Johnny Cuero Cole Hammel Jeff Samarzdja All trade targets for the Astros. I wonder what they will cost us? Also would be nice to pick up a bat as well.
:idea: :arrow: Rumors here have Dodger 2B Howie Kendrick going to the Yankees. He's batting .292 and he's a solid pro who beats other teams any way he can. He'll be a free agent at the end of this season, and his replacement is already on the way. Cuban national team infielder Hector Olivera is owed $62 million and he's 30 years old... The team is also trying to move Cuban stud Alex Guerrero...
Rumors along the coast say the Padres are about to hold their annual fire sale. All those expensive acquisitions didn't pan out. Kemp will be difficult to unload, because the Pads are on the hook for his entire salary after this season, and he makes $20 million per... Other juicy Pads who might get launched include All-Stars Justin Upton and fireballer Craig Kimbrel... I've seen these fire sales in San Diego before. They're losing their NFL football team and now they're losing their baseball team one piece at a time. There is no joy in Muddville-on-the-border...
Astros aquire Scott Kazmir from the A's for a couple of minor leaguers s from High Class A Lancaster, catcher Jacob Nottingham and righthander Daniel Mengden. They are "highly" regarded, but still they are only in A and pretty young. So might work out great for the A's, or might be they never play for them in the Bigs. Also of course Kazmir who's been a solid pitcher this year, could crater and be a flop in Houston. But I like the deal.
Rumors starting that the Yankees may make an offer on Aroldis Chapman of the Reds. Rather than a starter, they may favor having three lights out closers who can each go more than an inning if needed. Make it a LL game... five or 6 innings.
8) re: Strohs Kazmir is a great rental for them. The only good argument against Kazmir was that he was overpaid. $13 million is cheap for a shot at the brass ring... re: Dodgers -The Dodgers are after Cueto, Price, and Hamels. They've given up on Papelbon, for the same reason they gave up on Hamels last year: the Phillies want the moon for players they can't use any more. -The Padres aren't answering their phone after trading Grandal for Kemp. Some people just can't take a joke... - The Dodgers have the #1 player in the minors, Corey Seager, as well as the #5 player in the minors, 18-year-old Mexican fireballer Julio Urias. Everybody wants those two and the Dodgers refuse to discuss either one. If they trade Urias, there will be a revolution. They signed him at 16, when a scout clocked him at over 100 mph... http://sports.yahoo.com/news/is-18-too-soon-for-dodgers--phenom-prospect-julio-urias-014942848.html
I'd be shocked too, Sid but the Dayton Daily News reported that he is one of seven players the Reds are willing to discuss.
George, I took my #3 grandson to the Reds-Cubs this past Wednesday. The weather was perfect, and we had a ball. Unfortunately, the Cubs laid an egg, but that did not dim our enjoyment of the game. I'm 71 and every time I enter a big league ballpark, I return to being a wide-eyed kid. Listening to the post-game commentary on the car radio, we heard several names mentioned as possible trade bait but not Chapman's. That's why I posted my comment. The names were Leake, Cuellar, Phillips, Marlon Byrd, even the HR derby king, Todd Frazier. Upon further reflection, maybe I shouldn't be surprised that Chapman would be included.
Scott Kazmir delivered for the Astros last night, shutting out the Royals at Kansas City. Kind of neat watching that game, since I've actually been to that ballpark. Remember AJ's get together a few years ago?
Three homers for A-Rod last night including one that reached the third deck. Erased a 5-0 deficit on the way to an 8-5 win.
Somebody needs to explain to me why A-Rod bothered to take those 'roids all those years...here he is washed up supposedly at what 40 and playing like he's 30.
re: Kansas City - Local hero Jason Vargas is gone for the year. He lasted one game and got hurt again. - Royals acquire Johnny Cueto from the Reds for three prospects. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/13321634/cincinnati-reds-trading-johnny-cueto-kansas-city-royals - This narrows the Dodgers targets to Price and Hamels. Hamels has always been too expensive in the past and rumors here have Price as their #1 target all along.
:!: :arrow: BTW- here is an alert for you home gamers. Dodgers 3rd baseman Justin Turner is the best hitter in MLB the last two years. Going back to opening day 2014, for those batters with at least 500 at-bats, he has the highest batting average. - 2014 B.A. .340 - 2015 B.A. .323 This is another example of a guy's previous team being incompetent. The Mets never gave him a chance and released him. When he beat out Uribe for the starting 3rd base job, the Dodgers traded Uribe, who finally ended up with the Mets...who needed more offense.
BTW, I watched Craig Biggio's induction into the HOF yesterday. It was a microcosm of his whole career. He's naturally thanked his family, Connor who just graduated from Notre Dame, and Cavan, also a ND student, who is in the Cape Cod League and an All-Star, this summer, and daughter Quinn who is a rising softball player for St. Agnus Girls Academy here in Houston, saved the most praise for his wife Patty of course. It was a very classy speech, as he has been his whole career. I did not know that Craig was a convert to Catholicism, he converted when he was a student at Seton Hall. He has been very active in the church here in Houston, many priests got passes to see games and his kids all went/go to Catholic schools. I doubt if I'll see another Astro in the HOF in the next 20 years though, while we've had some good players, Bagwell is a 'roid case and won't get in and Lance Bergman was a good player but not a HOF player. I don't even know where the next one might come from, maybe Carlos Correa.