Around the Majors: Postseason starts today

1) Today’s schedule–

Dodgers (Odalis Perez, 3.25) at Cardinals (Woody Williams, 4.18), 1:00
Redsox (Curt Schilling, 3.26) at Angels (Jarrod Washburn, 4.64), 4:00
Twins (Johan Santana, 2.61) at Yankees (Mike Mussina, 4.59), 8:00

2) The Mariners fired manager Bob Melvin.

3) The BlueJays announced manager John Gibbons will have the “interim” removed from his title.

4) The Whitesox re-signed P Cliff Politte to a 1 year, $1 million contract extension, with an option for 2006.

After 3.67 ERA/5 RSAA and 5.66 ERA/-5 RSAA seasons, Politte had a 4.38 ERA/3 RSAA in 54 games. He has a 4.50 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.49, and 2 RSAA in 232 games.

5) Tigers manager Alan Trammell says Omar Infante will go into next season as the starting 2B, regardless of Fernando Vina’s health.

In his first year as a starter, Infante had a .449 SLG, .317 OBA, .766 OPS, 0 RCAA in 142 games. He has a .703 career OPS, compared to his league average of .769, and -12 RCAA in 229 games.

After -14 RCAA/.670 OPS and -8 RCAA/.691 OPS seasons, Vina had a .270 SLG, .308 OBA, .577 OPS, -9 RCAA in 29 games and suffered a season ending knee and hamstring injury in May. He was in his first year of a 2 year contract and has a .728 career OPS, compared to his league average of .777, and -56 RCAA in 1148 games.

6) The Twins claimed C Corky Miller off waivers from the Reds.

Miller has -16 RCAA/.633 OPS in 83 career games, including a .026 SLG, .204 OBA, .230 OPS, -8 RCAA in 13 games in 2004.

7) The Reds removed Ps Mike Matthews, Aaron Myette and Juan Padilla from the 40 man roster. They all removed their outright assignment to the minors and became free agents.

After 3.94 ERA/0 RSAA and 4.45 ERA/-4 RSAA seasons, Matthews had a 6.30 ERA/-8 RSAA in 35 games. He has a 4.41 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.30, and -8 RSAA in 224 games.

Myette has a 8.16 ERA/-60 RSAA in 47 career games, including a 8.31 ERA/-2 RSAA in 5 games in 2004.

Padilla had a 7.71 ERA/-10 RSAA in his first 18 career games (first 6 with the Yankees).

8) The BlueJays named Ernie Whitt as bench coach and Brad Arnsberg as pitching coach.

---

If you enjoy the ATM reports and want to support them, check out my other creation–the sabermetric baseball encyclopedia. Orders are now being taken for the next edition, which will include the 2004 stats and come out in October. It’s powerful, yet extremely easy to use. Features extensive sorting, stat display options, and features that are not available in online and printed sources. The deluxe package has been greatly expanded and could include a free copy of the current edition. For more information, see http://www.baseball-encyclopedia.com

According to Peter Gammons, “There is no greater baseball tool than Lee Sinins’ Baseball Sabermetric Encyclopedia. Get thee to Baseball Immortals and order the disc, haste post haste.” The product Jayson Stark called “the best invention since the toaster oven!” has gotten even more powerful.