From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each week.
I used to always enjoy lists like our own Frankie Piliere's Top 50 Free Agents. Then Milton Bradley happened. Now, as a Cubs fan whose been scorned by the clubhouse-dividing, unaccountable-yet-entitled lunatic, I can't look through the list without being skeptical of many of them. Which one is going to ruin someone else's favorite team like Bradley ruined mine? With this in mind, I present 11 potentially dangerous free agent signings in this year's class.
UPDATE: It seems that Padilla did not shoot himself, but was in fact shot by a shooting instructor. Full details here.
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Vicente Padilla is back home in his native Nicaragua now his team's season has ended, and while there he's decided to do some hunting. Unfortunately for Vicente it seems his aim with a gun is a lot like his aim with his fastball. Sometimes he loses control of the thing and ends up hitting somebody.
In Advanced Scouting, MLB FanHouse's professional talent evaluator breaks down the playoffs from a scouting perspective.
The St. Louis Cardinals may have beaten themselves in getting swept by the Dodgers, but Game 3 left us with a classic question. Was Vicente Padilla's strong pitching performance all him or the opposing lineup's doing? On this particular night, there was probably little the Cardinals could have done to stop him.
Padilla brought the raw stuff of an ace to the hill, touching 97 mph and sitting around 93-96 most of the night. Most importantly he was able to locate his fastball inside to righties with some running action.
ST. LOUIS -- Two years in a row now the Dodgers have taken a player who was so maddening to his previous team that it was willing to pay him to play somewhere else.
Two years in a row, that player has been instrumental in getting the Dodgers to the League Championship Series.
As they stood in a clubhouse thick with the smell of champagne after they finished off a sweep with Saturday's 5-1 victory over the favored Cardinals in the National League Division Series, the Dodgers had both of their cast-offs to thank for the latest victory: Manny Ramirez came back to life with three hits, and Vicente Padilla continued his unlikely run of dominant pitching since general manager Ned Colletti picked him off the scrap heap.
Looking to cycle spot-starters each day? Check out the Stream Team, where we tab pitchers that are likely to help you in your quest for fantasy gold.
Yesterday we spot-started Hiroki Kuroda again, and he was brilliant yet again. He threw six innings while giving up two runs, but both were unearned. He also threw in six strikeouts on his way to an easy win for the Dodgers. His six innings with no earned runs drops our September ERA to 3.26, using pitchers that are available in a majority of your leagues. I hope you're winning your championship game, and now I'll do my best to give you a bigger lead.
Looking to cycle spot-starters each day? Check out the Stream Team, where we tab pitchers that are likely to help you in your quest for fantasy gold.
Vicente Padilla hit a little bit of a speed bump in his Friday start against the Giants, giving up four runs in five innings and depriving the Team from another win. Still, we have better than a 3/1 K/BB ratio in September, which is exactly what Padilla gave us yesterday (3 strikeouts, 1 walk). Jon Garland is pitching for us today, and he's well on his way to another win and another great performance.
Looking to cycle spot-starters each day? Check out the Stream Team, where we tab pitchers that are likely to help you in your quest for fantasy gold.
With the lack of options available to us yesterday, I have to say I'm pleased with the effort turned in by Ryan Rowland-Smith. He wasn't going to get us another win, since he was facing John Lackey in Anaheim, but he went 7 innings and allowed just 3 runs, striking out 5 guys along the way. I hope those 5 Ks will be the difference in your H2H playoff! We streamed Hiroki Kuroda today against the Giants -- hopefully he'll stick to his impressive ratios in a win.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... All everyone could talk about earlier this week was the stunning manner in which the Rockies nearly closed the gap on the Dodgers in the NL West. Of course, they still only got within two games of the wire-to-wire Dodgers, and it's now back up to a 4-game deficit for the Rox after consecutive home losses to the boys in blue. Vicente Padilla followed up Randy Wolf's Wednesday gem with a nice outing of his own. It was his Dodgers debut, as he just signed Wednesday.
So you thought that once Matt Holliday went to St. Louis and Cliff Lee wound up with the Phillies deadline day itself would be anticlimactic? Hardly.
Three All-Stars, including a former Rookie of the Year and Cy Young, went elsewhere on July 31, and all that happened while the biggest name on the market all month, Roy Halladay, stayed put.
No, this deadline did not disappoint. There was a flurry of activity right down to 4 PM ET and a legitimate shocker to finish it all off. What better way to wrap up all of the intrigue then with a look at the early winners and losers? Join me -- and a few other members of the MLB FanHouse crew -- as we break it all down after the jump.
UPDATE: It seems that Padilla did not shoot himself, but was in fact shot by a shooting instructor. 
In 
ST. LOUIS -- Two years in a row now the 
Looking to cycle spot-starters each day? Check out the 
Looking to cycle spot-starters each day? Check out the 
Looking to cycle spot-starters each day? Check out the 
