ATM report--Postseason continues

[nyy26wc]

1) Yesterday's scores--

Giants 8, Braves 5 (Giants lead series, 1-0)
A's 9, Twins 1 (series tied, 1-1)
Angels 8, Yankees 6 (series tied, 1-1)

2) Today's schedule--

Cardinals (Chuck Finley) at Diamondbacks (Curt Schilling), 4:00 (Cardinals lead series, 1-0)
Giants (Kirk Rueter) at Braves (Kevin Millwood), 8:00

3) Yesterday's HRs--

Gary Sheffield
Javier Lopez
Eric Chavez
Cristian Guzman
Tim Salmon
Scott Spiezio
Garret Anderson
Troy Glaus
Derek Jeter
Alfonso Soriano

4) The new collective bargaining agreement will have "mandatory" suspensions for players who plead guilty to non marijuana drug possession charges. It's 15-30 days for the first offense, 30-90 for the second, a year for the third, 2 years for the fourth offense and 5th+ will be dealt with at czar bud's discretion.

But, czar bud has the right to impose fines if he doesn't want to impose the "mandatory" suspension.

Use and possession of marijuana will come with a fine of up to $15,000 and no suspension.

Marijuana use and possession is covered separately in the agreement, with players facing fines of up to $15,000 but no suspensions.

5) A's utilityman Olmedo Saenz had surgery to repair his ruptured Achilles tendon. He might not be ready for the start of next season.

6) Braves P Chris Hammond strained his neck yesterday and his status for the rest of the series is uncertain.

After being out of the majors since 1998, Hammonds had a completely unexpected 0.95 ERA/27 RSAA season in 63 games. He has a 4.25 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.02, and -17 RSAA in 254 games.

Hammonds became the 3rd pitcher in modern history to have an ERA under 1.00 in at least 70 IP--

                              YEAR     ERA      IP     
1    Dennis Eckersley         1990     0.61     73.1   
2    Ferdie Schupp            1916     0.90    140     
3    Chris Hammond            2002     0.95     76   

(19th century note--Tim Keefe had a 0.86 ERA in 105 IP in 1880)

7) Yankees LF Rondell White strained his left hamstring during the 1st game of their series. According to MGR Joe Torre, he doesn't expect White to be available for anything more than pinch hitting for the rest of this series.

After 14 RCAA/.867 OPS and 14 RCAA/.900 OPS seasons, White had the worst year of his career, hitting .378 SLG, .288 OBA, .666 OPS, -18 RCAA in 126 games. He has a .814 career OPS, compared to his league average of .772, and -18 RCAA in 126 games.

8) The Redsox claimed minor league P Jason Shiell off waivers from the Padres and designated minor league INF Bryant Nelson for assignment.

Shiell, who turns 26 later this month, had a 27.00 ERA/-3 RSAA in his first 3 major league games and had a 2.78 ERA in AAA.

Nelson hit .353 SLG, .342 OBA, .695 OPS, -1 RCAA as a 28 year old rookie in his first 25 major league games.

9) Angels P Ben Weber had to leave yesterday's game, due to a sprained finger.

After starting his career with 6.35 ERA/-4 RSAA and 3.42 ERA/10 RSAA seasons, Weber had a 2.54 ERA/15 RSAA in 63 games. He has a 3.41 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.52, and 21 RSAA in 138 games.

10) The Yankees sent Ps Adrian Hernandez, Nate Field and Jay Tessmer and 3B Scott Seabol outright to the minors, which removed them from the 40 man roster.

11) The Padres activated Ps Kevin Jarvis, Brian Tollberg, Jose Nunez and Rob Ramsay from the 60 day DL, which restores them to the 40 man roster, released P Matt DeWitt and outrighted INF Julius Matos, OF Kory De Haan and P Jonathan Johnson to the minors. Meanwhile, P Mike Holtz refused an outright assignment to the minors and became a free agent.

After 5.05 ERA/0 RSAA and 4.86 ERA/0 RSAA seasons, Holtz had a 5.40 ERA/-5 RSAA in 49 games (first 16 with the A's). He has a 4.69 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.66, and 1 RSAA in 350 games.

12) The Mets claimed P Doug Nickle off waivers from the Padres and designated P Adam Walker for assignment.

13) The Tigers outrighted 3B Chris Truby, OFs Wendell Magee and Jacob Cruz, DH-C Mitch Meluskey and P Seth Greisinger, Jason Beverlin and Brian Powell to the minors.

After starting his career with -9 RCAA/.772 OPS and -7 RCAA/.717 OPS seasons with the Astros, Truby hit .314 SLG, .238 OBA, .552 OPS, -27 RCAA in 124 games (first 35 with the Expos).

After -5 RCAA/.740 OPS and -10 RCAA/.670 OPS seasons, Magee hit .383 SLG, .289 OBA, .673 OPS, -11 RCAA in 97 games. He has a .666 career OPS, compared to his league average of .767, and -52 RCAA in 386 games.

Cruz hit .398 SLG, .377 OBA, .775 OPS, 2 RCAA in 35 games and has a .717 career OPS, compared to his league average of .771, and -20 RCAA in 203 games.

Greisinger was once a prospect, but injury problems have ruined his career. He had a 6.21 ERA/-9 RSAA in 8 starts, with his other time in the majors being a 5.12 ERA/-7 RSAA in 21 starts in 1998.

Powell had a 4.84 ERA/-4 RSAA in 13 games (9 starts). He has a 5.94 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.59, and -27 RSAA in 41 games.

14) The Reds released P Jose Silva and activated Ps Seth Etherton and Luis Pineda from the 60 day DL.

After 5.56 ERA/-15 RSAA and 6.75 ERA/-8 RSAA with the Pirates the past 2 years, Silva had a 4.24 ERA/1 RSAA in 12 games. He has a 5.42 career ERA, compared to his league average of 4.45, and -44 RSAA in 154 games.

15) Buck Showalter, Jerry Narron and Ken Macha are reportedly among the candidates for the Brewers MGR job.

Showalter's name has come up for most of the managerial vacancies.