THE TRADE "I want to be perfectly clear and accurate about this. I got a call from [team president] Bob Graziano, and he informed me that the trade had been made." — Fred Claire, Dodgers GM "When you start having discussions about players making that kind of money, general managers can’t make those kinds of…
If there’s a message to take from these buy/hold/sell recommendations, it’s that the smart rotisserie owner doesn’t get all caught up in small sample size statistics. In other words, 100 at bats or 30 innings don’t tell you squat about a guy (unless it’s Ozzie Guillen, in which case 16 at bats tells you all…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Activated UT Randy Velarde from the 15-day DL; placed INF Carlos Garcia on the 15-day DL (broken bat, er… strained hamstring). [5/13] Velarde’s return has apparently lasted all of two days, since he’s already complaining about soreness in his bum elbow. Garcia’s bat will take a lifetime to heal up, which leaves Paco…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed RHP Mike James on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 5/5 (torn muscle – forearm); recalled LHP Jarrod Washburn from Vancouver; announced that RHP William Vanlandingham cleared waivers and his contract was optioned to Vancouver. [5/8] Activated RF Tim Salmon from the DL; optioned LHP Jarrod Washburn to Vancouver. [5/9] Salmon’s return is…
K IS FOR KERRY "I watched Nolan [Ryan] a lot until the past three or four years, and then I started watching [Roger] Clemens. I like the way they both pitch, their aggressiveness and their style of pitching." — Kerry Wood, Cubs pitcher "I’m gonna give most of the credit to the fans. They were…
Investment-banks issue frequent reports on the stocks they track, making recommendations on the attractiveness of those stocks for various portfolios. We can use the same “buy low/sell high” approach to discuss player trading strategies for rotisserie: trade players on your team who are uncharacteristically hot, and acquire slumping players who are likely to bounce back…
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS Recalled C Damian Miller from Tucson; optioned LHP Ricky Pickett to Tucson. [5/6] An interesting development. To add a third catcher (who isn’t decisively better than Fabregas or Stinnett), they dump their lone lefty reliever after barely using him. It might mean that they’ll be trading for a new fifth starter after Daal’s…
We’re getting close to the end of the vile hockey and basketball seasons. Normally, I find both of these sports to be roughly as interesting as a night watching the WB. But I was in a bad mood, having just been blown out in a softball game where no matter what we did, an irritating…
I had a chance to see Toronto outfielder Shannon Stewart in person recently, when the Jays came to Oakland. What I picked up, among other things, is that he is very fast. He also happens to be a good baseball player, so we aren’t talking Vince Coleman here. In the game I attended, Stewart belted…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed RF Tim Salmon on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 4/23 (foot); purchased the contract of LHP Greg Cadaret from Vancouver. [5/1] Recalled RHP Pep Harris from Vancouver; optioned LHP Rich Robertson to Vancouver. [5/4] As long as Omar Olivares in the rotation, and as long as Terry Collins is pretending that nothing…
HITTING … "Tonight we were making up for the first month. Even when we were up by 10, you still wanted to beat the ball up." — Bobby Higginson, Tigers outfielder "Hitters have got to be hitters first — homers will take care of themselves. I’m a line-drive hitter with home-run pop. I’m not a…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Sold 1B Troy Neel‘s contract to the Orix Blue Wave (Japanese Leagues). [4/28] Placed RHP Jack McDowell on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 4/27 (inflamed right elbow); activated INF Craig Shipley from the DL. [4/30] In Black Jack’s absence, Omar Olivares will step into the rotation, and Shigetoshi Hasegawa may finally get some…