Pirates waste no time

Pittsburgh has three newcomers in the lineup today: pitcher Jeff Karstens (from Yankees), third baseman Andy LaRoche (Dodgers) and right fielder Brandon Moss (Red Sox).

Karstens got through the first inning without giving up a hit against the talented Cubs lineup. LaRoche singled up the middle off the glove of Ronny Cedeno and later scored. Moss struck out.

The Pirates got these guys right into the lineup, hoping to learn whether they can help reverse 15 straight seasons of losing baseball. With a record of 50-58, Pittsburgh's in danger of equaling an old Phillies team with the losingest stretch in major sports history, 16 consecutive seasons of losing.

Howling for strikeouts

Never knew this before, but Cubs TV announcer Len Kasper says MLB umpire Jim Wolf is pitcher Randy Wolf's brother. The must've made sure that Jim was rotated away from Padres games while Randy was with San Diego. I wonder how that impacted Jim's schedule when Randy was moved to Houston before the trade deadline.

Jim's howling balls and strikes today in Chicago for the Cubs-Pirates tilt at Wrigley. Actually, he has a silent strike call. Too bad.

Zito - good enough to throw BP

Barry Zito threw batting practice Thursday for the Giants, a day before his latest start.

In his unfortunately ceaseless quest to get things right, Barry Zito pitched what amounted to a simulated game against the Giants' hitters rather than throw a normal side session in the bullpen. This is old school. When teams had four-man rotations, pitchers usually threw full-speed batting practice.

"It's always a great benefit throwing against hitters in game situations," said Zito, coming off a loss against Arizona in which he allowed six runs and five walks in five innings. "It's something I've done in the past in Oakland here or there. I've got 30 pitches on the side. Why not take advantage of the guys and get their feedback?"

Give the guy credit for trying everything and anything to get things right, but at this point nothing is working. Zito's lost 13 games this season, putting him in jeopardy of losing 20 before all is said and done.

Dump Dunc

The Cardinals release new information on once-slugging outfielder Chris Duncan. Duncan's been on the DL sine July 22nd with a bulging disc in his back. Now that's been downgraded to herniated disc.

Though Duncan's initial treatment has consisted of a series of injections, surgery is often required to address a herniated, or ruptured, disk, which is considered more serious than a bulging disk. A club source on Thursday suggested Duncan likely would require corrective surgery.

He's not coming back any time soon.

Fantasy Impact: At this point, little. Duncan did look like a nice fourth outfielder at the year's outset after he hit 22 and 21 homers the past two seasons. This year, however, he never got on track, hitting just six homers in 222 at bats. Leave him alone until next spring.

Brand new Nats

The Washington Nationals might have a brand new middle infield tonight against the Cincinnati Reds. The Nats dealt for Yankees reserve shortstop Alberto Gonzalez and then released Jose Lopez. Lopez had been starting for injured Cristian Guzman.

At second, look for Emilio Bonifacio (acquired in Jon Rauch trade with Arizona), who was recalled on Friday. Bonifacio is a speed demon and could unseat Ronnie Belliard for a starting job. The Nats have little to play for, so it could be audition time.

Pirates love Morris

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says scouts glow about pitcher Bryan Morris (acquired in the Jason Bay deal) and his upside.

"The sky could be the limit for this kid," said Danny Darwin, the former Pirates pitcher who is Great Lakes' pitching coach.
...
"This kid is definitely a big league prospect," Darwin said. "He just needs to refine what he has."

Morris, 6-3, 190, throws his fastball 96-97 mph "on a good day," Darwin said, adding that his curve and slider are "swing-and-miss" pitches.

The Pirates are also high on Brandon Moss, and it sounds like he'll get a shot to start in left field.

Nomar defends Manny

Manny Ramirez wasn't the first player to leave Boston in a huff, and former/current teammate Nomar Garciaparra in Los Angeles is the first to come to his defense.

"The Red Sox don't deserve a player like me," Ramirez told ESPN the other day. "During my years here, I've seen how they have mistreated other great players when they didn't want them, to try to turn the fans against them.

"The Red Sox did the same with guys like Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez, and now they do the same with me. Their goal is to paint me as the bad guy."

This could be Manny being Manny. Or this could be the Red Sox being the Red Sox.

"There's a lot of truth to what he said," Garciaparra said at his Dodger Stadium locker Thursday, two hours after the Dodgers acquired Ramirez. "I can definitely understand and relate. Maybe he'll be next to me [in an adjacent locker], and we can chat and laugh about it."

I actually had a friend covering the Red Sox when Garciaparra was traded away. There was a lot written, good and bad, about Nomar at that time, but I'll never forget what my buddy told me: "Nomar is a cancer."

Dinner and Dessert

There are two games of the day.

The early one has the Angels sending Ervin Santana (11-5) to the hill attempting to make it five straight wins over AL East stalwarts Boston and New York. They should. The Yankees counter with shaky Sidney Ponson (6-2). This is more of a test to see if LA can win a game they're supposed to win after doing the unthinkable in sweeping Boston at Fenway and out-hitting the Yankees in the Bronx.

The late one features The D'backs at the Dodgers. Arizona opened a two-game lead over Los Angeles with a win at Dodger Stadium, but now the reinforcements arrive. Manny Ramirez and Clayton Kershaw go up against Randy Johnson. That's 20-year-old power-lefty Kershaw (1-3) going up against 44-year-old power-lefty Johnson (8-7). What a matchup!

Honorable mention: The Phillies and Cole Hamels 9-6) visit the Cardinals and Kyle Lohse (12-3) in a battle of two teams who could end up fighting for the NL Wild Card.

Friday Debuts

Two pitchers make debuts tonight for their respective ball clubs.

Jeff Karstens, acquired in the Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte deal with the Yankees, starts for the Pirates against the Cubs at Wrigley. He owns a 3-5 record and 5.65 ERA in 15 MLB outings. He's made nine starts at the Major League level. Karsten's opponent is the Cubs' Jason Marquis

Raymond Thomas Hunter makes his MLB debut for the Rangers tonight against the Blue Jays Shaun Marcum. He goes by Tommy, so don't be confused. He's had some success in the minors, albeit modest success by prospect standards. In his most recent stop at Triple-A Oklahoma, Hunter went 2-2 in five starts with a 3.24 ERA. He's not a strikeout artist and says one tiny adjustment is the reason for his recent success in the minors.

"The only big difference is learning to keep the ball down, keep it in the bottom half of the strike zone instead of thigh high where it gets crushed. It really came from the first four starts when I was in Bakersfield. I had to learn quick (after posting a 5.14 ERA). That's one big part of being able to win in professional baseball, keep the ball down."

This might be a one-start opportunity for Hunter.

Crash Lannan

Ignoring Nationals' starter John Lannan might be the best trade-deadline non-move by contending teams. Considered a potential target for those looking for left-handed pitching, Lannan was cruising along with nine quality starts in his last ten games. Then came Thursday against Philadelphia.

Lannan's line:

5.2 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 2 HR

Lannan's ERA jumps to 3.61 after he had worked for three solid outings to pull it all the way down to 3.33. Jason Werth smoked Lannan for home run number 15. Jimmy Rollins hit his 8th in a convincing 8-4 Phillies victory. Kyle Kendrick threw pretty well for the Phils, giving up two earned in 6 2/3 innings for his ninth win.

The Phillies stand alone in first in the NL East thanks to a Mets loss at Florida.

Freakout, then breakout

16 runs, 20 hits, four homers and one ejection makes for one exciting baseball game in Minneapolis. Down 4-3 at the time of manager Ron Gardenhire's ejection for arguing balls and strikes (or really just one particular strike) when he came flying out to complain about a call against Denard Span.

The Twins responded after their firey leader's dismissal. Jason Kubel launched his 14th home run, a three-run shot that proved the game-winner in a 10-6 comeback at the Metrodome. The second-place Twins stand just a game in back of the White Sox with the victory.

Fantasy Impact: By the way, Span scored three runs tonight without getting a hit. He's batting .311 this season, and doing a good job in the leadoff spot. Here's wondering if he's capable of sticking in that role, especially if Carlos Gomez can't get it figured out.

Lowe scoring

Solid pitchers duel in Los Angeles with the D'Backs; Brandon Webb edging Dodgers starter Derek Lowe for his 15th win, 2-1. Their lines:

Webb: 8 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Lowe: 6.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 7 K

Lowe actually outpitched Webb until the seventh, where he gave up both of his runs and left before getting out of the inning.

Drunk on hype

With all the talk about Milwaukee catching the Cubs this past week, the Brewers forget how to hang on to first place once they grab it. Five straight losses, including a four-game home sweep to the Cubs, drops Milwaukee five in back of first-place Chicago.

The Cubs did it with a bit of everything on Thursday, blasting three home runs (Edmonds, Soriano, Fukudome) and getting another pitching gem out of Rich Harden. He went seven, struck out nine and earns his first win as a Cub. The final: 11-4, Cubs.

Big flies against Pettitte

Angels center fielder Torii Hunter extends his hitting streak to 13 games with a three-run homer off of Andy Pettitte in the first inning in the Bronx. Hunter's homer to right center comes right after Vlad Guererro flew out to the warning track in deep left.

Update: The pounding continues all night. LAA smashes three three-run homers. Juan Rivera followed Hunter with his in the third. Vlad whacked his off Chris Britton. Los Angeles roles, 12-6, as Pettitte picks up the loss, giving up nine earned in 5 1/3 innings. Jon Garland pitches well enough for his 10th win, as he's a pretty steady back-end rotation guy in fantasy.

Update: This was the first time in 30 years that three Angels hit a three-run homers in the same game. Can you name the 1978 trio?

Jays wanted Ibanez

Interesting stuff from the Seattle Times on the Blue Jays' late push for Raul Ibanez. Geoff Baker writes in his Mariners Blog:

Why would Toronto do an Ibanez deal? I'd wondered that earlier. Until my buddies back east reminded me of a cardinal rule of covering the Jays that I'd forgotten about during my two years here. That optics mean as much back there as reality at times.

To realists, like most of you, and me, a snowball has a greater chance of lasting the afternoon in this Texas heat as the Jays do of making the playoffs. But in Toronto, the Jays could acquire Ibanez, then tell their fans they still have a chance and that they're going for it.

Everything I read about Toronto sound slike smoke and mirrors these days. They're probably lucky they didn't make the deal as Ibanez is getting up there in age, and Toronto has slugging prospect Adam Lind to fill the position.

Jocketty jovial about Reds' trade

Reds general manager Walt Jocketty spoke with WLW radio about the Griffey trade. The Reds ended up receiving two players in the deal: right handed starter/reliever Nick Masset and left-handed hitting minor league second baseman Danny Richar.

In Masset and Richar, the Reds got two players Jocketty said he's been eyeing for years. Masset will join the Reds and could be with the team as soon as Friday, while Richar will be assigned to Class AAA Louisville.

"Initially we'll use him as a reliever," Jocketty said. "We don't have a lot of depth in pitching. If we had something happen to one of our starters, with (Daryl) Thompson and (Matt) Maloney at AAA it gives us more depth."

Masset, 26, is 1-0 with a 4.63 ERA in 32 games for the White Sox this season. He's also been a starter during his career, starting two big league games, including one this season.

Richar, 25, is hitting .263 with eight home runs and 38 home runs in 60 games for Class AAA Charlotte. He hit .230 with six home runs in 56 games with the White Sox last season.

To make room for Richar on the 40-man roster, INF/OF Ryan Freel was transferred to the 60-day disabled list.

"We added quality players we'll control for quite a while," Jocketty said. "That's what you've got to do building an organization."

Masset came to the Sox along with John Danks in a deal for Brandon McCarthy. Danks was then, and is now, the more-regarded prospect. Richar was considered a starting candidate for the White Sox this season during spring training, but a back injury derailed the start of his season. He's never made it back from Triple-A. Richar's got some decent pop for a second baseman.

Pirates haul in Bay-Ramirez deal

Andy LaRoche is the marquee name in this trade. He joins his brother Adam in Pittsburgh to eventually become one half of the LaRoche-LaRoche corners of the Pirates infield. For now, however, he'll have to battle Jose Bautista, who's hit 12 home runs for Pittsburgh at third this year. Andy struggled to get back to the big leagues with an injury problem to start the year. A low draft pick out of community college in 2003, he's blossomed into a valued prospect at the age of 24. In his last six stops in the minors LaRoche hit over .300 five times, with power.

From Boston, Pittsburgh reels in Brandon Moss, a guy who was nothing more than a role player on a talented Beantown roster. He was originally an 8th round pick and turns 25 in September. In 78 at bats in Boston he hit .295 with two home runs.

Both LaRoche and Moss will join the Pirates 25-man roster for tomoror's game in Chicago.

The Pirates also nab two former first-round picks: Red Sox top selection overall in 2005, pitcher Craig Hansen, and Dogers number-one pick from 2006, pitcher Bryan Morris.

Hansen is a big 25-year-old right hander (6'6, 230) who struggled with his command at the MLB level this year. He gave up 23 walks in 30 2/3 innings. He's been used mostly as a setup man and will join the Pirates 25-man roster tomorrow. He was the 26th overall pick in 2005.

Morris, a 21-year-old Class-A righty, is a starter to this point in his career and a pretty good one. He's only 2-4, but owns a solid 3.20 ERA and strikes out a little under a batter over 81 2/3 IP. Like Hansen, he was the 26th overall pick, but in 2006. He'll head to Class-A Hickory.

Fantasy Impact: LaRoche is the best bet to get a shot, but when that comes is anybody's guess. He's been pretty mediocre when called on in Los Angeles, but with extended at bats he could easily unseat Bautista in the Pirates lineup and blossom. Consider him a stashee for now.

Manny in LA-LA Land

So the Dodgers get their batman, the Red Sox get Jason Bay, and the Pirates get some prospects.

I missed the event unfolding (although it sounded like this was hush-hush at the deadline) because I was watching the new Batman movie The Dark Knight. It was OK. The trade is more interesting than the film.

Fantasy Impact: The Dodgers outfield is a crowded place, but Manny and Matt Kemp should remain starters. Interesting that the Dodgers are not a very good defensive outfield. Bay's played well this season, and he'll be a solid fixture for the Red Sox.

Bay to the Jays?

The drama is only getting more interesting. Now the Toronto Blue Jays have inquired about Jason Bay, a Canada native. Pittsburgh's asking price is pretty steep, as both Shawn Marcum and Travis Snider have a lot of potential.

Manny being Maddening

There are now at least two reports on Manny Ramirez getting traded to the Florida Marlins. The West Palm Beach Post reported that an agreement had been reached on Wednesday, but has been no further confirmation. Now, this media outlet picks up on that story and publishes another "Manny to the Marlins" piece.

Baseball Prospectus is reporting similar information.

Update: Ken Rosenthal isn't quiet ready to call it a deal, but he seems to believe the right moves are being made to get the deal done.

Update: Ken Rosenthal proclaims the deal "dead... for now." Talk about twisting in the wind.