FanHouse

MLB Loaned Tom Hicks Millions

Tom Fornelli — 2009-07-03T18:23:00 00:00

Filed under: Rangers, AL West, MLB Biz, MLB Rumors

The Texas Rangers were a popular darkhorse pick to win the AL West this season, and for a time they were leading the division. Unfortunately over the last few weeks they've seen their lead on the Angels disappear and are a game back going into Friday night's action. In fact, if you were so inclined, you could say that the Rangers division lead has gone in the red.

Which seems somewhat apropos at the moment because it's not just their division lead that the Rangers couldn't maintain. Apparently owner Tom Hicks couldn't meet last month's payroll and had to borrow $15 million from Major League Baseball to pay his team.

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L.A. Times Writer Would Like You To Boo Manny Ramirez

Tom Fornelli — 2009-07-03T15:18:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Dodgers, NL West, MLB PEDs

Tonight is the night that many a Dodgers fan has been waiting for. After serving his fifty-game suspension, the home run-hitting, fertility drug-taking wonder that is Manny Ramirez will be back in the lineup as the Dodgers take on the Padres in San Diego. Now if your wondering what to make of all this I invite you to give our latest Basecast a listen as Prez and Fletch have already broken it down for you.

One question I have for tonight's game is how Manny will be treated by Padres fans. These are the same people who greeted Barry Bonds with giant syringes after all. Of course, while we know that Manny is bound to hear some boos while on the road, what kind of reaction will he get in Mannywood? Well, if Kevin Patra at the Los Angeles Times gets his way, Dodger fans will boo Ramirez.

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Yankees Trade for Eric Hinske

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-30T13:08:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Pirates, Yankees, MLB Transactions

When the St. Louis Cardinals traded for Mark DeRosa over the weekend, it was basically the unofficial start of teams swapping players before the July 31 trade deadline. Traditionally teams wait for one big domino to fall before they start wheeling and dealing, so it's no surprise that the Yankees and Pirates have now worked out a deal amongst themselves.

In a Tuesday morning deal, the Yankees acquired Eric Hinske from the Pirates for two minor leaguers.

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Lou Piniella Voted Manager Players Would Least Like to Play For

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-30T12:25:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Angels, Braves, Cardinals, Cubs, Dodgers, Indians, Pirates, Rays, Red Sox, White Sox, MLB Awards

It hasn't been the greatest week for Cubs manager Lou Piniella. Not only is he feeling the heat of the Chicago media with the Cubs scuffling, but he's also gotten into an argument with Milton Bradley in which he called his right fielder a "piece of [expletive]." Regardless of whether the exchange should have ever left the clubhouse or not, it's not exactly the type of thing you want the world to know about.

All of this was done after a recent poll by Sports Illustrated in which Major League players were asked anonymously which manager in baseball they would least like to play for, and which one they'd most like to play for. Guess which one Sweet Lou emerged "victorious" in.

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Ozzie's Being Ozzie Again

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-29T12:08:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Cubs, White Sox, MLB Fans

The White Sox and Cubs finished up their three-game series at U.S. Cellular Field on Sunday with a 6-0 White Sox victory that came complete with another Carlos Zambrano meltdown to put the finishing touches on a very ugly weekend for the Cubs. Of course, never wanting to actually talk about what the real problems are with the team, when talking about the team's lackluster play as of late manager ,Lou Piniella started talking about how the Cubs are helping the economy.

He talked of the team playing in front of three sellout crowds during the week in Detroit and how they helped fill all the seats on the South Side of Chicago over the weekend. Well, you can't expect Lou to make a subtle dig at the White Sox attendance numbers without Ozzie Guillen getting in a response, can you?

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Jeremy Jeffress Suspended 100 Games

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-29T11:47:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Brewers, NL Central

Over the last few years the Milwaukee Brewers have begun to develop into a threat in the National League. They're now a team that is a legitimate contender to win their division and possibly even the NL pennant, and a lot of the credit should go to the organization's ability to develop young talent. They've produced players like Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun and Yovani Gallardo as part of a solid young core for the organization, and they have more players waiting for their shot in the minors.

One of those players is pitcher Jeremy Jeffress, who some consider to be the best pitching prospect in the team's farm system. The 2006 first-round pick (18th overall) has run into some trouble in his career, however, particularly with marijuana. Jeffress has already been suspended once for testing positive for "a drug of abuse," which he later admitted was weed, and it looks like he just can't give the ganja up.

He's tested positive for "a drug of abuse" yet again, and now he's going to miss the next 100 games.

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Larry Rothschild Thinks the White Sox Have Been Snitching

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-28T13:50:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Cubs, White Sox, MLB Rumors

The "Battle For The Best Third Place Team in Chicago," also known as the Crosstown Rivalry, will come to an end for the 2009 season on Sunday, but that doesn't mean there won't be any lingering issues between the two teams.

Though the Windy City rivals have split the first two games of this series, which has been pretty entertaining to watch, the big story was and still is the argument between Lou Piniella and Milton Bradley on Friday.

Piniella sent Bradley home early on Friday after calling him a "piece of [naughty word]" in the visitor's clubhouse. According to both of them they've hugged out their differences, and now the Cubs seem to be turning their anger towards the White Sox. Particularly Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild, who wants to know who's been snitching.

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Two Men Shot by Off-Duty Police Officer At Angels Stadium

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-26T12:30:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Angels, AL West, MLB Fans

Earlier this season on Opening Day a fan named Brian Powers was killed at Angels Stadium when he got into a fight with one other fan, and a third person came and punched him in the head, knocking him over and causing him to crack his head on the concrete. I'm not exactly superstitious, nor do I put much faith in these types of things, but you have to admit that Powers' death certainly wasn't the greatest omen for Angels Stadium this season.

Powers' death was quickly followed by the tragic loss of Nick Adenhart in a car accident, and now there's been more violence at the stadium. On Wednesday night two men were shot in the parking lot by an off-duty police officer.

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Big Hurt Close to Retiring

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-26T11:53:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Athletics, Blue Jays, White Sox, MLB Rumors

With the White Sox and Cubs set to begin their second series against each other this season at U.S. Cellular Field, former White Sox first baseman Frank Thomas is back in Chicago, but instead of playing he's now a member of the local media. The two-time AL MVP is 41 years old now but he's still open to the idea of coming back and playing if anybody is interested in his services.

The problem is that there just aren't that many teams in the market for a 41-year old designated hitter right now, and it's highly unlikely there will be any suitors for the Big Hurt in the near future. So it's not exactly a shocker that while giving a radio interview in Chicago on Thursday Thomas said he's very close to just hanging up his cleats.

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Vlad Sheds the Dreads

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-24T12:49:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Angels, AL West

While most people are aware of the struggles that Boston's David Ortiz has been suffering through this season, there's another Dominican slugger located on the other coast that's been scuffling himself. Vladimir Guerrero is hitting a respectable .273 this season for the Angels, but when you're a man with a career average of .322, it's somewhat worrisome.

More worrisome is the fact that Guerrero's power numbers leave a lot to be desired. He may have 393 career homers but only one of them has come this season, and Vlad's only driven in 10 runs to go along with that one homer. Now he did miss about five weeks of action this season, so that's definitely playing a factor in those numbers, but he's just not driving the ball like he used to. So at this point he's willing to do anything to shake out of this slump, and on Tuesday Guerrero said goodbye to his dreadlocks.

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Sosa Wanted to Show the Guns

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-23T12:15:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Cubs, MLB Rumors, MLB PEDs

When the news broke that Sammy Sosa had tested positive for steroid use back in 2003 last week it was kind of like when American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert came out of the closet. You didn't really need to be told anything because you could just see it. When Sosa morphed from a beanpole at the start his career to the behemoth he was at the end of it, it was pretty obvious.

I mean, you didn't need to look past those bulging biceps peeping out of Sosa's jersey to become suspicious of where he got them. Of course, as it turns out, Sosa didn't really care because he wanted you to see those guns of his. He even had his jerseys altered to do just that.

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Los Angeles Times Writer Wonders Where Albert Pujols Gets His Talent

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-23T11:22:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Cardinals, Phillies, MLB Media Watch, MLB Rumors, MLB PEDs

A few weeks ago there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding Phillies outfielder Raul Ibanez, steroids and a blog. More specifically, a media firestorm started when a blogger named JRod wrote a post on MidwestSportsFans.com that looked at the possibility of Ibanez using steroids because of the way he'd been playing in the 2009 season.

The Philadelphia Inquirer then picked up on the story, brought it to Ibanez, Raul responded and then the next thing we knew Jerod Morris, JRod, was showing up on ESPN's Outside the Lines and was berated by Ken Rosenthal and John Gonzalez. Morris was shown off as the latest example of all things wrong with blogging and had to be reprimanded for his seemingly innocuous deed.

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Why You Should Never Bet on the Kansas City Royals

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-17T13:03:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Indians, Royals, AL Central, MLB Gambling

Remember last week when the Cleveland Indians beat the Kansas City Royals on a walk-off single by Shin-Soo Choo when Royals centerfielder Coco Crisp lost the ball amidst a flock of seagulls (video here)? No, Coco didn't have headphones on and he was not singing along to "I Ran" when this occurred.

There was literally a flock of seagulls in the Progressive Field outfield, no doubt there searching for all of those bugs that still haunt Joba Chamberlain's dreams. Well if you are a Royals player or fan you were probably pretty upset to be losing a game because of avian invasion, but you'll just have to trust me when I say that it could have been a lot worse.

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Hanley Ramirez Feels Unprotected, Fredi Gonzalez Feels Anger

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-15T15:36:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Marlins, NL East, MLB Media Watch, MLB Rumors

The Florida Marlins have been playing a lot better in June than they did in May, and have won five of their last seven, including a three-game sweep over the Blue Jays in Toronto this weekend.

So why are they so angry?

During their 8-3 victory over the Jays on Sunday Hanley Ramirez was hit by a pitch on his left elbow by a Dirk Hayhurst fastball with two outs and a runner on third. In Ramirez's mind the Jays didn't want to pitch to him so instead of throwing four balls and running the risk of leaving a fastball over the plate, they just plunked him.

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Jeremy Bonderman Back to the DL

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-12T17:09:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Tigers, AL Central, MLB Injuries

When the Detroit Tigers got Jeremy Bonderman back on Monday, it presented somewhat of a problem for the team. If Bonderman pitched well enough to earn a spot back in the rotation, exactly whose spot would he take? Well, Bonderman didn't pitch very well in that first start, giving up six runs in four-plus innings, but Dontrelle Willis followed Bonderman's start by walking five in five innings on Tuesday.

So, really, the decision the Tigers had to make was which one of their two options would do the least damage to the team every five days. Not an easy decision to make, but it looks like the Tigers have made it. On Friday, they placed Bonderman back on the disabled list.

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Rangers Sign Orlando Hernandez

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-12T13:57:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Rangers, AL West, MLB Injuries, MLB Transactions

So far this season it seems like the Chicago White Sox have been trying to go back in time. After getting off to a bad start to the 2009 campaign, the Sox went out and signed Scott Podsednik to a minor-league deal -- even though most scouts would have told you he was done. Well, it's worked out pretty nicelyl for Chicago as Podsednik is back on top of their lineup and playing surprisingly well.

Then, this week the White Sox signed another player from their 2005 team who most people think is washed up: Freddy Garcia. It seems like the team thinks if they get as many players as they can from 2005 they'll win another World Series. Which is why it's too bad that the Rangers had to go and destroy Chicago's "brilliant" plan.

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A-Rod, Teixeira Confront Rick Sutcliffe

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-10T14:43:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Yankees, AL East, MLB Media Watch

Two weeks ago while broadcasting a New York Yankees game, former pitcher and current color commentator Rick Sutcliffe said that Alex Rodriguez was giving his teammate Mark Teixeira verbal indicators on where the catcher was setting up behind him while in the box. How exactly Sutcliffe could hear these verbal cues from Rodriguez while up in the television booth I'm not entirely sure.

Not surprisingly, both Rodriguez and Teixeira were informed of Sutcliffe's on-air claims and neither were very happy about it. So, with Sutcliffe back in town with ESPN to broadcast Tuesday night's latest edition of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, both players took the opportunity to confront Sutcliffe on his accusation.

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Ibanez Responds to Steroids Speculation, Willing to Prove He's Clean

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-10T12:49:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Phillies, NL East, MLB Media Watch, MLB Rumors, MLB PEDs

When the Phillies signed Raul Ibanez to a three-year, $30 million deal this past offseason, there were quite a few people skeptical of giving a then-36-year-old (Raul turned 37 last week) outfielder $10 million for three years. Especially when we all saw how much other free agent outfielders ended up getting elsewhere. Plus there was the fact that, at 36 years old, no matter how well he's played, he has to start declining at some point.

Well that decline is yet to start. Ibanez is hitting .327 with 20 homers and 55 RBI for the Phillies this year, exceeding just about anybody's expectations. Of course, given the culture of today's game, in which we seemingly find out about a new superstar using steroids (though not raping or killing anybody) every few weeks, it's only natural to be somewhat suspicious of Ibanez's performance.

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Could Stephen Strasburg Spurn Nats for Japan or Independent League?

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-09T13:37:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: Nationals, NL East, MLB Draft, MLB Rumors

The MLB amateur draft is Tuesday -- you should totally join us for our live chat -- and there really isn't all that much drama in finding out who the first selection is going to be. If the Washington Nationals don't take San Diego State starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg, the entire baseball world will spin off of its axis and probably kill millions of people in the process. Or there will be a whole lot of "What Were The Nationals Thinking?" columns on Wednesday morning. Probably the latter, though the former would be a bigger story.

Anyway, the only real drama surrounding Strasburg and the Nats at this point is whether or not they'll be able to sign him. Scott Boras thinks that Strasburg is the greatest pitcher ever born unto the Earth since Jesus Christ was a young southpaw on the Nazareth Stars, and that Strasburg deserves somewhere around $50 million without ever throwing a pitch professionally.

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White Sox Call Up Aaron Poreda

Tom Fornelli — 2009-06-09T12:19:00 00:00

by Tom Fornelli

Filed under: White Sox, AL Central, MLB Rumors

After the White Sox dropped the first game of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers on Monday afternoon Ozzie Guillen laid into his team. It was Guillen's first real outburst of the season, and during his tirade he said that changes would be coming pretty soon. Well, some of those changes came earlier than Guillen figured, because in the nightcap Jose Contreras turned into a major league pitcher and Scott Podsednik broke out the big boy bat with a home run and the Sox actually won a game.

Of course those weren't the changes Guillen was talking about. The amateur draft is tonight and it seems the Sox want to promote their latest first round picks. After the Sox called up their first-round pick from last year, Gordon Beckham, last week, they went ahead and called up their first-round pick from 2007. Aaron Poreda will be joining the team in time for Tuesday's game.

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