Rumors
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Quick Hits: Angels, Montero, Gomes, Dodgers
Miguel Cabrera might have been hitting home runs in Anaheim if the Angels had been able to swing a deal for him in 2007, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports. The Marlins had Cabrera on the trade market, and the Angels offered Howie Kendrick, Jeff Mathis and either Ervin Santana or Nick Adenhart. But the Marlins wanted both Santana and Adenhart, and the Angels changed their minds about dealing Kendrick, and the trade fell through. Had the deal worked out, Shaikin says, Cabrera could have joined with fellow 2012 MVP candidate Mike Trout in the Angels' lineup. (Of... -
Rosenthal On Rizzo, Altuve, Mattingly
Nationals GM Mike Rizzo might make an intriguing free agent after the 2015 season, FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal says in a recent video. Rizzo's friends tell Rosenthal that Rizzo is not afraid of leaving after 2015 if the team does not pay him well. The Nats exercised their 2014 option on Rizzo last month, and have another option for 2015. Earlier this week, Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post reported that the decision to exercise the 2014 option may have annoyed Rizzo, since the contract from which the option came was not especially lucrative. Under the 2014 option, Rizzo will be in the bottom third in GM pay, Kilgore noted. Here's more from Rosenthal.
- Rosenthal notes that Jose Altuve's recent decision to leave Scott Boras for his old agency, Octagon, is not necessarily an indication that Altuve will sign long-term with the Astros. There are currently no extension talks between the two sides, Rosenthal reports.
- If the Dodgers were to fire manager Don Mattingly, one problem would be that there are few obvious replacements, Rosenthal reports in another video. Neither Tony LaRussa nor Bobby Cox look like likely options, and members of Mattingly's staff like Davey Lopes, Trey Hillman and Tim Wallach aren't ideal. Still, Rosenthal says, the Dodgers will likely fire Mattingly anyway if the team doesn't improve, and the Dodgers have a rough schedule coming up.
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AL Notes: Brantley, Indians, Hendrickson, Angels
While the Indians didn't get much for Cliff Lee, they did get one significant player in their 2008 trade of another Cy Young winner, C.C. Sabathia, Terry Pluto of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer argues. That would be outfielder Michael Brantley. Pluto stops short of defending that trade (which also included Matt LaPorta, Zach Jackson and Rob Bryson) but notes that Brantley's hitting has gradually improved -- he's hitting .312/.366/.399 this season. Here are more notes from around the American League. With the fifth pick in the upcoming draft, the Indians would consider selecting Jonathan Gray, Mark Appel or Kris Bryant, if... -
Alfonso Soriano More Open To Approving Trade
While Alfonso Soriano shot down a trade that would have sent him to the Giants last year, he may be more open to a deal if it presents itself this season, writes Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times.
"Yeah," Soriano said when asked if he's more likely to consider waiving his no-trade rights than he thought he might be a few months ago. "But it depends on them. It depends what the team wants. A chance to win, that's the most important thing. But it depends on the front office. It's not on me."
Soriano is hitting just .262/.291/.399 this season and will make $18MM this year and next, so he doesn't appear to be a particularly attractive trade target. Depending on how much salary the Cubs are willing to absorb, however, a team might be willing to trade for him, hoping for something more along the lines of last year's peformance, when he hit .262/.322/.499.
Charlie Wilmoth contributed to this post.
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Yankees Claim David Huff, Designate Rondon
The Yankees announced that they have claimed David Huff off of waivers. To make room on the roster, the club designated Francisco Rondon for assignment.
Huff, 28, has a 5.40 ERA with 5.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 across 52 career big league starts and six relief appearances. Huff was designated for assignment by the Indians just two days ago in order to make room on the roster for fellow southpaw Scott Barnes. The hurler, who was drafted 39th overall in 2006, made just three relief appearances during his short stint with Cleveland's varsity squad.
Rondon, 25, has yet to reach the major leagues. He has been with the club's' Double-A affiliate in Trenton with less-than-stellar results, posting a 7.46 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 6.4 BB/9 across 35 innings this season.
Blogs
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Talking Chop :: Elander Homers Twice, Salcedo Extends Hitting Streak, And Wood Continues Dominance In Saturday's Atlanta Braves Minor League Action
Josh Elander slugged a pair of homers, Edward Salcedo extended his hitting streak to 10 games, Joey Terdoslavich had another big day, and Alex Wood continued his dominance. Gwinnett Braves 4, Toledo Mud Hens 2 Tyler Pastornic... -
Lookout Landing :: 5/25: Chart
Win Expectancy Added: + Kendrys Morales (.135) - Felix Hernandez (-.312) Gotta run. Recap probably not until the morning. -
McCovey Chronicles :: minor lines, 5/25/13
Saturday highlights from the Giants' farm: Martin Agosta had 7.0 scoreless IP, Jarrett Parker homered twice, and -
Gaslamp Ball :: Padres 10, Diamondbacks 4: The Padres Could Not Be Tamed
1st Inning The game started and an Everth Cabrera single was created. But, when hope of goodness was almost lost, he stole his 19th base of the year. But, that’s not all! It was his 100th career steal. That’s good for busine... -
Purple Row :: Rockies vs. Giants final score: Angel Pagan's walk-off inside-the-park HR sinks Colorado, 6-5
Allow me to put down my calculator. Okay. There are times when bunting is acceptable. One of those times includes when a pitcher is batting and there is a runner on base that needs to be moved over. Another is when a clear double-play candidate is at the plate and it would be advantageous for the offense to avoid that situation and move runners over rather... -
New York Yankees' 2013 Mock Draft: Projecting Their Top 1st-Round Targets
The New York Yankees have three picks in the first round of the 2013 first-year player draft on June 6, as the departures of both Nick Swisher (Cleveland Indians) and Rafael Soriano (Washington Nationals) netted them picks 32 and 33 to go along with their initial selection at No. 26.
General manager Brian Cashman is notorious for taking pitchers in the first round. In recent memory, Phil Hughes (2004), Ian Kennedy (2006) and Joba Chamberlain (2006) have all been drafted by Cashman and groomed in the Yankees' system.
Expect Cashman to do more of the same in 2013. Yankees scouts love selecting quality arms, and there's no shortage of such arms in this year's draft. There are several talented pitchers (both from high school and college) who could find themselves as members of the Yankees by the end of the first round.
The Yankees have always had a shortage of talented pitching in their system. Even with Cashman's propensity to select pitchers, not all of them have always panned out. New York has strong positional talent in the lower minors in Mason Williams, Gary Sanchez, Tyler Austin and Slade Heathcott, though there isn't all that much pitching to be found.
Look for Cashman and Co. to solve that problem on draft day.
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Recapping Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets Using Twitter Parody Accounts
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Fantasy Baseball 2013: Full List of This Week's 2-Start Pitchers
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Rockies vs. Giants Video: Watch Angel Pagan Hit Walk-Off Inside-the-Park HR
San Francisco Giants center fielder Angel Pagan raced around the bases for an inside-the-park, two-run homer to boost his team to a 6-5 home victory in 10 innings over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday.
With Brandon Crawford aboard on second base and one out, Pagan hammered an 0-1 offering from Rockies pitcher Rafael Betancourt off the wall in right-center field.
The carom caused the ball to kick toward the deepest part of San Francisco's AT&T Park. Michael Cuddyer couldn't corral it, and by the time it reached center fielder Dexter Fowler, Pagan was already screaming toward third base.
Fowler had an extremely long throw from the warning track, but he effectively hit the cutoff man. The throw to the plate by DJ LeMahieu was pretty strong, yet not quite good enough. Pagan was able to avert the slightly late tag by sliding safely head-first to clinch the win.
The home crowd predictably erupted to the unique walk-off occasion, and several of Pagan's teammates poured out of the dugout to help him celebrate.
Rockies star shortstop Troy Tulowitzki broke the tie in the top of the 10th with a leadoff home run off of Sergio Romo. The Giants' pitcher was bailed out by Pagan's heroics, though, and walked away with his third win of 2013.
Pagan allowed the Giants to pull even with their National League West division rivals at 27-22 on the season. Their series will wrap up on Sunday, as both teams sit half a game behind the Arizona Diamondbacks (27-21) for the NL West lead.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
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New York Yankees' 2013 Season Proves Bombers Can Win with Less Payroll
News
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Giants' Pagan beats Rockies with walk-off, inside-the-park HR in extras
Giants' Pagan beats Rockies with walk-off, inside-the-park HR in extras -
Padres ride Cabrera, five-run inning to halt slide
Everth Cabrera was a triple shy of hitting for the cycle and racked up four RBIs to pace the Padres to a 10-4 victory against the D-backs and snap a three-game losing streak. -
Rangers' Holland outpitches Felix in Seattle
Derek Holland outpitched Felix Hernandez, striking out 10 while allowing two unearned runs in 6 2/3 innings. The Mariners' ace has now lost to the Rangers a record-tying 18 times. -
Gonzalez homers, drives in three in win over Cards
Mark Ellis hit a go-ahead RBI double with two out in the sixth to build off Adrian Gonzalez's homer, double and three RBIs as the Dodgers beat the Cardinals, 5-3, at Dodger Stadium to win for the third time in their last five games. -
Nebraska forces second Big Ten title game
Facing elimination for the third time in two days, Nebraska forced Indiana into a deciding second title game after Tanner Lubach's 11th-inning walk-off home run ended a dramatic 7-6 victory on Saturday night at Target Field. -
Dodgers lack viable options to replace skipper
Ken Rosenthal says the Dodgers lack viable options to replace manager Don Mattingly. -
Minor's arm, bat lead Braves to eighth straight win
Mike Minor provided the element of surprise when he crushed the first home run of his career during a five-run fifth inning that provided him more than enough support and enabled the Braves to extend their winning ways with Saturday night's 6-0 victory over the Mets at Citi Field. -
Yankees' Granderson on DL — again
The New York Yankees put outfielder Curtis Granderson on the 15-day disabled list with a broken knuckle on his left pinky finger. -
Minor propels Braves over Mets
Light-hitting pitcher Mike Minor homered for his first two RBI in the majors and struck out 10 as the Atlanta Braves posted their second win in a matter of hours, beating the New York Mets 6-0 Saturday for their eighth consecutive victory. -
Phillies even series with Nationals
Michael Young scored the go-ahead run from first base on a single in the eighth inning, and Domonic Brown homered and hit an RBI double as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Washington Nationals 5-3 Saturday night.