Closing Time for Farnsworth

Eric Karabell assumes the Tigers will name Kyle Farnsworth their closer. You know what you do to "u" amd me when you assume. That closer role didn't work for Farnsworth in Detroit once before, and there are those who believe he's only a setup man.

Fantasy Impact: Believe both stories. Farnsworth is probably going to get a shot as Tigers' closer. Don't, however, have a whole lot of faith in him. Maybe he's matured over the last few years, but he floats through portions of seasons. Closers don't do that. They perform at a high level nine times out of ten.

Catching hinges on Inge

The Tigers will make Bradon Inge their starting catcher in the wake of Ivan Rodriguez going to the Yankees for Kyle Farnsworth.

"Brandon Inge is ready to tackle being the everyday catcher. He gives us a quality chance to win on a day-in, day-out basis and this allows us to address the one area of our club that needs to be addressed the most, which is our bullpen,” general manager Dave Dombrowski explained. He also said Inge will be the No. 1 catcher next season.

Fantasy Impact: Inge's fantasy value improves only because he'll be getting more regular at bats. He's a better power option than most catchers, but his .227 batting average is bad no matter where he's playing.

Pudge for Farnsworth

No Jorge Posada, no problem. The Yankees acquired Ivan Rodriguez from Detroit for Kyle Farnsworth.The move certainly helps New York, but Farnsworth's addition in Detroit is interesting. If Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumaya can't hold down closing duties, the Tigers would have the option of going to Farnsworth or back to Todd Jones.

Fantasy Impact: Gut feeling? The Tigers will give Rodney, Zumaya (if he's healthy) and Farnsworth opportunities to close. Jones will be the fall-back option if nobody wins the job. He's at least experienced, and only blew three saves this year, even if he was erratic.

Bombers blast O's

Bobby Abreu is having a good week today. The Yankees' outfielder is 3-3 with four runs scored and two home runs. He's knocked in four RBI as the Yankees pour it on Baltimore, leading 13-2 in the seventh. Alex Rodriguez also homered, hitting his 23rd.

Joba Chamberlain worked six innings, striking out six, and is in line for his fourth win.

Fantasy Impact: Abreu is on pace to hit more homers this year than last (13 now vs. 16 in 2007) but steal fewer bases (13 now vs. 25 in '07) and score fewer runs (63 now vs. 123 in '07). He's a nice all-around outfielder. Chamberlain is emerging as a staff ace, and could become more of one as he gets stretched out as a starter.

Stern recommendation

NBA commissioner David Stern is pumping Mark Cuban to MLB.

Stern has fined the Mavericks' owner more than $1 million for ciriticizing referees. But when Stern was asked by Bloomberg News what he would tell Major League Baseball owners about Cuban, the league boss replied in an e-mail: "They should welcome him."

I like the first comment made after the post, because I had a similar reaction. Does Stern really want Cuban around in the NBA? Is this a backhanded attempt to move Cuban on to divergent interests?

Either way, Cuban looks like a serious contender for purchasing the Cubs.

Jose, can you see?

ESPN reports that Jose Guillen wants out of Kansas City because of manager Eric Hillman, and ESPN reports that Jose Guillen doesn't want out of Kansas City whatsoever.

"Guillen and Hillman are not on speaking terms, they don't talk," said the source. "Guillen is definitely not happy, he's not comfortable and he would do anything he can in economic terms to ease his way out of Kansas City."

Guillen, however, denied he wants out.

"This is completely catching me by surprise," Guillen told The Kansas City Star. "This isn't coming from me. Trey and I are fine right now, and I've never said I wanted out of Kansas City.

"This is the team that is paying me a lot of money, and this is where I want to be. I don't know where all of this stuff is coming from. I hate to be put in this situation, and now I look like a bad guy again."

This strikes me as irresponsible journalism. ESPN reporter Enrique Rojas takes information from a "source" and then asks Guillen about the information. Guillen denies the matter, and Royals general manager Dayton Moore knows nothing of any unhappiness between Guillen and Hillman. So what does ESPN do? ESPN goes ahead and runs a story based on source information which is refuted by the athlete. You run source info when nobody is talking, not when the source, Jose Guillen is telling you the opposite is true. If anything there is no story here, and ESPN should've realized that.

Guillen's been disgruntled before, but he's new to KC, and like he says, he's making good money. Is this digging up dirt just for the sake of digging? If I'm Guillen, I'm peeved about this story and rightly so.

Northsiders consider Ibanez

Ken Rosenthal has the Cubs now interested in Raul Ibanez.

At the moment, the Cubs are set in the outfield with Alfonso Soriano in left, Jim Edmonds and Reed Johnson in center and Kosuke Fukudome in center and right, with center fielder Felix Pie hot at Class AAA.

The addition of Ibanez would force Fukudome to center full-time, leaving the Cubs with below-average defenders, Soriano and Ibanez, in left and right. It also would reduce the playing time of Edmonds and Johnson, both of whom have been productive.

Not sure this makes the Cubs very good defensively in the outfield, but Ibanez' bat is better than Edmonds.

Baby birds busted

First Rick Ankiel and Gary Bennett, now three Cardinals minor leaguers are busted for using performance-enhancing drugs. The organization has had itself in plenty of bad light the past couple of year but seemed out of the woods until now.

Not Joshin'

Josh Robbins is crazy. The California native hit 26 MLB ballparks in 30 days, which might be a world record. Why they're keeping tabs on baseball park visits I don't understand, but it's still quite a feat.

Most impressive? He averaged less than $77 on gas per day during his trip.

Teixeira fantasy impact

The Sporting News lists four suitors for Braves first baseman Mark Teixeira: Angels, Diamondbacks, Rays, Red Sox.

From a fantasy standpoint, a trade to Arizona would make the biggest impact. If Teixeira's headed to the desert Chad Tracy is out of a starting spot at first base. Tracy's played outfield at the major league level, but hasn't done so since 2005. With Conor Jackson in left, and Justin Upton on the mend with an oblique injury, it would appear Tracy could end up a spot starter a few times a week. Then again, if Teixeira is moved for Tracy (the D'backs are not interested in dealing Jackson), this concern is moot as Tracy would become the Braves' first baseman.

Teixeira's trade to the Red Sox would probably precipitate Manny Ramirez's ouster in Boston. Kevin Youkilis would go to left field, leaving first base open for Teixeira.

CC and the Cy Young

CC Sabathia's so-so performance against the Cubs in a 6-4 Milwaukee loss has this blogger backing off the thought that Sabathia could win the NL Cy Young.

I'm not sure I'd even consider Sabathia in the running. Pitching just half a season in the National League, he'd have to be near perfect to beat out a guys like Tim Lincecum and Brandon Webb.

If not Manny, then Raul?

The Mets are reported to be interested in Mariners' left fielder Raul Ibanez. They need outfield help badly, and Ibanez is a professional hitter who is not likely to slump much even if he faces all new pitchers after changing leagues.

What's next, underhand pitching?

The International Baseball Federation is crazy. They're trying to turn baseball into softball, testing extra inning tiebreaker rules like placing a runner at second base to begin innings. This would occur in the 11th inning and all innings thereafter. The thinking is this might speed up problematic extra innings games to help make baseball logistically attractive in terms of formatting for futures olympic games.

“The upcoming Beijing Olympic competition may be our last unless we are successful in adding the sport back to the Olympic program for the 2016 Games,” said IBAF President Dr. Harvey W. Schiller. “We must demonstrate to the International Olympic Committee not only does our game belong alongside the other great sports of the world, but our sport is manageable from a television and operational standpoint.”

Dr. Schiller continued, saying the change is both a positive and necessary step for the sport of baseball.

“One of the unique aspects of our game is that it has no time limit. Extra-inning contests can bring about the most exciting results for players and fans, but such circumstances also make it difficult in the context of the Olympic program. Delays cause scheduling and logistical nightmares. Planned security, transportation, drug testing, broadcasts, and entertainment are just a few of the activities that may be seriously affected,” Dr. Schiller continued.

This is insane, and if that's what it takes to get baseball back in the olympics after 2008, forget it. Baseball and the olympics are a bad marriage that cannot be reconciled by changing the covenant after a short break.

Not just Rodney

Reports have Fernando Rodney taking over the Tigers' closer role, but Jim Leyland wasn't ready to go with Rodney alone. Joel Zumaya is also on the shortlist to replace Todd Jones, who blew three saves in the month of July.

Zumaya left Sunday's win over the White Sox with a triceps injury, another setback after offseason shoulder surgery.

Leyland said he'd planned to "tinker with" new closer Fernando Rodney and Zumaya in the ninth inning, and the timing of his latest injury is difficult for Zumaya to take.

"I'm very frustrated now," said Zumaya, who had reconstructive surgery on the AC joint of his right shoulder nine months ago and returned from the disabled list less than six weeks ago.

"I've been through a lot. It gets pretty old being on the shelf."

Fantasy Impact: If he's out for only a short spell, expect Zumaya to rival Rodney for the bulk of the save opporutnities. Zumaya hits triple digits on the gun when he's right. He's got closer makeup while Rodney's struggled to save half of his career save chances.

Tribe trading

Looks like the Indians are going to win the award for most deals this season.

Baseball Musings caught the first of two Cleveland deals today. Here's the second one.

Looks like Cleveland is looking to get younger, although the deal for Reyes is a mixed bag. He's young, promising, but has faced injury problems. We'll wait to see what role he earns.

Reyes dealt to Tribe

The Cardinals traded Anthony Reyes to Cleveland for minor leaguer Luis Perdomo and cash. Perdomo will head to Double-A in the Cardinals organization per the St. Louis press release.

Update: The Plain Dealer just posted a short article saying that Reyes will provide "starting pitching depth."

While the Cardinals looked shaky with their starting staff earlier this year, it appears they feel comfortable with the group they currently have moving forward. The deal for Perdomo is an attempt to eventually strengthen the 'pen. He has closer experience in the minors.

ROY running

The Rookie of the Year standings continue to evolve. Here's how it should look if things wrapped up today:

American League -
1. Evan Longoria (3B), TB (.276-50-19-61-6)
2. Alexei Ramirez (2B), CHW (.314-35-8-35-7)
3. Joba Chamberlain (P), NYY (2.30 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 93 K in 78 1/3 IP)

Honorable mention: Armando Galarraga (P), DET; Jacoby Ellsbury (OF), BOS

National League -
1. Geovany Soto (C), CHC (.274-40-17-58-0)
2. Jair Jurrjens (P), ATL (3.02 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 10 W)
3. Joey Votto (1B), CIN (.272-41-13-44-4)

Honorable Mention: Kosuke Fukudome (OF), CHC; Jorge Campillo (P), ATL

NFL rivals MLB streaming

The NFL is dipping its big toe in the pool of online game streaming. The league won't challenge MLB in terms of the amount of content available, but giving fans the opportunity to choose camera angles is revolutionary.

The league and NBC say it is an experiment. They hope to prove they can lure new viewers and people who are already watching at home by adding interactive elements. Viewers will be able to choose from among at least four live camera angles and review statistics that update during the game, according to the league. The league and the network will share in ad sales.

"I think the consumer of media is more and more interested in a greater sense of control over their media experience," said Gary Zenkel, NBC Sports' executive vice president of strategic partnerships. "Whether that translates to sports viewing or not, no one knows. But this is certainly an opportunity to experiment."

As someone who knows a thing or two about cameras, camera angles and covering live sporting events, I think the opportunity to control viewpoints will not be a major draw to watching NFL games online over time. There's a reason the networks prefer the angles they do during games -- those are the best ones. MLB would be even less attractive to watch in terms of choosing your own camera angles. Consider this: choosing camera angles does not mean you'll have the chance to switch angles during play, and the ability to choose angles during play isn't fun. It's work, and that's why people are hired to do it, so the rest of us can watch comfortably at home.

Nady, the X-factor

The Xavier Nady deal that sends an overachieving (breakout?) outfielder to the Yankees is baffling to me. Nady's hitting .330 with a .383 on base percentage, but he's already 29, and he's hit .281 for his career. It's safe to assume he'll fall back to earth a bit, and when a hitter changes leagues he is seeing new arms constantly. Couple that with the fact that Yankee Stadium has a deep left field, plus the fact that New York has pieces returning to replace Nady as a starter if he doesn't deliver, and I'd be worrying as a fantasy owner whether this guy can keep up the pace on what is to this point a career year.

Fantasy Impact: Nady might thrive in New York, but I'd say sell high. He's hit 13 home runs this season, which is nice, but there's going to be a lot of risk involved down the stretch. I'm never a fan of trade-deadline deals that involve hitters from outside the league. It's a lot to ask a guy to figure out an entire league of pitchers over just two months. Deal Nady, and watch your opponent suffer the probable fall.

Pearcing the starting lineup

Steve Pearce is headed to the big leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Xavier Nady's trade to the Yankees for prospects means the Pirates have an opening in their outfield, and the first report says Pearce will get a shot at full-time at bats.

Fantasy Impact: We've been waiting to see what Pearce can do at the MLB level for a long time. He progressed from A-ball to Double-A to Triple-A last season hitting .347-.335-.320, but this year he's struggled at .258 with 11 home runs. Pearce has a lot of pop, and since he's getting regular at bats he's worth taking a flier on, especially if you need outfield help.