SB Nation - Noah Lowry

Off to Indy!

Eli Greenspan — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:03:57 -0000

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

Getting ready to drive over to Indianapolis in the next half-hour or so. Here are a couple links to get everyone through the day:

The Marlins are reportedly close to trading closer Matt Lindstrom, FOXSPORTS.com's is reporting. Approximately six teams are interested in the closer, who struggled to find his form in 2009. However, with a high-90s fastball, he could make for a very effective middle-to-late inning reliever.
Bill Ladson of MLB.com is reporting that the Mets are interested in Nationals outfielder Josh Willingham. Willingham can hit for power, showing that in D.C. by hitting .260 with 24 home runs.
The Mets also have interest in Rod Barajas, according to the New Jersey Star-Ledger.
The Rays and Cubs are no close to a deal for Milton Bradley, according to Jon Heyman. The Mets are trying to work Luis Castillo into the deal, which is also slowing things down.
The Reds are showing interest in free agent pitcher Noah Lowry, according to MLBlogs.com.
One AL source says the Yankees will consider Rich Harden at the Winter Meetings.

See you guys on the other side.

The State of the Rockies: Pre-Winter Meetings Edition

Jabberwocky — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:45:02 -0000

Yes, Rockies fans, it's that time that you've all been waiting for: Hot Stove Season. Now that arbitration offers have been made from clubs to some of their free agents, it's time for the free agency period to begin in earnest--or at least it will when those who have been offered arbitration decide to accept or decline it (the deadline for that is December 7th). Then at the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis (the 7th through the 10th) GMs will have a pretty good idea of where the free agent market stands and what their teams' needs are.

Given the way the chips have fallen so far, it's looking increasingly like the Rockies won't make any moves of great consequence at the Meetings, though the possibility of a big trade looms insidiously just under the surface as the Rockies look to shape their roster and payroll for the 2010 season.

In this belated edition of Purple Row Academy I will do my best to break down how the upcoming Winter Meetings and the Rule 5 draft will affect the Rockies. In addition, I'll offer up some analysis on the Rockies' arbitration offers to Jason Marquis and Rafael Betancourt plus a look at some free agents the Rockies have targeted (an expanded target list for the Rockies from the last edition).

Winter Meetings

Running from next Monday through Thursday, the Winter Meetings are a hot stove afficionado's dream--where trade buzz runs fast and furious while agents make their best pitch to GMs about their clients. A lot of deals will get talked about, but likely very few will be consummated.

As you'll see below, the Rockies don't really have a lot of flexibility with either roster slots or payroll, so they will likely be on the reactive, listening side of the trade proposals and free agent players rather than being proactive about it. One eventuality that could and should be pursued by Dan O'Dowd is the potential trade of Brad Hawpe.

O'Dowd has downplayed the possibility of such a move, but that's what he needs to be saying at this juncture to maintain the strength of Hawpe's trade market. Were he on the open market, Hawpe would probably be graded as a high second-tier corner outfielder/DH option, a man that would command higher than a $7.5 million salary for 2010.

I've written about it in detail before, but Hawpe is the rare trade asset whose value to another team (particularly in the AL) is MUCH greater than it is to the outfielder-rich, lefty-saturated Rockies PLUS the opportunity cost (giving Smith/Fowler/Gonzalez more plate appearances and $7.5 million of payroll flexibility) happens to be a better alternative than simply keeping Hawpe.

While the Rockies are looking to contend in 2010 and therefore might be more likely to have a more aggressive outlook on short-term payroll, this move would likely pay off now and in the future for Colorado--even if all the Rockies receive in return are prospects (though I believe the return would include a MLB-ready young back-end starter). After all, the Rockies have Matt Murton in reserve or they could use Eric Young Jr. in the outfield.

Beyond a potential Hawpe deal though, I don't see the Rockies making too many waves next week.

Rule 5 Draft

That includes the Rule 5 draft, to be held next Tuesday the 8th. Teams can select players from other MLB organizations' minor league systems that have not been protected on the 40 man roster. For a $50,000 fee, if a team selects a player he becomes their asset, so long as he remains on that team's 25 man roster or DL all year, after which time the player may be sent down.

Looking over the players that are eligible for the draft, the only one that is of interest to me is one pointed out by Keith Law, Angels prospect Bobby Cassevah. He has average fastball velocity but has extreme groundball tendencies (70%), an ability that is valuable at Coors Field--particularly out of the bullpen. I don't see it happening though, because while the Rockies have two spots open on their 40 man roster currently, I don't foresee a 25 man roster spot being open.

As for whom the Rockies could lose, OF Cole Garner and RHP Craig Baker have been mentioned as possibilities. That's the downside of having a deep system like the Rockies do--they lose prospects to the Rule 5 Draft (David Patton and Everth Cabrera last year) because they have too many to protect.

Arbitration Offers

One offer I like and one I'm not such a big fan of but can live with--about par for the course, I guess.

Jason Marquis

Given the high demand and low supply of even second-tier starting pitching, there is a very low chance that Jason Marquis will accept arbitration from the Rockies--pencil me down for 3 years, $25-30 million from the Mets (pencil them into the playoffs the next three years).

Marquis could decide to remain a Rockie, and in doing so garner a 2010 salary of $10-11 million or so, but my guess is that he'll take the security of a longer contract with a similar amount of guaranteed money per year. It's a good time to be a free agent for Marquis, despite the economic situation--teams want solid starting pitching and supply is very low. Accepting arbitration and risking a down year would not only hurt Marquis' bargaining power next year, but also there's a stronger pitching free agent class in 2010 (headlined by Roy Halladay, Josh Beckett, Cliff Lee, and Brandon Webb), so getting a long-term deal just makes good business sense for Marquis.

Rafael Betancourt

It's a different market and different situation for Betancourt. For one thing, he's older (35 on Opening Day) and he's a right-handed reliever, a market with considerably more supply and less demand.

There's no denying that Betancourt was a great performer that solidified the back end of the Rockies' bullpen in 2009. However, it's highly unlikely that there is a team out there that is willing to surrender a high draft choice and give Betancourt a multi-year deal--or one that at least would pay him what he would get in arbitration from the Rockies (around $6 million is what I've estimated).

At this point it would likely be a poor business decision for Betancourt to do anything but accept arbitration with the Rockies due to his Type A status and age. The Rockies want Betancourt back, but they have a Plan B in LaTroy Hawkins should Betancourt refuse arbitration.

As others in this community have opined, this offer of arbitration hedges the Rockies' risk with Betancourt. For some, the worst situation that could happen for Colorado was that Betancourt would walk and the Rockies would get nothing out of the deal. With the arbitration offer, that won't be the case--heck, Betancourt could reject arbitration, test the open market, and then sign with the Rockies for a lower cost. I don't see this happening though--I fully expect Betancourt to do the smart thing and accept arbitration.

Personally, I'm not sure that getting Betancourt back for anything over $3 million is such a great deal for the Rockies, but then again, I happen to value relief pitching at a lower level (and am extremely wary of its variability) than most people. However, if there's any year for the Rockies to pay a little extra for a few more marginal wins, it's this year. The Rockies are in contention now and should be encouraged to take steps to ensure at least a 90 win season.

Roster and Payroll 2010 Update

Projecting Betancourt at receiving a $6.4 million award (as I've outlined here) in arbitration, this is how the Rockies' 2010 roster and payroll currently looks:

Players Under Contract (Torrealba and Embree are team option buyouts)

Player Name	ML Service Time	2010 Salary	Add. Min. Obligation	Years After 2010
Todd Helton	12.059	$16,600,000	$23,700,000	1
Aaron Cook	7.02	$9,833,000	$10,583,000	1
Brad Hawpe	5.058	$7,500,000	$500,000	0
Jeff Francis	5.04	$5,875,000	$0	0
Troy Tulowitzki	3.033	$3,500,000	$25,750,000	3
Manuel Corpas	3.076	$2,750,000	$3,750,000	1
Ubaldo Jimenez	2.087	$1,250,000	$8,000,000	2
Yorvit Torrealba	8.03	$500,000	$0	0
Alan Embree	15.059	$250,000	$0	0
Matt Belisle	4.02	$850,000	$0	0
Randy Flores	5.061	$650,000	$0	0

Total		$49,558,000	$72,283,000

Pre-Arbitration Players (Phillips projected as back-up catcher)

Player Name	ML Service Time	2010 Salary
Eric Young Jr.	0.042	$412,000
Dexter Fowler	1.027	$413,030
Franklin Morales	2.01	$414,060
Paul Phillips	2.06	$427,450
Ian Stewart	1.154	$416,120
Carlos Gonzalez	1.06	$415,090
Seth Smith	1.119	$415,090
Matt Daley	0.155	$412,000

Total		$3,324,840

Arbitration Players (assumes Atkins non-tendered, Murton not on roster)

Player Name	ML Service Time	2010 Salary	Difference from 2009
Huston Street	5	$8,775,000	95.00%
Jorge De La Rosa	5.015	$5,600,000	180.00%
Clint Barmes	4.122	$4,225,000	160.00%
Taylor Buchholz	3.14	$1,055,000	0.00%
Jason Hammel	2.153	$2,026,560	380.00%
Chris Iannetta	3.029	$1,867,500	350.00%
Rafael Betancourt	6.079	$6,405,000	83%
Ryan Spilborghs	3.072	$788,500	90.00%

Total		$30,742,560	167.25%

Grand Total Payroll: $83,625,400

The 2010 payroll including Betancourt would be the largest Rockies ODP ever (up over $8 million from last year), and it isn't complete. This roster has 24 players on it (because Buchholz will begin the season on the DL, plus Torrealba and Embree will not actually be on the team) and the open slot is for a utility infielder to replace Garrett Atkins.

Now I don't believe that it's quite this simple--I think that Torrealba, McKenry, or another option could supplant Phillips at backup catcher while a player like Corpas, Daley, or EY2 could be sent down to AAA to begin the season--but barring a trade there is only one definite opening on the 2010 Rockies that will be filled on the free agent market. For that reason, I'll be concentrating on players that fit the utility infielder mold or that have been prominently mentioned as free agent targets recently.

Free Agency Update

In the last edition I provided a list of potential free agent targets for the Rockies and all of them remain available at the moment (though Jose Contreras is looking like he's headed to Japan). In particular, Jamey Carroll has drawn a lot of interest, while Pedro Feliz has found himself jobless due to Placido Polanco signing in Philly.

While Feliz would be my ideal target to fill the Rockies' utility infielder void, let's look at the free agency targets (those that plied their trade for others last year) that the Rockies have expressed interest in (pitching and hitting) from most interesting in my estimation to least:

Justin Duchscherer: The Duke represents a possible market inefficiency that the Rockies could exploit to bolster their starting pitching depth. Twice an All-Star for the Oakland A's, Duchscherer's last couple of years have been derailed due to injury (hip and elbow) and depression. However, the 32 year old righty has shown himself to be an above-average starter and reliever--and he would likely be in search of a cheaper one year deal to build up his market value. Plus, he was once traded for Luis Vizcaino (and his second best career comparison per Baseball Reference is Betancourt). Colorado could be the perfect landing spot for him at a price around $2-3 million (with incentives for more).

Orlando Hudson: O'Dowd has downplayed the Rockies' interest in Hudson, but the possibility of Hudson in the lineup every day with Barmes as a super-utility player is nonetheless intriguing. Since the Dodgers declined to offer the 32 year old Hudson arbitration, signing him costs no draft picks. I'd bet on Hudson commanding a salary around $5 million per year for anywhere from 1-3 years. Hudson has been at least league average (2 WAR or greater) every year since 2004, so this price would likely be a bargain. This is the sort of move that a Hawpe trade could enable with increased payroll flexibility, but as it is I don't see it happening because the Rockies really are attached to Barmes at second.

Bobby Crosby: To be honest, given the Rockies' lack of roster and payroll flexibility, I would much rather sign Crosby than Hudson to fill the one remaining roster slot. The 2004 AL ROY has the versatility and right-handedness to fit the Rockies' super-utility role to a T. He would come fairly cheaply considering all the hats he'd be wearing (I'd estimate in the $2-3 million range) due to the fact that he has played poorly (an understatement really) since his 2004 campaign. While his career .302 wOBA is worrisome, Crosby has positive fielding value and will be moving from a tough AL hitter's park to a permissive NL run-scoring environment--and at worst he would be a cheaper version of Garrett Atkins circa 2009. The Rockies could certainly do worse for a utilityman.

LaTroy Hawkins: Hawkins would be Betancourt's replacement, pure and simple. The 37 year old will probably perform worse than Betancourt but will also get paid less (around $3.5 million) to do it. I'd rather Betancourt just accept arbitration than to have Hawkins back, honestly--I have this vision of Hawkins as being Alan Embree 2.0 next year for whatever reason.

Noah Lowry: The 29 year old former Giant lefty has been sidelined by injuries the last two seasons, making him a huge enigma and a gamble for any team that is interested. If the Rockies can get him on a minor league deal that would be ideal, but if signing him required a major league deal it probably would be too rich for the Rockies' budget.

By next week, after the Winter Meetings, we should have a much better idea of where the Rockies stand in free agency and trades, plus a much firmer handle on how the 2010 Rockies roster will look.

Starting Pitchers: Damaged Goods Available

Jesse — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 01:33:46 -0000

More photos » by Tony Gutierrez - AP

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The Twins now have approximately $62 million committed to eight players who are under contract for 2010, and with J.J. Hardy's estimated arbitration salary likely somewhere around $6 million Minnesota will have approximately $17 million to shell out to their arb-eligible players. Even with a payroll which would open the year at over $80 million for the first time in frachise history the organization is still in a position to add some payroll. How much? Probably not too much. But with third base, second base and two rotation spots up for grabs there's no doubt the front office will continue on their quest to improve the team.

Minnesota has picked up a bit of a stigma as an organization that likes to rely on bargain-bin veterans to flesh out their roster, and there hasn't been a shortage of that philosophy applied to the starting rotation over the last few years. Do your ears still flush red when you think of Ramon Ortiz and Sidney Ponson? Or maybe Livan Hernandez still has you a bit baffled? Those moves, at the time, were railroaded for the quality of the player rather than the organization's decision to bring in veteran help, although there was also a strong belief that a rotation centered around Johan Santana, Francisco Liriano and Scott Baker would be just fine.

The front office agreed with us last winter, and they stayed fully in-house when constructing their rotation.

Things can change a lot in the span of a year. An area of strength going coming out of 2008 is a bit of a weakness, or at the very least not nearly as deep as we thought it would be, coming out of 2009. For a team that will always look to get the most value for their dollar, if they do choose to supplement the rotation in the free agent market, their highest reward scenarios might center around these guys. Read all about them after the break.

Rich Harden

#40 / Pitcher / Chicago Cubs

Height: 6-1

Weight: 195

Bats: L

Throws: R

Born: Nov 30, 1981

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Rich Harden	9-9	27	26	0	0	0	0	141.0	122	74	64	23	67	171	4.09	1.34

26 starts in 2009 and 25 starts in 2008--not bad. Then there were the 13 starts in '06 and '07 combined, with 19 starts made in '05. In fact, in Harden's six-plus star-crossed seasons in the majors he has had exactly one full season: 2004.

A couple of back injuries, a strained left oblique and a rap sheet full of right-arm issues, Harden's inability to keep himself on the mound isn't exactly a secret. Which is why he's even on this list. Anyone who can strike out more than a man per inning while allowing less than a hit per inning, with that kind of fastball and that kind of stuff, is a guy who's makeup has "Ace" dripping out of every pore.

This past season Harden missed 19 games in May and June due to issues with his back, before coming back and eventually being shut down at the end of September because of his pitching arm. Again.

Obviously he's a risk, but that's why I wanted to talk about these guys. The oblique strains don't bother me--it's the problems (plural) that Harden has had with his rotator cuff and his UCL. His mechanics aren't exactly smooth and without constant training to strengthen and stabalize his cuff I'm worried he could have to resort to Tommy John surgery at any time. But I'm not a doctor.

Harden is likely to garner a lot of guarded interest this off-season, and in spite of his injuries and high pitch count innings could still receive multi-year offers that would be worth double-digit millions easy. Naturally I'm not opposed to the Twins chasing him and signing him to a deal as long as it's done right. While the Twins may not be able to guarantee more money than most of the other clubs out there, offering him a low base with a number of achieveable incentives for games started and innings pitched could make a deal at least tempting.

My offer: Two years with team option for year a third. 2010: $4 million base ($500K for 12, 17, 22, 27 and 32 starts; $500 K for 100, 125, 150, 175, 200 innings pitched; $9 million possible; $1 million buyout option if less than 100 innings pitched). 2011: $6 million base, same incentives. 2012: $10 million base, same incentives, $1 million buyout.

Ben Sheets

#15 / Pitcher / Milwaukee Brewers

Height: 6-1

Weight: 225

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jul 18, 1978

Sheets didn't pitch at all in 2009, and at two years older than Harden would be 32 in 2010. His rap sheet of injuries is even more varied than the Cubs ace, with long stretches of time missed for back injuries, finger injuries and, of course, right arm injuries. This last time around he's had flexor tendon surgery and, if you listen to his agent, would be ready for spring training.

He doesn't strike out quite as many guys as Harden but he still allows less than a hit per inning, has better control and is far more efficient with his pitches. Prior to this last surgery anyway. Like Harden his fastball is mid to upper-90's, and his breaking balls can break your knees. Prior to this last surgery anyway.

Sheets made 31 starts and pitched 198 innings in 2008 before missing all of '09, but from '05 to '07 he wasn't pitching full years either. From the ages of 23 to 25 though, which may be where some of these problems began for a guy who was at the time a younger pitcher, Sheets made 102 starts and threw more than 670 innings. You could argue he was over-worked, although by the time a guy hits his mid-20's he should be able to handle a full load. I tend to lean away from the over-worked arguement.

Where I see Harden landing with a more high-profile team who is willing to take a chance on him and spend a little more ching, Sheets is the option who already looks like he'll appeal to everybody. Second-tier teams (like the Twins) who still have a little wiggle room might run straight for the former Brewer to avoid getting drawn into a process with Harden.

My offer: One year with a team option for a second. 2010: $3 million base ($500 K for 11, 22 and 33 starts; $500 K for 100, 125, 150, 175 and 200 innings; $7 million possible). 2011: $5 million base, same incentives, $500K buyout.

Erik Bedard

#45 / Pitcher / Seattle Mariners

Height: 6-1

Weight: 200

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Mar 06, 1979

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Erik Bedard	5-3	15	15	0	0	0	0	83.0	65	29	26	8	34	90	2.82	1.19

Bedard had arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder back in August, repairing what had been a spot of general disrepair. A torn labrum was the main issue, but the area apparently needed a good clearing. Apparently he'll be ready for the beginning of the season, but it's the second time in as many years where he made just 15 starts.

His stuff, just like the stuff of Harden and Sheets, qualifies him as an ace. He can be a dominant strikeout pitcher at times, although a little streaky even when healthy and not as efficient with his pitches as Sheets. What had been very low fly-ball numbers increased slightly in Seattle, but his plus fastball and plus breaking ball continued to be his best pitches and were seemingly unaffected.

The biggest issues with the former Mariner and Oriole enigma are his consistency and, just like the other two guys on this list, his inability to stay healthy for a whole season. His control tends to stray at times as well.

My offer: Identical to Sheets' offer.

Conclusions

Clearly there are more guys on the market than these three who could qualify as damaged goods. Mark Prior is attempting a comeback, Bartolo Colon is still floating (or sinking) around out there somewhere and even a guy like Noah Lowry has some appeal. But these three guys are the creme of the crop, because they all have the ability to be that elusive Ace pitcher.

Is there a safer option between the three? Which guy would you prefer, if any?

Poll

Which of these three pitchers do you prefer?

Rich Harden

364 votes

Ben Sheets

218 votes

Erik Bedard

161 votes

None of the above

89 votes

832 votes | Poll has closed

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:57:28 -0000

More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP

J.J. Hardy will most likely be traded this offseason, but no matter what Buster Olney says, he's almost certainly not going to be non-tendered.

Browse more photos »

Some things to read while getting new cufflinks.

So, with the World Series possibly one day away from being over, we're quickly closing in on hot stove season. Let's start today's rumor roundup with J.J. Hardy. Buster Olney thinks the Brewers could non-tender Hardy, but Al and I both agree that the concept is sheer lunacy. The logic behind it (as cited on MLB Trade Rumors) is beyond flawed:

Olney writes that the Red Sox inquired about Hardy at the deadline, but balked when the Brewers asked for excellent prospects in return. Olney wonders if this is a sign of things to come, and if no market for Hardy develops, would the Brewers be better off non-tendering the former All-Star?

So let me get this straight: The Brewers turned down an offer from the Red Sox because it wasn't enough. If nothing else develops, instead of returning to the Red Sox and asking for the same offer, Olney thinks the Brewers could let Hardy walk for free? On what planet does that make sense?

Roguejim also has a look at Hardy's trade value, and MLB Trade Rumors has a look at other shortstops that could be available via trade.

Elsewhere on the (hypothetical) market, we have Mat Gamel. MLB Trade Rumors has him listed among third basemen who could be on the move this offseason. The Nashville Sounds' website has an article from Baseball America with Gamel's reaction to a tough season offensively.

Until Jarrod Washburn either becomes a Brewer or signs somewhere else, his name is most likely going to keep coming up. Keep Turning Up the Heat! has a look at Washburn's recent performance and would accept a one year deal for him, but also notes that the 2010 Brewers are probably in trouble if Washburn is their biggest acquisition.

Meanwhile, Mike Cameron's name continues to come up in connection to other teams: The Cub Reporter has a look at Cameron as a potential fit in Wrigley in 2010, but doesn't think the two sides are a match.

As they suggested they would, the Brewers have found another job in the organization for former interim pitching coach Chris Bosio. He'll serve as the team's advance scout next season (FanShot).

Jonathan Lucroy is off to a hot start in the AFL, as he hit his second home run on Friday. Tom H. also got a positive review from a scout who recently saw Lucroy play for Peoria. Lucroy is probably a candidate to represent the Brewers when rosters are announced later today for the Rising Stars Game, which will be played on Saturday and broadcast live on MLB Network.

For more on Lucroy, the rest of the Brewers in the AFL and Alcides Escobar's season debut weekend in Venezuela, be sure to check out today's Fall/Winter League Update.

Elsewhere in the minors, I may have committed a Twitter foul. Yesterday afternoon I made a joke about the somewhat unexciting nature of Eric Arnett's recent Twitter activity, and today his account has been removed. Hopefully I'm not responsible for that. Meanwhile, Seth McClung has a picture of his daughter's Halloween costume.

Yet again, we have less-than-encouraging news about the depth of prospects in the Brewer organization, at least defensively: Alex Pedicini of The Hardball Times has the top four minor leaguers at each position, ranked by Total Zone, and there's not a single Brewer prospect among the 28 players listed.

Around baseball:

Astros: Declined their option for 2010 on Doug Brocail, and re-signed Geoff Blum to a one year deal worth $1.5 million.
Giants: Re-signed Freddy Sanchez to a two year deal worth $12 million, and declined their 2010 option on Noah Lowry. They also removed pitchers Justin Miller and Kelvin Pichardo from the 40-man roster. Miller is expected to become a free agent.
Indians: Removed pitchers Mike Gosling and Scott Lewis and infielder Niuman Romero from their 40-man roster.

Did Robin Yount use a corked bat? A game used Robin Yount bat with cork in it is up for auction, leading to discussion regarding the possibility. There's also a strong possibility the bat was corked sometime after it left Yount's possession. I'm reluctant to believe Yount corked the bat, for a simple reason: If Yount knew the bat was corked, he most likely also knew that someone would be able to figure out it had been tampered with. Why, then, would he ever give that bat away? That's like giving your autograph on the back of a steroid prescription.

Could John Maine be a reclamation candidate for Rick Peterson in 2010? Amazin' Avenue suggests he's a candidate to be non-tendered, but concludes the Mets should bring him back.

Baseball Analysts has an interesting look at pitchers' velocity and how it changes as the season goes along, broken down by several demographics. Most of the data isn't exceptionally surprising, but the difference in pitch speed between April and the rest of the season is pretty striking. (h/t Beyond the Box Score)

I'll admit it: I'm having a hard time getting excited for or paying much attention to the World Series. I have yet to sit through an entire game, and I've fallen asleep before the end of both games 3 and 4. Yet somehow, I don't feel as bad now that I know that Jon Heyman caught writers playing Scrabble and solitaire on their computers during Game 3.

Among the five candidates (Lopes, Royster, Yost, Sveum and Macha), I think you can make a solid case that Jerry Royster was easily the worst Brewer manager of the 2000's, even among a pretty bad field of contenders. With that said, his stuff apparently works in Korea, where he has led the Lotte Giants to back-to-back postseason appearances and signed a $600,000 contract extension over the weekend.

If you're hanging around the site tomorrow afternoon, you may notice some minor changes in the site as part of the visual refresh of the SB Nation platform. The changes will be minor, but will also be step one in a project to improve the load time of sites, which should be good news for everyone.

On this day in 1974, the Brewers acquired Hank Aaron from Atlanta for outfielder Dave May and minor league pitcher Roger Alexander. Aaron would go on to hit .232/.326/.360 in his final two seasons as a Brewer, make the 1975 All Star team and hit 22 home runs.

Happy birthday today to:

Taylor Green, 2009 Huntsville Star and current Brewer representative in the Arizona Fall League, who turns 23.
2007-09 Nashville Sound Lindsay Gulin, who turns 33.
Paul Ridgon, who made 27 starts as a 2000-2001 Brewer after coming over from the Indians in the Bob Wickman-Richie Sexson deal, and turns 34.
Paul Hartzell who appeared in four games for the '84 Brewers and turns 56.

Oh, and the Phoenix Desert Dogs ate mac and cheese after Friday's AFL contest. I don't know if they used this recipe.

Drink up.

NL West Report: Divisional headway from Rockune, Peavy might be out for the year

Poseidon's Fist — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 23:00:12 -0000

The Rockies have been blasting through opponents like a Tornado (or a Tornadough?) the last 11 games, outscoring their foes 73-28 in that span. It's a bit unfortunate that none of those games were intradivisional, but if there's any way to guarantee you'll make up some ground, it's to win every game.

Here's the standings as of Monday morning, before San Francisco plays the Angels tonight at 8:15 MDT:

NL West Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
Los Angeles	42	22	.656	0	Won 2
San Francisco	34	28	.548	7	Won 3
Colorado	31	32	.492	10.5	Won 11
San Diego	28	34	.451	13	Lost 3
Arizona	27	37	.421	15	Lost 2

(updated 6.15.2009 at 3:25 PM MDT)

We're still a ways back, but an 11-game streak will put a dent in any deficit. Here are the standings from June 3, immediately prior to the streak.

So in 11 games, we've made up the following on the divisional teams:

Los Angeles (5 games)
San Francisco (2.5 games)
San Diego (7 games)
Arizona (6.5 games)

If the teams continue as they have the last 11 games, even if we win another 11 straight, we'll still be in 3rd place. This is why April and May do matter. And that's why we have a 3.30% chance of winning the NL West. I'd talk about the Wild Card, but well, this is the divisional report.

NL West Report

Arizona (27-37, 5th, L2, 15 GB)

Last Week: 0-1 @ Padres, 1-2 vs Giants, 1-2 vs Astros. A bad week makes the bad season worse. Funny thing is, they're only 8 games off their Pythagorean pace for 2007.

This Week: 3 game road series @ Royals, 3 game road series @ Mariners

News: Chris Young is having a horrible Atkins-like season. AZSnakepit discusses what should be done with their CF.

Chris Young

#24 / Center Field / Arizona Diamondbacks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 200

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Sep 05, 1983

	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Chris Young	.189	.248	.354

Jon Morosi of FOXSports.com reported recently that the Diamondbacks are destined to be sellers at the trade deadline, with only Justin Upton, Max Scherzer and Dan Haren being untouchable.

Nick Piecoro of AZCentral.com, who is closer to the team, refuted that proclamation last night, stating that we should not expect a trade and that Josh Byrnes may even add a player at the deadline.

Scott Bordow at the East Valley Tribune believes it's time to trade Felipe Lopez, Jon Garland and Doug Davis, but Arizona may becontent to let them leave as free agents and just take the compensatory picks.

The D-Backs claimed relief pitcher Blaine Boyer off waivers from the Cardinals and optioned Daniel Schlereth to AA..

Mark Reynolds earned co-NL Player of the Week honors for last week, sharing it with our very own Huston Street.

Arizona had 7 picks in the top 64 in last week's draft, most in the majors. Check out their top picks. They bucked the trend and selected only 2 pitchers with their top 8 picks, the first coming at pick #45.

Arizona Diamondbacks Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Tom Gordon	hamstring	05/04/2009
Yusmeiro Petit	shoulder	05/09/2009
Conor Jackson	pneumonia	05/12/2009
Chad Tracy	oblique	05/30/2009
Tony Clark	other-excused	05/06/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Brandon Webb	shoulder	04/07/2009

More on the rest of the division after the fold.

Los Angeles (42-22, 1st, W2)

Last Week: 1-1 vs Padres, 2-1 @ Rangers. In case you are wondering, the Dodgers have lost just two series since Manny Ramirez was suspended, and one of them was their first series following the announcement.

This Week: 3 game home series vs Athletics, 3 game road series @ Angels.

News: Everyone knows all about TIm Lincecum and Dan Haren, but maybe Chad Billingsley is the best ace in the West. Eric Stephen at TrueBlueLA looks at his stats over the last claendar year. They are elite.

Chad Billingsley

#58 / Pitcher / Los Angeles Dodgers

Height: 6-1

Weight: 245

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Jul 29, 1984

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Chad Billingsley	9-3	2.72	1.23	93	39

Despite convincingly being the best team in MLB and having the 3rd best NL offense, the Dodgers have zero position players projected to start the All-Star Game via fan voting. Orlando Hudson is the only player even in the top 5 at his position; he's 2nd behind Chase Utley. East Coast bias apparently also means no love for LA.

Popular owner Frank McCourt wasn't so popular with Andruw Jones, even though McCourt okayed the ludicrous contract Jones signed with the Dodgers. Apparently, McCourt was the reason Jones wanted out.

Jayson Stark suggests the Dodgers may try to trade Juan Pierre when Manny Ramirez returns from is suspension. It's unclear how much of Pierre's contract LA might have to eat.

LA didn't pick until #36, two picks after the Rockies selected their third player. Their picks.

Los Angeles Dodgers Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Eric Milton	back	06/06/2009
Will Ohman	shoulder	05/28/2009
Eric Stults	thumb	05/31/2009
Hong-Chih Kuo	elbow	04/30/2009
Jason Schmidt	shoulder	03/30/2009
Xavier Paul	knee	05/21/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Doug Mientkiewicz	shoulder	04/17/2009

San Diego (28-34, 4th, L3, 13 GB)

Last Week: 1-0 vs Diamondbacks, 1-1 @ Dodgers, 0-3 @ Angels. The Padres have failed to string together consecutive wins since May 27. They are 5-12 in that span.

This Week: 3 game home series vs Mariners, 3 game home series vs Athletics.

News: Hold your trade talk. Another NL West ace is hurt and probably won't be going anywhere at the deadline. Jake Peavy landed on the 15-day DL Friday due to an ankle injury and will be out a month, perhaps the rest of the season.

Jake Peavy

#44 / Pitcher / San Diego Padres

Height: 6-1

Weight: 195

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: May 31, 1981

Hindsight being 20/20, CBSSports' Scott Miller says the Padres screwed up by not accepting the Braves' offer in November.

The Padres' front office is looking to add a "big-name" international player once the international signing period starts July 2.

San Diego released IF Chris Burke this week.

The Pads selected Donavan Tate with the third pick in the draft Tuesday. GM Kevin Towers talks about the draft. I'd give you a list of their picks, but I'll just say that GasLampBall doesn't have one instead.

San Diego Padres Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Nick Hundley	wrist	06/15/2009

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Jake Peavy	ankle	06/09/2009
Shawn Hill	elbow	04/26/2009
Scott Hairston	biceps	06/03/2009
Luis Perdomo	knee	06/08/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Cha Seung Baek	forearm	03/30/2009
Mark Worrell	elbow	03/27/2009
Everth Cabrera	hand	04/20/2009

San Francisco (34-28, 2nd, W3, 7 GB)

Last Week: 0-1 @ Marlins, 2-1 @ Diamondbacks, 3-0 vs Athletics. Bruce Bochy's staff allowed just 17 runs in the 7 games last week.

This Week: 3 game home series vs Angels, 3 game home series vs Rangers

News: Henry Schulman at SFGate states the most obvious headline of the year: The Giants need a power bat to contend.

Jonathan Sanchez

#57 / Pitcher / San Francisco Giants

Height: 6-2

Weight: 190

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Nov 19, 1982

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jonathan Sanchez	2-6	4.84	1.66	57	43

SI's Jon Heyman reports that Jonathan Sanchez is on the market, despite an apparent slip recently in his stuff. Tom Verducci suggests that the Giants try to use Sanchez to net that power bat. Maybe even Garrett Atkins.

Grant at McCoveyChronicles discusses the Giants' selection of Zach Wheeler over Tyler Matzek. Matzek was Grant's #1 choice, but the Giants passed on his top three to select Wheeler.

And just because, here's a big Pablo Sandoval home run.

San Francisco Giants Injuries

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Noah Lowry	ribs	03/27/2009
Joe Martinez	concussion	04/10/2009

NL West Report: Randy Johnson wins 300, Dodgers Stadium gets its own zip code

Poseidon's Fist — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 17:09:01 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

Randy Johnson holds his prized left arm high after recording his 300th career win

Browse more photos »

Due to some comments from last week's KYF, I have decided to commandeer the front page by separating the weekly NL West Report to a separate article so it doesn't get lost in the series previews.

300

The biggest news of the week is undoubtedly Randy Johnson reaching 300 wins. He was slated to go Wednesday night at Washington, but weather pushed his start to Thursday, in the first game of a double header. Fueled by the event, Johnson retired the first 10 Nationals he faced on his way to allowing just 2 hits and an unearned run in 6 innings of work. Jeremy Affeldt, Brandon Medders and Brian Wilson brought the win home for the Big Unit. Win 300 was one of his finest on the season.

Johnson has allowed only two runs in his last three starts, but make no mistake, that golden arm is starting to lose its luster. Randy has allowed seven runs three times this year and still sports an ERA over 5.00. Still, a very enthusiastic salute to RJ. He is easily the most doinant pitcher I have seen growing up and in person.

Jim McClennan at AZ Snakepit shares his thoughts on the next to 300. So does Tracy Ringolsby. They may disagree on who may be next to 300, but both agree it will probably be accomplished.

Padres play long again

San Diego went deep into a ball game again, this time losing to Arizona 9-6 yesterday at Petco. Some weird facts from the game:

Shortstop Josh Wilson gave up the winning 3-run HR to Mark Reynolds in the 18th. It was Wilson's third career appearance as a pitcher despite playing in only 140 big league games. Maybe Arizona had a scouting report on him. After all, he pitched a hitless inning for them earlier this season.
Reynolds had struck out with the go ahead run on second and two outs his previous two ABs before the HR. Special K indeed.
Bud Black had burned his bullpen so much he actually used starter Chad Gaudin before Wilson.
Backup catcher and former Rockie Henry Blanco played third base for the 18th inning.
Arizona actually no hit San Diego for the final nine innings.
The Padres have played five longer games in franchise history, losing all but one.
David Eckstein hit a dramatic 3-run HR with 2 outs in the ninth to send it to extras. Twilight zone...
Eighteen pitchers were used by both clubs.

NL West Report

Arizona (25-32, 4th, W1, 13 GB)

Last Week: 1-2 @ Padres, 2-1 @ Padres.

This Week: Finish off another of the stupid Fri-Mon four game series today at 8:05 MDT. Also, 3 game home series vs Astros, 3 game home series vs Giants

News: Tim Dierkes at MLBTradeRumors interviewed Justin Upton. He hit .373 with 7 HR and 21 RBI in May. He injured his shoulder in yesterday's game and will sit tonight but doesn't figure to land on the DL.

Justin Upton

#10 / Right Field / Arizona Diamondbacks

Height: 6-2

Weight: 205

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Aug 25, 1987

Arizona has 7 of the first 64 picks in this year's draft, which starts tomorrow at 4MDT. Their first two picks are at 16 and 17. For comparison the Mets have zero picks in the first 64. All of these high picks have led the FO to increase their draft budget, perhaps spending eight digits.

Reliever Jon Rauch has struggled mightily this season to the tune of a 5.26 ERA. Rauch and AJ Hinch had a closed door meeting regarding his ineffectiveness. The former Nationals' closer was being counted on to stabilize an weakly projected bullpen.

Arizona will honor Randy Johnson for reaching 300 wins.

The always good-for-a-laugh Kenny Mayne interviewed Dan Haren Friday.

Arizona Diamondbacks Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Tom Gordon	hamstring	05/04/2009
Yusmeiro Petit	shoulder	05/09/2009
Conor Jackson	pneumonia	05/12/2009
Chad Tracy	oblique	05/30/2009
Tony Clark	other-excused	05/06/2009
Brandon Webb	shoulder	04/07/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Scott Schoeneweis	other-excused	05/29/2009
Justin Upton	shoulder	06/08/2009

More on Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco after the jump by noon.

Los Angeles (39-20, 1st, L1)

Last Week: 2-1 vs Diamondbacks, 2-2 @ Phillies

This Week: 2 game series vs Padres, 3 game series @ Rangers. Weird scheduling quirk again. After playing 17 consecutive days, Los Angeles gets two days off in a span of four days.

News: The headline is true. The United States Postal Service has awarded Dodgers Stadium and its associated properties its very own zip code. The area will be officially known as Dodgertown, California and has the zip code 90090.

Los Angeles Dodgers Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Will Ohman	shoulder	05/28/2009
Eric Stults	thumb	05/31/2009
Hong-Chih Kuo	elbow	04/30/2009
Jason Schmidt	shoulder	03/30/2009
Xavier Paul	knee	05/21/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Doug Mientkiewicz	shoulder	04/17/2009
Claudio Vargas	elbow	04/05/2009

San Diego (26-30, 3rd, L1, 11.5 GB)

Last Week: 0-3 vs Phillies, 1-2 vs Diamondbacks. That's a really disappointing week for a team at home. Perhaps they are coming back to earth for real this time.

This Week: Finish off the series with the Diamondbacks tonight. 2 game series @ Dodgers, 3 game series @ Angels.

News:

San Diego Padres Injuries

Probable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Jake Peavy	infection	06/08/2009

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Shawn Hill	elbow	04/26/2009
Scott Hairston	biceps	06/03/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Cha Seung Baek	forearm	03/30/2009
Mark Worrell	elbow	03/27/2009
Mike Adams	shoulder	03/27/2009
Everth Cabrera	hand	04/20/2009

San Francisco (25-24, 2nd, W1, 8.5 GB)

Last Week: 2-1 @ Nationals, 2-1@ Marlins. It's always impressive when you win consecutive road series. Except maybe when those teams are a combined 29 games under .500 and 15 games under .500 at home.

This Week: Finish the fourth game of the Marlins series tonight at 5:10 MDT. 3 game series @ Diamondbacks, 3 game series vs Athletics.

News:

San Francisco Giants Injuries

Probable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Randy Johnson	shoulder	06/08/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Noah Lowry	ribs	03/27/2009
Joe Martinez	concussion	04/10/2009

Wednesday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:07:23 -0000

More photos » by Pat Sullivan - AP

Corey Hart, freshly shaved head and all, celebrates Tuesday's victory while J.J. Hardy maintains a safe distance.

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Some things to read while coming out of your shell.

The main topic of conversation this morning continues to be replacing Rickie Weeks. Ray Durham has been in touch, and Chris De Luca of the Chicago Sun-Times thinks Mark DeRosa could be a fit (thanks to 80Badger for the link), but Doug Melvin is focusing on internal options, and as of this writing, 92% of voters in our poll agree with that decision.

Meanwhile, Hernan Iribarren has been called up to fill Weeks' spot on the roster (Also noted in FanShot). Iribarren, who is left handed, did not play last night and likely will not play tonight against lefty Wandy Rodriguez, but could be considered to start on Thursday.

Speaking of Wandy Rodriguez, both Jose de Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle and Crawfish Boxes are excited to see his matchup with Yovani Gallardo tonight. Gallardo, meanwhile, is just trying to stay sharp after what was basically a missed turn in the rotation on Friday.

After a decade of living in obscurity, Mark DiFelice is suddenly the center of attention. Jeff Passan of Yahoo had a story on him earlier this week, and now he's also profiled in Hardball Cooperative and The Madison Capital Times. Of course, all this attention had to come this week, when DiFelice allowed an earned run for just the second time in 16 appearances.

Speaking of obscurity, Dave Bush is moving towards an obscure record of his own pretty quickly. Bush hit two Astros batters last night to bring his Brewer career total to 46, just three shy of Jamey Wright's franchise record. Bush's seven plunks in 2009 lead the National League. He only hit ten batters in all of 2008.

Mike Hampton started last night's game for the Astros, but left early with a left thumb lasceration. I haven't seen anything on how long he'll be out.

Jeremy Jeffress, the #3 prospect and top pitcher in our Community Prospect Rankings, has been demoted to Brevard County after posting a 15.03 ERA and walking 21 hitters in 11.1 innings over his last four starts. Former top pitching prospect Mike Jones has been promoted to Huntsville to take his place (Also noted in FanShot).

Power rankings, anyone?

The National Post has moved the Brewers from fourth to second in their NL power rankings.
Goatriders of the Apocalypse has moved the Brewers from fourth to first in their NL Central rankings.

Around the league:

Nationals: Placed Elijah Dukes on the DL with a hamstring strain and designated Alex Cintron for assignment.
Reds: Placed reliever Nick Masset on the DL with a strained oblique.

Is 2009 a renaissance for aging catchers? Plunk Everyone noticed that catchers 35 years old or older are catching 17.3% of games this season, the second highest total since 1960.

Take a deep breath, everyone. Stephen Strasburg, who is almost certain to be the #1 pick in June's draft and is dominating college hitters at San Diego State, is not expected to make his MLB debut this season. I've heard all the hype about him being the "greatest prospect ever" and whatnot, but seriously, let's let this guy make his pro debut before we slot him into the Nationals' rotation.

Giants pitcher Noah Lowry's long and winding road back to the big leagues continues. Lowry is scheduled for surgery to have a rib removed to address thoracic outlet syndrome. His agent, meanwhile, has called the Giants out for failing to correctly diagnose Lowry's ailment the first time.

The road is just as long and winding, but maybe a little darker, for Khalil Greene. Greene is getting some extra time off to address an anxiety issue. Greene has admitted to "punishing himself physically," and others have expressed concern about the severity of the punishment. Greene missed a fair portion of last season after breaking his hand punching an equipment trunk.

Oh, and no matter what I do, I never seem to get a cheering section quite like Tigers outfielder Clete Thomas.

Drink up.

Know Your Foe: Visiting Chase Field never looked so good

Poseidon's Fist — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:40:47 -0000

More photos » by Eric Risberg - AP

The frustrated Diamondbacks are there for the taking if Colorado hopes to turn their own frowns upside-down.

Browse more photos »

The Rockies have completed four series thus far, winning one, tying one, and losing two. After a sweep punctuated by an embarrassing loss Sunday, a return to play Arizona in the desert might be just what Colorado needs. Did I just say that? Forget the past - that's history. What matters is right now, and the Rockies will be playing the coldest team in the majors, and the one team they have beaten in a series this year to boot.

Arizona Diamondbacks (4-8, L1, t-4th in NL West)

Monday-Wednesday : 3-game series at Colorado

As bitter as it tastes to be a Rockies fan after this past week, it's far worse being a D-Backs fan right now. Check it out:

Arizona managed just TWO runs in their weekend set at AT&T.
Despite allowing just four runs in three starts, Dan Haren is 0-3 - one total run of support will do that to you.
At one point last week, not a single D-Back crossed home plate for 20 innings.
Their run differential is -22, dead last in the majors (even the 1-10 Nats)
Six losses in eight games.
Rankings at the bottom of the barrel all around:

Team Stat	MLB Rank	Amt
wOBA	28th	.293
OPS	26th	.680
Average	28th	.227
Runs For	27th	40
ERA	20th	5.18
Runs Against	20th	62
K's For	25th	70

For perspective, their team wOBA is worse than Willy Taveras was last season. And those pitching stats aren't even misleading - their staff has allowed the 7th lowest BABIP in the bigs. Quite frankly, Arizona is performing like everyone thought San Diego would. DbacksSkins has issued advice to himself and his brethren. Jim McLennan at the 'Pit has 10 reasons to be fearful for Arizona fans.

Colorado faced the hottest team in the majors this weekend on the road, and now it's time to take on arguably the coldest. It will be a great opportunity to rebound while simultaneously returning the favor of sending Arizona spiralling downward in April.

Probable Pitchers:

Today, 7:40pm MDT

Battle of the new veterans:

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jon Garland	1-1	8.44	1.96	2	8

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jason Marquis	2-0	1.93	1.00	5	4

Jason Marquis looks like the better veteran rotation addition so far. Anything close to his two previous starts should be a streak-breaker. Jon Garland has never faced the Rockies in his career. Marquis is 2-3 with a 3.82 ERA vs Arizona since 2006.

Tuesday, April 21, 1:40pm MDT

Battle of the pseudo-5th starters:

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
009 - Franklin Morales	1-0	1.50	0.83	6	1

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Yusmeiro Petit	0-1	7.71	1.57	7	4

Yusmeiro Petit filled in the fifth spot in the rotation when Brandon Webb landed on the DL and struggled, while Franklin Morales returns to the fifth spot in the Rockies rotation after a scoreless outing in AAA. The Petit Unit has allowed two runs in seven innings in his career vs Colorado; Morales is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA vs Arizona in three career starts.

Wednesday, April 22, 1:40pm MDT

Battle of the unfairly winless:

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Jorge De La Rosa	0-1	4.50	1.70	8	6

	W-L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB
2009 - Dan Haren	0-3	1.89	0.79	17	3

Dan Haren leads MLB with three losses, but he has been the victim of historically minimal run support. Jorge de la Rosa allowed no runs in his last start, but a blown save foiled his chance for his first win. Haren is 3-2 with a 2.85 ERA vs. Colorado since 2006, and DLR is 1-1 with a 3.92 ERA vs the Snakes.

Lineup:

What follows is what was considered the best line-up Arizona had to start the season, but as is evident, the struggling offense will breed a lineup shuffle in order and personnel.

Player	Avg	HR	RBI
Lopez	.370	2	4
Young	.238	1	3
Drew	.222	1	5
Jackson	.200	1	7
Tracy	.290	1	6
Upton	.185	0	1
Reynolds	.257	2	5
Snyder	.100	0	1

It's a bad sign when your best player is 0-3. Dan Haren (0-3, 1.89 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 17 K) has allowed just four runs in his three starts but lost all three of them. Felipe Lopez stayed hot after his historic Opening Day. He hit .462 last week in 26 ABs.

How about the rest of the lineup? Stephen Drew, Conor Jackson, Eric Byrnes, Chris Snyder and Chris Young all failed to record as many hits last week as Ian Kinsler did Wednesday alone. The entire offense frozen, especially with runners in scoring position.

Stephen Drew left Friday's game with a left hamstring injury. He is day to day but has not played since Friday. Augie Ojeda has taken his place in the line-up, hitting leadoff and pushing the hot-hitting Lopez to the three-hole.

NL West Report after the jump

NL West Report

Arizona (4-8, t-4th, L1)

Last Week: 1-2 vs Cardinals, 1-2 at Giants. Arizona has lost every series this season, three of them at home. Getting buried early while

This Week: 3 game home series vs. Rockies, 3 game home series vs Giants

News: Brandon Webb threw a flat-ground bullpen session yesterday, and will throw off the mound tomorrow. Jim McLennan says it "doesn't seem he'll be back soon." The course of action Arizona will take with Webb is entirely dependent on his performance tomorrow.

Stephen Drew

#6 / Short Stop / Arizona Diamondbacks

Height: 6-0

Weight: 185

Bats: L

Throws: R

Born: Mar 16, 1983

Stephen Drew left Friday's game with a hamstring injury and has not played since, and Mark Reynolds missed Sunday's game with a left quadriceps strain.

D-Backs fans can at least take refuge in the fact that their AAA team is going strong. Until the Sky Sox won yesterday, the Visalia Rawhide were undefeated. 2008 Minor League Player of the Year Josh Whitesell is on fire, so perhaps he could see some playing time soon over struggling Tony Clark.

Arizona Diamondbacks Injuries

Questionable

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Stephen Drew	hamstring	04/20/2009

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Tom Gordon	elbow	03/27/2009
Brandon Webb	shoulder	04/07/2009

Los Angeles (10-3, 2nd, W8)

Last Week: 3-0 vs Giants, 3-0 vs Rockies. The Dodgers have the greatest run differential in the majors at +42. That eclipses 11-1 Florida by 11.

This Week: 3 game road series at Giants, 3 game road series at Rockies. Los Angeles owns MLB's longest win streak this season, though all but two of those games came at home. Los Angeles will hit the road for their next nine games, so hopefully they will slow down away from Chavez Ravine.

News: The Dodgers are one of three teams rumored to be interested in Mark Mulder. The former Athletic and Cardinal is still a few weeks away from being ready to pitch.

Mark Mulder

#30 / Pitcher / Free Agent

Height: 6-6

Weight: 215

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Aug 05, 1977

Signed LHP Chuck Tiffany to a minor league contract and will be assigned to extended spring training. Tiffany was traded to Tampa Bay in the Danys Baez deal in 2006 and was released by the Rays last month.

The Dodgers traded OF Delwyn Young to the Pirates Wednesday for two PTBNL's. Young was out of options and injured.

Los Angeles is on a tear to start the season, but it can't last forever. Sky Kalkman ran the CHONE projections again Saturday for the remaining games, and the Dodgers finished just two games north of .500. If after the weekend sweep you want to see more bad press on the Dodgers, check out GM Ned Colletti's all-time team of players he gave up on.

Los Angeles Dodgers Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Doug Mientkiewicz	shoulder	04/17/2009
Jason Schmidt	shoulder	03/30/2009
Hiroki Kuroda	oblique	04/07/2009
Cory Wade	shoulder	04/12/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Claudio Vargas	elbow	04/05/2009

San Diego (9-4, 2nd, W4)

Last Week: 2-1 at Mets, 2-1 at Phillies. Despite facing the top two NL East favorites on the road, the Padres continue to roll. A blown save yesterday by Edwin Moreno prevented a 5-1 week. Heath Bell, who leads MLB with 7 saves (3 more than anyone else), was unavailable due to multiple recent appearances.

This Week: 1 game to finish 4 game series at Phillies, 2 game road series at Giants, 3 game home series vs Pirates.

News: 2B Trivis Denker was claimed off waivers by the Red Sox last Tuesday.

Travis Denker

San Diego Padres

Height: 5-9

Weight: 205

Born: Aug 05, 1985

Paul DePodesta answers questions regarding Denker, the sporadic use of Eulogio de la Cruz, and why the Friars carry 13 pitchers.

The Padres have surprised so far this season with their 9-4 record. If they remain in contention, they have the payroll flexibility to add a piece in a push for the playoffs.

Walter Silva strained his forearm and will head to the DL.

San Diego Padres Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Cha Seung Baek	forearm	03/30/2009
Everth Cabrera	other-excused	04/20/2009
Walter Silva	forearm	04/14/2009

60 Day DL / Out for the season

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Mark Worrell	elbow	03/27/2009
Mike Adams	shoulder	03/27/2009

San Francisco (4-8, t-4th, W1)

Last Week: 0-3 at Los Angeles, 2-1 vs Arizona. It is hard to gauge San Francisco, as they faced the division's hottest and coldest teams in the same week.

This Week: 2 game home series vs Padres, 3 game road series at Arizona.

News: GM Brian Sabean is reportedly back-tracking on another bad contract. Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reported Wednesday that the Giants are trying to unload Aaron Rowand, with the White Sox as a possibility.

Aaron Rowand

#33 / Center Field / San Francisco Giants

Height: 6-0

Weight: 220

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Aug 29, 1977

	AVG	OBP	SLG
2009 - Aaron Rowand	.297	.350	.541

For any trade to take place, San Francisco would have to eat a large portion of his contract. Such a trade would hurt former Rockie Scott Podsednik's chance to make a contribution in Chicago.

El Lefty Malo notes that many fans are pointing to 2010 as the year the Giants will compete. He isn't so sure.

San Francisco Giants Injuries

15-Day

Player	Injury Type	Injury Date
Noah Lowry	shoulder	03/27/2009
Sergio Romo	elbow	03/27/2009
Joe Martinez	concussion	04/10/2009

Poll

How many games will Colorado take from Arizona this series?

0 - This team is in such disarray, even another struggling team will sweep them

10 votes

1 - That's the most you can hope for with the bottom three of the rotation in the queue

27 votes

2 - Arizona has lost every series this season and is ice cold. The Rox are struggling too much to expect a sweep, but a series win is in the bag.

54 votes

3 - We might be struggling, but Arizona is worse off than when we took two in the desert two weeks ago. The Snakes are banished to the cellar

26 votes

117 votes | Poll has closed

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 15:06:04 -0000

Some things to read while thinking about what could have been.

So, the bullpen situation is increasingly chaotic, with Trevor Hoffman now possibly opening the season on the DL. (Also noted in FanShot) The situation is exacerbated by the fact that David Riske and Carlos Villanueva aren't pitching well and Seth McClung, who isn't pitching exceptionally well either, may be needed to fill a spot in the starting rotation. Riske, for one, is taking his spring results pretty seriously, saying he's in shock after allowing an earned run in five straight outings.

We all respond to stress differently, I suppose: After getting shelled in two innings in his first spring start yesterday, Mark DiFelice was cutting hair in the Brewer clubhouse.

Also in that last link is a note mentioning that Sam Narron was sent down to minor league camp. Elsewhere in roster moves, the Brewers decided to let the Astros keep Rule 5 pick Lou Palmisano. (Also noted in FanShot)

The Brewers also made a minor trade over the weekend, acquiring minor league infielder Sergio Miranda from the White Sox for future considerations. The move was big enough to draw notice from Al and in Rumorville, but it slipped through the cracks over at the JS. There's some speculation that those "future considerations" might end up being Tony Gwynn Jr., but of course that's not confirmed.

Speaking of Gwynn, while he would appear to be behind Chris Duffy, Brad Nelson and Trot Nixon in the race for backup outfield spots, he thinks his history with the organization will get him a spot on the team this spring. Best of luck to him in his future endeavors.

Casey McGehee also continues to make a solid case for making the team. View From Bernie's Chalet is going to be pretty upset if he doesn't make the roster.

Baseball Intellect has posted 6-15 in their rankings of Brewer prospects: Follow the link for scouting reports on Jonathan Lucroy, Lorenzo Cain, Jake Odorizzi, Taylor Green, Cutter Dykstra, Cody Scarpetta, Caleb Gindl, Cole Gillespie and Zach Braddock, and an invitation to follow another link for a scouting report on Efrain Nieves.

Crawfish Boxes finished up their position-by-position look at the NL Central this weekend, ranking Corey Hart fourth among right fielders and Jason Kendall dead last among catchers.

Would their projection have changed if they knew Mike Rivera is going to get more starts in 2009? Ken Macha is planning to pair Rivera with Dave Bush to get Jason Kendall more frequent rest.

Elsewhere among predictions/projections/rankings:

FeinSports.com projects the Brewers for 79 wins and a third place finish.
Baseball Digest Daily doesn't have a prediction in their Brewer 2009 preview, but they do have some cool graphs and charts.
BareKnucks.com thinks the Brewers will win 72 games and finish fourth.
Not Today You Ain't picked the Brewers to finish fourth as well.

Do you like jokes involving Rickie Weeks? If so, you may enjoy his "interview" with Chatterbalks.

In other camps:

Dodgers: Released Shawn Estes.
Giants: Noah Lowry received a cortisone shot and will be unable to throw a baseball until April.
Mets: Released Tom Martin.
Nationals: Signed Josh Bard to a minor league deal.
Padres: Mark Worrell needs Tommy John surgery and will miss the 2009 season. He was acquired from the Cardinals for Khalil Greene.
Rangers: Signed Jimmy Gobble to a minor league deal.
Twins: Joe Mauer still has pain and inflammation in his back and is unlikely to be ready for Opening Day.
White Sox: Signed Gavin Floyd to a four year deal worth $15.5 million.

The Astros spring training has been pretty bad, but for one day the Tigers had it worse: they were no-hit by the Marlins yesterday with Ricky Nolasco and two relievers combining to accomplish the feat.

On Friday I mentioned the new Dodgers policy of putting a contribution to Dodger charities into all contracts. The MLBPA has filed a grievance that will likely end that practice in a hurry.

The Cubs sale is still on hold and will almost certainly not be done by Opening Day. Between the Green Pillars took a look at its implications for the Brewers.

Like one in four Americans, I'm left handed, so as a writer I'm encouraged by the fact that all the Reds beat writers are also lefties.

Think you know your stats? Got seven minutes to prove it? Take this quiz and see how many franchise win leaders you can name. I got 12, which is pretty good in the "taken before 7 am" division.

At the very least, those seven minutes will be a better investment than the $70,000 Torii Hunter invested in furniture rafts.

Baseball Reference is working on a new site design. As someone who uses the site countless times daily, I was concerned, but they've opened up the beta page and it looks pretty good. Here's Jeff Cirillo's page, if you're curious.

Over the weekend, BCB made a roster move of its own. Josh Kalk, aka Dixieflatline, is leaving the site to take a job with an AL team. Josh is a phenomenal talent and will be a tremendous asset to his new employers, but to the internet baseball community he's more than that.

There's a stereotype out there about bloggers and internet-based writers. There are people who label us as glorified loudmouths with too much time on their hands and a "home office" in mom's basement. As a medium, we owe a debt of gratitude to people like Josh, Jeff Sackmann, David Pinto, Tom Tango and a variety of others that have shown that, at times, the best baseball analysis being done today is happening here on the internet, and the work that we're producing here should not be universally ignored by teams and the media.

At any rate, congratulations and thank you to Josh for all he's done and continues to do.

Oh, and Peter Angelos may not be the best savior for horse racing.

Drink up.

Thursday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 14:49:14 -0000

Things to read while waiting in line for "Straps."

So, if you listened to yesterday's Cactus League opener, you might have heard "Hell's Bells" play as Trevor Hoffman entered to pitch the seventh inning. If you did I hope you enjoyed it, because you won't hear it again until the regular season.

And if you're heading to Arizona this spring and hoping to see Hoffman, pick a home game. The Brewers are allowing Hoffman to set his own routine and schedule this spring, and said schedule doesn't include many trips out of Maryvale. A quote from that story is a little troubling:

The Brewers allowed similar leeway to Eric Gagne last season after he signed for $10 million.

This spring, if the Brewers tell Gagne he's pitching in the dumpster behind the minor league fields, my guess is he'll be ok with it.

Gagne, however, still isn't pitching much at all as he battles a strained calf. He'll throw BP on Friday before deciding if he's ready for game action. He's in a tough spot, though: By tomorrow he'll only have about four weeks to prove he deserves a spot in the bullpen before his March 25 deadline, so my guess is he'll go even if he's not 100%.

As noted in this FanShot, Tony Gwynn's shoulder is still not healed and could take as much as a month to fully heal.

I have a theory. It's not based on anything I know for sure, and it's somewhat conspiratorial, but here it is: I think the Brewers are going to take things very slowly with Gwynn, to the point where he opens the season on the DL and stays in extended spring training. Then, they'll have a few weeks where they can activate him if an injury or need pops up. If one doesn't, they'll send him to AAA on a rehab assignment, and if need be, they'll DFA him on May 1 instead of in April and hope no one wants to burn a waiver claim and a roster spot on a guy who's hardly played a game all season.

Also noted in the link above: Mat Gamel and Todd Coffey are both leaving the team to attend the births of their children. Coffey is expected to leave later today, and Gamel early tomorrow, meaning he could still be available to pinch hit in a game today.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday's tie:

Diving catches rarely look as impressive in photo form. Consider, for example, Chris Duffy catching a ball on his knees.
The All Time Saves Leader's snarl is in mid-season form.
The blimp cam caught a picture of Prince Fielder signing autographs.

Once Bill Hall is healthy, it sounds like he'll be given every opportunity to prove himself. Yesterday Ken Macha said he wants to give Hall a shot to prove he can play everyday and live up to the promise he showed in his 35 HR season in 2006. He needs to get healthy first, though.

On the other hand, Tyler Maas of Right Field Bleachers wants Casey McGehee to hurry up and not make the team. McGehee went 0-for-2 yesterday, but on the list of players I irrationally want off the roster based on yesterday's performance he's significantly behind Jorge Julio.

Brewer fans came out in droves last season to watch winning baseball, but are they loyal? Jim Lane has a new study, published at River Ave. Blues, ranking the Brewers 20th in fan loyalty, but ahead of both Cincinnati and Pittsburgh in the Central.

If it can't be Yovani Gallardo, Dave Bush seems to be the fan favorite to start on Opening Day, but The Junkball Blues cautions Brewer fans against getting too excited, as Bush's BABIP suggests he got some lucky breaks in 2008. He was incredibly unlucky in 2007, so it evens out.

In news from other camps:

Astros: Were forced to delay their spring training opener for 15 minutes because Florida Governor Charlie Crist, scheduled to throw out the first pitch, was late.
Dodgers: Have reportedly offered a one year deal with a player option for a second to Manny Ramirez.
Giants: Noah Lowry still has tightness in his elbow and may not be ready by Opening Day.
Indians: Andy Marte cleared waivers and was sent to AAA.
Mets: May consider releasing reliever Duaner Sanchez before Opening Day.
Twins: Exploratory surgery on Boof Bonser revealed a torn rotator cuff. He'll miss the entire 2009 season.

Another day, another update on the Washington Nationals saga: While the Nationals have reportedly targeted Blue Jays assistant GM Tony LaCava as their GM in waiting if Jim Bowden is fired, their hiring process would not be that simple as MLB rules would still require them to interview a minority candidate. Meanwhile the team has pulled out of the Dominican Republic.

Oh, and since I found this recipe for homemade gummies I've been looking for new and creative molds, but I'm not sure I'm nerdy enough for gummy Pis.

Drink up.