looks like the yankees are trying to add another cy young winner to their rotation. it makes sense as johan santana is one of the best pitchers in the league and this year free agents don't have any marquee names. plus, the twins won't be able to afford santana after 2008, when he's set to be a free agent.
if the yankees can work out a trade with the twins for santana, they need to sign him to an extension. they also have competition from the dodgers, the red sox and the mets (and all of them have the money to spend and santana is better than their aces).
detroit tigers obtained miguel cabrera and dontrelle willis from the marlins for top minor league prospects. with these additions, the tigers are an instance contender for world series.
with the addition of cabrera, the tigers have as good 1-9 as the yankees and the red sox, especially at the heart of the lineup, with cabrera, ordonez, sheffield and rodriguez.
willis had a down year last season. i won't be surprised if he posted a cy young like numbers again playing under jim leyland. also, with willis addition, detroit now has a rotation that as good as the yankees and the indians, but a step below the red sox.
as for the giants, they are very interested in obtaining alex rios from the blue jays. i think, if they can get rios, it will be a major aquisition for them to replace the departed barry bonds. however, if they had to part with either matt cain or tim lincecum, i won't go for it (and looks like toronto has put that as a requirement, and they are really interested in cain). cain and lincecum are only 23 years old and have lots of upside. also, national league west is a pitching division and most of the parks are pitcher friendly. i hope they won't surrender either of that young electrifying arm.
mitchell report is out. the names on the list really suprised me. after reflecting on the report, i strongly believe that race plays a role in convicting barry bonds. i believe barry uses steroid but he was sentenced long before they uncover the evidence. however, another player with as big a name as barry was given benefit of the doubt since no evidence have been found, even though some people think he did use steroid.
apa nak jadi dgn Brew Crew teman ni? tahun lepas udoh leading almost whole second half of the season, dema kantoi mangkor big time in clutch games. terlepas playoffs... season ni mcmana gamaknya???
The face of the new-era Giants rides to a commercial shoot in a reporter's car, amiably chatting the entire 45-minute drive. The face of the new-era Giants jokes around with the production crew during the shoot and doesn't complain about delays. The face of the new-era Giants turns to a public-relations staffer at the end of the long day and says, "That was a lot of fun."
Wow, it really is a new era. And the Giants would like Matt Cain, the youngest regular on the team, to be its symbol.
Cain is on the cover of the Giants' 2008 pocket schedule. Cain was present at the team's 50th anniversary news conference, and is in the new "What Would A Gamer Do?" ad campaign that will launch around opening day. And, most symbolic, Cain will move across the clubhouse and assume a locker stall in the area previously occupied by Barry Bonds.
Barry Zito asked his young friend to move into the neighborhood and Cain complied, though he wants to make sure it's clear he isn't taking the locker.
"That locker should probably never be used," he said.
Perhaps it could be glassed in as a reminder of the bizarre 15-year chapter in the franchise's history.
Although there are other fresh faces with the Giants - notably fellow pitcher Tim Lincecum - Cain seems to be the anointed one. The designated fumigator. The human face on what the Giants desperately want to convey: that this is a new, wholesome era with a scrappy young team that works hard, gets along and is genuinely likable.
Cain doesn't mind that role.
"I didn't get any official notice that that's who I am," he said. "But it's been kind of neat so far."
And like many of his teammates, he isn't shy about embracing the new, Bonds-free era.
"I feel like now some guys can kind of be themselves in the clubhouse," Cain said. "We acted different around him because he's a superstar. It's just a little bit different to interact with somebody like that. You worry about upsetting him."
Cain, 23, earned the right to be the new-era symbol because, although he didn't create the excitement Lincecum did last season, he is already a seasoned professional. Though he is four months younger than Lincecum, Cain paid his dues in the minor leagues and is entering his third full season with the team.
He also has survived and flourished in the madness that was the Giants clubhouse the past few years. Last season, Cain was given the "good guy" award by the local chapter of the Baseball Writers' Association of America for his professionalism. After every start in a frustrating season - he went 7-16 despite a 3.65 ERA - Cain stood by his locker and rehashed his performance. Many players, including some on his own team, would have been curt, irritable or long gone.
"I just think that's something we're supposed to do," Cain said. "You guys have your job to do and we have ours. I just try to keep things on a professional level."
Cain, the favorite to be named the Giants' opening-day starter, was scouted almost by mistake when he was in high school. He had already signed a letter-of-intent with the University of Memphis, and was in the shadow of a higher-profile teammate whom the Giants were scouting. Instead, they found Cain and drafted him in the first round in 2002. By 2005, as another season started to slip away, there was a clamor for Cain to be elevated from Triple-A Fresno.
"I really didn't know about it," he said. "But I saw it last year with Tim. That was unbelievable."
When Cain was called up in late August 2005, he was not quite 21. He entered a clubhouse populated by aging, prickly veterans, one that revolved around a surly superstar and was managed by the aloof Felipe Alou.
"It was definitely intimidating," Cain said. "I didn't know what I could or couldn't do. I just leaned on a couple of the guys I knew from Fresno."
Cain also tried to rely on the presence he had honed on the mound: act cool and never let the other side know what you're thinking or if you're worried.
"I tried to play it cool," he said. "But I really didn't know what was going on."
One of the prickly veterans, pitcher Matt Morris, took Cain under his wing, took him out to dinner, told him when to catch the bus and answered all his dumb questions. Last year, Cain established a close relationship with Zito. Zito has taught Cain guitar, taught him politics and likes nothing better than dumb questions. "It doesn't matter what the question is, he wants to answer it," Cain said. "We have a lot of fun."
Zito is encouraging Cain to move to Marin County, where he lives. Cain, who bought a house in his hometown of Memphis last year, is interested. He spent the past two years living near the ballpark but found the urban lifestyle wasn't a good match for a country boy. "It just wasn't me," said Cain, who spends much of the off-season in a duck blind. "I never felt like I could get away."
He plans to live with his girlfriend, Chelsea, who recently graduated from Arizona State, and their dogs: cocker spaniel Tater and yellow lab Cali. He needs a yard and a place to chill out from his duty as face of the new era.
Cain is excited about the upcoming season. He thinks the Giants have a foundation to build upon. He believes his team will be hard working and scrappy. He loves the new advertising campaign - he's a featured subject - that focuses on the concept of being a "gamer," a player willing to make sacrifices for his team.
"I love that," he said. "That's huge. I don't know if baseball got away from that, or maybe just our team."
The Giants are trying to rediscover that side. It's a new era. And Cain is its face.
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick was shocked to learn that he'd been traded to the Yomiuri Giants in Japan for a player named "Kobayashi Iwamura."
"I don't know what to think right now," he told reporters outside his locker shortly after getting the news from assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.
Had he truly been thinking, he would have realized that such deals are prohibited. And with a little digging he could have found out that there is no Kobayashi Iwamura playing in Japan.
The "trade" was, in fact, a prank. The ruse was orchestrated by pitcher Brett Myers and was elaborate enough to include Amaro, manager Charlie Manuel, Kendrick's agent, the media and others.
today will be an official opening day for many major league teams for 2008 season, except for boston red sox, oakland A's, washington nationals and atlanta braves (those four already had their opening days - red sox and A's in tokyo, japan; braves and nationals in us capital).
i don't expect a lot from this year giants team. i expect them to be the worst team in mlb. but, they surprised me early this season. after starting the season 1-6, they won padres series and split 4-game series with the cardinals. at 5-8, they are doing much better than expected.
BOSTON (AP)桾he Boston Red Sox jersey secretly buried under the new Yankee Stadium in a failed curse attempt sold Thursday for $175,100 in a charity auction.
The bid was the highest of 282 for the battered No. 34 David Ortiz jersey, which the Yankees jackhammered out from under two feet of concrete earlier this month.
The Jimmy Fund, the cancer charity that sold the shirt, did not immediately reveal the name of the winning bidder after the weeklong eBay auction ended at 12:30 p.m.
i like watching greg maddux pitching. when he's at his prime, his fastball hardly past 90 mph. now, his fastball never tops 83 mph. but, he's just keep winning. why? he knows how to place the baseball. pitching is not about fastball only. it's about locating the baseball, inducing the hitter to hit the unhittable ball. maddux is a master at it.
giants' "ace", barry zito, should watch maddux more, and learn from him. even power pitchers like cain and lincecum should learn from maddux too, as this helps them preserve their energy and lower their pitching count.
LOS ANGELES (AP)桝n umpire who took a 96 mph fastball to the right side of his jaw was released from a hospital, hours after briefly losing consciousness when the pitch slammed into his face mask.
Plate umpire Kerwin Danley was carried off the field in the fourth inning after a pitch from Dodgers right-hander Brad Penny knocked the crew chief to the ground.
The game was stopped for 18 minutes while Danley was put into an ambulance and driven out through the center-field gate. The crowd of 50,469 applauded as Danley was placed into the ambulance.
Maddux indeed is a great pitcher, but Padres?? With Peavy, CY and Maddux as pitchers, they are in last place :mad2: Black need to do something with the offense!!!
barry zito is being demoted to the giants bullpen (could he become the most expensive minor league player in major league history? ). if he didn't find his touch soon, this is surely the biggest bust in san francisco giants history. no matter what happen, giants are still responsible for over $100 mil left on his contract (as all major league contracts are guaranteed for the life of the contract); he's only in the second year of the contract.
BoSox's Lester no-hits Royals
JIMMY GOLEN
AP Sports Writer
1 hour, 47 minutes ago
BOSTON (AP)桱on Lester has survived cancer and pitched a World Series clincher for the Boston Red Sox.
Now he can add a no-hitter to his already amazing list of accomplishments.
The 24-year-old lefty shut down Kansas City 7-0 Monday night for the first no-hitter in the majors since Red Sox rookie Clay Buchholz threw one last September.
[table=85%,black]
Boston Red Sox starter Jon Lester delivers against the Kansas City Royals in the first inning of their MLB baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston on Monday, May 19, 2008.
(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
It was Lester抯 first major league complete game. And what a way to do it.
揧ou don抰 feel tired in that situation. You抳e got so much adrenaline going,
rockies is hardly making any big splash this season so far. on the other hand, unbelievably, cubs have improved a lot, winning more game than any other team and look poised for postseason and *cough* breaking the curse *cough* run.
Seeking a fresh bat to prod an offense that is at or near the bottom of the National League in runs, home runs and batting, the Los Angeles Dodgers have acquired Casey Blake from the Cleveland Indians for two minor leaguers and cash, the teams announced Saturday morning.
The Dodgers will play Blake, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, at third base, where Blake DeWitt and Andy LaRoche have struggled recently. That means the team will stay with Nomar Garciaparra for as long as he holds up at shortstop, though their trading-deadline preference was to add a shortstop (they抎 talked about Alex Cora and David Eckstein, had little interest in Jack Wilson) and move Garciaparra to third.
Rafael Furcal, who is recovering from back surgery, is not expected to return until late August, at the earliest, and could miss the remainder of the season.
Blake has 11 home runs and 58 RBIs for the Indians, who expected to contend in the AL Central after coming within a win of the World Series in October. Instead, they have traded their best pitcher
Post time 27-11-2007 02:20 PM
). if he didn't find his touch soon, this is surely the biggest bust in san francisco giants history. no matter what happen, giants are still responsible for over $100 mil left on his contract (as all major league contracts are guaranteed for the life of the contract); he's only in the second year of the contract.
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