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Well I haven't posted in over a month but I think it's a good time to start now. Not many people in Raleigh, NC care about the pennant race or baseball in general but I haven't lost my passion for the game. A week after I was here I purchased the MLB Extra Innings package to keep in the loop and watch all the teams in the pennant race.
The Rays are starting to fade as we approve the end of the season. Do they have enough to survive and get into the playoffs? They lost Monday night to Jon Lester and the Red Sox and only half a game ahead of the Sox in the AL East. Tonight Scott Kazmir pitches against Dice-K so the losing streak could continue for Tampa Bay. Evan Longoria is expected to return to the lineup on Friday so that will help the offense, and the team is still expecting prospect David Price to join the team at the end of the month to replace Edwin Jackson or Andy Sonnanstine in the rotation. Price has been impressive in his brief professional career but has struggled since being promoted to Triple-A Durham. Everybody in Triple-A has ability to play in the big leagues so Price is starting to see major league caliber players.
Let me be the first to say I was COMPLETELY wrong about Carlos Delgado. When he was batting .160 in April, I was one of the first to say he was done in the major leagues. I was planning to sign him to my softball team. Now Delgado is in the running for the NL MVP , especially if the Mets hold-off the Phillies and make the playoffs.
The Mets open a two-game series against the Nationals, so they need to defeat teams with losing records if they are going to get in. The Phillies defeated the Marlins on Monday night to strink the gab to 1 1/2 games in the NL East, but the two don't play again this season so the Phillies have to rely on other teams to defeat the Mets.
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I must apologize to my regular readers because I haven't posted a blog in over a week. I have been transitioning to a new job and a new location. I went from the crowded, high priced world of Connecticut to laid back Raleigh, North Carolina. It's only been three days so I'm still trying to get adjusted. Since the last time I posted the Mets have won nine straight games going into tonight against the Reds, the Rays lost seven straight and the lead in the AL East to the Red Sox and the All-Star Game went 15 innings and once again the American League wins the mid-summer classic, 4-3. For six months there is something always happening in the baseball world. Now the storylines will thicken as today starts the beginning of the second half. We are in for another great season of baseball.
Will the Young Rays Have Enough Gas to Win the AL East or Wild Card?
Like I mentioned before the Rays have lost seven straight and it looks like fatigue is starting to settle into the young team. They open the second half Friday night against the struggling Blue Jays.
Who Will Win The NL Central?
The Brewers and Cubs made blockbuster trades to help their pitching staffs. The Brewers acquired C.C. Sabathia and the Cubs acquired Rich Harden. Despite the injuries the Cardinals are still the leaders in the Wild Card race by a half a game and are expected to get Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter back from injuries in the next few months. This could be a three-team race down the stretch.
Will the Winner of the NL West be Above .500?
After the first month of the season the Diamondbacks looked like they were going to runaway with the division, but since then they have hit a road block. They are one game under .500 and only have a one game lead over the Dodgers. Both teams should be shopping the trading block if they are going to do anything this postseason.
Who will be the Next Big Name Traded Before the Deadline?
A.J. Burnett, Mark Teixeira, Joe Blanton, Xavier Nady, Bronson Arroyo, Adam Dunn, Matt Holliday are just a few names being shopped around before the trade deadline. According to Baseball Prospectus, the Twins and Cardinals are interested in A.J. Burnett. The Philadelphia Enquirer is reporting the Phillies are interested in Joe Blanton and also according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the Pirates have a high price tag on Xavier Nady but the Mets, Rays, Yankees and Braves are still interested. Teixeira will not be traded if the Braves are still in the race. They are currently 6 1/2 games behind the Phillies.
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Newly aquired pitcher C.C. Sabathia won in his debut with the Brewers Tuesday night against the Rockies. He allowed three runs (2 earned) in six innings and struck out five. The bullpen allowed no runs and only one hit to secure the victory for Sabathia.
This trade is really going to solidify the starting rotation for the Brewers. If Ben Sheets can stay healthy it's going to be difficult for teams to defeat the Brewers in a five-game playoff series if they have to matchup against Sheets and Sabathia in the first two games. The Brewers have the third best record in the National League but the problem is that the two teams ahead of them are in their division (Cubs and Cardinals). They are only 1/2 game behind the Cardinals for the Wild Card so this was a smart move landing Sabathia. It shows management wants to win now instead of worrying about trading future prospects and they didn't wait until the deadline. Now Sabathia will have a few more starts to help Brewers compared to if they made this trade on July 31st.
Cubs and Athletics completed a six-player deal Tuesday that sent pitchers Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin to the Cubs for pitcher Sean Gallagher, outfielder Matt Murton and minor leaguers Eric Patterson and Josh Donaldson.
Rich Harden is 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA in 13 starts this season. He is only 29-years-old but has been on the DL six times since 2005, including one month this season from April 10-May 11 because of a strained right shoulder. He is very talented and is dominating at times. He showed that In his first start this season in Japan against the Red Sox.where he allowed one run on three hits in 6 innings and then faced them again in his next start and gave up no runs in five innings pitched. The best team in the National League improved with this trade but the concern is if he can stay healthy. Cubs fans will have to hold their breathe everytime he takes the mound because you never know what could happen. If I was a general manager I would build my pitching staff around Harden but I wouldn't trust him making it through the season.
He is expected to make his Cubs debut Saturday against the Giants. Harden was 3-0 with a 0.68 ERA against the National League this season.
Gallagher was 3-4 with a 4.45 ERA in 12 appearances, including 10 starts. He is expected to join the A's rotation. Murton has a career .294 average in 308 big league games but was the odd man out when in the crowded outfielder after they signed Kusuke Fukudome. Patterson has played at second base and the outfielder for Triple-A and was called up to the big leagues earlier this season.
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This afternoon the rosters were announced for the midsummer classic and for the first time in a long time the voting wasn't based on a popularity contest. Each player selected to start, with the exception of Cubs outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, deserves to represent their leagues. Fukudome is only batting .287 with seven home runs and 35 RBIs so he shouldn't be on the National League roster.
Astros shortstop Miguel Tejada and Pirates outfielder Nate McLouth are two others players selected but have struggled since the end of May and probably should be left off the roster. After a fast start to the season, both Tejada and McLouth are batting under .220 McLouth since May 31. McLouth is the lone representative for the Pirates so I would add Xavier Nady (.321 BA, 12 HR, 53 RBI) to the roster and add Cubs shortstop Ryan Theriot (.313 BA, 23 RBI) to replace Tejada
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The baseball season is now three months complete so here are the Baseballer.com awards through the month of June. These awards are based on if the regular season was completed on Monday.
PLAYOFF TEAMS
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Interleague play has come to a close for another season, with the exception of a July 10 makeup game between the Yankees and Pirates, and once again the American League dominated. They won over 140 games against the National League.
The overcome of the last few weeks and the one interleague series in May should be how they determine homefield advantage in the World Series. They constantly promote how the All-Star Game counts now but everybody knows the 64 participants in the All-Star Game take it as serious as a game in mid-March
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On Thursday pitcher Shawn Chacon was put on waivers and will be released, without pay, if not signed by another team. This comes after Chacon was suspended indefinitely by the team, possibly stemming from an altercation he had with general manager Ed Wade.
According to multiple sources, Wade and manager Cecil Cooper attempted to meet with Chacon before the game to discuss the decision the organization made at the beginning of the week to move Chacon to the bullpen. The conversation turned into a heated argument and scuffle between Chacon and Wade. Chacon told the Houston Chronicle that he threw Wade to the ground
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Orioles continue to have a difficult time replacing Miguel Tejada. Sunday the Orioles designated the struggling Freddie Bynum for assignment. Bynum was batting .192 with five RBIs in 99 at-bats.
Orioles manager Dave Trembley has started five players at shortstop and will now turn to Alex Cintron. Trembley and president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said they are planning to upgrade at the position very quickly
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If general managers were planning to fire their managers this was the week to do it. Three managers were given their pink slips this week. John Gibbons of the Blue Jays was the most recent culprit when he was fired Friday and replaced with former Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston.
This will be Gaston's third stint with the organization after managing the Blue Jays to World Series championships in 1992 and 1993. He returned to the team in 2000 to become the team's hitting coach after being fired in 1997 and held the position for two seasons. Gaston has been out of baseball since then but has returned to the Blue Jays Spring Training as a guest coach.
Gaston will have his hands full as the Blue Jays have lost six straight games, including Friday's 1-0 defeat to the Pirates. They have compiled a 4-14 record in the last 18 games and are currently last in the AL East. The inconsistent offense has been the reason for the poor June record. They are ranked last or close to the bottom in all hitting categories in the American League. Gaston is the right person for the job because of his expertise in hitting.
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If any team is playing their way out of the playoff race it's the Astros. They have lost 16 of the last 19, including their seventh straight game Wednesday night when they lost 2-1 to the Orioles.
Pitching has been the primary reason for the losing streak. They have allowed 6-plus runs in five of the last seven games. The only bright spot has been Lance Berkman. He hit his 20th home run Wednesday night and is batting .362 with 58 RBIs. He is carrying this team on his back. This is the time the Astros need to turn the season around because the Cardinals don't have Albert Pujols and the Cubs are without Alfonso Soriano
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The Mets open a two-game series against the Nationals, so they need to defeat teams with losing records if they are going to get in. The Phillies defeated the Marlins on Monday night to strink the gab to 1 1/2 games in the NL East, but the two don't play again this season so the Phillies have to rely on other teams to defeat the Mets. 
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