Yankees Bolster DH, Bench with veteran Bats

It was first reported on Friday that the Astros and Yankees struck a deal to send Lance Berkman to New York. The odd thing about this is that the Astros practically handed him over in exchange for two minor leaguers. This blows my mind. So this essentially means that any team in the league could have made a move for Berkman as long as there were two minor leaguers the Astros were interested in. Nevertheless, it seems Yankees manager Joe Girardi isn’t as thrilled as others are to get an everyday DH. He liked to use that spot to give guys rest and keep them in the lineup. I’m sure he’ll get over it though.

Also on Friday, the Yanks acquired Austin Kearns from the Indians. Kearns has jumped around the league since he came up as a prospect with the Reds. He is a good bench player at this point in his career and I think he will help the Yankees in the right situation.

Howdy Partner – Rangers Land a Pair of Players

The Texas Rangers made some moves this week acquiring Jorge Cantu from the Marlins and Christian Guzman from the Nationals. Cantu has not been as productive as he was earlier in the season, but he is a solid bat and an RBI producer. I like the pickup there because they didn’t go for the strictly power hitter. Another non-strictly power hitter is Christian Guzman. It’s been speculated for a couple years that Guzman would be traded, and it finally happened. I feel like this gives the Rangers an incredible amount of infielders. I wonder who the odd man out is?

No-Hit Stuff in Chicago

Hey, it might have been with a couple handfuls of walks, but Edwin Jackson and his 2010 no-hitter are heading to the Chicago White Sox. Jackson is owed a lot of money, so I don’t know why the White Sox made this deal, considering he’ll be the fourth starter. However, if he is motivated, Jackson is a very good pitcher. Only time will tell on this trade.

Tidbits:

• The Tigers were looking for help since Magglio Ordonez went down with an injury last week. They picked up Johnny Peralta from the Indians on Wednesday to help out. He already helped the team win a game in Boston on Friday night, so I’m people are feeling better in Detroit.
• The Rays are trying to be active this deadline, but not much is out there for a team unwilling to pick up too much payroll. Although, they did pick up Chad Qualls from the Diamondbacks on Friday to help their bullpen. Qualls has been so-so this year with a high ERA, but I’m sure this trade could get him going.
• Are more deals to come? Names like Adam Dunn, Ted Lilly, Carlos Zambrano, Brett Myers, Prince Fielder, Jake Westbrook, and even Manny Ramirez are still on the market. Stay tuned!

I’d like to wrap up this post by saying this is the 1,000 post in MLBtoday.net’s history. Thank you to our fans and everyone who has visited the site reguarly!

-Chris

I’m glad the Twins traded Ramos to give him an opportunity to catch for someone since Mauer is locked up for the next 8 years but a few weeks ago the Twins were in talks of trading Ramos for Lee and they settled for Capps.

I don’t know how this will work.  Gardenhire will likely use Capps as the closer despite Jon Rauch doing an excellent job.  Not to mention that Rauch was terrible in non-save situations so good luck for Gardenhire to make that decision.  In addition, Nathan will be back next year and the Twins will have 3 closers unless they trade one.

Grade for the Twins: B-

Photo courtesy of espn.com

The San Diego Padres are serious about the playoffs this season.  I absolutely bashed the crap out of this team in the preseason and even in April but now they sit at 60-40 and are buyers at the trade deadline this year after acquiring Miguel Tejada from the O’s for a minor league pitcher.

Miggy Pop brings veteran leadership to a fairly young team.  He will play some 3B and even shortstop.  The Padres don’t want to move Headly to the OF but Tejada will relieve him some games at 3B and will proivde a good precense at the plate for the Padres.

Philly is now the favorite to win the NL East I feel.  Their hitting was always better than the Braves but their pitching didn’t quite match up 1-5 with the Braves but now the Phillies have the best 1-2 punch in baseball.

Oswalt was just 6-12 this season with an very good 3.35 ERA.  For Oswalt’s career he has a .780+ winning percentage after August 1st so Philly fans should be excited to received Oswalt.

Note:  The Astros traded Gose to the Blue Jays for 1B Brett Wallace.

Tampa Bay Rays SP Matt Garza has thrown the first no-hitter in Rays history against the Detroit Tigers. He faced the minimum amount of batters following a walk in the second inning and a subsequent double play. Garza totaled six strikeouts, but his ability to pound the strike zone led to many easy in the 5-0 victory.

The ninth inning consisted of a dribbler to second base by Don Kelly, a Gerald Laird strikeout looking, and finally Ramon Santiago pinch hit a lazy fly ball to right fielder Ben Zobrist (who made a heck of a catch earlier in the game). It was another historic night in Tampa (Edwin Jackson no-hitter for the D’Backs on June 25 against the Rays) and Garza’s name is etched in history.

Tigers SP Max Scherzer had a no-hitter of his own into the sixth inning, but that was broken up with a grand slam of all things! Matt Joyce collected the first hit of the game with a grand salami into the right field bleachers. That left the final fireworks for Garza to provide. What a way to lose a no-hitter.

Seriously though, how bad are the Tigers? I’ve been wondering when the bottom would fall out for them – and this must be it. Or at least, they better hope this is it. I’m sure Tigers fans are hoping this wakes this team up, because at this rate they’ll be out of the race by the end of the month.

Garza’s no hitter is the fifth of the season in the majors. It is the first time since 1991 that there has been five no-hitters in a season (there were seven that season). Also, there are only two teams that still have never had a no-hitter. The Rays were the third team, but now it’s down to the Padres and the Mets. My bet is that the Padres will do it, not because I hate the Mets, but because that’s the luck the Mets have.

Anywho, congrats to Matt Garza! I just hope that at this pace the no-hitter doesn’t go out of style, haha.

-Chris

The Diamondbacks higher-ups pulled Haren aside during Sunday’s game against San Francisco and actually asked him to guess where he was going. Haren said his first guess was the Yankees, noting that he really wasn’t sure what was going on. They then told him he was going to the Angels and he sounded pretty excited.

Haren has noted that he liked to stay on the west coast, as he is familiar with the area. However, Haren did not have a no-trade clause, so none of this was really in his hands. He is definitely lucky to be going to a good team, but they still are six games behind the first place Rangers going into Sunday’s game in Texas. Keep this in mind though, the Angels and Rangers still have 11 games remaining against each other. Anything can happen.

Haren will make over $12 million the next two seasons, and there is a club option for 2013 worth even more. The Angels had money to spare due to their lack of bringing in the big name this past winter. They have to be disappointed with Scott Kazimir’s lack of production this season, not to mention he is currently on the DL. Haren should give the Angels a little bit of a boost.

Haren was very frustrated in not winning many games with the D’backs. He said during his press conference that he can’t even remember the last time he won a game. He noted that he’s been with three different managers, players have shuffled in and out, and he hasn’t had the greatest experience in Arizona. Haren is 7-8 with a 4.60 ERA this season in 21 starts. Meanwhile, Saunders was 6-10 with a 4.62 ERA in 20 starts this season for LA.

Overall, I do not think the Angels have what it takes to win the AL West as of the moment. The Rangers now have Cliff Lee, which will help big time to go along with that offense. As for the D’Backs, they got a cheaper starter who has good experience. Both sides won this trade, as of now at least.

-Chris

For the first time since 1996 (13 years) the National League has beaten the American League.  The win goes to Matt Capps of the Nationals and the losing pitcher goes to Phil Hughes of the AL while the save went to Jonathan Broxton.  The MVP of the game was Brian McCann thanks to his bases loaded 3-run ROPE of a double off… Matt Thornton.

The All-Star Game is always fun to watch, all the talent on the field at once just blows my mind.  The NL has about 7 guys who pump 97-100 MPH at any given time which is just crazy and you can’t say that of any team other than the All-Star team.  Also, at the end of the game Bourne, Byrd and Young all met in center field and did a chest bump which pumped me up because the NL was actually excited to win the game and none of those guys had previously played together.

Now to the actual game.  The pitching in the first 4 innings was brilliant on both sides.  For the AL David Price pitched two scoreless innings and reached 100 MPH on the radar gun, clearly he was fired up to be the starter and represent the AL.  Jimenez and NL Cy Young front runner Josh Johnson pitched 4 scoreless innings and surrenedered just 2 hits during that span.  The lone American League run came on a Robinson Cano sac fly after an unearned run due to an error by Dodgers SP Kuo.

The AL only had 6 hits all night and the dominance of National League pitching finally proved to work in an All Star Game.  In the top of the 7th, with Phil Hughes on the mound Scott Rolen got a single and reached 3rd after a single by Cardinals OF Matt Holiday.  After Hughes gave up the two hits Matt Thorton came in for relief (who has been pretty dominant this season) and walked Byrd in a great AB.  The AL had the lefty on lefty advantage but McCann roped the ball down the line to a stand up double which scored all three runners.  From the point on the game was basically over.

In the 9th Big Papi (HR Derby champ) led off the inning with a single but was wiped away after John Buck hit a bloop single to RF and Byrd made a great play on the ball where he spun and gunned out Ortiz at second base.  On the replay I noticed how BAD of a runner Ortiz is, it’s not even funny!  His stride is almost non-existant and it makes me wonder if he was ever taught how to run because that was embarassing!  Ian Kinsler made the final out with a pop out to Chris Young in center field.

Game Tidbits:

• Joe Girardi is the worst AL manager of the All-Star Game in the last 13 years for two reasons; 1. He lost.  2. Why did he rob a deserving All-Star like Michael Young a chance to make the team to select his own player A-Roid who didn’t even play?  That’s a joke!  He should have pinched run A-Roid for David Ortiz.
• Will anyone now respect Adam Wainwright after seeing him on a national stage (since no one knew who he was in 2006 when he closed for the WS Champion Cardinals)?  Wainwright has the best curve in baseball and is an absolute beast on the mound, give this guy more props (like the Cy Young in 2009, oh, wait).
• Brian Wilson and Jon Broxton may be the two scariest pitchers in baseball to look at and to face.  Brian Wilson throws 100 MPH, wears skinny jean baseball pants and has a mohawk.  Jon Broxton is about 6’7″ 320 lbs and throws 100 MPH, that gives me the chills.
• Thank God the National League won.  I’ve come to the conclusion that even if the Twins make the playoffs they won’t be the Yankees so at least if the Braves take the NL East and the pennant they have a shot to beat the Yankees.  The Braves are an astonishing 30-10 at home this year which is largely the best home record in baseball.

-Jason

Longtime Yankees owner George Steinbrenner has passed away in Tampa, Florida at the age of 80.  Steinbrenner, who has been in bad health for the last few years, suffered a heart attack this morning.  In an official statement the Steinbrenner family has this to say…”He was an incredible and charitable man. First and foremost he was devoted to his entire family — his beloved wife, Joan; his sisters, Susan Norpell and Judy Kamm, his children, Hank, Jennifer Jessica and Hal; and all of his grandchildren.”

Love the Yankees or hate the Yankees, you have to respect what George Steinbrenner has accomplished.  He became owner of the team in 1973 when he bought the team for $10 million and turned them into over a billion dollar franchise.  Although some of his antics were wild, like having 22 different managers since 1973, he did whatever it took to win and as a Yankee fan, I cannot thank him enough.  It’s a sad day for the New York Yankees and Major League Baseball.  RIP George Steinbrenner.

-Matt

Let’s start with the NL starters, who were voted in by the fans:

 You can’t complain with many of these picks, but I do feel that Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera needs to be starting. He is arguably the MVP of the AL! Also, Vernon Wells is having a heck of a year in Toronto and could replace Ichiro as a starter. It’s kind of cool to see last year’s reserve and ASG MVP Carl Crawford starting in the OF. I can’t believe Derek Jeter continues to start these games; remember when the AL had an unreal amount of amazing shortstops?

Now for the AL reserves, picked by the players and manager Joe Girardi:

 A few things to explain here: Ty Wigginton had to be picked as the Orioles only representative, and Dustin Pedroia and Victor Martinez are both injured, which kind of justifies the number of Red Sox chosen. Those injuries allowed even more Blue Jays and Rangers players to make the team. You’ll notice the incredible number of players the best teams in the AL have representing the league. Oh yeah, and I heard A-Rod was chosen by his manager in his last pick. Sigh.

Finally, here are the AL pitchers, with the ASG starter coming later:

 Pause a second. Look at the incredible number of first appearances from the pitchers on this squad. Remember when Fausto Carmona couldn’t stay in the majors last season; well, now he’s an All-Star. I do like the starters on this squad like David Price, Cliff Lee and Jon Lester. Those guys are tough. I do get the feeling the lack of experience from some of the younger guys could end up hurting the American League as the game goes on.

Overall, this team is going to come in with some pressure to win again, but I trust that they’ll get it done. The goal this year, like every year, is to get the ball to Mariano. Game, set, match.

-Chris

Let’s start with the NL starters, who were voted in by the fans:

First off, Yadier Molina, as much as I love him, does not deserve to be an All-Star this year. He is a great defensive catcher, but his bat has been turned off of late. Brian McCann should be starting. Also, Chase Utley is injured and Martin Prado, who should have been starting in the first place, will be taking his spot in the starting lineup. In the outfield, Heyward should not be an All-Star, he’s been hurt for weeks. I would say Corey Hart and probably even Jayson Werth should be starting instead.

Now for the NL reserves, picked by the players and manager Charlie Manual:

 I’m kind of upset that Troy Glaus wasn’t picked for the team, not that I know who he should be replacing. The reason I say this is because I bashed him and was excited the Cardinals had no aspiration to re-sign him after last season, but this year he has been terrific for Atlanta. Then again, the Braves have plenty of coverage. One guy that did make it after being considered washed up is Scott Rolen. He has been tough as nails this season so far. Also, Colby Rasmus has a better resume for making the team than Matt Holliday does this year. Nevertheless, I like these reserves because they are more likely to play small ball than in year’s past.

Finally, here are the NL pitchers, with the ASG starter coming later:

 It’s good to see that Arthur Rhodes’ amazing year has not been overlooked. The 40-year-0ld just recently had an incredible streak of no runs allowed come to an end, but Manual didn’t miss it. Also, isn’t it weird to think Adam Wainwright is making his first All-Star appearance? He has been so clutch for the Cards – I feel bad for him. Oh and FYI, Evan Meek is the only Pirates player chosen, which is a rule, and his ERA is under 1.00 from the bullpen.

The best move of the entire roster was for Charlie Manual not to pick Nationals young SP Stephen Strasburg. Is he terrific? Yes, but he’s only had like six career starts. You can’t pick the guy over someone else in that case. There just isn’t enough reason to pick him – sorry, it just doesn’t work that way.

Overall, the NL has some work to do, but maybe this is the year they pull it off. Then again, they usually choke, so I wouldn’t put my money on it.

-Chris