FanHouse continues its 2009 MLB Preview with a look at the Tampa Bay Rays.
Although they ended up falling short at the end, 2008 was the year of the Rays. After being the butt of jokes for the first 10 years of its existence, Tampa Bay turned an impressive collection of baseball talent into an impressive team, finally assembling a competent bullpen, and utilizing some position shifts to put a much improved defense on the field. With the pieces in place, everything came together, and the Rays increased their win total by 31 games on their way to winning both the AL East and AL pennant.
The Yankees are treading water in the AL East, sitting in fourth place with a .500 record. They're only two games out of first place, but their quest to catch up to the Red Sox became a bit more difficult today following the news that Alex Rodriguez's strained quad was serious enough to require a trip to the 15-day disabled list.
Unlike when the team suffered a rash of muscle injuries a year ago, there's not really a common link to the Yankees' bad luck right now. It's the type of stuff that happens to every team sooner or later, just usually not all at the same time. As much as Yankees fans harp on A-Rod, they'll probably start to appreciate him a little more now that they're expected to get a steady dose of Morgan Ensberg and his .569 OPS over the next couple of weeks.
As tough as Boston's early stretch this season was, the Yankees have had it nearly as bad. They're in the midst of a stretch where they play two games in 20 at home, they've lost their top two catchers to injury, and while their young pitching struggles, they've had to play the last week without dominant setup man Joba Chamberlain as he tends to his ailing father in Nebraska.
That's forced manager Joe Girardi to tinker constantly with the bullpen and the lineup (see below). The good news is that Chamberlain has returned. His father was taken off the ventilator last night and he flew back today to rejoin the team. He received a warm welcome from the horde of Yankee fans assembled here at Camden Yards.
The bad news is that Girardi might be down another reliever soon. He was incensed by Major League Baseball's three-game suspension of reliever Kyle Farnsworth, who threw -- intentionally or not -- behind Manny Ramirez's head Thursday night. Girardi told me and the other reporters assembled during the Yankees' pre-grame stretch that he was "shocked" by the decision to discipline Farnsworth, adding "I just don't understand why he was suspended to begin with."
Once again the season hasn't started all that swimmingly for the Yankees. They'd lost three of their last five, Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada are ailing and the offense has all the punch of unflavored ice cream. There's no reason to push the panic button just yet, especially with a trip to Boston coming up this weekend, but the Yankees are acting like they're starting to feel a bit tight in the collar.
The Yankees needed to clear a roster spot for shortstop (and presumably not former attorney general) Alberto Gonzalez before last night's game so they passed along word that infielder Morgan Ensberg would be headed to the 15-day disabled list. That was a bit of a surprise, according to beat man Peter Abraham, since Ensberg never seemed to injure himself. They also announced Ian Kennedy would be scratched from his start because of injury.
Perhaps the new shortstop is, in fact, the former attorney general because it turned out not one word of it was true. Shelley Duncan was sent down to AAA while Ensberg remained on the active roster and Kennedy, while he didn't start, entered the game in relief. The only injury he appeared to be suffering from was mediocre fastballitis, which is more of a chronic ailment. It should keep you from starting professional baseball games but it didn't just crop up Wednesday afternoon.
Usually videos of Erin Andrews focus on Erin Andrews and/or Bruce Pearlgroping Erin Andrews. The video below is a little different. It's her voice but the focus is on Morgan Ensberg and some New York City cops who didn't much care that Ensberg plays for the Yankees when they pulled him over on the streets recently.
The Yankees actually have business cards? What's Ensberg's job title? I'm guessing superfluous corner infielder. I'm also guessing that the cop didn't believe for one second that Ensberg actually played for the Yankees. You can make business cards at any Kinko's in America and, again, who would ever think that a pro baseball team gives their players cards. Or he could have been a Mets fan.
Apparently, being traded from a non-contender to a team in the thick of the playoff hunt isn't the only reason Morgan Ensberg is excited. Two home runs in his first game as a pennant chasing Padre is fine and all, but Ensberg is stoked for his relocation because of ... the food? From the Houston Chronicle baseball blog:
I just got off the phone with Ensberg, and he was ecstatic. I don't know if he was more excited about the home runs or the fact he now can get the best Mexican food in America.
"We flew in on Tuesday night," said Ensberg, who owns a home in San Diego, "and we had like eight bags. And after I put them up, I went directly from there to Roberto's, which is our local shack, and got a couple of mixed burritos. It was awesome."
So Mexican food apparently is the spinach which causes Morgan Ensberg to hit like Popeye. OK, I'll buy that. Just look at this picture from his Astros days ... for all we know he's thinking about mixed burritos at Roberto's at that moment. Just look at him licking his chops. "Mm-mm ... burritos."
"I think today's (moves) caught people off guard," Hoffman said. "There's a bit of scrambling around not knowing what happened or why. I'm a big believer in clubhouse chemistry. ... It's dangerous. There are only so many spots. Its musical chairs and you better get a chair."
Those complaints from Hoffman came only a week after he termed the trade of setup man Scott Linebrink "incomprehensible." While I'm not a member of the Padres clubhouse, I do have to say that team is better off with the moves they've made. Their bench is significantly stronger, just as GM Kevin Towers reasoned. Maybe they're losing not because of the lack of chemistry, but because there's only so long a pitching staff can dominate at the rate the Padres had been without having a good offense to pick them up. Had the Padres been playing better, I'm not so certain you'd be hearing the same complaints.
Two teams vying for the playoffs made deals for big names. Two last place teams swapped players. Guys you thought were gone ended up staying. Teammates weren't happy. But really, it was just a bunch of vagabond players switching uniforms.
Here are your winners and losers:
Winners:
Atlanta Braves
Sure, they gave up a top young player in catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia (that last name is just way out of control) but picking upMark Teixeira -- even though his power's a bit down -- brings a proven power hitter on board and a quality defensive first baseman to boot. If Andruw Jones can knock out of his season-long slump (which he seems to maybe be doing) the Braves have a shot at taking over the Mets in the NL East or at worst picking up the Wild Card. In the long run this might not work out in Atlanta's favor, but for the here and now it did.
All week Peter Gammons has been talking about how shocking it was that the Astros DFA'd Morgan Ensberg, how just two years ago he was fourth in the MVP voting with 36 homers and 101 RBIs, etc. etc. Today the Astros officially washed their hands of him and moved into the Ty Wigginton era by sending Ensberg to San Diego for either a player to be named or cash.
For the Padres, this gives them another bat to push Kevin Kouzmanoff with. They traded Josh Barfield for him this off-season hoping to see the great hitter the Indians saw in the minors (.332/.395/.556 as a minor leaguer). Instead, Kouz has put up a paltry .233/.290/.411 line. Of course, Ensberg has only hit .232/.323/.384 in a much better hitter's park in Houston, so I don't know what the Padres are really expecting here.
If the Astros are choosing Wigginton over Ensberg, it's pretty clear that they think that Ensberg's shoulder injury last year was career altering event. It certainly seems possible. When Ensberg went on the DL last year, he was hitting .236/.390/.500 when he went on the DL last year and only hit .234/.411/.369 after coming off (the lines are from BBRef's Ensberg page) so it's certainly possible that his power has been sapped by the injury. Still, there's got to be some of his 2005 form left, doesn't there?
The Mets are close to acquiring second baseman Luis Castillo from the Twins for two minor leaguers, according to major-league sources.
Castillo would replace Jose Valentin, who recently suffered a season-ending broken shin when he fouled a pitch off his leg.
Now while this trade may not solve all of the Mets problems, having Luis Castillo teamed up with Jose Reyes atop of their order, it will lead to a lot of runs.
As for the Twins, if there were any questions remaining on how they were going to treat the rest of this season, I think this provides the answer. For now they'll fill the spot with Nick Punto and Jeff Cirillo, and could be interested in Morgan Ensberg at third base.
With Castillo being a free agent at the end of the season, it was unlikely he'd have stayed in Minnesota considering they have bigger fish to fry in Justin Morneau and Johan Santana. There's also Alexi Casilla down at Triple-A who's just waiting to take over the second base position in Minnesota.
The Yankees are treading water in the AL East, sitting in fourth place with a .500 record. They're only two games out of first place, but their quest to catch up to the Red Sox became a bit more difficult today following the news that 
As tough as Boston's early stretch this season was, the Yankees have had it nearly as bad. They're in the midst of a stretch where they play two games in 20 at home, they've lost their top two catchers to injury, and while their young pitching struggles, they've had to play the last week without dominant setup man 
Once again the season hasn't started all that swimmingly for the Yankees. They'd lost three of their last five, 
Apparently, being traded from a non-contender to a team in the thick of the playoff hunt isn't the only reason 
Because of all the trading they've been doing lately. They got rid of a declining 
Two teams vying for the playoffs made deals for big names. Two last place teams 
All week Peter Gammons has been talking about how shocking it was that the Astros DFA'd 
The Phillies are on a tear, and just got 
