MLB News and Rumors

A little over a month into the season, the Cardinals have already had to call upon their deep minor league talent to help out at the major league level.  The Cards recently called up Carlos Martinez (#3 on the Cardinals prospect list, per Baseball America) and Seth Maness (#23) to help shore up their bullpen. 

Who of the Cardinals top prospects might we see next?  There are several options to consider.

John Gast

Gast has been dealing at AAA Memphis.  The former 6th round pick has allowed just one earned run in 34.2 IP.  He may not have the stuff of some of the Cardinals other top pitching prospects, but he seems to know how to make the best of what he’s got.  Gast could get the call should one of the Cards starters go down with an injury.

Michael Wacha

After a dominating spring with the Cardinals, Wacha has continued to impress with a 1.82 ERA in 34.2 IP at AAA.  The Cards #6 prospect may not have as good of number as Gast, but he has a higher upside.  Like Gast, he could g…

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Kyle Lohse finally found a team.  After waiting almost to the brink of opening day, Lohse signed with the Milwaukee Brewers for 3 years/$ 33 million. A bit less than what he and agent Scott Boras were hoping for, but at least they got a deal done.

However, when I first heard about the signing, I immediately thought back to the Brewers signing of Jeff Suppan.  In case you forgot about him, Suppan signed with the Brewers for 4 years/$ 42 million back in 2006 and is generally considered one of the Brewers’ worst signings.

The similarities between Lohse and Suppan are eery.  Both of them resurrected their careers while pitching for the Cardinals and pitching coach Dave Duncan.  Lohse, who owns a career 4.45 ERA, posted a 3.90 ERA in 5 years with the Cards, while Suppan, who finished his career with a 4.70 ERA, had a 3.94 ERA in 4 years with the Cards.

In addition, they both had their career year with the Cardinals.  Suppan’s best year came in 2005, when he went 16-10 with a 3….

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If the Detroit Tigers want Justin Verlander to remain with the organization they will have to break the bank.
In a recent interview with Jeff Passan Verlander dropped the following gem.
Verlander said “free agency is really cool,” though he made certain to note: “I don’t think you have to be a free agent to get [$ 200 million],”
Of course Verlander was careful not to rule out re-signing with Detroit. He currently has two-years left on his existing contract.
“I think free agency is really cool and would be a great experience,” Verlander said. “I would like to experience it, to be honest with you. But if Detroit comes along and says, ‘Hey, here’s an offer you can’t turn down,’ I’m not going to turn it down.”
The door has been opened for Verlander and other pitchers to reach the $ 200 million threshold. Seattle recently agreed to a seven-year deal with Felix Hernandez for $ 175 million. Zack Greinke’s signed a six-year, $ 147 million this winter after becoming a free agent.
Age is the b

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A couple of weeks ago, we showed you how Spirit Airlines used the Manti Te’o story as part of a marketing gimmick. Well, the discount airliner is back at it this week, with the New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez their target. A-Rod was linked late last week in a story by the Miami New Times, to a Miami-based company that sold PEDs to him as late last season. MLB is conducting their own investigation into the matter, which includes other Major Leaguers such as Melky Cabrera, Gio Gonzalez, and Nelson Cruz. Spirit wasted no time to try and capitalize off the latest PED story involving A-Rod. Check out the screen shots below (H/T Big League Stew) I wonder if the publicity ends up increasing ticket sales for Spirit, or if just leads to good hearty-laughs? For what it is worth, the Te’o ad was much more clever.

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Certain members of Nationals management will never be forgiven for what they did with Stephen Strasburg during the 2012 season. With Strasburg mowing down opponents and the Nats postseason-bound, Strasburg’s year was clipped short due to an innings cap. The Nationals said it was to protect Strasburg’s health, since he was coming back from Tommy John surgery, but it looked more like a way to get a lot of people angry. Not only were Washington fans robbed of watching Strasburg down the stretch, but the Nationals were upset in the first round of the playoffs in a year in which it looked like they were strong enough to go all the way. Now, the Nationals’ brass is being quick to say that Strasburg will not be under such a limit this season — well, sort of. “To say there’s no restrictions really means, ‘Hey, we’d like him to pitch 200 innings,’ ” Nationals vice president of player development Bob Boone told USA Today. “But you’re not gonna say no restrictions like you might have on Steve Car

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Boston’s acquisition of Victorino is the team’s biggest move thus far (Getty/ Dunn)
As winter meetings rolled around, the Boston Red Sox were busy making good on GM Ben Cherington’s pledge to spend money this offseason.  The club, fresh off a last-place finish and a 69-93 record, is in desperate need of an overhaul.  Or to put it more accurately, it needs to complete the overhaul that began during the failed 2012 season.
Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Josh Beckett are gone.  Three high-profile, high-priced players shipped west to make room for, well, what exactly?  The word at the time was that Boston wanted to get back to doing the things that brought a pair of championships to Beantown in 2004 and 2007, building from within, making financially sound acquisitions and creating team chemistry.  It sounded good, but now the execution of that plan has to begin in earnest.
OffSeason Deals to Date
The first steps, signing Mike Napoli and Shane Victorino to a pair of deals each wor…

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Roy Halladay was the first gem to be sought by the Philadelphia Phillies after the 2008 championship.  Will Rube Amaro again reel in valuable catches?
TAL’S HANDY CS
 
WELCOME, NEWCOMERS:
My articles are designed to represent a baseball-man’s thinking, the view from the dugout and the GM’s box.  Most fans do not consider the budget, prospects on the radar, the stick-glove-or-power requirements, the track record, the competition and the intangibles.
I published after every battle that was not washed out.  I had many summer-long highlights of puzzle pieces, which were especially important after drubbings and defeats.  Please go to my author archives or Phillies page for my most recent coverage.  Scroll down to Tal’s Handy Links at the bottom.  Thank you.
 
Check out:  Philadelphia Phillies storyline: Ruf’s path, a revelation
 
Baseball-Fix Monday Schedule:
Events will dictate the number from 1 to 4 each for December. January to mid-February will be every other week, and it will be w…

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New York Yankees left-hander Andy Pettitte will decide on his future as a player by the end of next week, according to a CBSSports.com report. The 40-year-old pitcher is considering whether to retire or come back to the Yankees for another season. Pettitte went 5-4 with a 2.87 ERA in 12 starts for the Yankees last season. He missed more than two months after suffering a broken ankle in June. In February 2011, Pettitte announced his retirement but then decided to rejoin the team in 2012. The 1990 first-round draft pick is baseball’s career leader in postseason wins with 19. His record in 17 big-league seasons is 245-142.

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