On this date in 2008, the Rays took control of sole possession of first place in the AL East for the first time in franchise history. It took an extra innings walk-off win against the Yankees coupled with a Red Sox loss to the Orioles. The win also marked the first time Tampa Bay was seven games over .500 in a season. They, of course, went on to their first AL pennant and World Series appearance later that season.
Here are this week's batch of links, which break franchise records in their own individual ways…
- Sodo Mojo wrote at length about the Mariners and their strategy for next month's amateur draft.
- Brotherly Glove tackled the idea of a contract extension for Cole Hamels.
- Amazin' Avenue broke down the Mets' 2012 payroll obligations with respect to Jose Reyes.
- Wahoo Blues, meanwhile, explored the possibility of the Indians trading for Reyes.
- Motor City Bengals explained why David Wright will not be traded to the Tigers.
- Rising Apple called Taylor Buchholz an unlikely trade chip.
- The Shea Faithful obsessed over the Mets' last roster spot, saying it's time they part ways with Chin-lung Hu.
- NatsGM says the Gregor Blanco trade likely won't have much of an impact, but was a solid depth move for the Nationals nonetheless.
- Bay City Ball tries to figure out who should get playing time in the Giants' outfield.
- FanSpeak thinks it's time for Bryce Harper to move up a level in the minor leagues.
- True Grich says that even though Kendrys Morales is out for the year, it's Jeff Mathis that really has to go.
- Twins Territory Talk wonders if Carl Pavano was a bad investment.
- Capitol Avenue Club details Jair Jurrjens' new approach.
- Through The Fence Baseball is looking for the real Mat Latos.
- Royals Review came up with a way to quantify the Royals' grit.
- The Outside Corner takes a look at Raul Ibanez's continued decline.
- Fenway Faithful Report wonders if Jose Iglesias is the next Rey Ordonez.
- Cubbies Crib says the Cubs have reasons to be concerned about Tyler Colvin.
- Bronx Bombers Report wonders if the Yankees and White Sox match up for a trade involving a starting pitcher.
- Replacement Level Baseball scouts the Pirates' broadcasters.
If you have a suggestion for this feature, Mike can be reached here. Only one email per week, please.
Danks would get the best haul but Kenny should lock him up sooner than later. If danks is traded it will be next season or this winter if and only if he turns down an extension again. Floyd is too good and too cheap to move. Buehrle would more than likely only go to the cards and what us sox fans want from them isn’t going to happen( Colby) peavy was great in his start last night and could build serious trade value but with an NTC and a ton of money he is untradeable. Leaving Humber and Jackson. I personally would keep Humber over Jackson due to
Money. Jackson for montero straight up is a pipe dream but with how Martin is playing it could happen.
Jackson for Montero is beyond laughable. The fact that you think it’s possible is even funnier. Than your Pipe dream includes buehrle for Rasmus. I’m going to say you were tripping off shrooms and give you a pass.
Given the fact Montero is offensively ready for the majors i’m going to agree with you. Might of happened after Jackson’s 09 season, but now no shot.
At least I admitted that colby for buehrle simply wont happen and I did say Jackson for montero is a pipe dream. What would you say is a realistic trade for both teams for Jackson. ( I do feel danks could potentially get montero and possibly Colby. Maybe even Floyd due to age/ contract/ success could get either two depending on who else is thrown in)
There is almost no chance of the ChiSox getting Montero and some other good prospect. I think Danks for Montero wouldn’t be that awful for either team. I don’t see Chicago trading Floyd because he is still young and his trade value is pretty low at the minute. If they trade Jackson it won’t be for more then a mid prospect because there is almost 0 chance he resigns with a team before free agency the way that Boras has been talking. With all of that being said the Yankees might get very desperate if their beer league pitchers fall off at all and star struggling they might do something that would surprise all of us but the way they dealt with the Lariano situation it seems they are content with their rotation and don’t want to give up their top prospects at this point.
I meant the sox adding more prospects not the Yankees
what liriano situation? I’m pretty sure it was made very clear Liriano was not on the block at all this season.
The Yankees made an offer to the Twins. I don’t remember exactly what it was but it was terrible.
*EDIT* the offer was Nova and Pena. I also read somewhere else that the Yankees included another mid level prospect but I can’t remember his name.
Neverett and Wehner are absolutely terrible. Not only does Wehner say nonsensical things most of the time, but his voice alone makes me want to mute the TV. He sounds like the stereotypical yinzer and they act like he knows everything about the sport because he played in the MLB. His crush on Craig Counsell is also irritating.
Neverett and Wehner are absolutely terrible. Not only does Wehner say nonsensical things most of the time, but his voice alone makes me want to mute the TV. He sounds like the stereotypical yinzer and they act like he knows everything about the sport because he played in the MLB. His crush on Craig Counsell is also irritating.
i agree they should send harper to high A and if he continues to slaughter pitchers then to double A but no higher this year.
he needs to be challenged. you give him adequate opportunity to be challenged at each level but if he continues to dominate, you move him up. you want to give him time to develop all parts of his game, but you’re doing him a disservice if you keep sending him out against pitchers that cannot challenge him and force him to improve
Why not higher than AA? if he gets to high A and has a similar slash line send him to AA and again if he has a similar line the logical thing to do is send him to AAA and a September call up. But the bats could always get crazy and call him to the bigs this season before September. If he keep destroying the minors it’s is actually a bad thing to keep him there. At best he sparks them potentially into contending. He will for sure being people to the park. And at worst it gives the big league coaches time to see him and see if he needs to work on anything. He will be in the bigs next season I bet. Starting the Harper strasburg era!
@jwsow:disqus I think AA is enough of a jump for him. Even if he is hitting better than he is now, AAA/Sept. callup would be a bit too far for someone who technically should be in rookie ball (if he was drafted this year and signed Aug. 15th). Besides many of the top pitching prospects are in AA, so he should see his fair share of ML talent. The one potential exception would be if the AAA squad was going to the postseason, then you could get him more at bats (likely against quality pitching) and get him in a playoff scenario.
But please explain why AA is a enough of a jump? If he can move to High A(and will very soon) and dominates it makes no sense to keep him in high A it wont do anything but slow his development. If he can make it to AA and dominate it only makes sense to get him in to AAA. worst case scenario he stays in AAA and learns the pitchers there. And again it wouldnt hurt him as much to challenge him as it would to leave him somewhere that he dominates. A sept call up has been a possibility all year even their front office if i remember said it might happen. It gets people in the seats and gives the big league club a chance to see him close up and see how much more conditioning he needs in the minors if at all.
“But to this point in his professional career, Iglesias has showcased many of the offensive deficiencies that made his fellow countryman such a one-dimensional player.”
let’s define “this point in his pro career”:
21 in january, jose iglesias has fewer than 450 plate appearances. combined. total. that’s less than a full season’s worth, and they’ve been scattered across four (now five) different venues. a quarter of them were in A-ball, about half of them came as a 20 year old playing in AA, and another quarter of them came this season at AAA before being called up to the bigs
now i’m not as high on iglesias as most of the people i hear/read talking about him. it’s too soon to tell if he’ll ever be a contributor with the bat. but to pretend that any meaningful analysis of his offensive potential can be based on his pro career at this point is just a very bad joke
i know this is the age of never-ending prospect hype and coverage, but there’s really no story there. if anything can be said about iglesias, it’s all positive. it’s not his fault that he’s playing at a much higher level than he should be. if anything, it’s a credit to his talent
I 100% agree with you that he is very early in his career, but with his speed shouldn’t he “accidentally” hit some doubles? He has 12 extra base hits in almost a full season of at bats, if you were to see that on any other prospect without hit glove and speed it would be a huge red flag. His glove will keep him in the league for a lot of years, but his bat could hurt the team that he is on in the long run.
again, this is precisely why we can’t say much about his bat yet. it’s “almost a full season of at-bats” (about a 100 shy), but they’re scattered across 4 levels
it’s only his last 22 hits in AAA that have been powerless. in single-A, 5 of his 32 hits were doubles or triples. at AA, 13 of his 60 hits were doubles or triples. hardly a lot of power, but good for an ISO around .075, which is better than yunel escobar or evlis andrus put up in the bigs in 2010
i’m not projecting anything when i say this, because nothing can be projected yet. that’s very much my point. the kid is tiny – he looks like he’s 15. presumably he’ll fill out a little, maybe he’ll become a better hitter overall. hope so, but it’s way too soon to tell
and it’s also way too soon to doubt him. he has almost zero professional development time under his belt. less than one season! unless you’re a college player, you aren’t expected to know how to hit at that point. and when you’re the size of iglesias and playing shortstop, you aren’t expected to show power this early in your career
I absolutely agree with you, I was just pointing out that he should be able to hit for some sort of power. It doesn’t even have to be power just has to be a well placed single and with his speed should be able to get to second. I would love to have this conversation 3 or 4 years from now and see what he has done.
I wouldn’t call Iglesias a one dimensional player this early in his career. Allthough he hit
.295/.339/.379 through 261 last season in A-AA his 15BB and 57K’s and general lack of power leave alot to be desired, i agree it might be to early to judge but he needs to improve if he doesn’t want to become a Rey Ordonez/Adam Everett type.
Ibanez has actually had a decent May so far with a 1.079 OPS. Of course, he was the worse hitter in the league in April, so he had nowhere to go but up. Obviously he can be replaced at some point with a better player and the contract is still not good, but he’s about as streaky a hitter as you can get. Just so happened that April was cold streak month for him and May, so far, has been a warm streak month. There aren’t a whole lot of better options available for the Phillies right now in the outfield other than spot starting Mayberry against lefties. So they got roll with Ibanez for awhile and hope the hot streak lasts.
Frankly I’m more concerned with Francisco as an everyday player. Dude is hitting .083 in May with a .417 OPS.
“Fenway Faithful Report wonders if Jose Iglesias is the next Rey Ordonez”
I was thinking Mark Belanger, but I’m probably a lot older than the Fenway Faithful blogger.