Kennedy to Start vs Mets

This seems like a rather bizarre move.   Kennedy was lights-out in his one minor league start, and Igawa was spanked in his MLB start, but this seems like a drastic move based on one game.

Especially after his comments to the press, if he gets lit up against the Mets (very possible) it could turn into a trainwreck.  They're really throwing him into the fire here.

Igawa has had a decent AAA performance thus far.  Should they have given him more of a chance, especially with the millions upon millions of dollars invested in him?

Apparently Curt Schilling has some major shoulder (rotator cuff/labrum) issues, which might require surgery that would sideline him for the year.

Link: http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/baseball/red_sox/view.bg?articleid=1071967&pos=breaking

Curt and the team are at odds over the treatment and contract issues, and reports are that the team tried to void his contract.

This could mean that Clay Buchholz will take his place in the rotation to begin the season.  

Before 2007, the 21-year-old SS for the AA Akron Aeros was typically considered a defensive infielder.  

However, this year he is looking more like a complete 5-tool guy: .320/.406/.503, 23/26 K/BB, 16/17 SBs.

Does anyone know if this is for real, or just a small sample hot-streak?  And, can he stick at SS in the majors?

The Phillies signed Chase Utley to a 7 year $85 million dollar extension.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2738188

What do you think of this deal?  He's one of the best 2B in the game, production-wise, but he is already 28.  7 years is a long time, he might not be able to stick at 2B for that long.

Per ESPN, Dontrelle pulled his Bentley over to the side of the road at 4:30 AM and took a piss on the street, in front of a cop (Doh!).  He was arrested.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2705991

FWIW, I don't think it's a big deal, a kid made a mistake.  Just posting it because I like to see the overreaction.  

Fire away.

Per Boston sports radio, Eric Gagne has signed a 1 year/$8,000,000 deal with the Texas Rangers.

Not a bad deal for someone who has thrown 15 innings since 2004.                                                                                                                                                                  

So, now that the playoff picture is finally set, what is everyone's postseason picks?

I'll give it a shot:

Twins over A's in 3
Tigers over Yankees in 4
Padres over Cardinals in 5
Dodgers over Mets in 4

Tigers over Twins in 6
Dodgers over Padres in 5

Tigers over Dodgers in 5

ALCS MVP: Craig Monroe
NLCS MVP: Nomar Garciaparra

WS MVP: Joel Zumaya

With the season winding down, the fog is beginning to clear in the MVP race, and we are left with a handful of serious candidates.

Who gets your vote?

(Personally, I'd go with Jermaine Dye.  My prediction is that Derek Jeter wins.)

I didn't see this mentioned anywhere else, but, according to a Boston Globe article: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/minors/articles/2006/08/10/ex_peabody_star_allison_suffers_her oin_overdose/?p1=MEWell_Pos1
former high school phenom and Marlins 1st round pick Jeff Allison overdosed on heroin early this week.  He was released from the hospital a day after he was brought in.  

Anyway, sad story.  I'd guess this will probably all but close the book on a bright pitching future that might have been.

Per CBS Sportline, Stephen Drew will be called up to the majors to take the place of Craig Counsell (broken rib).

Looking forward to seeing him in action.                                                                                                                                                    

I watched the Natural last night, and I thought to myself that it was pretty overrated.  That got me thinking about which baseball film I would rate as the greatest ever (If a gun was to my head, right now I'd go with Eight Men Out).  That got me thinking it would be a good poll question here.

I have a feeling a certain film will run away with the vote, but let's see...

So, we just received word that Josh Hamilton has been given permission to play baseball again.  It made me think of his odds of salvaging his career, and it made me think of another guy in his mid-20's, also trying to reinvent his career.
Their stories have been very different, but both of these players face a similar challenge.

Ankiel: 26, Out for the season. Last played in AA in 2005, showing decent power.

Hamilton: 25, last played in 2002, was dominating A-Ball, but 4 years ago.  Supposedly, was crushing the ball in BP recently.

My question is: which player makes the majors first, if at all?

Well, since the NL question has been posed, might as well ask the same of the "junior" circuit.  There are some interesting choices here, since there are a few rookie phenoms in the league helping their team's rotations.  I guess my early pick would be Detroit.  Bonderman finally looks like they guy Billy Beane thought he wouldn't be, and Verlander is obviously impressive.

Does anyone know of a good online source for Minor League player stats?  I usually use the official minorleaguebaseball.com site, but it seems they are missing a lot of players from their database.  I subscribe to Prospectus, but they don't really keep minor league stats other than the PECOTA cards, which aren't updated past 2004.  Is Baseball America a good source?  Does anyone have any other favorites they go to?

Basically, I'm looking for a site where I can search by player's name, and not need to worry about looking up the ML team they play for.

A bonus would be if the site stores old Minor League stats for current Major League players as well.

Thanks for your help.

SJW