metirish

Some interesting stuff from Ken Rosenthal.]Inside Dish: Marlins put Burnett on trading blockPosted: June 27, 2005The Florida Marlins are considering trading righthander A.J. Burnett in a blockbuster move that would alter the pennant races in both leagues, Sporting News has learned. The Marlins are engaged in preliminary discussions about Burnett with the Orioles and a second, unidentified American League club. Their goal in trading Burnett, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, would be to obtain three major league parts -- a young starting pitcher, a quality reliever and a lefthanded hitting outfielder. Few teams would be willing to pay such a steep price. The Red Sox, awaiting the return of righthander Curt Schilling, are not currently pursuing a trade for a starting pitcher, be it Burnett or Giants righthander Jason Schmidt. The Yankees could get involved for Burnett if they were willing to trade setup man Tom Gordon and righthander Chien-Ming Wang, but that move could do more harm than good. The Tigers have had past interest in Burnett. The Angels, White Sox and Twins are not believed to be currently interested. Any team that acquires Burnett, 28, would need to be confident that it could sign him long-term. The Marlins, unlikely to retain Burnett, would prefer to trade him for immediate help than receive only draft picks if he departs as a free agent. Burnett threw a two-hit shutout Sunday against the Devil Rays, but for all his talent, he's only 5-5 with a 3.14 ERA this season, 41-43 with a 3.78 ERA lifetime. The Orioles, a team in search of a No. 1 starter, could prove a match for the Marlins if they are willing to give up either righthander Daniel Cabrera or Hayden Penn, reliever Jorge Julio and outfielder Larry Bigbie, with the Marlins likely sending them outfielder Juan Encarnacion -- another potential free agent -- along with Burnett. In recent years, however, the Orioles have shown great reluctance at acquiring potential free agents, passing on deals for first baseman Derrek Lee and righthander Tim Hudson because they could not sign them to contract extensions before making the trades. ... If Lou Piniella is fed up with the Devil Rays, then he should follow the example of Jim Leyland, who walked away from the final two years and $4 million on his contract when he resigned from the Rockies after burning out in 1999. Piniella's contract runs through next season, and he reportedly has nearly $7 million coming. Resigning would be the honorable thing to do; he'd find another job, though probably not for as much money. ... Here's how the Reds can trade beleaguered lefthander Eric Milton: By offering to pay half of his remaining salary to a team that plays in a pitcher-friendly park. The Nationals, Giants or Tigers might be willing to take a chance on Milton if they were paying him $4.25 million per season instead of $8.5 million. The Phillies' trade of second baseman Placido Polanco for reliever Ugueth Urbina seemed like a good idea at the time, but the deal already looks like a loser. Urbina allowed five homers in his first 5 1/3 innings at hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park. Polanco not only has given the Tigers a major offensive boost at second base, but also has emerged as a leader. ... The price will be high for Rockies lefthanded reliever Brian Fuentes, who continues to draw significant interest from the Marlins and other clubs. Fuentes, 29, is 8-for-10 in save opportunities, opponents are batting only .202 against him and he is earning only $328,000; he becomes eligible for arbitration after this season. Brewers rookie second baseman Rickie Weeks drew nine walks in his first 59 plate appearances for an on-base percentage of .441, and his bat speed is something to behold. Weeks got down 0-2 in his first at-bat against Cubs RHP Carlos Zambrano, then fouled off a pitch and took a ball before hitting an RBI single to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead. ... The Cubs rejected the Rockies' offer of outfielder Preston Wilson for a package of three prospects. Wilson, who turns 31 in July, is only about 18 months older than A's center fielder Mark Kotsay but offers more power. Both can be free agents after this season. ... The Nationals' attendance surge gives them the ability to increase payroll, but the team lacks the surplus of young talent needed to make trades. The loss of outfielder Terrmel Sledge, who underwent surgery on his right hamstring and likely is out for the season, has proven particularly damaging. A package of Sledge and righthander Zach Day could have brought the Nationals a significant part. ... The Orioles' demotion of utility man David Newhan prompted the Brewers to inquire whether he was available in a trade, but Newhan played just one inning in Class AAA before the Orioles brought him back to replace B.J. Surhoff, who went on the disabled list with a strained muscle in his left rib cage. The Orioles would not have traded Newhan anyway. ... The Blue Jays plan to start using rookie shortstop Russ Adams, a lefthanded hitter, against lefties as well as righties. Adams has made 13 errors, tied for the A.L. lead among shortstops, but the Jays love his alertness in the field. Third base coach Brian Butterfield says Adams has improved his arm from below average to average. ... The Phillies are fortunate that righthander Robinson Tejeda is proving a worthy replacement for lefthander Randy Wolf, who will undergo elbow-ligament transplant surgery on July 1 and be out at least 12 months; Class AAA righthander Gavin Floyd, one of the team's top prospects, isn't the same pitcher he was last season. "He does not have the power curveball that he had, and he doesn't have great command of his fastball," one scout says. "Triple-A hitters are laying off the fastball, and he can't get them to chase his curve. It's more of a slurve this year. He used to have a snap-dragon type breaking ball." Senior writer Ken Rosenthal covers baseball for Sporting News. Email him at kenrosenthal@sportingnews.com. The Orioles would be nuts to give up that much talent for Burnett.

I agree with what Bobby V has to say on this subject, the idea that Gene Orza thinks that he can give an ultimatum to a foreign sports organization is noy only insulting but arrogant.I agree with what CF says, Bobby would have fun with this lot.

Very cool site, thanks.

Brilliant...lets not forget 60 Minutes with Rick Peterson.

true Train,I'd like to see a drawing of the Stadium that's just for baseball.

A first look at the new Mets stadium...I really hope we don't get the 2012 games, this thing looks horrible..

Giambi claims he knew what pitch Looper was throwing, saw his finger placement and was waiting on it, on the FAN today a few callers were down on Looper for having "that stupid smirk on his face on the mound just like franco had...

I suppose Mets TV would likely look alot like the YES Network, lots of features about Mets palyers form ther past, classic Mets games run all day, not sure if Fran Healy would figure, I read before that Fran is a Dolan fave and not a Wilpon fave.I say they should have a Reality type show where Spring Training invitees live together in Port St. Lucie and we can watch as they try to make the team and head North, say about 16 players, a Real World MLB style...

Train I'll sleep on it but I fear I will think the same thing the next game Looper comes in to save,not looking at numbers but Looper is not Gagne.

Sojo with his 36 hopper in game 5 in 2000 is a prick I will always hate.

The problem who the hell is available, what about the guy for the Tigers?, is he still injured, I have no idea, this game was a killer, we beat the wankers 2 out of 3 but it feels like we lost the series, that doesn't make sence I know, we had the fuckers and we dropped it..

Guys not for nothing but Looper is a heart attack waiting to happen for Mets fans, I know he has 15 saves but I feared when he came in that he would bollox it, walking Tino fucking Marinez was a killer, we need a closer, and now, Looper is an 8th inning guy, man I'm pissed...

This game is being hyped all day on the "FAN as a must win for the MFY, Rosenberg expects Steinbrenner to fire someone tomorrow if they lose, Roy White being the one to get canned, and his recent tirades at 1st base against the Mets is being seen as a desperate man knowing he is in the mix to get fired so he's showing his warrior mentality...so said Klapisch......

I'm not worried about beltran, he says his legs are great now and his play in the field would back that up, swinging a better bat as well.I like Johnny stuffed the ballot for Floyd online, and for Pedro.

Doug on the DL, Jose Offerman called up...

i thik the Sox announcers are Ken Harrelson adn Darin Jackson?

Top of the 9th in Chicago adn the Cubs are up 2 - 0, I have this game on WGN and the Sox anouncers are total homers, "good guys coming to bat, on a deep fly ball it went something like this go on, git up outta here, go go, ahh man Burnitz makes the catch...and now the annoucer is telling us why the Sox are down by two "we just can't get guys on base, we need more scoring chances....Timo Perez pinch hitting is on 1st...Cubs win 2/0

I think Norrin might be our Brooklyn reporter, great report Johnny, you two should fight it out, PPV style.

Pedro - 5Floyd - 2Beltran - 1Anderso - 2

Floyd - 4Glavine - 3Wright - 1Piazza - .5Beltran - .5Reyes - .5Castro - .5

Wright- 6 Daubach - 2 Woodward - 1 Heilman - 1

Martinez 4 Daubach 2 Wright 2 Bell 1 Ring 1

Mets get first series win at the Dump that Ruth built.....loved that the MFY fans(the ones that didn't bolt in the 7th) couldn't shout down the..lets go Mets chant in the 9th.

Any poll on this subject neeeds to have Rodriguez..

Edgy you are right, when I sponsored Backman I never even tought about his "problems", he was at a good price I thought because I had looked at Ron Darling but he's $25, great pitcher but I had spent enough today..sponsor Ron here..http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/darliro01.shtml