Time Waster: We had a deal

I saw this on Awful Announcing, and thought it was pretty funny. Its definitely not the first time an animal has found there way to a baseball field, but this one had the ability to grab the attention of the announcers and the Indians for an entire inning.


While watching the clip all I could think of was the Merv Griffin episode of Seinfeld, where George runs over the squirrel and his girlfriend forces him to take it to the vet. And when the squirrel is released from the vet, George is told by the vet "Keep his tail elevated, and make sure he gets his medicine six times a day."

Dodgers close to deal with Tribe

The Dodgers are said to be close to reaching a deal with the Cleveland Indians to acquire Cleveland third baseman Casey Blake for a pair of Minor Leaguers, Triple-A pitcher Jon Meloan and Class A catcher Carlos Santana. Blake, a free agent after this year, has a salary of $6.1 million, and the Indians would pay all or most of it, according to a Jayson Stark.

Blake became one of the most coveted outfielders after the Yankees traded for Xavier Nady. Other teams that were rumored to be in the mix to land Blake were the Mets, Rays and Phillies.

Casey Blake is batting .289 with 11 home runs and 58 RBIs. He has a career batting average of .265 and in five Major League seasons has never hit fewer than 17 homers or driven in fewer than 58 runs in a season, with career highs of 28 homers and 88 RBIs.

Meloan is a right-hander who pitched briefly for the Dodgers last year in a September call up. He is 5-10 with a 4.97 ERA at Triple-A Las Vegas. Santana is a slugging catching prospect who currently has 14 home runs, 96 RBIs and a .323 average at Inland Empire.

The Dodgers have had issues with third base all season. Nomar Garciaparra and Andy Laroche were injured in spring training. Blake Dewitt was called up from AA ball and played well but has cooled off at the plate. Nomar is currently playing shortstop for the injured Rafael Furcal(out for year, lower back surgery), and Laroche has had offensive struggles throughout his time in the bigs. Casey Blake solves the problem of what to do at third base as he is consistent at the hot corner and at the dish. This also offers the Dodgers more options as he can play at third, first, and in the outfield.


Update: The trade is complete and Casey Blake is expected to become the Dodgers everyday third basemen replacing slumping rookies Blake Dewitt and Andy Laroche.

AL Central All-Stars

Before I get started with this, here's a classic Ozzie Guillen rant.


In terms of reality television, I think Ozzie having his own tball team to manage would make for some quality viewing. Just thinking about him cussing and screaming at 5 year olds makes me giggle. The ChiSox are up 1 1/2 games on the Twinkies, and look to be in the driver seat. Detroit looms as a potential sleeper if they get any pitching at all. Kansas City has been frisky, while Cleveland has been a major disappointment. Without further ado the All-Stars......


C- Joe Mauer, Minnesota (.322, 5 HR, 41 RBI, 97 H, 58 R)
1B- Justin Morneau, Minnesota (.323, 14 HR, 68 RBI, 118 H, 55 R)
2B- Placido Polanco, Detroit (.304, 3 HR, 32 RBI, 103 H, 44 R)
3B- Carlos Guillen, Detroit (.284, 8 HR, 47 RBI, 8 SB, 92 H, 45 R)
SS- Orlando Cabrera, Chicago (.270, 6 HR, 40 RBI, 15 SB, 104 H, 56 R)
OF- Delmon Young, Minnesota (.286, 3 HR, 38 RBI, 10 SB, 97 H, 47 R)
OF- Grady Sizemore, Cleveland (.273, 23 HR, 54 RBI, 22 SB, 99 H, 60 R)
OF- Jermaine Dye, Chicago (.306, 21 HR, 56 RBI, 105 H, 56 R)
DH- Jim Thome, Chicago (.253, 18 HR, 51 RBI, 72 H, 50 R)

The M and M boys have keyed the Twins offense, with Morneau hitting for a much higher average than usual. Cabrera started out slow, and despite rumors that he is a cancer in the clubhouse, gets the nod at SS. Polanco and Guillen have been steady for Motown. Grady Sizemore leads the league in Homers, and could potentially be a 40-40 man with a big second half. Dye leads the Sox offense, while Thome is simply the best out of the others. Nothing spectacular from him so far, and the Sox need bigger production out of him to keep their lead. Delmon Young brings a decent amount to the table and doesn't take anything off, unless he decides to throw his bat at the umpire again.

SP- Cliff Lee, Cleveland ( 12-2, 2.31 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 106 K's)
SP- Jon Danks, Chicago ( 7-4 2.67 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 94 K's)
SP- Zach Grienke, Kansas City (7-5, 3.48 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 104 K's)
SP- Gavin Floyd, Chicago ( 10-5, 3.63 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 75 K's)
SP- Andres Galarraga, Detroit ( 7-3, 3.27 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 62 K's)
RP- Joe Nathan, Minnesota ( 27 SV's, 1.13 ERA, 0.93 WHIP, 46 K's)
RP- Joakim Soria, Kansas City ( 25 SV's, 1.47 ERA, 0.72 WHIP, 46 K's)
RP- Bobby Jenks, Chicago ( 18 SV's, 1.95 ERA, 1.11 WHIP)

Cliff Lee should be comeback player of the year. Less than a year after a minor league stint, he's been the best pitcher in the American League not named Roy Hallday. Aside from Lee, I guarantee only diehards had ever even heard of the rest of the starters. All have had very solid seasons up to this points however. In a year where closers have been dominant, Nathan and Soria have been up near the top. The Palehose need Jenks to come back from injury soon.

Bench
A.J. Pierzynski, Chicago
Miguel Cabrera, Detroit
Mark Grudzielanek, Kansas City
Jhonny Peralta, Cleveland
Joe Crede, Chicago
Carlos Quentin, Chicago
Jose Guillen, Kansas City
Magglio Ordonez, Detroit
Todd Jones, Detroit
Jesse Crain, Minnesota
Scott Baker, Minnesota
Nick Blackburn, Minnesota
Glen Perkins, Minnesota
Ron Mahay, Kansas City
Masado Kobayashi, Cleveland

In looking at this, how in the hell is Minnesota in 2nd? Look for them to fall off with Detroit getting hot and challenging the White Sox. Next up, the AL West All-Stars. (I think Josh Hamilton might make it).