Take a Look at the Standings posted by Tony Rossi

I already knew that the Red Sox were in first, and that the Yanks were in second.  I also knew that whenever I looked at the standings, Toronto was not far behind New York.  What I didn’t know was that Tampa Bay is currently only a game behind Toronto. 

Everyone once in a while I hear a player say on TV that their division is the toughest in baseball.  I never really know who to believe because it seems to change every year.  Right now in 2009, I’m picking AL East as the toughest division in baseball.  Take a look:

AL East                  W           L              Games behind

Boston               45           26           --

New York           41           32           4.0

Toronto              41           34           5.0

Tampa Bay         40           35           6.0

Don’t Worry About Smoltz….Yet posted by Tony Rossi

Last night I saw a funny production of Neil Simon’s play “Rumors” at Salem State College.  When I got out, I was hoping to catch the end of the game.  As it turned out, the game was over, and it was no laughing matter.  Smoltz had given up four runs alone in the first inning.  The Red Sox bullpen was very shaky.  And Jordan Zimmermann from the Nationals absolutely dominated the Red Sox through seven innings of work. 

In those seven innings, Zimmermann gave up only 5 hits, a run, a walk, and 6 strikeouts.  This guy is only 23 years old.  I’m impressed and plan on following up on this guy, I hope he keeps doing this well (just not against the Sox). 

Meanwhile, Red Sox pitching was just the opposite.  After Smoltz was taken out of the game, Bard came in for an inning and gave up 2 hits, 2 runs, and a walk.  I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Bard should go back down to AAA for a month or two.  I want to see him back in Boston in September, but right now I don’t think he’s ready.  Following Bard was Saito, who also gave up 2 runs and 2 hits, one of which was a homer.  But before any of this happened, Smoltz had gone 5 innings while allowing 7 hits, 5 runs, a walk, and striking out 5.   

I’d be lying if I said I was content with how Smoltz did last night.  At the same time I’m not worried.  Not yet.  According to Ian Browne on mlb.com, Smoltz did not pitch well in 2002 as his first outing as a closer (0.2 IP, 6 H, 8 R), nor did he have a good outing his first time back in the rotation three years later.  Maybe the hype is too much for him on the mound.  I say we see how he does his next couple of starts before making a decision on whether or not we want to keep him in the rotation.  I’m not giving up on Smoltz yet.  And if we have to, there’s always Buchholz waiting in AAA.

Posada's shoulder holding up nicely for the Yankees posted by Cesar Valverde

Dateline: last season. New York Yankees catcher Jorge Posada injures his shoulder. He ends up needing season-ending surgery leading to a Pudge Rodriguez summer rental. Fast forward to this season. There is no doubt his shoulder's gotten better. It just seems like every time I turn on the Yankee game on TV, some baserunner is trying to steal 2nd and the throw from Jorge is...........IN TIME! He's caught a couple stealing in last week's series against the Washington Nationals. I remember him catching somebody stealing against the Marlins. I believe it was Hanley Ramirez and if I remember correctly Ramirez was perfect so far this season until he got caught by Posada. Cool, huh? There is no doubt that Jorgie is back to form before the injury. Throw in a couple of home runs here and there and you've got yourself one of the most exciting Yankee players to watch. I love it! Every time he throws the ball to second and catches a baserunner stealing, it shuts the mouths of all those skeptics out there who think he's coming off shoulder surgery and he's an easy stolen base. It shuts the mouths of all those skeptics out there that think he's done. It shuts the mouths of all those skeptics out there that think the Yanks should have kept Pudge. Don't get me wrong I have nothing against Ivan Rodriguez. Congrats Pudge on beating Carlton Fisk for most appearances as a catcher. I have a lot of respect for him. He's just too clutch against the teams I root for and a straight-up dud when he plays on teams I root for. This frustrates me just a little bit. Let Pudge be a journeyman going from team to team making history. I'll just stick with Jorgie, the best catcher in baseball as a staple on the New York Yankees.

Mile High Baseball posted by David

I’ve been in Denver all week and was able to attend two Rockies games at Coors Field.

Among the highlights:

I saw Evan Longoria hit home runs – his 15th and 16th - on back-to-back nights.  The first shot got the Rays on the board in the first inning on Tuesday en route to their 12-4 win over the Rockies, whose 11-game winning streak came to an end.

I watched Rays’ phenom David Price pitch against Aaron Cook, who in my opinion should have been the MVP of last year’s All-Star Game.  (People have a hard time voting for a player from the losing team, but Cook was more valuable to the N.L. than J.D. Drew was to the A.L.)  Price got knocked around for four runs in the second inning, but recovered to last seven innings while allowing five runs.  He was outpitched by Cook, however, who went seven innings and gave up just three runs.  Each surrendered two home runs, but the ones hit off Cook were both solo shots (including Longoria’s).  In addition to a solo homer, Price served up a three-run bomb.

How ‘bout that?

How about Luke Scott?  In just 170 at-bats, Scott has hit 14 home runs and is tied for 14th in long balls among American Leaguers.  Though he is not on the official list of league leaders because of a stint on the 15-day DL, Scott is slugging nearly .600 and if he had enough at-bats to be eligible, he would be ahead of the likes of Justin Morneau, Jason Bay, and Carlos Peña – among others - in the A.L.

How about the Nationals?  With a winning percentage of .281 (18-46), the Nats not only hold the worst record in the majors, but no other team is even close.  The Indians – the team with the next worst record – are 29-39, good for a .426 winning percentage.  Despite their awful record, Washington actually beat the Yankees the last two nights (including shutting them out on Thursday) to win the interleague series against the Bronx Bombers.

Will Bryce Harper Be Lebron James Or Todd Marinovich? posted by Colin Linneweber

Ron Harper announced earlier this week that his prodigious son, Bryce, will forego his final two years of high school eligibility to pursue a professional baseball career.

Bryce, 16, who was the first high school sophomore to be named a first team All-American by Baseball America and has been called “the Lebron James of baseball” by Sports Illustrated, will take classes at the College of Southern Nevada over the summer and receive his GED in the fall.

If everything goes as projected, Bryce would be eligible for the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft and most analysts predict that he will be selected with the first overall pick by the Washington Nationals.

Harper, a catcher who batted .626 with 14 home runs and 55 RBI’s in 2009 for the Las Vegas High School Wildcats, is an unquestioned physical marvel and he has a legitimate chance to flourish one day in the professional ranks.

Nevertheless, many skeptics have been critical of Bryce’s father for placing such an inordinate amount of pressure on his teenage son and for making a mockery of our nation’s educational system.

“There are going to be critics. I can’t worry about what people think,” Ron Harper said. “People are going to see what they want to see and say what they want to say. I think this prepares him for life, playing the game of baseball.”

The patriarch of the 6’3”, 205 lbs phenomenon continued to defend his decision and he assured his detractors that his son will be afforded with a quality education.
Continue reading "Will Bryce Harper Be Lebron James ..."

More and more money, but for what? posted by Matthew McCabe

Over the last two years America has slowly sunk into an economic mess. People are losing their jobs, their homes, and their self-esteem as they find it harder and harder to make ends meet. It appears however that not everybody is suffering. As college educated people lose jobs they've held for years, and recent college graduates struggle to find any job at all, there are some signing on the dotted line for millions that haven't earned a dime of what they are being given. America's two largest, and most arguably most popular, professional sports leagues are doing nothing to curtail ballooning salaries for top rated rookies who haven't even set foot on the field to prove they are worthy of a contract.

Immediately people are going to disagree and say these kids spent one, two, three, or four (though most don't spend four) years in college as student-athletes waiting for this opportunity. Surely then, that time has earned them a good wage in the professional ranks, but how so? How does performing exceptionally in college prove you are worth anything in the professional ranks? If you ask most athletes and analysts, they will tell you that in no sport are the college ranks anywhere near the intensity of the professional leagues. Given that knowledge, it should be easy to realize then that everything earned in college gets you nothing but attention before your professional career. Accomplishments in an admittedly lesser league (or level of play) don't prove you are capable of success on the prime time stage.

If that isn't enough to convince you, than perhaps you need a history lesson. The history of draft night is littered with failures and wasted money. Yes, a select few do go on to justify the ridiculous contract signed when they were 22 yrs old, but most do not. Without naming every failure, a few stick out as perfect examples. QBs Todd Marinovich and Akili Smith were tremendous collegiate athletes, but terrible failures at the professional ranks. Marinovich couldn't handle the demands of the NFL in comparison to NCAA football and Smith looked lost trying to figure out professional defenses. QBs aren't the only ones, RBs have been taken high in the draft only to fail miserably, Ki-Jana Carter being the best example. Carter helped propel his Penn State team to a 12-0 record in 1994. After being picked #1 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals however, Carter tore his ACL in his first preseason game and never recovered. Carter finished his NFL career with 1,144 rushing yards and 20 TDs.

What to do with David Ortiz? posted by Charles Bisbee

What do you do with David Ortiz? Here's a guy who has bled Red Sox red (note to self: this doesn’t work) for the better part of his career. He is arguably the greatest clutch hitter in team history. Would the Sox have won two World Series rings without him? Surely not.

Unfortunately, it’s become slightly uncomfortable watching Papí at the dish of late. There’s a lot of flailing, a lot of guessing. Indeed, these days, it looks as though Papi is trying to swat a lone mosquito with a butter knife. It’s a tricky, uncomfortable, sad and, above all, painfully slow-developing process which seems to be steamrolling toward an unfortunate ending.

Terry Francona, the erstwhile most loyal manager in the game, stuck with Ortiz in the three-hole for much of the season, defying both logic and the impassioned pleas of every baseball pundit this side of the Mississippi. However, a couple of weeks ago, even Francona had seen enough and he unceremoniously nudged Ortiz to sixth in the lineup- undoubtedly a shameful demotion for the once-proud slugger. Unfortunately, this has been akin to slapping a band-aid on a mortal wound. Papí still hasn’t hit and, I’m trying my darndest to be fair here, right now he wouldn’t be fit to bat ninth for the Padres.

What do the Sox do? Rumor has it Theo has been shopping around, inquiring after Adam Dunn and Nick Johnson of the Nationals and Jeff Francoeur of the Braves (while we’re at it, if there’s one player who could be perceived as a possible downgrade from Ortiz, its Jeff Francoeur).  If one of these deals does come to pass, one would have to hope that Papí might eventually see the writing on the wall- a subtle “ahem, time to hang up the spikes” of sorts. Otherwise, the Sox will eventually have to drop Ortiz from the roster altogether and that would be shameful. In the interest of everyone’s dignity, lets hope he leaves on his own accord and does not wait to be pushed out the door. 

Foutain seats for $7 still available at Kauffman Stadium tonight. I think. posted by Brad VanFossan

Cleveland Indians (14-26) @ Kansas City Royals (21-18)

Fausto Carmona (2-4, 5.70) vs. Gil Meche (2-4, 4.60)

Can it get much worse for the Indians after last night? I think I should just copy and paste that question to use for the rest of the season. The season may already be lost, but a loss tonight will definitely cement that. This is a crucial game for the Indians tonight, win and stay on life support, lose and it’s sleeping with the fishes and or Washington Nationals and Pittsburgh Pirates of the world.

Let me take that back, the Indians need to win this series to stay on life support, but on an emotional level, they need to win tonight to have the fight it’s going to take to not only compete with, but beat Zack Greinke, the 2009 version of the 2008 Cliff Lee. If there is anything that is certain this season besides that the Indians bullpen should have a biohazard logo opposite the Herb Score patch on their jerseys, it’s that the Grady Sizemore of 2006, and the Fausto Carmona of 2007 are not returing. The case has even gone cold on David Caruso.

That being said, I think six good innings of Carmona (gasp!) will be good enough to win tonight. This team isn’t going to lay down and die, at least not yet. I’m not a homer, I called the Royals to win last night, but tonight is a must win, maybe one of the few in the history of MLB in the month of May, but it is. I like the Indians tonight, Cleveland 6, Kansas City 4. Aaron Laffey might get another three inning save, but more than likely, we’ll see Kerry Wood get a shot at redemption.

Weekend Series Update: Philadelphia Phillies at Washington Nationals posted by Michael Haftman

Where do I begin. Its very hard to gauge a team based on their performance against the Nats.  The Phillies could have blown that game WIDE open. On the night, the Phillies had twenty, yes TWENTY, runners in scoring position and only managed to get 8 home. Blanton struggled with command again walking 6 over five innings. Which further proves my point that the umpires have a league wide squeeze on the strike zone this year. I really can't put that much blame on Lidge for blowing the save Friday nights debacle of a game. The first hit barely made it passed the pitchers mound and the one Dunn hit, Feliz did the right thing at getting the lead runner. Yeah Utley through a slider to Ruiz and could have had Dunn out to end the ball game, but oh well. I was actually really looking forward to seeing Happ pitch Saturday night, but it obviously wasn't meant to be. I really do feel for Manny Acta. Does he have anyone in the pen with an ERA under 4? It seems like either the pitching or the defense or a combination of both let him down all weekend long.

Myers was outstanding in game one of the double. Myers struck out eight and walked two over seven innings. Myers' only two runs of the game were, of course, result of the long ball. However he only gave up 3 hits total. So it looks like Myers is starting to come around. Hopefully we will see that against the rest of the league and not just the Nats. The offensive player of the game had to be Raul (read rah-ooooooool) Ibanez. Ibanez went 3 for 5 with two Ibombezs. He scored three times personally and knocked in a total of four.

The Sports Don's 2009 NL East Preview posted by Christian Mielcarek

The National League has four legitimate contenders for the World Series, and two of those clubs reside in the NL East. Along with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs, the New York Mets and incumbent champion Philadelphia Phillies are the league’s elite. The Florida Marlins and Atlanta Braves should have respectable seasons while the Washington Nationals battle with the San Diego Padres and Pittsburgh Pirates for the label of most horrendous team in the league.

To read any of the other five division previews, click here.

1.  NEW YORK METS (89-73, second place in 2008)

The Mets and their fans have spent the last two seasons dreaming of the team’s first World Series ring since 1986 only to squander division leads and endure consecutive nightmarish Septembers. New York’s excruciating downfalls have been the result of a perpetually unreliable bullpen, and in an attempt to correct its dilemma, management has completely overhauled the back end of its staff by signing two of the game’s premier relief pitchers in Francisco Rodriguez (major league record 62 saves in ’08 as a member of the Los Angeles Angels) and J.J. Putz (91 saves over the last three years in Seattle).

There is just one member of last season’s bullpen remaining to greet the aforementioned duo, but the starting rotation stayed relatively the same. Two-time American League Cy Young Award winner Johan Santana (16-7, 2.53 ERA in his first season with the Mets) is the staff’s obvious ace and will be followed by John Maine, Oliver Perez, Mike Pelfrey and Livan Hernandez, who managed to bamboozle a five million dollar deal from New York despite a 6.05 ERA between Minnesota and Colorado last year. The Met lineup is potent top to bottom and is highlighted by potential Most Valuable Player David Wright, Joe Reyes, and the Carloses Beltran and Delgado. Delgado was an absolute monster in the second half of ’08 hitting 24 home runs and driving in 70, and second-year man Daniel Murphy is slotted between Reyes and Beltran furthering his chances for a big ’09.

Smoltz ready to make first start with Red Sox

John Smoltz is set to make his first start for the Red Sox on June 25.Boston manager Terry Francona said Tuesday that Smoltz, who hasn't pitched in the majors since having shoulder surgery a year ago, will pitch on the road against the Washington Nationals.The only pitcher in major league history with at least 200 victories and 150 saves is scheduled to make his sixth and final rehab start on Wednesday night at Triple-A Pawtucket against Charlotte. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for MLB

Mets put Maine on DL with shoulder weakness

The New York Mets placed right-hander John Maine on the 15-day disabled list Thursday night with weakness in his shoulder, shelving another one of their key players.The move was made retroactive to Sunday, a day after Maine was tagged for seven runs and six hits over a season-low four-plus innings in New York's 7-1 loss at the woeful Washington Nationals."It's nothing serious," he said. "My shoulder is just fatigued. It's dead. [read full article]

From FOXSports.com News for MLB