Yankees Acquire Aroldis Chapman

In a shocker Monday afternoon, the New York Yankees acquired Cincinnati Reds' closer Aroldis Chapman for four prospects. Chapman was close to becoming a Los Angeles Dodger until the Cuban born reliever was accused of physical abuse by his girlfriend. In addition to reportedly choking his significant other and pushing her into a wall, Chapman also fired eight shots in the garage of his Miami-based home. Though police were called, no arrest was made.

The Yankees agreed to send third baseman Eric Jagielo (26th overall pick out of Notre Dame in the 2013 draft), second baseman Tony Renda, and right-handed pitchers Caleb Coltham and Rookie Davis to Cincinatti. Coltham appeared in 12 games for the Yankees this past season.

Chapman is in his third year of arbitration eligibility and can become a free agent for the 2017 season. The four-time All-Star has averaged better than 15 Ks per nine innings over the last four seasons, with a  high of 17.7/9 IP in 2014. His fastball has been clocked as high as 105 mph. Chapman has averaged 36 saves per season over that same stretch.

The move could mean that the Yankees current closer, Andrew Miller, could be used as trade bait. The fellow left-hander signed a four-year, $36MM contract prior to the 2015 season. Miller recorded 36 saves and rang up 100 strikeouts in 61.2 innings.

With Dellin Betances, the Yankees could have a three-headed monster out of the pen and insurance in case Chapman leaves as a free agent. In all likelihood though, Miller will be given his traveling papers in exchange for starting pitching or a solid bat.

Choo Gets the Latest Bad Contract

No matter how much baseball owners moan and groan, their brethren continue to give out bad contracts. Robinson Cano's 10-year, $240MM deal, Jacoby Ellsbury's seven-year, $153MM contract and reportedly Shin-Soo Choo's seven-year, $130MM agreement with the Texas Rangers.  The native of South Korea will join his fourth organization after stints in Seattle, Cleveland, and Cincinnati.

Choo reportedly turned down a seven-year, $140MM offer from the Yankees, but still cashed in for plenty of greenbacks Saturday according to CBS Sports' Jon Heyman. Agent Scott Boras had characterized Choo as an "On-base machine" as he pushed for his client to get a big money deal.

The contract would pay Choo an annual average salary in excess of $18MM and therein lies the problem. Choo is a very good player, but he's not an upper echelon player, just as Ellsbury (on a consistent basis) is not. Playing his home games in 2013 at Cincy's hitter friendly Great American Ballpark, Choo had an .885 OPS with 21 home runs, 34 doubles,  20 stolen bases, 112 walks and 107 runs scored as the primary lead off hitter in the Reds lineup.

The base on balls were a career high and the first time he surpassed the century mark in a single season. He also led the National League with 26 hit by pitches. Choo was a regular center fielder for the time in his career last season, but he'll likely man a corner spot in 2014 with Texas.

Yankees Tell Reds Fuggedaboutit

ESPN.com's Andrew Marchand reported that the Yankees have turned down an offer from the Cincinnati Reds that would have sent outfielder Brett Gardner to the Buckeye State for second baseman Brandon Phillips.

GM Brian Cashman has maintained that the Yankees aren't (actively) shopping Gardner, but when you take a look at the Yankees needs and the lack of money to spend, it would not shock anyone if the speedy outfielder was dealt. Through arbitration or a one year deal, Gardner is likely to earn in the neighborhood of $4MM in 2014.

Phillips has a limited no-trade clause and the Yankees are reportedly on it. It's been said he wanted more money if he were to waive the no-trade to go to the Bronx. Considering Phillips turns 33 in the middle of next season and is owed $50MM over the next four seasons, saying no was no-brainer.

Yes, Yankees Fans, It's Okay to Root For the Pirates

Yes, I said it. It is okay for Yankees fans to root for the Pittsburgh Pirates this post-season.  However, I will preface my statement...if you under the age of, oh, 55, it is okay to root for the Pirates. If you are over 55, there's a good chance you still harbor ill will against P-Burgh for the 1960 World Series.

I wasn't born yet, so I have never felt any malice towards the Pirates. That being said, I don't like seeing the film of Bill Mazeroski's home run sailing over Yogi Berra's head and over the brick wall in old Forbes Field.

My brother, 9-years old at the time of the '60 series, was mortified when he learned I rooted for the Pirates against the Baltimore Orioles in both the 1971 and 1979 World Series. I hated the Orioles as a kid; they beat the snot out of the Yankees time and time again.

While there wasn't the animosity that exists between the fans of the Yankees and Red Sox (and some players) today, the Orioles did much more damage to the Yankees in the late 1960's and early 1970's than Boston ever did.

The Orioles won the inaugural AL East title when division play began in 1969, and won it again in 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, and 1979. They won the AL Pennant three times and the World Series once.

But enough about Baltimore, this is about Pittsburgh. This is about a team that had its first winning record in 21 years this season. That's the same length of time since they have been in the post-season. The Pirates lost the NLCS three straight seasons from 1990-1992, twice in the 7th game.

The 1979 team, like the 1971 team, came back from a 3-1 deficit in games to the win the World Series. That was the fifth and final time the Pirates made it to the World Series and won it.

Tonight they enter as the host team for the one game wild card playoff with NL Central division rival Cincinnati. The two teams met in the regular season's final weekend, with the Pirates taking a three game sweep to ensure the first playoff home game since a 7-1 win over the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 of the '92 NLCS. That series ended dramatically with former Pirate Sid Bream just beating a tag at home plate with the winning run after Atlanta rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the bottom of the 9th. (Yes, some young Pirates fans know what it was like to be a young Yankees fans in 1960.) The Pirates also took the season series, 11 games to eight.

Manager Clint Hurdle, one of the front-runners for the NL Manager of the Year award, is in his third year as the Pirates' skipper. Under Hurdle's watch, the team has gone from 72 to 79 to 94 wins. The former Kansas City Royals Sports Illustrated cover boy has only one prior year of playoff managerial experience and that was with the NL pennant winning Colorado Rockies in 2007.

Hurdle's opposing manager, Dusty Baker, helmed the 2002 San Francisco Giants to a World Series title. However, Baker has won only one other playoff series in five additional playoff appearances.

The current squad hopes to get over the next hurdle with a bunch of talented kids and a good mix of veterans, including former Yankees A.J. Burnett and Russell Martin. Burnett led the team in starts (with Jeff Locke), innings pitched, and strikeouts. He is one of four Pirates pitchers that finished with double digit wins, three of which had 10 total, including Burnett.

Martin's numbers were very similar to those he produced with the Yankees. Fans wanted him gone until they saw what Chris Stewart did as a full-time player. Martin came through with walk-off winners in four home games this season and was a big influence on the youngsters.

Pitcher Francisco Liriano, one time known as the "next Johann Santana", looked like his career might done after posting 5+ ERAs in 2011 and 2012. But he resurrected his career in Pittsburgh this season with a career high 16 wins, his most innings pitched (161) since 2010 and his best ERA (3.02) and WHIP (1.224) since 2006. It will be his task Tuesday night to help the Pirates get to the division series when he squares off against the Reds' Johnny Cueto.

With Wandy Rodriguez out due to injury, the Pirates got a big boost when rookie Gerrit Cole was called up in June. Now, Yankees fans can whine about something. Cole was drafted by the interlocking NY in 2008, but he rebuked them. Cole went to UCLA instead and signed with the Pirates after he was the number one pick in the nation in the 2011 MLB amateur draft.

The 23-year old finished the season with a 10-7, 3.22 record in 19 starts and with 100 strikeouts in 117.1 IP. His performance also helped offset Locke's struggles over the last two months of the season.

The biggest star in the Steel City, though, is outfielder Andrew McCutchen. The 26-year old was the 11th overall pick in the 2005 draft and made his MLB debut in 2009. In five big league seasons he produced a slash line average of .296./380/.489, won Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, and made three All-Star appearances.

The five-tool player averaged 20 home runs, 25 steals, and 91 runs scored a season. He led the NL in hits last season with 194 and had 185 this year. Yes, he can do it all and usually does.

He's aided in the lineup by slugging third baseman Pedro Alvarez (tied for NL lead with 36 HR), outfielder Starling Marte (41 steals), power hitting second baseman Neil Walker, and veteran outfielder Marlon Byrd, who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Mets.

Seton Hall product Jason Grilli, a veteran of 11 big league seasons got his first gig as a full-time closer at age 36 and responded with 33 saves in 35 opportunities. He averaged 13.3 strikeouts per nine innings and was named to his first All-Star game.

Mark Melancon (he and Jose Tabata are the final two former Yankees on the active roster) was Grilli's main set up man and filled in as closer when Grilli went down for six weeks with a strained forearm. He remained the closer for a short time even when Grilli returned until the veteran was back at or near 100%. The 28-year old appeared in a career high 72 games, saved 16 of them and averaged just fewer than nine strikeouts per nine innings.

Vin Mazzaro, Justin Wilson, Tony Watson, and Bryan Morris have all been solid out of the pen as well.

When it comes right down to it, the Pirates are a fun team to watch and to root for. There are no ghosts of Pirates past in PNC Park and no annoying choruses of "We are Family" (at least I hope not.) So here is one Yankees fan that hopes the Pirates get past the Reds, the Cardinals, and either the Braves or Dodgers (sorry Donnie Baseball, I hate the Dodgers.) and whatever American League opponent they may run into. The city of Pittsburgh has been waiting a long time for this.

Yankees Still in the Hunt For an Outfielder

CBSSports.com's Jon Heyman reported Tuesday afternoon that the Yankees and the Cincinnati Reds have made inquiries to the San Francisco Giants as to the availability of Hunter Pence.¹

The 30-year old outfielder is in the final year of his current contract and will be a free agent after the season. He has a slash line of .277/.320/.457 with  14 HR and 51 RBI. Pence has also stolen 14 bases without being caught.

After he played four-plus seasons with the Houston Astros, the outfielder was dealt to the Philadelphia Phillies at the 2011 trade deadline. The Giants then picked him from the Phils at last year's deadline for 2 minor leaguers and Nate Schierholtz. (The Cubs signed Schierholtz in the off-season and are now shopping him as well.)




1 - cbssports.com

The Heisey Effect

The Heisenberg Effect states that the "very act of becoming a player changes the game being played". Of course this is in scientific terms. The Heisey Effect states, no shows, that when Chris Heisey hits three home runs in one game the Cincinnati Reds earn a split of a day-night doubleheader with the New York Yankees.

Heisey's heroics helped ruin the second big league start of Brian Gordon and made a rare trainwreck out of Hector Noesi's performance. The Reds 10-2 win avoided a sweep at the hands of the Yankees, who had won the second game of the series earlier in the day, 4-2.

Heisey entered the game with just five home runs on the season, but didn't wait long to hit number six, depositing Gordon's delivery into the left field seats to start the bottom of the 1st inning. Nick Swisher tied the game in the 2nd with an opposite field blast that was just one of the two hits allowed by Johnny Cueto (5-2, 1.63) over seven innings.

Jonny Gomes quickly put the Reds back ahead in the home half of the 2nd with his 9th home runs of the season. In Gordon's fifth and final inning Heisey extended the lead to 4-1 with a 2-run shot. Gordon, whose path to the Majors as a converted outfielder has been well documented, got to bat in a big league game for the first time. He drew a walk in his first appearance, but struck out in his only other at-bat.

Gordon wasn't the only one who had trouble though, as the Yankees managed just four hits on the night, two of them by Alex Rodriguez. Their one chance to get back in the ball game came in the 7th when they were still down three. Rodriguez led off with a single and Swisher followed with a walk. Cueto struck out Russell Martin, but then gave the Yankees a break when he dropped Joey Votto's toss on a Robinson Cano grounder to load the bases.

Cano had pinch-hit for Eduardo Nunez, meaning the Yankees had to let Ramiro Pena bat for himself. The light hitter lightly hit a grounder to Votto, who threw home for the force out. Jorge Posada then pinch-hit for the pitcher's spot, but unlike his heroics earlier in the day, grounded out to end the inning.

The Reds then took Noesi apart with three runs in both the 7th and 8th innings, the latter of which featured Heisey's third blast of the day.

The first game of the day was much different with Freddy Garcia tossing a fairly effortless seven innings to improve to 6-6. With the game tied 2-2 in the 6th, Cano reached on a lead off single against starter Mike Leake and Posada followed with his first home run since April 23, a stretch of 126 at-bats. David Robertson worked the 8th before giving way to Mariano Rivera who picked up his 19th save.

The Yankees had broken a scoreless tie in the 3rd when Brett Gardner and Curtis Granderson stroked back to back one out singles and Swisher provided an RBI ground out. Cano followed with a single for 2-0 lead.

The Reds tied the game up with the help of rare sloppy defensive play from Pena, who was playing third base in the first game. Drew Stubbs reached on a Pena throwing error to start the 5th (Had Mark Teixeira been playing first base instead of Jorge Posada, it's likely the ball would not have been out of reach.) Edgar Renteria then singled to put runners on the corners with no one out. What followed was both a physical and mental error by Pena.

Ryan Hanigan hit a chopper to third that likely was not hit hard enough to turn a double play, but Pena should have gotten the sure out at second. Instead he threw a one hopper home that catcher Francisco Cervelli couldn't handle for Pena's second error of the inning. (He would later pick up a third error when a ball when right between his legs.) Leake sacrificed the runners over and Fred Lewis brought in Renteria with the tying run on a deep play to Granderson in center. Garcia wild pitched Hanigan to third, but got Brandon Phillips to fly out to end the inning.

Notes

The Yankees bad baserunning continued in game one. Eduardo Nunez doubled, but was picked off second and was eventually charged with a caught stealing as he attempted to take third.

Prior to the games, the Yankees placed Jeff Marquez on the DL with a sore shoulder and called up Buddy Carlyle.

BD Hot Stove: Brewing Up A Challenge | Baseball Digest

BD Hot Stove: Brewing Up A Challenge | Baseball Digest

When you think of the NL Central, you think of Tony LaRussa and the St. Louis Cardinals. LaRussa’s birds have finished first (6) or second (2) in eight of the last 11 years, with two pennants and a World Series championship to boot. They’re usually the early season favorite to win the division and this year may be no different with Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter leading the way. But the thing is, there’s a new sheriff town.

“Yes, Pete, it is. In fact , it’s pronounced “mill-e-wah-que” which is Algonquin for “the good land.”: In “Wayne’s World” Alice Cooper helped give Milwaukee its most notoriety since “Laverne & Shirley”. But in 2011, Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum, and Yovani Gallardo may help bring Milwaukee back to the promised land. No one is saying the Brewers will win a World Series, something the town of Milwaukee hasn’t seen since the Braves took the title in 1958, but the team should be competitive this season with the aforementioned trio at the top of the order. GM Doug Melvin had to give up highly touted 2nd base prospect Brett Lawrie to Toronto to land Marcum, and then swung four other prospects to KC for Greinke and shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt. The Brewers also added reliever Sean Green to help set up for closer Joe Axford.

Pujols Country: It may take a country to pay Albert Pujols the kind of money he’ll want to stay parked in St. Louis forever. LaRussa just has to hope it doesn’t distract a team that has Wainwright, Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, and Jake Westbrook in the starting rotation. The Cards signed catcher Gerald Laird to back up starter Yadier Molina, inked Lance Berkman who’ll see most of his time in the outfield, and grabbed lefty reliever Brian Tallet to shore up the bullpen.

Chicago Hope: It’s going to be a time for pundits predict the Cubs will dominate the NL Central. None of the predictions over the last few years came to fruition, and the team is not ready for a charge to the top. Gone is long time Cub Derrek Lee with Carlos Pena signed to take his place. The team also reunited with Kerry Wood, who left for a free agent deal after the 2008 season. He’ll set up for closer Carlos Marmol. The Cubs have stated they won’t deal Carlos Zambrano, but that could change in order to either dump salary and/or no longer have to deal with his personality.

It’s spelled V-o-t-t-o: In case you were’t sure how to spell the name of NL MVP Joey, who led a baseball revival in Cincinnati this past summer. The Reds won their first division and made their first playoff appearances in 15 years, before being summarily dispatched in three games by the Phillies. The Reds haven’t been very active this off-season, preferring to “dance with the one who brung ya”. They gave their top starter, Bronson Arroyo, a three year contract extension, re-signed catcher Ramon Hernandez and utility man Miguel Cairo, and exercised the option on Jonny Gomes’ contract.

Not quite ready for lift off: The Astros finished 10 games under .500 or worse each of the last two seasons and it’s going to be difficult to improve on that with not punch in the lineup. The Astros dispatched their ace Roy Oswalt to Philadelphia last season and former Phils’ exec/current Astros head honcho Ed Wade may be helping his former team again. Rumors of a Joe Blanton to Houston deal is rumored to be in the works. If so it would give the Astros a decent top three starters in Wandy Rodriguez, J. A. Happ (acquired in the Oswalt deal), and Blanton. The Astros also added lefty Ryan Rowland-Smith, who can work out of the rotation or pen. But outside of Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence there’s not much offense to work with.

They don’t shiver your timbers: The Pirates have a lot of good young talent, but they won’t be look down at other teams for quite some time. The Pirates made some small moves that could help new manager Clint Hurdle keep the team’s hopes up. 1st baseman Lyle Overbay, pitcher Scott Olsen, outfielder Matt Diaz and corner man Garrett Atkins will try to help out stars on the rist Andrew McCutchen, Jose Tabata, Pedro Alvarez, and Neil Walker.

Rumors, News, and Transactions

Just as they did with Johnny Damon, the Yankees reportedly had internal discussions about Bronx native Manny Ramirez. Nothing is likely to happen.

The Nationals signed reliever Sean Burnett to a two year contract.

In a minor league deal, the A’s sent Corey Wimbley, who stole 56 bases at Triple-A last year, to the Pirates for pitcher Ryan Kelly. The 23-yr old right-hander spent the 2010 season in Single-A.

Some last minute items on Santa’s gift list

Yankees fans: One more season of watching Andy Pettitte.

Randy Winn: A chance to finally appear in the playoffs after 1,721 career regular season games.

Bert Blyleven: Induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame

Marvin Miller: Enough sense in the coming year for the veteran’s committee to elect you into Hall next December.

Fans: Reduced ticket prices and better national TV announcers.

Jamie Moyer: Recovery from Tommy John surgery and the chance to pitch into your 50′s.

Nick Johnson: No doctor’s appointments.

Oliver Perez: Regain control.

The Dodgers: No more McCourts.

Bryce Harper: Humility

Stephen Strasburg: Complete arm strength.

Ryan Westmoreland: Complete health and a return to baseball.

Opposing Announcers: A guide to pronouncing the name of the Royals’ Kila Ka’aihue.

Jermaine Dye: The chance to play again.

Welcome to Doctoberfest

Roy "Doc" Halladay waited his entire career to pitch in the post-season. He made sure no one would ever forget his first apperance in October's spotlight. Halladay became just the second pitcher in baseball history to throw a no-hitter in the post-season as he and the Philadelphia Phillies blanked the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 earlier this evening.

Halladay, who threw a perfect game vs. the Florida Marlins during the regular season, joins Don Larsen as the only pitchers to not allow a hit in a post-season game. One walk separated Halladay from joining Larsen in the perfect game club.

Unfortunately, I did not see one pitch of it. I was busy all day and turned TBS on to check the score at about (what I figured) was the midway point. The game was in commercial and I turned the station off. And didn't go back... >:(

Halladay even helped his own cause out with an RBI hit. The Phils put a run on the board in the 1st and added three more in the 2nd for a quick 4-0 lead. Then Halladay cruised. He walked Jay Bruce with two outs in the 5th for the Reds' lone base runner.

Halladay struck out nine, mixing his reportoire of pitches as he baffled the Cincy hitters. In the 9th Ramon Hernandez popped out to 2nd for the first out. Pinch-hitter Miguel Cairo followed with a foul out to 3rd. That left things up to Brandon Phillips, who hit a little tapper in front of the plate. Catcher Carlos Ruiz jumped out, fell to his knees, and threw to Ryan Howard to end the game.

Kearns Added to Bench

A minor move for bench strength tonight- Brian Cashman acquired outfielder Austin Kearns from the Cleveland Indians for the proverbial player to be named later.

Kearns has done a decent job for the Tribe this season as a semi-regular. He's never been the player he was hyped to be when he was in the Cincinnati Reds organization, but he gives the Yankees another right-handed bat off the bench. He should see some at-bats in place of Curtis Granderson or Lance Berkman against left-handers.

Fall into the GAB

The ball is flying out of the yard today in Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark (GAB). Well, for the Reds anyway. Through 7 innings they've slugged 7 of them, with 3 of them by Joey Votto.

The Reds smacked 4 in the 2nd inning alone. Votto and Adam Dunn went back-to-back to start the inning. Edwin Encarnacion made an out, but Paul Bako then went deep. With 2 outs and a man on, Jerry Hairston Jr. made it a quartet with a 2-run shot off of a shell shocked Jon Lieber.

Brandon Phillips and Votto hit back-to-back shots to start the 5th. One inning later it was Votto again with a 2-run homer. And Votto made a little like Reggie Jackson. 3 home runs off of 3 different pitchers.

Fall into the GAB

The ball is flying out of the yard today in Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark (GAB). Well, for the Reds anyway. Through 7 innings they've slugged 7 of them, with 3 of them by Joey Votto.

The Reds smacked 4 in the 2nd inning alone. Votto and Adam Dunn went back-to-back to start the inning. Edwin Encarnacion made an out, but Paul Bako then went deep. With 2 outs and a man on, Jerry Hairston Jr. made it a quartet with a 2-run shot off of a shell shocked Jon Lieber.

Brandon Phillips and Votto hit back-to-back shots to start the 5th. One inning later it was Votto again with a 2-run homer. And Votto made a little like Reggie Jackson. 3 home runs off of 3 different pitchers.

Wang Takes One on the Chien

There's a smell emanating from Ed Smith Field in Sarasota, FL. No, the garbage men aren't on strike. It's just the stink of Chien-Ming Wang's 1st and only inning of work. Actually, make that partial inning, as The Wanger threw 32 pitches and got hammered for 6 runs on 6 hits and a walk, and was pulled before the inning was over. On the bright side, the Yankees can get a good look at Scott Patterson who replaced him.

We went from being upset that there was no TV/radio coverage to being ecstatic that there was no TV/radio coverage.

Wang Takes One on the Chien

There's a smell emanating from Ed Smith Field in Sarasota, FL. No, the garbage men aren't on strike. It's just the stink of Chien-Ming Wang's 1st and only inning of work. Actually, make that partial inning, as The Wanger threw 32 pitches and got hammered for 6 runs on 6 hits and a walk, and was pulled before the inning was over. On the bright side, the Yankees can get a good look at Scott Patterson who replaced him.

We went from being upset that there was no TV/radio coverage to being ecstatic that there was no TV/radio coverage.

Yankees vs. Reds - March 6

The Yankees travel to Sarasota (not Bradenton, as previously reported) today to take on the Cincinnati Reds at 1:05 pm. Chien-Ming Wang will make his 2nd start of the Grapefruit League. He's expected to be followed by Darrell Rasner, Kyle Farnsworth, Sean Henn, Dan Giese, and Billy Traber.

Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, and Bobby Abreu are the only regulars on the trip. Aaron Harang will be getting the start for Cincy.

The Reds recently added Jerry Hairston Jr., who was named in the Mitchell Report, and Corey Patterson to their major league camp. How long will it be before Ken Griffey Jr. trade rumors surface?

Yankees vs. Reds - March 6

The Yankees travel to Sarasota (not Bradenton, as previously reported) today to take on the Cincinnati Reds at 1:05 pm. Chien-Ming Wang will make his 2nd start of the Grapefruit League. He's expected to be followed by Darrell Rasner, Kyle Farnsworth, Sean Henn, Dan Giese, and Billy Traber.

Johnny Damon, Jason Giambi, and Bobby Abreu are the only regulars on the trip. Aaron Harang will be getting the start for Cincy.

The Reds recently added Jerry Hairston Jr., who was named in the Mitchell Report, and Corey Patterson to their major league camp. How long will it be before Ken Griffey Jr. trade rumors surface?

Rangers Acquire Josh Hamilton

The Rangers have picked up outfielder Josh Hamilton from the Reds in exchange for pitchers Edinson Volquez and Danny Herrera.

Hamilton enjoyed a successful comeback season, after many years of disappointment brought on my drug and alcohol addictions. He was taken in the Rule V draft prior to the '07 season and finally showed the promise that made him a 1st round pick in 1999. Hamilton hit .292-19-47 in just 90 games.

Volquez was 14-6 with 166 strikeouts at 3 minor league levels. The left-handed throwing Herrera struck out 64 in 52 1/3 innings at Double-A.

Rangers Acquire Josh Hamilton

The Rangers have picked up outfielder Josh Hamilton from the Reds in exchange for pitchers Edinson Volquez and Danny Herrera.

Hamilton enjoyed a successful comeback season, after many years of disappointment brought on my drug and alcohol addictions. He was taken in the Rule V draft prior to the '07 season and finally showed the promise that made him a 1st round pick in 1999. Hamilton hit .292-19-47 in just 90 games.

Volquez was 14-6 with 166 strikeouts at 3 minor league levels. The left-handed throwing Herrera struck out 64 in 52 1/3 innings at Double-A.

Dust in the Cincy Wind

Dusty Baker waited 1 season before returning to the managerial ranks. Yesterday, he agreed to a 3 year deal to take over as skipper of the Cincinnati Reds. You wonder why Baker didn't wait longer to see if other openings arose, considering the Reds current state and the ownership's lack of interest in putting a competitive team out there.

Glad to see Dusty managing for a couple of reasons. Always liked him, even as a player- the only player on the dreaded Dodgers that I really liked when the team was filled with a-holes like Garvey. He's also a class act. Maybe the most important thing is we will no longer have to hear him kiss Barroid's ass on BBTN.

Good luck Dusty!

photo courtesy of Cincy Enquirer

Dust in the Cincy Wind

Dusty Baker waited 1 season before returning to the managerial ranks. Yesterday, he agreed to a 3 year deal to take over as skipper of the Cincinnati Reds. You wonder why Baker didn't wait longer to see if other openings arose, considering the Reds current state and the ownership's lack of interest in putting a competitive team out there.

Glad to see Dusty managing for a couple of reasons. Always liked him, even as a player- the only player on the dreaded Dodgers that I really liked when the team was filled with a-holes like Garvey. He's also a class act. Maybe the most important thing is we will no longer have to hear him kiss Barroid's ass on BBTN.

Good luck Dusty!

photo courtesy of Cincy Enquirer