Will Carroll delves deeper into shoulder injuries. Clay Davenport provides a history lesson on pitcher’s mounds. Chris Kahrl takes a closer look at J.T. Snow. All in this edition of From The Mailbag.
The Astros remade their pitching staff in the midst of an important divisional series, all revolving around the move of Wade Miller to the DL. Miller has struggled with shoulder tendinitis for much of the season, but with the return of Andy Pettitte and the demotion of Tim Redding to the pen, the Astros decided to use the ASB to extend Miller’s rest. While the injury isn’t considered serious, Miller hasn’t pitched up to expectations. With the fifth starter slot in flux, and Jimy Williams on the hot seat, the Astros staff will be interesting to watch. Williams used Brad Lidge for a two-inning stint on Wednesday. In the Wrigley press box, there was a split among those who thought it was a move made out of desperation or inspiration.
That whole thing yesterday about Kerry Wood heading to the minors? Well, not so much. Wood will throw a simulated game on Thursday and then the decision will be made on not where, but if he will have a rehab start. There’s still some doubt about where he slots in. Manager Dusty Baker would rather use him against Milwaukee, but the medical staff thinks the St. Louis series is more likely. Either way, there’s finally a solid target for Wood’s return. Wood should be fine once he returns, but his command will be something of an issue. According to Cubs sources, the adjustments made to his delivery may cause problems with his curve. He’s working on a slurve, just in case.
How badly can cute and cuddly players hurt their team? With baseball’s new market, more than ever in recent history. If your local community pillar signs for a charitable $2.5 million, in today’s market, that’s two and a half average outfielders on short-term deals. And if your guy got signed before the market crashed…it may hurt just to think about it.
So I went through looking for guys who are killing their teams. While the Rangers paid laughable service to “flexibility” when talking about trading the hugely productive Alex Rodriguez, it’s true that when teams saddle themselves with giant unproductive contracts, it makes it much harder to build a good team on a necessarily limited budget. So here are the guys who are really grinding down their teams. Bonus points for easily replaceable position players, and guys who have huge, long contracts granted by virtue of being popular.
So who’s out there to form our team?
I’m still catching up from my trip to Massachusetts, the latter part of which was spent without much access to baseball information. Seeing the standings on Tuesday was a bit of a jolt. The Cardinals had a big lead in the NL Central? The Astros are in fifth? The Rangers are in first place? The Giants, too? How long was I gone, anyway?
There are some things I haven’t had much chance to write about, and I’ll get to many of those in a Friday notes column, which I’ll write today while watching something like 13 hours of baseball. Man, I love getaway days.
Today, though, I want to write about the AL Central, or more specifically, the Chicago White Sox. Last night’s 9-6 win over the Minnesota Twins pushed the Sox into sole possession of first place in the Central. The Sox have the best run differential in the division, the best offense in the league, and the most runs scored in MLB. Their pitching staff has been effective, with the fourth-best bullpen in the league supporting a ninth-ranked rotation. Much of the latter ranking is caused by the ineffective revolving door they’ve used in the No. 5 slot. Settling on Jon Rauch might have solved that problem, but the Sox instead chose to acquire Freddy Garcia from the Mariners.