It was announced last night that the Los Angels Angels of Anaheim and divisional foe Seattle Mariners came to terms on a blockbuster deal. Considering the Angels have the best record in baseball right now, it may bring up the obvious question of, "why?" General Manager Justin McGill had this to say in response, "We just felt this deal will set us up not only in a better position this year, but also several years down the line." The Angels are gambling that the pitching upgrade will be worth losing 1B Daric Barton, who has been a stable force for their offense and their current #2 hitter. In the deal, the Angels sent SP Brandon Webb, SP Dan Haren, SP Adam Wainwright, 1B Daric Barton, and CF Coby Rasmus to the Seattle Mariners. In exchange, they received SP "King" Felix Hernandez, SP Erik Bedard, MR Carlos Silva, and minor league prospects SP Phillippe Aumont and SS Carlos Triunfel. The move opens a spot in the rotation for prized prospect Scott Taylor, and also gives the team an eventual successor for SP Kelvim Escobar in Aumont. Rumors have been swirling all season long around a possible trade involving Escobar, but so far he has been lights out for the Angels (11-1, with a 2.75 ERA), and is competing with teammate C.C. Sabathia (10-1, 2.45 ERA) for the AL Cy Young. Aumont is only 20 years of age, but nearly ready for ML duties. So it is believed that Escobar could still be had in a deal for an offensive upgrade, now that Barton has departed. When asked about the Escobar rumors, Justin vaguely replied, "We will consider anything that we feel will be an upgrade for our club."

38 Views | 2 Replies

St Petersburg News-

Recently, our beat reporter, Tim Belding, sat down with the voice of college basketball, Mr. Dick Vitale.  Dickie V is a diehard Rays fan and a student of the game of baseball.  He sat down with us to talk about the upcoming season.

TB-Welcome Dickie V and thanks for taking the time to sit down with us and talk some baseball

DV-Oh man, thanks for having me!  I love talking baseball!  Lets get this season started baby!

TB-Alright then, what we're gonna do is run this down division by division.   Being a Tampa fan, i think its best if we start out with the AL East

DV-Oh Timmy, your pullin on my hartstrings already.  My Rays are gonna do some things this year!  We came super close to making the playoffs with our first winning record in franchise history.  Those boys up in Boston better watch out cause we're gonna be dancin into the playoffs this year baby!

Tampa has got a couple diaper dandies that i absolutely love.  First off is rookie aaron cunningham.  The team opened a spot in the outfield for him and hes going to produce.  This kid is like my old canadien friend Larry Walker.  Watch out for him!  We team him up with youngsters Joey Votto, Evan Longoria, and BJ Upton.  WOW!  What an offense and we havent even gotten to the strong point of the team the pitching.

TB- You think Scott Kazmir can repeat as Cy Young?

DV-Are you kidding me Timmy!  Are you serious?  Of course he can.  I dont know if he will though.  One thing i learned is back to back anything is super hard baby!

TB-Well if not him, who do you think can win it.

DV-Oh man, the AL is like the ACC, Big 12, and SEC all rolled into one.  THe NL is like the rest of the country just trying to catch up to the big three.  The starters in the AL are awesome baby with a Capital A!

When it comes to the competition, i think the strongest is going to come from a place not many are looking.  I see Francisco Liriano having the type of year kids can only dream about.  He has absolutely nasty stuff and i see 20 wins for the man!

TB-Well, what about hitting Dickie V, any Tampa hitters winning that.

DV-Oh man!  Thats a tough one Timmy.  Too much competition out there,  I like the young guy up in Detroit, Miguel Cabrera, but its hard to go against Big Papi!  Hes like the Duke of baseball.  Hes hated around here but hes got love ina lot of areas in the country!

TB-Well why dont you give us a run down of how you see things shaping up in the al.

DV Alright Timmy

In the AL East, its gonna be Duke-NC as Boston and Tampa are gonna fight it out over supremeacy in the American League.  I love my Rays and i think they can take them, but watch out for those Sox,  The rotation is rediculous and the offense is pretty good too!  And with that big man at the end, Mr Papelbon, are you serious?  No way these guys dont finish first or second.

The Rays pitching is superb, best in the land baby.  Look for it to carry the team to the playoffs!  If the old guy Jim Thome can give the team some veteran leadership and hit some longballs, this teams gonna be hard to stop!  Theres sme major holes though.  Im not sold on Quenten in right or either of those catchers.  But if the team can find some answers at that postion, watch out baby.

The Rest of the AL East is a tossup baby!  The Yankees were looking good untill injuries hit the team.  Now they are lookin at 500.  They made some recent moves to try to pick up the offensive slack with chipper jones.  Hes not gonna be enough though.  Pitchings not good enough to make the differnce as the offense with out PTPers in Abreu and Rodriguez simply cant score the runs needed to make up for the pitching.

The team that may surprise this year is the Orioles baby!  This is a young energetic team that boast two of America's best diaper dandies in Matt Wieters at C and Nolan Reimond in RF.   These two kids play up to their abilities and this could be an 85 win team!

Then theres the Jays, going nowhere fast baby.  This team needs to be blown up and started over.  Doc Halladay needs to figure out a way to patch up this teams infield as it is a mess!  Its like a team without a point guard baby!  It just doesnt work

TB-Very in depth Dickie V.  What about the central

DV-Oh man, this is a tough divison!  Three teams who have, two who have not!

This is an interesting divison.  We got the senior laden team in Detroit.  Lots of veterans in that lineup looking to make that last championship run! Then we got the Indians and Twins who can both make some noise!

Indians are gonna need some help from some of the free agent pitchers they picked up to make a run at it.  If they can find a back of the rotation this division is theirs.  If they cant give it to Detroit.

If an injury or two catches up with either team, Watch out for those twinkies baby! You know how much I love Liriano and expect Morneau to have a big coming out party!  A wild card run isnt out of the question for this team!

The Royals are a good young team making progress.  Expect Luke Hochevar to have a big year, but this team simply has too many holes right now.  A 500 season is the ceiling for this team!

The White Sox are a mess man.  No George Mason run in them baby!  They are in complete rebuild mode and im not gonna waste my time there right now.  Although they have my favorite player Rocco Baldelli.  Good luck Rock!

TB-AL West?

DV-Oh timmy, why do you even ask.  This is like Big Brown out there baby!  The Angels have this thing locked up.  None of the other three have a chance.  Angels are the best team in the league!

TB-So none of the other teams have a chance?

DV-Well if Big Brown blows a hoof, watch out for Seattle.  THe one two punch of King Felix and Mr. Bedard may be enough!

TB-So i take it your going with the Rays to win it all?

DV-Are you kidding me?  Thats like giving me popcorn and saying no butter!  I love these Rays.  All the way in a sweep of the Mets.  Its gonna be awesome baby with a capital A!

61 Views | 3 Replies

Royals pitcher Shawn Chacon grabbed GM Elliott Pinkham by the neck and threw him to the floor.Soon after the melee began Royals 1st Round Draft pick Winston Dunn grabbed Chacon and placed a figure four leglock on him at which time he began begging for clemency.GM Pinkham said "I unlike Shawn`s old boss ,Ed Wade, forgive Shawn and expect at least one more good season in KC." It has also been rumored that a GM Bobble Neck Doll may be on tap in May.

40 Views | 1 Reply

KC, today, traded away Zach Greinke and Jose Guillen to the Milwaukee Brewers. In return the Royals picked up SP Dave Bush, SS JJ Hardy, and minor league SS Cale Iorg.The Royals would like to thank all GMs for the interest shown.The Royals hope this move allows a faster overall improvement of the team.The Royals GM would like to thank the Brewers GM for the offer they initially presented which made the trade very easy to complete.

46 Views | 1 Reply

There are trades, and then there are trades.  Today the Cubs and Angels got together for a 14 player epic, where superstars such as Vladimir Guerrero, Todd Helton, Ryan Howard, Troy Tulowitzki, Javier Vazquez, and Geovany Soto changed addresses.

The Cubs sent the Angels Troy Tulowitzki, Matt Murton, Geovany Soto, Todd Helton, Ted Lilly and minor leaguers Joel Santo, Scott Taylor, Jose Ceda, Joe Torres, and Josh Vitters.  Leaving Chicago is a lot of talent, but prudent Cubs fans will be pleased to usher Helton and Lilly out of town.   At 35 years of age, Helton’s power is starting to decline and he is still owed $33.2 million over the next 2 years with a player option for $23.7 million in 2011.  Lilly, who did pitch over 200 innings last season, is set to make $12 million each of the next two seasons.  He is a durable pitcher, but he is not worth the $24 million price tag that he comes with.

Perhaps the greatest talent involved in this trade is 21 year old closer Jose Ceda.  Jose spent last season in single A Daytona, but has the tools to make his big league appearance this season.  Ceda’s rise to prominence was blocked by incumbent closer Carlos Marmol, which made the young righty expendable.

Ryan Howard and Vladimir Guerrero headline the relatively shorter list of talent that is leaving Los Angeles.  Alongside the two sluggers the Angels traded catcher Mike Napoli and starting pitcher Javier Vazquez.  Vazquez had an off year at the back of the Angels rotation, but he is a proven major league pitcher that the Cubs are expecting to anchor their staff.  Mike Napoli put up very respectable numbers last season, posting a batting average just below .280, OBP just below .380, 14 home runs, and 76 RBIs.

There are positives and negatives to every deal, this one is no exception.  For the Cubs, the biggest negatives being that they lose some great prospects in Torres, Vitters, and Ceda.  The Cubs also will miss the defense and bat of Tulowizki and Murton, as well the OBP machine that is Todd Helton.  Torres and Vitters are both a ways away from contributing at the major league level, but Ceda will be a lights out closer this season.   On the other hand, the Cubs pick up some great hitters, and now boast one of the best 3-4-5 combinations in baseball.  A lineup consisting of Vladimir Guerrero followed by Ryan Howard then Aramis Ramirez should strike fear into any pitcher.  Vazquez will be a valuable addition to the starting rotation as well.

The Angels lose a lot of pop, but instantly gain another young closer to replace departed closer Francisco Rodriguez.  The prospects may take some time to develop, but the Angels are still in a position to compete if they can acquire another power bat. 

Time will tell who wins this trade, especially since multiple players involved are far from reaching their full potential.  If the prospects develop, the Angels will likely be considered the “winners” of this deal; however, if the revamped lineup gives the Cubs enough punch to propel them into the postseason it may all be worth it.

46 Views | 1 Reply