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7/9/2008
Billy-Ball Daily
Bill Chuck (Billy-Ball his own self)
Billy-Ball - From the diamond to your desktop…
By Baseball Newstalgist, Bill Chuck
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The only spin here is on my screwball
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Top of the 1st
ALREADY A GREAT TRADING SEASON
Sometimes the trading deadline approaches and we are met with nothing but the hot steamy air of summer. Here it is July 9th and we’ve now seen two blockbusters larger than “Hancock” and “Get Smart” combined.
One day after the Milwaukee Brewers landed CC Sabathia, the Chicago Cubs acquired talented, but oft-injured right-handed starter Rich Harden in a six-player deal with the Oakland Athletics. The Cubs also added Chad Gaudin, 25, who can start or relieve. The Cubs can now match Milwaukee's one-two combination of Sabathia and Ben Sheets with All-Star Carlos Zambrano and Harden, a 26-year-old power pitcher.
The key to this deal is the oft-used phrase “oft-injured” oft-misused by writers who are oft-off themselves. But in this case the phrase has value. Harden spent two stints on the DL last year with shoulder problems, two in 2006 with back and elbow problems and one in 2005 with a strained oblique muscle. This season he’s 5-1 in just 13 starts because he started the year on the disabled list with a lingering shoulder strain.
Harden, who averages over one strikeout an inning and has a 2.34 ERA, has been on the DL 326 days from 2005-07 and has pitched only 277 1/3 innings over the past four seasons. He hasn't started more than 20 games in a season since 2004. He has thrown more than 130 big league innings just once in his career. He has thrown 77 innings this season, more major league innings than he did in the past two seasons combined. Dave van Dyck in this morning’s Chicago Tribune in his lead sentence writes, “Harden comes with a "fragile" sticker attached to his baggage,” and in his next sentence describes Harden as “one of baseball's biggest "ifs."”
Harden, eligible to be a free agent after the 2009 season, is scheduled to make $4.75 million this season, although the Cubs can opt out of his contract this winter, is a gamble. "It's no secret that when he's [pitching], he's about as good as it gets," Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. "You can hear that from any player in the American League. ... Obviously, there's some risk. He never has had a surgery. We did extensive work with their doctors. ... There's certainly some risk, but a very, very high reward." Such as the knowledge that since May 11, the day Harden came off the disabled list, he's tied for the major league lead in strikeouts, with 77, with CC Sabathia.
But his health will remain as one of the variables that will make the NL Central race a crap shoot until season’s end. Rick Morrissey of the Tribune writes, “If you're a Cubs fan, you better have your fingers crossed right now.” Then after he lists Harden’s injury history he adds, “That's not the greatest history, and history generally isn't the Cubs' friend. But let's give hope a chance, with the thought that the unofficial 2008 slogan "It's Gonna Happen" doesn't necessarily apply to recurring shoulder strains.”
Later in the column, Morrissey astutely adds, “The Cubs-Brewers showdown could end up being a battle of attrition. Milwaukee's other star pitcher, Ben Sheets, has a history of injuries that makes Harden's look like amateur hour. Or Sabathia finally could eat himself into oblivion. Who knows?”
We do know that while the immediate upside seems to be all in the Cubs favor, I would never feel totally comfortable when dealing with the A’s. Rob Neyer of ESPN.com has his tongue only partially in his cheek when he writes that with this trade, the master GM Billy Beane is “just retooling for the stretch run.”
But Jay Marriotti of the Chicago Sun Times asks the question that so many others also wonder about, “what should concern Cubdom is that A's GM Billy Beane cut the deal so quickly. What might Beane know about Harden that Hendry doesn't?” Marriotti adds, “If the trade deadline is three weeks away, why wouldn't Beane wait and pit suitors against each other so he could squeeze the best trade for himself? Why was he so quick to take a deal that includes one keeper (promising pitcher Sean Gallagher), two mystery men (Matt Murton and Eric Patterson) and a catching prospect?
Is it because Beane knows the warning signs? Harden has survived only five innings in each of his last two starts, with reports of reduced velocity. He didn't look like a curse-killer Sunday at U.S. Cellular Field, where he walked four and threw 95 pitches in a loss to the Sox. Might Beane be cutting his losses with perfect timing, sensing another DL trip ahead?”
The A’s are very much still a part of the AL races. Oakland is just five games behind the first-place Los Angeles Angels in the AL West and 3½ behind in the wild-card race and They get Sean Gallagher to replace Harden in the starting rotation. He is 3-4 with a 4.45 ERA in 12 games, including 10 starts but has a 3.85 ERA in his last seven starts, striking out 7.9 batters per nine innings. Plus, he’s only 22 and in 70 Triple-A innings, Gallagher has struck out 67 batters, walked 14 and given up just three homers.
They also add Matt Murton, 26, a former top prospect for the Cubs, going back and forth between Triple-A Iowa and Chicago the past two seasons. He's hitting .250 in 40 at-bats but with only one home run in 231 at-bats this year between AAA Iowa and Chicago. And they also get Eric Patterson, 25, who adds speed to the A’s and is versatile having played LF, CF, and 2B. After stealing 24 bases last year at AAA Iowa, he has stolen 13 bases this year. His pedigree is questionable however as he is the brother of Corey Patterson. They also added prospect Josh Donaldson, catcher who was the Cubs second round pick in 2007. The 22-year-old led the Northwest League in OBP last year, but is having trouble this year at Low-A Peoria, batting only .217. Any GM should try to pick up a catcher in a deal these days as they are quickly becoming a valuable commodity.
The Cubs are 3½ games ahead of the Cardinals and four in front of the Brewers in the NL Central.
With CC Sabathia going to Milwaukee, Harden was the best available pitcher, Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said. "This shows the Cubs are going to do everything in their power to get where we want to go," manager Lou Pinella said.
And now Cubs fans, who for so many years have used the words with Mark Prior and Kerry Wood, can now add Rich Harden to their favorite phrase, “If he stays healthy….”
Top of the 2nd
HERE COME THE METS
Mike Pelfrey won his fifth straight start, Carlos Beltran drove in four runs and the New York Mets won their fourth straight as they beat Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants 7-0. Beltran hit a three-run homer and Carlos Delgado also connected off Lincecum (10-2) to help move the Mets to just 1½ games behind the first-place Phillies in the NL East. Pelfrey hasn't lost in eight outings since dropping his sixth start in a row May 26 against Florida.
Blanked for the sixth time, the Giants were outhit 14-3.
Top of the 3rd
MANNY REMEMBERS HOW TO BE MANNY
For the second straight, Manny Ramirez provided 8th inning heroics as the Red Sox topped the Twins, 6-5. Ramirez hit a two-run homer as part of a four-run rally as the Red Sox improved to 33-10 at Fenway this season. The Twins lost back-to-back games for the first time since June 5-10, when they dropped six straight. "It's a tough loss, one we thought we had," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We made a lot of mistakes, they blooped one to left, blooped one to right and next thing you know Manny hits one into the seats."
Ramirez drove home Boston's only run in a 1-0 victory on an RBI single Monday night against Minnesota.
Top of the 4th
WEBB PICKS UP #13
Brandon Webb gave up six hits in six innings to earn his major league-leading 13th win in the Arizona Diamondbacks' 2-0 victory over the Washington Nationals. Washington starter Odalis Perez (2-6) was ejected in the 3rd inning by home plate umpire Angel Hernandez, who called two balks on the pitcher and then after the second balk, Perez charged toward Hernandez, who quickly ejected Perez. The left-hander had to be restrained by manager Manny Acta, pitching coach Randy St. Claire and second base umpire Eric Cooper.
Webb (13-4) struck out six and walked two in his first start since being chosen for the NL All-Star team for a third straight year. It was the 16th time in 19 starts Webb lasted at least six innings.
Top of the 5th
JETER PLAYS LIKE UH, JETER
Watching Derek Jeter last night it seemed like you were watching well, Derek Jeter. Jeter used his bat and glove, as Andy Pettitte and the Yankees topped the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays 5-0. It was the Yankees eighth shutout of the season and their fifth shutout in the last 21 games. They had just five all of last year. Pettitte improved to 7-1 in his last 10 starts as the Rays lost back-to-back games for the first time since June 10-11. Pettitte (10-6) allowed only four hits and walked none in eight innings of work.
Jeter lined a go-ahead double off All-Star Scott Kazmir, then made a great, spinning play in the 7th inning to produce an inning ending force play and preserved what was then a two-run lead. Kazmir struck out nine but has won just one of his last six starts.
Top of the 6th
BILLY-BALL-BLOG-OF-THE-DAY
For all you (depressed) Jays fans - http://mvn.com/mlb-bluejays/
Top of the 7th
PROBABLE PITCHERS
AL
Minnesota Twins at Boston Red Sox, 1:05 pm
(R) Livan Hernandez (9-5) vs. (R) Josh Beckett (8-5)
Tampa Bay Rays at New York Yankees, 1:05 pm
(R) Edwin Jackson (5-6) vs. (R) Sidney Ponson (5-1)
Cleveland Indians at Detroit Tigers, 7:05 pm
(R) Paul Byrd (3-10) vs. (R) Eddie Bonine (2-1)
Baltimore Orioles at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 pm
(L) Garrett Olson (6-3) vs. (R) A.J. Burnett (8-8)
LA Angels of Anaheim at Texas Rangers, 8:05 pm
(R) Jered Weaver (8-8) vs. (R) Eric Hurley (1-1)
Chicago White Sox at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 pm
(R) Javier Vazquez (7-7) vs. (R) Brian Bannister (7-8)
Seattle Mariners at Oakland Athletics, 10:05 pm
(R) Miguel Batista (4-10) vs. (R) Joe Blanton (5-11)
NL
Florida Marlins at San Diego Padres, 3:35 pm
(L) Scott Olsen (4-4) vs. (R) Cha Seung Baek (2-3)
Houston Astros at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 pm
(R) Brian Moehler (4-4) vs. (R) John Van Benschoten (1-2)
St. Louis Cardinals at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 pm
(L) Mark Mulder (0-0) vs. (L) J.A. Happ (0-0)
San Francisco Giants at New York Mets, 7:10 pm
(L) Jonathan Sanchez (8-4) vs. (L) Johan Santana (7-7)
Arizona Diamondbacks at Washington Nationals, 7:10 pm
(R) Micah Owings (6-7) vs. (L) John Lannan (4-9)
Cincinnati Reds at Chicago Cubs, 8:05 pm
(R) Johnny Cueto (7-8) vs. (R) Carlos Zambrano (9-3)
Colorado Rockies at Milwaukee Brewers, 8:05 pm
(L) Glendon Rusch (1-3) vs. (R) Ben Sheets (10-2)
Atlanta Braves at Los Angeles Dodgers, 10:10 pm
(R) Tim Hudson (9-6) vs. (R) Derek Lowe (6-8)
Top of the 8th
DID YOU KNOW?
In order to help support Jason Giambi’s efforts to be voted on to the All-Star team, the Yankees are going to be handing out big, black Giambi replica mustaches to the first 20,000 fans arriving at today's series finale against the Rays in order to continue the team's "Support the 'Stache" campaign.
As of yesterday's 3 p.m. update, Giambi was sitting in third trailing Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria and second-place Jermaine Dye of the White Sox. The voting will run until 5 p.m. tomorrow. Giambi supporters wanting to participate can go to yankees.com, MLB.com or text "A2" to 36197.
As for the mustache? Well you can always wear it in your next porn flick.
Top of the 9th
CC WINS IN HIS BREWER DEBUT
Tom Haudricot in his Milwaukee Journal Sentinal article this morning writes, “By the time the Brewers finished off the Colorado Rockies, 7-3, in an electric atmosphere at Miller Park, Sabathia was a 290-pound limp rag.”
I don’t even want to picture that.
Bottom of the 9th
BUY THE BOOK
Bill Chuck is the creator of Billy-Ball.com and, with Jim Kaplan, is the author of the book, “Walk-Offs, Last Licks, and Final Outs – Baseball’s Grand (and not so Grand) Finales,” with a Foreword by Jon Miller available now from ACTA Sports.
Autographed first editions are available by contacting, Bill@billy-ball.com or order directly from Acta Sports, http://www.actasports.com/detail.html?&id=3427 or from your favorite bookstore worldwide.
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Information provided in Billy-Ball has been gathered from A.P. reports, espn.com, sportsline.com, mlb.com and numerous other e-sources. Opinions expressed in Billy-Ball are obviously solely the opinions of the author of Billy-Ball and do not reflect those of source material no matter how off the wall they may be.
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