providence Journal reports that the Red Sox have designated reliever Julian Tavarez for assignment. This adds to the rumors that Tavarez may be on his way out of Boston. If the Rockies are serious about working out a deal for Tavarez, they will have to do it in the next 10 days. At that point, the Red Sox will be forced to put him on waivers or release him if they haven’t traded him.

- Ray King, who was recently DFA’d by the Nationals, has signed on with the Chicago White Sox. He will be going to Triple-A, which is interesting because he refused to play minor league ball for the Nats.

- The Providence Journal reports that the Red Sox have released lefty reliever Abe Alvarez. At one point he was considered a solid prospect but never lived up to expectations. This season he compiled a 6.46 earned-run average in 13 games. At age 25, he can probably find another team that wants to see if they can develop him further.

- Apparently the Red Sox and Rockies are still discussing a possible trade that would send Julian Tavarez over to Colorado. The Sox havn’t had much use for Tavarez this season and will soon need to find a spot for Bartolo Colon who is almost done rehabbing.

- The North County Times reports that the Padres have DFA’d Callix Crabbe to make room for utilityman Edgar Gonzalez. Edgar is the older brother of current Padres 1B Adrian Gonzalez and is hitting .297 in Triple-A.

Crabbe is a Rule 5 pick from the Brewers and the Pad’s can send him back to Milwaukee if he clears waivers or work out a trade to keep him in the Padre organization.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that the Padres have acquired reliever Bryan Corey from the Boston Red Sox. Joe Thatcher was demoted to Triple-A to make room for the 34 year old right-hander.

In return, the Red Sox will receive either cash considerations or a player to be named later. The Sox really wanted to move Corey so at least they got something for him. With the Padres being in last place, this move is not enough to really make a difference. They really need to find some offense somewhere if they hope to compete this year.