What's the Buzz? 7/13/06
And they're off...
Back to it with the second half here and although there were only a handful of games, the trade winds were blowing enough to keep us all busy.
Where to begin?
Well, obviously we have to talk about the Reds/Nationals trade today. I think I gave myself whiplash when I did that double-take while reading the ESPN ticker. But before I throw in my two cents, let's just start off with what it was. The Cincinnati Reds sent SS Felipe Lopez, OF Austin Kearns and RHP Ryan Wagner to the Nationals in exchange for SS Royce Clayton, SS Brendan Harris, RHP Gary Majewski, RHP Daryl Thompson, and LHP Bill Bray. You can rub your eyes all you want. It's not changing. They really did that. Two solid young regular position players and a guy they were once calling the future closer for bullpen help. Really. If people thought bringing in Eddie Guardado and immediately making him the closer was strange, what are they thinking now?
So we'll start with the Reds side here. Royce Clayton, theoretically, should fill in for Lopez at short, but with guys like Ray Olmedo, Juan Castro and even Ryan Freel on the roster he's no lock to be the primary. And speaking of Freel, he was all set to slide into the right field spot left vacant by Kearns, but he's no lock there either. The club brought up Chris Denorfia today and he should definitely fall into the mix immediately. He's got a little bit of pop, can swipe some bases, and he has been an on-base machine during the last few years in the minors. I would actually like to see him get the full time job. I think he can run with it. Back to the infield, there's newly acquired Harris, whose name will soon be completely interchangable with the Olmedos and the Castos and even the Freels. It just doesn't look like there's much room for him. Now as for Majewski and Bray, well, both will immediately go into the bullpen for the Reds. They will be a solid improvement in the pen considering what's gone wrong with Todd Coffey and David Weathers these days. Majewski could even be a sleeper for some saves if Guardado falters, which by the way he didn't tonight as he came in for a two out save, his first as a member of the Reds.
As for the Nationals, c'mon...Kearns moves into centerfield and will send Alex Escobar back to the bench, while Lopez goes right in at short. The ballpark obviously is less favorable that hitting-friendly Great American Ballpark, but the surrounding lineup looks great overall with the batting order probably being Alfonso Soriano, Lopez, Jose Vidro, Nick Johnson, Kearns, Ryan Zimmerman, Jose Guillen and Brian Schneider. Did someone say wild card? The team will probably part with either Guillen or Soriano at some point, but I'm sure anything they receive will fit rather nicely with Washington's revamped lineup. The bullpen will probably suffer a little, but they're going to use their farm system to fill in the holes. Wagner will probably just stay in Triple-A.
Tell me your plan Krivsky!!!!! Please!!!! I need to know.
In other news...
Despite throwing five scoreless at the Cardinals tonight, Dodgers rookie Chad Billingsley will probably be sent back to the minors when Brett Tomko comes off the DL. He was one of the hyped young pitching studs this year, but he looks like he just needs a little more seasoning. Maybe some paprika in Triple-A will do the trick. He could be back in September when rosters expand, though, so don't write him off just yet.
Cardinals OF Juan Encarnacion is dealing with a sore wrist these days. You'd think the Break would've given him time to heal, but he still took a seat tonight. He did pinch hit in the tenth and expects to be ready to go on Friday, so it doesn't look like too much to worry about.
The Twins are hurting in the outfield again these days as they put Lew Ford on the disabled list with a strained right oblique. Bad news considering he was starting in place of the ailing Jason Kubel whose dealing with soreness in both knees. Anyone else think recent call-up Jason Tyner is singing the Mighty Mouse theme song? Probably not. If Kubel needs to go on the DL, Tyner could get some full time duty, but it's really unlikely at this point.
Also in Twinkieland, the team brought back my guy Scott Baker and will have him start on Monday. It was either Sunday or Monday, but apparently Carlos Silva is healthy enough to go this weekend. The added bonus is there's also a strong possibility that Baker gets 2 starts next week.
So the A's activated Milton Bradley and to make room for him, sent 1B Dan Johnson back down to the minors. Nick Swisher moves in as the full time first baseman while Bobby Kielty and Jay Payton platoon in left. Johnson owners are outraged, but hey...he may have been better since the start of June, but he started slumping again, and his average sits at a woeful .237.
People expecting Pedro Martinez just after the break will have to wait a little longer. He went home to the Dominican Republic with a sore hip and came back with a sore hip and some sort of stomach virus. No word yet on when he will make his next start.
The Indians got a little pop back when they activated Casey Blake for tonight's game. He certainly delivered with a 2 run shot off of Twins superstar Francisco Liriano.
Wow!! It just doesn't get any crappier for Morgan Ensberg owners, does it? First Aubrey Huff comes to town, takes his job and then homers his first time out, but now he [Ensberg] is put on the DL with his lingering shoulder problem. They were originally going to just have him rehab with the club and be available to pinch hit, but the team thought better and it looks like he'll rest for a little while and rehab in the minors. He should be back soon, but not until he starts hitting the ball better. In the meantime, OF Luke Scott was brought up to take his roster spot which poses the question, "Who did Jason Lane piss off?"
Good morning Mark Teixeira!!! How nice of you to show up for the second half of the season. Who doesn't love a three homer night?
And speaking of Texas hitters, Brad Wilkerson seems to be taking issue with my recent call out. He came back from the break and hit a two run homer and a two run double tonight. That's all fine and dandy, but who didn't hit the crap out of the ball for Texas tonight? We'll see how he follows up this performance.
Apparently the Astros have made the decision to leave Taylor Buchholz in the rotation when Brandon Backe comes back from the DL. Wandy Rodriguez will be pushed to the bullpen for now.
Typical Mark Prior stuff going on again here. He's throwing a side session today and the team will make a decision as to whether or not he needs to have Sunday's start pushed back. Yaaaaaawwwwwn!!! Anyone else bored with this guy? Please tell me no one out there is really relying on him to boost their pitching in the second half.
The Andy Marte countdown is looking like less than a month now as reports out of Cleveland say August 1st is a probability and maybe even sooner is a possibility.
The Mariners are swapping out center fielders within their system as the promote Adam Jones and send down Shin Soo Choo. Something tells me this is going to be some revolving door all season as the team tries to adequately replace the injured Jeremy Reed.
And finally, the Yankees are hoping to get some of that mid-season magic they had last year when they brought in Shawn Chacon. Problem is, they brought in Sidney Ponson this time. Ponson is expected to be officially introduced on Friday, but c'mon.....we all know who he is.
Catch you next time...
Back to it with the second half here and although there were only a handful of games, the trade winds were blowing enough to keep us all busy.
Where to begin?
Well, obviously we have to talk about the Reds/Nationals trade today. I think I gave myself whiplash when I did that double-take while reading the ESPN ticker. But before I throw in my two cents, let's just start off with what it was. The Cincinnati Reds sent SS Felipe Lopez, OF Austin Kearns and RHP Ryan Wagner to the Nationals in exchange for SS Royce Clayton, SS Brendan Harris, RHP Gary Majewski, RHP Daryl Thompson, and LHP Bill Bray. You can rub your eyes all you want. It's not changing. They really did that. Two solid young regular position players and a guy they were once calling the future closer for bullpen help. Really. If people thought bringing in Eddie Guardado and immediately making him the closer was strange, what are they thinking now?
So we'll start with the Reds side here. Royce Clayton, theoretically, should fill in for Lopez at short, but with guys like Ray Olmedo, Juan Castro and even Ryan Freel on the roster he's no lock to be the primary. And speaking of Freel, he was all set to slide into the right field spot left vacant by Kearns, but he's no lock there either. The club brought up Chris Denorfia today and he should definitely fall into the mix immediately. He's got a little bit of pop, can swipe some bases, and he has been an on-base machine during the last few years in the minors. I would actually like to see him get the full time job. I think he can run with it. Back to the infield, there's newly acquired Harris, whose name will soon be completely interchangable with the Olmedos and the Castos and even the Freels. It just doesn't look like there's much room for him. Now as for Majewski and Bray, well, both will immediately go into the bullpen for the Reds. They will be a solid improvement in the pen considering what's gone wrong with Todd Coffey and David Weathers these days. Majewski could even be a sleeper for some saves if Guardado falters, which by the way he didn't tonight as he came in for a two out save, his first as a member of the Reds.
As for the Nationals, c'mon...Kearns moves into centerfield and will send Alex Escobar back to the bench, while Lopez goes right in at short. The ballpark obviously is less favorable that hitting-friendly Great American Ballpark, but the surrounding lineup looks great overall with the batting order probably being Alfonso Soriano, Lopez, Jose Vidro, Nick Johnson, Kearns, Ryan Zimmerman, Jose Guillen and Brian Schneider. Did someone say wild card? The team will probably part with either Guillen or Soriano at some point, but I'm sure anything they receive will fit rather nicely with Washington's revamped lineup. The bullpen will probably suffer a little, but they're going to use their farm system to fill in the holes. Wagner will probably just stay in Triple-A.
Tell me your plan Krivsky!!!!! Please!!!! I need to know.
In other news...
Despite throwing five scoreless at the Cardinals tonight, Dodgers rookie Chad Billingsley will probably be sent back to the minors when Brett Tomko comes off the DL. He was one of the hyped young pitching studs this year, but he looks like he just needs a little more seasoning. Maybe some paprika in Triple-A will do the trick. He could be back in September when rosters expand, though, so don't write him off just yet.
Cardinals OF Juan Encarnacion is dealing with a sore wrist these days. You'd think the Break would've given him time to heal, but he still took a seat tonight. He did pinch hit in the tenth and expects to be ready to go on Friday, so it doesn't look like too much to worry about.
The Twins are hurting in the outfield again these days as they put Lew Ford on the disabled list with a strained right oblique. Bad news considering he was starting in place of the ailing Jason Kubel whose dealing with soreness in both knees. Anyone else think recent call-up Jason Tyner is singing the Mighty Mouse theme song? Probably not. If Kubel needs to go on the DL, Tyner could get some full time duty, but it's really unlikely at this point.
Also in Twinkieland, the team brought back my guy Scott Baker and will have him start on Monday. It was either Sunday or Monday, but apparently Carlos Silva is healthy enough to go this weekend. The added bonus is there's also a strong possibility that Baker gets 2 starts next week.
So the A's activated Milton Bradley and to make room for him, sent 1B Dan Johnson back down to the minors. Nick Swisher moves in as the full time first baseman while Bobby Kielty and Jay Payton platoon in left. Johnson owners are outraged, but hey...he may have been better since the start of June, but he started slumping again, and his average sits at a woeful .237.
People expecting Pedro Martinez just after the break will have to wait a little longer. He went home to the Dominican Republic with a sore hip and came back with a sore hip and some sort of stomach virus. No word yet on when he will make his next start.
The Indians got a little pop back when they activated Casey Blake for tonight's game. He certainly delivered with a 2 run shot off of Twins superstar Francisco Liriano.
Wow!! It just doesn't get any crappier for Morgan Ensberg owners, does it? First Aubrey Huff comes to town, takes his job and then homers his first time out, but now he [Ensberg] is put on the DL with his lingering shoulder problem. They were originally going to just have him rehab with the club and be available to pinch hit, but the team thought better and it looks like he'll rest for a little while and rehab in the minors. He should be back soon, but not until he starts hitting the ball better. In the meantime, OF Luke Scott was brought up to take his roster spot which poses the question, "Who did Jason Lane piss off?"
Good morning Mark Teixeira!!! How nice of you to show up for the second half of the season. Who doesn't love a three homer night?
And speaking of Texas hitters, Brad Wilkerson seems to be taking issue with my recent call out. He came back from the break and hit a two run homer and a two run double tonight. That's all fine and dandy, but who didn't hit the crap out of the ball for Texas tonight? We'll see how he follows up this performance.
Apparently the Astros have made the decision to leave Taylor Buchholz in the rotation when Brandon Backe comes back from the DL. Wandy Rodriguez will be pushed to the bullpen for now.
Typical Mark Prior stuff going on again here. He's throwing a side session today and the team will make a decision as to whether or not he needs to have Sunday's start pushed back. Yaaaaaawwwwwn!!! Anyone else bored with this guy? Please tell me no one out there is really relying on him to boost their pitching in the second half.
The Andy Marte countdown is looking like less than a month now as reports out of Cleveland say August 1st is a probability and maybe even sooner is a possibility.
The Mariners are swapping out center fielders within their system as the promote Adam Jones and send down Shin Soo Choo. Something tells me this is going to be some revolving door all season as the team tries to adequately replace the injured Jeremy Reed.
And finally, the Yankees are hoping to get some of that mid-season magic they had last year when they brought in Shawn Chacon. Problem is, they brought in Sidney Ponson this time. Ponson is expected to be officially introduced on Friday, but c'mon.....we all know who he is.
Catch you next time...
posted by Howard Bender at
10:59 PM
