Yardbarker: Atlanta Braves

Killjoy: Phillies

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 06:53:22 -0500

Optimism: 1. It's a marathon not a sprint. 2. Every team has peaks and valleys over the course of a 162 game season. Killjoy: 1a. Even marathon runners sprint some of the time! 2a. The Phils are in a valley so big I believe it's called the Grand Canyon. According to that dumbass philosophy a Mount Everest sized peak must be on the horizon. For the full article of the other 7 optisism/killjoys scenarios along with a breakdown of Brad Lidge, click on the URL.

Game chat: Phils face tough customer in Jurrjens

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:03:15 -0500

Twenty-two-year-old right-hander Jair Jurrjens (9-5, 3.22) faces the Phillies for the second time this season when the Braves visit Citizens Bank Park for the first of three games. First pitch is 7:05 ET. Preview: Jurrjens, who allowed four runs in seven innings in his only other start against the Phils, tries to rebound from a five-run, six-inning loss to the Nationals his last time out. That's nothing compared to Kyle Kendrick (8-4, 4.87), who let up a career-high seven runs...

Under my microscope: Big Papi returning

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:31:37 -0500

Fantasy writer Mike Harmon provides the latest fantasy baseball news in his latest installment, giving you the honor roll (Sabathia, Cano, McLouth), detention (Kinsler, Francoeur) and injury updates (Wood, Ortiz)...

The Duplicity of J.D. Drew: Is He Nancy Drew, or Drewwww?

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:24:53 -0500

**This is a special feature written by site contributor Alex Ubeda*** After the first half of the season last year, J.D. Drew was commonly known by Boston Red Sox fans as "Nancy Drew." He earned the nickname once Boston fans witnessed for themselves what the Cardinals, Braves, and Dodgers fans already knew — Drew is [...]

Remaining schedule less burdensome for Phillies

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:14:09 -0500

Tonight begins the easiest stretch for the Phils all season, with the average, nightly opponent holding a .480 winning percentage as of today's standings. If there's any call for optimism following their second series loss to a divisional foe, it's that the remaining 60 starts to lighten up for the Phillies starting tonight with a visit from the Atlanta Braves (.475). The Phils are 8-1 against them and match up nine more times. After Atlanta, the Phils travel to Washington...

Your MLB Announcing Schedule For The Weekend

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:43:37 -0500

Here it comes folks...the weekend you've dreaded all season. It's the Sox, It's the Yanks, It's Buck and McCarver and it's on FOX.....NEXT! You'll be getting a double dip of the rivalry that people love to hate this weekend, but there is some good news as well. HR is going to be in the booth for TBS! It's been awhile Harold....welcome back.

Here's the schedule....

Saturday:

Boston Red Sox at LA Angels- Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees- Joe Buck, Tim McCarver & Ken Rosenthal (Fox, 3:55pm, 85%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Albuquerque, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Dayton, Denver, Detroit, Fort Myers, Hartford, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Louisville, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Oklahoma City, Orlando, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Providence, Raleigh, Richmond, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, Tulsa, Washington, West Palm Beach

Atlanta Braves at Philadelphia Phillies- Matt Vasgersian & Mark Grace (FOX, 3:55pm, 15%)

MARKETS INCLUDE: Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Greensboro, Greenville, Jacksonville, Knoxville, Nashville, Philadelphia

Sunday:

Florida Marlins at Chicago Cubs- Chip Caray & Harold Reynolds (TBS, 1pm)

New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox- Jon Miller & Joe Morgan (ESPN, 8pm)

Will They be Buyers or Sellers

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:06:01 -0500

-The Tigers, 5.5 games behind division leading White Sox are trying to decide whether they will be buyers or sellers next week. While they sent scouts to look at O's George Sherrill Wednesday night, Dave Dombrowksi would not acknowledge if catcher Pudge Rodriquez might be available, after the Miami Herald reported Marlins interest. He would not say one way or the other which side of the market they planned to be on. He said, " We'll see what happens over the next week".
-The Atlanta Braves, with a 48-53 record and 6.5 games back must also decide in the next few days if they have much of a chance at a run this year or if they should give up some talent and look ahead to next year. There is interest in Mark Teixeira and pitcher Will Ohman. I guess the level of interestin those players and the team's play over this weekend will help management decide which side to be on.

Quick Hits

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:06:02 -0500

-The Cubs finally placed RHP Kerry Wood on the disabled list with a blister on his pitching hand. Wood likely faces either a minor league stint or a few bullpen sessions before he'll be ready to pitch for the big league club.

-In reference to an earlier post, Ken Rosenthal is reporting that if Juan Uribe is dealt to Boston, the White Sox would receive Alex Cora in return.

-The Braves have shown some interest in OF Jose Guillen. This is a little confusing seeing as how Guillen is so similar to current Braves OF Jeff Francoeur

Phillies - Braves Series Preview

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 12:47:40 -0500

After two lousy series against the Florida Marlins and the New York Mets, both division rivals competing with the Phillies for first place in the National League East, the Phils hope to turn things around against the Atlanta Braves in a weekend series starting Friday. The current NL East standings have the Mets in first place, with the Phillies one game behind them in second. The Marlins are one game back of the Phils, with the Braves 6.5 games out and the Washington Nationals completely out of the mix at 17 games back. Despite a month and a half of really lousy baseball, the Phillies find themselves still in the thick of things and in a great position to take the division. One team they have not struggled against this season is Atlanta, sweeping them in each of the last two series, both at Turner Field. The Phillies look to turn their recent fortunes around and keep their hot streak against the Braves going this Friday as Kyle Kendrick(8-4, 4.87) takes the mound against Jair Jurrjens (9-5, 3.22). Jurrjens is coming off a tough outing against the lowly Nationals on Sunday in which he gave up five earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. Despite a impressive record of 9-5, Jurrjens has lost two of his last three starts, including an outing against the Phils on July 3. Unfortunately for the Phillies, Kendrick is coming off an even worse outing against the Marlins on Saturday. The sophomore right hander gave up seven earned runs in 4 /13 innings, including three home runs. Nevertheless, the Phillies tend to win with Kendrick on the mound, going 14-6 in his 20 outings this season, the best record on the staff. Kendrick has also had success against the Braves, as he is 3-0 all time with a 4.13 ERA. Saturday's matchup is a battle of the lefties, as Phillies' ace Cole Hamels (9-6, 3.11) faces off against Jo-Jo Reyes (3-9, 4.95). Reyes is 0-5 with an 7.65 ERA in his last five starts and has given up nine runs against the Phillies in two starts this season. Hamels, on the other hand, is coming off yet another gem that was wasted by the floundering Phillies' offense. Despite going eight innings and giving up only two runs on Sunday against the Marlins, the Phils were unable to pull out a win, scoring a meager two runs themselves. Hamels continues to prove why he is the unquestioned ace of this staff. Newly acquired Joe Blanton (5-12, 5.08) makes his second start for the Phillies on Sunday against Jorge Campillo (5-4, 2.83). Campillo has been a pleasant surprise for the Braves this season, and has arguably been their best pitcher. Despite his success so far this season, Campillo is 0-1 with a 5.27 ERA in four games against the Phillies this season, including two starts. Blanton got a no decision in his debut with the Phillies and while most people have complained that his first outing was a bust, Blanton really didn't pitch all that poorly. He certainly didn't pitch great, surrendering five runs in six innings, but he gave up a few untimely walks and left two breaking balls up that resulted in home runs, and that was the ballgame. Blanton will look to rebound and capitalize on the positives from his debut Sunday. This is a huge series for the Phillies, although not quite as big as the two they just went through. Lucky for the Phils, the Mets face the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend, and the Marlins square off with the National League leading Chicago Cubs, so the chances are that both teams will lose at least one game. If the Phillies can take the series and win at least two of three against the Braves, they will still be in a good position coming into their day off on Monday, perhaps even back in first place. It's a cheap way to make it back on top, but at this point, I think we can all agree we'll take what we can get.

Say Hello To Second Place

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 10:47:01 -0500

All you people out there telling me that the Phillies have one of the best offenses in the league and have no need for Matt Holliday (.343 AVG, 17 HR, 60 RBI, 60 R, 13 SB), I want you to look me in the eye (figuratively of course) and tell me you still think that. I agree with you that this is one of the best offenses in the league, on paper. A team composed of reigning MVP Jimmy Rollins (career* .277 AVG, 16HR, 62 RBI, 96 R, 35 SB), former MVP and Rookie of the Year Ryan Howard (.279 AVG, 42 HR, 97 RBI, 83 R)*, this year's MVP front runner Chase Utley (.299 AVG, 21 HR, 83 RBI, 85 R, 11 SB)*, and Pat Burrell (.260 AVG, 29 HR, 96 RBI, 75 R)* should be leading the league in offense, and somehow, this team still does. Despite having an awful almost two months of baseball, the Phillies are still second in the National League in runs scored, behind Chicago. To show you just how Jekyll and Hyde this offense has been this year, let's look at the numbers. Since June 1st, the Phillies have scored 181 runs. They have given up 182. Now let's take out the game against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 13th in which the Phillies won 20-2. With that game out, the Phillies have scored 161 runs and given up 180. That figure says a couple things. First off, they were really good in the beginning of this year. In April and May they scored 302 runs and only gave up 236. That is the run differential of a playoff team. Second, the fact that they are still the second highest run scoring team in the NL also shows just how weak the NL is this year. You can't say it's the pitching, because the Phillies have given up less runs in June and July then they did the first two months. Granted July isn't over yet, but even the Phils will be hard pressed to give up more than 50 runs in one week. This team just is not hitting. They aren't hitting with runners on base, with runners in scoring position, with no runners on. They aren't hitting. During the month of July, Utley has two home runs and five RBIs; Rollins hasn't had a home run since June 16th, and has seven RBIs this month; Geoff Jenkins has 16 hits since June 1st, with six of them coming in the first six days of that month; Jason Werth has six RBIs in July and Pedro Feliz has seven. The team's Jekyll and Hyde nature was never more evident then this past series with the Mets. The Phillies were the Kings of the Come From Behind Win last year and they showed that Never Say Die attitude on Tuesday when they scored six runs in the 9th inning to beat the Mets 8-6. After getting manhandled by Johan Santana through the first eight innings, this team showed an incredible amount of character (which they have lacked for the better part of the past two months) and grit and did not give up. Then they dropped the ball and let the momentum gained from that inning fade off and played like garbage the next two days. Despite a rocky outing by Brett Myers on Wednesday, the game was still tied at three coming into the sixth inning. The Phillies were very much in a position to win when the bullpen gave up three runs and you could just see the air go out of this team. They just laid down and conceded. Thursday the Phillies absolutely blew a beautiful gem thrown by Jamie Moyer and once again made the erratic Oliver Perez look like a Cy Young Award winner. Moyer went seven strong innings giving up only one run. J.C. Romero came into the 8th inning and gave up two runs. Romero has unequivocally been the Phillies best reliever this season aside from closer Brad Lidge. He has also pitched more innings than any other reliever and it is starting to show. Romero gave up a total of six runs in all of April, May and June. He has given up five so far in July, which is still remarkable and I am not dumping on him at all. But he needs some help; he needs another lefty in the bullpen that cane take on some of the situational responsibilities. This was the biggest series of the season and the Phillies blew it, despite having the biggest inning of the year. They had the momentum; they had first place; and I still believe they have a better team. The Phillies have just been way too inconsistent this season and the Mets have gelled together since the firing of manager Willie Randolph. This is going to be a very tough road over the remaining 60 or so games, but I still think the Phillies can pull it out. They have to start this weekend against the Atlanta Braves. * When calculating the career stats, I took out the player's first season and this season, as neither were full seasons.

Teixeira to the Diamondbacks?

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:12:35 -0500

There are a number of rumors flying around the league about the possibility of the Braves dealing Mark Teixeira to anyone who is willing to take on his 12.5 million dollar a year contract. The most recent news coming hot off the wire is from Ken Rosenthal over at FoxSports.com who reports that the Diamondbacks have supposedly looked into acquiring the first basemen. It hadn't crossed my mind that the Dbacksa would consider going after him, but now that I think about it he would fit in well in Phoenix. This year Teixeira is batting .277 with 19 HRs and 73 RBIs, which could provide some added run support for Arizona. First is a position they need help with as they have recently gone out and acquired first basemen Tony Clark by sending pitcher Evan Scribner out to San Diego. Tony Clark has posted a .222 average with 2 HRs and 14 RBIS this year which is not even close to impressive. The other option at first for the DBacks is Chad Tracy who is batting .302 with 5 HRs and 25 RBIs, not exactly what you're looking for in a position where you usually find a power hitter. According to Rosenthal's report the acquisition would be unlikely since the Diamondbacks would have to absorb nearly $5 million, a price that I think is worth paying considering their payroll of just over 66 million (23rd highested in the majors). If I'm Arizona I go out there and make a serious attempt to pick up the star first basemen, they could really use the help. 4Real Out….

The Cubs Sale Will Be Like None Other

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:09:29 -0500

The thing about the sale of the Chicago Cubs, and all its trimmings (Wrigley Field and ComcastSports Chicago), is it may be unlike any deal prior. Forget looking at the Lerners and Stan Kasten with the Nationals. Forget looking at Liberty Media and the sale of the Braves from Time Warner. Forget the sale of the Dodgers to Frank McCourt. It seems that we should expect the unexpected. This one is truely a breed apart. First off, this sale is all about the money – the highest bid through either a package, or the assets broken out into separate pieces will most assuredly win the day as Sam Zell is looking to liquidate the baseball holdings to help pay down the $8.2 billion in debt that the Tribune Company is saddled with after taking it private. The chances of seeing a lower bid beat out a higher offer, which was the case with the sale of the Red Sox, seems virtually nil. MLB is very nearly riding shotgun on this one. On the state of the sale, word to the Business of Sports Network is that there is actually a process by which three different bid offers can be done: The Cubs, Wrigley Field, or “The Package” where everything is pulled together. In most all cases, bidders interested in the Cubs are said to be submitting across all three bid types. Rumor has it that Mark Cuban is the only bidder to have only thrown his bid into just the package offer. If true, Cuban is looking at “all or nothing”. Nothing seems like the last thing the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks has in mind. A starting group of ten bidders is said to have been pared down in the second round of bidding to three. The surprising news is that Madison Dearborn Partners CEO John Canning, Jr. is possibly out of the running after Tribune turned down his bid. Canning has been seen as the front runner due to his close ties to MLB (he is a minority owner of the Brewers) and by extension to Commissioner Selig. The rejection of the bid doesn’t throw Canning out of the running as he can certainly come back with a bid that will get him in the mix, but the question is, will he be willing? By coming in under the other bidders that made the cut, one wonders whether he really bought into the “could be worth $1 billion” value of the package deal as it appears that cartoonish figure may simply be the floor in the second phase of bidding, where the final sale price could wind up jaw-dropping. The bad thing for MLB, should Canning drop out is that he has strong local ties to the Chicago area, something the other leading bidders can’t really claim. But as mentioned, this deal for the Cubs will be different than other recent deals. Where politicians in Washington, D.C. were concerned about having a strong local ownership component due to the massive outlay of public subsidy, the Cubs deal is now exclusively private. Beyond Canning, here’s who we do know did made the cut. Mark Cuban seems to be a serious player in the bidding process due to his incredible net worth. While other bidders can cobble together a bid through loans against holdings, Cuban is believed to be doing a cash heavy bid, an enticing aspect for Zell and Tribune. The other bidders known to make the cut to the second phase of bidding is the family of Joe Ricketts, who founded Ameritrade, and Sports Acquisition Holding Corp., which includes Henry Aaron, and former Republican Congressman Jack Kemp. Sports Acquisition Holding is the interesting player in the mix. While Aaron and Kemp are certainly well known figures, they certainly aren’t anywhere near being financially capable of providing the funds needed to go into the second phase of bidding, where the record sale price for an MLB club will surely be hit. As one insider said, find out where the money is coming from with Sports Acquisition Holding Corp, and you probably have a good story. But, one should expect the unknown at the end of the day. There seems little doubt that moving bidders or others sitting on the edges into groups to help bolster their standing with MLB, or help gain more capital in order to remain competitive in the bidding. The wild card in all of this is of course, Sam Zell. With Zell looking to get the most out of the bidding, there could be complex scenarios involving bidders moving around on the sale of Wrigley Field, absent the Cubs. If the deal does go the route of The Friendly Confines going separate from the Loveable Losers, the political dance between the owners of the facility and the owners of the Cubs will be key. Of course, adding that extra something to this story is Mark Cuban; a man who would add considerable flavor to baseball’s ownership ranks. Adding Cuban to the mix is like adding 4 cloves of garlic to your spaghetti sauce. He’s an alluring aroma that can overwhelm. If Cuban does outspend all comers, some form of buffering will be attempted by MLB. But, even if assurances were made by Cuban, the echoes of another owner will certainly come to mind. I won't be active in the day-to-day operations of the club at all, said the new owner after purchasing another storied club in 1973. The club was the Yankees, and the owner was one George Steinbrenner. The idea of adding a “Maverick” back into Lodge after the likes of King George, or Finley, or Turner is certainly something MLB would probably like to avoid… if it weren’t for Sam Zell. If it weren't for Sam Zell.Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/), which includes The Biz of Baseball (http://www.bizofbasketball.com/), The Biz of Football (http://www.bizoffootball.com/), The Biz of Basketball (http://www.bizofbasketball.com/) and The Biz of Hockey (http://bizofhockey.com/). He is contributor to Baseball Prospectus (http://baseballprospectus.com/news/?author=124), and is available as a freelance writer.Brown's full bio is here. (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/index.php?option=com_content view=article id=47 Itemid=18) He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (http://www.businessofsportsnetwork.com/index.php?option=com_contact view=contact id=2 Itemid=29).

AccuScore Closer Report - 7/23

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:51:08 -0500

With the trade deadline looming and injuries to several players, bullpen situations remain in flux throughout baseball. Jonathan Lee takes a look at recent moves and ranks all of MLB's closers.

ISRINGHAUSEN'S DAYS IN ST. LOUIS NUMBERED?

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:50:34 -0500

by Moondog, The World According to Moondog

The closer is baseball's version of the one man every manager hopes can distinguish himself among all the other members of the bullpen.

With the advent of defined roles the one that has become the most problematic for the St. Louis Cardinals this season is which pitcher can manager Tony La Russa trust to close out games.

Since arriving in St. Louis prior to the 2002 season, Jason Isringhausen has been the closer but not without many tense moments. He isn't the type of pitcher that will consistently come into the 9th and get three consecutive outs to end the game.

So far this season Isringhausen has been a complete disaster, blowing seven saves and seeing his ERA balloon to 6.15 entering Wednesday's game against the Milwaukee Brewers.

There were signs of Isringhausen's decline over the past two seasons, blowing 10 saves in 2006 and ultimately being placed on the DL with a hip injury. Adam Wainwright stepped into the closer role and made people forget about Isringhausen as the Cardinals would go on to win the World Series.

Be it mental or physical, Isringhausen doesn't seem to have the stuff to be a major league closer anymore. It's reached a point where Isringhausen's presence is doing this team a disservice by giving him the ball and watching him blow two, three, and four-run leads time after time.

Isringhausen's last save came on May 5, 11 days before he went on the disabled list because of his inability to get people out and a self-inflicted right hand laceration.

He had blown six of his last nine save opportunities, including four in a row when he was given the ball in the ninth this past Sunday where he promptly gave up one run on three hits to the Padres.

He's actually been worse than the numbers indicate. The four-run lead he gave up before the All-Star game against the Pirates was technically not a save situation.

Being an avid Cardinal fan and watching nearly every game they've played this season, Isringhausen is directly responsible for losing 11 games. That's a huge swing from their current record of 57-46.

Isringhausen's place on the team was enough of an issue for the pitcher to seek a meeting in La Russa's office after last Thursday's 4-3 win over the Padres.

La Russa said recently that having a defined closer is "the best scenario, but this season, you take the circumstances that have developed. We got to the point where we lost Izzy. We're trying to get him back. We're trying to win games."

If La Russa wants to win games, then he has to arrive at a definitive decision on Isringhausen. Considering the Cards' have blown a MLB-high 24 saves and Isringhausen has shown no signs of being capable of getting the job done, it may be time to end his association with the club.

Moreover, his $8 million salary is a lot of money to spend on a pitcher who can't get anybody out. A year ago Isringhausen said he would refuse to waive his no-trade clause if the club sought to trade him during a lost season. This past Friday, he allowed for the possibility. The Atlanta Braves are believed to be in search of a closer.

"It's difficult for me to say anything about that unless they put something in front of me," Isringhausen said. "So far, that hasn't happened."

Frankly, if the Cardinals can find a taker for Isringhausen, they need to jump on the opportunity to send him out of St. Louis as fast as they can.

The Duplicity of J.D. Drew: Is He Nancy Drew, or Drewwww?

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:32:40 -0500