Around the Majors: Lawton is suspended

1) Yankees OF Matt Lawton was suspended for violating MLB’s steroids policy.

Lawton will be a free agent and the suspension will start at the beginning of the 2006 season.

YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
2003   31    6  .343  .420  .762  .548   5.16  .249  15   53   10   99  Indians      
2004   32    5  .366  .421  .787  .524   5.33  .277  20   70   23  150  Indians      
2005   33   -1  .356  .396  .752  .499   5.11  .254  13   53   18  141  Pirates/Cubs/Yankees
CAR         46  .368  .418  .786  .525   5.60  .267 138  630  165 1323 
LG AVG       0  .340  .433  .774  .500   5.19  .271 155  652   85 
POS AVG     71  .350  .461  .812  .540   5.73  .277 188  733   87 

2) The Dodgers received permission from the Rangers to speak to John Hart about their GM position. Hart, who resigned as Rangers GM on October 4, is still employed by the team as an advisor.

3) The Yankees hired Lee Mazzilli as bench coach.

4) The Red Sox re-signed P Mike Timlin to a 1 year, about $3.25 contract.

YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
2003 37   11   3.55   72   0   83.2   65  6.99  9.68   6   4   2   6   4  Red Sox      
2004 38    7   4.13   76   0   76.1   56  6.60 11.67   5   4   1   5   4  Red Sox      
2005 39   19   2.24   81   0   80.1   59  6.61 12.10   7   3  13   8   2  Red Sox      
CAREER   116   3.50  893   4 1035.2  779  6.77 11.75  63  62 130  79  46 
LG AVG     0   4.49          1035.2  720  6.25 13.06  58  58 

5) The Mariners exercised their $6.25 million option on P Eddie Guardado.

YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
2003 32   13   2.89   66   0   65.1   60  8.27  8.82   3   5  41   6   2  Twins        
2004 33    7   2.78   41   0   45.1   45  8.93  9.13   2   2  18   3   1  Mariners     
2005 34   10   2.72   58   0   56.1   48  7.67 10.70   2   3  36   3   2  Mariners     
CAREER    39   4.29  738  25  799.1  698  7.86 11.87  40  52 170  51  41 
LG AVG     0   4.63           799.1  551  6.20 13.24  45  45 

6) Pirates P Mark Redman exercised his $4.5 million player option.

YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
2003 29    9   3.59   29  29  190.2  151  7.13 11.23  14   9   0  13  10  Marlins      
2004 30   -1   4.71   32  32  191    102  4.81 13.76  11  12   0  11  12  A's          
2005 31  -12   4.90   30  30  178.1  101  5.10 12.41   5  15   0   9  11  Pirates      
CAREER    -1   4.47  169 157  985    624  5.70 12.58  53  66   0  60  59 
LG AVG     0   4.50           985    705  6.44 13.03  55  55 

7) The Tigers exercised their $1.25 million option on P Jamie Walker.

YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
2003 31    7   3.32   78   0   65     45  6.23 11.08   4   3   3   4   3  Tigers       
2004 32    9   3.20   70   0   64.2   53  7.38 11.41   3   4   1   5   2  Tigers       
2005 33    3   3.70   66   0   48.2   30  5.55 11.84   4   3   0   4   3  Tigers       
CAREER     8   4.14  327   2  282.1  207  6.60 11.95  15  15   5  17  13 
LG AVG     0   4.53           282.1  197  6.29 12.97  16  16 

8) According to the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs and free agent to be Rafael Furcal have mutual interest in each other. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Braves are interested in keeping Furcal, but don’t want to meet the kind of offers that the Cubs and Mets may make (4 years, $36-40 million).

9) Diamondbacks GM Josh Byrnes denies that the 3 way trade rumor that would Manny Ramirez to the Angels and Troy Glaus and Darin Erstad to the Red Sox.

10) According to the NY Daily News, the Mets are interested in P Octavio Dotel.

11) Today’s birthdays–

ARMANDO BENITEZ, AGE: 33
YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
2003 30   11   2.96   69   0   73     75  9.25 12.33   4   4  21   6   2  Mets/Yankees/Mariners
2004 31   22   1.29   64   0   69.2   62  8.01  7.36   2   2  47   4   0  Marlins      
2005 32   -1   4.50   30   0   30     23  6.90 12.30   2   3  19   2   3  Giants       
CAREER   107   2.92  658   0  684    849 11.17 10.78  34  36 263  47  23 
LG AVG     0   4.48           684    501  6.60 13.08  38  38 

DWIGHT EVANS, AGE: 54
YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
1981   29   44  .415  .522  .937  .757   8.21  .296  22   71    3  108  Red Sox      
1982   30   47  .402  .534  .936  .688   7.83  .292  32   98    3  162  Red Sox      
1984   32   43  .388  .532  .920  .670   7.44  .295  32  104    3  162  Red Sox      
1987   35   59  .417  .569  .986  .744   8.93  .305  34  123    4  154  Red Sox      
CAR        378  .370  .470  .840  .616   6.15  .272 385 1384   78 2606 
LG AVG       0  .327  .393  .720  .500   4.42  .262 217 1067  171 
POS AVG    103  .332  .424  .756  .533   4.83  .264 294 1213  153 

BOB FELLER, AGE: 87
YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
1939 20   51   2.85   39  35  297    246  7.45 11.27  24   9   1  23  10  Indians      
1940 21   46   2.62   43  37  320    261  7.34 10.35  27  11   4  26  12  Indians      
1941 22   36   3.15   44  40  343    260  6.82 12.67  25  13   2  23  15  Indians      
CAREER   279   3.25  570 484 3828   2581  6.07 11.98 266 162  21 252 176 
LG AVG     0   4.16          3828   1618  3.80 13.32 214 214 

LARRY HERNDON, AGE: 52
YEAR  AGE RCAA   OBA  SLG   OPS   OWP    RC/G  AVG   HR  RBI   SB   G   TEAM
1982   28   10  .332  .480  .812  .548   5.11  .292  23   88   12  157  Tigers       
1983   29   25  .351  .478  .829  .629   5.76  .302  20   92    9  153  Tigers       
1987   33   11  .378  .520  .898  .635   6.51  .324   9   47    1   89  Tigers       
CAR          1  .322  .409  .731  .494   4.39  .274 107  550   92 1537 
LG AVG       0  .329  .396  .725  .500   4.51  .264 116  580  106 
POS AVG     56  .339  .414  .753  .533   4.92  .272 130  606  172 

KEN HOLTZMAN, AGE: 60
YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
1970 24   50   3.38   39  38  288    202  6.31 11.50  17  11   0  19   9  Cubs         
1972 26   11   2.51   39  37  265    134  4.55  9.78  19  11   0  17  13  A's          
1974 28   14   3.07   39  38  255    117  4.13 11.54  19  17   0  20  16  A's          
CAREER    63   3.49  451 410 2867.2 1601  5.02 11.76 174 150   3 171 153 
LG AVG     0   3.59          2867.2 1716  5.38 12.03 160 160 

MATT LAWTON, AGE: 34
See above for stats

JIM MCCORMICK, 1856-1918
YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
1883 26   46   1.84   43  41  342    145  3.82 10.03  28  12   1  29  11  Blues        
1884 27   49   2.37   66  65  569    343  5.43  9.44  40  25   0  41  24  Blues/Outlaw Reds
1886 29   34   2.82   42  42  347.2  172  4.45 11.42  31  11   0  26  16  Cubs         
CAREER   190   2.43  492 485 4275.2 1704  3.59 10.22 265 214   1 275 204 
LG AVG     0   2.88          4275.2 1658  3.49 10.89 237 237 

PAUL QUANTRILL, AGE: 37
YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
2003 34   19   1.75   89   0   77.1   44  5.12  9.19   2   5   1   6   1  Dodgers      
2004 35   -3   4.72   86   0   95.1   37  3.49 13.97   7   3   1   5   5  Yankees      
2005 36  -10   5.35   50   0   69     36  4.70 14.35   2   2   0   1   3  Yankees/Padres/Marlins
CAREER   101   3.83  841  64 1255.2  725  5.20 13.07  68  78  21  87  59 
LG AVG     0   4.49          1255.2  883  6.33 13.11  70  70 

BOB WELCH, AGE: 49
YEAR AGE RSAA  ERA     G  GS   IP    SO   SO/9 BR/9   W   L   SV  NW  NL  TEAM
1978 21   18   2.02   23  13  111.1   66  5.34  9.62   7   4   3   8   3  Dodgers      
1983 26   21   2.65   31  31  204    156  6.88 10.54  15  12   0  17  10  Dodgers      
1985 28   18   2.31   23  23  167.1   96  5.16  9.79  14   4   0  12   6  Dodgers      
1989 32   22   3.00   33  33  209.2  137  5.88 11.80  17   8   0  16   9  A's          
CAREER    56   3.47  506 462 3092   1969  5.73 11.66 211 146   8 191 166 
LG AVG     0   3.84          3092   1905  5.54 12.31 172 172