An expert on baseball's Junior Circuit, Don's has worked as a columnist both in print and online for multiple outlets over the past seven years. This is Don's first season at Sports Grumblings.
"I don't want nothing to do with anything about Junior anything..."
I’ll
use the first part of this column to talk about The Sopranos.
If you haven’t seen the final episode yet, skip this part and
go down to the “New York” heading. At any
rate, The Sopranos ended with a few seconds of a black screen (no
audio) which was preceded by a potentially dangerous situation for Tony
and his family. I guess we are left to wonder what happens
during those “black screen” moments. Here
is my take: nothing happens. The situation we see,
potentially dangerous characters entering a diner and making suspicious
actions, is a fabrication of editing. We
see and feel that something “bad” will happen (not
to mention the obvious Godfather similarities), but for Tony, it is
life as usual. That is how his life is, every day.
Mind you, while this is my interpretation, I do agree with Buster Olney
that this was a cop-out. David Chase created these
characters. He gave them life. He should have
created the ending and not left it to our imagination. To
borrow a line from Peter Griffin, that ending “insists upon itself”.
And now back to our regularly scheduled program…a tour around the Junior Circuit.
American League East
Baltimore Orioles
Sam
Perlozzo has threatened those unproductive players will ride the pine
soon. And while he has already imposed his rule over Jay
Gibbons’ playing time, Corey Patterson
could be in for some bench time as well. Patterson is
slugging 0.290 on the year in 186 at-bats, which is really all you need
to know. This would be a good time to discuss Freddie Bynum.
The former 2nd round pick of the Athletics, Bynum does not have the
power of Patterson and sports a 0.275 minor league batting average in
2700 at-bats. If Perlozzo is expecting an offensive jolt from
Bynum, he is going to be disappointed. Note that the cabinet
is pretty bare in Triple-A Norfolk, as the Tides sport the
International League’s worst record.
Ah…Orioles baseball.
Boston Red Sox
Nothing much to report in Boston yet. Pretty much the status quo for the AL East leading Red Sox.
New York Yankees
I was sad to see Chris Britton go. It was between he and Sean Henn, and Britton had the short straw. He’ll be back.
In other Bronx news, Miguel Cairo
has apparently taken over at first base, at least in the short term,
because of his defense. Cairo can steal some bases, but won’t
provide much else. If you need some steals, he’d be
a good stop gap. In the long term (re: July
– September), the Yankees will upgrade this
position. Will the Yankees go cheap here or
actually bring in a “real” starter?
So…they would need a lefty-hitting first baseman who
isn’t terrible at defense. Paging Ben Broussard?
Actually, that would be a nice fit for the Yankees and
Broussard. The former Indian, Broussard should be a starter
in the Majors, but is blocked in Seattle. If the Mariners
were out of the race, he’d be easy to pluck from their
team. But they are playing very good baseball and Broussard
is a nice bat off the bench. He is also still arbitration
eligible next year and provides insurance for both corner outfield
spots, the DH spot and for first base. If they trade him,
they are rolling the dice that his bat and glove wouldn’t be
missed. Note that Broussard only has 63 at-bats on the year
so far which means they’ve been getting along without him up
to now.
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
The legend of Andy Sonnanstine
has started to take shape. He was at his baffling best on
Sunday, looking (apparently) a lot like El Duque in mowing down the
Marlins. Sonnanstine will give up hits, no doubt, but
doesn’t mind giving up solo homers. He has great
command and control, which is an unusual combination for a
Rays’ pitcher. He is exactly the type of player the
Rays need at this point. He should never be confused with a
top-of-the-rotation starter, but both he and Jamie Shields can be very effective behind potential ace starts (like a Scott Kazmir or Jeff Niemann). The Rays are also working on revamping their bullpen, and have farmed out Chad Orvella and Tim Corcoran. However, what’s left relieving in Durham isn’t that good, so they are calling up Jason Hammel to work in middle relief, which is actually a pretty good idea (note: Seth McClung has walked 20 batters in 34 innings). As a long shot, they might even bring up Richard De Los Santos,
who pitched two scoreless innings at Triple-A a few days ago after a
moving up from a successful Double-A stint. However, late
reports indicate that they will sign Jay Witasick. Well, Witasick wanted more work, and he’ll get it in Tampa.
Toronto Blue Jays
I highlighted Dustin McGowan
for you a few weeks ago and told you of my unreasonable soft spot for
McGowan. Well…I traded him a few weeks ago as a
throw in (I was getting Bedard)…and it obviously
backfired. McGowan has a big upside, so wait for a
start where he gives up five runs and six walks, then pounce.
American League Central
Chicago White Sox
Ozzie
Guillen will say something that is so out of line that he will,
eventually, get himself fired. It is really only a matter of
time. However, here is Ozzie Guillen at his sarcastic best
describing outfielder Jerry Owens’ injury: "I don't know how he can be hurt. He wasn't on base at all."
The White Sox are a middling mess and have plenty of buy low candidates
on their team. I’d look at Tadahito Iguchi
if you need help at middle infielder. His stats are a little
light now, which will make him easier to acquire in trade.
Cleveland Indians
If you are able to make out daily lineups and are in a deep league, think about rostering Franklin Gutierrez.
The 24 year old outfielder hits right-handed and, thus, is limited to
lefties, but an injury could lead to full-time at bats at any
point. He was playing very well in Triple-A (0.341) and has
hit a home run in his last two starts. It wouldn’t
take much for him to make the jump, though he certainly needs to work
on getting on base (he had three walks in 141 at-bats last year for the
Indians).
Detroit Tigers
Remember the days when Omar Infante and Ramon Santiago
were going to be the second base / shortstop combination for the next
decade in Detroit? Yeah…I laughed as
well. However, several years later, Infante (only 25) has now
emerged as a super-sub. He’s appeared all over the
field, except left field, catcher and first base. Also,
he’s hitting leadoff against right-handers, either filling in
for Curtis Granderson (or subbing for another player). Now with Carlos Guillen
battling through injury, Infante might be in for more consistent at
bats. Infante, even with more regular at-bats, is someone who
would sit in a free agent pool in shallow leagues. However,
he has already hit 16 homers in the Majors (back in 2004) and might
have a much better upside than someone holding down a spot on your
roster. Think about him.
Kansas City Royals
Zack Greinke has been rumored to get a chance to close if (when?) Octavio Dotel is moved. This is apparently at the expense of Joakim Soria.
I wouldn’t pay much attention to that, actually. If
this, however, provides you with an opportunity to get Soria, go for
it. I certainly don’t trust Zack Greinke for a
variety of reasons to come through in the ninth inning, the least of
which is his arm’s ability to pitch on consecutive days (he
was not effective both times this season).
Minnesota Twins
It was only a matter of time before Scott Baker
was passed over in the rotation by Ron Gardenhire. This was a
regular occurrence last season and it has started again this
year. Being the fifth starter is the same as being a regular
who has been demoted in the batting order (see Nick Punto).
It is easy to demote a fifth starter or bench a guy hitting ninth in
the lineup. That Baker is now clearly the last man in the
rotation indicates that his leash is getting very, very short.
American League West
Los Angeles Angels
When the Angels struggled offensively early on, they moved Gary Matthews, Jr. into an RBI spot (behind Vladimir Guerrero). Reggie Willits became the lead off hitter at that point. Now the Angels have moved Chone Figgins into the No. 2 spot and dropped Orlando Cabrera
into the No. 3 spot. I didn’t think that Figgins
would get a crack at the leadoff spot again (with Matthews on the
team), but now he is “this close” to getting it
back. Either way, hitting second gives him more opportunities
(re: plate appearances) to do a lot of things.
Oakland Athletics
Adam Melhuse
takes his tools of ignorance from Oakland to Texas. Rangers
manager Ron Washington has stated that Melhuse will play two times per
week. Since Gerald Laird
is only batting 0.239 on the season (and has been the catcher for one
of the historically worst staffs in baseball thus far), perhaps we
might see Melhuse a little more than twice a week, especially if the
pitchers respond to him. I know this should have gone under
the Oakland heading, but there wasn’t much interesting to
talk about with the Athletics.
Seattle Mariners
On May 18th, Yuniesky Betancourt
went 0 – 4 which left his average at 0.270. Then he
embarked on a long hitting streak of 20 games which ended Sunday and it
boosted his average to….0.307. Betancourt is
limited in what he can do, but he plays everyday and should reach
career highs in RBI, runs and HR this season.
Texas Rangers
Jason Botts,
who hit 0.200 this April for Triple-A Oklahoma, bumped that up to 0.361
in May and is 15-for-30 in June. You’d have to
think that Botts will get a recall in the near future and was likely a
topic of discussion on who should replace Mark Teixeira
at first base. Botts never had a real chance with the Rangers
as, I suspect, the previous administration didn’t like him
(you know, Buck did have his favorites and had guys that he would
sit…just as Kevin Mench).
An expert on baseball's Junior Circuit, Don's has worked as a columnist both in print and online for multiple outlets over the past seven years. This is Don's first season at Sports Grumblings.