ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS Activated 3B Matt Williams and 1B Erubiel Durazo from the DL; placed IF Danny Klassen on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 7/8 (toe); optioned OF Rob Ryan to Tucson. [7/13] Recalled RHP Nelson Figueroa from Tucson; optioned 1B/OF Travis Lee to Tucson. [7/16] Perhaps nothing reflects the immediate needs of the Snakes more…
ATLANTA BRAVES Acquired RHP Andy Ashby from the Phillies for LHPs Bruce Chen and Jimmy Osting. [7/12] Laugh if you’re a disinterested bystander or a Mets fan, and cry if you care about the Braves. I don’t know who deserves more venom: John Schuerholz for doing something this stupid, or the talking heads who are…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed RHP Tim Belcher on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 7/3 (sore elbow); recalled RHPs Ramon Ortiz and Lou Pote from Edmonton; activated SS Kevin Stocker from the DL; optioned 2B/SS Justin Baughman and RHP Brian Cooper to Edmonton. [7/6] Optioned RHP Ramon Ortiz to Edmonton; recalled RHP Seth Etherton from Edmonton. [7/7]…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Activated RHP Tim Belcher from the DL; placed LHP Scott Schoeneweis on the 15-day DL (strained rib cage). [6/16] Mike Scioscia has gotten a lot of credit for some things, like his communication skills, his confidence in Ben Molina and how he’s handled his young starting pitchers. With the lone exception of an…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Activated RHP Mark Petkovsek from the DL; optioned RHP Eric Weaver to Edmonton. [6/12] This roster exchange illustrates how even tried and true stats like ERA don’t really mean much in certain situations. Both Eric Weaver (6.75) and Mark Petkovsek (7.13) have lousy ERAs, but in each case that doesn’t tell you much…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed RHP Kent Bottenfield on the 15-day DL (shoulder tendinitis); recalled RHP Lou Pote from Edmonton. [6/8] Kent Bottenfield isn’t expected to miss more than two weeks. While he hasn’t pitched like the "18-game winner" the Angels claimed they’d gotten for Jim Edmonds, he also hasn’t pitched much differently from how he pitched…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Outrighted 2B Keith Luuloa to Edmonton. [6/6] ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS Recalled IF Danny Klassen from Tucson; optioned RHP Nelson Figueroa to Tucson. [6/5] Nelson Figueroa was only up for a single start as the Snakes jumbled their rotation to compensate for Todd Stottlemyre’s trip to the DL and Randy Johnson’s need to skip a…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Transferred SS Gary DiSarcina from the 15- to the 60-day DL; added SS Kevin Stocker to the active roster; optioned 2B Keith Luuloa to Edmonton. [6/2] Kevin Stocker is an improvement on Benji Gil; neither shortstop is much with the glove, but Stocker provides some OBP to a team that can always use…
ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS Placed RF/1B Travis Lee on the 15-day DL (strained groin); purchased the contract of OF Turner Ward from Tucson. [5/25] Placed RHP Todd Stottlemyre on the 15-day DL (sore elbow); recalled RHP Vicente Padilla from Tucson. [5/30] Placed 1B Erubiel Durazo on the 15-day DL (torn cartilage – wrist); recalled 2B Craig Counsell…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Outrighted RHP Brett Hinchliffe to Edmonton; recalled RHP Seth Etherton from Edmonton. [5/25] Seth Etherton tops off what’s beginning to look like the Angels’ rotation for their next contender: him, Jarrod Washburn, Scott Schoeneweis and Brian Cooper. Etherton, nabbed out of USC in the first round of the 1998 draft, throws harder than…
We’re probably long past the issue of whether or not the pennant races were corrupted by the introduction of divisional play in 1969. We’re also beyond questioning whether they were harmed by the strike, lockout or industry-wide flight from having a postseason in 1994. So let’s bury the past and move on to the latest…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed RHP Mark Petkovsek on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 5/17 (virus). [5/22] Recalled RHP Brian Cooper from Edmonton. [5/23] So far, the rotation is safe from Ken Hill and Tim Belcher; they both need more time to recuperate from their injuries. In some ways, bringing Brian Cooper up for the fourth spot…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed RHP Jason Dickson on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 5/15 (tendinitis – hip); purchased the contract of RHP Brett Hinchliffe; transferred RHP Tim Belcher from the 15- to the 60-day DL. [5/19] It looks like the Angels rushed Jason Dickson back to no good end. Coming on the heels of losing Ken…
One of the more regular complaints about the staff of Baseball Prospectus is that we’re prospectaholics. It’s a fair charge, because I know that we as a group, and myself in particular, are hard-core believers in the idea that minor-league performance can tell us how well players can play at the major-league level. What we…
ANAHEIM ANGELS Placed SS Gary DiSarcina on the 15-day DL, retroactive to 5/9; recalled 2B Trent Durrington from Edmonton. [5/11] Placed LHP Kent Mercker on the 15-day DL (cerebral hematoma). [5/12] Outrighted C Bret Hemphill to Edmonton. [5/15] Optioned 2B Trent Durrington to Edmonton; purchased the contract of 2B Keith Luuloa from Edmonton. [5/16] Hats…
As everyone now knows, Tuesday night’s Cubs-Dodgers game was notable for more than just Don Baylor’s new formula for losing ballgames–leave the starter in to die. It also introduced America to what has been a long-term problem at Wrigley Field: lousy security and half-assed attempts by the Cubs’ organization to dodge responsibility for it. Just…