Tag Archives: Cleveland Indians

Offseason so far: AL Central

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After taking a look at the comings and goings in the American League East division yesterday, we move on to the AL Central.

Detroit Tigers

So near and yet so far, the Tigers reflected on a losing World Series appearance in 2012 and a losing American League Championship Series in 2013 and had to work out whether a small tweak or two would be enough to keep them in with a shot, or if a bold move was needed to get over the hump and win a World Series.

They’ve taken the latter approach. Veteran manager Jim Leyland has retired and in his place Detroit have chosen a new direction with rookie manager Brad Ausmus. That was a brave move, as was the decision to trade away first baseman Prince Fielder just two years into his blockbuster nine-year contract. Fielder has joined the Texas Rangers with Ian Kinsler – typically a second baseman, although he may move to the outfield in Detroit – going the other way.

Pitcher Doug Fister has also departed in a trade with the Washington Nationals, which wasn’t a surprise in itself considering Detroit have some excellent options already for their starting rotation, although the meagre return (primarily utility man Steve Lombardozzi) did leave many scratching their heads. Omar Infante (Royals) and Jhonny Peralta (Cardinals) have also found new teams as free agents.

As for incomings, Joe Nathan will fill the void as the team’s closer with Joba Chamberlain and Ian Krol also being added to the relief corps, whilst Rajai Davis should provide a speedy option from the bench.

Cleveland Indians

The Indians were one of the surprise teams of 2013, not just in making the playoffs but also in the way they went out over the previous offseason and added leading free agents Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn. The pair represented something of a splurge for the cash-strapped team and so they are making more modest investments this time around, primarily in the form of ex-Rangers outfielder David Murphy and reliever John Axford.

Cleveland’s rise to a playoff appearance once greatly helped by the pitching performances of Scott Kazmir and Ubaldo Jimenez, both of whom are free agents this offseason. Kazmir has already found a new club in the Oakland A’s, but Jimenez is still on the market and there does seem to be some hope that a deal could be agreed for him to return to the Indians. Meanwhile right-handed reliever Joe Smith has left the club as a free agent and signed with the Los Angeles Angels.

Kansas City Royals

The Royals made a splash a year ago by trading top prospect Wil Myers for pitchers James Shields and Wade Davis. Shields has just one more left on his contract before he becomes a free agent and whilst the team did jump from 72 wins in 2012 to 86 in 2013, that wasn’t a big enough leap to earn the postseason appearance that the team arguably needs to feel like trading such a talented young player as Myers was worth it.

So far this offseason, the Royals have added former Angels’ starting pitcher Jason Vargas and ex-Tiger Omar Infante on four-year contracts and also pulled off what could turn out to be a nifty trade by acquiring outfielder Norichika Aoki for pitcher Will Smith. They were close to bringing back Carlos Beltran to KC nine and half years after they traded him to the Astros, before the Yankees jumped in at the last moment and beat their bid. Pitcher Ervin Santana had a good season for the Royals last year and, as with Jimenez and Cleveland, the fact that he hasn’t yet found a match on the free agent market leaves open the possibility that he could still rejoin the team.

Minnesota Twins

Joe Mauer will not be catching in Minnesota in 2014 but that doesn’t mean the hometown hero has been taken away from the Twins. The 2009 AL MVP winner is ditching the ‘tools of ignorance’ and will give his body a rest while playing first base instead from this season onwards. Kurt Suzuki has been brought in to provide some experience at the catching position whilst prospect Josmil Pinto continues to develop (probably starting the season at Triple-A and earning a promotion mid-season). The Twins’ roster planning will also be mindful of the impending promotion of the exciting third baseman Miguel Sano.

The main development, aside from Mauer changing gloves, has come in the form of three free agent additions to the starting rotation. Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes and Mike Pelfrey have been brought in to revamp the pitching staff and it’s rumoured that they may also be joined by Bronson Arroyo in the near future.

Chicago White Sox

The White Sox suffered a dreadful 99-loss season in 2013 and one offseason isn’t going to be enough to turn that around. In fact, the south-siders have been open about cutting payroll in 2014 and trying to inject some young talent back into the organization.

However, they have made a couple of promising signings that could provide reason for cheer in the coming season. The most notable came in beating off a lot of competition to win the signature of Cuban slugger Jose Abreu. The 6-year, $68m contract is the most lucrative signed by an international free agent so far and reflects the fact that he is not merely someone with potential, but a 26-year-old slugger heading into what should be the prime of his career,

The White Sox joined with the Arizona Diamondbacks and the L.A. Angels to complete a three-team trade that resulted in Chicago gaining all-action outfielder Adam Eaton. He’ll join a White Sox lineup that will once again, and quite probably for the last year, feature Paul Konerko. The Chicago favourite had considered retirement but was tempted back for another season, albeit on the basis that he’ll be used as a part-time player.

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Injuries and Bad Karma

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The New York Yankees had already experienced plenty of bad luck with injuries in recent months, so the outcome of Curtis Granderson’s first plate appearance in Spring Training was almost to be expected.

The Blue Jays’ J.A. Happ looked at the low-and-away target from his catcher and let loose a pitch that sailed high and in. It was too far in for the Yankees and Granderson’s liking. The ball made a deadening thud off his right forearm and Grandy immediately let go of the bat before grimacing his way to first base.

X-rays revealed a fracture putting him on a 10-week timeline before he will make it back into the Big League lineup sometime in early May, subject to any setbacks along the way.

The Yankees had been toying with moving Granderson from his customary centre-field position into left, allowing the better-fielding Brett Gardner to swap over. Gardner will now get the chance to play in centre when the regular season begins, but Granderson’s injury may make them revert back to type once he returns from injury. Spring Training would have been the ideal time for him to get used to playing left-field, a position he has very limited experience with, and for the pair to get used to playing together in that formation.

Asking Granderson to move to left-field with limited practice time would be less than ideal, although they may have little choice.

The plan was being discussed as it’s expected that the Yankees will need to save every run they can this season, fielding an offence far-less potent than it has been in the past.

The absence of Granderson’s bat in the early going will make that even more pronounced. He led the team in 2012 with 43 longballs and there was already talk of a power outage in the Bronx before his injury, with the team having lost Russell Martin (21 HR), Raul Ibanez (19), Nick Swisher (24), Eric Chavez (16) and Andruw Jones (14) over the off-season, and Alex Rodriguez (18) continuing to be plagued by the injury curse. A-Rod may be back in late June or early July, but there’s no telling how productive he will be as the veteran falls victim to the inevitable ravages of Father Time.

Whilst it’s normally just perception rather than a meaningful trend, it often seems that when one player goes down to an injury, their team is then hit by further setbacks.

The Milwaukee Brewers are a good – not ‘good’ from their perspective – recent example of this. First baseman Corey Hart suffered a knee injury before Spring Training began, but the blow was softened a little by Mat Gamel seemingly coming back healthy after missing most of the 2012 season with his own knee injury. Relief soon turned to dejection as Gamel’s dreadful bad luck continued as he reinjured the knee and is set to miss yet another season.

This past weekend brought more bad news for the Brewers as Ryan Braun, Aramis Ramirez and Yovani Gallardo reported minor ailments, in Gallardo’s case a groin strain that may result in him withdrawing from Mexico’s World Baseball Classic roster.  Even though none of the injuries are serious, they will remain a concern until the players prove those concerns to be unfounded.

Breakout performances and slumps always catch the eye, but keeping key players healthy and on the field is an even more important factor in a team having a good season.

The Cleveland Indians’ pre-season optimism was noted in this column last week. That optimism was quickly followed by Chris Perez’s right-shoulder strain that could make him a doubt for Opening Day. One minor injury in Spring Training shouldn’t deflate Cleveland fans at all, but shoulder problems are never a good sign for a pitcher and it’s easy for pessimism to take hold, particularly for a team that hasn’t been competitive in the last couple of seasons. The surprise of a team actually showing signs of promise can make the mental scars of long losing seasons all the more sensitive.

‘You know what our luck’s like, the bubble will burst’.

Yes, the fickle finger of fate looms large when it comes to injuries. The ‘Why me? Why now?’ unfairness of it all compels players and fans to find an explanation.

In the Miami Marlins’ first Spring Training game, newly-acquired catcher Jeff Mathis suffered a broken collarbone after getting hit by a foul-tip. If Mathis was a mere innocent victim as the baseball gods punished the Marlins for their miserly off-season, we can only be glad that this was the required sacrifice – a back-up catcher getting an injury that shouldn’t lead to any long-term damage – rather than the pitch that collided with Giancarlo Stanton’s helmet.

Even the Marlins’ bad karma didn’t warrant their star young slugger to suffer a concussion (or worse) and all of the dreadful consequences that it can bring to a career and quality of life.

Thankfully on that occasion, luck was on our side. For your chosen team to do well this season, they’ll need good fortune to find them too.

Rounding the bases

Matt Garza can be added to the injured list, as of Sunday evening. The Cubs expect the right-handed pitcher to miss the first month of the season due to a “strained left lat”, the “lat” being his Lattissimus dorsi muscle.

Chien-Ming Wang has had his own injury struggles over the years, but his impressive outing for Chinese Taipei in the World Baseball Classic on Saturday suggested that he’s still worth a look from Major League teams. Whilst the Australian line-up clearly isn’t of Big League quality, his sinker was working well and there will be more than one MLB team willing to take a chance on him.

The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim paid Mike Trout $482.5k for his incredible 2012 season. His financial reward? A $10k bonus for winning the AL Rookie of the Year Award and a raise of $27.5k, a mere $20k increase on the Major League minimum.

His agent was as unimpressed as you would expect him to be.

Trout will be earning the equivalent of approximately £6.5k per week this season. For comparison, the average Premier League wage is thought to be just over £22k per week, with the average Championship wage being just over £4k.

Could Cleveland be your team?

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Monday was the first official day for players to start reporting to their respective MLB Spring Training camps.

As the day began, we didn’t know which camp Michael Bourn was going to be reporting to in the coming days as he remained a free agent despite being one of the prize pieces on the market.

By the end of Monday we found out the answer and it wasn’t one many would have guessed heading into the offseason. Bourn became the latest acquisition in a surprisingly active winter by the Cleveland Indians, agreeing terms on a four-year, $48m contract (approximately £147k per week).

Cleveland lost 94 games in 2012, with only AL Central division mates the Minnesota Twins losing more in the American League (96), and finished 20 games behind the division-winning Detroit Tigers. They’ve got a lot of ground to make up in 2013 if they want to compete for a playoff spot, but that challenge, combined with their busy offseason, makes them an appealing option for any British newcomer looking for a not-too-obvious team to call their own.

The Indians’ projected pitching rotation dampens the enthusiasm and ensures that they will not be shaking off the underdog tag anytime soon. Justin Masterson couldn’t repeat his impressive 2011 showing in 2012, whilst Ubaldo Jimenez’s 42 starts for the Tribe since being acquired from the Colorado Rockies during the 2011 season have been underwhelming to say the very least (5.32 ERA). Spying the names of Brett Myers and Daisuke Matsuzaka alongside Zach McAllister in the projected rotation makes you realise it’s not going to be the most fearsome five in the AL this year.

But you don’t need to be Ian Drury to find reasons to be cheerful.

With Bourn following Nick Swisher’s lead in signing on with the Cleveland club, the Indians bagged two of the best position players on the free agent market this offseason. Those headline player moves came after the Indians pulled off something of a coup by convincing Terry Francona to become their new manager.

The unique pitching prospect Trevor Bauer should be taking one of those rotation spots at some point during the season and he’ll have a good outfield behind him with the presumed new centre fielder Drew Stubbs sliding over to right field alongside Bourn, with the presumed new right-fielder Swisher now likely to spend the majority of his time fielding at first base.

Add in Asdrubal Cabrera, Carlos Santana and Jason Kipnis and there’s definitely some talented players for a new fan to immediately take a liking to.

Cleveland also played in the joint-ninth highest number of pre-midnight U.K. time games (21) during the working week last season, so there should be plenty of chances to catch their games live at a convenient time.

If you’re not keen on jumping on board with an established winner and prefer a plucky team with an outside chance of causing an upset this year, Cleveland may well be the team for you.

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: A 2013 return

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After a one-year hiatus, my ‘Weekly’ Hit Ground Ball column returns today.

Every Monday, I’ll be writing about the key stories that caught my eye in MLB over the past week.

Lonestar State MLB season opener

Our progression through the long baseball-free winter months reached a significant moment this past week as ESPN announced which game would be the 2013 MLB regular season opener.

Baseball fans in the U.K. will be putting sleep to one side in the early hours of Monday 1 April as the Houston Astros make their American League debut against the Texas Rangers. The game will begin shortly after 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday 31 March, making for a 1 a.m. Bank Holiday Monday start for us.

The game choice is a slight surprise. The obvious choice for the marquee season opener was the game between the free-spending Los Angeles Dodgers hosting the reigning World Series champions the San Francisco Giants.

Over the past ten seasons, the reigning World Series champions have featured in the opening game on seven occasions (taking the three Japan series in 2004, 2008 and 2012 out of the equation).

On the other three occasions, the Orioles celebrated 50 years in Baltimore to start the 2004 season against the Boston Red Sox, Ryan Zimmerman memorably launched the new Nationals Ballpark by launching a walk-off home run against the Atlanta Braves in 2008, and there was no single opening game in 2011 when the action started on a Thursday.

The Astros’ move into the American League is certainly a notable moment. It marks the end of the organization’s 51-season spell in the Senior Circuit and is the first time a team has switched leagues since the Milwaukee Brewers moved from the AL to the NL in 1998.  Combine that with this being the first game in a new American League local rivalry against the Rangers and it should be the sort of memorable occasion that the marquee opener deserves.

The only problem from a neutral’s perspective is that the Astros aren’t very good. And that’s putting it kindly.

Houston lost 107 games in 2012, after losing 106 in the previous year, and their offseason inactivity coupled with the move to a more competitive division doesn’t bode well for their prospects in 2013.  Their number one starting pitcher right now is Bud Norris and whilst he’s a decent enough starter who can rack up some strikeouts for your fantasy team, he isn’t anyone’s definition of an ace.

It’s a shame that the Astros are starting this new era whilst being in the early stages of a rebuilding phase. The Major League team and farm system had needed an overhaul since 2009, but stubbornness alongside the protracted sale of the organization delayed the process for a couple of years and it’s probable that Astros fans will be waiting until 2015 or 2016 before they start to see real progress at the Major League level.

But let’s not be too negative. Every baseball fan knows that however mediocre a team may look on paper, and however poorly they may perform over the course of a season, they are capable of pulling out a win on any given day or night.

The Astros played six Interleague games against the Rangers last season. They lost five of them, but they did gain a 6-5 victory over their rivals on 19 May at Minute Maid Park.

One solitary win doesn’t count for much in the general scheme of things; however wouldn’t it be great if the unfancied Astros shocked the Rangers with an Opening Night victory, sending their fans home happy, decked out in clothing adorned with their new logo and colour scheme, toasting the joy of being able to claim that they have the best record in the Majors, for one night at least.

It could come true, or they could be put to the sword by a Texas team intent on showing the locals how tough life will be in the AL West.

The 2013 regular season opener will not just be a great occasion for the Astros, it will be an instant reminder, as another season gets underway, of one of the great wonders of baseball: you never know what’s going to happen.

Berkman joins the Rangers

Saturday’s news that Lance Berkman has agreed a one-year,$10m contract with the Texas Rangers will bring an extra storyline to the opening game.

Berkman is of course an Astros hero having been a star on the team from 1999 to 2010. Injury wrecked his 2012 season with the St. Louis Cardinals, restricting him to only 32 games; however, that followed a memorable 2011 campaign in which he helped the Cards to a World Series win.

Moving to the AL, where his knees can be rested as a Designated Hitter, increases the odds that Berkman will be able to contribute throughout the season. If he does, the Rangers’ offence is really starting to shape up again. This is their projected batting lineup against right-handed pitchers, as proposed by the brilliant MLBDepthCharts website:

1 2B Ian Kinsler
2 SS Elvis Andrus
3 LF David Murphy*
4 3B Adrian Beltre
5 DH Lance Berkman**
6 RF Nelson Cruz
7 C A.J. Pierzynski*
8 1B Mitch Moreland*
9 CF Leonys Martin*

Projected Bench
C Geovany Soto
IF/OF Leury Garcia
IF/OF Mike Olt
OF Craig Gentry

(* = left-handed hitter, ** = switch-hitter).

The one criticism you could level at the line-up is that David Murphy is not an ideal Number Three hitter, but if they could add another quality bat to the outfield mix – and they continue to be linked with a trade for Arizona’s Justin Upton – then it would become a very well-balanced offence.

The Rangers have lost several key players this offseason, not least Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli, whilst missing out on pitching targets such as Zack Greinke and James Shields.  However one look at their roster tells you that it would be a grave mistake to underestimate how good a team they remain.

Optimism in Cleveland

Positivity and optimism was overflowing this week in Cleveland as the Indians formally announced the signing of free agent outfielder Nick Swisher.

The former Yankee is one of the most gregarious players in MLB so the level of excitement coming from the player was no surprise. However, there seemed to be a wider sense at the press conference that Cleveland, with Terry Francona at the helm, are on their way up.

Moving from a 68-94 record in 2012 to challenging the formidable Detroit Tigers in 2013 may be beyond them, but there are genuine reasons for fans of the Tribe to look forward to the coming season with optimism that their team is heading in the right direction once again.

 

Weekly Hit Ground Ball: Early season standings

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WHGB11I looked at the MLB standings for the first time this season on Saturday morning.  I deliberately avoid them completely during the early stages of the campaign, at least until curiosity gets the better of me, and it isn’t until halfway through May that I check them on a regular basis.

The standings don’t mean all that much until teams have played a decent number of games.  Teams are just getting out of the gate, sometimes without their full complement of first-choice players.  A few games will be postponed here and there due to bad weather and win-loss records can be inflated or deflated due to the quality of opponent that each team has faced up to that point.

In short, you simply don’t get a sense of how good a team is, just how well they have performed over a relatively small number of games. 

However, that doesn’t mean the standings are devoid of any interest.  In fact, the occasional glimpses early on can be a source of great pleasure and intrigue.  You get a sense of how teams are doing by following individual results and winning or losing streaks every day, but checking how the teams stack up can still create a shock or two.

That was the case on Saturday.  Continue reading →

2011 MLB Preview: American League Central

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MlbHlSqThe Minnesota Twins were the class team in the Central last year, but the White Sox and Tigers have every intention of putting them under more pressure in 2011.

2010 final standings

1. Minnesota Twins (94-68)
2. Chicago White Sox (88-74)
3. Detroit Tigers (81-81)
4. Cleveland Indians (69-93)
5. Kansas City Royals (67-95)

The 2010/11 offseason

It was a good offseason for the neutrals, as the main challengers made some key additions in an attempt to chase down the reigning champs.

The Tigers made their moves early.  They signed free agent catcher/first baseman/designated hitter Victor Martinez, bringing the former Cleveland Indian back to the AL Central after a year and a half with Boston, and gave Joaquin Benoit, a reliever revelation for the Rays in 2010, a three-year contract.

It looked like Detroit would be the Twins’ only real challenger as the White Sox contemplated entering a rebuilding phase.  However, Chicago’s owner Jerry Reinsdorf had a change of heart and opened the purse strings instead.  That allowed General Manger Kenny Williams to not only re-sign first baseman Paul Konerko and catcher A.J. Pierzynski, but also to bag the big bopper Adam Dunn on a four-year contract after he left the Washington Nationals as a free agent.  Former Twins reliever Jesse Crain and lefty Will Ohman were added to the bullpen, while Matt Thornton was given a contract extension and the closer’s role after Bobby Jenks wore out his welcome and was granted free agency, during which he signed with the Red Sox.  Continue reading →

2010 Season Review: AL Central

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MlbHlSqThe Minnesota Twins came into the 2010 season as the favourites in the AL Central and they lived up to those expectations.  However, it ultimately proved to be a frustrating year for the Twins, as it was for the rest of the AL Central teams.

BaseballGB predictions

Joe Twins
Mark Twins
Matt Twins
Russ Twins
Steve White Sox

 

Minnesota Twins (94-68)

The Twins celebrated the opening of their glorious new ballpark with an AL Central title, yet postseason success still remains painfully elusive for Ron Gardenhire’s team.

The New York Yankees swept the Twins 3-0 in the Division Series, just as they had done in 2009.  Add in a 3-0 sweep by the Oakland A’s in 2006 and three straight Yankee wins in 2004 and Minnesota’s losing playoff streak now runs to twelve games. This run is more likely sheer bad luck rather than being indicative of some integral flaw in the Twins’ organization, but the 2010 edition of ‘High Hopes dashed in Minnesota’ was all the more disappointing because it reflected a whole season of positive developments being followed by set-backs.

The excitement over Target Field’s imminent opening was disrupted by star closer Joe Nathan’s Spring Training injury woes which lead to him undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing the whole season.  There were celebrations throughout Minnesota when hometown hero Joe Mauer signed an eight year/$184m contract extension prior to the season, but his power numbers plummeted (28 longballs in 2009, 9 in 2010) as he battled through a long list of nagging injuries.  Justin Morneau was having an MVP calibre season until he suffered a concussion while sliding into second base in a game against  the Toronto Blue Jays on 7 July.  Morneau’s condition, much more than a mere baseball injury, failed to improve enough for him to return to the field for the rest of the year.

Some of the good stories did stand on their own with no negatives to bring them down.  The acquisition of Jim Thome on a one-year deal for a basic $1.5m proved to be one of the best value moves of the offseason, Delmon Young started showing some of the form that made him the overall number one pick in the 2003 draft, while Francisco Liriano had his best year since undergoing Tommy John surgery at the end of 2006.

Ninety-four wins and a division title is far from a bad season, but it’s not quite what the Twins were hoping for and they have some work to do over the offseason to keep ahead of the pack.  Carl Pavano looks like he’ll be heading elsewhere as a free agent, Jim Thome’s future is still to be determined, while the Twins don’t know quite what they can expect from Justin Morneau and Joe Nathan in 2011. 

The Twins should be good enough to enter the season as favourites for the AL Central, but will they finally make a breakthrough in the postseason?  Continue reading →

Out of Left Field: The Red Man!

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MlbHlSqReports of this column’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Crawling slowly out of the abyss, it sees the end of the regular season coming ever closer. It looks up. Dedraggled, but very much alive. It raises one hand and asks, “Baseball. I am sorry I have neglected you. Truly sorry. But please help me. What fun stuff have you for me this week?” Baseball looks this column straight in the eye and carefully presents it with the following gifts. This column looks back, happy, contented, relieved and extremely grateful.

Philadelphia saw the debut of ‘Red Man’. Red Man, a fan in a red suit, took to the field, but was quickly thwarted by Atlanta Braves’ outfielder Matt Diaz. Diaz said of the incident, “I saw this idiot coming right at me, I figured he’d be better off getting tripped than Tased.” Which is probably fair enough, considering this is Philly we’re talking about. Poor Red Man. I think it is back to drawing-board for you, you little oddity.

Tampa Bay Rays’ Manager seems to be one of the most level-headed in the game. But even he makes mistakes. However, he has gone up in my estimation even more, as he actually admits to them, even when they are as embarrassing as sending in the wrong reliever. “Everything was going pretty quickly and I did not express myself properly,’’ Maddon said. “I screwed up.” Oh for such honesty amongst other sporting managers…

Flip Flop Fly Ball is always good value, and this week is no exception, as creator Craig Robinson looks at the age of the Yankees roster compared to his age, year on year. As we get older, surely one real signifier of time passing is seeing more and more sportsmen younger than yourself. And as time goes on, you realise that Major League call-up is getting less and less likely. This graphic is a great illustration of that.

Here at Out of Left Field, we do enjoy a good strange injury. While not perhaps one for the ages, Russell Branyon’s pizza parlour injury ain’t half bad: “On the off day last week, I took my family to a pizza parlor. They had plastic chairs, and after we’d eaten, my little guy had kicked one of his flip flops off. I was sitting on the edge of the chair, leaning down to pick it up, and the chair slid out from under me on the cement floor. I landed right on my tail bone.” Ouch. Not enough pizza involved though, for my liking. Russell, you must try harder, in the wacky injury stakes.

The Baseball Project are a great band who write great songs about baseball. As you’d expect. And they’ve enlisted Craig Finn of the Hold Steady to record an anthem for the Minnesota Twins. I seem to remember the Pernice Brothers doing something similar for the Red Sox a few years back. Baseball does get the coolest music. Bring on the indie rock!

Talking of the Boston Red Sox, I’m pleased they are marking Mike Lowell’s retirement in style with a Thanks, Mike Night. Something about titling it so simply and humanly really appealed to me. Well, I am a soppy old sentimental guy at heart. And Lowell was in my first ever fantasy team, so I’ll always have a soft spot. Thanks, Mike!

The Cleveland Indians will be fighting the cold climate this winter with a winter theme park money-making scheme. Who knows, perhaps they’ll prove more adept at ice-skating and snow-tubing than baseball? ZING!

And on that note, I bid you adieu, as this column slinks back into the abyss…until next time.

Saturday’s early MLB games: Non-waiver trade deadline day

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CovHlSqThere are four early MLB games today, all of which will be played in the shadow of the 21.00 BST non-waiver trade deadline. 

Cleveland-Toronto can be your pre-deadline game to accompany the frantic last-minute rumours, while the other three will no doubt offer plenty of reaction to what has, and hasn’t taken place. 

In fact, the three 21.10 starts will all be national FOX broadcasts and they typically struggle to concentrate on the game in front of them at the best of times.  We can perhaps forgive them for that tendency today.

All times are in BST

18.07. Cleveland at Toronto (Jake Westbrook – Brett Cecil)

Westbrook is scheduled to take the mound for the Indians, but his name has been linked with a few teams so he may be replaced at the last minute if a deal is in the offing.  The Blue Jays won yesterday’s game 8-1, with Jose Bautista continuing his incredible season by hitting a grand slam, his Major-League leading 31st of the season.  His stock has never been higher, so if he isn’t in the Blue Jays’ lineup, or if he is taken out of the game partway through, then take that as a strong sign that Toronto are selling high on the right-fielder.

21.10. Detroit at Boston (Max Scherzer – Daisuke Matsuzaka)

Detroit traded for Indians infielder Jhonny Peralta on Tuesday and he went deep twice in his debut for the Tigers as they beat Boston 6-5 in the series opener on Friday.  It looked like the Tigers would cruise to the victory, but the Red Sox gave them a scare in the ninth thanks to a grand slam by David Ortiz.  Jose Valverde eventually struck out Mike Cameron looking at a fastball to close the door.  There could be plenty of walks in today’s game with Scherzer and Matsuzaka on the mound.

21.10. Atlanta at Cincinnati (Jair Jurrjens – Bronson Arroyo)

Two of the playoff-chasing teams from the National League meet in this game and you would guess that the two General Managers will be working frantically in the lead-up to see if they can add an extra piece or two to their puzzle.  Netherlands national team pitcher Jurrjens is starting to find his groove five starts in from a two-month stint on the disabled list, while Bronson Arroyo took a loss despite pitching a complete game last time out.  The Braves won 6-4 in ten innings yesterday.

21.10. LA Dodgers at San Francisco (Chad Billingsley – Barry Zito)

As with the Braves-Reds game, this one will bring together two teams who are likely to be active on the trade market today.  Tim Lincecum struck out nine over seven innings for the Giants yesterday as they earned a 6-5 victory.  That win, coupled with the Padres’ 4-2 loss to the Marlins, pushed them to within 2.5 games of the NL West leaders.  The Dodgers are 7.5 out in the West and 4.5 games out in the Wild Card, currently led by the Giants, so this series is a good opportunity for them to claw back some of the gap on both fronts.  Billingsley pitched well in his last start against the Padres (six shutout innings), while Zito has had a very good season for the Giants so far.

All the above games can be followed via various resources on MLB.com (Gameday, At Bat with Gameday Audio and MLB.tv).  ESPN America is showing the X Games instead of any baseball this evening. A complete schedule of MLB games can be found on MLB.com

Saturday’s early MLB games: Four big match-ups

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CovHlSqThe All-Star break doesn’t last long in real terms, but it can seem like a significant gap as we are used to enjoying a bundle of games every single day. 

Now the break has come and gone, we can get right back to the daily dose of action. 

Today’s batch of ‘early’ games give UK-based fans a chance to watch some of the top teams battle it out during the British evening.

All times are in BST.

18.05. Philadelphia at Chicago Cubs (Cole Hamels – Randy Wells) * ESPN America

The Phillies and Cubs played out an entertaining back-and-forth game in the only early contest yesterday.  With the game tied at 1-1 in the top of the sixth, Ryan Howard smacked a 444 feet homer off the top of the batter’s eye in centre field to give the Phils a 3-1 lead.  Marlon Byrd levelled things up in the bottom of the frame with a two-run shot of his own, circling the bases in typically rapid fashion, before Aramis Ramirez broke the deadlock in the eighth inning with a solo blast.  A one-run lead was all that Cubs closer Carlos Marmol needed and his nasty fastball/slider combination was too good for Jayson Werth, Ryan Howard and Ben Francisco, who were retired in order to send the locals home happy.  The starting pitcher match-up of Hamels versus Wells should make for another good contest today.

18.05. Detroit at Cleveland (Justin Verlander – Fausto Carmona)

The Indians might be in the AL Central cellar and firmly in rebuilding mode, but they’ll take plenty of pleasure from playing the spoiler role over the rest of this season.  They did just that yesterday as Austin Kearns and former top prospect Andy Marte both went deep in an 8-2 win for the Tribe.  Verlander hasn’t displayed his best form yet this season but he still leads the Tigers’ pitching staff and is more than capable of having a dominant second half.  Fausto Carmona has been the Indians best starter this season and his name has been mentioned as a possible trade target for contending teams. 

21.10. Tampa Bay at NY Yankees (Jeff Niemann – A.J.Burnett) * ESPN America

It was an emotional night in the Bronx on Friday as Yankee Stadium paid its respects to former owner George Steinbrenner and announcer Bob Sheppard, both of whom passed away recently.  A walk-off win seemed a fitting way to end the game and that duly arrived courtesy of a game-winning single by Nick Swisher to give the Yankees a 5-4 victory over their AL East rivals.  The inconsistent A.J. Burnett is trying to get his season back on track after a dreadful June (5 games, 5 losses with a 11.35 ERA), while Jeff Niemann is scheduled to make the start for the Rays after dealing with some soreness in his back.  David Price made the All-Star start thanks to his 12-4 record and a 2.42 ERA, but Niemann has been just as good for the Rays so far this season. 

21.10. LA Dodgers at St. Louis (Hiroki Kuroda – Adam Wainwright)

The Cardinals closed to within half a game of the Cincinnati Reds at the top of the NL Central after beating the Dodgers 8-4 yesterday.  Yadier Molina made the 2010 NL All-Star starting lineup on reputation as he struggled at the plate during the first half, but a 2-for-4 game with a home run and 4 RBIs last night gives the Cards’ hope that his will be a season of two different halves for the popular backstop.  Neither starter lasted long yesterday, with St. Louis’s Jaime Garcia being pulled out of the game after 3.1 innings and the Dodgers’ Chad Billingsley leaving after 4.  Adam Wainwright has been outstanding yet again for the Cardinals this season so they will expect a strong outing from him today.  Hiroki Kuroda has been a dependable option for the Dodgers’  manager Joe Torre, despite a bad start two games ago against the D-Backs (1.2 innings, 6 earned runs conceded), so maybe the pitchers will be on top today?

All the above games can be followed via various resources on MLB.com (Gameday, At Bat with Gameday Audio and MLB.tv).  ESPN America is showing two live games back-to-back this evening, as noted above. A complete schedule of MLB games can be found on MLB.com