SB Nation - Matt Wieters

Daniel Moskos Claimed By Chicago White Sox

Charlie Wilmoth — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 19:46:30 -0000

The Chicago White Sox have claimed reliever Daniel Moskos off waivers from the Pirates.

Normally, this would be an insignificant move, since Moskos is barely functional as a second bullpen lefty. But for Pirates fans, Moskos' departure is a symbol of organizational change. Former general manager Dave Littlefield selected Moskos with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2012 draft, even though the Pirates had about a thousand needs more pressing than lefty relief and top catching talent Matt Wieters was still on the board. Moskos, through no fault of his own, became a lightning rod of criticism.

Moskos made his way through the minor leagues mostly without distinction, although he had a nice run with Class AA Altoona in 2010. I'm a little surprised that another team claimed him; the statistics aren't there, and his stuff isn't particularly impressive either.

For more on the Pirates, check out Bucs Dugout. For more on the White Sox, there's South Side Sox.

2012 MLB All-Star Game: Rangers Doing Well In Voting Polls

brandon_k_scott — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 14:03:52 -0000

The Texas Rangers really don't have any weaknesses. They've got Gold Glove candidates at nearly every position, and every got in their batting rotation can be dangerous on a given night.

It really is compelling, and has to be somewhat deflating for teams in the American League that know getting to the World Series is going to have to go through Texas in some fashion.

So next month's MLB All-Star Game is likely to reflect how much talent the Rangers organization has been able to collect over recent years. Check out the voting numbers after the jump.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

FIRST BASE
Prince Fielder, Tigers: 1,027,070
Mark Teixeira, Yankees: 697,602
Paul Konerko, White Sox: 671,430
Mitch Moreland, Rangers: 618,226
Albert Pujols, Angels: 478,020

SECOND BASE
Ian Kinsler, Rangers: 1,447,171
Robinson Cano, Yankees: 1,164,448
Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox: 699,422
Robert Andino, Orioles: 317,434
Chris Getz, Royals: 278,585

THIRD BASE
Adrian Beltre, Rangers: 1,179,864
Miguel Cabrera, Tigers: 886,365
Evan Longoria, Rays: 789,434
Alex Rodriguez, Yankees: 657,315
Mike Moustakas, Royals: 432,379

SHORTSTOP
Derek Jeter, Yankees: 1,698,777
Elvis Andrus, Rangers: 1,033,986
J.J. Hardy, Orioles: 489,941
Alcides Escobar, Royals: 392,195
Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians: 344,065

CATCHER
Mike Napoli, Rangers: 1,224,565
Matt Wieters, Orioles: 713,469
Joe Mauer, Twins: 637,364
Russell Martin, Yankees: 431,435
A.J. Pierzynski, White Sox: 424,646

DESIGNATED HITTER
David Ortiz, Red Sox: 1,204,904
Michael Young, Rangers: 1,049,170
Raul Ibanez, Yankees: 492,183
Billy Butler, Royals: 477,257
Edwin Encarnacion, Blue Jays: 391,131

OUTFIELDERS
Josh Hamilton, Rangers: 2,587,991
Curtis Granderson, Yankees: 1,406,128
Nelson Cruz, Rangers: 992,992
Jose Bautista, Blue Jays: 930,814
Adam Jones, Orioles: 857,543
David Murphy, Rangers: 652,379
Nick Swisher, Yankees: 624,215
Brett Gardner, Yankees: 437,126
Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners: 433,899
Jeff Francoeur, Royals: 422,304
Austin Jackson, Tigers: 389,664
Nick Markakis, Orioles: 384,390
Alex Gordon, Royals: 378,459
Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox: 346,774
B.J. Upton, Rays: 277,173

Read more about the Texas Rangers at Lone Star Ball. Head over to Baseball Nation for more around the league.

Joe Mauer Ranked Third Among AL Catchers In All-Star Game Voting

Packey — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 11:00:24 -0000

Tuesday marked the first MLB All-Star Game voting update and one Minnesota Twin, Joe Mauer, has a realistic chance at a starting gig in the game that will be played where the Twins close out a three-game series on Wednesday night -- Kansas City.

The first of umpteen All-Star voting updates arrived today, and Joe Mauer ranked third among AL catchers, behind the Rangers’ Mike Napoli and the Orioles’ Matt Wieters. The totals went: Napoli (1,224,565), Wieters (713,469) and Mauer (637,364). No other Twin was listed among the leading vote-getters as his position.

Joe Mauer is having a nice bounce-back season after only playing in 82 games in 2011 due to injury. Mauer has played in 52 games this season and is hitting .298/.407/.826 with three home runs and 25 runs batted in, just five RBI shy of his 2011 total. Before last year, Mauer was an All-Star for three straight years and four of the previous five seasons. He was the leading vote getter in all of baseball just two years ago.

MLB Draft 2012: A Look At The Top Five College Prospects

David Coleman — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:20:04 -0000

There's a long time between now and the June draft. I mean, the college baseball season hasn't even started yet. But, it's never too early to start talking about possible picks at the No. 1 overall pick.

In this article over at Minor League Ball, Matt Garrioch breaks down the top five college players in this draft. There aren't any new names on here, but a few that jump out are:

Mark Appel, Stanford - The big righty from Stanford has been the consensus No. 1 overall pick since the draft season ended up last year. However, I bet he gets caught this season by some of the other guys. Appel is intriguing because he's a big body and a team can dream about him being more projectible. In fact, he reminds me a bit of George Springer, Houston's first round pick last season, who was a college player, but less polished than you'd expect.

Kevin Gausman, LSU - It wasn't too long ago that Gausman was a high school pitcher out of Colorado who was considered a first round pick. As a draft eligible sophomore, he's going to have a chance to go high in this year's draft as well. Whether he makes it up No. 1 overall is debatable. Gausman is intriguing because he'd be younger than the other college guys in line for this pick.

Mike Zunino, Florida - A favorite of native_astro, Zunino could very well turn into Mike Lieberthal or he could be Matt Wieters. Right now, it doesn't look like he could turn into Joe Mauer, but his bat will make him a top candidate. Plus, his college background will make him a fast-mover through the system.

Devin Marrero, Arizona State - Only three college shortstops have been drafted No. 1 overall in the history of the June draft. Jeff King and B.J. Surhoff went on to have pretty solid careers, but weren't game-changers. That's what the Astros would be looking at with Marrero. He's not going to be a franchise guy, but could very well anchor the position for 10 years. The easy comparison is Troy Tulowitzki, but Marrero probably won't have that kind of power or be that good with the glove. Maybe something more like Orlando Cabrera?

A's, Orioles Reportedly Interested In Manny Ramirez

Bradley Woodrum — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:12:02 -0000

Apparently the race to sign DH Manny Ramirez is down to two teams -- the Oakland Athletics and the Baltimore Orioles.

Ramirez had originally signed a 1-year contract with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2011, and the team expected him to offer a sorely-needed bat. But Manny promptly failed a drug test, retired and left the Rays with Johnny Damon at DH and Sam Fuld at left field.

Indeed, the results were magical, but it is not hard to harbor a little resentment against the fellow we all anticipated would give the Rays 20 homers and a .380 on-base percentage.

So I say: Go Orioles! Sign him away from the A's!

Granted, Ramirez fits much better with the A's -- who seem to be perpetually on the cusp of competitiveness, while the Orioles fester in a pool of blown prospects, over-the-hill veterans and Matt Wieters. If Ramirez signs with the Orioles, the Rays will get to play him frequently, and Rays fans will get to watch personally as either one or two bits of revenge occur: (1) Ramirez flounders without PEDs to help him, or (2) Ramirez has a strong season, but the Orioles still suck.

Either way, the Rays win.

Baltimore Orioles Considered Dave Littlefield In GM Search

Charlie Wilmoth — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 05:48:27 -0000

Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports that the Baltimore Orioles, in their desperate search for a general manager, actually considered former Pirates GM Dave Littlefield.

Dave Littlefield's name was floated at one time. Sorry, too recent.

Wow - insert your joke about the Orioles preferring Daniel Moskos to Matt Wieters here. Anyway, it appears that the Orioles are close to picking former Red Sox and Expos GM Dan Duquette, so the city of Baltimore is safe - sort of. Several potential candidates have voluntarily dropped out of the race, and the Orioles have taken much longer than expected to find a general manager. The problems are manager Buck Showalter and owner Peter Angelos, who both appear to be obstacles to a new GM doing his or her job and winning.

While it's not an ideal GM job, though, it is a GM job, and one would think the Orioles would be able to find some smart, hungry young candidate who would appreciate the opportunity. Pretty much anyone would be a better GM for the Orioles than Littlefield would. I honestly think there are about a million people in the world who could do the job better than Littlefield. That's not a figure of speech. Literally, a million.

For more on the Orioles, check out Camden Chat.

Former Pirates Manager John Russell Sent To Orioles' Bench

CardiacHill — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 00:30:21 -0000

In a somewhat interesting story, former Bucs' skipper John Russell has apparently lost his job as the Baltimore Orioles' third base coach. O's skipper Buck Showalter says it's not due to performance, but the two apparently disagree at least a bit on that:

Showalter, however, insisted Russell — a former big league catcher — was moved to bench coach because he has a sore knee and can provide advice to catchers Matt Wieters and Craig Tatum between innings.

"I think I kind of took initiative with it more than anything because he is not going to say anything physically (about the knee)," Showalter said.

Russell dismissed the knee as a non-issue, but acknowledged that his new position as bench coach will give him a chance to work with Baltimore's catchers.

Russell believes the 'benching' is perhaps due to his error in judgment in getting a runner thrown out at the plate recently:

The switch comes less than a week after Russell waved pitcher Chris Jakubauskas toward the plate with no outs in the fifth inning of a game against Washington. Jakubauskas was running from first on a double by J.J. Hardy, and by the time he arrived the catcher was waiting with the ball. Jakubauskas was tagged out after an awkward slide.

"You try to look for ways you can score, and sometimes it backfires and you get a guy thrown out," Russell said Friday. "I probably shouldn't have done that, but you never know."

If Jakubauskas' name sounds familiar, it should. He was the Pirates pitcher on the mound that got hit in the head by a nasty line drive by the Houston Astros' Lance Berkman in a game last season ... when Russell was manager. I'd have to see the play but trying to get a pitcher home from first, even on a double, sounds like a very questionable call. And the fact that Jakubauskas was thrown out by a mile, not Russell's knee, is the likely reason he's now riding the pine.

Pirates Place Evan Meek On DL, To Promote Danny Moskos

Charlie Wilmoth — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 17:11:21 -0000

Pirates reliever Evan Meek is heading to the DL for a couple weeks, which is probably a good idea - he has been prone to weird blowups and losses of velocity this year, and it will be good to give him a couple weeks off to get his shoulder back in shape.

The Pirates apparently will recall Danny Moskos to take his place on the roster. Moskos was the Pirates' first-round pick in 2007, and he has, perhaps unfairly, taken a beating by fans who wanted the Pirates to select Matt Wieters (or, later, Jason Heyward), as if it's Moskos' fault that the Pirates chose to take a potential reliever at the top of the first round. Anyway, Moskos played horribly down the stretch at Indianapolis last year, but is off to a good start in 2011. The Pirates have gotten great work so far out of Joel Hanrahan, Chris Resop and Jose Veras, so Moskos won't have to pitch in tough situations. He will apparently be active tonight against the Rockies.