November 22, 2009
Order Now The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2010 is now in development and will ship in mid November! This year's book will feature articles by THT's staff as well as Bill James, Tom Tango and Craig Wright. If you use this link to purchase the Annual, you will be in the first group to receive it and you'll be supporting THT. 
Rich Barbieri
John Barten Brian Borawski Craig Brown Evan Brunell David Gassko Jonathan Hale Brandon Isleib Chris Jaffe Max Marchi Bruce Markusen Harry Pavlidis Jeff Sackmann Dave Studeman Steve Treder Bryan Tsao Tuck! Dan Turkenkopf Colin Wyers Geoff Young John Brattain And here's the full roster.
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THT Daily: Trade Hangoverby Matthew CarruthAugust 01, 2009 Major League News for August 1Player News Yesterday’s Results Today’s Games Standings Top Minor League Performances You can always find the most recent THT Daily at http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/content/thtdaily/ Player NewsPlayer Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldIn his Phillies' debut, Cliff Lee tossed a complete-game four-hitter in a 5-1 win over the Giants on Friday night. Talk about making a statement. Not only did Lee pitch a great game, holding the Giants without a hit until a Juan Uribe double in the sixth inning, he also went 2-for-3 with a run scored at the dish, almost hitting the ball out of the park on a double in the eighth. Welcome to the National League, Cliff. We think you'll like it here. Lee struck out six and walked two in his debut. He has a date with the Rockies next. Marlins activated RHP Matt Lindstrom from the 15-day disabled list. Lindstrom sat out over a month with an inflamed right elbow. He's ready to start contributing again, but Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez has said repeatedly that the right-hander will be eased back into the closer's role. Leo Nunez and Dan Meyer can take their last gasps of glory. Jason Schmidt tossed six one-hit innings in a 5-0 win over the Braves on Friday night. You have to feel good for the guy. All he gave up was a single to Chipper Jones in the third inning. He walked five and fanned three, improving to 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA through his first three starts. We're not sure how he'll get by with that batting practice fastball, but that can be a conversation for another day. Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi said Friday that he'll be open to trade proposals for Roy Halladay in the offseason. As expected. The Red Sox, Dodgers, Angels, Yankees and Rangers showed interest in the Toronto ace this summer and are likely to contend for his services again in November. The asking price will remain astronomical. Vladimir Guerrero took batting practice and ran the bases Friday as he continues to recover from a strained muscle behind his left knee. Vlad could be ready to return as a designated hitter by late next week. "Vlad made a lot of progress in the last four or five days," manager Mike Scioscia said Friday. "He's getting close. He's taken a huge step forward today." He's been on the sidelines since early July. J.D. Drew has been diagnosed with a groin strain and is out of Boston's lineup Friday against the Orioles. Drew suffered the injury Thursday during an eighth-inning double and is expected to miss two games. "If I get on base tonight and had to go first to third or something, it a very good chance I could mess it up pretty bad," he said. "I think in a couple days it should respond pretty well." Edinson Volquez cut his simulated game short on Friday after feeling pain in his troublesome right elbow. The right-hander was cruising toward a rehab assignment. "I was fine in all my bullpens," Volquez said. "But when I threw with more intensity to hitters today, I felt it. It's crazy. It's not as bad as it was." He could be headed for surgery and is obviously doubtful to return this season. Marlins acquired first baseman Nick Johnson from the Nationals for LHP Aaron Thompson. A big pickup for Florida. They'll lose some range defensively by shifting Jorge Cantu back to third base, but Johnson will be an upgrade with the glove at first base and he'll add a healthy dose of OBP at the top of the order if Fredi Gonzalez is willing to bat him second. Emilio Bonifacio will likely start in left field against left-handers and serve as a defensive replacement at third. The Nats will probably shift Adam Dunn to first base and give Elijah Dukes another opportunity in the outfield. If they want Dukes to stay in Triple-A for a little while longer, then Mike Morse would seem to be in line for a callup. White Sox acquired RHP Jake Peavy from the Padres for LHP Aaron Poreda, LHP Clayton Richard, RHP Dexter Carter and RHP Adam Russell. It's a similar deal to the one the two teams agreed to in May. Peavy blocked that swap with his no-trade clause, but he accepted the deal this time. In a best-case scenario, he'll be ready to help the White Sox in late August or early September. This is primarily a trade for 2010 and beyond, though. It's unclear how much of Peavy's salary the Padres are picking up. He's owed $48 million for 2010-12, plus $22 million or a $4 million buyout in 2013. Yesterday’s ResultsFor the full scoop regarding yesterday's games, read "And That Happened" at Shysterball.American League BOS 6 BAL 5 (Recap and Boxscore) TB 8 KC 2 (Recap and Boxscore) CHA 10 NYA 5 (Recap and Boxscore) CLE 6 DET 5 (Recap and Boxscore) LAA 11 MIN 5 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 8 TOR 5 (Recap and Boxscore) TEX 5 SEA 4 (Recap and Boxscore) National League LAN 5 ATL 0 (Recap and Boxscore) FLA 5 CHN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) ARI 3 NYN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) COL 5 CIN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) PIT 5 WAS 4 (Recap and Boxscore) STL 4 HOU 3 (Recap and Boxscore) SD 11 MIL 7 (Recap and Boxscore) PHI 5 SF 1 (Recap and Boxscore)Check out Fangraphs' scoreboard to see all the games in action. Today’s GamesNational League --------------- Los Angeles Dodgers at Atlanta Braves, 4:10 PM (L) Randy Wolf (5-5) vs. (R) Derek Lowe (10-7) Washington Nationals at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 PM (R) Craig Stammen (3-5) vs. (R) Virgil Vasquez (1-5) Arizona Diamondbacks at New York Mets, 7:10 PM (R) Max Scherzer (6-6) vs. (L) Oliver Perez (2-3) Chicago Cubs at Florida Marlins, 7:10 PM (R) Carlos Zambrano (7-4) vs. (R) Burke Badenhop (5-4) Colorado Rockies at Cincinnati Reds, 7:10 PM (R) Ubaldo Jimenez (7-9) vs. (R) Homer Bailey (2-2) Houston Astros at St. Louis Cardinals, 7:15 PM (L) Wandy Rodriguez (10-6) vs. (R) Chris Carpenter (9-3) Philadelphia Phillies at San Francisco Giants, 9:05 PM (R) Joe Blanton (7-4) vs. (R) Tim Lincecum (11-3) Milwaukee Brewers at San Diego Padres, 10:05 PM (R) Mike Burns (2-3) vs. (L) Clayton Richard (0-0) American League --------------- Kansas City Royals at Tampa Bay Rays, 4:10 PM (L) Bruce Chen (0-5) vs. (R) Jeff Niemann (9-5) New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox, 4:10 PM (R) A.J. Burnett (10-4) vs. (L) John Danks (8-7) Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 PM (R) Rick Porcello (9-7) vs. (L) Jeremy Sowers (3-7) Boston Red Sox at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 PM (R) Josh Beckett (12-4) vs. (R) David Hernandez (3-2) LA Angels of Anaheim at Minnesota Twins, 7:10 PM (L) Joe Saunders (8-6) vs. (R) Anthony Swarzak (3-3) Seattle Mariners at Texas Rangers, 8:05 PM (R) Felix Hernandez (11-4) vs. (R) Tommy Hunter (3-1) Toronto Blue Jays at Oakland Athletics, 9:20 PM (L) Brett Cecil (4-1) vs. (R) Trevor Cahill (6-9) StandingsThe 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 NYA 62 41 .602 0.0 59 3 Top Minor League GamesThe 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 TOR AAA Travis Snider..... 6 4 4 0 0 0 0 5 RBI ! CLE AA Matthew McBride... 4 3 1 0 2 0 0 8 RBI ! PIT AAA Jeff Clement...... 4 3 0 0 2 1 0 3 R CLE AA Carlos Rivero..... 5 3 1 1 1 0 0 CIN AAA Drew Stubbs....... 4 3 1 0 0 1 1 2 SB CLE AAA Michael Brantley.. 2 1 0 0 1 3 0 3 R STL AA Steve Hill........ 4 2 1 0 1 1 2 FLA A+ Matt Dominguez.... 2 2 1 0 1 1 0 CHW AAA Tyler Flowers..... 4 3 2 0 0 0 0 NYY AA Jesus Montero..... 5 3 2 0 0 0 1 3 LD BOS AA Ryan Kalish....... 5 3 2 0 0 0 0 DET AAA Wilkin Ramirez.... 5 2 2 0 0 0 1 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes STL AAA P.J. Walters...... 7 4 2 2 13 2 0 STL A Arquimedes Nieto.. 6 4 0 0 8 1 0 HOU A Jordan Lyles...... 6 3 0 0 8 2 0 NYY AA Jeremy Bleich..... 7 4 0 0 5 0 0 DET A Casey Crosby...... 4 4 4 0 6 0 0 9 GB MIN AAA Kevin Mulvey...... 6 4 2 2 9 4 1 PHI AA Yohan Flande...... 7 6 4 3 6 3 0 TEX A- Robert Ross....... 6 5 2 2 4 1 0 11 GB TEX A Joseph Wieland.... 5 1 0 0 3 1 0 TB A Matthew Moore..... 4 3 1 0 6 3 0 ATL AA Scott Diamond..... 6 5 2 2 5 3 0 CLE AAA Carlos Carrasco... 5 8 4 4 6 1 1
Matthew Carruth is an editor for The Hardball Times. He welcomes any and all sorts of communication at his email. Commenting is not available in this weblog entry. Do you have a general question or comment for one of THT's writers? Send it in to our weekly mailbag We also welcome unsolicited op-ed pieces of approximately 500 words for consideration. We reserve the right to edit for length, clarity and consistency of style. Please include your whole name and location to be considered. If you have a comment about this specific article, please email the writer. Next Article: THT Daily: Brian Matusz>> <<Previous Article: Guarding the lines | ||
BOS 60 42 .588 1.5 59 1 
TB 56 47 .544 6.0 59 -3 
TOR 49 54 .476 13.0 55 -6 
BAL 44 58 .431 17.5 45 -1 
American League Central
DET 53 48 .525 0.0 54 -1 
CHA 53 51 .510 1.5 53 0 
MIN 52 51 .505 2.0 53 -1 
CLE 43 60 .417 11.0 48 -5 
KC 40 62 .392 13.5 39 1 
American League West
LAA 61 40 .604 0.0 56 5 
TEX 58 43 .574 3.0 55 3 
SEA 53 50 .515 9.0 46 7 
OAK 44 58 .431 17.5 47 -3 
National League East Pwins Diff
PHI 59 42 .584 0.0 58 1 
FLA 54 49 .524 6.0 51 3 
ATL 52 51 .505 8.0 54 -2 
NYN 49 53 .480 10.5 48 1 
WAS 32 71 .311 28.0 41 -9 
National League Central
STL 57 49 .538 0.0 57 0 
CHN 54 47 .535 0.5 54 0 
HOU 51 52 .495 4.5 46 5 
MIL 51 52 .495 4.5 49 2 
CIN 45 57 .441 10.0 42 3 
PIT 44 58 .431 11.0 48 -4 
National League West
LAN 64 39 .621 0.0 62 2 
COL 56 47 .544 8.0 57 -1 
SF 56 47 .544 8.0 55 1 
ARI 45 58 .437 19.0 48 -3 
SD 42 62 .404 22.5 38 4 