Aug 23rd 2008 10:00AM by Mullet (author feed)

I remember it being early April, 2007. I was just starting out at FanHouse, and I was blogging my ever-loving heart out while wearing some new pajamas that I had bought to celebrate my arrival here. It was then when all of a sudden, a loud “whoosh” rattled my windows and knocked me off of my seat. I thought it was some sort of freakish weather pattern, or an airplane flying a bit too low while landing at LaGuardia.

Turns out there was nothing to worry about. It was just Carl Pavano falling off the face of the earth.

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Jul 19th 2008 6:49PM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)

The Tigers have done a nice job of recovering from a wretched start to the season. Expected to be a 1,000-run juggernaut, Detroit stumbled out of the gate, losing its first seven game and going 23-32 over the first two months. Entering play Saturday, the Tigers stand at 48-48. While they aren’t expected to drop back below .500 for the rest of the season, the Tigers have a long way to go to catch up with the Twins and White Sox in the AL Central.

Maybe that’s why both utilityman Brandon Inge and reliever Fernando Rodney are sporting brand new buzzcuts today. Detroit needs that extra push in the second half. Sure a reliable starting pitcher would go a lot farther in helping the Tigers’ chances, but a new hairstyle can’t hurt can it?

Who better than manager Jim Leyland, ever the gruff kidder, to comment on the new locks sported by his players?

“There’s something wrong with Inge,” joked Leyland before Saturday night’s game in Baltimore. “He’s [expletive] rowing with one oar.”

“He has a good time and he plays his ass off,” added Leyland in a moment of candor about Inge, who, after losing his starting role this winter, has played all over the place this season and been extremely valuable to Leyland.

As for Rodney, who is holding onto his shorn locks so he can show his mother, Leyland had a few more wisecracks. “If he shaves that [expletive] goatee, he’ll look even better,” said the Tigers manager. “The [expletive] shampoo will finally get to his head.”

Will all this actually help Detroit? Who knows? But for a team that faced high expectations and still has a big hole to climb out of, the Tigers appear to be an awfully loose bunch.Continue Reading

Jul 19th 2008 8:30PM by Mullet (author feed)
Adam Loewen was a promising pitching prospect who has to end his pitching career at the age of 24 due to a stress fracture in his left elbow … a recurring injury that has hampered Loewen’s progress before.

But notice I said “pitching career” and not “baseball career”. Because Rick Ankiel has given all of those two-way players in college hope that if something doesn’t work out on the mound, whether it be because of injury or extreme wildness, that it is possible to return to the majors as an outfielder. And that’s what Loewen wants to do.”I won’t have to have surgery. If I did choose the other road with pitching, it would be a long road with no clear ending,” Loewen said Saturday. “It’s not a simple decision, but it’s right there in front of me.” (…)

“The good news is that we have a player that is very much a hitting prospect as well,” Orioles president Andy MacPhail said. “And he has assured me he can still hit and wants to hit. So, the club is prepared to embark on that path with him. Once the season is over, we will start career No. 2 for Adam Loewen.”So what are Loewen’s hitting credentials? Find out after the jump.Continue Reading

Jul 20th 2008 2:13PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)
The Los Angeles Angels have to be loving what’s going on up in Oakland. For the first half of the season, the upstart Athletics had the Angels looking over their shoulders a bit more than they would have liked, but with the recent trades that have sent Rich Harden and Joe Blanton to the National League, the Angels have just about clinched the AL West.

They’ve got an eight game lead on the A’s now, and a 9.5 game lead on the Rangers, and at this point it doesn’t look like either of those two teams is going to pose a real threat. So the Angels GM Tony Reagins is at that point where he knows he doesn’t have to make any moves, as he told ESPN’s Buster Olney yesterday.”We’re comfortable with our club at this point,” Reagins said. “We’re confident. At this point, I don’t see us making any drastic moves. … As of today, I don’t see us changing the makeup of the club in a major way.”But as Olney goes on in today’s blog entry, that doesn’t mean they won’t be making any “minor” moves. They’re not going to be looking to add a bat–even though Gary Matthews Jr. has a torn ACL–but there may be some interest in Orioles All-Star George Sherrill. According to Olney, the Orioles are quietly letting teams outside the AL East know that Sherrill is available, and George does make a lot of sense for Los Angeles.

He can be that lefty specialist they’ve needed for a while, and he provides some insurance should K-Rod sign elsewhere this winter.

Jul 21st 2008 2:31PM by Tom Fornelli (author feed)

Okay, so while that probably hurt like hell, I in no way feel sorry for that Orioles fan who just took a foul ball off his face. The guy stood there staring at the ball as it was in the sky coming towards him, then saw as the ball began to come down above him.

Now, maybe he never had to take physics in high school, and never had the laws of gravity explained to him. Maybe he thought a giant gust of wind was going to come and blow the ball away. Or maybe he just had a lot more faith in Miguel Cabrera’s ability to catch the ball than he should have.

Did you see the glance he gave Cabrera afterward? It screamed, “What the hell, dude? Why didn’t you catch that?” Of course, the look quickly morphed into “It hurts! It hurts! I want my mommy!” Seriously, how dumb do you have to be to stare at a baseball coming right for you and never try to catch it or at least get out of the way?

After watching “The Wire” on HBO for so many years, I knew the Baltimore public school system had it’s flaws, but I had no idea things were this bad.

Jul 21st 2008 6:12PM by Eamonn Brennan (author feed)
Professional athletes have something of a bad — or awesome, depending on who you ask — reputation for excess. It was always there, and then MTV Cribs took it national; to be a professional athlete meant not only getting paid incredible sums, it meant spending those sums on a 30-foot fish tank with, like, sharks and stuff. That’s ballin’.

But not everyone can afford such luxuries. When you play for the Baltimore Orioles and you didn’t forge a birth certificate, it might help to save a little money by taking a bike to work every day. Jeremy Guthrie and his band of brothers are already doing so: There are enough bikes parked there to hold the Tour de France. I keep waiting for players to change into yellow jerseys, though that honor probably should be delayed until they’re in first place. At last count, the cyclists include Guthrie, Luke Scott, Aubrey Huff, Brian Burres, Garrett Olson and Lance Cormier. Nick Markakis dropped out after buying a house in Monkton.

The Orioles might be the only team that has more use for a bike rack than a bat rack. That last bit is painfully true, but it’s good to see professional players taking the vehicle less traveled. Next up: Melvin Mora on a unicycle. Is there anything that guy can’t do?

Jul 22nd 2008 6:45PM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)

- Sometimes with trade rumors, it’s just a matter of connecting the dots. The Dodgers have a scout in Tampa Bay for this week’s Rays-A’s series, and with Los Angeles tied with Arizona atop the NL West, you can bet he isn’t there to check out Evan Longoria. Back in Tinseltown, manager Joe Torre announced his intentions to give Andy LaRoche plenty of time at third base over the next few weeks.

Even considering Ned Colletti’s apparent antipathy for young players, LaRoche is the one prospect who seems to have been jerked around the most. Oakland GM Billy Beane appears willing to deal just about any of his established big leaguers, and the Dodgers could use help just about everywhere. Reliever Huston Street is the obvious target, but shortstop Bobby Crosby and starting pitcher Justin Duchscherer could also end up on the move. LaRoche would be a more than handsome return for any one of those players.

- Brian Fuentes continues to be hot commodity on the relief market. According to Tracy Ringolsby of the Rocky Mountain News, scouts from seven different teams have watched Fuentes pitch over the last few days, including almost all of the big boys from the American League. Fuentes gave up five runs in a loss on June 30 and since then has been utterly dominant, striking out 13 and walking none in his last seven appearances. Elsewhere, the Cardinals are reportedly stepping up their interest in Baltimore closer George Sherrill.Continue Reading

Jul 24th 2008 6:27PM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)

- The Braves continue to indicate that they won’t move Mark Teixeira in hopes of contending for the NL East title, but if the team struggles over the next week, that could all change. Atlanta is already a bit of a longshot to make the playoffs, but two injuries to key players should push them over the cliff and turn them into sellers. Chipper Jones hurt his hamstring again last night in Florida and staff ace Tim Hudson left his start early with ominous-sounding elbow tightness.

If ever there was an omen that it might be time to let go of this season, wouldn’t injuries to the team’s best pitcher and hitter on the same night be it? Teixeira is certain to leave this winter and if Atlanta holds on to him all it will get is a pair of early draft picks. They stand to get much better talent in a deadline deal, even considering Teixeira’s rental status.

- I got a chance to see A.J. Burnett’s rain-shortened start last night in Baltimore. There were plenty of scouts in attendance, though some of them were probably there in hopes of seeing Orioles closer George Sherrill. Burnett has good raw stuff — a fastball he gets to 95 mph with ease and a tough curveball in the low-80s. Still, Orioles hitters made good contact on him. He’s a very good, but fragile No. 2 starter, who could help a number of contenders, but his uncertain contract status continues to make potential suitors cautious. Don’t put too much stock into the Roy Halladay rumors, Burnett is still the most likely to get moved of any of Toronto’s pitchers.Continue Reading

Jul 25th 2008 5:00PM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)

- Along with Colorado closer Brian Fuentes, Baltimore left-hander George Sherrill continues to be the hottest commodity on the trading block, drawing interest from many contenders including the Cardinals, Rays, Red Sox and Marlins, according to Dan Graziano. The Orioles remain somewhat reluctant to even deal their closer, particularly since their bullpen is a bit shallow after Sherrill, Dennis Sarfate and Jim Johnson and also because he is under team control for the next three seasons after this one.

But at some point the offers from other clubs are going to be hard to ignore, particularly if the team continues to struggle as it has recently. And Sherrill will probably become the latest chipped cashed in by GM Andy MacPhail as the O’s continue to build toward contention in 2009 and 2010.

- Though they have a ways to go to get to the top the AL Central, the Tigers do not consider themselves sellers and are looking at adding pitching, particularly in the bullpen if reliever Freddy Dolsi continues to be bothered by shoulder discomfort. Detroit’s biggest need is probably a starting pitcher, not a relief arm, but unless it pursues a bargain option like Odalis Perez, the Tigers do not have the assets in the upper minor leagues to get someone like A.J. Burnett.Continue Reading

Aug 2nd 2008 12:37AM by Andrew Johnson (author feed)

Last week, the Orioles celebrated the 25th anniversary of their 1983 World Series title. That was the last time the once-proud franchise won a championship, in case you were wondering, and it’s been a decade since they were relevant.

Eight days later GM Andy MacPhail did nothing at the trade deadline despite his club’s grim chances in 2008. Closer George Sherrill is still an Oriole. So is second baseman Brian Roberts, first baseman Aubrey Huff, outfielder Jay Payton and starting pitcher Daniel Cabrera.

To an outsider it might look like the latest gaffe from a front office that has been as hapless as they come since the days of the Clinton administration. But spend a few days with the team at Camden Yards and you get an entirely different vibe.

MacPhail has overhauled the organization in such a way that there’s very real hope for the very near future. In perfect concert, manager Dave Trembley has changed the clubhouse culture, stressing things like accountability, respect and appreciation. It’s enough to make you see the light at the end of the tunnel, if nothing else.Continue Reading