THT Daily: And then there were none
by Matthew CarruthJuly 26, 2007
Major League News for July 26
LinksPlayer News
Yesterday’s Results
Today’s Games
Standings
Top Minor League Performances
Stats
You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/
Links
A whimper - THT's own Jeff Sackmann breaks down the Scott Linebrink trade over at Brew Crew Ball.
Young extension close - The Nationals are close to signing first baseman Dmitri Young to a two-year contract extension. While it would have been nice to move the rejuvenated Young for players who will be part of the next contending Nationals team, I'm probably less down on this deal than most, since organizations still have to field a team and at least try to keep butts in the seats.
Bottled - A's catcher Mike Piazza was hit in the helmut by a water bottle while waiting in the on-deck circle during yesterday's game against the Angels. Quite frankly, I'm surprised that an Angels fan took time away from watching the jumbotron and playing with beach balls to actually look toward the field.
NL NVP at a glance - Mike Pindelski of Beyond the Box Score runs down the NL's MVP candidates.
THT Links represents the best efforts of our editors in scouring the various tubes of the interweb for both relevant and irrelevant news items. If you have happened upon a story that we have overlooked or wish to give feedback of any sort, please notify us at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
Player News
Player news items are provided by RotoworldTom Gorzelanny intends to make his next start after leaving Wednesday's game with shoulder stiffness.
"I tried to pitch through it," he said. "It kind of bothered me. It just feels like that middle of the year stiffness." Manager Jim Tracy didn't seem as optimistic that Gorzelanny would pitch next week. "We are not going to take any chances," he said. "He's been a durable guy. We'll see (Thursday). He's complaining of no pain of any kind, just stiffness."
Derek Lowe will undergo an MRI on Thursday after suffering a strained groin Wednesday.
Lowe, who left tonight's game in the fifth inning, apparently was originally injured in his relief appearance Sunday. If he requires a DL stint, then the Dodgers would keep both Mark Hendrickson and Brett Tomko in the rotation after Randy Wolf comes off the disabled list next week.
Gary Sheffield was scratched from Wednesday's lineup because of a sore right shoulder.
DHing has helped keep Sheffield healthy this year, but he's day-to-day for now. Ryan Raburn started in his place, and Magglio Ordonez got a mini-break as the Tigers' DH for the night.
The Dallas Morning News says the Rangers and Braves are "heavily involved" in talks that could result in a Mark Teixeira deal.
Jarrod Saltalamacchia looks like a lock to go in a Teixeira deal. The Braves might also willing to part with shortstop prospect Elvis Andrus and a pitcher—probably either Kyle Davies or Matt Harrison—if it gets them Teixeira and some relief help. Jo-Jo Reyes reportedly isn't on the table. The Dodgers are also very much in the mix, and the Angels are reportedly offering Casey Kotchman and either Terry Evans or Nathan Haynes for Teixeira. The Rangers would almost certainly want a better second player from the Angels. They're dreaming about getting local product Clayton Kershaw from the Dodgers, but that's a long shot. James Loney likely would go the other way in any deal with the Dodgers.
Orioles placed RHP Chris Ray on the 15-day disabled list with a sore elbow.
If everything goes right, we're guessing Ray will be activated on Sept. 1. If not, he'll probably undergo surgery to remove the bone spur, which would require a rehab or two or three months and end his season. Interim manager Dave Trembley has no plans to name a closer with Ray out. Danys Baez and Jamie Walker appear to be the top candidates for saves right now, with Paul Shuey, Chad Bradford and Cory Doyne possibilities to work their way into the mix.
Jason Giambi is scheduled to play in games Friday and Saturday for Single-A Tampa.
"I'm to that point where I really can\xe2\x80\x99t do any more working out, taking BP and running," Giambi said. "Now it's going to be more game activity. I think that will be a gauge to see how I do." If all goes well, Giambi could return as soon as Monday. However, it's also possible the Yankees will decide he needs more at-bats in the minors. When Giambi returns, the Bombers will either have to play Johnny Damon at first base or sit Melky Cabrera. There's not going to be as many at-bats available for Shelley Duncan or Andy Phillips.
Athletics placed shortstop Bobby Crosby on the 15-day disabled list with a fractured left hand.
Justin Speier let one get away from him last night and knocked Crosby out of the lineup for four to six weeks. The A's will go with Marco Scutaro and Donnie Murphy at shortstop. The injury won't have much of an impact on Oakland's slim postseason chances this year, but the A's really wanted Crosby to stay healthy and step up his play the rest of the way. Now they'll have only September to get a good handle on whether they need to look to upgrade at shortstop this winter.
Yesterday’s Results
American League BAL 6 TB 1 (Recap and Boxscore) TOR 13 MIN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) DET 13 CHA 9 (Recap and Boxscore) CLE 1 BOS 0 (Recap and Boxscore) NYA 7 KC 1 (Recap and Boxscore) LAA 7 OAK 6 (Recap and Boxscore) TEX 7 SEA 6 (Recap and Boxscore) National League NYN 6 PIT 3 (Recap and Boxscore) PHI 7 WAS 5 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 7 MIL 3 (Recap and Boxscore) HOU 2 LAN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) CHN 7 STL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) ARI 7 FLA 0 (Recap and Boxscore) COL 10 SD 2 (Recap and Boxscore) SF 2 ATL 1 (Recap and Boxscore)
Today’s Games
National League --------------- Pittsburgh Pirates at New York Mets, 12:10 PM (L) Paul Maholm (6-12) vs. (L) Oliver Perez (9-6) Milwaukee Brewers at Cincinnati Reds, 12:35 PM (R) Dave Bush (8-8) vs. (L) Bobby Livingston (2-1) Washington Nationals at Philadelphia Phillies, 1:05 PM (L) John Lannan (0-0) vs. (R) Adam Eaton (9-6) Atlanta Braves at San Francisco Giants, 7:05 PM (R) Buddy Carlyle (5-2) vs. (R) Tim Lincecum (5-2) San Diego Padres at Houston Astros, 8:05 PM (L) David Wells (5-6) vs. (L) Wandy Rodriguez (6-9) Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals, 8:10 PM (R) Jason Marquis (7-5) vs. (R) Braden Looper (7-8) Los Angeles Dodgers at Colorado Rockies, 9:05 PM (R) Brad Penny (12-1) vs. (R) Rodrigo Lopez (5-3) Florida Marlins at Arizona Diamondbacks, 9:40 PM (R) Byung-Hyun Kim (5-5) vs. (R) Micah Owings (5-5) American League --------------- Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Baltimore Orioles, 12:35 PM (R) Edwin Jackson (2-9) vs. (R) Steve Trachsel (5-7) Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox, 2:05 PM (R) Justin Verlander (11-3) vs. (L) John Danks (6-7) Boston Red Sox at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (L) Kason Gabbard (4-0) vs. (L) Cliff Lee (5-7) New York Yankees at Kansas City Royals, 8:10 PM (L) Kei Igawa (2-2) vs. (L) Jorge De La Rosa (7-10) Oakland Athletics at Seattle Mariners, 10:05 PM (R) Danny Haren (11-3) vs. (R) Jeff Weaver (2-8)
Standings
The graphics next to each team are called "sparklines.” They depict each team’s performance over the last month. Each "up" bar is a victory and a "down" bar is a loss. There are horizontal lines for home games and red bars represent games decided by two runs or less. "PWins" is short for Projected Wins, based on each team’s Run Differential, and is often a better measure of a team’s true strength. Other team graphs and stats can be found on our Team Page.American League East Pwins Diff BOS 61 40 .604 0.0 62 -1NYA 54 46 .540 6.5 62 -8
TOR 51 50 .505 10.0 54 -3
BAL 46 53 .465 14.0 51 -5
TB 38 62 .380 22.5 36 2
American League Central DET 60 40 .600 0.0 60 0
CLE 59 42 .584 1.5 56 3
MIN 51 50 .505 9.5 53 -2
CHA 45 56 .446 15.5 42 3
KC 43 57 .430 17.0 46 -3
American League West LAA 58 42 .580 0.0 54 4
SEA 54 45 .545 3.5 50 4
OAK 48 53 .475 10.5 52 -4
TEX 46 56 .451 13.0 47 -1
National League East Pwins Diff NYN 57 43 .570 0.0 54 3
ATL 54 48 .529 4.0 53 1
PHI 52 48 .520 5.0 53 -1
FLA 48 54 .471 10.0 48 0
WAS 42 58 .420 15.0 39 3
National League Central MIL 56 45 .554 0.0 54 2
CHN 53 46 .535 2.0 56 -3
STL 45 52 .464 9.0 40 5
HOU 44 57 .436 12.0 45 -1
CIN 43 59 .422 13.5 46 -3
PIT 41 58 .414 14.0 41 0
National League West LAN 56 46 .549 0.0 55 1
SD 54 46 .540 1.0 55 -1
ARI 55 48 .534 1.5 49 6
COL 51 50 .505 4.5 51 0
SF 42 57 .424 12.5 48 -6
Top Minor League Games
The following list, provided by First Inning, includes the top minor league batting (based on Runs Created) and pitching (based on Game Score) performances from yesterday.ORG LVL PLAYER AB H 2B 3B HR BB SO Notes ARI AAA Carlos Quentin.... 4 3 1 0 1 0 1 3 R LA AAA Andy LaRoche...... 3 2 1 0 0 1 0 TB AA Evan Longoria..... 5 3 1 0 1 0 1 CIN AAA Jay Bruce......... 3 1 0 0 1 0 2 CHC AAA Felix Pie......... 6 4 0 1 0 0 0 3 R ARI AA Justin Upton...... 4 2 0 0 0 1 1 ARI AAA Carlos Quentin.... 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 LA A+ Travis Denker..... 5 4 1 0 1 0 0 CLE A+ Stephen Head...... 4 3 1 0 0 1 1 CHC AAA Geovany Soto...... 5 3 0 1 1 0 0 3 R LAA AA Sean Rodriguez.... 5 3 0 0 1 0 1 3 R ARI AAA Chris Carter...... 3 2 0 0 1 1 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes MIN AA Anthony Swarzak... 7 2 0 0 11 0 0 NYY AAA Joba Chamberlain.. 5 4 0 0 10 1 0 BOS AA Justin Masterson.. 7 3 2 2 10 0 1 TB A+ Jacob McGee....... 7 5 0 0 8 2 0 12 GB TB AAA Jeff Niemann...... 6 5 0 0 4 1 0 ARI A+ Matthew Torra..... 8 6 4 4 7 2 0 CHW AAA Lance Broadway.... 6 3 1 1 7 4 0 CLE AAA Jeremy Sowers..... 5 8 1 1 5 1 0 NYY AA Alan Horne........ 8 5 1 1 7 4 0 DET AA Dallas Trahern.... 8 3 1 0 3 3 0 14 GB OAK A+ Vincent Mazzaro... 5 5 1 1 6 2 0 9 GB TB A J. Hellickson..... 6 3 1 1 4 2 0
THT Stats
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Matthew Carruth is an editor for The Hardball Times. He welcomes any and all sorts of communication at his email.