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Pedro Martinez, a three-time Cy Young Award winner, is still looking for work. A two-time Most Valuable Player, Frank Thomas, is jobless. Jim Edmonds, an eight-time Gold Glove center fielder is one of the nation’s many unemployed workers. Nine other players who have been selected to All-Star Games are also still sitting on the free-agent market: Paul Byrd, Brendan Donnelly, Ray Durham, Damion Easley, Luis Gonzalez, Mark Grudzielanek, Geoff Jenkins, Mark Mulder, and Ben Sheets.

One can stretch the mind and not remember a time when so many high-profile players were available one month into the season. Yet the aforementioned 12 players are all on the outside looking in, and no one knows how many of them will play in the major leagues this season or ever again. The general feeling among baseball executives is that many will fade away into involuntary retirement. Part of the reason why has to do with the poor economy, as major league teams are looking to cut costs and go with younger, cheaper talent over experienced players who command a higher wage. However, a more practical reason was brought forth by Brewers general manager Doug Melvin this past week when he denied a report that his team was interested in signing Martinez. “We really have nothing to go by as far as scouting reports on him, because he isn’t pitching anywhere,” Melvin said.

Martinez pitched six scoreless innings for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. Since then, he has been working out on his own, which gives any GM pause for concern before committing even the minimum salary of $400,000, let along Martinez’s reported asking price of $5 million. As one American League GM who asked not to be named said, “I don’t care how hard of a worker someone is, you can’t be working out on your own and step right into a major league starting rotation or a major league lineup. If you sign any of these guys, you’re going to need time to let them get their legs under them again. So, really, you’re better off bringing somebody up from your farm system who is already playing.”

A National League GM believes some of the veteran free agents could wind up playing independent ball when those leagues open their seasons. “I would be more willing to sign someone who my scouts have had a chance to see play in independent league games than just taking on a flier on someone who hasn’t played at all since September,” the GM said. “Even some of the guys who were released in spring training, like Jenkins and Catalanotto, they haven’t played in a month. You’re not going to sign someone like and put them right in the major leagues after such a long layoff. They need to go play.”

There are some free agents who seemingly could make a difference in a pennant race. As has been shown throughout the Wild Card era, one game in the standings can determine who plays in October and who goes home for the winter. There are eight players currently sitting on the marked who had a WARP3 of 1.0 or better last season, meaning they were worth at least one added victory above a replacement-level player. Sheets leads that group at 5.0, and is followed by Grudzielanek (2.7), Edmonds (2.2), Durham (2.1), Byrd (1.7), outfielder Jay Payton (1.6), Gonzalez (1.1), and Thomas (1.1).

Sheets is the most likely to land in the major leagues at some point this season, in part because he is only 30 years old. The only question is how quickly he can recover from the arthroscopic elbow surgery he underwent in February, which killed a two-year deal he had in place with the Rangers. Most clubs would ideally like to sign Sheets to a two-year contract that would enable them to get whatever they can this season then have him for a full season in 2010. However, with so many contenders likely to seek an extra starter for their stretch runs, Sheets would seemingly have enough leverage to sign a contract for 2009 only should he choose to, allowing him to go back on the open market next winter with what might be a stronger negotiating position.

However, the others aren’t even getting a sniff. Gonzalez has been offered a front-office position by the Diamondbacks, but has put them on hold because he still has hopes of playing. He could have been talking for all of the unemployed veteran free agents when he told the Palm Beach Post‘s Joe Capozzi, “I’m working out, but as time goes on, the window of opportunity starts closing up a little bit. It’s just one of those things where you and wait and you wait, and if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen.”

It would take a few clicks of the mouse for Angels manager Mike Scioscia to see that his team is 29th in the major leagues in Defensive Efficiency with a .663 mark, ahead of only the Orioles. Scioscia, though, says he doesn’t need a string of digits to tell him his team’s glove work has been leaky, to say the least, through the first four weeks of the season. “I’ve looked at some of those (defensive statistics) but it can’t replace visual evaluation of a player,” Scioscia said. “Some of that is interesting, but it does not take the place of eyes on a player. I don’t think we need numbers to see some of our guys are not playing to their potential defensively.”

It has long been vogue to say the Angels are consistent winners because they do the little things well, such as play solid defense. However, despite winning four American League West titles in the previous five seasons, their defense has never ranked higher than ninth in the majors during that span. Their rankings from 2004-08: 21st, ninth, 12th, 24th, and 14th.

Scioscia believes the Angels should have one of the better defenses in the game. “Our defense should be an asset for us, and we haven’t played to the level we need to but it’s there,” he observed. “All of those guys should be plus defenders and some should be difference makers.”

Part of the problem in the skipper’s opinion is that he believes players and teams can go into fielding slumps just as easily as they fall into hitting slumps. “Any player has to get into a flow and a rhythm of playing,” Scioscia said. “We need these guys to settle in. Some guys have been a tick off. I’m not sure we’re turning the page as well as we need to. These guys need to focus on making plays and not worrying about making mistakes.”

The Cubs and Cardinals got into a mini-feud last weekend, not a surprise since theirs is the most intense rivalry in the National League Central, and perhaps the entire NL. But who knew the Brewers and Pirates were about to turn into archrivals? Until this past week, it seemed the only thing they had in common was being in lockstep in consecutive losing seasons, until the Brewers ended their streak at 13 in 2005 while the Pirates’ continues at 16. However, when the teams meet for a two-game series at PNC Park starting Monday, things could get heated. Brewers left fielder Ryan Braun was upset about getting hit in the upper back by a pitch from the Pirates’ Jeff Karstens this past Monday two innings after he had hit a home run.

“We play them 17 more times. Tell Mr. Selig, we’ll see what happens,” Braun said after that game. “It will be interesting.” Braun was even angrier the next day, noting, “When I saw it on the replay I was even madder. That pitch was way too high.”

Karstens wound up getting fined by Major League Baseball but pleaded innocent, saying he was only trying to pitch Braun inside. Brewers pitchers hit three Pirates in the second game of the three-game series on Tuesday, and Pirates right-hander Ian Snell fanned the flames after striking out Braun three times in the series finale on Wednesday. “You shouldn’t say stuff like that,” Snell said. “You should just keep your mouth shut because it might come back to bite you in the butt.”

To add a little bit of additional drama, Snell is scheduled to pitch in this week’s series finale on Tuesday. Lost in all the tough talk is the fact the Brewers have won 15 consecutive games against the Pirates, the longest such streak in the major leagues since the Athletics beat the Mariners 15 times in a row in 2006.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Cubs-Cardinals games this season could be even more intense than usual following last Sunday’s meeting at Busch Stadium. After the Cardinals’ Todd Wellemeyer hit Cubs left fielder Alfonso Soriano in the head with a pitch, the Cubs’ Rich Harden hit Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols. Pujols stared at Harden before taking his base. “He didn’t say anything, he just looked at me,” Harden said. “I’m giving everything I’ve got out there. I really wanted to challenge him and go in, and if I miss, miss in. Especially with the type of hitter he is, you don’t want to give him stuff down the middle.”

The teams next meet on May 19 in St. Louis.

The Tigers put left-hander Dontrelle Willis on the DL late in spring training with anxiety disorder. Mets manager Jerry Manuel sounds like he would like to make the same move with his hitters. While the Mets are averaging 4.7 runs a game, a mediocre 16th in the majors, they rank fourth in the NL in team EqA.

Because they’re 10-13, scapegoating somebody appears necessary. While plenty of studies have shown clutch hitting is a random act, Manuel isn’t so sure. “When we get in a position where we’re trailing late in games, it almost seems like it’s an insurmountable lead,” Manuel said. “Our anxiety takes over at that time.” However, according to baseball-reference.com, in high-leverage at-bats, Mets hitters have an OPS+ of 100, exactly average, while generating slash stats of .272/.373/.401.

Manuel’s perception, though, caused him to make quite an odd move during this past Wednesday’s 4-3 loss to the Marlins: with the bases loaded, two outs, and the Mets trailing by one run in the ninth inning, Manuel called on Omir Santos, a 28-year-old rookie with 36 career plate appearances, to pitch-hit for backup catcher Ramon Castro. Manuel’s rationale was that Santos would have a better chance of getting a hit off hard-throwing Marlins closer Matt Lindstrom even though Castro had two hits earlier in the game off starter Josh Johnson, another fireballer. Santos popped out to end the game.

Mets left-hander Johan Santana thinks everyone around the Mets should just take a chill pill to reduce any anxiety. “Even though this team is not going the way right now a lot of people want it to, I think it’s better than last year’s team, and we only missed the playoffs by one game,” Santana said.

Interesting facts from early action:

  • Rays third baseman Evan Longoria had four RBI against the Red Sox on both Friday and Saturday, becoming the first player to drive in at least four runs in consecutive games against them since Manny Ramirez with the 2000 Indians.

  • The Yankees scored 10 runs in the top of the seventh inning Wednesday against the Tigers to break a scoreless tie. No major-league team had broken up a scoreless tie after the sixth with a double-digit inning since the Reds scored 10 in the top of the 13th against the Dodgers on May 15, 1919.

  • The Marlins became the first National League team to ever win seven straight games and lose seven straight games in April.

  • When Andy Pettitte took the loss last Sunday against the Red Sox, it marked only the second time he lost in 24 career starts for the Yankees when trying to prevent them from getting swept. He is 17-2 with five no-decisions in those situations.

  • Brewers right-hander Yovani Gallardo became the first pitcher to hit a home run and account for the game’s only run in 1-0 game Wednesday against the Pirates since the Dodgers’ Odalis Perez against the Diamondbacks on Aug. 28, 2002. Gallardo also became the third pitcher in big-league history to hit a home run in a 1-0 game and strike out at least 10 batters as he fanned 11, joining Red Ruffing of the 1932 Yankees and Early Wynn of the 1959 White Sox.

  • The Mets’ new Citi Field appears to be a triples haven, as there has been at least one three-base hit in each of the last seven games there. Only twice in Shea Stadium’s 45-year history from 1964-2008 were there streaks that long, eight in a row in August 1965 and seven straight in September 1976.

  • The Royals‘ Zach Greinke went 5-0 with a 0.50 ERA in April to become the fifth pitcher in history to win at least five April games in a season while posting an ERA under 1.00, joining Walter Johnson of the 1913 Senators (5-0, 0.24), Fernando Valenzuela with the 1981 Dodgers (5-0, 0.20), Randy Johnson‘s campaign with the 2000 Diamondbacks (6-0, 0.91), and Cliff Lee‘s hot start with the 2008 Indians just last season (5-0, 0.96).

  • The Red Sox became the second team ever to win three games in April in which they rallied from down at least five runs, matching the 1998 Giants.

  • The Yankees’ Phil Hughes, just 22 years old, allowed no earned runs in six innings on Tuesday; teammate Joba Chamberlain, 23, gave up one earned run in seven innings to the Tigers the next night. That marked the first time since May 29-30, 1981 that the Yankees had two starters that young give up one earned run or less in consecutive games; 28 years ago, Dave Righetti, 22, allowed one in eight innings, and then Mike Morgan, 23, surrendered none in 5 2/3 innings against the Indians.

  • When outfielder Jonathan Van Every hit a game-winning home run in the 10th inning against the Indians on Wedneday, he became the first Red Sox player to hit his first career homer in extra innings since Mike Greenwell connected in the 13th against the Blue Jays on Sept, 25, 1985.

  • On Wednesday, the Angels’ Shane Loux notched his first victory since September 24, 2003, when he was with the Tigers. That span of five years and 217 days was the longest between victories for a big-league pitcher since Bobby Seay notched a win for the Devil Rays on September 1, 2001, and then did not win again until August 26, 2007 for the Tigers.

  • The Rangers’ Omar Vizquel became just the third major leaguer to play shortstop at the age of 42, joining Honus Wagner (1916) and Luke Appling (1949).

  • The Angels had a losing April for their first sub-.500 month since June 2006.

  • The Cardinals’ Joel Pineiro is the first pitcher to win his first four starts of a season while striking out three batters or fewer in each game since Greg Hibbard did so with the 1992 White Sox.

  • Cubs right-hander Ryan Dempster is one of seven active pitchers with at least 200 starts and 200 relief appearances on his career, joining Tom Gordon, John Smoltz, Derek Lowe, Miguel Batista, Darren Oliver, and Kelvim Escobar.

  • When Eric Stults batted eighth on Wednesday, he became the first Dodgers starting pitcher to hit anywhere other than ninth since Don Drysdale in 1965.


Three series to watch in the early part of the week, with probable pitching matchups:

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irablum
5/03
This is an odd question. Omar Vizquel is 42. Elvis Andrus is 20. Has there ever been a situation before where a player's backup was twice his age or more?

Ivan Rodriguez was the Rangers regular catcher at 19, but his oldest backup was Gino Petrali, 31.

Alex Rodriguez was the Mariners regular Shortstop at 19, but his oldest backup, Luis Sojo, was only 31.
roycewebb
5/03
Barry Bonds' agent is still working on getting him signed somewhere.
ostrowj1
5/04
Did Chuck Finely ever really retire? What about Rickey Henderson? Rickey must call his agent every time he sees Juan Pierre on the field... If Pierre can have a job, why can't he?
shmage
5/03
Statistical averages to the contrary notwithstanding, Jerry Manuel's comment about the Mets' hitters' "anxiety" was merely stating the obvious. Reyes couldn't even put down a bunt in a clutch situation--and then swung wildly at a pitch way outside the strike zone for the umpteenth time in the past week. Church has been doing the same for even longer. Wright has been looking or swinging wildly at third strikes most of the season. And to top it all their best hitter, Beltran, with bases loaded and one out in the tenth facing a rookie who had just walked the bases full, couldn't even take one pitch--a feeble pop foul and then a feeble grounder to third for the killing DP. My "solution" to the problem--a big (6+figure) bonus to the player who finishes the season with the most 2-strike foul balls. And/or else a substantial fine for any player who doesn't choke up on the bat (à la Rusty Staub) whenever he has two strikes on him or whenever there's a runner on third with less than two outs and a sacrifice grounder or fly is in order!
xnumberoneson
5/04
The Atlantic League has begun its season, and frankly I'm surprised none of the free agents mentioned above have signed to play in that league. The Newark Bears and Long Island Ducks in particular have a long history of signing MLB veterans looking for a second chance. I went to a game in Lancaster last week and saw Preston Wilson, Lew Ford, Brad Halsey and Dan Miceli.
SirVLCIV
5/04
Due to Sunday's rainout, Yankees vs. Red Sox will be Jon Lester vs. Phil Hughes and Josh Beckett vs. Joba Chamberlain, as per Pete Abraham at yankees.lhblogs.com.
pikapp383
5/04
Harden said. "I’m giving everything I’ve got out there. I really wanted to challenge him and go in, and if I miss, miss in..."

Yeah, I'm calling shenanigans on this one. I tuned into the game late and saw him hit Pujols right on the butt just like I was taught in High School. As soon as I saw that I wondered who got hit on the Cubs to cause this retaliation.
vandorn
5/04
Not to nitpick too much, but the Yankees ten run seventh inning was on Tuesday, not Wednesday.