Some links for Wednesday…
- Former big leaguer Tony Clark has been named the MLBPA's director of player relations, reports MLB.com's Bailey Stephens. Clark hasn't played since being released by the Diamondbacks last July, and his duties with the union are "expected to play a large part in future collective bargaining discussions."
- FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says one of the Marlins' many non-roster relievers could become a low-priced option for the Twins if Joe Nathan ends up needing surgery. That group includes Jose Veras, Mike MacDougal, Derrick Turnbow, and Seth McClung.
- In an interview with John Lowe of The Detroit Free Press, Curtis Granderson said he never wondered why the Tigers traded him only to sign Johnny Damon less than three months later.
- Jon Paul Morosi of FoxSports.com writes that even though the Indians are in full rebuilding mode, the front office is adamant Grady Sizemore isn't going anywhere. Sizemore is under contract for the next two years, and Cleveland holds a $9MM option for 2012.
- Baseball America's Ben Badler goes back five years to look at how successful each team has been at developing players from outside the United States.
- In response to Milton Bradley's interview with ESPN's Colleen Dominguez about his time in Chicago, GM Jim Hendry and former teammates basically said that Bradley had to look in the mirror, according to The Chicago Tribune's Paul Sullivan and ESPN Chicago's Bruce Levine.
Milton Bradley needs to take responsibility for the fact that what happened during his time on the Cubs was his fault.
Really? I still don’t understand how it is. The guy was used to a low key environment where baseball wasn’t the main thing (Texas, etc.). Switching to a high profile environment where baseball is king is an extremely radical shift. You cannot blame him for not adjusting immediately. And then after he couldn’t adjust and had a rough start, the city bagged on him for not bringing them all their hopes and dreams. It was a disaster as of that point.
So no, I do not blame him for what happened.
I just read the two articles linked about Milton Bradley and there are negative quotes from any players. The only quoted players were Soriano and Dempster. Soriano said, “in the clubhouse I didn’t see anything negative that he did. He’s not a bad person.” Dempster dodged the questions. The only negative comments came from Hendry who said Bradley needs to look in the mirror. Let’s get the facts right when discussing controversial issues.
As for Johnny Damon, I don’t think that the Tigers planned on signing Damon when they made the Granderson trade. His price lowered and became an option for the Tigers at that point.
Trading Sizemore would be very beneficial to the team, but I agree, I wouldnt trade him either, not atleast until the deadline of his last year
I would trade him right now.
why? what if the indians have an over .500 year this year? you trade away your superstar before you even know if you have a winning team. Im not saying they are winning anything, but if they are an above .500 team it means they are back on the right track
Plus Sizemore was injured and had a down season in 2009. Better to see if your team contends, and if not, you still let Grady re-establish his value. Not that anyone doubts his ability, but they may be doubting his health right now. A strong 3-4 months can change that thinking quickly.
I guarantee the Indians won’t win more than 75 games this Season.
I don’t know why people keep rehashing the same tired groupthink about the Indians being in “full rebuild mode” and 3 or 4 years away from contention. Furthermore, they have no reason to trade Sizemore, a dirt cheap 5-7 WAR player, when they could easily be the best team in the Central as early as 2011. Hell, even in ’10 the Indians have an excellent lineup and should have a good bullpen. Their starting rotation is probably too young and inexperienced this year, but the rest of the AL Central has similar holes and CHONE has them at 82-80 (2nd in the division) while PECOTA 79-83 (3rd in the division). Also the Indians have so much talent coming through the farm system (BP rated them #3, BA-#3 and Law-#4) that the future looks bright sooner than later.
Didn’t CHONE have them winning 90+ games last season?
I could be wrong, but I think it’ll be hard for the Indians to be above .500. From an outsiders view, there is not one starter who I’d call good. I think the lineup is actually decent but I don’t think the Indians have one starter they can count on.
Wasn’t too long ago the Indians were fun to watch with Sabathia, Lee, V-Mart, Hafner (when he used to be productive). Now the possibility of dealing Grady…not too much fun if you’re an Indians fan.
I don’t think Sizemore will ever be traded. I’m pretty sure that he has a clause in his contract that turns his final season into a player option if he is traded. In other words, trading him means that his contract will be one year shorter. I doubt the Indians would lower their asking price because of that clause, which means that a team is basically going to have offer extra for a year that they won’t even get out of him.
No Veras or Turnbow, maybe MacDougal or McClung if they are intended to restock the depth of the pen and not to be the close. In any of those cases, though I’d rather see them give Delaney or Alex Burnett a shot since they are already on the 40-man roster and half the bullpen is going to be gone through free agency next year anyway.
If the Indians do end up trading Grady away, they are probably better off waiting until the trading deadline of either this year or next year, as his stock is a bit lower than what it could be right now. A good, healthy first few months of playing, though, will do wonders. The Indians are probably better off doing so anyway, because Grady is so cheap for the next 3 years, and the Indians are probably two years off, give or take. They could probably fill up a couple of other needs for the future and still end up ready in the same amount of time by trading him.
I understand the fan’s and team’s love for him, but honestly, they need all the players they can get. They could probably use some more pitching help, and perhaps another batter.
Veras, MacDougal, Turnbow, and McClung aren’t better options than what the Twins have in-house.
This Nathan injury seems to have infected the reasoning center of many people’s brains. What on earth could the Twins see in some other team’s scraps, when they don’t have enough spots on their own roster for the ML quality pitchers they already have in their system.
Right now, I think everyone thinks the Twins are in panic mode. They are a little bit, but when it comes down to it, I’d give the ball to Guerrier or Rauch and have no problem with it. They’re not Nathan, no one is Nathan and I think only one guy is better than Nathan. BUT, I don’t think Guerrier or Rauch are going to suck at the job. Plus, Delaney and Slama should be up pretty soon anyway.
Right on. When you have a good team you can pull out the old Whitey Herzog “bullpen by committee” thought. You may not have one dominant closer pulling 35-40 saves, but is that any better than having 3-4 “situational closers” getting 9-12 saves each?
No offense triteon, but KC was also winning a division back then with a barely over .500 record. they would go like 84-78 and then 0-4 vs the NYY every single year it seemed in the PO. the twins want to follow that suit? just be good enough to get wiped in round 1 of the post season?
I was thinking more of the mid-80s Cardinals rather than the late-70’s Royals. Specifically the ’85 NL championship team, and shoulda-been (yes we’re still bitter) World Series champs. It wasn’t until the end of ’85 that the Cards brought up Todd Worrell to take over closing full-time.
I laugh every time I see the name Turnbow. I remember one year when he blew every game against the Twins. It was mighty hilarious. Please no.
All of our in-house options are way better than those guys.
Im guessing the marlins are getting a lot of call about relievers.
I’m really glad we got Granderson for A-jax, yeah Granderson has his problems vs. LHP, but Jackson’s BABIP was through the roof in AAA, (like .375, off the top of my head) and I think his ceiling was what Granderson is now, except I very highly doubt Jackson will ever hit 30 HR’s playing in Comerica.
I agree Jackson won’t ever hit 30 HR’s playing in Comerica, but that isn’t everything. Granderson was a horrible lead-off man for the Tigers last season. He had the worst OBP% of all lead-off men in the AL. Jackson should be an improvement in the typical lead-off sense, while Granderson should do okay much lower in the order.
That’s true his OBP was horrid last season, but it was I’m predicting/hoping his line is closer to his career line of .272/.344/.484 this season, and hitting lower in the order should help him. The thing is its hard to tell where exactly in the Yankee lineup he fits best, you could justify 30 HR power in the 5 hole, but if his AVG and OBP are too low you could slot him 7-9 and use his speed to balance out the lineup, but then who’s behind A-rod? It’ll be interesting to see how Girardi tinkers with the lineup.
Also Jackson might fit the bill of a more prototypical lead-off man, but that’s if he can be a successful major league player, which his BABIP might indicate otherwise, but I do hope he pans out.
Will he have to lead off though. Im not an expert on the Yankees lineup, but they have more than enough people to put in the 1 or 2 hole (Jeter, and then someone else). If he struggles there, just put him somewhere else, not that big of a deal.
Jeter is gonna stay in the leadoff slot, with N. Johnson and his .400 OBP in the 2 hole, my guess is the lineup will look one of 2 ways:
Jeter
Johnson
Teix
A-Rod
Granderson
Posada
Cano
Swisher
Gardner/Winn
OR:
Jeter
Johnson
Teix
A-Rod
Posada
Cano
Granderson
Swisher
Gardner/Winn
Ahh forgot about Johnson. Yeah, Granderson doesn’t need to lead off, which is probably better for him. I might switch Posada and Cano though. I think at this point in his development he is a better 5 hitter than Posada. Hell, you could make the argument Swisher is better as well.
Swisher’s a career .249 hitter, his OBP is nice and he did have a higher ISO than Posada and Cano last year, but I really don’t think Cano is a #5 hitter just yet, hopefully he’ll get there this year and maintain 25 HR power, but I think if Granderson isn’t going to be in the 5 hole then Posada should be on days that he’s the DH, and then you slot either Swish or Cano in the 2 slot, but hey choosing from 4 different guys that all hit at least 22 HR last year isn’t exactly a bad problem to have, it just kinda depends on how Girardi wants to balance the lineup. But I do see Cano continuing to develop and eventually take over the 2 or 5 hole in the next couple of seasons, 5 if we can get Crawford next offseason and 2 if we can’t. Either way gonna be another fun season.
Well, if you go off last year, the guy was a .375 wOBA hitter. That’s extremely impressive to have one of those in the outfield. If he continues that kind of production, how do you not put him there? You never know with Cano (I love rhymes). I think he’s ready, but I can see the hesitance.
I do think you guys will grab Crawford, so Cano will be pushed back there anyway. Must be a hell of an entertaining night going to a bandbox of a stadium 😀
Haha, yeah the new stadium was a surprise to me, but hey Swisher was better on the road than at home, so maybe he is right for the 5 hole, personally I’d put Granderson there if he starts lighting it up early, he did hit 30 HR playing in Comerica, but Girardi will probably start Posada there then shuffle it around accordingly.
If any major league team considers $9 mil too much to pay for a player of Grady Sizemore’s quality then said team is not aiming at fielding a competitive team and should be kicked out of the league.
Seriously people were rightly claiming Sizemore to be the new top dog in CF(Sorry Voltron but its true) suddenly he has an injured season and is now trade material?
Ridiculous unless they’d be getting way more value in return which is doubtful.
As for Milton Bradley Texas was the perfect place for him, he should have found a way to stay there.