It was on this day in 1966 that the Mets made one of the most infamous draft blunders in history, taking Steve Chilcott with the first overall pick of the June amateur draft. Chilcott became the first #1 pick to never play a game in the Major Leagues, while the A's fared a bit better with the #2 selection — Reggie Jackson.
Let's check out some news from around baseball as we prepare for some interleague action…
- Athletics GM Billy Beane said no decision has been made about releasing Manny Ramirez, reported Joe Stiglich of the San Jose Mercury News, though Beane also wasn't sure when or if Ramirez would be called up to Oakland. Ramirez has completed his 50-game suspension but has been hampered by a leg injury and isn't hitting well in Triple-A.
- In a radio appearance on 95.7 FM The Game, Athletics managing general partner Lew Wolff said that he wants to keep the team in the Bay Area and his ownership group has no plans to sell the A's. Wolff predicted that in five years, the A's would be playing in a new stadium in San Jose. (All links at to Twitter.)
- The Orioles have signed third-round pick Adrian Marin, as announced by Marin himself on his Twitter page. Marin is a high school shortstop who was originally committed to the University of Miami.
- The Rangers announced the signings of 18 draft picks, including all of their selections between the fourth and tenth rounds.
- The Tigers shouldn't trade top prospect Nick Castellanos in an effort to win this season at the sake of the minor league system, writes Jamie Samuelsen for the Detroit Free Press.
- ESPN's Keith Law examines how teams' first-round draft picks fit in among their organizations' other top prospects.
- The Twins have hurt themselves by not dealing veterans at the trade deadline in recent years and shouldn't make that same mistake again this season, opines Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Souhan does name a few players, however, he thinks the Twins shouldn't deal: Jared Burton, Glen Perkins, Jamey Carroll and Josh Willingham.
- Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports takes an early look at the trade deadline in his latest Hot Corner video, naming the Twins, A's, Padres and Cubs as the few clubs who are clear sellers, with the Cubs "probably the biggest seller out there." Rosenthal also thinks the Astros will likely join this group as they want to get rid of their high-priced veterans, though Houston is playing well right now.
- In terms of potential sellers, Rosenthal names the Brewers, as they could look to move Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum and/or Francisco Rodriguez if they fall out of contention. The Phillies "are kind of hanging on a precipice" in the tough NL East and unless they get more concrete news about the health of Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Roy Halladay, Philadelphia could become sellers as well and look ahead to 2013.
- Fredric Horowitz has been hired as the arbitrator between Major League Baseball and the MLB Players' Association, reports the Associated Press. Horowitz replaces Shyam Das, who was fired in the wake of his decision to lift Ryan Braun's 50-game suspension for a positive drug test.
who, potentially, could the phils be looking to deal?
I would think Hamels, he’s gunna get major $$$ in FA. Victorino is another name that would make sense, as he also is headed to FA.
true but i have to believe retaining hamels is a top priority of theirs, especially given that halladay’s contract will be gone after 2013. victorino i could see being dealt, but as with hamels, though to a lesser extent, he seems like a necessary future piece for them as well–given the state of the market for quality outfielders next year, in addition to utley being a perpetual question mark for here on out..
I think they hold onto Hamels with the hope of resigning him unless they get completely blown away. It’s not like they can’t match anything LA offers him… and they might not have to.
Victorino, Pence would be probably the best chips they have and it would open up a spot in the outfield for Brown.
They could also put Juan Pierre, Ty Wiggington, Chad Qualls, among other minor contributers that could bring back a fringe type prospect for a team looking for pinch hitting help and middle relief.
jajaja good luck getting something for pierre
Organizational filler would be fine.
Actually Pierre seems to be the most consistent Phillie this season in terms of hitting. If anything his stock has gone up. Unlike his few years with the Chi Sox he is back to stealing bags and a respectable level (he was below average in Chicago) and he is slapping at the ball like he did in both L.A. and Florida. He might be the best trade piece the Phils have right now sad to say.
pierre had career high SB wit chi sox
It makes zero sense to keep the declining vets and trade the youngest of the 3. It will absolutely be a challenge but they have to suck it up. No team is going to trade a proven young starter (one in the majors) for Hamels for 2 or 3 months. They can certainly get a few top 50 prospects but that’s far from being a guarantee return for a team that’s absolutely in a win now.
The problems are, if they trade Hamels then their pitching depth long term becomes very thin. Halladay probably won’t come back after 2014, assuming they pick up his option, and Lee is going to be difficult to trade unless the Phillies eat some money. His contract was tolerable to the Phillies because it averaged out nicely with his low 2011 and 2012 salaries. However, if a team were to acquire him for 2013 and on then that’s 3/$87.5 mil guaranteed that they are on the hook for and potentially a total of 4/$102.5 if his option vests.
Welcome to the world of having to pay the price for sustained greatness.
I want Mannywood back!!!
Probably time to start coming to grips with the fact that the Manny Ramirez that produced big numbers may not have produced them naturally — at any point in his career.
So to expect any kind of dead cat bounce at what, 40 years old, is probably unrealistic at best, nostalgic delusion at worst.
In your 40’s you regress. He is a legend even without the steroids hes only connected to post prime anyway. He is old now so its perfectly reasonable to expect a steep drop in performance.
Nah.. I don’t believe the end of his career was the first he used. Sorry.
Again, steroids aren’t magic grow. Taking them doesn’t turn you into a super human! They don’t just make you hit balls you couldnt hit before. They don’t help you take walks or see the ball better.
Yes they do help you hit balls you could not hit before. They absolutely do that. And they let you hit those balls farther. They would not be taken if they didn’t do those things.
HGH improves eyesight. Having more power because you’re on steroids causes pitches to pitch to you more carefully.
Hgh does not improve eyesight and and if you disagree i would love to see you some medical evidense of some sort…
No god no. Do you realize how many people have used steroids in baseball and still been utterly terrible? How many high school players who used who never even got drafted?? Its not a cure all for becoming an automatic HOFer. In America your innocent until proven guilty the guy got caught in the later stages of his career thats it. It makes sense too, given his career numbers. He was a young phenom (Pujols ect.) and gradually faded, took steroids late to get a little more from the bat, now he is old and here we are. Speculate all you want but with the information at hand there is no guess more educated than that. He is one of the best pure hitters of all time and if it weren’t for those late post prime blips he would be a HOFer. Manny is all that is Man.
He was on the list of 104 players…
( HGH improves eyesight ) LoL wow!!!! You should let the Military know this, I’m sure the soldiers and pilots could put this to good use!
Wow, really? Do you know anything at all about steroids? That is a rhetorical question by the way because your post shows you don’t! I don’t care how many steroids you take, steroids do not help you hit .312 for your career. They especially do not give you a career .411 OBP!!!!!
Sure they do. They help all of that.
Yes steroids truly help someone to determine if a pitch is going to be a ball or a strike! Steroids really give you that hand eye coordination to put a ball in play. That is why everyone from that era put up his number right? Must have been horrible pitching in that era when 1-9 was crushing the ball like one of the best right handed hitters ever!
Not directly, but that .312 average was surely helped by the home runs, and that OBP was helped by him being a fearsome hitter due to his power/contact and pitchers pitching around him.
Regardless of how he achieved his stats Manny’s washed up. Beane has always had a weakness for bringing these stars way past their prime to Oakland. Only Frank Thomas in his first A’s season panned-out.
Manny was done a few years ago. No sense prolonging the inevitable. Cut him and let a youngster have the AB’s in Sacto.
David Justice panned out pretty good, I’d say.
Are we certain that Manny knows it’s his left leg that’s hurt?
Steroids or not you have to have talent to hit like Manny did. Instead of hitting .330 with 40 HR’s he’d probably of hit .300 with 30. Either way, All-Star hitter and feared hitter.
Steroids might affect the HR’s a bit, not as much as you said though. Average, maybe slightly but for sure not .30pts.
The A’s need to get that stadium built in San Jose ASAP.
i could of told u that all the last place teams were gonna be sellers, can i be a network analyst 2?
No, because analysts are required to use proper English.
I kind of want the Phillies to sell right now to replenish their farm. Victorino would be first out the door for a 3B prospect. I would listen to offers on Halladay, Pence, Hamels, and Ruiz but I’d have to be blown away to trade any, especially Ruiz (who prob is least likely to get traded).
Lee, Howard, Papelbon, Utley, and Rollins are prob untradable for different reasons.
I could really see a war between Angels and Rangers for Hamels…the Angels would want him and the Rangers need them to not got him which could be good for Phillies. In a perfect world, they’d trade Utley and Rollins and sign Hamels and Pence, but that’s not gonna happen.
I see Hamels for Olt as the start to a good trade.
I have been thinking about Hamels and the Angels, but it would happen in free agency if at all. Angels don’t really have the pieces to pull off a trade right now. Segura, Richards, Walden, Conger maybe? Not sure if either side would do that. After the season, angels have quite a bit of $$ coming off the books with Hunter, Takahashi, Callaspo, Izzy, etc. It wouldnt surprise me if the Angels declined Santana’s option and went after Hamels (or picked up the option and traded him). It will be interesting to see, i think he goes to free agency.
So MLB fired the arbitrator that disagreed with them. First time they ever lose a drug test appeal arbitration and they can the arbitrator that disagreed with them? Does not sound like a fair system oncesoever and the Players Union should refuse to participate. All arbitrations need to be independent of league influence.
The arbitrator was fired not only because MLB disagreed with him, but because his decision was blatant nonsense. The Players Union knows when they’ve gotten a gift horse and are not going to look in its mouth.
Those are exactly yhe types of players the Twins shouls be trading.