The Indians snapped an 11-game losing streak today with a 6-2 victory over the Twins. The 11-game skid matched a franchise record, set four times previously in Tribe history. Avoiding a new futility record is of small consolation to the Indians, who were in wild card contention before their streak and now can only look ahead to 2013.
Here's the latest from around the majors….
- The Red Sox scouted Roy Oswalt and expressed interest in him earlier this season but they never made an offer, the veteran right-hander tells Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal. Oswalt also said that he didn't insist to pitch for a team close to his home in Mississippi, noting that he was "pretty close" to signing with the Dodgers before finally settling on a contract with the Rangers.
- Michael Bourn "strikes out a lot and doesn't have a great on-base percentage. He's going to be 30 years old, and guys his age do not get faster. I'd be careful," a scout tells Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The Phillies have been rumored to be interested in signing Bourn as a free agent this winter, with the Nationals and Braves also in the mix for the center fielder.
- Former Cubs GM Jim Hendry has embraced being a special-assignment scout for the Yankees, writes Daniel Barbarisi of the Wall Street Journal. Brian Cashman said that Hendry played key roles in the signing of first-round draft pick Ty Hensley and in the team's recent trade for Casey McGehee.
- The dispute between the Athletics and the Giants over San Jose territorial rights "might be the most difficult decision in baseball history because of the circumstances," an MLB executive tells Yahoo Sports' Steve Henson. The executive says there is some belief that the Giants could break protocol and sue the league if the A's are allowed to move.
- Tom Krasovic of Inside The Padres thinks the Padres made a good move in extending Carlos Quentin and Huston Street, though wonders if either player can "stay healthy in a heated pennant race."
Shame Oswalt will probably close out his career on such an awful note, sort of like Smoltz. yeah Smoltz did some better in St. Louis, but not nearly the guy he wanted to be in his final season to close out his glorious career.
Oswalt has just been awful. This might make him want to come back and try again, but probably get him to just hang ’em up for good more than likely.
He’s had chronic back issues for a couple years now. I think their best shot is to see what they can get out of him from the pen or to throw him on the DL until the end of August and see what extra rest will give him.
Is it just me thinking it,or has the AL become the league where NL Pitchers at the end of their careers come to die?
Prolly just you
I hear you! Don’t these guys know that washed up pitchers go to the NL to prolong their careers, not hang around or come **TO** the AL and shorten it??
Derek Lowe
Javy Vazquez
AJ Burnett
Ted Lilly
Jeezzzzz
Roy,
Play ball or retire. Don’t show half way in, lay down an ERA over 5, then bellyache about getting shifted to the pen.
Smoltz hung on one season too long, but you can’t grudge a guy for wanting to keep playing, and he didn’t keep hanging on, he knew it was time. Remember, people thought Chipper was done after 2010. He’s doing really good (in reasonable usage) this year.
Nobody in their right mind thought Chipper was done in 2010. Yes the injuries had piled up and maybe people thought thats what would do him in. Nobody who had a clue about the game would have said Chipper was done. And you don’t have to provide a disclaimer like “(in reasonable usage)” I’m not exactly sure what that means but Chipper has been fantastic this season. Period.
The Red Sox did something right by not signing Oswalt.
Finally, someone with some sense talks about Bourn. I’d love him at 3/30 or 4/36, but that’s all I would go (and yes, I know he’ll end up with much more than that).
The earlier post today paraphrasing Olney estimating Bourn would get $16-22M per season on the open market had me laughing out loud. As a Braves fan, I’d love to have him back. But, I’d love for PHI to give another 30-year-old that kind of money that further handcuffs them while they’re telling everyone “they’re getting younger.”
its just more proof that Buster Only has no clue what he is talking about and all his “sources” are agents, where has Timmy K would never say Bourn would get that much per
With Gammons gone, Olney is the glamour and Tim K. is the logic. Agreed Kurkijan wouldn’t say that. I like Bourn, but there’s not precedent for a player going to be 30 who is a speedster at a premium position with gold-glove defense getting that kind of money. I’m dying for him to bolt so I could see how Heyward would fare in CF, as he already covers a lot of ground and has the arm and instincts for it.
No way they risk Heyward in CF. He’s too fragile.
They should sign BJ Upton. Yeah he hits .240. But he’s a potential 20/40 guy and plays a good CF when he’s motivated. Not going to cost nearly as much as Bourn. Who knows…maybe the change of scenery will get him going…
Who do they put there instead- Prado? BJ Upton or Span would be good replacements- Braves wouldn’t need an elite defensive CF if you keep Prado in Left and Heyward in Right. (both are ++ defenders for corner OFs)
Prado should be moving to 3B in 2013, from what reports have said. I imagine Wren will be trying to find a CF replacement with looking at corner OFs and considering moving Heyward to CF if they can find a good enough crop of corner OF at a cheaper price.
If it’s not Bourn then Heyward is playing CF next year. They have enough work to do in figuring out what to do with Prado, McCann, Heyward, Hanson, Kimbrel and Freeman. Who gets extended and who goes to arb. Yes there’s money coming off the books but this isn’t fantasy baseball and a lot of that money will have to be spent almost immediately. The Braves are not going to sign a top tier free agent this winter unless its Michael Bourn. If there’s a signing of a FA outfielder its a corner guy. Say Nick Swisher. If Bourn leaves then Heyward is in CF with the corner outfield spots opened up. One gets filled internally (say Reed Johnson) and one get filled externally with a cheaper-than-Upton-option (Swisher, Hairston, Ross, or just for fun Andruw in a platoon situation.) If Wren does decide to keep Heyward in RF and sign a CF, then that CF will be Angel Pagan-ish. Also I could see Ankiel back. They’ll keep Matty Diaz around for another year. Hinske is likely gone.
BJ would be a great signing for them. He can def play a solid CF and you get similar speed with more power. Def the value sign.
IF Upton could get his OBP back up to his career marks (around .330) and not at .300 where it is now – which is the lowest since 2006 for him, then BJ would be a good deal.
Upton, in my opinion, will cost as much as Bourn if not more. He’s younger and still will be ale to progress. Just because Onley said Bourn will get 16M per doesn’t mean he will. Bourn will most likely get 9-12M per and Upton will probably get that same amount especially since Bourn, Hamilton, and Upton are the only real difference making OFs in free agency this year.
Victorino, though 2-3 years older than Hamilton/Bourn, is also available. He’s said that he wants to stay in LAD, but he’ll still be a free agent. Considering his numbers, he could be a target for the losers in the Bourn/Hamilton sweepstakes – though it’d take a mini-miracle for LAD not to re-sign him if they don’t sign Hamilton/Bourn.
No way they risk Heyward in CF? That’s why they’ve already started him in CF (resting Bourn) twice this season? What’s the risk? Heyward is the most athletic player in the lineup when Bourn is resting and with names like Lipka in the minors at CF not exactly setting the world afire – why wouldn’t you consider it a possibility? They obviously are considering he’s started 2 games and he played a few more, if my memory serves me correctly, during spring training. As I stated before, he has the range, he has the arm, he has the instincts.
Yes, this offseason will have a few CFs to choose from if Bourn gets away, but MIN wants a lot for Denard Span – who doesn’t look worth the price – and BJ Upton, though great when he wants to be in CF, looks like a liability as much in the clubhouse as he does at the top of your lineup. What he has in speed he also has in baggage. Not sure I’d commit $30-40M to someone with that – unless he can recruit Justin with him.
@craigkimbrelfan: This is the equivalent of saying “they should get B.J. Upton because he might turn into a completely different player if he goes to Atlanta”. Just look at some of the key words in the first Kimbrelfan post. “Yeah he hits .240″…”when he’s motivated”…”Who knows”…”maybe”…”change of scenery”
I’m surely not convinced. Bourn is likely gone which means, if healthy, Heyward is in CF next season. End of discussion. There’s no reason to even think about an acquisition for CF.
BJ Upton? Negative. Heyward will play CF next year if Bourn is gone. Period.
“…sue the league if the A’s are allowed to move. ” what makes the Giants think they have a legal right to a monopoly?
You win one world series and you think you own the world or somethin.
A monopoly of what? By their nature ball clubs can’t have a monopoly. They own territorial rights to the south bay. That would give them the right to sue for breach of contract among other things.
Dont forget that Bourn is in the final year of his contract which means he’s going to step up his game to get maximum money this off season. Once he gets the fancy contract, he’ll slack off a little. Look at Chris Johnson with the Titans. Different sport, I know. But he had that 2,000 yard season, demanded ludicrous money, got it, and hasn’t been the same player since. Happens all the time in sports.
I’m sure the M’s fans and Adrian Beltre know exactly what you’re talking about.
I don’t think Johnson is slacking off I think like most running backs his legs are going.
Bourn is more or less having the same year he’s had since 2009. I don’t buy into the contract year myth because of one specific player in a sport I don’t follow.
Total Boo. Another case of a fan remembering what he chooses to remember. 95% of the time a star who signs for big money remains the same star he always was. I would speculate that most of the guys who “slack off once they get the fancy contract” are guys who signed long term deals on the wrong side of 30. Somebody overpaid for them and then was disappointed when he got old and “didn’t earn his money”. Here’s an idea, don’t offer the contract.
In my opinion its a pretty easy decision, Does the MLB care more about a big league club or a minor league club? The Giants will still draw to their minor league club because MLB minor league teams are usually really cheap to go to, for example I live in naperville illinois, about 45 minutes from chicago and 20 minutes from the Kane County Cougars a Class A team for the royals. It costs about 100 dollars for two people to go to either a sox or cubs game including tickets, parking(train) food and some beers, cheaper obviously if you dont eat or drink at the park. But it only costs about 30 for 2 people to go to a cougars game including tickets, parking, food and beer. Minor league teams will always draw because they are a cheap alternative for a day at the park, and usually just fun not serious filled with in stadium fan games etc…..But if mlb seriously sides with the giants there is a serious problem. MLB teams should always no matter what get the rights over a MiLB team. And if the giants are worried about losing SJ, they will still have fans in SJ that will still travel the 45 minutes to go to a giants game, and it opens all of Oakland to the Giants, the Giants would have basically all of the bay area only losing the southern most bay area
The issue isn’t that the a team is there. That would be ridiculous. It,s about the corporate sponsorships that the Giants would lose, and to a lesser extent fan base. We’re talking billions of dollars, which is the only reason the A’s want to move to SJ at all.