SB Nation - Jess Todd

Trader Mo Redux

the red baron — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:59:51 -0000

Yep, that's right. Jeff Fucking Weaver. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

The worst part was I really believed in this team.

I'm actually of two minds, really; the analyst side of me, the part that studies the game and writes about it for a living, never honestly thought this team a legitimate title contender. I always said the offense was undependable and the bullpen just didn't have the kind of shutdown arms that lead to postseason success. You can go back and read the published record, too; I always thought the Cards had a chance, yes, but I never bought into them as a juggernaut in the 2004 mold.

The problem comes when you consider the other side, the fan side, of the equation. The fan in me didn't see those things, didn't fear the bullpen. In my heart, I thought the Cards could would most definitely absolutely will turn it on come playoff time. Tony La Russa teams don't get knocked out in the divisional series, after all; La Russa's overall postseason record may not be the stuff of legend, but his record in the NLDS certainly is. In my mind, the Cards' offense was wildly inconsistent and capable of being shut down at any moment; in my heart, the holy trinity of PujolsHollidayLudwick would crush the spirits and WPAs of any and all opponents. In my mind, Ryan Franklin had saved only a single game in the final month of the season and was looking more and more like fodder for the glue factory; in my heart he was ready to etch his name indelibly into Cardinal lore with a strikeout and a photograph as teammates leapt and capered on their way toward the victory pile on the mound.

So when I say I believed in this team, understand I mean it halfway, and somehow that's worse than all the way. If I had thought this team the greatest of all time and then watched the collapse, perhaps I could mourn properly; begin with shock and disbelief, then move right on through anger at the shoddy play and the zombified end to depression for the end of the season and finally to acceptance of our fate as a team not quite as good as it looked. But this halfway belief is awful; I know I should have known better because I did know better, yet I was still just as shocked and horrified when I turned out to be right. I'm left feeling vindicated and miserable in vindication.

But any way you wish to slice things, the season is now over. The time has now come to look ahead, not back, to move forward, not sideways, and always whirling, whirling toward the future. But before we can look forward, we have to do just a bit more hindsighting.

The 2009 season will be forever defined, for better or for worse, by the trades that were made. The Cards went all in this season, only to see it all fall apart when the playoffs arrived. That's the problem with going all in, of course, and the reason so many of us (myself included), weren't huge fans of the Matt Holliday deal long before he became Public Enemy #1 in Cardinal Nation for trying to catch a humpback liner with his genitals; going all in is great if you win, because flags do in fact fly forever, but if you come up a little short, there is no Plan B.

So what, exactly, did the Cardinals gain, and what did they lose? Let's do us a little redux here of the deals made and see where we stand at the end of this ultimately frustrating 2009 season, shall we?

The Khalil Greene Trade

I'll be the first to admit it: I was a huge fan of this deal at the time. I was. I thought Greene to be a significantly undervalued player whose numbers were being artificially suppressed by his home ballpark. Add in a truly brutal 2008 campaign that no ballpark could have made look any better, and you had a player ripe for a renaissance. I felt like the inclusion of a player to be named later in the deal made the price a bit on the high side, considering just how awful Greene's numbers were, but I was still quite excited about the Cardinals' new shortstop.

Well, see, there's a little problem with that.

We were all, of course, unaware at the time Khalil's problems went a little deeper than a declining slugging percentage. For the life of me, I still can't quite figure out if I should blame Johnny Mo and Co. for not being more aware of Khalil's penchant for long sleeves and Bauhaus records or not. On the one hand, you want to be pissed they didn't do their due diligence and somehow missed the thing, but on the other, psychological problems aren't like a frayed rotator cuff. There's no magical scan that reveals when someone is hurting on the inside, and it isn't as if his teammates were jumping at the chance to talk about how messed up Khalil is.

What Was Given Up: Luke Gregerson, RHP Mark Worrell, RHP

Okay, so we can put this one solidly in the loss column. Worrell clearly had no place in the organisation after he aired his dirty laundry publicly last offseason, a factor which helped make me even more positive on the deal when it was made. Unfortunately, the player to be named later turned out to be Gregerson, a guy plenty of prospect-watchers really liked, and he turned out to be pretty damned good.

In 75 inning this season, Gregerson was absolutely brilliant, posting a 2.50 FIP for the Padres. He is pitching in a park which heavily suppresses home runs, so he does get a bit of a boost there, but he also struck out over eleven batters per nine innings, which so far as I know is at least fairly okay. What hurts worse is the fact the Cardinals biggest weakness by the end of the season, right-handed relief, just happens to be the exact demographic Gregerson belongs to. (You're going to notice a pattern here.) Any and all contributions the Padres receive from Mark Worrell are secondary at this point; San Diego already received a full season of essentially closer-level production for free in exchange for the Marquis de SAD.

The Future: The Cardinals get nothing when Khalil walks. Not so good, Mo.

The Mark DeRosa Trade

This one I had mixed feelings on from the very start. I felt the Cardinals did a fine job of identifying an area of weakness and acting to bring a player in to address that weakness, but I also felt they gave up far too much in return for said player. (Again, you may notice a theme in this vein.) DeRosa seemed like such an ideal fit, though, that I mostly kept such concerns to myself. The Cards needed someone better than Thursty Joe at third base, and Mark DeRosa plays third base, among other things. The Cards needed help hitting left-handed pitching, and Mark DeRosa has typically murdered lefties. On top of that, he had a reputation as an outstanding clubhouse guy, and his interviews are pure gold.

Sadly, DeRosa simply wasn't very good for the Cardinals. His OBP was atrocious, he struggled to do anything but hit home runs the first month or so, then went whole hog and struggled to do that, too. His defense wasn't bad, but it wasn't really all that good, either. Bottom line, Mark DeRosa in a Cardinal uniform just wasn't as cool as a lot of people thought it was going to be.

What Was Given Up: Chris Perez, RHP Jess Todd, RHP

Oy. This one really hurts. The Cards sent Chris Perez and Jess Todd to the Indians in exchange for Mr. Of the Rose, and once again, those two players fall squarely into that category of "Guys the Cards Sure Could Use More Of Now." Both are right-handed relievers, and both are solid bets to be very good pitchers going forward, I do believe.

Perez in particular is a painful loss, as he has better stuff than anyone in the Cardinal bullpen as it stands right now, and showed plenty of signs of putting it all together for the Indians. He had a truly remarkable run for almost two months, as he didn't surrender a single run from the 8th of July through the 5th of September. Perez appeared in 20 games during that time frame, covering 20.2 innings, and walked only 5 hitters. He didn't issue a free pass for almost a month, from the 9th of August to the 5th of September. Unfortunately, Perez did have a rough September overall, particularly in the middle of the month, but that doesn't change the fact he was essentially untouchable for the two months prior. We could debate why Perez didn't have more success here until the cows come home, but the fact remains he was an extremely valuable reliever for Cleveland, and I expect big things from Perez as soon as 2010.

Jess Todd, formerly slated to become Destroyer of Worlds for St. Louis, had a bit of a rough go in his first couple tastes of the major leagues. We all saw what happened to him when he made his major league debut with the Cardinals, and it didn't get appreciably better for Todd with the Indians, as he posted a 7.40 ERA in 20.2 innings with them. That does come with a 4.31 FIP and a BABIP of .431 (Huh. What an odd coincidence.), so improvement should come even if Todd does the exact same thing next year he did this season. Of course, I personally don't expect him to do the exact same thing next season, I expect him to adjust to the big leagues and take off as an excellent setup reliever. He doesn't have the stuff of Perez, nor is he going to post the gaudy strikeout totals of Gregerson, but I see Todd in an eighth inning role sometime in the near future, and I see him doing a hell of a job at it.

The Future: This is actually the best part of the deal, as DeRosa is a Type B free agent. The Cards offer him arbitration and he signs somewhere else, they receive a supplemental round draft pick, which, incidentally, is the round in which Chris Perez was selected to begin with. So there is some value at least coming there. (Of course, DeRo could screw the pooch on that one by accepting arbitration, but hey, you pay your money and you take your chances.)

The Matt Holliday Trade

Ah, and now we come to the big one. (Did I hear a That's What She Said in the back? I believe I did! Hallelujah!) The deal for Matt Holliday is, so far, the defining moment of Mozeliak's tenure as GM; the moment in which Mr. Mo made his mark. What that mark may be exactly is still to be determined, but for those who complained all through Mo's first year-plus of stewardship that he hadn't really done anything, here you go. He certainly did something this time.

I won't lie; I didn't really like the Holliday deal when it was made, and I don't like it all that well now. I know I was in the definite minority back in July, but I thought the Cardinals massively overpaid for Holliday's services. That being said, the man is still the best left fielder in the game and represents a potent complement to Albert Pujols in the middle of the lineup.

What Was Given Up: Brett Wallace, 3B Shane Peterson, OF Clayton Mortensen, RHP

Let's start with the biggest component, both literally and figuratively: Brett Wallace. There's been an extraordinary amount of ink and bandwidth both used already to discuss the Walrus, and the song remains the same: at the plate, he's a hell of a hitter. As a third baseman, he's a hell of a hitter.

The thing about Wallace is this: we always knew he was drafted to be traded at some point in time. Even the few scouts who liked his chances of sticking at third were careful to specify only in the short term; the man was moving across the diamond eventually. Even so, if he had managed to play third at anything less than a Bruanian pace, Wallace's bat would make him a very, very valuable player.

And for what it's worth, Total Zone Rating (the only defensive metric we really have for minor league guys), had Wallace as almost exactly an average defender at the hot corner this season. I know, I know, that can't possibly be right, because I saw him play there one day and he didn't get to a ball to his left he should have, and my brother said he misses those all the time and his best friend Todd said he talked to Wallace one time and he said he hated third base so much because he was so bad at it he was considering retiring rather than continue to embarrass himself on a nightly basis. Regardless of what we might think anecdotally, the numbers have Wallace as something less than a total disaster, and when it comes to defense, I trust the numbers more than my own eyes. Defense is just too hard to judge. So what we have is a player who has a bat that should carry him wherever he wants to go, and who should be able to play third base for at least a couple years at a level far short of that Braunian pace I was speaking of earlier. Sounds about right, doesn't it?

Add to Wallace Clay Mortensen and Shane Peterson, and you begin to have a pretty remarkable haul of talent going out for Matt Holliday. Mortensen himself will likely never be anything more than a #5 starter (though I still think there's a chance he could be better), but a #5 starter for free is still all kinds of valuable. As long as he can keep himself out of trouble with Johnny Law I think Mort should be fine.

More interesting to me, honestly, is Shane Peterson. I was never much of a fan of Peterson, to be honest (I never really likedhis swing; funny hand load and all), but since the trade I've gone and taken a closer look, and I think I may have missed the boat here. Peterson began the year in High-A Palm Beach, and posted an OPS near .800, no mean feat in that ballpark and that league. He moved up to Springfield and did alright in limited time there before he was traded. He went to Midland, the A's Double-A affiliate, and hit fairly well, with an OPS of .727. Certainly not a world-beating performance, by any means, but also not bad for a 21 year old playing in Double A for the first time.

Peterson is a guy who isn't going to hit for a ton of power, particularly of the over-the-fence variety, but he should hit plenty of doubles. He isn't a burner by any means, but he's got the wheels he could probably play center if necessary. He has just enough arm to play right field, though he' s played mostly left in his pro career. His walk rate is decent but not great, but you would think a coaching staff who stressed a good approach at the plate could be helpful with that. In short, Peterson doesn't do anything outstanding, but he does most things pretty well. He's literally almost the perfect Oakland player. I fully expect him to do very well in the A's organisation, where the value of getting on base will be heavily stressed.

The Future: When (or if, I suppose), Holliday heads out for the territories, he will do so as a Type A free agent. The Cards will receive the first round pick of whatever team signs him, unless said team picks in the first fifteen. Then it becomes their second round pick, and the whole thing just takes even one more step downward. Still, the fact Holliday could potentially bring back a first round pick and one in the supplemental goes a long way toward removing some of the sting of the package given up for him. Well, maybe not a long way, but some ways, anyway.

I'm just going to skip over the trade involving Chris Duncan and Deathgaze. The Cards got a free infielder with a decent bat and bad range, and the Red Sox got the chance to ensure Dave Duncan will never try to force his way into their organisation. Win all around.

So to sum up, the Cardinals this year gave up four right-handed relievers, two of whom could be real impact guys int he near future I think. Todd may be an impact guy too, but I think it might be another year or two before he gets there. We look at the big club's bullpen for 2010, and I have to say I'm a little concerned you might be able to build a better 'pen from guys the Cards traded away this year than what they still have.

The Cards also gave up their number one prospect, and the player most likely to make an impact playing at third base in 2010. David Freese is now the likely front-runner for the job, assuming both Troy Glaus and Mark DeRosa are gone, and while Freese is severely underrated by many, I think, he's no Brett Wallace.

So once again I'll say it: this is the problem with going all in. The Cards went all in this season trying to take advantage of the fact Chris Carpenter was fully healthy after two seasons on the shelf and Adam Wainwright was pitching at a Cy Young level, and I can't really blame them. The farm system was in plenty good shape to absorb the hit, and the big club looked ever so close to being a real contender. Now we have most of October left to consider how much talent left the organisation this year in return for the chance to pay free agents to do the same job in 2010 the kids we traded away could have done for free.

In the end, I said I can't blame them, and that's exactly what I mean. I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing (except I wouldn't have; in fact, i would always err on the side of holding on to my prospects, and would probably be a terrible GM who could never quite get over the hump), but the reality is this: the bullpen is an areaof huge concern for the Cardinals, and they trade three players who could help with that next year. Third base is a less pressing concern, but of no less import; the lineup needs production, and if Holliday walks I'm a little unsure where it's going to come from.

So I ask you all, without going down the road of how much we all hate Matt Holliday for making an error and having the temerity to take bad at-bats for three whole games, was it worth it? Was the remarkable run the Cardinals went on in August worth seeing Brett Wallace knock around AL West pitching for the next couple years? Was ruining the Cubs' good time at the top of the division worth seeing Ryan Franklin try to close out games a month past his expiration date, all the while knowing he was the Cardinals' best option still in a Cardinal uniform? Does the promise of extra draft picks take the sting out for you, or do you wish for a 'Bird, maybe not in the hand, but at least near enough to reach out and grab if necessary?

Was it worth it?

Oops, and I forgot a playlist.

The Baron's Playlist for the 14th of October, 2009

"The Ghost" - Deer Tick

"Actor Out of Work" - St. Vincent

"It Just Is" - Rilo Kiley

"My Funny Valentine" - Gerry Mulligan Quartet w/ Chet Baker

Game 148: Athletics 2, Indians 1

Ryan — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 05:02:01 -0000

More photos » by Tony Dejak - AP

Fire Everyone in This Picture!

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This doesn't excuse the Indians' play one iota, but C.B. Bucknor is a joke. He's been a joke for a long time, and I have no idea how he's still in the majors. His strike zone was consistently ludicrous tonight, remaining so until the last batter of the game, when he called out Kelly Shoppach on a pitch nowhere close to the strike zone. I just hope, for the sake of teams still in the race, that he isn't behind the plate for a meaningful game between now and the end of the season.

In contrast to last season's strong finish, this year's club is tanking in September. Grady Sizemore is out of the action, but the rest of the regulars are all healthy and available. All of them, except Andy Marte, who is losing playing time to Trevor Crowe and Niuman Romero, among others. The offense has gone to sleep, the starters have been mostly hideous, and the bullpen has pitched in an implosion or two this month. 21-year-old Brett Anderson took advantage of the anemic offense, allowing 4 hits and a walk in six inning, and striking out 10 Indians.

Matt LaPorta prevented yet another shutout by doubling home the first run of the game in the ninth inning. Shin-Soo Choo prevented another run by nabbing a sure home run earlier in the game.

Next Up: Sowers vs. Gonzalez, 4:05 PM (No TV)

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Michael Brantley	.040	Jamey Carroll	-.148
David Huff	.032	Jhonny Peralta	-.147
Jess Todd	.025	Trevor Crowe	-.102

Game 146: Twins 7, Indians 3

Jay — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:47:34 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

Laffey isn't getting any easier to watch.

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As if we needed one, today's performance provided another reason why nobody should be betting on the Tribe in 2010. Starter Aaron Laffey, one of our best hopes in the rotation for next season, put up another highly suspect performance. Laffey bobbled the ball at first base in the third inning, leading to the Twins' first run, unearned, but an unfocused defensive performance also abetted the three earned runs Laffey allowed in the fourth. It could have been bad luck, but four Twins runners advanced into scoring position on throws from the outfield in that inning, while none were thrown out on the bases.

Laffey pitched a perfect sixth inning, which arguably earned him a shot in the seventh. Viewed another way, Laffey allowed hard-hit balls to all fields in the sixth — flyouts to left, center and right — so it should be no surprise that four pitches into the seventh, Laffey had allowed the Twins' fifth run, with a sixth run primed to score from third with no outs. Jess Todd allowed one run in one inning, keeping his ERA over 11.00. Rafael Perez happily induced groundouts from all three batters he faced, driving his ERA all the way down to 7.50.

Laffey has allowed 21 earned runs over his last six starts, for an ERA of 5.61. Tellingly, he's allowed an additional six unearned runs, for an RA of 6.95. The worst news, however, is that after getting zero out of 32 batters to strike out today, Laffey now has only 11 strikeouts against 17 walks over those six starts, a span of 33.2 IP. There is one piece of good news, however, in that neither Laffey nor any other Indians pitcher will ever have to pitch in the Metrodome again.

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Matt LaPorta	.090	Aaron Laffey	-.231
Luis Valbuena	.029	Jhonny Peralta	-.093
Michael Brantley	.005	Kelly Shoppach	-.088

The Indians lineup teamed up for a vintage Casey Blake performance early in the game, seeing all kinds of pitches without having much to show for it. Jhonny Peralta in particular saw 33 pitches but somehow ended up 0-for-5. Don't be surprised if he gets some hits the rest of the week.

Matt LaPorta led a solid attack later in the game, following a deep Hafner double with a long home run to straight-away center in the 7th, then driving in two more in the 8th. It was LaPorta's second home run in about 17 hours and a nice glimpse into what should be a very productive offense next year. LaPorta's home run last night was the only run Joe Nathan allowed the Indians this season over seven innings, which included 11 strikeouts.

Kelly Shoppach, who had two singles earlier in the game, came up with the bases loaded with two outs in the 8th, representing the tying run. He flied out to right to end the threat, but he did make it through five PA without striking out even once. It's unclear whether this was because Wedge was yelling at him earlier in the game or in spite of it. Unlike past losing seasons, Wedge may have finally lost his clubhouse.

Up Next: The Indians travel to Oakland, for some of those 10 p.m. games we all love.

At least it wasn't the NLDS

DanUpBaby — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 06:59:13 -0000

More photos » by Jeff Roberson - AP

I'm not saying that either one of us ([Chris Carpenter and the towel]) have been on too much of a high but it brings you back down to where you're supposed to be."

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Let's pull that Ryan Franklin quote again—

I'm not saying that either one of us ([the Cardinals and their fans]) have been on too much of a high but it brings you back down to where you're supposed to be."

Yeah, that sounds about right.

This mini-crisis is a great time to considerwhere we are now as to where we were back in April—now that the Cardinals are not completely invincible it's worth thinking about. The bullpen, for instance:

Where we were then: I couldn't find a quote quite representative enough, so if I may channel myself, circa March—

I love this bullpen. Love love love love. There are about a million players in it, and they're all young and cheap, and maybe we should trade Ryan Franklin for a season ticket package or just put him on a bus somewhere with all the other old people so that I can watch all these cost-controlled, thoroughbred right-handers compete for the closer's role. These guys are so crazy and awesome that they flip out ALL the time.

Where we are now:

I'm not saying that either one of us ([the Cardinals relief pitchers, opposing batters]) have been on too much of a high but it brings you back down to where you're supposed to be."

The Cardinals' vaunted relief Whiz Kids have seen attrition from both sides; on one, Jason Motte struggles with throwing the ball past opposing hitters and Kyle McClellan has trouble throwing it near them, and on the other several pitchers are throwing the ball for other teams.

Taken in isolation I can't really argue with either of the major deals that siphoned off relief depth; Mark Worrell and (erstwhile throw-in) Luke Gregerson was a small price to pay for what seemed like an upgrade at shortstop, and Chris Perez and Jess Todd was the going rate for a guy who, for a brief time, seemed like he would upgrade multiple positions at once.

But I don't think either of these trades can be seen as a win for Mozeliak, or even as an extenuating-circumstances draw; these are flat-out misses. In the Khalil Greene deal—my favorite of the two moves, even now, for its ingenuity—Mozeliak bet some of his bullpen strength on a cheap way to upgrade for this year. In that way it resembles a deadline deal, only with a full year of that deadline-deal magic (you know, Al, it really does); there's no potential future benefit to hedge against the flags flying forever. I'd argue that it was a gamble the Cardinals were justified in making, but so far they've gambled wrong on both sides; Khalil Greene hasn't turned into Khalil Greene, and Luke Gregerson—78 K in 65 innings, a .434 OPS against righties—has turned into Russ Springer.

The DeRosa deal has to be looked at in its very fleeting context—after the Greene deal and the Motte/McClellan problems were noticeable, before the Holliday and Lugo deals rendered his positional versatility basically useless. That they cancel each other out seems only fitting for a deal that's a complex win or a complex loss.

The Greene deal meant that the Cardinals could no longer trade from the bottom of their relief deck; the fungible relievers weren't quite so fungible anymore. But their subsequent dealings might be more damaging to the DeRosa rationale; as a straight replacement at third base DeRosa, especially the one they got, was a major offensive improvement but not a worldbeater. During his time with the Cardinals he's been worth a little less than a win over Thurston's year-to-date offensive levels. (Defense—charitably—has been a wash.) That's a good upgrade, as far as deadline deals go, but it's not the one they paid for.

The upgrade they paid for was three-headed—they could put him at third against right handers and pair him with Khalil Greene to spell Skip Schumaker or the Duncan/Ankiel Platoon of Despair that was stuck in left field. Then they traded for Julio Lugo to spell Skip Schumaker; they they traded for Matt Holliday to replace the P.O.D. Then he was the starting third baseman. I appreciate not having to watch Joe Thurston every day, but Chris Perez has proven what we really knew anyway—he's the best of the Cardinals young relievers, and he was traded at a moment when the Cardinals realized they needed them more than they'd thought.

Now the Cardinals have to worry about Ryan Franklin, who is not, it can be said, at this point, finding some new talent level. Over the course of his last two seasons as a Cardinal he's proven himself to be a Pretty Good reliever. Unless some new information comes to light in the next two weeks, that's probably what he's going to be. It's tough having him as your top right-hander, but that's different from having to worry about him if you carry a lead into the ninth inning—most relievers will save most games most of the time. He's not going to go oh-fer a series. The problem is getting the lead to him with the pitchers that are left.

But if you're worried that Franklin might be totally cooked now, your real concern ought to be the rotation—it's Franklin writ large, but with much better players. Certainly Wainwright might really be this good; certainly Carpenter was once this good and this healthy; certainly Joel Pineiro, uh, has had a fine season. But all at once? That's how World Series teams are made, to be honest—lots of players peaking at once, some who you never thought had it in them. But it's only clear that those players kept it together long enough to see their Norm Cash years through in hindsight.

Tonight, of course, Todd Wellemeyer—the stopper—makes it clear that there's no need to worry.

Game 140: Rangers 10, Indians 0

afh4 — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 21:09:44 -0000

More photos » by Tony Dejak - AP

Will Fausto ever get fixed?

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It took the Texas Rangers less than 24 hours to sweep the Indians and make much of the pitching "progress" that the Tribe had been clinging to start to look more than a bit shaky. Last night, we had to watch Aaron Laffey and Carlos Carrasco get shelled, as well as witness Jess Todd's continued unraveling and then, finally and most despicably, Chris Perez didn't even look inhuman. Today, the pain kept coming as Fausto Carmona lasted only 0.2 IP and surrendered 5 ER. In the last two days the Indians have watched key parts in their 2010 rotation turn in outings that match the shortest starts of their careers, with Carmona's 0.2 standing alone in his illustrious career and Laffey's 3.1 IP performance matching his explosion in Detroit this year.

There were no bright spots in today's game, as the Indians managed only six hits and only Luis V. managed extra bases, with his double in the 8th. To add insult to injury, Rafael Perez got demolished again, going only 0.1 IP and allowing 5 runs to cross the plate, 3 earned. Perez' ERA has now ballooned to 7.94 and I wonder if there's still a place for him in the Cleveland organization this winter.

No matter, though, the Indians losing is old hat. The real problem today was the lineup and that's coming from somebody who normally cares very little about the lineup. However, when Eric Wedge filled in Niuman Romero as the first basemen today he finally crossed the line. I am literally seething about this:

He cannot possibly believe that Romero, a player who managed a .626 OPS in Columbus this year and who has hit righties even worse than he has hit lefties this year, gave the Indians a better chance to win today than did either Andy Marte, who has always pounded righties despite his handedness, or Jamey Carroll, who's having a near career year at the plate.
He undermined the front office and developmental staff who just yesterday had Ross Atkins explaining Jordan Brown's non-callup by saying: "With Andy Marte, Matt LaPorta and four catchers on the roster, there just weren’t plate appearances for Jordan. That is the most important aspect of the decision." Hey, Ross! What do you know, Eric found four at-bats that were just lying around! There is literally no argument, zero, that the Indians should have Romero taking at-bats in Cleveland instead of Brown. There is plenty of argument, being made cogently elsewhere on the site, that at-bats should be taken by LaPorta, Marte, Toregas, Shoppach, Gimenez or Marson before they are taken by Brown. But there is no justification, none, for giving the at-bats that ought to be going to LaPorta, Marte, Toregas, Shoppach, Gimenez or Marson to Romero. Wedge has made Atkins look like a fool and, more importantly, he's made him look like a liar to Brown.

Wedge is a rogue agent on this one: this cannot possibly be the front office's plan and, frankly, I think it represents the most obvious act of insubordination out of Wedge that I've ever seen. As a manager, Eric has always wielded the lineup card as a weapon, using it to punish players and seemingly to send messages to the front office about what will and will not fly on his watch (specifically: Marte will not fly). This, though, this is unbelievable. If Shapiro is not excoriating Wedge right now, I'm disappointed.

Wedge ought to have already been fired for trotting Romero out there. Giving Marte major league at-bats is critical at this point as the Indians need to gather as much information as possible before the offseason. The decision on Marte is going to reverberate to a decision on Peralta and also to decisions on guys like Brown. Wedge stupidly wasting a game watching Romero isn't just stupid, it's hurting the team.

The only upside here is that the Rangers are only 1.5 back of Boston now.

Wedge does things that have no conceivable explanation, large and small.

-Jay

Game 127: Cleveland 5, Baltimore 4

APV — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 02:49:41 -0000

More photos » by Gail Burton - AP

Andy Marte invited Matt LaPorta to his party

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For eight innings and two outs it was a typical baseball game. Laffey was satisfactory, making it into the sixth before his questionable control on the evening caught up to him, leaving the game with three runs, two earned. Jess Todd relieved him and got into his own trouble, giving up a run in the 7th to put a fourth run on the board for Baltimore. Grady Sizemore led off the game with a HR to give Cleveland its first run, an Andy Marte triple in the fifth led to a second run, and a Choo double brought home a third run in the eighth.

And there was the game in the ninth inning, 4-3 Baltimore lead with Baltimore closer Jim Johnson on the mound. Valbuena grounded out to start the inning, followed by Peralta. And then recently recalled rookie Matt LaPorta came to the plate. LaPorta worked the count full, battling off a two-strike seventh pitch foul before hitting the eight pitch up the middle of the infield into center field for a single. That brought up Andy Marte with a man on, two outs, down by one, top of the ninth. Suddenly in the lineup everyday Andy Marte. Former top prospect Andy Marte. Famed domino player Andy Marte.

Ball one. Ball two. Ball three. Maybe he'll walk, put the game into Grady Sizemore's hands. Called strike one on the outside edge of the plate. Low and inside fastball Marte hits foul for strike two. Oh no, not another one of those games. Not another failed opportunity for Marte. Not that ending again. Nope. Andy Marte delivered the 3-2 pitch to the left field stands giving the Indians a one-run, ninth inning, come from behind lead. Kerry Wood then came through and delivered the bottom of the ninth for his 17th save on the season (and 42nd game finished, not that anyone's counting).

Next Up: Carmona vs. Berken, 7:05 pm

Highest	WPA	Lowest	WPA
A. Marte	.798	T. Hafner	-.217
K. Wood	.209	A. Laffey	-.113
G. Sizemore	.145	M. LaPorta	-.098

Game 124: Indians 10, Royals 6

Ryan — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 04:27:03 -0000

More photos » by Charlie Riedel - AP

Asdrubal Cabrera and Luis Valbuena, former Mariners, present double play combination.

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It's been really fun watching this team over the past couple weeks. Matt LaPorta was finally brought back, this time to stay. Chris Perez and Jess Todd, both received from St. Louis for Mark DeRosa, have quickly become the seventh and eighth inning men in the bullpen. After getting regular playing time, Andy Marte is starting to hit. And Luis Valbuena has hit .297/.360/.495 since the All-Star Break. Some year I wish I felt this good about this team early rather than late.

Tonight's game was a contrast in rebuilding teams. The Indians cratered in June, and despite a couple of roster-rending trades, have slowly but steadily improved since then. The Royals, on the other hand, started well but have inexorably sunk since. The pitching staff that carried an inept offense has stumbled, and that fall off has taken the rest of the team with them.

Gil Meche, who hadn't even pitched into the seventh inning since the middle of June, went seven tonight. Royals manager Trey Hillman, knowing how bad the Kansas City bullpen has been, elected to have closer Joakim Soria attempt a two-inning save. The move, like many others he attempted tonight, backfired in a spectacular way. After Soria retired Shin-Soo Choo, the next three Indians reached, culminating in a Luis Valbuena lead-taking three run homer. The Indians would add another three in the ninth off the Royals relievers who probably would have pitched the eighth, somewhat vindicating Hillman's strategy. In that frame, Asdrubal Cabrera showed like he was going to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but instead pulled the bat back a line a breaking ball down the line, scoring the runners he was going to move over.

Jeremy Sowers pitched well until the fifth, where he allowed a quick four runs to score. He did stick around through the seventh inning, but by that time he had given up a fifth run, and left trailing 5-4. Thanks to the Indian rally off Soria, he came out with a win, but he didn't pitch well considering the opposition.

Next Up: Masterson vs. Greinke, 8:10 PM

via www.fangraphs.com

Highest WPA		Lowest WPA
Luis Valbuena	.405	Jeremy Sowers	-.325
Pronk	.399	Kelly Shoppach	-.123
Shin-Soo Choo	.192	Grady Sizemore	-.069

Talent in, talent out

DanUpBaby — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:00:13 -0000

More photos » by Matt Sayles - AP

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Charlie Haeger simply does not know how to hold a baseball. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

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Shelby Miller! I have it on good faith that he throws 120 miles per hour... to contact. That he has a 2:1 groundballs-batters faced ratio. That he is, depending on how ready you were to jump on the Anthony Reyes, Future Ace bandwagon following his crazy 8 K:BB stint in AA, the best-regarded pitching prospect in the system since Rick Ankiel, despite having yet to play a baseball game for money.

Last time the Cardinals became associated with trading prospects for veterans it wasn't—in most cases—the prospects themselves that killed them; it was that the those great 2000-2005 squads kicked off the dynasy by drafting future superstars like Shaun Boyd, Chance Caple, Justin Pope, and nobody in back-to-back-to-back-to-back first rounds. (That 2002 draft, in which the Cardinals gave up draft picks for signing Izzy and Tino Martinez, is particularly devastating; their first two picks retired in the Midwest League, momentary prospects like Travis Hanson lost their way before their first cup of coffee, and only Kyle McClellan and Brad Thompson have spent any time in the majors.)

So while trading the top prospect for retail-priced help is a bad habit to get into, it was exacerbated in the Jimmy Journell era by poor drafting. But this year the Cardinals have shown a desire to bring talent in and they ship it out.

TALENT OUT

1. Colby Rasmus. It's always good news when the biggest blow to your prospect list establishes himself, immediately, as a useful Major League baseball player. (On your team, that is.) Certainly his long-term profile—maybe even his short term profile—is much different from the fringe-average centerfield bat he's shown to this point, but his defense has been all-world enough, in its almost blandly graceful way, to make him a championship-quality player in year one.

But the loss of Rasmus left the Faberge Squad, as 2009 began, without the guy who'd single-handedly filled the Future Star quadrant since 2005. Even #2 on this list wasn't quite there—he was a guy, in Baseball America parlance, who would Hit No Matter What. With Rasmus, there was rarely any need for qualification.

2. Brett Wallace. Are you like me? Are you still following Brett Wallace's nightly exploits as though they were still over-the-fold Future Redbirds material? (It helps that, for the last few days, they have been—his .467 stint against Memphis has to have allayed some Athletics concerns about his lack of high-minors power.)

Just about to turn 23 and already in AAA, Wallace wasn't a Rasmus-style perennial on prospect lists, but his was the rare high-OBP fat-guy bat that received universal scout plaudits; it was so impressive a tool that his serious problems weren't enough to mar his premium-prospect tag. Losing Rasmus at the same time is part of what made the Holliday deal so tough to stomach; in his large-hipped vacuum the Cardinals were left with a toolsy outfielder with uncertain power projection and an international signing who's four months younger than Miley Cyrus.

The Cardinals traded a few Wallace types in their JockettyBall era. Daric Barton, the first Official Prospect Crush of Get Up, Baby! after his age-18 Ted Williams impression in the Midwest League, was further from the minors than Wallace, and not so loved by scouts, but he had just hit .313/.445/.513 with 69 walks against 44 strikeouts in a league full of college pitchers and known to suppress offense. He was also playing catcher.

Barton, selected the year after that disastrous 2002 draft, is kind of a Brett Wallace cautionary tale. While he was lighting up my pre-FR life, the Cardinals were racking up their equally disastrous 2004 draft, focused intentionally on affordability and implicitly on players with less upside than Daric Barton, or Brian Barden. Barton was the impact player, like Wallace, but he was also in a system that proved even thinner than this one.

3. Clay Mortensen. In my day, why, we called this guy Chris Narveson, and we were happy to have him, you know? None of this interchangeable back-of-the-rotation starter talk around our hot stove, and you know why? Because talking uses up the oxygen we'd saved up for that little fire.

4. Every right-handed reliever the Cardinals had. The organizational guys—Luke Gregerson, Mark Worrell, Luis Perdomo—were acceptable losses. If they're major prospects your system has greater and more pressing needs; although they'd certainly be useful now, it wasn't a matter of Mortgaging Our Future so much as reorganizing the team's value (a little more than was, in hindsight, advisable) in the present.

Jess Todd (and recent Talent Out graduate Chris Perez) are better bets in the future, and a little more difficult to let go; the Cardinals gave up real value in the future for the chance to replace Joe Thurston in the present. Jason Motte also made his last leap off prospect lists in 2009, and it's not been nearly as pleasant as Rasmus's. In all the Cardinals lost the makings of a great, cheap bullpen this year—some of it was traded, some of it just evaporated. That's not the most glamorous part of a prospect list, but it's tough to lose it.

5. Tyler Herron. What was the deal with that? He's in the Pirates system now, in case you hadn't heard, doing basically the same thing he was doing in Springfield, although apparently less uncoachably. Herron was part of the first salvo of attempted pitching depth, which didn't quite go as anticipated—from that run of supplemental picks and early rounders immediately following Rasmus and Tyler Greene, Mark McCormick has disappeared off the face of the earth; Herron is in Altoona; high schooler Josh Wilson has retired in each of the last two seasons; and closer-turned-hittable-starter-turned-hittable-closer Nick Webber is out of the system.

They did better later on, thankfully, or else the Herron move would make even less sense than it does as is.

TALENT IN

1. Shelby Miller and Wagner Mateo! We haven't seen stat one on these guys yet, and I don't know anything I wouldn't be regurgitating third-hand, so I've lumped them together—but this is exactly what the Cardinals didn't have to fall back on after trading Barton or Adam Kennedy or H...H... I had another name, I thought, but Google isn't any help at all.

When the Cardinals traded for Mark Mulder they were basically without a farm system, top and bottom, and there was no real reason to believe that worried them. There was no lasting commitment to young players; they just happened to have a few of them, and then they didn't. This year the rights to two players, one of whom won't be a Major League factor for at least five years, were already in hand by the time the Cardinals' top prospect was gone. Beneath them there's depth, the pretty good-but (no fastball / fringe glove / no pop / Tommy John) guys that would have topped a prospect list in the three terrifying months between the start of the 2005 season and Colby Rasmus.

It's a great time to be a Cardinals fan, but even if your first stop after a hard day's work is the GCL box scores (Joe Mather and Mike Parisi played tonight!) the minor leagues are no longer bereft of stories. With the second round pick the Cardinals could have taken another college pitcher; instead they selected ex-superprospect Robert Stock, who could have just ended up another college pitcher anyway but is now putting up a .951 OPS as a defensively adept catcher.

It's not just the players who've flooded the system; it's an increased confidence that the people in charge of the system both know what they're doing and are interested in doing it. They might trade some prospects, but that's not the only reason they'd like to have some.

Early Weekend 6-pack (7/30/09)

APV — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:50:26 -0000

This week's early weekend 6-pack is going to be heavily focused on prospects - in part because we have so many new ones coming in, but also because I've started working on an end of July minor league system overview (hopefully out sometime this weekend). But as with Betancourt, Lee, Francisco and Garko have all been here long enough to get an early weekend salute.

1. The sleepy kitten has left the building

Lee had about as interesting, or perhaps unexpected, 7-year run in Cleveland as is possible. Coming in as the second big piece of the Colon deal, Clifton Phifer Lee achieved quite a bit of success early on in Cleveland. In his first two full seasons in the rotation, 2004 and 2005, Cliff went 32-13 with a 4.56 ERA. It was in part derived from luck (2004...) and at times he struggled with control and HR tendencies (52 in those two seasons), but Cliff showed three good major league pitches enough to be considered at times the perfect compliment to CC Sabathia in a young rotation. Ironically, the Indians big step forward in 2007 coincided with Lee's big step back. The homeruns (17 in just 97 innings) and control caught up to him and his ERA ballooned over 6 as he made just 16 starts with the big league club. He even got some work out of the bullpen in a hope that he would regain some usefullness for the club. But he didn't, and so as the Indians moved in the postseason, Cliff wasn't even part of the roster. Lee then found himself auditioning for the 5th starter role heading into 2008, eventually winning it more by default than performance. But something clicked as the regular season began. His pitches, all of them, were hitting their locations with zest, all of them. After giving up 17 HRs in less than 100 innings the previous season, he gave up just 12 in a career high 223 innings in 2008. He walked a league leading low 1.4 batters per 9 innings. Despite the disappointment of the season for the team, Cliff Lee's unarguable Cy Young (and back-to-back with CC for Cleveland) highlighted the season. And this season, without quite as much success, Lee has been doing much the same. To show what an unexpected turnaround Lee made in 2008, here are the numbers from his first 7 starts of the 2008 season.

6-0, 0.67 ERA, 53.2 IP, 32 H, 1 HR, 4 ER, 4 BB, 44 K, .412 OPS against

Memo to the Columbus to Cleveland shuttle bus - that is how you nail down your rotation spot.

2. Here's to you, Ryan Garko

Garko's career line in Cleveland (which in a very strange coincidence includes an identical number of minor league and major league ABs):

409 G, .282/.354/.449, 1411 AB, 398 H, 72 2B, 53 HR, 235 RBI, 180 R

Compared to his minor league career in the organization:

388 G, .293/.379/.488, 1411 AB, 414 H, 84 2B, 60 HR, 251 RBI, 216 R

And not to be forgotten, Garko was pretty good in the 2007 playoffs (.314/.385/.514). I tried to find that image of Garko shotgunning a beer from one of the 2007 playoff locker room celebrations, but failed. This is a nice picture of him, though (and several other no longer with us and possibly soon to be gone guys):

3. The Ben Francisco-Ryan Garko love-hate cycle goes on

High school teammates, college rivals (UCLA, Stanford). Cleveland teammates, NL rivals. Francisco is not a bad fourth outfielder candidate, especially for an NL team, and now he gets the opportunity to be just that. Unlike Garko, Francisco spent more time in the minors (.291/.357/.459, 611 games) than in the majors (.261/.332/.437, 234 games). Baseball...like the civil war, pitting brother against brother, but with better hot dogs.

4. About those prospects...

Jason Knapp, age: 18.9, low-A (SAL)
2009: 2-7, 4.01 ERA, 3.09 FIP, 17 GS, 85.1 IP, 63 H, 3 HR, 39 BB, 111 K
Carlos Carrasco, age: 22.3, AAA (IL)
2009: 6-9, 5.18 ERA, 3.91 FIP, 20 GS, 114.2 IP, 118 H, 14 HR, 38 BB, 112 K
Jesse Todd, age: 23.2, AAA (PCL)
2009: 4-2, 2.20 ERA, 2.62 FIP, 41 G, 49 IP, 39 H, 3 HR, 13 BB, 59 K
Connor Graham, age: 23.6, high-A (CAL)
2009: 7-4, 3.14 ERA, 3.56 FIP, 16 GS, 80.1 IP, 68 H, 41 BB, 87 K
Scott Barnes, age: 21.9, high-A (CAL)
2009: 12-3, 2.85 ERA, 3.87 FIP, 18 GS, 98 IP, 82 H, 29 BB, 99 K
Lou Marson, age: 23.1, AAA (IL)
2009: .294/.382/.370, 63 G, 13 2B, 1 HR, 30 BB (12.4%), 40 K (16.6%)
Jason Donald, age: 24.9, AAA (IL)
2009: .236/.297/.332, 51 G, 15 2B, 1 HR, 14 BB (6.1%), 53 K (23.0%)

5. I'm just going to steal this list from Jay, who posted it in one of the threads

This is where all these players fit in (roughly) according to Kevin Goldstein's preseason rankings from Baseball Prospectus:

Five-Star Prospects
1. Matt LaPorta, LF
1. Carlos Carrasco, RHP
1.5 Justin Masterson, RHP*
2. Carlos Santana, C
Four-Star Prospects
3. Nick Weglarz, LF
3. Chris Perez, RHP
Three-Star Prospects
4. Adam Miller, RHP
5. Beau Mills, 1B
5. Lou Marson, C
5. Jess Todd, RHP
6. Hector Rondon, RHP
6. Jason Donald, SS
7. David Huff, LHP
8. Connor Graham, RHP
8. Nick Hagadone, RHP
8. Trevor Crowe, OF
9. Carlos Rivero, SS
10. Lonnie Chisenhall, SS
10. Jason Knapp, RHP
10. Bryan Price, RHP
11. Michael Brantley, CF/1B
unranked
Scott Barnes, LHP

UPDATE: I added the players acquired for Victor into this list. Masterson was beyond rookie status and thus was not ranked by Goldstein as a prospect in the preseason. However, Goldstein also ranks each team's "Top 10 Talents 25 and Under," and Masterson is placed on that list in between Boston's #1 and #2 prospects, each of whom is rated a five-star prospect. Just think — Brantley no longer makes it into the Indians pre-season Top 20, based on who would eventually be with the team. [Jay]

6. Hmm....here are the new guys with their 2008 and 2009 season-to-date Progress Score (PS) and Net

NAME	Jason Knapp	Carlos Carrasco	Jesse Todd	Connor Graham	Scott Barnes	Lou Marson	Jason Donald
2008 PS	4.54	6.63	1.39	-0.16	8.30	7.3	6.3
2009 PS	1.85	1.04	6.23	-2.14	0.19	7.9	4.2
2008 NET	20	39	34	14	45	18	5
2009 NET	45	18	34	0	39	5	-16

more to come...

Monday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:08:35 -0000

More photos » by Morry Gash - AP

Jody Gerut drops a ball hit by Martin Prado during the eighth inning Sunday. He had two hits and was the Brewers' MVP at the plate, but this play is what sticks out in my mind.

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Some things to read while your voice comes in handy.

The trade winds could be blowing today, as the Brewers have yet to announce a starter for Tuesday, which happens to be the scheduled start day for Mariners starter Jarrod Washburn. Here's today's trade roundup in bullet points:

Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times thinks a deal may be afoot involving Washburn, reliever Brandon Morrow and Alcides Escobar and J.J. Hardy. (Also noted in FanShot.)
U.S.S. Mariner says not to be surprised if Carlos Villanueva is involved in the deal.
Jonah Keri listed a Washburn/Brewers deal as one of nine trade deadline deals that need to happen.

I'm going to break into the bullet points here for a quick aside. Doug Melvin is normally very tight-lipped about moves he might be making, arguing that press coverage and speculation make it more difficult to get a deal done. Why, then, would the Brewers wait so long to name a starter for tomorrow? Assuming no deal is done, Tim Dillard will almost certainly get the start (although Tom H. says it could be Villanueva), so why not name a starter? If the Brewers somehow manage to make a deal today, Dillard could be scratched in favor of Washburn and no one would be harmed. Something doesn't smell right here.

Ok, here's the other rumor-related stuff:

CBS Sports reported over the weekend that the Brewers are done pursuing Roy Halladay, but Doug Melvin denied it.
Brewer Paradise Lost says the return required to acquire Halladay would turn the 2011 Brewers into the 2001 Brewers.
Two-Fisted Slopper wants the Brewers to hold steady, as do 45% of the 976 voters in our poll from Friday.
Brewed Sports doesn't want the Brewers to trade for any players who will be free agents after the season.

Another ugly loss for the Crew yesterday left them 1-12 in their last 13 day games, 4-12 on Sundays and 11-22 in day games overall. The Brewers are now 7-14 in their last 21 games, and haven't won either a series or back-to-back games since beating the Mets on June 29 and 30. View From Bernie's Chalet doesn't see the 2009 Brewers as a contending team anymore. Yet somehow, the Brewers managed to sell out all three games this weekend.

The entire conversation about tomorrow night's starter almost took a strange turn yesterday, as Tim Dillard was warming up in the bullpen following the first inning of yesterday's game, when Braden Looper was struggling with his command early. Dillard sat back down, though, and Looper bounced back with four solid innings before getting rocked in the sixth.

Dillard was added to the roster when Seth McClung was placed on the DL following Friday's game. He has reportedly undergone an MRI on his strained elbow, but no results have been reported. McClung underwent Tommy John surgery in 2003.

Whether Dillard, Villanueva or someone else makes the start Tuesday, they're likely to get an extended audition: After experiencing a setback in his rehab, Dave Bush will not return until mid-August at the earliest. As the Brewers continue to slide downward in the standings, getting 3-4 starts to take a long at long-term rotation options might not be the worst thing.

Manny Parra struggled over the weekend while pitching to Jason Kendall, after pitching well to Mike Rivera for two straight starts. Over in the FanPosts, Saberilliterate wonders if Kendall really does call a good game, and if he's partially responsible for Parra's struggles.

He's probably not a long-term rotation option, but the Brewers signed Jesus Colome to a minor league deal over the weekend and he debuted last night, striking out three in two scoreless innings for Nashville. With the Brewer bullpen overworked and largely ineffective at present, Colome could probably work his way to the big leagues pretty quickly if he performs well in AAA.

Elsewhere in the minors:

The Brewers signed supplemental pick Kyle Heckathorn over the weekend, agreeing to a $776,000 bonus and inviting him to major league spring training next spring (Also noted in FanShot). The Brewers had to overpay for Heckathorn a bit to convince him not to go back to college, but he sounds excited to get his career started, once he's done buying a new pickup truck.
Alex Periard got a late start to his season after being shut down in spring training, but I had forgotten that he's still pretty far ahead in his development: Project Prospect reports that Periard is the 40th youngest player in AA. Jeremy Jeffress was 27th before being demoted and suspended.
R.J. Seidel, who was expected to miss the entire season after slipping on a patch of ice while jogging over the winter, made his season debut over the weekend and Rattler Radio has a link to a nice story about him.

On Power Rankings and whatnot:

The Hardball Times' Dartboard has the Brewers at #19.
The Brewers actually moved up a spot from 18th to 17th in WhatifSports' Power Rankings.
As of Saturday, Beyond the Box Score had the Brewers' playoff chances at 14%.

Around baseball:

Astros: Designated reliever Chad Paronto for assignment.
Cubs: Placed Ted Lilly on the DL with shoulder inflammation. He'll also undergo arthroscopic knee surgery while he's out.
Indians: Acquired pitcher Jess Todd, the Cardinals' 2008 minor league pitcher of the year, as the PTBNL in the Mark DeRosa trade.
Mariners: Placed Erik Bedard on the DL with shoulder inflammation and designated outfielder Wladimir Balentien and reliever Roy Corcoran for assignment.
Mets: Placed Gary Sheffield on the DL with a hamstring strain.
Phillies: Placed reliever Clay Condrey on the DL with a strained muscle in his side.
Red Sox: Designated Mark Kotsay for assignment.
Reds: Placed reliever Jared Burton on the DL with shortness of breath.
Rockies: Designated reliever Ryan Speier for assignment.
Tigers: Designated outfielder Josh Anderson for assignment.

The Cardinals have made a lot of moves this season, but are they building their team in the Brewers' image? Dave Cameron of FanGraphs noticed a severe lack of left handed bats in the Cardinals lineup, and wonders if they'll suffer the same downfall the 2008 Brewers did in the playoffs.

It's a little late to be adding promotions, but tomorrow could be "Surgical Mask" day in Arlington, as Vicente Padilla, who is suffering from swine flu, is still expected to make his scheduled start.

What do you do with a slick fielding shortstop who can't hit .100 in the big leagues? The Royals are going to try to teach Tony Pena Jr. to pitch. I guess they're not out much if the experiment fails.

Here's a cool promotion idea: For $75, the Astros are allowing fans to stand on the field and take pictures while the team takes batting practice. The promotion is available for any home night game. At that price, I think there would be more than a few Brewer fans interested.

On this day in Brewer history: Tommy Harper went 3-for-9 with a double and a home run but it was not enough as the Red Sox defeated the Seattle Pilots 5-3 in 20 innings. Ten years later, Cecil Cooper hit three home runs, including a walkoff shot to lead the Crew to a 6-5 victory over the Yankees.

Oh, and I wasn't able to find any Brewer birthdays, today, but happy belated birthday to Mat Gamel, who turned 24 yesterday.

Drink up.