My Dodgers are trying to trade Matt Kemp and he wants to go. He's a great player for somebody, but the problem is his huge contract that runs through 2019. LA may have to eat a lot of his salary, but they'll still let him go for prospects to make room for Pederson, Puig and Van Slyke. Kemp had three hits against the Giants tonight. http://www.truebluela.com/2014/7/25/5937187/trading-matt-kemp-dodgers The Giants obtained Uggla and I can't see why. He looked terrible tonight and I think he's through... http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/07/giants-sign-dan-uggla.html The Cardinals signed A.J. Pierzynski who had been fired by the Red Sox. This is a mistake unless he changes his attitude. http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/24637483/report-cardinals-working-to-sign-aj-pierzynski The Dodgers still want David Price, but they can't trade Kemp to get him, because of the money problem. As much as I want Price, I hope to God they don't trade centerfielder Joc Pederson or AA shortstop Corey Seager. Hanley Ramirez is a free agent at the end of this season and Seager has a chance to move right in there... http://www.truebluela.com/2014/7/7/5878005/julio-urias-joc-pederson-corey-seager-top-20-prospects-dodgers
Which brings us to Chase Headley. The Dodgers tried for years to obtain two players from the San Diego Padres: Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Headley. Unfortunately, the Pads have a policy of NEVER helping the Dodgers in trades, so here we go again. We obtained Gonzalez from Boston after San Diego traded him there. Now Headley has been traded to New York. If the Yankees are smart, they'll keep him and offer him a 2-3 year deal. If they don't, we'll grab him in the off-season... http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/fantasy-baseball-today/24637229/will-chase-headley-be-a-second-half-star
Headley has become an instant sensation here in a matter of three games. He has already played 3B and 2B, won one game outright and had three hits last night. I would be very surprised if the Yankees don't lock him up. They traded Solarte for him who was an up and comer himself. Cashman has been talking to the Rays for months about Price but Tampa Bay has been hot lately and I think that ship has sailed. Funny thing about the Yankees. Four of five starting pitchers out, probably for the year. A-Rod suspended. Texeira possibly looking at his 3rd trip to the DL this year and Brian McCann basically a flop to date, yet the team has brought up a barage of minor leaguers and they are playing pretty decent baseball. Not much power but good pitching and fielding and lots of team speed. Jeter is playing and acting like a kid again and the youngsters are feeding off of it. Its fun . Right now they are a WC team. We'll see if they can hold on.
Re: JO'Co's comments above about Matt Kemp, here's an interesting take: http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside/story/how-motivated-are-dodgers-to-trade-matt-kemp-072314
In a critical deal for the Tigers they picked up Joakim Soria from Texas for 2 prospects. They had no choice because Joe Nathan has been inconsistant at best and downright terrible at times. Joba Chamberlain has been solid as an 8th inning setup guy but way to many games have been lost by the "closer." Unless Nathan shows more in the next few weeks, I expect Soria to be given the closer spot.
Since my Dodgers are blacked out here, I watched the Angels-Tigers. Those are two VERY good baseball teams. The Angels acquisition of Huston Street to be their closer has made a huge difference. If the A's hadn't obtained Jeff Samarzija, the Angels would have caught them. Now that race will go down to the wire. The Tigers are the other loaded team in the AL and I agree with the Gipper that their acquisition of Soria will give them the edge down the stretch, unless their divisional rivals also make some deadline trades...
re: Article on Kemp I endorse that article completely. Everything that I know about the situation is there. Kemp is running out of room and he's pissed off his manager. As Dizzy Gillespie once said, "It's time fo dis band to disband."
I do have to question the sanity of one of the Astro's pitchers who said he hoped he wouldn't be traded. Chad Quall's sort of likes being on a last place team apparently going nowhere with some looney tunes owner and his minions.
:?: :!: :idea: :roll: I don't know how to analyze the Astros. Houston is a big market area with plenty of money and support for pro sports. Yet few good things ever happen there. When you compare them with Oakland....which has the best record in MLB......with virtually no money; no support; no fans; and no hope...it reminds you of how important effective management and professional ownership really is.
Rumors of trades http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/07/25/rounding-third-five-mlb-trades-that-need-to-happen/ More rumors: hang tough Ned! BTW- For those of you who haven't heard of Dodger pitcher Julio Urias yet... Imagine if Fernando Valenzuela had a high 90's fastball. They signed this kid last year when he was only 16 and everybody thought they were crazy. Now this kid is 17 and he's one of the top 10 prospects in all of the minor leagues... http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2014/07/25/rounding-third-five-mlb-trades-that-need-to-happen/ Trades: Red Sox send Peavey to Frisco. Angels sign Randy Wolf. http://espn.go.com/mlb/transactions
I'm in a Fantasy Baseball league that is National League only and were lucky enough to get Peavey. We think he will help us down the stretch.
8) http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/pierza.01.shtml Pierzynski is a lifetime .282 hitter, who's batted over .300 in three different seasons. He's a solid offensive player who will get his share of hits... But he has also played for the Twins, Giants, White Sox, Rangers and Red Sox who were all very happy to see him go. Maybe things will be different in St. Louis, but his track record is not good. If he starts playing on his cell phone or sleeping back in the locker room during the games, the Cardinals will fire him too. His problem isn't physical. His problem is that he just doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself...
Speaking of problems... The Dodgers swept the Giants out of their own ballpark tonight, and the players that the Giants obtained recently weren't very helpful. 1. Dan Uggla I've always been a fan of Dan Uggla..., but he's through. Tonight he made two more errors and he struck out five times in the three game series. He still doesn't have a hit, and Giants fans are booing him every time he touches the ball or makes another out. Stick a fork in him. He's done. They should just release him... 2. Jake Peavey The Giants obtained Jake Peavey from the Red Sox, who're holding a fire sale. He arrived last night and they put him right out there against the Dodgers tonight. He did OK, but his whining over every ball-strike call that doesn't go his way is laughable. He used to do that with the Padres too. How does a guy who's legally blind see the strike zone better than the umpire, when he's 60 feet away? He looked confused in his Giants debut too. Dee Gordon made first on a third strike that went to the backstop. Then he scored the winning run on ANOTHER third strike that bounced! When Posey threw to first, Gordon raced home from third. OH! The humanity! What a tough way to lose! Dodger Dogs brought their blue brooms to this game... :twisted:
Current rumors: Tulowitzki/Yankees http://blogs.denverpost.com/rockies/2014/07/27/troy-tulowitzki-yankees-stadium-new-york-fuels-trade-rumors/18334/ John Lester/Red Sox fire sale http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2143141-jon-lester-trade-rumors-latest-buzz-speculation-surrounding-red-sox-star Matt Kemp/Red Sox http://www.overthemonster.com/2014/7/27/5942401/red-sox-trade-rumors-matt-kemp-a-target-for-boston-just-say-no Kemp is on a tear. He killed the Giants over the weekend and looks comfortable in rightfield. He's healthy again. More current rumors http://www.nj.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/07/mlb_rundown_trade_talks_heatin.html#incart_related_stories
Astro's Mgmt at it again. Our 1st round choice last year, the kid from Stanford (Mark Appel) has been struggling in Class A and has an ERA around 10, I think he might also have been dealing with some arm issues. But he was recently promoted to our AA club in Corpus Christi over the top pitcher in Class A who is 9-1 and has a 2.74 ERA. He came through Houston to workout for the pitching coach and several players approached a Chronicle writer and off the record complained to the beat writer that apparently what you do on the field doesn't count to this mgmt team. Bo Porter said he'll deal with this club house issue internally and refused to talk about it.
Rumors surrounding red-hot Matt Kemp who his two HRs tonight to beat Atlanta, as Puig had four hits... - Kemp/Lester/Price http://www.sportingnews.com/mlb/story/2014-07-29/mlb-trade-rumors-jon-lester-dodgers-kemp-hamels-price-lackey-miller
Before today's game, GM Ned Colletti proclaimed that Matt Kemp isn't going anywhere. Kemp won the game with a walk-off hit in the bottom of the 9th and he hit another HR in this game. Since returning from an injury on June 5 he's batting .350 and in the last month he's batting over .400 with several HRs... The Dodgers aren't trading any of the super-kids either...thank God. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/la/gm-ned-colletti-dodgers-arent-close-to-any-trades?ymd=20140730&content_id=87172498&vkey=news_la Sometimes it's best to do nothing. The worst trade deadline deal of all-time is a classic example. Just prior to the 2002 trade deadline, The Cleveland Indians sent Bartolo Colón and Tim Drew to the Montreal Expos in exchange for Lee Stevens, Brandon Phillips, and prospects Grady Sizemore and Cliff Lee...
:roll: Moneyball is really dead now. Lester traded to the A's along with Gomes for Yoenis Cespedes... http://espn.go.com/boston/mlb/story/_/id/11290302/jon-lester-traded-oakland-athletics-yoenis-cespedes-boston-red-sox