Fanhouse MLB Blog

Brandon Webb Throws Off Mound

Matt Snyder — 2010-02-09T19:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Diamondbacks, NL West, MLB Injuries

For the first time since having surgery on his right shoulder last season, Diamondbacks right-handed pitcher Brandon Webb was able to throw some pitches off a mound Monday. Manager A.J. Hinch was pleased that Webb was able to move into the next phase of his shoulder rehab.

"This is a positive sign as we're getting close to spring training," he said. "I thought he looked good."

After finishing in the top two of NL Cy Young voting for three consecutive seasons -- including winning the award in 2006 -- Webb was only able to make one start a year ago. After the one disastrous outing, when he clearly wasn't healthy, Webb missed the rest of the season with the shoulder malady.

Webb, 30, is clearly one of the best pitchers in baseball when healthy. From 2006-08, he went 56-25 with a 3.13 ERA. He made the All-Star team all three seasons and he also rolled up 12 complete games and seven shutouts during that time. Furthermore, Webb takes pressure off the bullpen by racking up the innings, as he averaged 232 innings of work per season from 2005-08.

Whether or not he'll be healthy enough to do so in 2010 will be a big part of deciding how well they fare in the NL West. Webb himself seemed to be pleased with the progress he felt Tuesday.

"I felt good this morning, he said. "I'm right where I expected to be. Having not been on the mound in a year, I am pleased with how I felt."

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Lenny Dykstra Would Like to Give You Investment Advice

Josh Alper — 2010-02-09T17:05:00+00:00

Filed under: Mets, Phillies, MLB Media Watch

One of the strangest post-athletic developments in recent history was Lenny Dykstra's trip from tobacco-chewing, uniform-dirtying center fielder into a modern day J.P. Morgan. His investment advice was lauded by Jim Cramer, hyped by HBO and turned Dykstra into a bizarre cottage industry.

And then, as with everything else from the halcyon financial days of the middle of the last decade, it all came crashing down. Dykstra filed for bankruptcy, lost his mansion to creditors and sold his World Series ring at auction. In the process, Dykstra became a punchline to everyone who scratched their head about his previous status.

You can't keep Nails down, though. He's back and selling investment advice to anyone looking to make a quick buck in the stock market at a new Web site called Nails Investments.

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Blessing in Disguise? Mariners Not Sweating Injury to Cliff Lee

John Hickey — 2010-02-09T14:39:00+00:00

Filed under: Mariners, MLB Injuries, Spring Training

It's not like the Seattle Mariners are unconcerned that their biggest offseason addition, former Cy Young Award-winning starter Cliff Lee, had foot surgery Friday, just two weeks before pitchers and catchers report.

They're just not going to make themselves crazy over the removal of a floating bone spur in Lee's left foot.

Manager Don Wakamatsu, for one, had been trying to figure out with pitching coach Rick Adair how they should approach the spring workload for Lee, who pitched a monstrous 272 innings last year when you combine the regular season and postseason.

Conclusion No. 1: If this injury, which the medics say is minor, knocks a few innings off Lee's spring tab, then the surgery could actually turn out being a good thing. Conclusion No. 2: Lee's still expected to be ready for his regular season pairing with Felix Hernandez atop the Seattle rotation.

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Comeback Kids, Vets Seek Redemption

Jeff Fletcher — 2010-02-09T12:00:00+00:00

What to do now that the Super Bowl is over and spring training still hasn't arrived? Here at MLB FanHouse, we Mind the Gap.

In 2008 Brandon Webb led the majors in victories, and finished in the top two in the Cy Young voting for the third consecutive season. Last year he lasted a total of four innings on Opening Day before suffering a shoulder injury that ended up costing him the entire season.

It's a safe bet to say that no one in the big leagues saw his career take a steeper drop in 2009 than Webb, which is why Webb heads the list of potential comeback stories in 2010.

Every year there are dozens of players looking to rebound from injuries or simply bad seasons. What follows is a list of the most intriguing such players heading into spring training. All of these guys have been premium players within the past few years, and all of them are vital to the success of their teams.

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Homer-Starved Mets Lower Center Field Wall at Citi Field

Pat Lackey — 2010-02-09T11:50:00+00:00

Filed under: Mets, NL East

The Mets announced today that they will reduce the height of Citi Field's center field wall prior to the 2010 season. Ostensibly, the reason for the 16-foot to 8-foot reduction is to help make up for the Mets massive power outage in Cit Field's first season, which saw the team drop from 172 homers in 2008 to just 95 in 2009.

As Matt Cerrone points out at Metsblog, though, things aren't that cut and dried for the Mets. The team actually hit more homers at home than on the road and David Wright, who saw his home run total drop from 33 to 10 last season, hits the majority of his homers to left and left-center field where the walls will remain 12-15 feet high. New left fielder Jason Bay has decent power to all fields, but his big jump in home runs in 2009 (he hit a career high 36 after hitting 31 in 2008 and 21 in 2007) was mostly attributable to Fenway Park's Green Monster-created short left field porch.

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No Extensions for Jeter, Rivera or Girardi

Tom Fornelli — 2010-02-09T11:50:00+00:00

Filed under: Yankees, AL East, MLB Rumors

The New York Yankees are coming off a season in which they won 103 games in the regular season, and capped it off with the 27th World Series title in franchise history. Normally that's a recipe that leads to a whole lot of contract extensions, and with three key components like Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and Joe Girardi all in the final year of their contracts, you'd expect all three to sign new deals shortly.

They won't be.

According to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, all three will have to play out the final year of their deal before the team sits down to talk.

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Reclamation Projects Zito, Lidge Among NL X-Factors

John Hickey — 2010-02-08T19:30:00+00:00

Filed under: NL Central, NL East, NL West

What to do now that the Super Bowl is over and spring training still hasn't arrived? Here at MLB FanHouse, we Mind the Gap.

Once, when Tony La Russa was managing the Oakland A's in the early 1990s, he said that if he had a team of nine Mike Bordicks, his teams would make the playoffs every year.

He was trying to explain how much he valued Bordick, but in that one sentence, La Russa, now the Cardinals' manager, summed up what winning baseball is all about.

Bordick, primarily a shortstop in his 14 years in the big leagues, was an All-Star once, in 2000 as an Oriole. He got one -- count it -- MVP vote in 1992 with the A's during his only .300 season.

What Bordick brought to the table was incredible defense and knowledge of the game that that limited his mistakes in all phases of the game to an absolute minimum. He once went 110 games at shortstop without making an error. Those qualities made everybody around him a better player.

As we look toward the opening of spring training camps in Florida and Arizona in the next week or so, we here at FanHouse were wondering just who the difference-makers are -- players who, though not superstars, can, if they reach a certain level of Bordick-ness, positively influence the pennant race.

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Cliff Lee Had Foot Surgery Friday

Matt Snyder — 2010-02-08T19:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Mariners, AL West, MLB Injuries

The Seattle Mariners announced that newly acquired starting pitcher Cliff Lee underwent minor surgery on his left foot this past Friday. Lee needed the surgery to remove a floating bone spur in his foot that had recently broken loose from its attachment.

"We decided Lee should have the surgery as soon as possible, rather than try to pitch with the discomfort during the year," Mariners executive vice president and general manager Jack Zduriencik said. "To get it out of the way and have it behind us is important."

Lee won't need a cast or even to stay off his feet. He will continue his upper body exercises while being able to bear weight on the foot for the next 7-10 days. Then, over the next 2-3 weeks, Lee will gradually return to his normal baseball activities. With pitchers and catchers reporting to camp in just over a week, it appears Lee will be a bit behind the normal schedule for starting pitchers.

The Mariners have given no timetable for his return, but it's entirely possible Lee is forced to miss one or two starts as he's working himself back into shape. Considering the alternatives -- Lee pitching in pain all season or being forced to miss time early on in te season -- this seems to be the correct decision.

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Harden, Liriano Headline AL X-Factors

John Hickey — 2010-02-08T19:00:00+00:00

Filed under: AL Central, AL East, AL West

What to do now that the Super Bowl is over and spring training still hasn't arrived? Here at MLB FanHouse, we Mind the Gap.

Even the dumbest baseball fan will be able to tell you that the Cardinals won't get too far if Albert Pujols doesn't have a big year, that the Yankees will struggle if Marino Rivera isn't Mr. Automatic out of the 'pen and that the Mariners won't really be the Mariners if Ichiro isn't relentlessly pounding out his standard 200-plus hits in 2010.

As good as these players are, however, each is simply one of 25. Without the other 24 to fall back on, these stars have about as good a chance of winning the World Series come October as you or I do of winning the lottery.

Perhaps more than any other sport, baseball is a team game. Quarterbacks have carried teams to the Super Bowl. Once-in-a-generation players (i.e., Michael Jordan) have strapped teams on their backs to carry them to NBA titles.

But in baseball the list of stars who never made the it to the World Series is substantial. Hall of Famer Ernie Banks is the standard-bearer thanks to the Cubs. The men with the fifth- and sixth-best homer totals, Ken Griffey Jr. and Sammy Sosa, never made it. Don Mattingly was Donnie Baseball for a decade-plus with Yankee fans, but he never tasted the Fall Classic either.

And why? It's simple, really. Even in their best years, they needed more help from their teammates than they wound up receiving.

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Bud Selig to Be Honored With Statue at Miller Park

Tom Fornelli — 2010-02-08T12:56:00+00:00

Filed under: Brewers, NL Central

The Milwaukee Brewers announced on Monday that they will be honoring the team's former owner and present Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig with a statue that will be displayed at Miller Park's Home Plate Plaza. The Selig statue will join current statues of Milwaukee greats Robin Yount and Hank Aaron, both of whom have been there since Miller Park opened in 2001.

"We are proud to honor dommissioner Selig for all of his efforts on behalf of the Milwaukee Brewers and Major League Baseball," said Brewers Owner Mark Attanasio in a statement. "The Brewers and Miller Park are in this city because of the dommissioner's vision and dedicated efforts. Just as importantly, he has remained a prominent and highly philanthropic member of our community while effectively leading Major League Baseball during his tenure as baseball's top executive."

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Chicago Cubs to Build All-Inclusive Club at Wrigley Field

Tom Fornelli — 2010-02-08T11:47:00+00:00

Filed under: Cubs, NL Central, MLB Biz

When Tom Ricketts bought the Chicago Cubs from the Tribune Company for around $740 million last October, it wasn't just the team he was buying. He also got Wrigley Field in the deal. Wrigley may be an icon in and of itself, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of areas in which the 96-year old stadium could use an upgrade.

Ricketts has plenty of plans to improve the park, but up first he'd like to make some changes to the luxury suites. While he's renovating two of the luxury boxes in the park into one large ownership suite, there are also plans to build an all-inclusive club for season-ticket holders.

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Erik Bedard Re-Signs With Mariners

John Hickey — 2010-02-06T14:59:00+00:00

Filed under: Mariners, MLB Free Agency

Erik Bedard may pitch again in May. Or maybe in July. Either way, when he does pitch, it will be again for the Seattle Mariners, and he'll have a chance to make as much money in 2010 as he did in either of his first two seasons with the Mariners.

Not bad for someone who has had two injury-plagued seasons in the Northwest and who had labrum surgery on his left shoulder on Aug. 14 after not having pitched following a here-inning stint on July 25.

The left-hander gets a $1.5 million base and could make as much as an addition $6 million in incentives. In addition, there is an mutual option for the 2011 season starting at $8 million. Bedard made $7.75 million last year.

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BaseCast: Winter Wonderland

Andrew Johnson — 2010-02-05T18:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Padres, Tigers, Twins, BaseCast, MLB Hot Stove

It's a baseball podcast. The math is easy, right? BaseCast.

Spring training is just around the corner, but there are still plenty of loose ends to tie up.

On this edition, FanHouse's Ed Price joins me to discuss Justin Verlander's new extension, Joe Mauer's pursuit of his own, the growing signs that the Padres will trade Adrian Gonzalez and much more.

Listen in below.

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Tim Lincecum Isn't Angry With Giants

Jeff Fletcher — 2010-02-05T16:01:00+00:00

Filed under: Giants, Sports Business and Media

SAN FRANCISCO -- If Tim Lincecum is really angry at the Giants for the way they've handled his contract, he at least knows better than to say so publicly.

Given the opportunity to respond to a report that he was upset with the lack of a deal as he comes closer to a potential arbitration hearing, Lincecum said all the right things.

"I try not to have any ill feelings about anything," Lincecum told reporters in a media session at AT&T Park on Friday afternoon. "I just try to come out here and the whole purpose is to help the team win. It's not about a grudge match."

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Orlando Hudson Nearing Deal With Twins

Pat Lackey — 2010-02-04T19:47:00+00:00

Filed under: Twins, AL Central, MLB Free Agency

Orlando Hudson is nearing a contract with the Minnesota Twins, reports indicate. The deal would be for one year and worth $5 million. Several other teams were interested in Hudson's services, but the Twins offered a deal that was both close to what he made with the Los Angeles Dodgers (after incentives he made around $7 million last year) and a chance to contend, which was apparently more than any other team had to offer.

Hudson shores up the one big remaining hole in Minnesota's lineup, as he'll take over the starting job at second base from Nick Punto. With the Dodgers last year, Hudson hit .283/.357/.417 with nine homers while Punto hit .228/.337/.284. Punto has 12 career home runs. Hudson may have slumped down the stretch with the Dodgers last year and lost his starting job to Ronnie Belliard, but he still represents an upgrade at the plate over Punto.

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Baseball's Not So Average Joes

Matt Snyder — 2010-02-04T16:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Braves, Cardinals, Indians, Mariners, Marlins, Orioles, Padres, Rockies, Twins, MLB Fans

From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday.

While they have a pretty solid franchise in place and several other stars (including former MVP Justin Morneau), Joe Mauer is the Minnesota Twins. He was born in St. Paul, Minn. His senior year, he was selected by USA Today as the National Player of the Year in both baseball and football for Cretin-Derham Hall High School (St. Paul), in addition to being an All-State basketball player. Then, in the 2001 MLB draft, Mauer was picked first overall by his hometown Twins over more ballyhooed prospects Mark Prior and Mark Teixeira.

It didn't take long for Mauer to reach the majors. He hit .308 in 2004 as a 21-year-old rookie. Since then, he's made three All-Star appearances and won two Gold Gloves and three Silver Sluggers all while racking up a .327 career batting average and .408 on-base percentage. He can run, handle the pitching staff and has added power to his repertoire. In 2009, he won his first AL MVP. And he's still only 26.

Simply put, Minnesota's favorite son is well on his way to a Hall of Fame career. What a shame it would be if he played part of it away from the Twin Cities, a possibility with free agency on the horizon. He's only under contract through 2010 and if the Twins can't lock him up long term before he hits the open market, they'll likely be buried in the bidding process by the Yankees or another large-market team.

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Quick-Healing Erik Bedard Could Return to Mariners

John Hickey — 2010-02-04T13:37:00+00:00

Filed under: Mariners, MLB Rumors, MLB Hot Stove, MLB Free Agency

Even after trading for Cliff Lee, the Mariners have been talking about the need for adding another veteran starter.

And while much of the conversation has been about one former Mariner, lefty Jarrod Washburn, talk apparently is heating up that another former Mariner lefty, Erik Bedard, is on the Seattle radar screen.

Bedard would not be a quick fix. He had labrum surgery on his left shoulder on Aug. 14, and the general assumption is that he would be back in July or August, a blog item by MLB.com's Jim Street says that Bedard could be heading back to Seattle with a low-base, high-incentive contract.

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Grady Sizemore Regrets Nude Photo Flap

Josh Alper — 2010-02-04T12:00:00+00:00

Filed under: Indians, AL Central

Cleveland Indians outfielder Grady Sizemore took the stage at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards on Wednesday night with all of his clothes on. It's one of his first public appearances since nude photos of him surfaced around the Internet in November and he discussed their release with the crowd. His main message was that he regretted that the photos came to light.

And, just so we're clear, Sizemore's regret has nothing to do with the way he or any of his body parts looked in the naked photos. He remains steadfast in the claim that the photos were stolen from his girlfriend's e-mail account and disseminated without either of their permission.

"It's tough," he said. "This is a situation where it's a private matter and personal photos were stolen illegally. I've always tried to represent myself and the Cleveland organization as best as possible and to put everybody through this is a terrible feeling and I apologize to everybody."

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The 'Ramirez Provision' Is No More

Tom Fornelli — 2010-02-03T23:38:00+00:00

Filed under: Dodgers, MLB Biz

Last March when Manny Ramirez signed a two-year $45 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, there was a provision placed in the deal that required Ramirez to donate $1 million of his salary to Dodgers team charities. Team owner Frank McCourt then said that he was going to implement this "Ramirez Provision" into all future Dodgers' contracts that would require players to make a donation of their choice to the charity.

The player's union did not like this, and filed a grievance against the Dodgers and 21 other teams who had similar provisions in contracts with 109 players. On Wednesday Major League Baseball ruled that these types of clauses would no longer be allowed, though there are still a few instances in which players can make the donations.

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Report: Verlander Agrees to $80M Extension With Tigers

Pat Lackey — 2010-02-03T20:57:00+00:00

Filed under: Tigers, AL Central

The Tigers and Justin Verlander have agreed to a five-year, $80 million extension, a source told the Associated Press. Though not officially announced, the deal is expected to be completed before the end of the week. The deal both avoids arbitration and keeps Verlander in Detroit three years into his free agency.

While the extension was being negotiated, it was expected that Verlander would use Felix Hernandez's five-year, $78 million contract as a template for what he wanted from Detroit. In the end, the Tigers went beyond the deal Seattle gave to Hernandez by $2 million to lock their ace up long-term.

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