Fenway West (Free subscription) | 11/06/2009
Left field is the biggest hole that the Red Sox need to fill this offseason, but there is still the issue at short. Here are the free agent shortstops from MLB Trade Rumors : Orlando Cabrera (35) - Type A, can't be offered arbitration Juan Castro (38) Alex Cora (34) Craig Counsell (39) Bobby Crosby (30) Adam Everett (33) Chris Gomez (39) Alex Gonzalez (32) - $6MM mutual option with a $500K buyout...
Viva El Birdos (Free subscription) | 10/30/2009
I'm still in Japan, but the internet situation has gone from worse to bad. Sister blog South Side Sox has its own reasons to wonder about the value of hitting coaches—in this case, of standing pat following Alex Rios's disastrous first year in Chicago. I'm not extremely familiar with the situation, but the case against Greg Walker seems to be the case against Hal McRae and, to be fair, most hitting...
Viva El Birdos (Free subscription) | 10/26/2009
Well, this is weird and awesome ; it's all over the internet, most recently on Derrick Goold's twitter, but still no confirmation at press time. I hope he's not sent to negotiate Albert Pujols's next contract , but Enigmatically Sized Mac—prepare for a ridiculous muscles-watch campaign for the next several months, unless he's extremely forthcoming about The Past in the interim ( Khalil Greene...
Thunder Matt's Saloon (Free subscription) | 10/26/2009
Word on the street (aka. the sexy, swinging offices of ESPN) is that Tony LaRussa will indeed return as the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2010. The catch? Hal McRae, Cardinals hitting coach, has been fired. Replacing him? None other than Mr. Andro himself, Mark McGwire. I mean, when a team wants to hire a hitting coach, they naturally want someone who 1) was a one-dimensional hitter with a...
Super Chargers (Free subscription) | 10/21/2009
I actually think we're going to be fine. I mean, we're probably not going to win the division, but it's not like there are two teams out there that have stood out as wildcards. We're half a game out of that race, with KC and Oakland coming up. And the real bottom line here is that we looked pretty good in the first half for the first time all year. That coupled with the fact that we know we can be...
Viva El Birdos (Free subscription) | 10/20/2009
2010 ROSTER MATRIX 2009 EDITION STARTERS BENCH ROTATION PEN molina c $4.25m lugo ut $400K carpenter rhp $14.5m franklin rhp $3.25m pujols 1b $16m greene ut $400K lohse rhp $8.9m mcclellan rhp $400k schumaker 2b $2.5m mather of $400K wainwright rhp $4.65m motte rhp $400K freese 3b $400k jay of $400K garcia lhp $400k boggs rhp $400K ryan ss $400k pagnozzi c $400K hawksworth rhp $400k kinney rhp $750k...
Gaslamp Ball (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
More photos » by K.C. Alfred - AP about 1 month ago: San Diego Padres' Nick Hundley, right, Chase Headley celebrate after Hundley had a game-winning walk in the tenth inning against the Colorado Rockies during a baseball game on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009 in San Diego. (AP Photo/K.C. Alfred) Browse more photos » insidethepadres As for who will replace Towers as GM of your favorite baseball...
MLB Trade Rumors (Free subscription) | 10/11/2009
When Jonathan Broxton struck out Rick Ankiel to end Game Three of the NLDS tonight, the Cardinals officially went into offseason mode, turning their eyes towards 2010. The team has several impending free agents, including Ankiel, Mark DeRosa, Matt Holliday, Troy Glaus, Khalil Greene, Jason LaRue, Joel Piniero, John Smoltz, and Todd Wellemeyer, while Ryan Ludwick and Skip Shumaker figure to get considerable...
Stan Musial's Stance (Free subscription) | 10/06/2009
Chris Carpenter's outstanding season has been recognized by Major League Baseball with his selection as NL Comeback Player of the Year. Carp put aside all the questions about his health this season and won 17 games, led the majors in winning percentage (.810), and led the NL in ERA (2.24) and ERA+ (185). Carp also had a 3.79 strikeout-to-walk ratio (144 K vs 38 BB), and allowed 7 home runs this season....
Viva El Birdos (Free subscription) | 10/06/2009
by Jeff Curry - AP 1 day ago: St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Troy Glaus (8) leaps over Milwaukee Brewers' Alcides Escobar, as Escobar steals third during the 10th inning of a baseball game Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009, in St. Louis. The Brewers won 9-7 in 10 innings. (AP Photo/Jeff Curry) View full size photo uploaded October 5, 2009 Anybody can, and does, worry about the playoffs in general. But worrying...
ESPN (Free subscription) | 10/05/2009
Troy Glaus will be on the Cardinals' roster for their first-round playoff series against the Dodgers despite missing most of the season while rehabbing from shoulder surgery.
Beyond the Boxscore (Free subscription) | 10/05/2009
More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - AP FILE - In this Nov. 4, 2008, file photo, San Diego Padres general manager Kevin Towers talks about the possibilities of trading star pitcher Jake Peavy and shortstop Khalil Greene, at a meeting of baseball GMs in Dana Point, Calif. Towers, the longest-tenured general manager in the major leagues, is being fired by the San Diego Padres after 14 seasons. (AP...
Gaslamp Ball (Free subscription) | 10/04/2009
Kevin Kouzmanoff 's 3rd inning HBP from Matt Cain was the 36th of his career - making him the first Padre ever to be hit by 36 pitches in his career. The previous record was 35 by Gene Tenace, from 1977 to 1980. Kouzmanoff has now been hit 6 times by the Giants , 8 times on Saturdays, twice by Matt Cain, 4 times by pitchers named Matt, 7 times when he scored a run after reaching base on the plunk,...
Gaslamp Ball (Free subscription) | 10/03/2009
More photos » by Lenny Ignelzi - ASSOCIATED PRESS about 2 hours ago: San Diego Padres general manager Kevin Towers talks about the possibilities of trading star pitcher Jake Peavy and shortstop Khalil Greene, at a meeting of baseball GMs Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008, in Dana Point, Calif. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi) Browse more photos » The Padres take the loss, but the big news is the countdown...
Viva El Birdos (Free subscription) | 09/26/2009
Tony did something very telling last night in the 9th, right before McClellan blew the game (btw, why is McClellan in the game there and not Franklin'). He double-switched Julio Lugo into the game in place of Rasmus. Skip went from 2nd to CF and Lugo went to 2nd base. This move told us a few things about Tony's thought process as we approach the postseason. First, Colby wasn't the obvious choice to...
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