MLB Weekly Review

Don’t look now but the defending National League Champions are well on their way to teaching the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers a very important lesson.The Colorado Rockies are blazing a trail to the top on the NL West and the Dodgers and Diamondbacks are kicking themselves for letting them hang around.The Rockies have won 9 of their last 10 games, including 5 in a row. Colorado is averaging 7.6 runs per game during that stretch and they scored 10 in their lone loss. In a 16-10 loss to the Dodgers, Kip Wells was tagged for 8 runs in one-third of an inning and the Rockies couldn’t overcome an 11 run deficit. Matt Holliday, Brad Hawpe and Troy Tulowitzki were all visitors to the DL this season and Tulowitzki just returned from his 2nd stint. He has provided the team with a spark since his return going 13 for 26.The Rockies aren’t the only streaking team, as the New York Yankees have also been playing inspired ball since the All-Star Break.New York was riding as 8-game winning streak before suffering a 9-2 setback on Sunday in the series finale at Boston.During the winning streak, the Yankees held their opponents to just 15 runs and used their defense to lead them to 2-1 and 1-0 victories. They now sit just 3 games back in the division.Players like Matt Holliday(.565 average), Jeff Baker(.579), Alex Rodriguez(.476) and Robinson Cano(.480) have contributed to their teams success recently, but they aren’t the hottest hitters of the past week.Alex Rios takes top honors as the best hitter of the week with his .344 average, 7 Runs, 4 HR, 8 RBI and 4 SB. Ryan Braun is a close 2nd with a .414 average, 4 Runs, 4 HR and 12 RBI.Andy Pettitte and Cliff Lee turned in the top pitching performances this week as they each collected 2 wins. Pettitte went 14 innings while scattering 9 hits, allowing 2 ER and striking out 16. He won a 10-3 blowout and a 2-1 pitchers duel.Lee pitched 17 innings while giving up 17 hits, 4 ER and struck out 14 batters.Rich Harden was also lights out this week, but has an 0-1 record to show for it because the Cubs provided just 2 runs of support in 2 games.Harden pitched 12 solid innings while giving up just 3 hits. Two of the 3 hits were solo homeruns and the only runs he allowed. He struck out 10 in each outing, giving him 30 in 3 games as a Cub.We haven’t seen any major deals since Harden joined the Cubs, but there were a couple trades of interest this week.The New York Yankees added Damaso Marte and Xavier Nady from the Pirates in exchange for prospects and Casey Blake was sent from Cleveland to the Dodgers.With only a few days remaining before the deadline, things could get interesting.Will the Rockies be buyers or sellers? Will the Yankees add Jared Washburn or Adam Dunn? Will Mark Teixeira remain in Atlanta? Will Manny keep being Manny in Boston?Some many questions and so little time remaining to answer them.

MLB Weekly Report

Written by Consigliere
When the perennial doormats from the American League East shortened their name and unveiled new uniforms last November, did anyone outside of St. Petersburg even care?If you hadn’t heard that Tampa Bay dropped the “Devil” and now just goes by the “Rays”, they’ve made sure that they’re in the news enough that you know by now.Tampa Bay owns the best record in baseball and they’re on a 7-game winning streak right now. They’ve pushed their record to 9-1 over the last 10 and 17-4 over the last 21 games. That stretch has produced a 5-1 record vs. in-state rival Florida and 3 game sweeps of the Chicago Cubs and the Boston Red Sox. What makes that so impressive is that those teams are all in the playoff race.Two other impressive streaks reside in the AL Central. The Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins are both 8-2 over the past 10 games and are locked up in a battle for the division. The Sox currently lead by 1 game.The win streaks may be the story in the AL, but hot hitting was on display this week in the NL.Matt Holliday is back in form after his stint on the DL. He’s batting .444 this week with 8 Runs, 3 HR, 10 RBI and 2 SB. J.J. Hardy has been a big part of the Brewers hot streak as he’s hitting an astonishing .533 with 6 Runs, 5 Doubles, 4 HR, 8 RBI and 1 SB. Fellow shortstop Hanley Ramirez has also been on fire this week. He’s batting .406 with 7 Runs, 4 Doubles, 4 HR, 9 RBI and 1 SB.The nod for best pitching of the week swings back to the American League. Roy Halladay followed up a complete game shutout with a 7-inning gem for his 2nd win of the week. Halladay stat line for the last 2 starts reads 16 IP, 10 hits, 2 ER, 1 BB, 13 K.Gavin Floyd and Andy Sonnanstine also pitched their teams to two wins this week. Floyd went 13.1 IP, 10 hits, 3 ER, 5 BB and 16 K, while Sonnanstine went 14 IP, 10 hits, 1 ER, 2 BB and 6 K.The major news for the week is just breaking, but it will remain a discussion around baseball all week long.C.C. Sabathia is reportedly being traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for at least one prospect.Sabathia…Sheets…Braun…Fielder…Hardy… Hart…Watch out for the Brew Crew!

No Love in the Big Apple?

New York for the All-Star Game when they found themselves suddenly off course and stranded.Unlike the passengers of Oceanic Flight 815, the players that were snubbed for the All-Star team won’t be stranded on a remote island, but instead stranded at home when a few of them have very legit complaints about being left out of the fun in New York.Prince Fielder has recovered from a slow start to post some nice numbers, average aside, but it’s not hard to believe that he’ll be a spectator when you consider that he was up against Lance Berkman, Adrian Gonzalez and Albert Pujols.Mark DeRosa is in a similar situation. He’s batting .292 with 51 Runs, 11 HR and 49 RBI. He probably deserves to make the trip, but Chase Utley and Dan Uggla have made that impossible.Vladimir Guerrero, Jason Giambi, Jose Guillen and Brian Roberts have also had fine seasons, but just not quite good enough to play the final All-Star Game in Yankee Stadium.There are, however, a few players that have plenty of reasons to be upset with the results of the voting.J.J. Hardy (.295, 37R, 12HR, 38RBI) will be watching the game, while Cristian Guzman (.313, 50R, 5HR, 29RBI) plays in it. Mike Lowell (.297, 39R, 13HR, 54RBI) was even snubbed by his own manager, when Carlos Guillen (.286, 43R, 8HR, 44RBI) and Joe Crede (.261, 36R, 15HR, 47RBI) were both selected as backups to Alex Rodriguez. There are also some very deserving players who have one last chance to make the team in the final vote. Two more players will be invited to New York, but that will also send more deserving players home to watch the game from the couch.David Wright may still make the squad yet, but with his .286 batting average, 55 Runs, 16 HR, 66 RBI and 9 SB; he should already have his spot guaranteed. Chipper Jones has the unreal .388 average with nearly identical runs scored and homeruns, but 16 less RBI and only 2 stolen bases. Along with Jones, Aramis Ramirez is already on the team. Ramirez has is batting .283 with one more run, 1 less HR, 6 less runs batted in and 8 less stolen bases. Pat Burrell (.279, 47R, 21HR, 53RBI), Corey Hart (.296, 46R, 14HR, 55RBI, 13SB) and Carlos Lee (.292, 43R, 19HR, 67RBI) are facing David Wright for the final roster spot, but they also have the right to feel that they belong more than Kosuke Fukudome (.287, 58R, 7HR, 35RBI, 8SB) and Alfonso Soriano (.283, 36R, 15HR, 40RBI, 7SB). In addition to the chance at being voted into the final slot, one of these players could be an injury replacement for Soriano, who may not be healthy enough to play.Evan Longoria is in the running for the final spot in the American League, but his .281 average, 44 Runs, 16 HR and 52 RBI makes him much more deserving that Carlos Guillen and Joe Crede, who were already voted in.Jermaine Dye is battling Longoria for that last spot, but it could certainly be argued that his .308 average, 51 Runs, 19 HR and 52 RBI should be on that team more than Manny Ramirez (.278, 52R, 16HR, 53RBI), J.D. Drew (.299, 61R, 16HR, 51RBI) and Grady Sizemore (.269, 56R, 22HR, 50RBI).There was also a major mistake made regarding the starters, but this can be blamed on Red Sox Nation fan voting. There is no way that Dustin Pedroia (.312, 60R, 9HR, 41RBI, 9SB) deserves to start over reserve 2nd baseman Ian Kinsler (.332, 79R, 14HR, 53RBI, 23SB).

D-Day Rumor Mill

Written by Consigliere
It’s that time of year again when we hear “buyer” and “seller” in every other baseball story. July 31st marks the non-waiver trading deadline and teams begin to analyze each plate appearance, each pitch thrown and each contract on the books. Some teams are in the hunt and must decide if they are willing to dump prospects for a rental player that could help them reach the postseason. Other teams are hoping that they can find a trading partner willing to take a huge contract off their hands while giving up some young prospects.The rumors come and go so fast that it’s often tough to keep up with who might be going where, but here are some of the current talks between the movers and shakers.One of the biggest names circulating is Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday. Two possible destinations for him are Oakland and St. Louis. Holliday is signed through 2009 so the price will be steep. Oakland may not be able to afford the price and unless the Cards were to send pitching the other way, their OF is plenty stocked right now.Xavier Nady is more likely to be on the move and two teams that have been showing interest are Tampa Bay and Atlanta. Tampa Bay seems to have better options in house, but Atlanta could be a good fit. Jeff Francoeur hasn’t been hitting well and they could use some offensive help. If Atlanta starts to slip out of the picture, not only would the deal be off, but they could also begin shopping slugger Mark Teixeira. Teixeira will be a free agent after this year and the Braves probably can’t afford him, but if they hang onto him for the rest of the season, they could get draft picks as compensation if he leaves.Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr. seem to be prime candidates to relocate, but it appears Griffey to Tampa Bay wasn’t true and there just doesn’t seem to be a market for the high-priced Dunn. American League teams don’t want a DH that bats .240 and National League teams are scared off by his defense.There are several players that may or may not become available depending upon how the next couple of weeks shake out.Ivan Rodriguez seemed to be playing his last games in Motown, but the Tigers are suddenly in the hunt and Brandon Inge going down, leaves Detroit needing Pudge in the lineup.The Rangers could be looking to move Frank Catalanotto or Hank Blalock if they hit a losing streak this month.The Angels may be interested in Brian Giles. The Padres might be mathematically eliminated already and Giles could contribute in Anaheim, but the Angels usually aren’t deadline dealers.Brian Roberts could also be moved if the Orioles find themselves on the outside of the playoff race. Roberts would be their biggest piece of trade bait, but closer George Sherrill has also been rumored to be heading to the Red Sox as a setup man for Jonathan Papelbon. The Red Sox rumors don’t stop there though.Boston may also be looking at Joe Borowski, Chad Bradford, Rich Harden, Roy Oswalt, Brian Fuentes and C.C. Sabathia. Fuentes and Sabathia are in the middle of most trade rumors right now.Fuentes could find himself out of the closer role and out of Colorado with the list of new teams growing daily. Along with the Red Sox, the Yankees, Rays, Cubs and Cards are also reportedly interested.C.C. Sabathia would be the biggest deal to go down, if the Indians end up moving him. They apparently would like to resign the reigning Cy Young winner, but as they fall double digits back in the division race, things could change. The Phillies, Rays, Cubs and Brewers have been mentioned the most as possible trading partners.Other arms that are rumored to be available are Joe Blanton, Huston Street, A.J. Burnett, Erik Bedard, Bronson Arroyo and Greg Maddux.