Pete Rose and Major League Baseball have reached an agreement that would allow him to return to baseball in 2004, and includes no admission of wrongdoing by Rose, Baseball Prospectus has learned. According to several sources, Rose signed the agreement after a series of pre-season meetings between Rose, Hall of Fame member Mike Schmidt, and at different times, high-level representatives of Major League Baseball, including Bob DuPuy, Major League Baseball’s Chief Operating Officer, and Allan H. “Bud” Selig, Commissioner of Major League Baseball.
Bill Mueller caps off one of the most improbable offensive nights in history; the Reds are taking steps toward changing the direction of their club; Mark Loretta and Rod Beck are playing their ways into San Diego’s future. All this and much more news from Boston, Cincinnati, and San Diego in your Tuesday edition of Prospectus Triple Play.
It only seems like the Reds spend more time in Beacon Orthopaedic Center than they do in Great American Ballpark. Austin Kearns will go under Tim Kremchek’s knife on Thursday in order to diagnose and repair the lingering injury to the young outfielder’s shoulder. This surgery will come over a month after Kearns last played, due to an unsuccessful attempt to rehabilitate the injury without surgical intervention. The results of the surgery will determine the timetable on the young star’s return, but it will be a long winter of discontent for the Reds and their fans.
Every time you think you’ve heard everything, there’s something else. Carlos Beltran missed time after hyperextending his elbow–and more time because he forgot to take his anti-inflammatories. I’d recommend one of the cool little pill reminders that I got my grandmother a couple years back from Sharper Image, but she didn’t use it. Beltran got a good lecture and will probably not forget to take his pills. Expect him back in the lineup by Friday at the latest.
The Angels are fresh out of miracles, so Troy Glaus is heading to see Lewis Yocum for an opinion on his problematic shoulder. Conservative treatment and rest hasn’t helped and continued soreness has ended a rehab assignment for the time being. Surgery is a possibility and there’s a definite chance that Glaus is done for the season.
There’s no such thing as a pitching prospect.
I probably use that phrase a couple of times a week. It comes up a lot around trade-deadline time, as teams swap known quantities for unknowns in Double-A or lower and make a big deal about how those guys will be throwing 200 innings and saving 30 games in a few years’ time. It doesn’t happen that way.
What does it mean, though? Clearly, hundreds of young men pitch for baseball teams below the level of the major leagues, and many of them have the chance to become major-league pitchers. They’re prospective ones, so literally, the phrase is untrue. Pithy, but untrue.