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.

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 Kansas City Star reports that Royals DH Billy Butler has been sent down to Triple-A. He will be replaced by infielder Mike Aviles. Before the start of the season, lots of ‘experts’ raved about his fantasy value, as long as he started to hit for some power. Well, he didn’t, and he stopped hitting for average to top it off.

- Ray King is on the move again. After being DFA’d by the Nat’s, King had signed a minor league deal with the White Sox. He probably realized that he wouldn’t have a shot at cracking the major league team with Chicago and went looking elsewhere after only three appearances. Now, he has signed a minor league deal with the Astros. There is a much better chance of him making the club in Houston, in my opinion.

- MLB.com reports that the Twins have claimed Craig Breslow off waivers from the Cleveland Indians. Until this acquisition, Dennys Reyes had been the only lefty in Minnesota’s bullpen.

- According to The Star-Tribune, the Minnesota Twins have claimed infielder Sergio Santos off waivers from the Blue Jays. Santos will head to the Twins’ Triple-A team.

- The Philadelphia Daily News reports that the Phillies are not ready to sign staff ace Cole Hamels to an extension. You may recall that Hamels was one of the young stars that was upset with his compensation for his play.

- The Rangers have waived Ben Broussard. It seems nobody was interested in picking up the $3.85 million owed to him.

- The Indians have designated OF Jason Tyner for assignment. They needed to open up space for lefty Jeremy Sowers who will be needed to make a spot start for the tribe.

- The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Cardinals reliever Jason Isringhausen is headed to the DL. This isn’t surprising as, the once dominant closer has really fallen apart this season.

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

- Derrick Turnbow cleared waivers today and will head to Triple-A. Looks like nobody was interested in touching that $3.2 million owed to him.

- The Padres claimed left-handed pitcher Sean Henn off waivers from the Yankees. The 27 year old was designated for assignment last week.

- The Rays designated Nathan Haynes for assignment. He was just an extra OF that they didn’t have room for. The Rays originally got Haynes off waivers from the Angels before the start of the season.

- The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports that Twins reliever Pat Neshek will miss the rest of the season. He came into relief against the White Sox yesterday but had to leave with what was thought to be a strain in his elbow. After further examination, it became apparent that he had suffered an acute partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. This is bad news for the AL Central leading Twins. Neshek is a huge part of their pen and is probably irreplaceable this season.

- The Washington Post reported that the Nats Dmitri Young was held out of the game today due to tightness in his back.

- Jon Paul Morosi is reporting that the Detroit Tigers DH Gary Sheffield has torn a ligament in one of his fingers. He is planning on playing through the injury. Miguel Cabrera was scratched from the lineup today due to sore left quadriceps.

- The National Post reports that the Brewers Tony Gwynn Jr. left todays game against the Cubs with tightness in his right hamstring. He is listed as day-to-day.

- The Star-Tribune reports that Kevin Slowey left his start for the Twins today with a strained right bicep.

- The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reports that the Braves held Mike Hampton out of his first scheduled start since 2005. This time Hampton strained a left pectoral muscle warming up in the bullpen. At this point, who cares…if it wasn’t this it was going to be something else. If the Braves are actually counting on this guy for the season, Ihave a quote for them. “Those who ignore history doom themselves to repeat it.”

- Jack Wilson left the Pirates game today with what appeared to be a strained left calf.

- Tim Byrdak: The lefty reliever was signed by the Astros according to The Detroit Free Press. It was thought that the Tigers and Byrdak would work something out, but he cleared waivers and signed elsewhere.

- Danny Graves: He has apparently signed a minor league deal with the Twins. He is considered a longshot to make the team.

- J.J. Putz: MLB.com reports that the All-Star closer was placed on the 15 day DL and there is no timetable for his return.

According to The L.A. Times, the Phillies have signed Right handed reliever Rudy Seanez, who was released by the Dodgers a week ago. To activate Seanez, the Phils probably will release expendable infielder Wes Helms or waiver rookie reliever Tim Lahey. Lahey was recently acquired by Philladelphia from Chicago, and if he gets bumped from the team, he must be returned to his origional team of Minnesota because he was a Rule 5 pick.

- The Philladelphia Enquirer reports that the Phillies have claimed reliever Tim Lahey off waivers from the Cubs. Lahey was the first overall pick in the Rule 5 draft this year, so if he doesn’t get a spot on the Phillies roster he will be headed back to the Twins.

- The Indians have released Aaron Fultz. The reliever finished with a 2.92 ERA in 37 innings last season, so it would not surprise me for him to be picked up pretty quickly. The Indians were disappointed by his 2nd half last year and he followed it with a poor spring.

- The New Jersey Star-Register reports that the Mets have returned Steven Register to the Rockies. They had planned to trade for him and keep the Rule 5 pick in their farm system, but no deal could be reached.

- The Rays have claimed OF Nathan Haynes off waivers from the Angels. The Rays have been looking for more OF help and they may be satisfied with Haynes. This does not necessarily mean that they are done looking for more outfielders though.

- Ruben Gotay can stop crying now. He has been picked up by the Atlanta Braves. If he was going to miss the Mets so much, now he can see them in NL East competition. I think the Mets may regret cutting Gotay over some older guys on the team, at least he has upside.