MLB News and Rumors

New York Yankees Derek Jeter is busy trying to recover from the broken ankle he suffered in the 2012 MLB Playoffs. Unfortunately for him he’s also getting bombarded with questions about Alex Rodriguez and his PED usage. Jeter addressed the issue today and the writers must not have liked the response they received. “I don’t comment on anyone until they speak first,” Jeter said Monday. “Let him address his situation before I comment on it. Let him speak first and then we’ll talk about that.” (LoHud Yankees Blog) While that’s not a response they liked, I love it. It’s your typical Jeter, if you want information on a guy go talk to that guy. I love it even more because Jeter’s got something more important on his plate, recovering from that injury. Jete plans to start running later this month and is pretty sure he’ll be ready for Opening Day. “Everything’s been good,” Jeter said. “Everything’s right where it needs to be. The goal is April 1st, that’s when we start our season

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The Los Angeles Angels opening day starting outfield looks scarier than ever in 2013 and it doesn’t involve Vernon Wells. In my mind, the Angels would be making a huge mistake by starting Peter Bourjos over Wells  in the coming MLB season. Torn ligaments in Wells’ thumb derailed his 2012 season as he missed over two [...]

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Although the Chicago Cubs are coming off a 61-101 season, team president Theo Epstein sounded an optimistic tone in recent days as the team’s push toward spring training heated up. “It’s postseason or bust every year,” Epstein said. “That’s what our goal is.” If teams and their executives, even realistic ones like Epstein, can’t be optimistic in the middle of winter, they can never be optimistic. Cold reality figures to hit soon enough. Epstein was quick to point out that while he’s optimistic for 2013, the long-term plan is still in effect. “That said, we’re obviously building for something greater, which is a time when we can expect to be in the postseason every year,” he said. “Behind the scenes, regardless of the results, there’s progress being made, but as far as 2013, you can define it as a success or failure by whether we get to postseason or ultimately whether we win a World Series.” The Cubs have …

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Jose Valverde won’t close for the Detroit Tigers in Game 2 of the AL championship series but manager Jim Leyland says the reliever is keeping his role for now.

Leyland said Sunday that the Tigers wanted to work with Valverde on his mechanics. Velarde allowed a tying, two-run double to Oakland’s Seth Smith on Wednesday in Game 4 of the AL division series as Detroit lost 4-3, then gave up two-run homers in the ninth inning to the Yankees’ Ichiro Suzuki and Raul Ibanez in Saturday’s ALCS opener. Detroit rebounded to win 6-4 in 12 innings.

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MILWAUKEE With his bullpen overused and struggling in its last few outings, Milwaukee Brewers manager Ron Roenicke made a joking plea on Wednesday to starting pitcher Yovani Gallardo. “A nine-inning shutout would be really nice,” Roenicke said, with a laugh.But in the past two seasons of baseball for the Brewers and really for all of MLB complete, nine-inning performances from starting pitchers have been extraordinarily rare. Or, well, rarer than they ever have been.Since Roenicke took over before the 2011 season, the Brewers have had just one complete game on the books a nine-inning effort from Gallardo in April 2011. But since then, Milwaukee has used its bullpen in every single game. Even before Roenicke arrived in Milwaukee, the Brewers had accumulated just four complete games in the previous two seasons, down significantly from the 12 nine-inning starts by Milwaukee in the 2008 season, which included seven from C.C. Sabathia and five from Ben Sheets.Around baseball, the complete game has become a seemingly lost art, with the league lead this season at just three a lead shared by the Mets’ R.A. Dickey, the White Sox’s Jake Peavy, the Tigers’ Justin Verlander and the Blue Jays’ Brandon Morrow.But by old-time standards, those three complete games were chump change. The all-time leader for complete games in baseball history, Cy Young, finished his 22-year career with a total of 749 nine-inning efforts. For perspective, that means he threw an average of 34 complete games every season. Obviously, there’s no way that will ever be replicated. But at the same time, it’s a bit jarring to see how much further down the list baseball’s active leader in complete games is. Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay has a measly 66 complete games — good for 635th all-time. So what changed in baseball that has caused more and more starting pitchers to be chased before the ninth inning?”The trend is you’re starting to see really good bullpens, setup guys, closers,” Roenicke said. “And when you have those good guys down like when we get to our eighth inning, we feel really good so if there’s a question mark and a guy has gone seven innings and you have that kind of bullpen, which most guys do, why stress a pitcher when you know you’re going to need him for the whole season? Why not just go with your bullpen? That’s what it’s structured for.”The explanation holds up, considering the consistency that the Brewers bullpen showcased prior to this season. Now though, with struggling relievers not just in Milwaukee but seemingly all over the majors, should the trend change?
Roenicke said there aren’t many pitchers conditioned to throw nine-inning games, night in and night out, like Young would’ve been back in baseball’s glory years.”The big strong guy, you know the Halladays and those type pitchers, there’s not many of them out there,” Roenicke said. “It’s hard. I think back when I was playing with Fernando Valenzuela, you think about him throwing 160 pitches a game all the time. You knew, he could do that 10 games in a row. But did that shorten his career some? I don’t know, it may have.”Health concerns seem to have driven the trend toward shorter starts. These days, teams keep updated, detailed pitch counts and make those starts fit into a defined window. “You want these guys to perform all year long, and if you’re good enough to get into the playoffs, you want them strong for the playoffs,” Roenicke said. “So I think by keeping their pitch count down and their innings totals down, it helps with their longevity and for years to come.”You sign a guy like Yovani, we don’t want him for just one, two years. We want him for five years to be really good. I think it all adds up to getting guys out of games early.”And with those health concerns and knowledge only growing as technology continues to advance, there’s reason to believe that sooner rather than later, the complete game may become a once-in-a-season or once-in-a-few-seasons sort of occurrence. Follow Ryan Kartje on Twitter.

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For a pitcher who prides himself on being an innings-eater, Twins starter Carl Pavano’s last two outings have been two steps backward, a disappointing trend for the 36-year-old right-hander.

Pavano was pulled from Friday’s game in Cleveland after just 3-23 innings, one start after lasing only 4-13 innings against Detroit. He allowed seven runs (six earned) on nine hits Friday, including a grand slam. It was Pavano’s shortest start since April 18, 2010, when he went just 3-13 innings for the Twins against Kansas City.

“It just didn’t go his way,” Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said of Pavano.

Pavano escaped a scoreless first inning thanks to a sliding catch by left fielder Josh Willingham. The play robbed Jose Lopez of a base hit and stranded Jason Kipnis on the base paths.

But Pavano went on to give up runs in each of the next three innings. Lonnie Chisenhall hit a two-run homer in the second inning, driving in Johnny Damon and giving Cleveland a 2-0 lead. Chisenhall’s homer came on an 0-2 pitch from Pavano.

“I think he tried to throw a slider down and just didn’t get it in the dirt,” Gardenhire said. “The guy put a nice swing on the ball that really wasn’t a strike. But normally with Carl, he gets that ball where he wants to, down and off the plate. . . . He didn’t get it to where he wanted to, and it wasn’t that bad of a pitch.”

After Michael Brantley doubled in an unearned run in the third inning, the Indians delivered the knockout punch in the form of a Jason Kipnis grand slam. Pavano loaded the bases by giving up a one-out single to Chisenhall, then walking Lou Marson and giving up another base hit to Shin-Soo Choo.

Then, on the first offering from Pavano, Kipnis sent his first career grand slam over the right-center field fence to put Cleveland up 7-0, a lead Indians starter Derek Lowe would not relinquish.

“He got the ball up there with the bases loaded and two outs, a changeup that was just up and the guy hits it out of the ballpark,” Gardenhire said. “Then you end up with a big score out there. This wasn’t one of his better performances.”

Pavano’s abbreviated outing set the table for Minnesota’s 7-1 loss, which snapped a three-game winning streak after the Twins swept the Oakland A’s earlier this week. Minnesota has only been able to go as far as its starting pitching could take it, and Pavano didn’t take the Twins very far on Friday.

“He just didn’t get it done,” Gardenhire said. “It’s been a struggle for him so far. We’ll see where we go from here.”

Pavano has battled shoulder inflammation this season, which has led to a decrease in his velocity and lower pitch counts in many of his starts. Prior to Friday, he exceeded 80 pitches just once in his last five starts. Three times during that stretch, he threw fewer than 70 pitches.

It took him 71 pitches to labor through 3-13 innings Friday. After the game, Gardenhire was asked if Pavano’s shoulder was still an issue.

“We’ll discuss all those things after the ball game and figure out (Saturday) where we’re at with him and see how he’s doing,” Gardenhire said. “If he’s not healthy, we won’t (keep putting him out there), but no one’s told me he’s not healthy.

“We know he’s been fighting through the arm thing. He’s able to pitch through it. We’ll talk about this tomorrow and see where we go.”

Robby Incmikoski contributed to this report.

Follow Tyler Mason on Twitter.

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Whether it was a jab at the Red Sox, or he was just reaffirming what everyone already knows, Rays manager Joe Maddon turned a few heads on Sunday.

“We’re not the Boston Red Sox,” Maddon said, according to the Tampa Bay Times, when asked about banning beer from the Rays clubhouse.

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine has banned alcohol from the Boston clubhouse , in addition to prohibiting alcohol consumption on return flights. This comes on the heels of reports that players drank beer and ate fried chicken during last year’s late-season collapse.

Maddon is taking a different approach with his club, though, feeling that players should be able to drink alcohol after a game if they so choose.

“I’ve said it a hundred times. For me at the end of the day, I’d much prefer our players making good decisions, and if you’re of legal age, and the game is over, and you’ve sweated and lost a bunch of pounds and you want to sit down and have a beer, I see nothing wrong with that,” Maddon said.

The Rays reportedly allow alcohol consumption on flights during road trips, although — like the Red Sox — they’ve banned it on return flights with the idea that players will then be getting into their cars to drive home after landing.

Maddon was also asked about fried chicken.

“Depends if that’s what they’re serving that night,” Maddon said. “It kind of goes well with it actually.”

Could Maddon be attempting to get under the skin of the Red Sox in advance of what should be another competitive season in the AL East? Maybe. But the Rays skipper is known for his unique personality and honest nature, so one could also chalk it up to him trying to keep his players loose.

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Whether it was a jab at the Red Sox, or he was just reaffirming what everyone already knows, Rays manager Joe Maddon turned a few heads on Sunday.

“We’re not the Boston Red Sox,” Maddon said, according to the Tampa Bay Times, when asked about banning beer from the Rays clubhouse.

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine has banned alcohol from the Boston clubhouse , in addition to prohibiting alcohol consumption on return flights. This comes on the heels of reports that players drank beer and ate fried chicken during last year’s late-season collapse.

Maddon is taking a different approach with his club, though, feeling that players should be able to drink alcohol after a game if they so choose.

“I’ve said it a hundred times. For me at the end of the day, I’d much prefer our players making good decisions, and if you’re of legal age, and the game is over, and you’ve sweated and lost a bunch of pounds and you want to sit down and have a beer, I see nothing wrong with that,” Maddon said.

The Rays reportedly allow alcohol consumption on flights during road trips, although — like the Red Sox — they’ve banned it on return flights with the idea that players will then be getting into their cars to drive home after landing.

Maddon was also asked about fried chicken.

“Depends if that’s what they’re serving that night,” Maddon said. “It kind of goes well with it actually.”

Could Maddon be attempting to get under the skin of the Red Sox in advance of what should be another competitive season in the AL East? Maybe. But the Rays skipper is known for his unique personality and honest nature, so one could also chalk it up to him trying to keep his players loose.

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