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ANAHEIM ANGELS
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Placed LHP Jarrod Washburn on the 15-day DL (strained forearm),
retroactive to 7/25; recalled 1B-L Casey Kotchman from
Salt
Lake. [8/4]

Where is Kotchman’s star in the firmament? Recent “hot
hitting”
has him up to .289/.372/.441. In a bandbox. In the PCL. Now, perhaps
he’s
back, and months of previous flailing mask it. Certainly, at 22, giving
up
on him won’t enter the conversation for several seasons to come. But I
think
it is appropriate to wonder whether a good couple of weeks in the PCL
isn’t
as likely a product of hitting in the right parks or facing the right
opponents. It’s just as much too soon to have him back up as it is to
write
him off, so I wouldn’t get worked up, hoping that Kotchman might give
them a
bat they haven’t gotten from Steve Finley or any of
the
various people pasted into the DH slot. It’s easy to wishcast
Darin
Erstad
back into center field, if only to get Finley on the
bench
and Kotchman in the lineup, but I think it’s too soon to expect that to
work, even if it were something the Angels were willing to consider,
which
so far, they haven’t been.

Over in the rotation, Chris Bootcheck will remain in
it for
the time being, and as well as he did in his first go-round, this is
not a
happy development for the Angels. However, to give credit where credit
is
due, putting Washburn on the DL is an active attempt to have him
available
later on in the season. If Bootcheck gets to fill in against the Devil
Rays
in the meantime while Washburn gets to rest up for divisional games
that
remain on the schedule, that seems like a canny bit of roster
management as
well as a sensible attempt to pre-empt anything more serious happening
to
the staff ace. Add in Monday’s off-day, and it might only add up to two
missed turns in the rotation. Better to give them both to Bootcheck
than
wonder what Aaron Sele might do if he got back into an
Angels uni; been there, done that.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
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Optioned RHP Brandon Medders to Tucson. [8/2]

Medders lost out to Buddy Groom, which sort of highlights the
qualitative
issues that have blighted the Snake pen all season. It remains as
unfortunate as before, but Medders has options, however well he’s
pitched.
Greg Aquino has had consecutive effective outings,
after
all, and if Brian Bruney seems a bit short of being
able to
don the magic mantle of closerdom, he’s still tied with Aquino as the
Boy
Blunder most likely to set Snake hearts a-racing. Now if only they’d
recognize that isn’t always a good thing…

BALTIMORE ORIOLES
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Announced that MLB suspended Orioles 1B-L Rafael
Palmeiro

10 days for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing
drugs.
[8/1]

Purchased the contract of OF-L Midre Cummings from
Ottawa.
[8/2]

Fired manager Lee Mazzilli; named Sam Perlozzo interim manager. [8/4]

Firing Mazzilli might seem surprising, or an overreaction to the team’s
bellyflop after their hot first half, but it actually isn’t. He was
rumored
to be on thin ice after last season, and I frankly never found his
bullpen
usage patterns to reflect any particular sensibility for handling a
pitching
staff. That might seem like small beer, but that’s an area where
managerial
discretion does make a difference, and Mazzilli just never seemed to
have
the knack. Brian Roberts has been a success story, but
the
Orioles have had more than their share of young hitters stalling out,
and
you don’t have Mike Hargrove to blame for that sort of thing any more.
If he
seemed mostly inert, he learned from a master in Joe Torre, but
Baltimore
isn’t New York. The Orioles might seem moribund, but within the history
of
this franchise, you’ve got larger than life figures like Cal Ripken,
Earl
Weaver, or even Jim Palmer, not an audience ready to settle for a
skipper as
bland as Ragu. It’s been said that Perlozzo is supposed to change all
of
that, but if he’s been here for ten years and wasn’t doing it for a
team
critics are now calling uninspired, how is he supposed to do so now?
His
track record as a minor league manager, before he hitched his wagon to
Davey
Johnson’s train as a coach, is a bit dated, but he did win three league
championships in five years down on the farm. Worse people have been
handed
big league opportunities, but for now, he seems to be the choice of
convenience, with his future depending as much on what first happens to
the
front office duumvirate of Mike Flanagan and Jim Beattie as it does on
earning some ejections or doing whatever it is that people felt
Mazzilli
needed to do more of.

As for the Palmeiro thing, the most I’ll say is that it’s obviously not
a
good thing for the game. Here’s my hope that Major League Baseball, the
Orioles, Raffy Palmeiro, and (lords above and below help us) the United
States Congress can all act like adults, clean this up, and move on.
Okay,
so sometimes hope is meant to wither on the vine; so be it.

I do find the decision to laud Palmeiro publicly for his 3,000th hit
knowing
that you were going to suspend him a few weeks later a particularly
loathsome exercise in Realpolitik, and where some might say that
Palmeiro’s achievement had to be played up regardless. But even then,
it
wasn’t like Rickey Henderson got that sort of tout
when he
set the runs record, so if anything, I think the eager
overcongratulations
heaped on Palmeiro by Czar Bud come across as that much more cynical
and out
of character. Would you trust Monty Burns if he gave you a cake?

BOSTON RED SOX
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Optioned RHP Jon Papelbon to Pawtucket. [8/2]

Placed 1B-L John Olerud on the 15-day DL (strained
hamstring), retroactive to 8/1; purchased the contract of 1B-L
Roberto Petagine from Pawtucket; designated LHP
Chris Narveson for assignment. [8/4]

Papelbon was bumped off of the roster by Jose Cruz
Jr.
, but
he didn’t earn the chance to stick, the Sox have a flag to win, and
Matt Clement is supposed to be ready to go. So
voila, time to make space for your latest temporary Red Sock.

If there’s a criticism to be made here, it’s that the Red Sox waited
for
something like Olerud having to go onto the DL to bring up Petagine.
Certainly, last weekend’s flourish perhaps added a bit of Bump Bailey-style
drama
, but isn’t this where scouting is supposed to step in?
Whether you
look at Olerud and see the slow bat, or look at the numbers and see all
sorts of suck outside of that neat weekend he had against the Twins,
there
wasn’t really much to justify carrying him, and his last really
effective
season at the plate was ’02. The Sox wanted to get something like what
they
thought they’d gotten from Doug Mientkiewicz last
year, and
if that was a psychological prop of some sort (last year’s team won, in
case
you hadn’t heard), it’s about time the Sox moved on, because they need
more
than a security blanket, they need a bat worth playing at first. Olerud
wasn’t going to be the answer, and Kevin Millar hasn’t
been.

Enter the man, the myth, the legend, the great Roberto Petagine,
perhaps to
slugging what Teofilo
Stevenson was to heavyweight boxing
. Down with the PawSox this
season,
having recrossed the Pacific after starring in Japan for years,
Petagine was
bopping at a .327/.452/.635 clip. If you’re Elias-minded, that’s a walk
every
four at-bats, and a homerun every 16 plate appearances or so. That
isn’t a
walk down memory lane, a la Olerinkiewicz, that’s a stick you can plug
into
your lineup and get some runs with. Even at 34, the man can hit, and
while
it would be silly to say that if it works for Julio
Franco
,
and wonder if his career is only starting, he’s a better choice to take
a
chance on than Olerud. But rather than simply fulminate, let’s give a
moment’s thought to the problem of being Theo if you’re Mr. Epstein:
are you
really free to take a chance on the Japanese import, on a World
Champion,
over an ex-famous person like Olerud? I would think you’d have that
capital,
to do as you please and put the best ballclub on the diamond. It isn’t
like
you haven’t done something to earn enduring faith, after all. Reality
is
always a bit more sticky, but I’d rather see Epstein get to exercise
the
courage of convictions like knowing that Petagine can hit, than have
them,
but stowed away in an abstract place like Pawtucket.

All of which boils down to one point: I like adding Petagine to the
lineup a
lot more than I do the decision to give up goodies for the privilege of
having Cruz Jr. YMMV.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX
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Released RHP Shingo Takatsu. [8/1]

Now that he’s free, I really think he’s best-suited for a jump to the
National League. I’ve floated the Doug Jones theory of sneaky-delivery
doom
here in this space before, but to repeat, Takatsu’s a guy with superb
control, a single trick (in his case, his delivery, where Jones’ was
his
being the world’s only changeup-only pitcher), and a capacity to
surprise
you with it. Hanging around the league for a while creates a situation
where
familiarity doesn’t exactly breed contempt as much as it generates
souvenirs. Like almost everybody, he could be very happy in places like
Chavez Ravine or Petco or the Park Formerly Known As Pac Bell, and most
of
the involved employers could use a reliever. We’ll see where he lands.

CLEVELAND INDIANS
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Transferred OF-R Juan Gonzalez from the 15- to the
60-day
DL; optioned INF-R Brandon Phillips to Buffalo;
activated
LHP Jason Stanford from the 60-day DL and optioned him
to
Akron (Double-A). [8/1]

Recalled INF-L Ramon Vazquez from Buffalo. [8/2]

Exercised their 2006 option on 3B-R Aaron Boone for
$4.5
million. [8/3]

Activated DH-L Travis Hafner from the 15-day DL;
optioned
OF-R Jason Dubois to Buffalo. [8/4]

That answers that, where Boone’s concerned. The Indians effectively
gave him
a free pass for the first two months of the season, instead focusing on
his
slugging .462 in June and July. That’s four-six-two, not five, not
six-six,
not something really impressive, just something that’s pretty adequate
in
the grand scheme of things. And that’s the hot streak that’s gotten him
up
to being merely one of the worst-hitting regulars in the game, as
opposed to
wrestling Cristian Guzman mano y mano for the
honor.
Now, in Boone’s defense, and by extension the Indians, we know a lot
less
today about how well players bounce back from a year away from the game
as
we did back when it was unusual. But alongside the advances in medical
technologies, we have examples of great comebacks from hitters who have
lost
an entire year to injury, ranging from youngsters like Larry
Walker
or Chipper Jones to an old-timer like
Dave Winfield. If you want to believe that Boone’s
someone
who can still play a good third base and slug .450 or better over the
2006
season, there’s enough reason for some people to suspend disbelief and
take
a look. A wee bit more pedantically, I’ll remain focused on the fact
that
he’s been awful overall, and he’ll be 33. I’m not convinced that a
season’s
worth of Boone next year represents an improvement over the alternative
of
moving Casey Blake back into the infield.

Finally, while getting Hafner back is great, I’m a little disappointed
to
see Dubois as the fall guy. Perhaps a couple of weeks of hitting on a
daily
basis in Buffalo will prep him for stepping into the big league lineup
in an
everyday role. Don’t laugh. This
team’s offensive weak spots are all in the traditional power positions:
first base and the outfield corners.
There’s nothing that Casey
Blake or
Ben Broussard can do for a team when they’re hitting
this
badly, and if there’s one thing that Dubois is supposed to be able to
do,
it’s put runs on the board. Whether the Indians work him out in right,
left,
or first, he’d make for an improvement at any one of those positions.
Yes,
trading Coco Crisp will have to happen, but trying to
get
by without a left fielder who can slug on top of carrying a low-wattage
first baseman is a great way to cost yourself runs.

As for the exchange of utility infielders, Phillips really shouldn’t
rot on
a big league bench, not when doing so might simply harm his prospect
status.
At least if he stays in Buffalo, he retains some sort of prospect-y
mystique
that might help Mark Shapiro peddle him this winter, or trust in him if
its
time to move Ron Belliard. In contrast, Vazquez is
perfectly suited for a reserve role, spotting for Belliard against
tough
righties, and giving Jhonny Peralta or Boone days off
now and
again.

COLORADO ROCKIES
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Recalled RHP Scott Dohmann from Colorado Springs.
[8/3]

Released INF-B Desi Relaford. [8/4]

As if the Rockies didn’t have things bad, the idea that they’d lose
Aquilino Lopez on waivers because they got jobbed by
the
Red Sox on the Bigbie deal is a case of adding injury to insult.
Technically, this is one of those things that’s all on the up and up as
far
as the rules, but substantially, it’s a matter of losing a player
because of
the Red Sox decision to act in bad faith, and unmake the deal on a
technicality. An active commissioner would be helpful in these matters,
but
again, under Czar Bud, fairness is hardly the watchword of the day. As
is,
were there justice in the world, the Commissioner might be worrying
about
Congress getting into the habit of pursuing perjury charges against
people
who have demonstrably lied to it, but as Dan O’Dowd might confirm,
justice
is a sometimes sort of a thing these days.

Which is a long way of explaining why Dohmann is back up. Despite his
previously ugly work with the Rox, you might hope that his 53
strikeouts in
39 IP pitching in Colorado Springs is a lot more suggestive of his
potential
value in middle relief. Unfortunately, he gave up five homeruns in that
time, on top of the five he’s allowed pitching in the bigs. Over 113.2
IP
across this season and last, between pitching with mile-high Colorado
Springs and Coors as his home fields, he’s allowed 18 bombs. As much as
his
139-46 strikeout to walk ratio over that time looks tasty, that’s just
because of the strikeout numbers. That’s still a lot of walks and
homeruns
per nine. He bears watching by the other 29 teams, but as a Rockie, as
much
as he might be Special K, whether you call that breakfast or you’re
focused
on your fiber, in Coors, it’s all just fodder.

DETROIT TIGERS
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Signed INF-R Placido Polanco to a four-year, $18.4
million
extension through 2009. [8/2]

All’s well that ends well, I guess, in that Polanco has finally avenged
last
season’s mistaken decision to accept the arbitration offer the Phillies
extended last winter. But for the Tigers, I guess I’m not quite so
sanguine
about the wisdom of signing Polanco through his Age 34 season. It seems
instead they’ve overpaid for a player who they see as having kept up
the
standards he set in 2003 and 2004 now that he’s a Tiger, where I see a
guy
who’s about to turn 30, and who saw the power spike in his Age 27 and
28
seasons, about where you’d expect them. Carlos Guillen
is
signed through 2007, and he’s also turning 30 this winter. That isn’t a
young and improving middle infield, it’s a pair of good players
entering
that dangerous period where good players started moving into being
merely
adequate and expensive, before becoming simply expensive. I’m also a
bit
perplexed by the length of the contract in light of what it might mean
for
Tony Giarratano, let alone Omar
Infante
.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS
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Announced that RHP Scott Erickson has accepted an
assignment to Las Vegas. [8/3]

Whew, that’s a relief. Of course, when you get to the point that
Erickson’s
at in his career, a month in Vegas with a per diem is probably a nice
enough
way to spend your time.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS
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Exercised the club option on manager Ned Yost’s contract for 2006.
[8/1]

Seems to find use in free talent pickups, both among his hitters and in
his
bullpen? Willing to work with young talent? Check. Builds platoon?
Cool,
check. Doesn’t overwork his rotation? Check. Maybe it’s just because
he’s
the man who’s been willing to give Russ Branyan a break, and I’m always
happy to see that happen, but it seems to me that Yost has done a
reasonable
job of building his bench, creating a nice little rotation, and making
space
for kids when he should. He’s been a good manager if your standard is
to win
as much as you can in the moment, but he’s also been a good builder as
well.
It isn’t that easy to be either; just ask Davey Lopes.

MINNESOTA TWINS
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Recalled SS-R Jason Bartlett from Rochester; released
2B-R
Bret Boone. [8/1]

Whew. That only seemed like it took forever, but at least one small
improvement has been made. For the time being, the infield is set, with
Bartlett at short, Nick Punto scuttling over to
second, and
the consistently execrable Juan Castro back to
blighting
the roster in the bench role he was originally oversigned for. And hey,
Michael Cuddyer is starting to heat up. Terry
Tiffee
is getting alternated in. It all almost resembles
something
that might not cost the Twins runs and games, and which, stretched out
over
a full season, might have put them in a much better spot vis-a-vis the
wildcard, if not perhaps close enough to put a scare into the White
Sox. Too
bad Terry Ryan spent about a third of the season not bothering with all
of
this, all so that they could force the people of the Twin Cities to
watch,
Clockwork Orange-style with their eyes pried open against their will,
all
the Castro antics that they could stand. Besides, even with Castro on
the
bench, there’s still the equally strange infatuation with Punto.
Whatever it
is that Punto is supposed to do well, Luis Rodriguez
does
it just as well or better. Maybe someday. Tell you what, if we extend
the
season to 320 games, I betcha by then the Twins might even have figured
out
this lineup thingie to the point that they might actually get within
ten of
the Sox. Youneverknow.

NEW YORK YANKEES
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Declined their 2006 option on OF-B Bernie Williams.
[8/2]

I wouldn’t blame the Yankees for deciding that, if they are going to
retain
Bernie for next season, they wouldn’t want to do it at $15 million. I
guess
my hope for Bernie is that he gets to finish his career the way I sort
of
thought of it in the beginning, as a Roy White for
modern
times, except that he could play center where White really couldn’t.
Now that
Bernie can’t play it either, I guess I’m left hoping that he gets to
finish
his career in pinstripes. I’m not a Yankees fan by any stretch, but my
best
friend is, and for him, Bernie was an actual ray of hope at a time when
most
Yankees fans were coming to the sad realization that Kevin
Maas
was Fool’s Gold poured into a first baseman’s shoes. In a
group of “prospects” that included Maas, Hensley
Meulens
, Pat Kelly, Jeff
Johnson
,
and Wade Taylor, it was Williams who mattered, and
Williams
who put an end to the merry-go-round in center field. I have no idea
how
he’ll do in Hall of Fame voting, since he has been perhaps the most
understated and underrated great player on a great team. His lack of
jaw-dropping power and his mere adequacy as a center fielder probably
won’t
help. He’s not dead yet, of course, but I guess I’m already worrying
about
how he might be jobbed. Given the widespread perception that there’s a
New
York bias in the voting, I suspect that few will weep with me.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
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Placed RHP Terry Adams on the restricted list; claimed
RHP
Aquilino Lopez off of waivers, and optioned him to
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. [8/2]

Lopez was put on waivers in anticipation of the paperwork on the
Shoppach-Bigbie trade being a done deal, creating the incongruous
situation
of the Phillies being the winner of a trade between two other teams.
Lucky
them. For
the reasons stated when Lopez initially came up
, I still see how
you
could want to have him around in a big league bullpen, but for the time
being, this fills the spot in Scranton’s pen created when Terry Adams
walked
off of the team in an unplanned retirement/spur-of-the-moment sort of
thing.

SEATTLE MARINERS
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Optioned C-R Miguel Ojeda to Tacoma; released RHP
Aaron Sele; recalled RHP Jorge
Campillo

from Tacoma. [8/1]

Purchased the contracts of RHPs Jeff Harris and
Masao Kida from Tacoma; announced that RHP
Ryan Franklin was suspended 10 days Tuesday for
violating
MLB’s steroid policy; placed RHP Jeff Nelson on the
bereavement list. [8/2]

Recalled RHP Clint Nageotte from Tacoma; placed RHP
Jorge Campillo on the 15-day DL (strained elbow).
[8/3]

Recalled RHP Felix Hernandez from Tacoma; optioned RHP
Clint Nageotte to Tacoma. [8/4]

It took some doing to work up the nerve to finally do it, and call up
Hernandez. It took releasing Sele, as obviously earned as that may have
been. It took a fortuitous if unfortunate twinge in Campillo’s elbow
that
heralded his departure for Tommy John surgery and a relaunching to his
career in 2007. It took a steroid suspension for Franklin, an otherwise
nondescript doughboy noted for his ‘mostly harmless’-ness as a fifth
starter. As far as feeling sorry for the victims of inexorable
progress, you
may as well feel sorry for marsupials. King Felix is here, and in a
season
otherwise devoid of hope, his arrival is the biggest thing since…
well,
okay, in terms of pitching, the only other monument to Mariner genius
in
scouting moundsmen is Mark Langston, and Felix is a
wee bit
bigger in terms of build-up. Fairly or not, Hernandez’s arrival to the
majors might only be rivalled by the debuts of Ichiro!
or
Ken
Griffey
Jr.
.

So do we really have to call the kid “King Felix?” (His great
stuff aside, as references go, it’s not that simple.) Take the time to see him yourself, and you
may
also surrender to the temptation. Handled as tenderly as possible by an
organization unfortunately famous for its casualties (Ryan
Anderson
, anyone?), Hernandez arrived having tossed only 88 IP
in
Tacoma this season. (He had a touch of bursitis that kept everyone on
tenterhooks for almost a month.) There, he did nothing to disappoint
expectations, striking out an even hundred batters, and blowing the PCL
away
with one of the fastest sinkers you’re going to see, a straight
fastball
that gets into the high 90s, a power curve and an even better power
slider.
He’s also been wild, walking 48, but for now, you’ve got a kid who
won’t
turn 20 until slightly after Opening Day next year, armed with one of
the
best pure assortments in the game.

As for Kida, I suppose one more crash test dummy with a Japanese name
on his
uniform won’t hurt the feelings of the shareholders. Along with Harris,
it
fills out the pitching staff with just enough squid scraps to say
you’ve
fielded a full team, and when you’re the Mariners, that’s the sort of
victory you’ll take. For better or worse, for a lot of people, this is
now
King Felix’s team, and everything else revolves around him. Forgive the fanboys, they have
to get
excited about something.
If you’ve been a fan for any length of
time,
you’ve been there before (speaking as someone who kept wishing
Tim
Birtsas
would do great things, you recognize how misplaced
some
wishcasting can be). It’s to the good fortune of whatever Mariner fans
are
left that this is one of the ones who’s worth it.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
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Purchased the contract of C-R Yamid Haad from Fresno.
[8/1]

Designated OF-R Marquis Grissom for assignment;
recalled
C-R Justin Knoedler from Fresno; placed C-R
Mike
Matheny
on the bereavement list. [8/2]

Activated C-R Mike Matheny from the bereavement list;
optioned C-R Justin Knoedler to Fresno. [8/4]

Braves fans, be afraid. If there’s a bit of waiver bait that John
Schuerholz
might bite on, it’s Grissom. He’s got the nostalgia thing, just like
Terry Pendleton did, he’s got the used-up skills set,
just
like Pendleton, and gollygeewhillikers if the Braves just don’t have a
veteran outfielder handy. If you’re the rest of the NL East, you’re
cold-calling the Braves scout who recommended Pendleton, and
anonymously
whispering how good Grissom looked… well, in his back yard or
something.
“He’s been too good to be able to show it on the diamond. Did I
mention
that he knows how to win?”

Meanwhile, where his release concerns the Giants, it looks like
Jason Ellison is one healthy Moises
Alou

away from a benching. The only person happy with that arrangement is Michael
Tucker
, who at this point must be part cat somewhere in his
bloodlines,
because he just doesn’t seem to ever be a veteran who gets benched, no
matter how badly the team is doing. The last manager to have the sense
to
keep him, but in a reserve role, was Jack McKeon in Cincinnati. That
was
five years ago, and if it was his best season, it was also a reminder
that
being an even better Eddie Milner than the original
article
is still the sort of player you don’t turn into a regular on a good
team,
you move him to make way for the guys who can help you. Ellison may not
be
that player, but Tucker certainly is not.

Finally, Haad arrives after having hit .287/.314/.495 at Fresno, moving
up
into Yorvit Torrealba‘s job now that Torrealba’s in
Coffeeville. As much as everyone slugs when he’s a Grizzly, he should
make a
thoroughly adequate reserve.

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
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Signed RHP Alan Benes and LHP Armando
Almanza
to minor league contracts. [8/3]

Consider this a matter of collecting spare parts who, in an absolute
emergency, could be put onto a postseason roster. They’re both
veterans,
after all, and that matters. If I’m Jimmy Journell, I
guess
I’d be pissed, but he hasn’t had a great season, and Memphis boasts
other
refried options like Kevin Jarvis and Bill
Pulsipher
. I’d be more impressed if they decided to put
Anthony Reyes or even Chris Gissell a
shot
in such an emergency, but that wouldn’t be very Cardinal-like.

TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS
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Activated 1B/3B-L Eric Munson from the 15-day DL, and
optioned him to Durham. [8/4]

Because when you’ve got Travis Lee, all your first
base
needs are taken care of. When we’re talking Devil Rays, there are just
three
things you need to know: they’re scum-sucking bottom feeders, they lack
real
spine (it’s a cartilagenous fish thing, you can’t blame them), and
they’re
poison. Perhaps Chuck LaMar is some sort of twisted Nietzschean,
operating
out of a principle of that which he cannot kill, must make him
stronger.
Regardless, the fascination with Lee defies rational defense. I’d
rather
take a look at something like a Munson-Josh Phelps or
Earl Snyder platoon or job-sharing arrangement. Munson
has
pop and patience, and at Durham, Snyder’s bopping to the tune of
.266/.324/.528. Phelps is slugging .571. The only thing playing Travis
Lee
tells you is that you wish you didn’t have to play Travis Lee; signing
him
for four times the minimum to demonstrate it is just pissing away cash
that
the Devil Fishies aren’t supposed to have.

TEXAS RANGERS
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Purchased the contract of RHP Steve Karsay from Frisco
(Double-A); designated LHP Ron Mahay for assignment.
[8/4]

I don’t know if we can really say that Karsay is back. After hopping up
and
down the Rangers’ chain, struggling at Triple-A, and then
“holding” the Texas League to a hit per inning pitched. If
you’re
optimistic–and really, do the Rangers have any choice but to play Mary
Sunshine where their retreads are concerned?–you can mention that
Karsay
may have pitched himself into temporary working order, that he’s struck
out
a batter per inning pitched in Frisco (Frisco?), and who knows,
maybe
this is another successful bullpen retreading. Like… well, okay, so
other
teams successfully retread people, while the Rangers just read about it
in
the papers, or end up borrowing other people’s retreads, like
James
Baldwin
.

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