Kansas City Royals Send Victor Marte to Cardinals
in Minor Trade

post from Royals Review on 13 April 2011 07:02:07 PM. © Royals Review

Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Victor Marte wipes his forehead during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Monday, July 26, 2010 in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

The Royals have traded minor league relief pitcher Victor Marte to the Cardinals for the always fun "future considerations." An elaborate document is being produced by a team of Cardinals calligraphers as we speak, to be delivered by courier to Kansas City by the week's end. Oh, the Cardinals owe the Royals for this one, they owe them big. And at some moment in the future, when they are especially vulnerable, Kansas City is going to call this favor in, nineteenth century drama style. Your past will always come back to find you, Mr. Chiltern.

Marte has been terrible in his brief appearances at the Major League level, including a 9.76 ERA in 22 games last season. Though he was 3-0 somehow, which earned him a down ballot Cy Young vote from Murray Chass.

The curious thing is, however, that Marte posted some decent numbers in the advanced minors. Nothing spectacular, mind you, but definitely not anything that would suggest that he's going to be a flaming ball of garbage at the Major League level. It seemed a little curious that he didn't make the bullpen last year, for example.

Anyway, he's a (organizational) Cardinal now, showered in the love of the Best Fans in Baseball.

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Bonds Somewhat Guilty. Does It Really Matter

post from Royals Review on 13 April 2011 07:02:07 PM. © Royals Review

Fans react to the Bonds verdict.

A couple of other websites I write for were wanting people to cover the Bonds verdict. I just can't get into it. The main charges were if he lied under oath. I just just don't give a rat's ass about subjects on player's personal lives. Tiger's whole break up with his wife wasted a ton broadcast time on real sports that could have been covered. I watch and follow sports for the games, not figuring out who is sleeping with who or who lied at some point. If I was that into gossip or other useless information, I would watch Entertainment Tonight.

Did the trial results matter at all for anything baseball related? The main item for discussion still is if Bonds would get into the Hall of Fame. If he was guilty or innocent, would it really change a voter's opinion of their view of him. They were either not going to vote for him because of the steroids or just didn't care that he took them. I think most people's minds have been made up for years now on players that used steroids, especially when it comes to the Hall of Fame.

The verdict will get plenty of press in the next few days, but I would love to see if anyone actually asks what changes now. In my opinion, not a damn thing changes except that maybe, just maybe, the steroid issue will start coming to an end.

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y-matter

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2011 Rockies Game #10: Esmil Rogers vs. Jonathon
Niese

post from Purple Row on 13 April 2011 07:02:06 PM. © Purple Row

PITTSBURGH - APRIL 07: Esmil Rogers #48 of the Colorado Rockies pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the Opening Day game on April 7, 2011 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Wednesday night's contest at Citi-Field features a couple of late blooming RHP's squaring off against each other. For the Rockies, Esmil Rogers continues his quest to wallypipp Aaron Cook out of a role in the rotation. Rogers initially entered the Rockies system as a shortstop, and while he took quickly to pitching upon conversion to the mound, we are really just beginning to see what he could be at the top of his potential.

Niese is a Mets pitcher blah, blah.

Esmil Rogers

#48 / Pitcher / Colorado Rockies

Height: 6-1

Weight: 190

Bats: R

Throws: R

Born: Aug 14, 1985

vs.

Jon Niese

#49 / Pitcher / New York Mets

Height: 6-4

Weight: 215

Bats: L

Throws: L

Born: Oct 27, 1986

GO ROCKIES!

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http://www.purplerow.com/2011/4/13/2106450/2011-rockies-game-11-esmil-rogers-vs-r
-a-dickey

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Open Thread and Ichthyomancy: Marlins at Braves
(4/13)

post from Fish Stripes on 13 April 2011 07:02:04 PM. © Fish Stripes

Next Game

Florida Marlins
@ Atlanta Braves

Wednesday, Apr 13, 2011, 7:10 PM EDT
Turner Field

Josh Johnson vs Tim Hudson

Clear. Winds blowing in from left field at 10-15 m.p.h. Game time temperature around 70.

Complete Coverage >

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2011 - Josh Johnson1-022000012.27531292.13.71

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP 2011 - Tim Hudson2-022000014.211430171.84.82

The Marlins are looking to even the series and break a six-game losing streak at Turner Field.

On the hill for the Marlins is Josh Johnson. JJ didn't appear to be quite as sharp in his last start, but who could really tell with the defense booting the ball all around the park. JJ never got into his rhythm but that wasn't his fault. Hopefully, the guys in the field will do their job tonight and the team can get JJ deep into the game. He has made six starts in Turner Field sporting a 1.76 ERA in the venue.

The Braves will send Tim Hudson to the mound. After the first two innings of the season, Hudson has been brilliant thus far. Hudson throws every pitch known to man with the exception of a knuckle ball. No Marlin on the present roster has ever hit a home run off Hudson. Now, if you are thinking to yourself, but wait, I've seen him give up home runs to the Fish. You're right, but that guy now plays on the opposing team.

The Marlins haven't scored in 17 straight innings, so Edwin made some changes to the batting order.

From Joe Capozzi

Logan Morrison moves from six to five, swapping spots with Gaby Sanchez. John Buck drops to eighth. Gregg Dobbs starts at third and hit seventh.

Starting lineups
MARLINS
CF Chris Coghlan
2B Omar Infante
SS Hanley Ramirez
RF Mike Stanton
LF Logan Morrison
1B Gaby Sanchez
3B Greg Dobbs
C John Buck
RHP Josh Johnson

I don't think that is going to help very much. On base percentage in parenthesis.

Coghlan (.292)
Infante (.304)
Ramirez (.250)
Stanton (.444)
Morrison (.457)
Sanchez (.422)
Dobbs (.500)
Buck (.231)

Can you see the problem? Now, it's early yet and all of those will change but moving Gaby down isn't normally what one would do to score more runs. Heck, both, Gaby and LoMo are too far down in the order. Oh well, they didn't ask me.

This should be a very quick game while the starting pitchers are in. Both work fast from the mound and allow few runs.

Ichthyomancy is wanting a win.

Best of Luck to You!

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http://www.fishstripes.com/2011/4/13/2109440/open-thread-and-ichthyomancy-marlins
-at-braves-4-13

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Open Thread 4/13: Marlins vs. Braves

post from Talking Chop on 13 April 2011 07:02:04 PM. © Talking Chop

The Marlins Josh Johnson (1-0, 2.13 ERA) faces off against Atlanta's Tim Hudson (2-0, 1.84) in what looks to be a fantastic pitching match-up. First pitch is at 7:10 ET.

Lineup:

Martin Prado-LF

Nate McLouth-CF

Chipper Jones-3B

Brian McCann-C

Dan Uggla-2B

Jason Heyward-RF

Alex Gonzalez-SS

Freddie Freeman-1B

Tim Hudson-P

Hopefully Atlanta can put together back-to-back wins and knock off the Marlins ace. Don't forget, Chipper enters tonight one RBI away from 1,500 for his career. Go Braves!

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http://www.talkingchop.com/2011/4/13/2109474/open-thread-4-13-marlins-vs-braves

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Houston Astros Weekly Stock Watch

post from The Crawfish Boxes on 13 April 2011 07:02:04 PM. © The Crawfish Boxes

HOUSTON - APRIL 12: Angel Sanchez #36 is forced out at second base as shortstop Starlin Castro #13 of the Chicago Cubs avoids the slide at Minute Maid Park on April 12, 2011 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

You'll have to wait a day for Players of the Week, but for now, let's look at how different players are trending in the past week.

Angel Sanchez, blistering: Has there been anyone hotter than Sanchez, while simultaneously producing absolutely no power? In his current four-game hitting streak, he's got three multi-hit games. He's gone 10 for 19 in that time with two doubles, a home run and five RBIs. He's only walked once in that streak, but has only struck out twice. We can't make any definitive conclusions on defense, but we can say that Sanchez has provided the most fWAR on the team through the season's first week and a half. That's also a team that's collected the seventh-most fWAR in the entire majors to this point. Let that sink in for a minute.

Hunter Pence, hotter than hot: Only a notch below Sanchez on the Blister-O-Meter, Pence has been very, very good at the plate in the past five games. He's gone 9 for 23 in that time with three doubles and seven RBIs. He has struck out four times and walked only once, which lowers him past Sanchez, but he's having a very strong start to the season. Pence's line of .326/.367/.478 is about 100 points higher than his line in April 2010 of .232/.250/.329, so there's hope he's finally tapping into a "breakout season."

Carlos Lee, who the heck knows?: What is El Bufalo doing? He hits triples, he hits into double plays, he drives in runs and he goes 1 for 5. His numbers have taken a nose dive of late and Nelson Figueroa actually has more batting fWAR than he does right now. I'm pretty sure he's in a slump, but he might hit for the cycle tonight, just to disprove me.

Brett Myers, blue chip status: I mentioned this in the recap last night, but it's worth reiterating with facts. Since the start of the 2010 season, there are only 12 pitchers who have a higher fWAR total than Brett Myers. Of those, Adam Wainright is injured and Ubaldo Jimenez has dramatically regressed. Myers may have the lowest strikeout rate in that group, but he definitely deserves to be there and, so far, has performed like a legitimate No. 1 starter for this team.

The bullpen, rebounding slightly: That's what a nice game against the Cubs on Monday and a couple solid innings on Tuesday will do for your standing here. The bullpen as a whole has still been pretty streaky, just as you'd expect from a young group. But, they have showed some promise. Mark Melancon and Wilton Lopez continue to be solid options while Enerio Del Rosario has been effective. Overall, not as solid yet as last year's group, but not bad.

Aneury Rodriguez, struggling badly: On the other hand, Rule 5 pick Aneury Rodriguez has struggled quite a bit this season. He's thrown in five games, but only has one strikeout in 3 1/3 innings. He's also walked three and hit a batter, forcing his suspension for three games. Conroestro asked the question of whether the Astros should keep him around. The question you should really be asking is who'd be better? The Astros already have a solid late inning group of Lopez, Lyon and Melancon. So who fits that long relief role? Hyphen? I'd rather have Aneury's upside, even if he has a brutal year this season. Remember, Johan Santana had a 6.49 ERA for the Twins after he was plucked via the Rule 5 draft. Patience, my friends, is a virtue.

J.R. Towles, volatile: He's been good when given a chance, but this playing time seems to be coming in chunks rather than a set rotation. Is it better for a catcher to have two straight games in the lineup and then two days off? Or alternating starts and sits? Either way, there doesn't seem to be a set pattern yet, other than Q catching Myers and Towles catching Wandy.

Bill Hall, slowly rising: Boy, talk about your bad start to a new team. Hall has been pretty terrible at the plate, striking out a ton without offering much else. He's flashed excellent range at second though. I had forgotten what having a second baseman like that could be like. To show you how unimpressive some hitting streaks can be, Hall is currently riding a 7-game streak. In only one of those games did he collect more than one hit and he has just three extra-base hits in that span. It has raised his average from .105/.105/.158 to .231/.268/.410, which is a pretty substantial improvement.

Chris Johnson, bottoming out: CJ and April just don't get along. He's in the midst of a 2 for 15 slump and hasn't shown much power. His detractors will jump on that to say he was a flash in the pan, but I just think he's a slow starter. Give him time and he'll be giving us a Laser Show once again.

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http://www.crawfishboxes.com/2011/4/13/2108263/houston-astros-weekly-stock-watch

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Mets push back RHP Youngs next start (AP)

Mets pitcher Chris Young has soreness in his surgically repaired arm and his next scheduled start has been pushed back two days until Sunday. New York plans to bring D.J. Carrasco out of the bullpen for a spot start in Atlanta on Friday night, when Young originally was slated to pitch. The Mets say Young [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/04/13/mets-push-back-rhp-youngs-next-start-ap/

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Bonds guilty of obstruction of justice (AP)

A federal jury convicted Barry Bonds of a single charge of obstruction of justice Wednesday but failed to reach a verdict on the three counts at the heart of allegations that he knowingly used steroids and human growth hormone and lied to a grand jury about it. Following a 12-day trial and almost four full [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/04/13/bonds-guilty-of-obstruction-of-justice-ap/

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Tigers top Rangers in last at-bat again (AP)

Brandon Inge rounded third base, tossed his helmet joyfully in the air and then did a little spin as he jumped into a big group of teammates at the plate. After a shaky start the season, the Detroit Tigers finally won a series — and against the defending American League champions. Inge hit a solo [...]

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http://www.mlbnewsblog.com/2011/04/13/tigers-top-rangers-in-last-at-bat-again-ap/

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Game #12: Orioles at Yankees

Yankees (5-4) vs. Orioles (6-3) Pitching Matchup: RHP A.J. Burnett (2-0, 4.09) vs RHP Chris Tillman (0-0, 3.38) Yankees Lineup Gardner LF Jeter SS Teixeira 1B Rodriguez 3B Cano 2B Swisher RF Posada DH Granderson CF Martin C The game will take place at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. It?s scheduled to start at 7:05p.m. ET. The game [...]

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http://zellspinstripeblog.com/2011/04/13/game-1-orioles-at-yankees/

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