OK, as an A’s fan I now have to swallow the same advice I’ve been offering to grieving White Sox fans for the last couple of days: this year is just the first of many steps in what ought to be a great decade for both teams, and whatever gets accomplished, it will be valuable…
Now that Davey Johnson’s pink slip has surfaced from a long lurk in the Dodgers’ interoffice mail, there are five managers out of work. Within the next couple of weeks, we’ll probably see Jimy Williams and Jim Fregosi join the list. While it makes for nifty trivia that no manager was fired in-season, the firings…
My initial predisposition is to pick the Mariners. They’ve got baseball’s best player and Edgar Martinez, and both of them outhit Frank Thomas to the point that the Big Hurt’s MVP campaign should be DOA. On top of the two great ones, the Mariners have got a starting rotation that is, if nothing else, physically…
ATLANTA BRAVES Outrighted RHP Ismael Villegas to Richmond. [9/22] This, on top of last week’s release of Skippy Belinda at his own request, cuts the Braves’ 40-man roster down at a strange time to be making space on it. Now sure, it’s unlikely that a team would suddenly lose a half-dozen players, but what if…
BOSTON RED SOX Acquired LHP Jesus Pena from the White Sox for a PTBNL. [9/20] I like this move, I really do. The Red Sox have been in need for an effective second left-hander in the pen for most of the last decade, and Jesus Pena is just goofy enough to either outgoof Carl Everett…
CHICAGO CUBS Placed RHPs Rick Aguilera and Kevin Tapani on the 60-day DL; designated the contract of OF-R Raul Gonzalez for assignment; purchased the contracts of CF-L Corey Patterson and LHPs Joey Nation and Will Ohman from West Tenn (Double-A). [9/18] In a sense, this is all progress. Pulling the plug early on Kevin Tapani’s…
CLEVELAND INDIANS Activated RHP Charles Nagy from the DL; placed RHP David Riske on the 60-day DL (torn labrum). [9/14] In theory, Charles Nagy is healthy, although most reports seem to indicate his velocity is off. His ability to pitch well has to be in doubt. Even then, he might yet crack the Indians’ postseason…
CHICAGO WHITE SOX Recalled LHP Jesus Pena from Birmingham (Double-A). [9/12] It seems strange that Jesus Pena was not called up sooner. Kelly Wunsch is the only left-hander on the roster assigned to late-inning relief, what with Mark Buehrle usually having to come in early to help staunch the bleeding whenever one of the starters…
BOSTON RED SOX Acquired RHP Hector Carrasco from the Twins for OF-R Lew Ford. [9/10] Signed RHP Steve Ontiveros. [9/11] Increasingly desperate times call for increasingly desperate measures, but neither of these moves are bad so much as slightly embarrassing. By Michael Wolverton’s Reliever Evaluation Tools, Hector Carrasco had not done the Twins any favors,…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Activated RHP Tim Belcher from the DL; transferred RHP Seth Etherton from the 15- to the 60-day DL. [9/7] Now that Seth Etherton’s season is over and the Angels will have to waste two starts out of five watching timeservers Tim Belcher and Scott Karl get hammered, I suppose it wouldn’t be the…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Recalled LHP Juan Alvarez from Edmonton. [9/5] Juan Alvarez rejoins the mix for a left-handed reliever job in next year’s bullpen. While I think the Angels are best off with Mike Holtz and Bryan Ward, if Ward struggles, Alvarez can slip in. While none of this may sound that significant, how they perform…
In keeping with a previous theme, what can the teams in the NL Central accomplish in the time remaining to them? St. Louis Cardinals The Cardinals have the next four weeks to sort out a few mission-critical issues if they want to help themselves going into the playoffs. First, they have to use the time…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Recalled 2B-R Justin Baughman and RHP Ben Weber from Edmonton; purchased the contract of LHP Bryan Ward from Edmonton; activated C-B Matt Walbeck from the DL. [9/1] No real surprises or issues here. Justin Baughman makes for a nifty pinch-runner, Ben Weber is one of a hundred guys who could end up being…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Released 2B-R Trent Durrington. [8/29] Claimed RHP Ben Weber off of waivers from the Giants, and assigned him to Edmonton. [8/30] Trent Durrington should be headed for his home country to help represent Australia in the Olympics, a departure that created a free spot on the Angels’ 40-man roster. I don’t know if…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Purchased the contract of LHP Scott Karl from Lake Elsinore (A-ball); optioned LHP Juan Alvarez to Edmonton. [8/28] For as much as I think Scott Karl is on a downward slope and picking up steam, he’s still a better pitcher to have around than Ken Hill or Tim Belcher. Sure, the straight numbers…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Activated RHP Troy Percival from the DL; optioned RHP Brian Cooper to Edmonton. [8/26] Short-term, they look worse off because of the good job Shiggy Hasegawa had done as the closer, and because of Troy Percival’s grisly rate of blowing almost a quarter of his save opportunities. Percival’s loss of command has already…