Win-now focus in Cincy could mean heavy action

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Griffey Rumors From Rosenthal
Published 5/13/2008 by Tim Dierkes at MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com
Yesterday we ran through various complications the Reds face in trading Ken Griffey Jr.  Today, Ken Rosenthal addresses many of them. Rosenthal says Griffey "would not necessarily require a team to exercise his $16.5MM option for 2009 as a condition of a deal."  On May 5th ESPN's Peter Gammons had written that Griffey was "unlikely ...

Rosenthal's Latest: Lidge, Daniel Cabrera, Bonds, Edmonds
Published 5/13/2008 by Tim Dierkes at MLB Rumors - MLBTradeRumors.com
Ken Rosenthal has a new column up.  I put the Griffey info in a separate post; let's discuss the rest. Rosenthal suggests that Brad Lidge would be harder to replace than Pat Burrell, and for that reason the Phillies will make a bigger effort to re-sign him.  I imagine Phillies fans would prefer that course of action.  The ...

Brad Lidge or Pat Burrell? Phillies Face Some Tough Decisions
Published 5/13/2008 by Josh Alper at FanHouse
Filed under: Philadelphia, Phillies, NL EastThe Phillies should be contending for the NL East title for the entire season which should leave them with some interesting decisions when the year comes to a close. Both Brad Lidge and Pat Burrell are set to be free agents and the notoriously tight-fisted club is going to have to decide whether or not to sign each of them to long-term extensions. Burrell is in the midst of his fourth straight strong season as a righty complement to Chase Utley and Ryan Howard and his stroke is tailor-made for the Bank. He's been through the wringer in a very tough town and has come out smelling like roses. Lidge ...

Like Stripes on the Fur Coat of a Tiger - 05/13
Published 5/13/2008 by Ian Casselberry at Bless You Boys
... for shortstops, including Carlos Guillen?  Isn't it interesting that by next year, neither of those two guys could be playing shortstop? ...

Tavarez, Lugo, Loretta...Updates Galore!
Published 5/13/2008 by Fenway West (noreply@blogger.com) at Fenway West
Julian Tavarez may be traded by week's end but don't expect much for him. Extra Bases reported that the Rockies and other teams were not willing to give up any decent prospects even with the Sox eating most of his salary. Julio Lugo missed another game last night with a mild concussion but Tito says that he is day to day and may see action tonight. Cora has gone 6-8 since he returned from the DL. Check back later for the lineup. Ken Rosenthal reported that the Red Sox inquired about Mark Loretta during spring training as insurance in the infield. I saw Loretta go 1-5 last night at AT&T Park bringing his average down to the Mendoza Line, not an improvement over Lugo. I ...

Quality Defense, Pitching Spark Rangers To 5-2 Win
Published 5/14/2008 by Joey Matschulat at Baseball Time in Arlington
Just nineteen days ago, the rapidly fading season of the utterly hapless Texas Rangers - who were coming off a disastrous 2-7 road trip that had sent their 2008 record plummeting to 7-16, placing them a full seven games behind the first-place Oakland Athletics and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim - appeared to be beyond saving. So, too, did Ron Washington’s job. In fact, if we are to take Kevin Sherrington’s Tuesday column in the Dallas Morning News as gospel, at least two high-ranking members of the Rangers’ organizational hierarchy were fully prepared to cut ties with the first-time manager after that unforgettably horrific seven-game skid. I believe most of us have a ...