B & G's 7/27/09

Baseballs:

**Jonny Gomes- Jonny hit 2 Home Runs tonight, giving him 10 on the season. They were both solo shots, and with the 2 runs he now has 23 RBIs. Gomes went 2-3 with a walk and he is now hitting .294 on the season.

**Nick Swisher, New York Yankees- Nick hit 2 Home Runs, his 15Th and 16Th, drove in 3 runs going 2-5. Nick now has 53 RBIs and is hitting .237.

**Billy Butler, Kansas City Royals- Billy went 5-5 at the plate with 2 doubles and he drove in 3 runs. Billy now has 45 RBIs and a .295 average.

**Chris Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals- Chris threw 7 solid innings, giving up 1 run (1 earned), he walked 2 and struck out 2. Chris now has a 2.19 ERA, and finished July at 4-0.

**Josh Beckett, Boston Red Sox- Josh won a Major League leading 12Th win tonight, by throwing 7 innings, giving up 3 runs (3 earned), he walked 1 and struck out 10. Josh was awesome tonight and he now has a 3.44 ERA.

**Fernando Tatis, New York Mets- Gave the Mets a lift by hitting a grand slam, his 5Th Home Run of the season, drove in 4 runs, giving him 24 RBIs. Tatis is now hitting .243.

**Tommy Hunter, Texas Rangers- Tommy threw 7 dominating innings, giving up 1 run (1 earned), he walked 2 and struck out 6. Tommy won his 3rd game of the season and now has a 2.00 ERA.

**Glen Perkins, Minnesota Twins- Glen gave the Twins some quality innings, throwing 7 innings, giving up 3 runs (3 earned), he walked 1 and struck out 3. Glen won his 6Th game of the season and now has a 5.42 ERA.

**Alfonso Soriano, Chicago Cubs- Despite striking out 3 times, Soriano had 1 hit, but that hit mattered at the end of the night. A walk off Grand Slam Home Run, his 18Th of the season, driving in 4 runs, giving him 45 RBIs. Soriano is now hitting .253 after a 1-6 evening.

**Josh Willingham, Washington Nationals- Josh went 3-5 at the plate and hit 2 Grand Slam Home Runs, he now has 16 Home Runs and has 39 RBIs. Josh is hitting .298 on the year.

**Jamie Moyer, Philadelphia Phillies- Jamie threw 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball, he did walk 4 and struck out 5. Jamie won his 10Th game of the season and now has a 5.32 ERA.

**Tim Linecum, San Francisco Giants- Tim Linecum is a stud. I know you knew that, but coming into this season, there was so much hype for him to repeat his Cy Young award season last year. He has surpassed that in my opinion. Tim threw a complete game, giving up 2 runs (0 earned), he walked 3 and struck out a career high 15 men. Tim won his 11Th game of the year and he now has a 2.30 ERA.

**Marco Scutaro, Toronto Blue Jays- Marco had a career high 4 hits tonight, finishing up 4-5 and drove in a run, his 46Th RBI of the season. Marco is hitting .295 on the season.

**Jhonny Peralta, Cleveland Indians- The Indians before the game traded Ryan Garko to the Giants, so Jhonny gave the Indians that offensive charge they needed , leading to the team winning their 5Th game in a row, highest of the season. 4-5 evening with a double and he hit his 8Th Home Run of the season, driving in 3 runs. Jhonny has 50 RBIs and is hitting .271.

Goofballs:

**Josh Greer, San Diego Padres- Josh lasted 4 innings, giving up 5 runs (4 earned), he walked 1 and struck out 1. What did him in tonight were 3 Home Runs he gave up. Josh now has a 5.96 after losing his 7Th decision.

**Brian Shouse, Tampa Bay Rays- When the game was still relatively close at 8-3, he gave up 4 runs (4 earned) in 1 inning, while giving up 2 Home Runs. Brian walked 1 and didn't strike anyone out. He has a 5.87 ERA.

**Orioles Offense- They got to Chen a bit to avoid giving him the win, but they also left 8 men on base. 3 runs, 8 hits, 2 walks, and 8 strikeouts. They just couldn't get to the Royals bullpen tonight.

**Dodgers Offense- 1 run on 11 hits will never get you many victories, no clutch hitting for the Dodgers.

**Trevor Cahill- Trevor lasted just 5 inning, he gave up 6 runs (6 earned), he walked 2 and struck out 5. Trevor lost his 9Th decision and he now has a 4.77 ERA.

**Juan Rincon, Colorado Rockies- Rincon lost his 2Nd game of the season, without giving up a hit. He walked 3 and all 3 runners scored. Rincon now has a 6.35 ERA.

**Tigers Offense- 10 strikeouts as a team, 2 runs and 7 hits just does not cut it and now Detroit is starting to lose a few games too.

**White Sox Defense- 3 errors spoiled this game for the White Sox tonight. Paul Konerko (3rd), Jayson Nix (2Nd), and Alexi Ramirez (13Th) all were responsible.

**Chris Sampson, Houston Astros- Chris gave up the Grand Slam Home Run, he threw 1 inning of work, gave up 4 runs (4 earned), he walked 2, didn't strike anyone out and now has a 3.45 ERA, losing his 2Nd game of the season.

**Jeff Suppan, Milwaukee Brewers- Wow, was he off tonight. He threw 5 1/3 innings, giving up 10 runs (10 earned), he walked 4 and struck out 4. Jeff now has a 5.27 ERA.

**Diamondbacks Offense- They left 11 men on base, 2 runs, 9 hits, 5 walks, and 8 strikeouts. Errors did not help the cause either with Jon Garland giving up 3 unearned runs, but still if you can't get the big hit, you can't win many games.

**Pirates Offense- 2 runs on just 4 hits tonight. They struck out 15 and has no answers against Tim Linecum.

**Felix Hernandez, Seattle Mariners- This was the worst start of the season for King Felix, and it happened at the worst time of the season. Felix threw 5 2/3 innings, he gave up 7 runs (7 earned), walking 1 and struck out 2. Felix now has a 2.79 ERA.

**Brian Fuentes, L.A. Angels- Brian blew the save in the 9Th inning, giving up 4 runs (4 earned) without retiring anyone. He wound up losing the game and he now has a 3.79 ERA.

Angels to Focus on Lee

According to Tim brown; the Angels were frustrated when talking to the Jays about Halladay, so now their attention is being focused on Cliff Lee. There also interested in getting a power arm for the pen.

Yanks, Red talking Arroyo

9:12 PM: According to Jon Heyman; the Yankees said a deal was "not realistic at this point," insisting the contract was overpriced.

5:00 PM:According to Jeff Fletcher; the Yankees and Reds are seriously discussing a Bronson Arroyo trade, Arroyo has 4 million left this year, and 11 million in 2010 and 2011 if his team doesn't buy him out for $2MM (11').

Monday Halladay Rumors

8:58 PM: According to Joe Christensen; the Twins inquired about Halladay, but the Jays said that there not on the list he'd approve to.

7:27 PM: According to Joe McDonald Ricciardi wanted pitchers Clay Buchholz, Casey Kelly, and another top prospect from the Red Sox in exchange for Halladay.

6:10 PM: A tweet from Todd Zolecki; "Phillies spokesman said from their point of view there is no animosity between themselves and any team they're talking to."

5:34 PM: Joel Sherman; says that the Jays will go right to the 4pm deadline on Friday if needed. Ricciardi wasnts a player that can make an impact right away.

4:33 PM: Ed Price says the Rays have backed off Halladay for now, Jays asking price is extreme.

3:47 PM: Ed Price talked to a Blue Jays person who said the Jays want "every last good guy" in
a team's system if they're going to part with Halladay.

3:18 PM: Jayson Stark reports; talks are "not going well" between the Blue Jays and Phillies.

1:48 PM: According to Jon Heyman, a high-ranking official involved in talks between the Jays and Phillies says a deal happening are about a 5% chance. Neither side seems willing to modify its proposal.

1:15 PM: Todd Zolecki heard from sources at the Blue Jays' demands are reasonable. The Phillies are reluctant to give up Brown, Happ, and Drabek.

1:07 PM: According to Jon Heyman he Phillies and Blue Jays are at an "impasse" right now. There's still over 4 days to work out a deal.

1:03 PM: Buster Olney hears that dialogue between the Phils and Jays has become angry as they discuss prospects.

12:28 PM: Gordon Edes says the Red Sox could potentially offer the Jays Clay Buchholz and Daniel Bard plus minor leaguers such as Michael Bowden, Junichi Tazawa and Casey Kelly. But won't relinquish the farm.

12:19 PM: According to Jon Heyman; the Phillies remain the frontrunners for Halladay. But he mentions; don't completely rule out the Red Sox, Yankees and Dodgers, but a trade to any of those clubs seems highly unlikely.

10:10 AM: Bob Elliott talked to Vernon Wells and Aaron Hill; and they said that they expect Halladay to remain a Blue Jay. According to Elliott the Phillies, Red Sox and Angels have the best chance of obtaining Halladay.

More Halladay rumors on the way.....

Dodgers like Sherrill

According to Ed Price; the Dodgers "are in hard on" Orioles closer George Sherrill. The O's want to premium prospects.

Rays Talking Blockbuster

Ed Price hears that the Rays are still "in on" Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee of the Indians. There's also a chance the Kazmir is traded to the Angels.

Reds Sellers?

3:57 PM: Danny Knobler reports that the Reds are not sellers and have continued their discussions with the Blue Jays about Scott Rolen.

2:30 PM:Jeff Fletcher reports that Reds are close to making a deal after top team officials spoke on a conference call this morning. The Reds could offer Bronson Arroyo, Aaron Harang, and Francisco Cordero to teams that seek pitching.

Giants after Major Bats

GM Brian Sabean says the team is considering "six to eight scenarios or names," some of which involve players on teams in the fringes of the playoff race; according to Andrew Baggarly.

Henry Schulman says the Indians have scouted the Giants' system lately.

Tigers Want Arms Over Bats?

The Tigers may shift gears from hitters to pitchers this week to stabilize their rotation, according to Danny Knobler. They won't pursue Halladay, but guys like lefty Jarrod Washburn might be a nice fit.

A's Rumors

Fox Sports:

• Regarding Justin Duchscherer the A's could real in/accept a "modest prospect" who is currently rehabbing. He's a free agent at season end with about $1.3MM remaining on his contract.
  
• Michael Wuertz is getting interest from many teams, in which the Angels are one of. He's under team control through 2011 and strikes out 11.8 batters per nine innings, so the A's would need a great deal to move him.
  

Mets Fire Tony Bernazard

The Mets will announce the firing of executive Tony Bernazard, within the past hour, according to Joel Sherman. Bernazard was involved in a confrontation with Mets minor leaguers last week, bringing up controversy.

Publish Post

First Round Draft Picks Updates: AL East

This June the 2009 MLB First Year player draft took place. Here's a team-by-team look at what the signed first round picks have done in the minors since reporting to their teams.

Baltimore
The Orioles selected Matt Hobgood with the 5th overall pick. He is on the roster of The Bluefield Orioles, the O's Rookie club. Hobgood, a right handed pitcher, has tossed 3 innings and allowed 4 runs so far with Bluefield, but only 2 of the runs were earned.

Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox have signed their top draft pick (28th overall), Reymon Fuentes. Fuentes, an outfielder, has is playing for the GCL Red Sox and has a .333 batting average (21-63) with 1 HR and 10 RBIs.

Rays
The Tampa Bay Rays selected Levon Washington with the 30 overall selection. The Rays have yet to sign Washington, the deadline to do so is Aug. 17.

Yankees
The NY Yankees had the 29th pick in the first round and took Slade Heathcott. Heathcott and the Yanks are close but have not reached a deal yet.

Jays
The Blue Jays had the 20th pick and took Chad Jenkins. I cannot find any info on him, it appears he has not signed.

Up Next: AL West
I'll update you on the picks as the season moves along.

Pirate Rumors

According to Dejan Kovaceevic:

• The Cubs are having regular talks with the the Bucs.
• The team is discussing trading Matt Capps and John Grabow. Grabow is getting more attention.
  
• Triple A starters Ian Snell and Tom Gorzelanny are drawing interest. We know that yesterday the Yanks watched him throw.
  
• The Tigers are interested in the Bucs Triple -A catcher Robinzon Diaz.
• Freddy Sanchez and Jack Wilson are available and the Pirates are entertaining offers.
• The Twins and Red Sox scouted the Pirates Vs. D'Backs game yesterday.