Line of the Day: Jeff Niemann: July 29th, 2011

post from COSFBA on 31 July 2011 11:53:00 PM. © COSFBA

Jeff Niemann of the Tampa Bay Rays allowed just three hits and struck out a career-high 11 in 6 2/3 innings in a 8-0 victory over the Seattle Mariners. (video recap)

Line: 6.2 IP | 3 H | 0 ER | 3 BB | 11 K; W | QS(box score)
My fantasy perspective: In 13 starts this season, Niemann is 5-4 with a 3.51 ERA, a 7.0 K/9 ratio and career-low 2.3 BB/9. Since returning from a DL stint in late-June, he is 4-0 with a 1.88 ERA. Over his last three starts he has a 0.87 ERA.

A deeper look into his numbers show a FIP of 3.58 and an xFIP of 3.68, validating what you see is what you get. Plus his 18.2 K% and 6.0% have led to a career-best 3.05 K/BB ratio. Even a .291 BABIP and 73.4 LOB% show he's putting up legit numbers. Not bad for a number four starter.

Question: Is Niemann trade bait or part of the long-term plans for the Rays' rotation?

Agree? Disagree? Check out ESPN's formula for determining the best daily performances and nominate your own Line of the Day player using the comments section or hitting me up on Twitter.

Be sure to check out the past winners of COSFBA's Line of the Day awards and subscribe to its feed, too.

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y-29th-2011.html

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Rockies Lose 15th Straight Sunday Game, 8-3 to
Padres

post from Purple Row on 31 July 2011 11:01:27 PM. © Purple Row

SAN DIEGO, CA - JULY 31: Kyle Blanks #88 of the San Diego Padres beats the throw sliding into third base during the eighth inning of the game as Ty Wigginton #21 of the Colorado Rockies tries to make the tag at Petco Park on July 31, 2011 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Kent C. Horner/Getty Images)

Fifteen Sundays, fifteen losses. They've been close, blowouts, pitchers duels, and slugfests...but the end result has been the same -- a loss for the Colorado Rockies. This time it was a bullpen meltdown that spoiled a fine pitching performance by Juan Nicasio.

Nicasio went seven innings, allowing five hits and two runs (one earned) while striking out 10 men, the most any Rockies pitcher has struck out this year. He left with a 3-2 lead, but Rex Brothers and Matt Belisle proceeded to pour gasoline on that lead, light it on fire, and dance on its ashes. Brothers didn't get an out, walking two and giving up a triple to get the loss (1-1), while Belisle gave up another 4 hits. It didn't help that Dexter Fowler dropped a fly ball and Eliezer Alfonso committed a throwing error. All in all, six Padres crossed the plate in the 8th inning.

Offensively, Troy Tulowitzki went 3-4 with a RBI, while Chris Nelson, Dexter Fowler, and Eliezer Alfonso each had two hits on the day. Unfortunately, all 10 of the Rockies hits were singles, so runs were scarce.

Next Sunday, somebody else will be doing the wrap.

Graph:

via www.fangraphs.com

We Salute: Tulowitzki (.196 WPA), Nicasio (.171)

We Are Disappointed In: Brothers (-.594 WPA), Belisle (-.141)

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Brett Wallace, Chris Johnson Sent To AAA; Jimmy
Paredes & Brian Bogusevic Called Up

post from The Crawfish Boxes on 31 July 2011 11:01:26 PM. © The Crawfish Boxes

Brett Wallace, Chris Johnson Sent To AAA; Jimmy Paredes & Brian Bogusevic Called Up

Really interesting move. I'm intrigued by Paredes because he has a nice power-speed combo, but is this too early?

Thoughts?

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The Pittsburgh Pirates DFA Michael Crotta

post from Pittsburgh Pirates MLB News - Pirates Baseball Blog on 31 July 2011 09:26:28 PM. © Pittsburgh Pirates MLB News - Pirates Baseball Blog

The Pirates have designated 26-year old righty reliever Michael Crotta for assignment to make room on the roster for Ryan Ludwick. Crotta pitched in 15 games (0 starts) for the Pirates this year and he was 0-1 with a 9.28 ERA and a 2.34 WHIP. He gave up 20 hits (2 homers) and [...]

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The Pittsburgh Pirates acquire outfielder Ryan
Ludwick from the Padres

post from Pittsburgh Pirates MLB News - Pirates Baseball Blog on 31 July 2011 09:23:41 PM. © Pittsburgh Pirates MLB News - Pirates Baseball Blog

The Pirates have acquired 33-year old righty swinging corner outfielder Ryan Ludwick from the Padres for a player to be named later. Ludwick has played in 101 games this year for the Padres and he was 90 for 378 (.238 avg, .674 OPS) with 42 runs scored, 11 homers, 64 RBIs and 1 stolen [...]

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Cards Berkman back after 4-game absence (AP)

post from MLB News Blog on 31 July 2011 08:18:20 PM. © MLB News Blog

Lance Berkman is back in the St. Louis Cardinals’ lineup after missing four games with a sore right shoulder. Berkman had a cortisone shot on Wednesday, a day after getting replaced after four innings. Manager Tony La Russa said Berkman gave him a thumbs up when he arrived at Busch Stadium on Sunday.

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Why the Royals Didn't Trade Jeff Francoeur

post from Royals Review on 31 July 2011 08:01:34 PM. © Royals Review

He's just havin' fun out there. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Two weeks ago we discussed in-depth the possibility of the Royals trading Jeff Francoeur. Francoeur started out 2011 hitting well, but he's settled into being Jeff Francoeur since early June. Nevertheless, his season line is one of his best performances in years, and given the decline in offense, that .271/.322/.456 mark is good for an OPS+ of 116, the third highest of his career. Francoeur has also ran often for go-go Yost, stealing 18 bases.

Francoeur's bounce back year at the plate (especially in a traditional stats sense) along with a reasonable salary, a good defensive reputation and an insanely good human being reputation (smiles +speaks english + media friendly + religious = angel) should have made him mildly palatable as a trade target, so why wasn't he moved?

Dayton Moore made it known this week that he had interest in keeping Francoeur as a mentor type for the young Royals on the roster. (Apparently guys like Matt Treanor and Billy Butler, or even, gasp, actual coaches, are horrible influences and not to be listened to.) While this may have been hot air, it certainly is believable. We have every reason to assume that the Royals management team truly loves everything intangible about Francoeur.
To people that care about results, Francoeur has his flaws. He's got a massive platoon split, and not the helpful kind. He crushes lefties (1.000 lifetime OPS) but is just a .700 OPS guy against righties. That makes Francoeur attractive as a platoon option and problematic as an everyday player. If the Royals love him, why would another team pay full price?
Moreover, Francoeur has not responded well to benchings and demotions in the past. He's the Man in Kansas City, a revered team leader that is praised for all he does.
In spite of a career high walk rate (6.3% yay!) this season, Francoeur's reputation as an aggressive hitter limits his offensive potential. A .322 OBP doesn't exactly scream impact bat, especially at an outfield corner. Do you seek him out over, say, Josh Willingham, who has the same numbers in a bad year?

Francoeur's performance is heavily weighted towards the first quarter of the season. Heading into today's action, since June 1 he's hit .268/.323/.433, with just 4 home runs.

For all the talk in Royals land about Francoeur's resurgent season, here on Deadline Day, it's apparent that he's the same old guy he's always been. 2011 will go down, most likely, as one of his better seasons, but it's just another Jeff Francoeur campaign. It's a consolidation year rather than a breakout.

It didn't help that the Astros wised up this deadline. The Astros traded two of their OFs, draining the market a little. I can see Ruben Amaro liking Francoeur as a Pence backup plan, but he didn't need a Pence backup plan. Dayton held out while minor moves for players like Gomes and Hairston were completed and soon there weren't many buyers left.

In the end, it seems likely that the Royals wanted a premium price for a player they simply value more than half the teams out there, if not more. The reported price tag of a #3 Major League starter (ready or close to ready) was laughably high. For such a middling player, Francoeur is one of the most known quantities in the game. Unlike Melky Cabrera, his 2011 season has not inspired hope that he's reached/returned to a new performance level. Francoeur and the Royals have a puzzling/pointless mutual option for 2012, that you would assume one party would want to decline in just about any scenario. Still, this is the Royals. If they want Francoeur mentoring now, why would they stop wanting him mentoring next year?

It's hard to criticize the Royals for turning down two never-will-be prospects who aren't even worthy of taking up space in The Best Farm System Ever. On the other hand, what's the point of keeping him now? It's a scale weighing varying types of meaningless entities. When you factor in the Lorenzo Cain factor, keeping Francoeur looks less palatable. If nothing else, there was benefit to simply getting Francoeur out of the way. Cain is 25 and hitting .319/.390/.520 in AAA. And, you know, he was acquired for some pitcher we used to have.

I fear a Francoeur extension coming.

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Marlins Avoid Sweep, Beat Atlanta 3-1.

Hanley Ramirez and the Marlins finally had something to smile about on Sunday.

Sorry for the late game recap everyone, we had a terrible storm here in Columbia, SC and I've been without power from about 4:15 to just a couple minutes ago.

On to the game, Atlanta managed 13 hits but could only plate one run as Florida beat the Braves 3-1 to avoid the sweep.

The Braves scored their lone run in the first inning off Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco. Jose Constanza hit a double to right field to start the frame. A Martin Prado single advanced Constanza to third and put runners on the corners for Freddie Freeman. Freeman grounded into a double play, but Constanza scored on the play to give Atlanta an early 1-0 lead.

Florida tied the game up in the second inning against Tommy Hanson. Hanson walked Hanley Ramirez to start the inning. Ramirez then stole second and advanced to third on a fly ball from Gaby Sanchez. Mike Stanton singled to center field, scoring Ramirez and knotting the game at one.

The Marlins took the lead for good in the third inning. Omar Infante hit a lead-off single, and scored on a double to the right field wall from Greg Dobbs to make it a 2-1 game.

The scoring ended in the fifth inning, as Emilio Bonifacio hit a home run just inside the right field foul poll make it a 3-1 game in favor of Florida.

Nolasco gave up 12 hits, but Atlanta struggled to capitialize on them, going 2-11 with runners in scoring position.

Now, on to Washington, where Braves fans get to see new acquisition Michael Bourn in action.

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http://www.talkingchop.com/2011/7/31/2308067/marlins-avoid-sweep-beat-atlanta-3-1

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Colletti’s Deadline Blunder

post from LADodgerTalk.com - Daily Dodger Talk, LA Dodger News, Dodger Minor League Reports and Dodger Chatter on 31 July 2011 07:01:59 PM. © LADodgerTalk.com - Daily Dodger Talk, LA Dodger News, Dodger Minor League Reports and Dodger Chatter

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Why the Royals Didn't Trade Jeff Francis

A month ago Connor touched on the possibility of the Royals trading Jeff Francis. Well, they didn't. Why not?

Obviously, a large factor here is the attitude of the General Manager. By all accounts, Dayton Moore was in no mood to make trades just to make them.
Oddly, there just wasn't a big market for starting pitchers.
Jeff's ERA has hovered around the mid 4.00s for the last month. While that seems decent, it's closer to below average these days. Even after Friday's shutout against Cleveland, Francis's ERA was just 4.38, an ERA+ of 88.
Francis just isn't striking anyone out, which likely gave a number of teams pause, either from a statistical or scouting perspective. His K/9 is just 4.6, which is in the danger zone in terms of sustainability. He's getting by with a no Ks no BBs approach, but only barely.
Francis isn't terribly expensive, but he isn't bottom-of-the-barrel cheap either. His base salary for the rest of the season is roughly $800,000, but you can assume another million or so in bonus money.
Yes, Francis is healthy, but he's got an injury history and lacks a reputation for being durable.
Finally, while Francis isn't very good, he's one of the team's better options in the rotation. The Royals seem to want to be not-horrible for the final three months of 2011, and Francis might help the team avoid freefalling into 100 loses.

Read The Full Article:
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