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. 
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THT Daily: Wagner Claimed?by Matthew CarruthAugust 21, 2009 Major League News for August 21Player 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 RotoworldThe dead body of an illegal Mexican immigrant was found Thursday morning on Chipper Jones' ranch in Carrizo Springs, Texas. "As the crow flies, we're eight miles from the Rio Grande," Larry Jones Sr. told the media Thursday, noting that the 10,000-acre sprawl probably draws a good amount of illegal immigrant traffic. Chipper and his family have owned the "Double Dime Ranch" since 2000 and have never had any problems. According to a report in the Chicago Tribune, the sale of the Cubs to the Ricketts family is "imminent." The Tribune Co. agreed to the deal over a month ago, but there were mounds of legal documents to sort through before any signatures could be printed. The Ricketts family has agreed to pay about $900 million for the team, Wrigley Field and a 25 percent stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Having a true owner in place could help the Cubs open payroll space this offseason. Carlos Zambrano (back) tossed five scoreless innings Thursday in a rehab start with Single-A Peoria. Big Z struck out five and allowed just four hits. If he wakes up without any abnormal soreness on Friday, the Cubs will find a date for him to slide back into the starting rotation. Tuesday, August 25 -- a night game against the Nationals -- is a strong possibility. According to the New York Post, Gary Sheffield asked for a contract extension from the Mets Thursday and was denied. Sheffield is now threatening to leave the team and, according to reports, might soon be released. Things had been running smoothly in New York until Sheff made a couple of curious comments on Tuesday night in reaction to trade rumors. "Based on what I know now, no, I do not think I will be here," he said that night. "But if I am sent to a team that I don't want to play for, I would go home." He was scratched from the lineup Thursday night. According to Kelly Thesier of MLB.com, Justin Morneau flew back to the Twin Cities Thursday to have a specialist examine his inner-ear infection. Morneau has missed two starts in a row with dizziness related to the ear infection. He should avoid the disabled list, but might not return to the Twins' starting lineup until Sunday or Monday. Mets activated LHP Billy Wagner from the 60-day disabled list. Wagner has been out the entire season recovering from Tommy John surgery and might not be long for New York. The Mets placed him on waivers Wednesday and will look to unload his salary in a trade. Until they're able to spin a deal, he could vulture some saves from Francisco Rodriguez. The struggling Livan Hernandez was designated for assignment to clear room on the 40-man roster. Rangers activated OF Nelson Cruz from the 15-day disabled list. Cruz was out for a little over two weeks with a sprained left ankle. He (and his 25 home runs) will return to the sixth spot in the Rangers' batting order Thursday night. The outfielder belongs in any and all fantasy lineups. Brandon Phillips left Thursday's game in the third inning with a sore left wrist. Phillips missed Sunday's game with the same injury before returning Tuesday. Clearly, he's not healthy yet. Consider him day-to-day. Reds placed RHP Johnny Cueto on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to August 16, with right shoulder inflammation. Cueto is hoping to rejoin the rotation the day he's eligible. The sophomore is 0-6 with a 10.63 ERA over his last eight starts and is 8-10 with a 4.61 ERA overall. The week-and-a-half of rest should only help. Yesterday’s ResultsFor the full scoop regarding yesterday's games, read "And That Happened" at Shysterball.American League BAL 8 TB 7 (Recap and Boxscore) BOS 8 TOR 1 (Recap and Boxscore) CLE 11 LAA 3 (Recap and Boxscore) DET 7 SEA 6 (Recap and Boxscore) TEX 11 MIN 1 (Recap and Boxscore) National League ATL 3 NYN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) PHI 12 ARI 3 (Recap and Boxscore) COL 4 WAS 1 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 2 SF 1 (Recap and Boxscore) HOU 4 FLA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) LAN 7 CHN 2 (Recap and Boxscore) STL 5 SD 1 (Recap and Boxscore)Check out Fangraphs' scoreboard to see all the games in action. Today’s GamesMariners (62-59) @ Indians (52-68), 7:05pmLucas French (23, LHP) vs. David Huff (24, LHP) Angels (73-46) @ Blue Jays (55-64), 7:07pm Sean O'Sullivan (21, RHP) vs. Marc Rzepczynski (23, LHP) Yankees (76-45) @ RedSox (69-51), 7:10pm Andy Pettitte (37, LHP) vs. Brad Penny (31, RHP) Rangers (68-52) @ Rays (65-55), 7:38pm Dustin Nippert (28, RHP) vs. Scott Kazmir (25, LHP) Twins (58-63) @ Royals (47-73), 8:10pm Nick Blackburn (27, RHP) vs. Luke Hochevar (25, RHP) Orioles (49-72) @ WhiteSox (62-59), 8:11pm Jeremy Guthrie (30, RHP) vs. Gavin Floyd (26, RHP) Tigers (64-56) @ Athletics (53-67), 10:05pm Edwin Jackson (25, RHP) vs. Gio Gonzalez (23, LHP) Brewers (58-62) @ Nationals (43-78), 7:05pm Braden Looper (34, RHP) vs. J.D. Martin (26, RHP) Reds (51-69) @ Pirates (49-70), 7:05pm Micah Owings (26, RHP) vs. Charlie Morton (25, RHP) Phillies (69-49) @ Mets (56-65), 7:10pm Cole Hamels (25, LHP) vs. Mike Pelfrey (25, RHP) Marlins (64-57) @ Braves (64-57), 7:30pm Anibal Sanchez (25, RHP) vs. Javier Vazquez (32, RHP) D'backs (54-68) @ Astros (59-62), 8:05pm Yusmeiro Petit (24, RHP) vs. Roy Oswalt (31, RHP) Giants (66-55) @ Rockies (68-53), 9:10pm Jonathan Sanchez (26, LHP) vs. Aaron Cook (30, RHP) Cardinals (70-53) @ Padres (51-72), 10:05pm Kyle Lohse (30, RHP) vs. Clayton Richard (25, LHP) Cubs (61-58) @ Dodgers (72-50), 10:10pm Randy Wells (26, RHP) vs. Randy Wolf (32, LHP) 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 76 45 .628 0.0 71 5 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 SD AA Eric Sogard....... 6 4 1 0 2 0 0 LA A Kyle Russell...... 5 3 2 0 0 1 1 CHC A- Hak-Ju Lee........ 5 3 2 0 0 0 1 3 LD LA AAA Blake Dewitt...... 5 2 0 1 1 0 1 STL AA Steve Hill........ 3 2 2 0 0 1 1 CIN AA Todd Frazier...... 4 2 1 0 1 0 0 CLE A- Jason Kipnis...... 5 3 2 0 0 0 1 SF AAA John Bowker....... 3 2 2 0 0 0 0 DET AAA Dusty Ryan........ 5 3 0 0 1 0 2 4 RBI PIT AAA Neil Walker....... 4 2 2 0 0 0 1 4 RBI CHC AA Tyler Colvin...... 3 1 0 0 1 2 0 SF A+ Conor Gillaspie... 5 2 2 0 0 0 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes TB A- Kyle Lobstein..... 5 4 3 3 10 1 0 TB AAA J. Hellickson..... 5 3 2 1 10 2 0 MIN AA Deolis Guerra..... 7 5 2 1 6 0 0 SD AA Cory Luebke....... 6 3 1 1 5 0 0 PHI AA Kyle Drabek....... 7 3 0 0 4 1 0 STL A+ Richard Castillo.. 6 4 0 0 5 1 0 KC A+ Daniel Duffy...... 5 0 0 0 6 3 0 TEX AA Kasey Kiker....... 6 7 3 2 7 2 0 11 GB BAL A+ Zachary Britton... 5 6 5 3 8 3 0 10 GB NYY AAA Ivan Nova......... 6 4 2 2 5 1 1 TEX A Neil Ramirez...... 3 2 1 1 5 1 0 ATL A+ Cole Rohrbough.... 5 4 3 3 8 3 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: Cooperstown Confidential: Tarzan Joe Wallis>> <<Previous Article: How accurately can we estimate a hitter's runs? (Part 1) | ||
BOS 69 51 .575 6.5 69 0 
TB 65 55 .542 10.5 67 -2 
TOR 55 64 .462 20.0 62 -7 
BAL 49 72 .405 27.0 52 -3 
American League Central
DET 64 56 .533 0.0 62 2 
CHA 62 59 .512 2.5 62 0 
MIN 58 63 .479 6.5 61 -3 
CLE 52 68 .433 12.0 58 -6 
KC 47 73 .392 17.0 47 0 
American League West
LAA 73 46 .613 0.0 67 6 
TEX 68 52 .567 5.5 66 2 
SEA 62 59 .512 12.0 55 7 
OAK 53 67 .442 20.5 56 -3 
National League East Pwins Diff
PHI 69 49 .585 0.0 69 0 
ATL 64 57 .529 6.5 67 -3 
FLA 64 57 .529 6.5 61 3 
NYN 56 65 .463 14.5 55 1 
WAS 43 78 .355 27.5 50 -7 
National League Central
STL 70 53 .569 0.0 68 2 
CHN 61 58 .513 7.0 62 -1 
HOU 59 62 .488 10.0 53 6 
MIL 58 62 .483 10.5 57 1 
CIN 51 69 .425 17.5 50 1 
PIT 49 70 .412 19.0 52 -3 
National League West
LAN 72 50 .590 0.0 74 -2 
COL 68 53 .562 3.5 69 -1 
SF 66 55 .545 5.5 65 1 
ARI 54 68 .443 18.0 56 -2 
SD 51 72 .415 21.5 46 5 
Wildcard Standings
American League
BOS 69 51 .575 0.0
TEX 68 52 .567 1.0
TB 65 55 .542 4.0
CHA 62 59 .512 7.5
SEA 62 59 .512 7.5
National League
COL 68 53 .562 0.0
SF 66 55 .545 2.0
ATL 64 57 .529 4.0
FLA 64 57 .529 4.0
CHN 61 58 .513 6.0