Around the majors reports--July 24

[nyy26wc]

1) Yesterday's results--

AL NL
Yankees 7, BlueJays 2 Mets at Marlins--PPD
Angels 9, Orioles 4 Expos 3, Phillies 0
Mariners 3, Twins 2 Reds 5, Braves 4
Indians 2, Whitesox 0 Dodgers 3, Brewers 1
A's 7, Royals 2 Cubs 6, Astros 2
Rockies 8, Giants 2
Padres 4, Diamondbacks 2

2) Standings--

AL EAST W L Pct GB L10 Str Home Away
Yankees 58 41 .586 - 5-5 W-2 31-19 27-22
Redsox 56 42 .571 1 1/2 5-5 L-2 26-20 30-22
BlueJays 47 53 .470 11 1/2 4-6 L-2 23-28 24-25
Orioles 42 56 .429 15 1/2 2-8 L-1 22-30 20-26
Devil Rays 32 67 .323 26 4-6 W-2 19-32 13-35

AL CENTRAL W L Pct GB L10 Str Home Away
Indians 57 40 .588 - 6-4 W-3 27-22 30-18
Twins 58 41 .586 - 2-8 L-4 34-19 24-22
Whitesox 48 49 .495 9 6-4 L-1 28-23 20-26
Tigers 43 53 .448 13 1/2 5-5 L-2 25-23 18-30
Royals 38 61 .384 20 4-6 L-1 21-30 17-31

AL WEST W L Pct GB L10 Str Home Away
Mariners 72 27 .727 - 8-2 W-4 32-14 40-13
A's 53 46 .535 19 7-3 W-1 26-21 27-25
Angels 50 49 .505 22 7-3 W-1 25-21 25-28
Rangers 40 57 .412 31 5-5 L-2 20-27 20-30

NL EAST W L Pct GB L10 Str Home Away
Braves 56 43 .566 - 5-5 L-1 27-24 29-19
Phillies 54 45 .545 2 3-7 L-1 30-20 24-25
Marlins 51 48 .515 5 7-3 W-1 31-17 20-31
Mets 45 55 .450 11 1/2 6-4 L-1 25-24 20-31
Expos 44 56 .440 12 1/2 6-4 W-1 24-24 20-32

NL CENTRAL W L Pct GB L10 Str Home Away
Cubs 57 41 .582 - 5-5 W-1 28-16 29-25
Astros 54 44 .551 3 5-5 L-1 26-26 28-18
Cardinals 49 48 .505 7 1/2 6-4 L-1 31-20 18-28
Brewers 43 55 .439 14 0-10 L-10 23-25 20-30
Pirates 38 59 .392 18 1/2 4-6 W-1 22-24 16-35
Reds 37 62 .374 20 1/2 4-6 W-1 13-37 24-25

NL WEST W L Pct GB L10 Str Home Away
Diamondbacks 57 42 .576 - 5-5 L-1 26-22 31-20
Dodgers 57 43 .570 1/2 9-1 W-3 31-18 26-25
Giants 52 48 .520 5 1/2 5-5 L-3 33-20 19-28
Padres 49 51 .490 8 1/2 7-3 W-5 22-31 27-20
Rockies 42 57 .424 15 3-7 W-1 25-26 17-31

3) Today's schedule--

AL
BlueJays (Joey Hamilton 5-6) at Redsox (David Cone 5-1), 7:05 p.m.
Tigers (Victor Santos 2-2) at Yankees (Andy Pettitte 9-6), 7:05 p.m.
Whitesox (Sean Lowe 5-2) at Indians (Dave Burba 9-6), 7:05 p.m.
Orioles (Sidney Ponson 5-6) at Rangers (Rick Helling 7-8), 8:35 p.m.
Twins (Eric Milton 9-3) at A's (Barry Zito 6-7), 10:05 p.m.
Devil Rays (Joe Kennedy 3-4) at Angels (Jarrod Washburn 8-4), 10:05 p.m.
Royals (Paul Wilson 4-1) at Mariners (Freddy Garcia 11-2), 10:05 p.m.

NL
Mets (Glendon Rusch 5-6) at Marlins (Ryan Dempster 11-8), 7:05 p.m.
Expos (Tony Armas Jr. 8-8) at Phillies (Nelson Figueroa 1-2), 7:05 p.m.
Reds (Jim Brower 4-7) at Braves (John Burkett 7-7), 7:35 p.m.
Dodgers (Dennis Springer 0-0) at Brewers (Jamey Wright 8-5), 8:05 p.m.
Pirates (Todd Ritchie 6-9) at Cubs (Julian Tavarez 6-6), 8:05 p.m.
Astros (Wade Miller 11-5) at Cardinals (Mike Matthews 3-4), 8:10 p.m.
Giants (Shawn Estes 7-4) at Rockies (Shawn Chacon 5-5), 9:05 p.m.
Padres (Kevin Jarvis 7-7) at Diamondbacks (Randy Johnson 12-5), 10:05 p.m.

4) Yesterday's HRs--

Phil Nevin--#27
Juan Gonzalez--#26
Shawn Green--#26
Tino Martinez--#21
Jorge Posada--#18
Jose Cruz Jr.--#14
Paul O'Neill--#14
Jermaine Dye--#13
Adrian Beltre--#11
Alex Gonzalez (BlueJays)--#10
Ron Gant--#9 (#1 in AL)
Neifi Perez--#7
David Ortiz--#7
Shawon Dunston--#5
Shane Spencer--#5
Corey Patterson--#2
Miguel Cairo--#2

5) HR leaders--

AL
1) Jim Thome--31
2) Manny Ramirez--30
3) Alex Rodriguez--27
T4 Rafael Palmeiro--26
T4) Juan Gonzalez--26*
6) Carlos Delgado--25
7) Troy Glaus--24
8) Bret Boone--23
T9) Jason Giambi--22
T9) Ellis Burks--22
T9) Mike Sweeney--22
T9) Greg Vaughn--22

NL
1) Barry Bonds--42
2) Luis Gonzalez--38
3) Sammy Sosa--33
T4) Jeff Bagwell--28
T4) Larry Walker--28
T4) Chipper Jones--28
T4) Cliff Floyd--28
T8) Todd Helton--27
T8) Lance Berkman--27
T8) Vladimir Guerrero--27
T8) Phil Nevin--27*

*--hit 1 yesterday

6) Ron Gant passed Chuck Klein and tied Rogers Hornsby, Mike Piazza and Gary Sheffield for 87th place on the all time HR list, with 301.

7) Roger Clemens passed Tom Seaver into 4th place on the all time SO list, with 3643.

Clemens also passed Red Ruffing into 27th place on the all time W list, with 274, and extended his winning streak to 10 games.

8) Tino Martinez hit his 250th career HR.

Despite his HRs and RBI, Martinez is harming the Yankees again, hitting just .469 SLG, .313 OBA, .782 OPS, 0 RCAA, .497 OWP, .263 AVG, 21 HR, 75 RBI in 99 games.

In 2000, Martinez led the AL in worst RCAP, costing the Yankees 43 runs from what an average 1B produced, and finished with a landslide victory over Royce Clayton (-32) for that title. Martinez tied the Yankees record for incompetency, originally set by Willie Keeler, in 1907.

It's the same story this year, as Martinez's -21 RCAP again ranks him as the best player in the league when it comes to costing his team runs, compared to his position.

In his 11 previous years, Martinez managed 2 with a positive RCAP (1995 and 1997), 1 with 0 (1998) and 8 negative seasons.

Martinez's -105 RCAP is the 2nd worst in history for a player with 250+ HR.

9) The Mets traded C Todd Pratt to the Phillies for C Gary Bennett. The Phillies also called up OF Turner Ward and sent OF Eric Valent to the minors.

This is a deal of backup catchers who are both having bad years.

Bennett's hitting .320 SLG, .294 OBA, .614 OPS, -5 RCAA, .298 OWP, .213 AVG, 1 HR, 6 RBI in 26 games.

Pratt's hitting .300 SLG, .306 OBA, .606 OPS, -6 RCAA, .277 OWP, .163 AVG, 2 HR, 4 RBI in 45 games.

Some good commentary on the trade comes from Billy-Ball, who wrote, "Well, you can close the books on this trading deadline, we just had the big one. People will be talking about the impact of this for years. The trading deadline is July 31 and if we don't have a bigger trade, Billy-Ball is filing a class-action suit on behalf of all of us who have been wasting time reading all those columns entitled 'Rumor Central'."

10) The Indians placed P Paul Shuey on the 15 day DL.

Shuey has a strained ligament in his elbow and is expected to miss at least 6 weeks and possibly the rest of the season, with the worst case scenario being Tommy John surgery.

This is a big blow to the Indians. Shuey, has a 2.35 ERA in 46 IP and is leading the team with 13 RSAA. This is the 3rd consecutive year that Shuey has a double digit RSAA.

[nyy26wc]

1) The Diamondbacks placed SS Tony Womack and P Robert Ellis on the 15 day DL, designated P Mike Mohler for assignment, activated P Mike Morgan from the DL and recalled P Nick Bierbrodt and INF Alex Cintron.

Ellis has a bruised shin. Womack has a torn calf muscle.

Losing Womack is addition by subtraction. Womack is having a terrible season, hitting .303 SLG, .273 OBA, .576 OPS, -27 RCAA, .239 OWP, .234 AVG, 1 HR, 18 RBI, 39 R in 86 games. His -27 RCAA ties him with Brad Ausmus for the worst in baseball, while his .576 OPS puts him 2 points behind Rey Ordonez for the battle for the worst in the majors.

This season is no fluke, as Womack came into the year with a .692 OPS, a figure that's 88 points under his league average of .780 and 53 points under his positional average of .745.

2) The Orioles placed 1B David Segui on the 15 day DL, retroactive to July 16, and recalled OF Larry Bigbie.

Segui's one of the only Orioles hitters who is having a good year, hitting .443 SLG, .406 OBA, .849 OPS, 13 RCAA, .639 OWP, .294 AVG, 8 HR, 37 RBI in 68 games.

3) The Royals activated C Gregg Zaun from the DL, sent P Jeff Austin to the minors and designated minor league P Brian Meadows for assignment.

4) The Padres signed P Chuck McElroy and sent P Brian Tollberg to the minors.

5) The Expos recalled OF Fernando Seguignol.

6) The Rangers sent P Aaron Myette to the minors and called up P Justin Duchscherer.

The Rangers-Orioles will play a doubleheader tomorrow, to make up one of the games missed by the train mishap. They will also make up a single game on Monday, which would have been a day off.

Duchscherer will make his major league debut by starting one of the games of tomorrow's doubleheader and then may find himself sent back to the minors.

7) The Rockies activated P Jose Jimenez from the DL and sent P Craig Dingman to the minors.

8) The Brewers called up P Lance Painter and sent P Gus Gandarillas to the minors.

9) The Mets sold minor league P Doug Linton to the LG Twins, in Korean.

At least a couple of reports have said Linton is a LHP, but unless LHP has been redefined to mean a righty, they are incorrect.

10) Before yesterday's loss dropped then below .500, the Whitesox were 48-48. According to Elias, they are the first team since the 1991 Brewers to reach .500, after being 15 games under.

[nyy26wc]

1) The Indians moved into 1st place in the AL Central. They lead the Twins, .588-.586 in PCT, while the teams are tied in the GB column.

2) Royals CF Carlos Beltran missed yesterday's game, due to pain and swelling in his left knee, and is day to day.

3) The Dodgers claimed minor league P Danny Mota off waivers from the Twins.

4) Rockies MGR Buddy Bell says there is no guranatee that Darryl Hamilton, who was signed to a minor league contract, will be called up this season.

5) Indians MGR Charlie Manuel says he's not counting on Jaret Wright to return this year. Wright is on the DL, due to inflammed in his surgically reporaired shoulder, and when the swelling goes down, he'll start a throwning program in AAA.

6) BlueJays RF Raul Mondesi was scratched from yesterday's lineup, due to the flu.

7) The Twins traded minor league OF Damon Hollins to the Braves for future considerations.

8) The Yankees signed Ps Chris Peters and Scott Aldred to minor league contracts.

[nyy26wc]

1) The Dayton Daily News reports the Dodgers are interested in Pokey Reese and could interested in trading Eric Gagne or Luke Prokopec. Meanwhile, the LA Times reports, the Dodgers are only interested in trading either of those 2 for a No. 1 starter, while the Sportsline says they'll have to settle for Woody Williams, Sterling Hitchcock or James Baldwin.

That paper also reports the Reds turned down an offer of Danny Graves to the Phillies for Bruce Chen and a prospect. The Reds countered with Graves for prospects Brandon Duckworth and Chase Utley, which the Phillies turned down.

2) The Bergen Record reports Phillies MGR Larry Bowa wants GM Ed Wade to see what the Mets want for Turk Wendell.

3) The Redsox had a scout at Albie Lopez's last start.

4) According to the Chicago Tribune, James "Baldwin wants to stay, but knows Arizona, Los Angeles and Houston are among the teams looking for help for a stretch run and he already has prepared himself for the probability he'll be gone by Aug. 1."

5) According to the Houston Chronicle, "A possible Daryle Ward-for-Glendon Rusch deal involving the Astros and New York Mets hasn't been completely ruled out. The Astros also inquired about the Mets' Al Leiter and Colorado's Pedro Astacio, but Leiter's disparaging remarks about playing for the Astros and Astacio's $9 million salary for next season appear to be deal-breakers.

"Hunsicker also does not appear willing to sell the farm for what could be a rent-a-pitcher similar to the 1998 deal that landed Randy Johnson. The Astros' could use their well-stocked farm system as bait, but they appear unwilling to part with such top prospects as infielder Morgan Ensberg, outfielder Jason Lane and pitcher Carlos Hernandez.

"The Astros scouted Chicago White Sox righthander James Baldwin this weekend, but reportedly have no interest in acquiring him. They also had a scout on hand to watch Colorado shortstop Neifi Perez. Pittsburgh's Jason Schmidt also has been mentioned, but his proneness to injuries scares the Astros."

6) According to the Toronto Star, "The Philadelphia Phillies are one team that would love to acquire [Kelvim] Escobar for their starting rotation. Tossing three innings of shutout ball to earn a victory against the Red Sox last week certainly helped Escobar's stock soar further.

"The big question now is whether Escobar could be converted to a starter in time to help contending teams this season. If not, the Jays wouldn't get as much back in a deal and would be better served adding him to their own rotation next year or trading him elsewhere in the off-season."

7) According to the Detroit News, " The primary focus in the next week will be on the future of four Tigers: Jones, Cedeno, Tony Clark and Chris Holt, any or all of whom could be dealt. The front office still likes Juan Encarnacion's potential, but his name has appeared in an occasional trade rumor as well.

"Encarnacion to Texas for Gabe Kapler hasn't been prominent among the rumors, however, despite sounding intriguing. Kapler is struggling for Texas, Encarnacion has slumped for the Tigers, but the difference is that the Rangers have committed $3.3 million to Kapler for next year. That's enough to quash a rumor even before it gets off the ground."

8) According to the Star-Telegram, "Outfielder Ricky Ledee has struggled of late with the Rangers but that hasn't lessened interest from other teams.

"General manager Doug Melvin said Monday teams have shown interest in Ledee as the July 31 trade deadline approaches. But that doesn't necessarily mean the Rangers will trade him."

Meanwhile, "Melvin continues to monitor possible trades before July 31. The most likely player to be dealt is first baseman Andres Galarraga." and "Teams have also kept an eye on pitcher Darren Oliver. There is always a need for starting pitching throughout baseball, but the chances of moving Oliver likely depend on what other trades are made before the deadline."

9) According to Newsday, "In case Justice can't return and produce, the Yankees have contemplated the acquisition of a hitter from another team. Kansas City's Jermaine Dye, Tampa Bay's Fred McGriff and Houston's Daryle Ward top the list of realistic possibilities, and Oakland's Jason Giambi is a dream option in case the Athletics decide to abandon their hopes for a wild-card slot."

10) According to the Daily Herald, "Don't count the Fred McGriff deal as dead. The buzz going through the Cubs clubhouse Monday was that McGriff was hinting to his Tampa Bay Devil Rays teammates that he might eventually waive the no-trade clause in his contract and agree to be dealt to the Cubs."

Meanwhile, "The Cubs have dismissed one published report that they're interested in Detroit's Tony Clark, and they repeated they never had interest in Baltimore's Jeff Conine."

11) According to the Daily News, "With one week to go before the trade deadline, the Yankees are continuing to look to add pop to their lineup. And Oakland's Jason Giambi continues to be the focus of the Yankees' plans.

"George Steinbrenner covets the slugger, who is hitting .331 with 70 RBI, but the A's must decide whether they ultimately will challenge for the AL wild card; with last night's win, Oakland remains five games out of the last playoff spot.

"If Giambi becomes available at the end of the week, the Yankees will make a huge push for him. But as one Yankee official said yesterday when asked if he thought Giambi would be traded, 'I would doubt it.'"

Meanwhile, Dmitri Young, Jermaine Dye and Daryle Ward were listed as possibilities, if the A's decide not to trade Giambi.

12) According to the New York Times, "One player who is not and will not be available is Beane's star slugger Jason Giambi. A few weeks ago Beane might have considered trading Giambi because he can be a free agent after the season and negotiations for a contract extension broke down earlier this year. But the Athletics have played their way into the American League wild-card race, and Giambi has been and will be the most integral element of their chances."

13) According to the Star Ledger, "Developments elsewhere might also help [Mets GM] Steve Phillips make deals. Baseball officials are under the belief the Braves are about to get shortstop Rey Sanchez from Kansas City, which would eliminate one potential suitor for Colorado's Neifi Perez, a player the Mets have pursued. The Rockies are also moving closer to a trade with the Blue Jays involving Pedro Astacio and Shannon Stewart, two players the Mets have sought.

"If those trades are made, Arizona and Los Angeles would each be left without the shortstop and starting pitching reinforcement they have sought, which could give Phillips the leverage to unload Ordonez and possibly enough in return to justify a trade for Rusch. The Mets have talked to Arizona about Tony Womack and Erubiel Durazo and to the Dodgers about Joey Cora and Eric Gagne."

[nyy26wc]

MOST CAREER SO

1 Nolan Ryan 5714
2 Steve Carlton 4136
3 Bert Blyleven 3701
4 Roger Clemens 3643
5 Tom Seaver 3640
6 Don Sutton 3574
7 Gaylord Perry 3534
8 Walter Johnson 3509
9 Phil Niekro 3342
10 Randy Johnson 3265

Lee

[nyy26wc]

WORST CAREER RCAP BY A PLAYER WITH 250+ HR

RCAP HR
1 Gary Gaetti -150 360
2 Tino Martinez -105 250
3 Tony Armas -104 251
4 Frank Thomas -97 286
5 Dante Bichette -92 271
6 George Scott -84 271
7 Joe Carter -63 396
8 Larry Parrish -54 256
9 Tom Brunansky -46 271
10 Cecil Fielder -41 319

NOTE--That Frank Thomas is the old one, not the active one. The active one ranks 31st all time, with 549 RCAP.

[nyy26wc]

WORST RCAP, SINGLE SEASON, YANKEES

T1 Tino Martinez 2000 -41
T1 Willie Keeler 1907 -41
3 Duffy Lewis 1919 -38
4 Johnny Sturm 1941 -37
5 Babe Dahlgren 1939 -34
6 Duffy Lewis 1920 -31
7 Babe Dahlgren 1940 -30
T8 Don Mattingly 1995 -29
T8 Whitey Witt 1924 -29
T10 Frankie Crosetti 1940 -27
T10 Jake Powell 1937 -27

[NetShrine]

Originally posted by nyy26wc
WORST RCAP, SINGLE SEASON, YANKEES

T1 Tino Martinez 2000 -41
T1 Willie Keeler 1907 -41
3 Duffy Lewis 1919 -38
4 Johnny Sturm 1941 -37
5 Babe Dahlgren 1939 -34
6 Duffy Lewis 1920 -31
7 Babe Dahlgren 1940 -30
T8 Don Mattingly 1995 -29
T8 Whitey Witt 1924 -29
T10 Frankie Crosetti 1940 -27
T10 Jake Powell 1937 -27

Amazing, to me (at least) that none of these marks occurred during 1965 to 1975. Also, and I'm just doing this in my head, but are not 2000, 1941, 1939, and 1937 Championship years? Any others? That's some good teams carrying under-performers, no? Lastly, most of these guys are good glove men, no? Or, is that just an assumption on my part?

[Duque]

It's not a huge surprise seeing Tino leading in RCAP. While he may hit home runs and get a lot of men on base ahead of him, what he doesn't do is a)walk or b)sacrifice runners, so he's therefore making a lot of outs.

Interesting story: When the Braves were winning by a large margin in a game (say, 7-0) Greg Maddux would often groove a "hit-me" pitch to a Jeff Bagwell or Mark McGwire, and have them hit it FAR. His reasoning behind this was that a hitter doesn't remember the pitches he made outs on, but he sure remembers the ones he hit out of the park. And in a crucial situation in the playoffs, Maddux believed, he could use that memory he'd implanted in a hitter's head to get them out.

The relevance of that story, aside from showing how delightfully diabolical Maddux is, is that fans also only remember the monster home runs a guy hits, and not the outs he makes. If a guy goes 1-5, but that one hit is a game winning homer, it completely overshadows how terrible he looked in those other ABs.

[NetShrine]

Duque - excellent observation. I've heard that Maddux tale as well - and believe it. Can remember hearing it about another pitcher - can't remember who? - think it was an NL pitcher from the '70's?

Anyway, this pitcher believed that some hitters basically were happy to just get a hit - (say, like a weak hitting SS) - and once they got that hit, the rest of their ABs were throw-aways. So, this pitcher would groove a pitch to this type of hitter in an AB where a hit would have no impact - then the pitcher would have an easier time with them the rest of the game. At least, that's the way the story goes...........

Back to Tino - according to baseball-reference.com and their Sim Scores, Eric Karros is the hitter most like Martinez. Coming into this year, Karros has a lifetime RCAP of -37. Tino's is -84. Sabermetrically, Martinez is really doing something wrong.

[nyy26wc]

Originally posted by NetShrine


Amazing, to me (at least) that none of these marks occurred during 1965 to 1975. Also, and I'm just doing this in my head, but are not 2000, 1941, 1939, and 1937 Championship years? Any others? That's some good teams carrying under-performers, no? Lastly, most of these guys are good glove men, no? Or, is that just an assumption on my part?

You're right about most of them having good defensive reputations.

Here's the list for the 1965-75 period--

1 Bill Robinson 1967 -22
2 Felipe Alou 1973 -21
T3 Bill Robinson 1969 -19
T3 Lou Piniella 1975 -19
T3 Horace Clarke 1968 -19
6 Jerry Kenney 1970 -18
T7 Johnny Callison 1973 -16
T7 Tony Kubek 1965 -16
T9 Chris Chambliss 1974 -15
T9 Danny Cater 1971 -15
T9 Andy Kosco 1968 -15

Meanwhile, with -21 so far this year, Martinez is moving up on the Yankees's all time incompetence list--

1 Babe Dahlgren -70
2 Duffy Lewis -69
3 Wally Pipp -61
4 Everett Scott -59
T5 Joe Pepitone -57
T5 Tino Martinez -57
7 Elmer Miller -56
8 Whitey Witt -54
9 Earle Gardner -52
10 Bill Robinson -50

[NetShrine]

I think Sweet Lou had an excuse in 1975. Wasn't that the year he had a kiler ear infection?

Interesting to see Everett Scott on the list. He's a player people just assume was good because of his streak.

[nyy26wc]

Scott was a really bad player. He had a lifetime .596 OPS, which was far below his league's average of .724. He was even 61 points under his league average for shortstops, which was .655.

Scott had a double digit negative RCAA every single year of his career, except for his final year, when he only played 44 games.

He was pretty good at ranking high in the league in worst RCAA--

1914 AL 8TH -15
1915 AL T2ND -24
1917 AL 4TH -23
1918 AL T2ND -23
1920 AL 10TH -21
1921 AL 2ND -39
1922 AL 7TH -28
1923 AL 2ND -41
1924 AL 1ST -42

As far as Piniella is concerned, 1975 was the year of his ear infection.

Meanwhile, Piniella was an overrated player, who benefited by the judge players by batting average mentality. He had a .291 average. But, his .741 OPS was just barely above his league OF average of .740 and wasn't that much better than the overall average of .711.

Piniella had a career total of 30 RCAA, which for an OF really isn't good. Compared to other OFs, he was 37 runs worse than average for his career.

[NetShrine]

When at his best, Lou was a Pat Tabler type, to me. No star - but a good extra part on a championship team. That blind stab of the ball that he lost in the sun during the Bucky Dent game in Fenway earned him some points in my book too. Great play - albeit lucky or not - in a big game.