THT Daily: Waiver deals
by Dave StudemanSeptember 01, 2009
Major League News for September 1
Player 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 News
Player Headlines are courtesy of RotoworldDodgers GM Ned Colletti assured reporters late Monday night that Jim Thome will not draw starts at first base.
"We're not bringing him over here to play first base," Colletti said. "We're bringing him over here to come off the bench and be a great influence in the clubhouse." It's the right call. James Loney, a fantastic defensive first baseman, is batting .274/.350/.387 this season with 74 RBI.
Rockies recalled 1B Jason Giambi from Triple-A Colorado Springs.
Giambi, singed to a minor league deal on August 24, went 8-for-18 with two home runs and four RBI during his short time on the Triple-A level. He'll be used primarily as a late-innings pinch-hitter, and there's a chance he could pick up a start or two at first base on days when veteran Todd Helton isn't feeling his best.
Dodgers acquired RHP Jon Garland from the Diamondbacks for a player to be named later.
The wisest move of the night. Garland, who is still only 29, has gone 3-1 with a 3.89 ERA in the month of August and will serve as an effective fill-in until Hiroki Kuroda (concussion) returns. Charlie Haeger will head back to the bullpen in order to clear room in the rotation.
Rockies acquired RHP Jose Contreras from the White Sox for RHP Brandon Hynick and cash considerations.
Contreras has allowed 30 runs in his last six starts and carried a 7.66 ERA through August. He'll be unfamiliar to most of their opponents down the stretch, but this seems like a misguided move by Colorado. Hynick, 24, isn't just a throw-away chip. He had a 3.83 ERA and 92/48 K/BB ratio in 26 starts (155 innings) this season on the Triple-A level and could eventually turn into a fine long reliever or No. 5 starter.
Dodgers acquired first baseman Jim Thome and cash considerations from the White Sox for shortstop Justin Fuller.
Thome will serve as an excellent late-innings weapon for the playoff-bound Dodgers. Until October, though, he's unlikely to provide much value. James Loney is an excellent first baseman and has enjoyed a solid offensive season. For him to lose at-bats would be a real tragedy.
Adam Lind homered twice and drove in eight runs as the Blue Jays bested the Rangers in an 18-10 slug-fest on Monday night.
Lind ripped his first career grand slam in the fourth, helping Toronto build up an early 11-0 lead, and after the Rangers had rallied back to bring the game within one late, he added a solo homer and a three-run double as part of a seven-run ninth inning for the Jays. Lind is now hitting .303 with 27 homers and 89 RBI this year.
According to MLB.com's Scott Merkin, an MRI on Jake Peavy's sore right elbow Monday revealed no structural damage.
Peavy is still unable to throw without discomfort and he probably won't pick up a ball for another few days, but there's still hope that the right-hander will make his White Sox debut this season. He'll be reevaluated by team doctors after several days of rest.
According to SI.com's Jon Heyman, talks "are heating up" between the Dodgers and D'Backs regarding right-hander Jon Garland.
Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com reported earlier that the Rockies have dropped out of the running, and Heyman now notes that the Yankees are looking less likely as a potential suitor. The Dodgers could use Garland in their rotation down the stretch, or at least until Hiroki Kuroda regains his health. He's 3-1 with a 3.89 ERA this month.
Brandon Phillips revealed Tuesday that he's been playing with a hairline fracture in his left wrist for the past two weeks.
It's not yet clear how the Reds will play this, but our recommendation would be to shut him down for the rest of the season. After all, Great American Ballpark drew less than 2,000 fans for a day game Monday. It's not like anyone would even notice. Either way, Drew Sutton is in line for an uptick in playing time.
Yesterday’s Results
For the full scoop regarding yesterday's games, read "And That Happened" at Shysterball.American League NYA 5 BAL 1 (Recap and Boxscore) TB 11 DET 7 (Recap and Boxscore) MIN 4 CHA 1 (Recap and Boxscore) OAK 8 KC 5 (Recap and Boxscore) LAA 10 SEA 0 (Recap and Boxscore) TOR 18 TEX 10 (Recap and Boxscore) National League ATL 5 FLA 2 (Recap and Boxscore) HOU 5 CHN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 4 PIT 3 (Recap and Boxscore) CIN 6 PIT 3 (Recap and Boxscore) ARI 5 LAN 3 (Recap and Boxscore) SD 3 WAS 1 (Recap and Boxscore)Check out Fangraphs' scoreboard to see all the games in action.
Today’s Games
Blue Jays (59-70) @ Rangers (72-58), 2nd Game
Brian Tallet (31, LHP) vs. Brandon McCarthy (25, RHP)
Blue Jays (59-70) @ Rangers (72-58), 5:05pm
Marc Rzepczynski (23, LHP) vs. Dustin Nippert (28, RHP)
Yankees (83-48) @ Orioles (54-78), 7:05pm
A.J. Burnett (32, RHP) vs. David Hernandez (24, RHP)
Indians (58-72) @ Tigers (69-61), 7:05pm
Unknown() vs. Edwin Jackson (25, RHP)
RedSox (76-54) @ Rays (71-59), 7:08pm
Jon Lester (25, LHP) vs. Andy Sonnanstine (26, RHP)
WhiteSox (64-68) @ Twins (66-65), 8:10pm
John Danks (24, LHP) vs. Jeff Manship (24, RHP)
Royals (50-81) @ Athletics (58-73), 10:05pm
Kyle Davies (25, RHP) vs. Edgar Gonzalez (26, RHP)
Angels (78-52) @ Mariners (68-64), 10:10pm
Ervin Santana (26, RHP) vs. Doug Fister (25, RHP)
Giants (72-59) @ Phillies (75-53), 7:05pm
Jonathan Sanchez (26, LHP) vs. Cole Hamels (25, LHP)
Pirates (53-77) @ Reds (58-73), 7:10pm
Charlie Morton (25, RHP) vs. Justin Lehr (31, RHP)
Braves (69-62) @ Marlins (68-63), 7:10pm
Tim Hudson (33, RHP)
Astros (63-68) @ Cubs (65-64), 8:05pm
Brian Moehler (37, RHP) vs. Randy Wells (26, RHP)
Brewers (64-66) @ Cardinals (77-55), 8:15pm
Braden Looper (34, RHP) vs. Joel Pineiro (30, RHP)
Mets (59-72) @ Rockies (72-59), 8:40pm
Mike Pelfrey (25, RHP) vs. Jorge de la Rosa (28, LHP)
Nationals (46-86) @ Padres (57-76), 10:05pm
J.D. Martin (26, RHP) vs. Clayton Richard (25, LHP)
D'backs (60-72) @ Dodgers (78-54), 10:10pm
Yusmeiro Petit (24, RHP) vs. Vicente Padilla (31, RHP)
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 NYA 83 48 .634 0.0 78 5BOS 76 54 .585 6.5 75 1
TB 71 59 .546 11.5 73 -2
TOR 59 70 .457 23.0 66 -7
BAL 54 78 .409 29.5 58 -4
American League Central DET 69 61 .531 0.0 66 3
MIN 66 65 .504 3.5 67 -1
CHA 64 68 .485 6.0 65 -1
CLE 58 72 .446 11.0 62 -4
KC 50 81 .382 19.5 51 -1
American League West LAA 78 52 .600 0.0 74 4
TEX 72 58 .554 6.0 71 1
SEA 68 64 .515 11.0 60 8
OAK 58 73 .443 20.5 61 -3
National League East Pwins Diff PHI 75 53 .586 0.0 74 1
ATL 69 62 .527 7.5 73 -4
FLA 68 63 .519 8.5 64 4
NYN 59 72 .450 17.5 59 0
WAS 46 86 .348 31.0 55 -9
National League Central STL 77 55 .583 0.0 74 3
CHN 65 64 .504 10.5 67 -2
MIL 64 66 .492 12.0 63 1
HOU 63 68 .481 13.5 57 6
CIN 58 73 .443 18.5 55 3
PIT 53 77 .408 23.0 57 -4
National League West LAN 78 54 .591 0.0 80 -2
COL 72 59 .550 5.5 73 -1
SF 72 59 .550 5.5 69 3
ARI 60 72 .455 18.0 64 -4
SD 57 76 .429 21.5 51 6
Wildcard Standings American League BOS 76 54 .585 0.0 TEX 72 58 .554 4.0 TB 71 59 .546 5.0 SEA 68 64 .515 9.0 MIN 66 65 .504 10.5 National League COL 72 59 .550 0.0 SF 72 59 .550 0.0 ATL 69 62 .527 3.0 FLA 68 63 .519 4.0 CHN 65 64 .504 6.0
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 OAK AAA Chris Carter...... 5 3 0 0 3 0 0 7 RBI ! LAA A Alexia Amarista... 4 2 2 0 0 1 0 MIN AA Wilson Ramos...... 4 3 2 0 0 0 0 SD A Jaff Decker....... 5 3 1 1 0 0 1 OAK AAA Adrian Cardenas... 4 2 2 0 0 0 0 SD AA Eric Sogard....... 3 2 1 0 0 2 0 CLE AA Carlos Santana.... 4 3 1 0 0 1 0 3 LD NYM AA Ruben Tejada...... 4 3 1 0 0 0 0 PHI A Anthony Gose...... 5 3 1 0 0 0 1 SF AAA Jesus Guzman...... 4 1 0 0 1 1 2 CIN AAA Chris Heisey...... 5 2 0 0 1 0 1 TB AAA Matthew Joyce..... 4 2 0 0 1 0 0 ORG LVL PLAYER IP H R ER SO BB HR Notes KC A+ M. Montgomery..... 7 1 0 0 12 0 0 STL AAA P.J. Walters...... 6 5 1 1 8 1 0 SD AA William Inman..... 7 4 2 2 6 1 0 TB A- Kyle Lobstein..... 6 3 2 2 9 2 1 TEX A Joseph Wieland.... 5 3 2 0 6 1 0 FLA A Brad Hand......... 5 2 0 0 6 2 0 BOS AAA Michael Bowden.... 5 6 1 1 4 0 0 NYY A Manuel Banuelos... 2 1 0 0 4 0 0 PHI AA Yohan Flande...... 6 8 4 4 3 0 0 HOU A Brad Dydalewicz... 6 7 2 2 3 1 0 CHC A- Dae-Eun Rhee...... 2 4 2 2 4 0 0 5 GB CHC A C. Archer......... 5 4 1 1 4 3 0
| First Inning's Major and Minor League Daily Reports: |
Dave was called a "national treasure" by Rob Neyer. Seriously. Comments about this article can be sent to him through the miracle of e-mail.