Who’s in first?
AL East: Red Sox (54-36)
AL Central: Tigers (62-30)
AL West: Athletics (48-44)
NL East: Mets (55-37)
NL Central: Cardinals (52-39)
NL West: Padres (48-43)
Who’s in last?
AL East: Devil Rays (39-53)
AL Central: Royals (32-59)
AL West: Mariners (44-48)
NL East: Nationals (39-54)
NL Central: Pirates (32-61)
NL West: Rockies (44-47)
Playing to win: Having already gone on record expressing vehement disfavor for the All-Star Game to count for anything, I’ll avoid mentioning that again, at least until next year when it comes about once more.
For one thing, this year’s midseason classic was entertaining from my seat on the sofa. Pitchers didn’t cave to the strong lineups they were facing, and both managers did a great job of trying to get as many players in the game while still playing to win the silly little exhibition contest.
Once he got past the fifth inning with a slim 2-1 lead, NL field boss Phil Garner went to the four closers he had at his disposal --- Brian Fuentes, Derrick Turnbow, Tom Gordon and Trevor Hoffman --- for an inning each to try and secure the victory. Just one strike away from victory, Hoffman couldn’t ice the game and I couldn’t help but come away feeling sorry for the longtime Padres reliever. Arguably one of the top few relievers all-time, too many people are going to let that 9th-inning meltdown define his career much like too many people today envisioning an old Willie Mays stumbling and falling down trying to make a catch in his final season.
Ozzie Guillen, the AL skipper, also managed his pitchers pretty well and had the luxury of having Mariano Rivera to turn to for the final three outs once Michael Young’s triple gave the Junior Circuit the lead in the top of the ninth. Both managers had several arms still at their disposal had the game gone extra frames. And fans seem to have accepted the idea of the game meaning something now since there was very little beefing going on after the contest about some of the players not getting a chance to perform.
This week's dogs: You could make a case for the White Sox after the defending champs got swept out of the Bronx over the weekend. But all that did was tighten up the wildcard race in the Junior Circuit, and Chicago is still very much in the AL Central race.
The team on the biggest slide right now is Colorado. Losers of 7-straight, the Rockies have fallen from four above .500 and just a half-step out of the NL West race to three below break-even and in the same spot of the NL Wildcard race as Houston and Milwaukee, a couple of underachievers this season.
Just splitting their series against the Reds in Cincinnati would have kept Colorado amongst the leaders in the final NL playoff slot. The Rockies bullpen, which was solid the first half of the season, proved mortal in the final two games of the Reds series. Rumors arose recently Colorado might be looking for another veteran arm for the reliever corps, with LaTroy Hawkins’ name surfacing.
The club finds itself in a tough spot now, still very much in the playoff hunt but in many ways out of it with a group of young players picked to lose 90+ this year. Attendance has been way down the last few seasons and there is pressure on the club to win now in order to fill some of those empty seats.
But GM Dan O’Dowd would be better off not selling off some of their minor league talent for a quick fix right now. Acquiring another arm for the bullpen would not fix the young offense that many feel is just a year away from starting to realize its full potential. And adding either a pitcher or a bat at this time would no doubt mean selling off some of the young talent that could lift the club out of its doldrums in the near future.
Injury & Trade News: Coming off the DL last week were Royals right-hander Mike MacDougal, Indians OF-IF Casey Blake, Padres right-hander Doug Brocail, Pirates right-hander Victor Santos, Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal, Athletics outfielder Milton Bradley and Dodgers outfielder Ricky Ledee,
The biggest name to go on the DL last week was Cubs right-hander Mark Prior. I should say he returned to the DL since he’s been there already this season. This time the problem is a strained oblique muscle. The major league disabled list should probably be renamed the Wood-Prior, WP for short, in honor of the two pitchers.
Others going on sick leave were Morgan Ensberg (HOU-shoulder), John Patterson (WAS-forearm), Lew Ford (MIN-oblique), Kelvim Escobar (LAA-elbow), Matt Belisle (CIN-back), Ty Taugenheim (TOR-staph infection), Shannon Stewart (heel), Torii Hunter (MIN-foot), David Ross (CIN-ab strain) and Corey Koskie (MIL-concussion).
In addition to the injury news, Minnesota put Ruben Sierra on waivers this week. Sierra was hitting under .200 this season in limited action … Houston acquired the versatile Aubrey Huff from Tampa Bay for a pair of minor leaguers during the All-Star break. Huff hit 8 HR for the D-Rays after spending a good portion of the early season on the DL. The Astros parted with shortstop Ben Zobrist and right-hander Mitch Talbot in the deal. Both were at Double-A when the deal went down … The Astros also fired batting coach Gary Gaetti and replaced him with minor league hitting instructor Sean Berry.
The Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals pulled off an 8-player trade in an offense for bullpen and defense swap. Outfielder Austin Kearns, shortstop Felipe Lopez and right-hander Ryan Wagner went to DC in exchange for shortstop Royce Clayton, utility player Brendan Harris, left-hander Bill Bray and right-handers Gary Majewski and Daryl Thompson. The move followed the Reds acquiring Eddie Guardado from Seattle as Cincinnati tries to beef up their bullpen for a playoff run.
The New York Yankees picked up right-hander Sydney Ponson, recently of St. Louis, off the waivers … Cincinnati designated right-hander Esteban Yan for assignment … Baltimore sent perplexing right-hander Daniel Cabrera to the minors trying one more time to harness the kid’s potential … The New York Mets claimed a former player off the waiver wire when they picked up infielder Edgardo Alfonzo on Saturday (July 15). Alfonzo spent eight seasons with the Mets from 1995-2002 … The White Sox were forced to make a tough move this weekend when they designated right-hander Cliff Politte for assignment. Politte, a big part of the club’s 2005 title season, indicated he was probably not going to accept a minor league assignment with Chicago.
Fantasy Studs & Duds: Chipper Jones has been one of the hottest hitters since late June. He batted .615 (8-for-13) last week with 3 HR and 7 RBI. He currently has a 16-game hitting streak, with an extra-base hit in 14-straight to tie the MLB record. For July, the Braves third baseman is hitting .564 (22-for-39) with 6 HR, 18 RBI and 14 runs scored.
John Lackey has quietly put together a string of solid outings for the Angels who are showing signs of getting back into the playoff hunt. Lackey hurled his 2nd-consecutive shutout on Friday, a 4-0 win over Tampa Bay, and has won his last four starts. The Anaheim right-hander has struck out exactly 10 batters in each of his last three assignments, and hasn’t allowed a run in his last 27 innings. For the season, Lackey is 8-5 with a 2.69 ERA.
Washington outfielder Alfonso Soriano is showing no signs of slowing down in the second half after a first half that netted the Nationals left fielder an All-Star start. Soriano batted .636 (7-for-11) last week with a pair of long balls and three thefts … Texas first baseman Mark Teixeira may have broken out of the power outage that plagued him in the first half with a 3-HR game last Thursday in Baltimore. Tex drove in eight runs in the short week … St. Louis right-hander Chris Carpenter tossed a 2-hit shutout against the Dodgers in a 5-0 Cards win on Friday, needing just 101 pitches and facing just 28 LA hitters in the contest that lasted just 480 seconds over the 2-hour mark … Cincinnati reliever Eddie Guardado, newly acquired from the Mariners for a song, was the only closer in the short week to save three games.
On the dud side, Rangers third baseman Hank Blalock came out of the All-Star break colder than a brass pole in an Alaskan strip joint. Blalock was just 2-for-17 in four games at Baltimore, neither scoring nor driving in a run … Houston second baseman Craig Biggio also started the second half in a slump, hitting .071 (1-for-14) and contributing nothing to the Astros’ offense … Baltimore might have finally run out of patience with right-hander Daniel Cabrera. The hard-throwing Dominican was demoted to the minors after suffering his fifth loss against one no-decision in his last half-dozen starts since mid-June. Cabrera walked 20 and allowed 17 earned runs in his most recent four starts covering 21.2 IP.
Quote(s) of the Week: “You're never going to forget these things on this kind of stage. You feel like you let a lot of people down.” - - - Padres closer Trevor Hoffman after the All-Star Game.
“I'm not going to lie. This is a pretty big highlight in my career.” - - - Rangers shortstop Michael Young whose 2-strike, 2-out triple in the top of the ninth off Hoffman led the AL to a 3-2 win.
“There's no way to explain this type of game. I'm not even jumping up and down by winning it." - - - Braves manager Bobby Cox after Atlanta won a wild won, 15-12, in 11 innings at San Diego Friday night.
"I've been very fortunate. He's been with me the whole time I've been here. I can't tell you what that means." - - - Yankees manager Joe Torre after Sunday’s 6-4 win against the White Sox in which Mariano Rivera picked up his 400th career save.
On Deck: Several interesting series to start the week, beginning with Texas at Toronto as a couple of teams trying to upset apple carts and win their division go at each other. The Rangers go from the frying pan to the fire over the weekend when they travel to Boston to take on the Red Sox in another critical series.
The Dodgers travel to Arizona to open the week against the Diamondbacks in a crucial 4-game NL West matchup.
The Indians are in California Monday through Wednesday for a 3-game set opposite the Angels. With the Halos starting to come on in the AL West and Cleveland looking to just regain a little respect after their slumbering first half, the makeup is there for a solid series. Wednesday’s series finale has the best pitching matchup with Paul Byrd going for the Tribe against his old teammate John Lackey for the Angels.
It’s rare to see a pair of 300-game winners go at each other, so if you have access to the Astros-Cubs game on Wednesday, watch it. Roger Clemens is slated to start for Houston against Greg Maddux for the Cubs.
The biggest series this week pits the White Sox against the Tigers in Detroit for three beginning Tuesday. Chicago’s listed starters are Jon Garland, Javier Vazquez and Jose Contreras while Motown’s mound looks to begin with Nate Robertson, Jeremy Bonderman and Kenny Rogers.
The Mets head to Cincinnati to face the Reds is a series that could be a playoff preview. Thursday’s series finale pits lefty Tom Glavine for New York against Bronson Arroyo for Cincy.
The Mets also host a big weekend series against the Astros. New York fans won’t get a chance to boo Clemens in the series, much to their dismay.
The Yankees head north to Toronto to face the Blue Jays next weekend … Atlanta is in Philadelphia over the weekend with the Braves trying to keep their recent surge going against the Phillies who are trying to keep pace in the NL Wildcard race … The Cardinals are in Los Angeles opposite the Dodgers in another possible NL playoff preview.
AL East: Red Sox (54-36)
AL Central: Tigers (62-30)
AL West: Athletics (48-44)
NL East: Mets (55-37)
NL Central: Cardinals (52-39)
NL West: Padres (48-43)
Who’s in last?
AL East: Devil Rays (39-53)
AL Central: Royals (32-59)
AL West: Mariners (44-48)
NL East: Nationals (39-54)
NL Central: Pirates (32-61)
NL West: Rockies (44-47)
Playing to win: Having already gone on record expressing vehement disfavor for the All-Star Game to count for anything, I’ll avoid mentioning that again, at least until next year when it comes about once more.
For one thing, this year’s midseason classic was entertaining from my seat on the sofa. Pitchers didn’t cave to the strong lineups they were facing, and both managers did a great job of trying to get as many players in the game while still playing to win the silly little exhibition contest.
Once he got past the fifth inning with a slim 2-1 lead, NL field boss Phil Garner went to the four closers he had at his disposal --- Brian Fuentes, Derrick Turnbow, Tom Gordon and Trevor Hoffman --- for an inning each to try and secure the victory. Just one strike away from victory, Hoffman couldn’t ice the game and I couldn’t help but come away feeling sorry for the longtime Padres reliever. Arguably one of the top few relievers all-time, too many people are going to let that 9th-inning meltdown define his career much like too many people today envisioning an old Willie Mays stumbling and falling down trying to make a catch in his final season.
Ozzie Guillen, the AL skipper, also managed his pitchers pretty well and had the luxury of having Mariano Rivera to turn to for the final three outs once Michael Young’s triple gave the Junior Circuit the lead in the top of the ninth. Both managers had several arms still at their disposal had the game gone extra frames. And fans seem to have accepted the idea of the game meaning something now since there was very little beefing going on after the contest about some of the players not getting a chance to perform.
This week's dogs: You could make a case for the White Sox after the defending champs got swept out of the Bronx over the weekend. But all that did was tighten up the wildcard race in the Junior Circuit, and Chicago is still very much in the AL Central race.
The team on the biggest slide right now is Colorado. Losers of 7-straight, the Rockies have fallen from four above .500 and just a half-step out of the NL West race to three below break-even and in the same spot of the NL Wildcard race as Houston and Milwaukee, a couple of underachievers this season.
Just splitting their series against the Reds in Cincinnati would have kept Colorado amongst the leaders in the final NL playoff slot. The Rockies bullpen, which was solid the first half of the season, proved mortal in the final two games of the Reds series. Rumors arose recently Colorado might be looking for another veteran arm for the reliever corps, with LaTroy Hawkins’ name surfacing.
The club finds itself in a tough spot now, still very much in the playoff hunt but in many ways out of it with a group of young players picked to lose 90+ this year. Attendance has been way down the last few seasons and there is pressure on the club to win now in order to fill some of those empty seats.
But GM Dan O’Dowd would be better off not selling off some of their minor league talent for a quick fix right now. Acquiring another arm for the bullpen would not fix the young offense that many feel is just a year away from starting to realize its full potential. And adding either a pitcher or a bat at this time would no doubt mean selling off some of the young talent that could lift the club out of its doldrums in the near future.
Injury & Trade News: Coming off the DL last week were Royals right-hander Mike MacDougal, Indians OF-IF Casey Blake, Padres right-hander Doug Brocail, Pirates right-hander Victor Santos, Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal, Athletics outfielder Milton Bradley and Dodgers outfielder Ricky Ledee,
The biggest name to go on the DL last week was Cubs right-hander Mark Prior. I should say he returned to the DL since he’s been there already this season. This time the problem is a strained oblique muscle. The major league disabled list should probably be renamed the Wood-Prior, WP for short, in honor of the two pitchers.
Others going on sick leave were Morgan Ensberg (HOU-shoulder), John Patterson (WAS-forearm), Lew Ford (MIN-oblique), Kelvim Escobar (LAA-elbow), Matt Belisle (CIN-back), Ty Taugenheim (TOR-staph infection), Shannon Stewart (heel), Torii Hunter (MIN-foot), David Ross (CIN-ab strain) and Corey Koskie (MIL-concussion).
In addition to the injury news, Minnesota put Ruben Sierra on waivers this week. Sierra was hitting under .200 this season in limited action … Houston acquired the versatile Aubrey Huff from Tampa Bay for a pair of minor leaguers during the All-Star break. Huff hit 8 HR for the D-Rays after spending a good portion of the early season on the DL. The Astros parted with shortstop Ben Zobrist and right-hander Mitch Talbot in the deal. Both were at Double-A when the deal went down … The Astros also fired batting coach Gary Gaetti and replaced him with minor league hitting instructor Sean Berry.
The Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals pulled off an 8-player trade in an offense for bullpen and defense swap. Outfielder Austin Kearns, shortstop Felipe Lopez and right-hander Ryan Wagner went to DC in exchange for shortstop Royce Clayton, utility player Brendan Harris, left-hander Bill Bray and right-handers Gary Majewski and Daryl Thompson. The move followed the Reds acquiring Eddie Guardado from Seattle as Cincinnati tries to beef up their bullpen for a playoff run.
The New York Yankees picked up right-hander Sydney Ponson, recently of St. Louis, off the waivers … Cincinnati designated right-hander Esteban Yan for assignment … Baltimore sent perplexing right-hander Daniel Cabrera to the minors trying one more time to harness the kid’s potential … The New York Mets claimed a former player off the waiver wire when they picked up infielder Edgardo Alfonzo on Saturday (July 15). Alfonzo spent eight seasons with the Mets from 1995-2002 … The White Sox were forced to make a tough move this weekend when they designated right-hander Cliff Politte for assignment. Politte, a big part of the club’s 2005 title season, indicated he was probably not going to accept a minor league assignment with Chicago.
Fantasy Studs & Duds: Chipper Jones has been one of the hottest hitters since late June. He batted .615 (8-for-13) last week with 3 HR and 7 RBI. He currently has a 16-game hitting streak, with an extra-base hit in 14-straight to tie the MLB record. For July, the Braves third baseman is hitting .564 (22-for-39) with 6 HR, 18 RBI and 14 runs scored.
John Lackey has quietly put together a string of solid outings for the Angels who are showing signs of getting back into the playoff hunt. Lackey hurled his 2nd-consecutive shutout on Friday, a 4-0 win over Tampa Bay, and has won his last four starts. The Anaheim right-hander has struck out exactly 10 batters in each of his last three assignments, and hasn’t allowed a run in his last 27 innings. For the season, Lackey is 8-5 with a 2.69 ERA.
Washington outfielder Alfonso Soriano is showing no signs of slowing down in the second half after a first half that netted the Nationals left fielder an All-Star start. Soriano batted .636 (7-for-11) last week with a pair of long balls and three thefts … Texas first baseman Mark Teixeira may have broken out of the power outage that plagued him in the first half with a 3-HR game last Thursday in Baltimore. Tex drove in eight runs in the short week … St. Louis right-hander Chris Carpenter tossed a 2-hit shutout against the Dodgers in a 5-0 Cards win on Friday, needing just 101 pitches and facing just 28 LA hitters in the contest that lasted just 480 seconds over the 2-hour mark … Cincinnati reliever Eddie Guardado, newly acquired from the Mariners for a song, was the only closer in the short week to save three games.
On the dud side, Rangers third baseman Hank Blalock came out of the All-Star break colder than a brass pole in an Alaskan strip joint. Blalock was just 2-for-17 in four games at Baltimore, neither scoring nor driving in a run … Houston second baseman Craig Biggio also started the second half in a slump, hitting .071 (1-for-14) and contributing nothing to the Astros’ offense … Baltimore might have finally run out of patience with right-hander Daniel Cabrera. The hard-throwing Dominican was demoted to the minors after suffering his fifth loss against one no-decision in his last half-dozen starts since mid-June. Cabrera walked 20 and allowed 17 earned runs in his most recent four starts covering 21.2 IP.
Quote(s) of the Week: “You're never going to forget these things on this kind of stage. You feel like you let a lot of people down.” - - - Padres closer Trevor Hoffman after the All-Star Game.
“I'm not going to lie. This is a pretty big highlight in my career.” - - - Rangers shortstop Michael Young whose 2-strike, 2-out triple in the top of the ninth off Hoffman led the AL to a 3-2 win.
“There's no way to explain this type of game. I'm not even jumping up and down by winning it." - - - Braves manager Bobby Cox after Atlanta won a wild won, 15-12, in 11 innings at San Diego Friday night.
"I've been very fortunate. He's been with me the whole time I've been here. I can't tell you what that means." - - - Yankees manager Joe Torre after Sunday’s 6-4 win against the White Sox in which Mariano Rivera picked up his 400th career save.
On Deck: Several interesting series to start the week, beginning with Texas at Toronto as a couple of teams trying to upset apple carts and win their division go at each other. The Rangers go from the frying pan to the fire over the weekend when they travel to Boston to take on the Red Sox in another critical series.
The Dodgers travel to Arizona to open the week against the Diamondbacks in a crucial 4-game NL West matchup.
The Indians are in California Monday through Wednesday for a 3-game set opposite the Angels. With the Halos starting to come on in the AL West and Cleveland looking to just regain a little respect after their slumbering first half, the makeup is there for a solid series. Wednesday’s series finale has the best pitching matchup with Paul Byrd going for the Tribe against his old teammate John Lackey for the Angels.
It’s rare to see a pair of 300-game winners go at each other, so if you have access to the Astros-Cubs game on Wednesday, watch it. Roger Clemens is slated to start for Houston against Greg Maddux for the Cubs.
The biggest series this week pits the White Sox against the Tigers in Detroit for three beginning Tuesday. Chicago’s listed starters are Jon Garland, Javier Vazquez and Jose Contreras while Motown’s mound looks to begin with Nate Robertson, Jeremy Bonderman and Kenny Rogers.
The Mets head to Cincinnati to face the Reds is a series that could be a playoff preview. Thursday’s series finale pits lefty Tom Glavine for New York against Bronson Arroyo for Cincy.
The Mets also host a big weekend series against the Astros. New York fans won’t get a chance to boo Clemens in the series, much to their dismay.
The Yankees head north to Toronto to face the Blue Jays next weekend … Atlanta is in Philadelphia over the weekend with the Braves trying to keep their recent surge going against the Phillies who are trying to keep pace in the NL Wildcard race … The Cardinals are in Los Angeles opposite the Dodgers in another possible NL playoff preview.
