Week 9
Record: 32-25, .545, 0 games back
Position: 1st place (tied with Chicago)
Runs Scored: 279 (3rd in NL)
Runs Allowed: 251 (9th in NL)
Defense: .688 (7th in NL)
Power Ranking: 102.1 (10th in ML)
Owner Mood: Very Happy, Fan Interest: 67/100
Last Week (3-4): 1-3 vs. CWS, 2-1 vs. SF.
We've made a number of minor league free agent signings in the last week. Some Veterans and also some young players who we feel just need a chance to prove what they can do:
LF Ryan Roberts, 1B Mark Reynolds, C Kurt Suziki, 1B Neftali Soto, 2B Joshua Lopez, LF Theo Alexander, LF Cory Embree, C Deivi Grullon, MR Jesus E. Sanchez and C Christoper Breen. The signing of the 3 catchers is important as Russell Martin is going to be a free agent after this season and there is some question as to whether or not we can resign him to an affordable deal.
Who's Hot: Iwane Inoue 5 IP 0 ER 5 H 0 BB 0 K's 2 SV
Who's Not: Jed Lowrie 3-19 5 K's,
Next Week: 2 @ OAK, 3 vs. CIN
News from around the league:
6/7: 30 year old RHP Ubaldo Jimenez agreed to a $1.17 mil. deal to pitch for the Cardinals for the rest of the season
We made a minor league offer to Jimenez which he declined right away. We then countered with a major league deal and the Cardinals actually under bid us. He must have taken offense to the minor league offer.
6/7: Minnesota and Texas have come to terms on a deal that will send 26 year old C Chris Herman and 18 year old minor league SS Jason Boland to the Rangers in exchange for 28 year old starting pitcher Matt Harrison.
6/7: San Diego has agreed to send 28 year old reliever Charlie Furbush to New York for 19 year old minor league 3B Joe Martarano and 18 year old minor league SS Jorge Mateo.
6/7: The Diamondbacks have sent 29 year old SP Ian Kennedy and $3 mil. in cash to the Indians in exchange for 20 year old minor league 2B Ordomar Valdez, 19 year old minor league CF Torii Hunter Jr., 18 year old minor league SS Grofi Cruz, 23 year old minor league SP Will Roberts and 22 year old minor league 3B Raul Navarro.
Cleveland really unloaded the farm here, but it seems they only gave up one top level prospect (Valdez). They are only a 1.5 games back of 1st place and were in need of a veteran arm for the rotation.
6/9: The Mets have traded for 28 year old closer Greg Holland and will send 2B Branden Kaupe to the Royals as compensation.
6/9: The Cubs and White Sox have completed a deal that will send 34 year old 2B Jeff Keppinger to the Cubs with 23 year old minor league LF Brandon Thomas, 21 year old minor league 3B Gioskar Amaya and 21 year old minor league CF Darien Martin going to the White Sox.
AL Player of the Week: Stephen Drew (LAA) 14-26 1 HR 6 RBI 3 RS
NL Player of the Week: Bryce Harper (WAS) 11-28 5 HR 7 RBI 6 RS
2014 Amateur Player Draft:
The first overall selection was made by the Miami Marlins and they selected Vernon "Snake" McCullough who is a 1B out of St. John's and projects to have major power potential.
Our Top 5 Picks:
1. SS Forest Howard: 20 yrs. old, 4* pot.
Forest is out of Clemson, looks to be solid yet unspectacular with the glove but has an outstanding batter's eye. In a somewhat weak draft class we needed to take someone who would take slot and he has all of the right intangibles.
2. 1B Maurice McClendon: 20 yrs. old, 4* pot.
Maurice is out of Long Beach State. Greg Smith worries about his contact ability but believes he has raw power and the potential to be a clean up hitter if he can bring it all together. He all ready has a good batter's eye and good leadership ability.
3. CF Matt Richard: 19 yrs. old, 4* pot.
Matt is out of Minooka Highschool in Minooka Illinois and projects to be a decent line drive hitter who makes good contact. He seems to put the team above himself our only worry is that he doesn't seem to have much of a batter's eye.
4. SS Robbie Whitaker: 18 Yrs. Old, 3* pot.
Robbie is out of Howell Highschool in Farmingdale New Jersey and he projects to be a good contact hitter with a great batter's eye and have solid defense. He has an introverted personality but is very intelligent with a great desire to win.
5. SP Rich Tremel: 19 yrs. old, 3* pot.
Rich is out of Lake Park Highschool in Roselle Illinous. Greg Smith and I disagreed with this selection as I felt it was neccessary that we take a pitcher with one of our top 5 picks and Tremel seemed to be the most talented of the bunch. Smith doesn't think that Rich has the stuff or the control to compete at the ML level but I think with the right coaching he can have an impact.
I was hoping for a better draft class but I think we made some good selections and with time I think all of the top 5 guys selected will develop into quality players.
Position: 1st place (tied with Chicago)
Runs Scored: 279 (3rd in NL)
Runs Allowed: 251 (9th in NL)
Defense: .688 (7th in NL)
Power Ranking: 102.1 (10th in ML)
Owner Mood: Very Happy, Fan Interest: 67/100
Last Week (3-4): 1-3 vs. CWS, 2-1 vs. SF.
- Carlos Rivero was optioned to AAA Indianapolis after having a rough start to the 1st 2 months of the season (3-30 10 K's). Brett Wallace was recalled to serve as a back up at 3B and to add another bat to the bench.
- 6/2: PIT 1, CWS 6 - Liriano was hit hard again (3.2 IP 5 ER) its definitely caused some concern as were relying on him to be our ace. Chris Sale was dominant (8 IP 1 ER 10 K's) and the score looked alot closer than it was.
- In response to Liriano's struggles and the struggles of out starting staff as a whole we have been in contact with some of the starting pitchers who have yet to find a team yet. If we can find a quality pitcher who is willing to take a minor league deal we will certainly jump at it but unfortunately we can't afford much more than that right now.
- 6/3: PIT 2, CWS 5 - Lincecum took his 6th loss despite allowing only 1 hit. It was the 7 BB's by Lincecum and the 3 errors by our defense that did us in. Also, Quintana pitched well (8 IP 2 ER)
- After a short discussion with Giants GM Tye Waller we have agreed to trade that will send SP Ivan Nova and MR Kameron Loe to SF with us getting SS Brandon Crawford. It was a pretty easy deal to make SF needs pitching help and we needed to clear some budget room. The fact that we got a very good defensive shortstop who is only entering his 1st year of arbitration was the icing on the cake. Jhan Marinez was called up to take Loe's spot in the bullpen.
- 6/4: CWS 6, PIT 8 - Castro was doing well until giving up 2 ER in the 6th. The bullpen proceeded to give up the lead but a wild pitch and an error in the bottom of the 8th got us back out in front. Innoue was able to earn his first save of the year in the bottom of the 9th.
- We have made an offer to free agent SP A.J. Burnett. A.J. has expressed his desire to return to Pittsburgh but the offer is less than half his asking price to pitch for the remaining 4 months of the season. We just can't push our budget further than that so hopefully A.J. will take the $1.25 mil. offer.
- 6/5: CWS 4, PIL 3 - Very good start for Justin Wilson (8 IP 3 ER) but it just wasn't enough as the White Sox got some timely hits and their bullpen shut us down.
- Tabata left the game in 5th after being injured on a defensive play. Diagnosis is pending.
- 6/6: SF 0, PIT 3 - A 3 run HR by Alvarez off of the recently departed Ivan Nova in the 1st was all we would need as Liriano pitched his best game of the season (8 IP 0 ER 3 H 2 BB 9 K's)to earn his NL leading 8th win and Inoue earned his 2nd save in the 9th.
- Jose Tabata was diagnosed with a fractured rib, he will be out for 6 weeks. He was placed on the 15 day disabled list and Gregory Polanco who has been playing well (.327 9 HR 28 RBI) was recalled from AAA Indianapolis to take his place.
- 6/7: SF 6, PIT 7 - Wandy didn't fair well (4.2 IP 6 ER) but the bullpen held up well highlighted by a 2.1 IP 0 ER performance by Jhan Marinez which led to a 2 run pinch hit single by Jed Lowrie in the bottom of the 8th to give us the win.
- 6/8: SF 5, PIT 4 - Castro got hit hard (3.2 IP 4 ER) as the Giants tallied 12 hits against us. We couldn't get the timely hits as we struck out 7 times with men on base. We managed to make it interesting with a couple of runs scored in the bottom of the 8th but Romo shut us down in the 9th.
We've made a number of minor league free agent signings in the last week. Some Veterans and also some young players who we feel just need a chance to prove what they can do:
LF Ryan Roberts, 1B Mark Reynolds, C Kurt Suziki, 1B Neftali Soto, 2B Joshua Lopez, LF Theo Alexander, LF Cory Embree, C Deivi Grullon, MR Jesus E. Sanchez and C Christoper Breen. The signing of the 3 catchers is important as Russell Martin is going to be a free agent after this season and there is some question as to whether or not we can resign him to an affordable deal.
Who's Hot: Iwane Inoue 5 IP 0 ER 5 H 0 BB 0 K's 2 SV
Who's Not: Jed Lowrie 3-19 5 K's,
Next Week: 2 @ OAK, 3 vs. CIN
News from around the league:
6/7: 30 year old RHP Ubaldo Jimenez agreed to a $1.17 mil. deal to pitch for the Cardinals for the rest of the season
We made a minor league offer to Jimenez which he declined right away. We then countered with a major league deal and the Cardinals actually under bid us. He must have taken offense to the minor league offer.
6/7: Minnesota and Texas have come to terms on a deal that will send 26 year old C Chris Herman and 18 year old minor league SS Jason Boland to the Rangers in exchange for 28 year old starting pitcher Matt Harrison.
6/7: San Diego has agreed to send 28 year old reliever Charlie Furbush to New York for 19 year old minor league 3B Joe Martarano and 18 year old minor league SS Jorge Mateo.
6/7: The Diamondbacks have sent 29 year old SP Ian Kennedy and $3 mil. in cash to the Indians in exchange for 20 year old minor league 2B Ordomar Valdez, 19 year old minor league CF Torii Hunter Jr., 18 year old minor league SS Grofi Cruz, 23 year old minor league SP Will Roberts and 22 year old minor league 3B Raul Navarro.
Cleveland really unloaded the farm here, but it seems they only gave up one top level prospect (Valdez). They are only a 1.5 games back of 1st place and were in need of a veteran arm for the rotation.
6/9: The Mets have traded for 28 year old closer Greg Holland and will send 2B Branden Kaupe to the Royals as compensation.
6/9: The Cubs and White Sox have completed a deal that will send 34 year old 2B Jeff Keppinger to the Cubs with 23 year old minor league LF Brandon Thomas, 21 year old minor league 3B Gioskar Amaya and 21 year old minor league CF Darien Martin going to the White Sox.
AL Player of the Week: Stephen Drew (LAA) 14-26 1 HR 6 RBI 3 RS
NL Player of the Week: Bryce Harper (WAS) 11-28 5 HR 7 RBI 6 RS
2014 Amateur Player Draft:
The first overall selection was made by the Miami Marlins and they selected Vernon "Snake" McCullough who is a 1B out of St. John's and projects to have major power potential.
Our Top 5 Picks:
1. SS Forest Howard: 20 yrs. old, 4* pot.
Forest is out of Clemson, looks to be solid yet unspectacular with the glove but has an outstanding batter's eye. In a somewhat weak draft class we needed to take someone who would take slot and he has all of the right intangibles.
2. 1B Maurice McClendon: 20 yrs. old, 4* pot.
Maurice is out of Long Beach State. Greg Smith worries about his contact ability but believes he has raw power and the potential to be a clean up hitter if he can bring it all together. He all ready has a good batter's eye and good leadership ability.
3. CF Matt Richard: 19 yrs. old, 4* pot.
Matt is out of Minooka Highschool in Minooka Illinois and projects to be a decent line drive hitter who makes good contact. He seems to put the team above himself our only worry is that he doesn't seem to have much of a batter's eye.
4. SS Robbie Whitaker: 18 Yrs. Old, 3* pot.
Robbie is out of Howell Highschool in Farmingdale New Jersey and he projects to be a good contact hitter with a great batter's eye and have solid defense. He has an introverted personality but is very intelligent with a great desire to win.
5. SP Rich Tremel: 19 yrs. old, 3* pot.
Rich is out of Lake Park Highschool in Roselle Illinous. Greg Smith and I disagreed with this selection as I felt it was neccessary that we take a pitcher with one of our top 5 picks and Tremel seemed to be the most talented of the bunch. Smith doesn't think that Rich has the stuff or the control to compete at the ML level but I think with the right coaching he can have an impact.
I was hoping for a better draft class but I think we made some good selections and with time I think all of the top 5 guys selected will develop into quality players.
Total Comments 0
