SB Nation - John Danks

Rosterbation-Mania!

U-God — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:18:10 -0000

More photos » by Ted S. Warren - AP

Raise your hand if you want to play for the White Sox next year. Esteban, please put your hand down. Seriously though, Esteban, you aren't welcome. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

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Over the past couple days, and inspired by the infamous U.S.S. Mariner post and the on-going reader input over at Sox Machine, I've been putting together my off-season plan. I tried to keep it as realistic as possible (no video game trades), especially in terms of payroll. Feel encouraged to leave your own roster plans in the comments section. U-God's 2010 plan lies after the jump.

Free Agent Acquistions:

DH- Nick Johnson, 1 year/5.5 mil

I love Jim Thome and always will. He is my back-up plan. With that being said, I would be thrilled if KW went out and got Nick Johnson. The 31 year old lefty has a career .849 OPS fueled largely by his .402 career OBP. Johnson also allows us to rotate Paul Konerko and Carlos Quentin in at DH as well. He does come with injury-risks, but using him mainly as a DH in combination with one of the premier medical staffs in baseball should counteract that. The injury risk combined with the down market should allow the Sox to grab him at a reasonable price for a year.

RF- Marlon Byrd, 1 year/4.5 mil

Byrd would be a very refreshing change of pace out in rightfield. He has posted an OPS above .800 each year since joining the American League and has been an above-average defender in right as well. His career high 20 homers last year will guarentee him a raise, though probably a modest one. Byrd also provides a nice stop-gap for our outfield prospects.

C- Brian Schneider, 1 year/1.5 mil

Schneider's days as a starter are over. He's a lefty-catcher who has had good success stopping opponent's run games (38 CS%). Being a backup drops his price tag and lowers his risk of getting hurt again.

1B/OF- Mark Kotsay, 1 year/1.5 mil

Bring him back. He was good after we traded for him and gives Ozzie more flexibility with his bench and lineups.

Contract Extension:

Offer John Danks the Jon Lester deal (5 years/30 mil). It's a back-loaded contract that buys out John's arbitration years and allows him to hit free agency at age 31. It may take more money to lock him up, but for simplicity's sake, I'm just going to use the Lester deal.

Batting Order:

DH- Nick Johnson, 3B- Gordon Beckham, LF- Carlos Quentin, 1B- Paul Konerko, C- A.J. Pierzynski, CF- Alex Rios, RF- Marlon Byrd, SS- Alexei Ramirez, 2B- Chris Getz.

That OBP in front of Beckham gives me dirty thoughts.

Bench:

C- Brian Schneider, 1B/OF- Mark Kotsay, UTIL- Jayson Nix, OF- Alejandro De Aza

Nix gives pop off the bench and De Aza gives Ozzie a speedy pinch-runner for late in the game.

Starting Rotation:

Jake Peavy-RHP, Mark Buehrle-LHP, Gavin Floyd-RHP, John Danks-LHP, Freddy Garcia-RHP

I like the idea of having Peavy and Garcia pitch back to back.

Bullpen:

Bobby Jenks-CL, Matt Thornton-LHP, Scott Linebrink-RHP, DJ Carrasco-RHP, Tony Peña-RHP, Jhonny Nuñez-RHP, Randy Williams-LHP

I wanted to trade Jenks, but his value is too low right now and I don't want a repeat of the Nick Swisher trade.

Other Costs:

$1 mil buy-out for Jermaine Dye

$.35 mil for Mike MacDougal, damn him

Team Payroll:

$96.65 mil, only .55 higher than last season's opening salary. All figures (except my FAs and arbitration guesstimates) taken from Cot's Baseball Contracts.

Fantasy Baseball: FIP Losers in 2010?

raygu — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:15:10 -0000

by Jack Dempsey - AP

Is J.A. Happ a one year wonder?

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Yesterday I posted an article discussing the pitchers with the best FIP, or Fielding Independent Pitching, which aims to give fantasy/roto owners a clearer picture of how well, or not so well, a pitcher performed in 2009.

Today I give you the pitchers whose FIP was higher than their ERA in 2009, who could see their ERA's rise in 2010:

6.45

3.04

2.13

1.08

0.241

1.23

0.270

85.20%

2.93

4.33

-1.40

Kevin Millwood

5.57

3.22

1.73

1.18

0.258

1.34

0.279

78.60%

3.67

4.80

-1.13

Jair Jurrjens

6.36

3.14

2.03

0.63

0.235

1.21

0.273

79.40%

2.60

3.68

-1.08

Matt Cain

7.07

3.02

2.34

0.91

0.231

1.18

0.268

81.60%

2.89

3.89

-0.99

Bronson Arroyo

5.19

2.66

1.95

1.27

0.256

1.27

0.270

76.50%

3.84

4.78

-0.94

Randy Wells

5.66

2.5

2.26

0.76

0.261

1.28

0.294

76.00%

3.05

3.88

-0.83

John Danks

6.69

3.28

2.04

1.26

0.246

1.28

0.273

77.70%

3.77

4.59

-0.82

Rick Porcello

4.69

2.74

1.71

1.21

0.268

1.34

0.281

75.50%

3.96

4.77

-0.82

John Lannan

3.88

2.97

1.31

0.96

0.265

1.35

0.276

72.70%

3.88

4.70

-0.81

Ross Ohlendorf

5.55

2.7

2.06

1.27

0.249

1.23

0.265

76.30%

3.92

4.72

-0.80

Jarrod Washburn

5.11

2.51

2.04

1.18

0.244

1.19

0.257

75.40%

3.78

4.58

-0.80

Randy Wolf

6.72

2.44

2.76

1.01

0.227

1.10

0.257

77.30%

3.23

3.96

-0.72

Doug Davis

6.46

4.56

1.42

1.11

0.261

1.50

0.294

76.00%

4.12

4.84

-0.72

Trevor Cahill

4.53

3.63

1.25

1.36

0.269

1.44

0.276

72.60%

4.63

5.33

-0.70

Edwin Jackson

6.77

2.94

2.3

1.14

0.249

1.26

0.281

76.70%

3.62

4.28

-0.67

Johan Santana

7.88

2.48

3.17

1.08

0.249

1.21

0.296

78.00%

3.13

3.79

-0.66

Mark Buehrle

4.43

1.9

2.33

1.14

0.27

1.25

0.282

74.70%

3.84

4.46

-0.62

Felix Hernandez

8.18

2.68

3.06

0.57

0.229

1.14

0.289

76.70%

2.49

3.09

-0.60

Joe Saunders

4.89

3.1

1.58

1.4

0.278

1.43

0.290

73.50%

4.60

5.17

-0.57

Ted Lilly

7.68

1.83

4.19

1.12

0.232

1.06

0.270

77.80%

3.10

3.65

-0.55

The last column in this chart gives you the difference between the pitcher's ERA and FIP for 2009. As you can see, the Phillies J.A. Happ may have benefitted from an extreme LOB% of 85% this year. Looking at his peripherals, he gives up more than a HR/9 and his K/BB% is just over 2, which is good, but not great.

The Giants Matt Cain is another pitcher whose LOB% was over 80%, which is above AVG, so we can expect his ERA to rise in 2010. Cain benefitted from a reduced GB% and LD% in 2009, but his HR/FB% was the highest in his career. Something to watch in 2010.

The Braves Jair Jurrjens LOB% approached 80% as well, which is the highest of his young career so far. His 2009 FIP of 3.68 is exactly what his ERA was in 2008, so I would expect his ERA to rise in 2010.

A couple big name pitchers on this list to watch out for are the Mariners Felix Hernandez and the Mets Johan Santana.

Poll

Are you buying JA Happ's rookie season in 2009?

Yes, he pitches for the best team in the NL, and should give you double digit wins.

26 votes

No, his peripherals are ok at best.

40 votes

66 votes | Poll has closed

Game 157: White Sox 6, Indians 1

Ryan — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:20:48 -0000

More photos » by Mark Duncan - AP

Aaron Laffey allowed eight hits, all of them singles, and several of them infield singles.

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This was one game where it didn't really matter much what the pitching did, because John Danks was locked in all game. He allowed three hits, two of them to Shin-Soo Choo. His lone earned run allowed was a Choo home run.

Aaron Laffey did ok with the exception of the second inning, when Chicago batted around. Normally when a club does that, the pitcher is removed, but all the base runners came via singles or walks, and the damage was limited to three runs. He stayed in the game into the eighth inning with the game still within reach, but the bullpen let the game get out of hand. Jose Veras was shaky, but got out of the eighth; Jensen Lewis, and the Indians defense, gave up three runs in the ninth to salt the game for the White Sox.

Next Up: Torres vs. Masterson, 7:05 PM

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Shin-Soo Choo	.104	Matt LaPorta	-.119
Jose Veras	.050	Jhonny Peralta	-.096
Travis Hafner	.004	Trevor Crowe	-.089

Twins Outslug White Sox

cmathewson — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:51:39 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

about 1 month ago: Minnesota Twins' Jason Kubel, right, is greeted outside the dugout by Michael Cuddyer after Kubel's home run off Chicago White Sox relief pitcher Octavio Dotel during the eighth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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Orlando Cabrera, Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel led a powerful attack to lift the Twins past the White Sox 8-6 in a see-saw game on Tuesday night at US Cellular Field in Chicago.

The Twins scored three runs off John Danks in the first inning. After a rare Carlos Gomez walk, Orlando Cabrera hit a two-run homer to left. Hits by Kubel and Cuddyer set up a Delmon Young sac fly to give the Twins a 3-0 lead.

Jeff Manship started for the Twins and lasted only 2 2/3 innings before giving up the lead. After giving up a single run in the first, he really started to struggle in the third. Manship gave up homers to Alex Rios and Gordon Beckham with a Scott Podsednik single sandwiched in between for a 4-3 Sox lead. Batting practice continued with AJ Pierzinski and Paul Konerko hitting hard singles to prompt Ron Gardenhire to make the pitching change to Francisco Liriano. Liriano promptly induced a double play to get the boys back into the dugout and hitting.

Joe Mauer tied the game on a two-out double in the fourth. Michael Cuddyer and Matt Tolbert (!) homered off Danks in the sixth, and the Twins led the rest of the way. Jason Kubel added an insurance run on a homer in the eighth.

The short start forced the Twins to use most of its bullpen. Jesse Crain (7-4) got the win with an inning and a third of spotless pitching. Jose Mijares (25) and Matt Guerrier (31) each got holds despite making it interesting in their innings. And Joe Nathan worked a rare 1-2-3 ninth for his 43rd save in 48 chances.

The win helped the Twins keep pace with the Tigers, who beat the hapless Indians 3-1. The Twins remain 2.5 games back while the White Sox are now 8 back with 11 games to play.

Studs:

4. Jesse Crain: On a night like this, it's nice to see a guy stifle the other guys' bats. He came in in the fifth with runners on second and third and two outs and got out of the inning. He then pitched a clean sixth to bridge the gap to the set-up crew.

3. Michael Cuddyer: Another three-hit night with a double and a homer.

2. Jason Kubel: Two more hits, both for extra bases.

1. Orlando Cabrera: Not only did get the Twins going with his home, his two-out walk helped the Twins tie the game again. And he made several very nice plays in the field. It's safe to say whatever was ailing his arm is gone.

Duds:

Jeff Manship: This has to be his last shot this season to start. The question is, who starts next time around the rotation? Liriano?

John Danks: Giving up seven earned runs to this line-up without two if its best hitters is not good.

Bobby Jenks Hates Us All And Drowns Puppies On Off-Days

homesickalien — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:00:29 -0000

More photos » by Ted S. Warren - AP

Your beard is good. Just a compliment. About your beard being good.

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I had just closed my tab at the Sodo Showbox bar and boasted to the bartender about what a lovely curveball Bobby Jenks could throw, when that very same Bobby Jenks hung two pitches belt-high over the plate, to two different Mariners; both of whom sent those pitches into left field.

Tie game in the 9th!

John Danks clearly does not know how to win a game.

In actuality, Danks pitched a gem and should have gotten the win. Over 8 innings of work, he only gave up 4 hits and 2 walks. A homer off the bat of Beltre was his only run, and it didn't come until the 7th inning. His off-speed pitches were simply vicious tonight. He threw 97 pitches; 63 of them for strikes.

In that same time frame, the Mariners were already through 5 pitchers and the fate of the game seemed sealed.
And then came Big Bad (in the literal sense this time) Bobby for the routine close with a 2-run cushion.

Since the boxscore reveals the nasty details and I know nobody likes reading, I'll skip the abstract inning-by-inning recap and interpretive dance that I had planned.

Rather, here are some things I took away from this game:

1. I like the cut of Kotsay's jib more and more each game. Kotsay had 4 hits in 6 ABs tonight, with 2 RBIs. His beard is good. And his wife is hot.
2. I would like to take back the "Thank you for Rios" I gave to Kenny last month. 'nuf said.
3. Getz had not 1, not 2, but 4 - FOUR - walks tonight (and a SB). And had a great play in the 10th which allowed us to cling to a shred of worthless hope that we might actually win.
4. Alexei made a brilliant play to his left on a hard-hit ball by catcher Adam Moore (his first ML at-bat) in the 3rd. The ball hit his glove and spun that skinny Cuban right around into throwing position. There was nothing lazy about this play.
5. Ichiro is extremely not bad. He recently earned his 200th hit of the season - making it 9 consecutive seasons in which he has hit 200 or more. You can celebrate his achievements with a collectible bat, for a mere $129.95 (plus S/H). If you care to purchase that, find the damn link yourself.
6. Surprising as it may seem, Pena did not blow this particular game in extras. Not surprisingly, Linebrink did.
7. If the game goes to the 14th inning in Seattle, it's probably best to just close the tab and walk home.

As a quick summary, Sox lost 4 out of 6 in Seattle this year (and probably should have lost one more of those). Overall record-wise, we are equally mediocre. But considering divisional opponents, it's sad to say that the Mariners were probably better than the Sox this year. Their defense is hard to beat and they've been able to take advantage of the luck that's come their way with help from nearly everyone on their roster - from Beltre to Rob Johnson and the 50 Wilsons they got over there.

And finally, to answer the question posed earlier today by Tdogg - what are the chances the Sox win the next 4 games? I have been slaving all night, crunching numbers and rounding decimals and fingering my abacus....and the answer is: 0%

However the hope for the play-offs is still alive and kicking! We can do it guys! Never give up!
Ah, just f*** it, dude.

Lester Comes Through, BoSox Roll ChiSox 6-1

USG — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:41:21 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

It's always nice when you have to choose whether it was the dominant pitching or productive offense that was the story of the game. Let's go with pitching for now. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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After dropping the first two games of the series by a combined score of 17-3, the Sox looked to Jon Lester to play the role of stopper--a role he filled perfectly. After allowing a single and a walk to the first two Chicago batters, Lester induced a bloop fly ball which Dustin Pedroia made a fantastic play on, doubling Scott Podsednik off of second and averting a first-inning disaster. After that, he was nearly untouchable, allowing only 3 hits and a walk in 7 scoreless innings, throwing 122 pitches.

The offense showed some life through the first 3 innings, but didn't score until the 4th when Jason Bay singled and Mike Lowell homered to left on a John Danks fastball. Another Bay single would plate Jacoby Ellsbury for a 3rd run in the 5th.

The White Sox would cut the lead to 2 runs in the 8th as Billy Wagner allowed his first earned run with the Red Sox on an absolute bomb by Ramon Castro. He would retire the next 2 batters before Bard came in and struck out Paul Konerko on 3 pitches.

Victor Martinez put the game out of reach, hitting a 3-run homer off of Octavio Dotel. Jonathan Papelbon gave up only a single in the 9th in closing out the game.

The Sox will look to earn a series split as they send a struggling Josh Beckett to the mound against "Mr. Perfect" Mark Buerhle. Buerhle has been hittable of late, giving up 35 hits over his last 23 innings, but has managed to avoid too much damage.

It's Up To You, New York, New York: Cubs vs. Mets Preview, Friday 9/4, 6:10 CT

Al — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:00:20 -0000

by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

Write your own caption.

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NEW YORK -- There wasn't any traffic coming into NYC -- everyone's leaving for the holiday weekend, and even Manhattan traffic wasn't bad. I'll report from Citi Field on tonight's game tomorrow morning, but let's hope the Cubs have as easy a time with the Mets as I did getting here this afternoon. They'll need to start a winning streak rightfreakingnow if they want to continue to have any shot at the NL Wild Card.

As first posted in drodd's FanShot, the Cubs have claimed pitcher Thomas Diamond on waivers from the Rangers. Diamond is a 2004 #1 draft coming off Tommy John surgery. At one time he and John Danks were considered the two top pitching prospects for the Rangers; you know what Danks has done, and the Cubs are trying to catch the proverbial lightning in a bottle with Diamond. He'll be added to the 40-man roster (which now stands at 39 players) and get a chance to compete for a spot in spring training next year.

Sad baseball news: also originally posted in a FanShot by N Oakley, legendary Detroit Tigers announcer Ernie Harwell, now 91 years old and retired, has inoperable cancer. I wish him well; if you never heard Ernie call a game, google around. There are recordings of him available and every baseball fan should hear Ernie call a game at least once.

And if you think Cubs games are slow, be glad you're not Jonathan Papelbon -- he's been fined for slowing down games. I thought every time I turned on a Red Sox game it seemed like it was taking forever.

Today's Starting Pitchers


Carlos Zambrano Cubs	vs.	Bobby Parnell Mets

7-6	W-L	3-7
3.91	ERA	5.80
108	SO	52
60	BB	32
9	HR	6
vs. NY	--	vs. Cubs

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Carlos Zambrano	7-6	29	22	0	0	0	0	131.1	128	64	57	9	60	108	3.91	1.43

	W-L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	BS	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
2009 - Bobby Parnell	3-7	59	5	0	0	1	4	66.2	80	45	43	6	32	52	5.80	1.68

The Cubs beat up on Bobby Parnell last Saturday at Wrigley Field. He gave up nine hits including a grand slam to Jake Fox. Let's hope for more of the same. Incidentally, Parnell is the grandson of Mel Parnell, who pitched for the Red Sox in the 1940's and 1950's and later became a baseball radio broadcaster.

The Mets beat up on Carlos Zambrano last Sunday at Wrigley Field. He gave up 11 hits in less than four innings, including a triple to Anderson Hernandez. I don't know anything about Z's grandfather, but I'm sure he is a very nice man.

Today's game is cable-only in New York (SNY) and Chicago (CSN). For other games today see the MLB.com Mediacenter.

MLB.com Gameday

Baseball-reference.com game preview

SB Nation game preview

Please visit our SB Nation Mets site Amazin' Avenue.

Overflow comment threads will post today at 7 pm, 8 pm and 8:45 pm CDT.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

Twins nip White Sox in walk-off win

cmathewson — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:59:26 -0000

More photos » by Ann Heisenfelt - AP

2 months ago: Minnesota Twins' Jose Morales (58) is mobbed by teammates Alexi Casilla, Orlando Cabrera (18), Michael Cuddyer (5) and Denard Span (2) after hitting the game-winning single against the Chicago White Sox during the ninth inning of a baseball game in Minneapolis, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2009. The Twins won 4-3. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)

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Jose Morales had a two-out pinch hit single in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 4-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox at the Metrodome Tuesday night.

Jeff Manship gave the Twins five solid innings in his first major league start to keep the Twins in the game against John Danks and the White Sox. Manship left after throwing 80 pitches in five innings--more than he had thrown in almost a month. Manship's only glaring mistake was a belt-high fastball to Alexi Ramirez, who deposited into the left-field bleachers for a Sox one-run lead.

Michael Cuddyer had two homers to deep left in the game and nearly broke several hands in the dugout high fiving teammates after his dingers. The first homer opened up the scoring for the Twins, who were stymied through four innings by Danks. The Twins scored single runs in the fifh, sixth and seventh innings to open up a 2-1 lead. Besides Cuddyer's homers in the fifth and seventh, Denard Span contributed a triple and scored on a sac fly by Orlando Cabrera in the sixth.

Jesse Crain continued his resurgence in the Twins bullpen, throwing two uneventful innings to bridge the gap to the Twins primary set-up men. That's when the trouble started for the Twins. Jose Mijares came in to pitch the eighth with two lefties coming up in the inning. Mijares walked Scott Podsednik on four pitches, bringing Ron Gardenhire out of the dugout for a quick hook. Gardy called on Matt Guerrier, who gave up a two-run homer to Gordon Beckham on the first pitch he saw before retiring the Sox with the game tied. Jon Rauch pitched a solid ninth to set up the heroics in the bottom of the inning. Rauch has pitched two innings for the Twins and gotten two wins. Lucky him.

Jason Kubel led off the bottom of the ninth with a solid single to right center off of Matt Thronton. That makes three hits in his last two games off of left handers. Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen brought in Tony Pena to face three consecutive right-handed batters. Cuddyer just missed another homer, flying out to left. But Brendan Harris singled up the middle, sending pinch runner Nick Punto to third with one out. After Carlos Gomez struck out on a nasty slider down and away, Gardy pinch hit Morales for Alexi Casilla. Morales laced the second pitch he saw into right center for the game winner. And the whole team gathered in the middle of the diamond to maul the kid who got a walk-off hit in his first major league at bat since July.

It was an exciting finish that helped the Twins keep pace with the Tigers, who thrashed the Indians tonight. The Twins will go for another home sweep of the Sox tomorrow afternoon. It'll take the opportunity to play hookie with my son still out of school and watch Brian Duensing face Mark Buehrle for the finale. See you at the Dome!

Studs:

Jeff Manship: Gave the team more than it could reasonably ask for. He got ahead with a good moving fastball down in the zone and used off speed pitches to get them out.

Michael Cuddyer: Another two-homer game. Easy on the Shotokai high fives Magic Man.

Jose Morales: All this kid has done is hit. I hope he gets a few more chances before the season is out.

Jesse Crain: On a night when the starter couldn't go more than five innings from lack of stamina, he threw two huge innings with nothing across.

Duds:

Matt Guerrier: Seems to be in a slump. Hopefully he pulls out of it like Joe Nathan did.

A J Pierzynski: 0-4 with 3 LOB. What is this guy doing hitting third?

Thursday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:50:46 -0000

More photos » by Darren Hauck - AP

Milwaukee Brewers' Jason Kendall reacts after being hit by one of two pitches Wednesday.

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Some things to read while looking thinner.

The Brewers are changing things up a bit as they prepare for today's series finale with the Reds. As players were leaving the clubhouse last night, a sign was posted informing them of mandatory stretching on the field at 11:30 today. I'm as happy as anyone to see management trying to do something to improve the team's performance in day games, but "mandatory stretching" as a shakeup raises two questions in my mind:

Isn't stretching mandatory before pretty much every game? Wouldn't the entire roster be a mess of muscle pulls and tendon strains if it wasn't?
11:30 is only about ninety minutes before the start of today's game. If this stretching wasn't mandatory, are there players who wouldn't be there?

Meanwhile, the Brewers lost in extra innings for the second straight night last night. Ryan Braun says he took "a real bad route" to the fly ball that became the game winning double for Darnell McDonald. The loss dropped the Brewer playoff chances to .3%, according to CoolStandings.

Jason Kendall, meanwhile, gritted his way on base three times last night, drawing a walk and getting hit with two pitches. It was the 12th time in his career he's been hit twice in a game, and moved him into sole possession of fifth place on the all time list. Plunk Everyone has those tidbits and six more.

Felipe Lopez was limited to pinch hitting duties last night, and the classification of his injury has been modified a bit: Adam McCalvy is reporting Lopez actually injured a tendon that runs from his big toe through the arch of his right foot. He has not undergone an X-ray, and doesn't believe the injury is serious. Two notes on that:

Lopez is about a month away from becoming a free agent and possibly collecting a major paycheck, so even if this injury is worse than he's letting on, he'll most likely try to play through it and finish the season.
With that said, the injury didn't seem to hinder him that much when he was running to first after his ground out last night.

The Brewers made a minor roster move yesterday, removing Chase Wright from the 40-man roster. That likely means Wright will not be a September call up, but if frees up a 40 man spot for the Brewers to call up someone who isn't on the roster at the moment, like Corey Patterson (or, although this is a long shot, a guy like Jonathan Lucroy or Brett Lawrie).

Speaking of Lawrie, he was left off of the Midwest League's postseason All Star Team, along with all of his teammates. Instead, Angels prospect Alexi Amarista was chosen at second base. Amarista is hitting .313/.384/.461 for Cedar Rapids this season.

Brewer fans got the opportunity to talk prospects yesterday with Brewer Amateur Scouting Director Bruce Seid, and the transcript is up here. There's a fair amount of filler in there to skim around, but also notes on Nick Bucci, Scooter Gennett, Eric Arnett and Michael Fiers.

Mitch Stetter has had most of the last two weeks off, which gave him time to sit down with Adam McCalvy to tell the story of how he almost lost his leg. Interesting stuff.

The Bucky Channel took a look at the list of six Brewer veterans placed on trade waivers this week, and of all of them, he's hoping the Brewers don't trade Felipe Lopez. To me it seems like the only one that could be dealt is Braden Looper, as his 2010 option means a team could feasibly pick him up for the rest of this year and all of next. The rest of them would be one month rentals, and it's hard to get fair value for that.

Around baseball:

Angels: Designated pitcher Shane Loux for assignment.
Marlins: Placed Nick Johnson on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Mets: Oliver Perez will undergo knee surgery this week and miss the rest of the season.
Pirates: Placed Jeff Karstens on the DL with a lower back issue.
Red Sox: Released Brad Penny at his request.
Rockies: Designated outfielder Matt Murton for assignment.

The Brewers aren't the only team struggling in day games this season. The Rays are having a similar issue, and R.J. Anderson of DRaysBay takes on the theory that the struggles have been caused by young players staying out too late.

If Mike Cameron won't be back next season, and it's pretty likely he won't, then the Brewers need to keep looking at options in center field. Jorge Says No! noticed that Coco Crisp wants the Royals to pick up his $8 million option for next season, but it seems unlikely at that price.

Big League Stew has an interesting story today on John Danks, the White Sox reliever who has struggled at times this season with numbness in his fingers. Danks quit chewing tobacco, and the issue went away. Perhaps Jason Kendall and Bill Hall should be taking notes. Or maybe Major League Baseball should.

If you were impressed by Kendall's 2 HBP performance last night, prepare to be blown away by this one: On this day in 1975, Craig Kusick was plunked three times by Bill Travers as the Twins beat the Brewers 1-0 in eleven innings. Bert Blyleven pitched an eleven inning shutout for the Twins. On this day in 1982, Rickey Henderson went 0-for-1 with three walks and stole four bases, setting a new single season record at 122, but the Brewers beat the A's anyway, 5-4.

Happy birthday today to 2004-2005 Brewer Trent Durrington, who turns 34, former Brewer pitching coach Mike Maddux, who turns 48, and Marshall Edwards, who appeared in 160 games as a Brewer between 1981 and 1983 and turns 57.

Oh, and if you've got nothing else going on this weekend, you could always dress like a zombie and roam the streets in Oshkosh.

Drink up.

That's More Like It

larry — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 01:55:21 -0000

More photos » by David Banks - AP

Battled.

Browse more photos »

Despite the result, John Danks did not have a good game. As those who were watching the game know, it didn't look like he was going to make it out of the third due to the return of the circulation problem Danks has been having with his left index finger. As is probably intuitive, it is essential for a pitcher to be able to feel the ball and be able to know how much pressure he is using with his fingers on his various pitches. Danks was obviously struggling with the "feel" on his pitches and it showed in the six walks he issued. As the game went on, both his feel and the Orioles' desire to swing increased, which permitted Danks to end up throwing 6.1 innings. Gordon Beckham also had a couple very nice plays on what should have been Brian Roberts hits. On another night, however, this game could have gotten ugly real quickly.

What is getting ugly slowly is Ozzie's need to have an outfield rotation. Prior to tonight's game, Scott Podsednik in the last month has a super line of .255/.284/.347. Is he that bad? No, probably not. However, he's also not as good as he was during those magic pixie dust halcyon days from mid-May to mid-July. Alex Rios did not need a day off. He had Thursday off. Rios is a better baseball player in just about every facet of the game - including, I might remind those who love speed, in stealing bases (20 for 23 v. 19 for 28).

I understand Ozzie's desire to rotate players in order to keep them fresh. However, now is the time for which you kept them fresh. A day off for players who just had a day off two days ago is not necessary. If the White Sox are going to win this division, they need to ride their best players.