SportsHubWorld Series | StubHub SportsHub

Wainwright Injures Elbow

mdunn — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 17:09:09 +0000

There could be trouble in St. Louis aside from the team’s inability to lock up Albert Pujols. Staff ace Adam Wainwright has reportedly injured his elbow, and the initial prognosis is not encouraging. Wainwright injured the elbow on Monday and will head back to St. Louis to have it officially examined by team doctors. “There’s a problem with the ligament,” Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak told the New York Daily News. ”But it doesn’t look good.” Whispers of Tommy John surgery have already begun to circle, which would be devastating news for the ball club.

Wainwright is one of the best pitchers in the National League and had put together great back-to-back seasons over the last two years. In 2009, Wainwright led the N.L. in wins, innings and starts, while posting an ERA of 2.63. The hurler dropped his ERA even further last season, to 2.42, and posted 20 wins. The Cardinals were unable to win their division in 2010, as the Cincinnati Reds ran away with the National League Central title by the end of the season, and the club’s 2011 prospects certainly take a hit if Wainwright is sidelined for a significant amount of time.

Get MLB tickets at StubHub.

Impact Rookies

mdunn — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:52:26 +0000

ESPN’s Keith Law has put together a list of rookie players that could potentially make an impact in the major leagues in 2011. Topping the list is Philadelphia Phillies youngster Dominic Brown. Brown has been considered one of the best prospects in the game for the last couple of years and absolutely tore up minor league pitching. “Brown should win the right field job in Philadelphia given the team’s alternatives and the risk that its aging lineup will underperform (although it’s looking pretty good in the run prevention department),” Law writes. ”But if Brown heads back to Triple-A, one thing he could stand to work on is his defense in right field. He has the athleticism to be plus there, but his reads out there need work and he’s had throwing issues at least since I first saw him play, wasting his arm strength by throwing off the wrong foot.”

Royals slugger Mike Moustakas will be a bug-time player in the bigs someday; the question is whether or not we’ll see him with the team this season. “Moustakas could probably spend the year in KC and hit 20-plus homers while giving the fan base a glimpse of all that promise in the farm system during what is likely to be a capital-M Miserable season for the major league club,” Law writes. However, Law notes that this youngster has his fair share of holes in his game and it might be wise for the team to hold him back. Other names to keep an eye on include Seattle’s Dustin Ackley and Atlanta’s Julio Teheran.

Get MLB tickets at StubHub.

Olney on the Yanks’ Rotation

mdunn — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 20:03:49 +0000

The New York Yankees are a contender in the American League, as usual. But a lot of people doubt that they have the pitching to beat out the Red Sox. CC. Sabathia is the staff ace and one of the best hurlers in the majors. He’s followed by youngster Phil Hughes, who has always had a lot of talent and put together a break-out season in 2010. However, Hughes faded down the stretch and will have to figure out what went wrong. Third in the rotation will be A.J. Burnett, who struggled mightily in 2010 and needs to have a bounce-back campaign.

ESPN’ Buster Olney is looking at potential options for the Yanks this season beyond those three starters. “While the Yankees will look for solutions all over the place this summer — whether Freddy Garcia or Bartolo Colon or Mark Prior, or from the yet-to-be identified veteran pitcher they will inevitably target — they will also need some help from their farm system,” he writes. Olney notes youngster Manuel Banuelos as a guy that could make an impact. “They don’t need the No. 4 and No. 5 starters to be great; the Yankees just need them to be competitive, to hang in there, and to hold the fort for what should, again, be a very strong offense,” writes Olney.

Get MLB tickets at StubHub.

Jays Ink Bautista

mdunn — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:28:22 +0000

The Toronto Blue Jays have locked up slugger Jose Bautista to a five-year deal that will pay Bautista more than $60 million. Bautista is coming off a 2010 season in which he led the major leagues with 54 home runs. Bautista had not been a huge power hitter before last season, making some people skeptical that he can approach that number again. However, the Jays figured that he was worth the risk. “If we can’t bet on him, we can’t bet on anybody. That’s what it really came down to,” Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos said at a news conference on Thursday.

“The easy thing for me and the organization to do was to not do anything and say, ‘Well, it was one year,’” Anthopoulos continued. ”The conservative approach was to let him play it out. If he has a great season maybe he prices himself out of what we thought made sense. If he doesn’t have a good season, well, it would have been a good move not to sign him.” The Jays finished third in the American League east last season and are better than most people realize. They’re going to have trouble competing with the likes of the Yankees and Red Sox, but don’t completely count them out.

Get MLB tickets at StubHub.

Brewers Lock Up Weeks

mdunn — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 17:12:37 +0000

The Milwaukee Brewers have signed second baseman Rickie Weeks to a four-year deal worth nearly $40 million dollars and could balloon to $50 million with an option for a fifth year. Weeks is coming off a 2010 season in which he played in 160 games after having injury problems for most of his young career. “We are thrilled that Rickie has chosen to remain a Brewer,” general manager Doug Melvin told the media in the wake of the deal. ”He has become one of the best leadoff hitters in the game today; possessing speed, plate discipline and power. His aggressive style sets the tone for our offense.”

Weeks hit .269 with 29 home runs and 83 RBI in 2010 as the team’s leadoff hitter. He’s always had a lot of talent, but injuries had held him back until last season. The Brewers look to have a team that can contend in the National League Central this season thanks to a solid lineup that features bats such as Weeks, Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder, as well as a rotation that will feature Yovani Gallardo, Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum. Locking up weeks shows that the organization is committed to long-term success.

Get MLB tickets at StubHub.

BP Likes Twins in Central

mdunn — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:39:31 +0000

Baseball prospectus predicts that the Minnesota Twins will win the American League Central in 2011, which would be the team’s third consecutive division title. “Despite losing more big league players than they added this offseason, the Twins appear to be the most well-rounded club in the division with a solid rotation, good lineup and possibly reliable bullpen,” writes BP’s R.J. Anderson. The Twins are certainly a well-rounded club, with a solid lineup and a dependable rotation. The team is also getting closer Joe Nathan back after the reliever missed all of the 2010 season, which should add some stability to the bullpen.

“Former top prospect and No. 1 draft pick Delmon Young experienced his first 20-plus-homer season in 2010 while hitting .298/.333/.493 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage),” writes Anderson. ”Is he back on the road to superstardom? PECOTA says not so fast and expects a relapse into the world of ineffectiveness with a projected slash line of .283/.319/.420.” Young had a breakout season in 2010 and could finally be delivering on the immense talent that made him the top overall pick in the draft several years ago. The number cruncher don’t seem to think so, but he’ll be crucial to the team’s offensive success.

Get MLB tickets at StubHub.

Sabathia Could Opt Out After Season

mdunn — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 13:59:35 +0000

C.C. Sabathia says he’s happy in pinstripes, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that he won’t exercise the opt-out clause in his contract after the 2011 season. Sabathia has four years and $92 million left on his deal following this upcoming MLB season, but could leave that on the table in search of another monster contract that would likely be his last. Originally it looked like there was very little chance that the Yankee ace would consider opting out. However, now that doesn’t seem so certain. “I have no idea [if I will opt out],” Sabathia told reporters in the Yankees clubhouse yesterday. “It is still in my contract. Anything is possible.”

Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner said he doesn’t think the team’s best pitcher is going anywhere. “Once you’ve become a Yankee and you’ve won as a Yankee, it’s a little difficult to go anywhere else, I would assume,” Steinbrenner told the media. ”We’re going to be in every year … every single year. You can’t say that about any other team, except maybe the Red Sox, but they weren’t in it last year. And the Phillies are keeping it going, but how long will that last?” Even if Sabathia opts out, he could return to New York on a new deal, ala A-Rod a few years back.

Get MLB tickets at StubHub.

Dodgers Had a Solid Offseason

worldseries — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:36:55 +0000

ESPN’s Jayson Stark seemed to like the Los Angeles Dodgers’ offseason most out of all the National League West teams. “Best thing they did: Moved ultra-aggressively to bring back free agents Ted Lilly, Hiroki Kuroda and Vicente Padilla, while signing Garland for a mere one year, $5 million guarantee,” Stark writes. ”So rotation depth — a big issue last summer — is now one of this team’s biggest strengths all of a sudden.” The Dodgers have the potential star players in place, but their lack of depth really seemed to hurt them in 2010. While none of these additions include elite talent, they are savvy moves that fill holes.

The biggest offseason change in the organization was at manager, where hitting coach Don Mattingly took over for Joe Torre. “What remains to be seen: How the left-field jumble of Thames, Gabe Kapler and Tony Gwynn Jr. works out — and, even more importantly, how Mattingly’s managerial debut works out,” Stark writes. ”This is a tough clubhouse. And this division leads the league in pitchers’ duels, where running the game matters. So as astute and well-liked as Mattingly may be, he’s in for the biggest challenge of his lifetime.”

Get MLB tickets at StubHub.

Young Wants Out of Texas?

worldseries — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:27:32 +0000

Though reports were positive about Michael Young’s attitude when the Texas Rangers signed third baseman Adrian Beltre, that might not be the case now. Young has supposedly requested a trade from the team as an alternative as being the club’s designated hitter in 2011. The team’s acquisition of Mike Napoli might have pushed Young over the edge, as now it seems he’ll lose playing time at both first base and DH. Young is the team captain in Texas and has been one of their best players for a long time now. He was a big part of leading the team to the World Series last season.

“He’s been a guy that I could go to and really look at as a veteran leader. If we lose him, it’s going to be a big loss,” teammate and reigning America League Most Valuable Player Josh Hamilton told ESPNDallas.com on Monday. ”It’s hard to think about. It’s hard to lose a guy who’s your most durable player, who’s in there every day, who’s getting 550, 600 at-bats every year and putting up numbers like he does.” It remains to be seen what happens with Young, but it would be a blow to the reigning A.L. champs.

Get MLB tickets at StubHub.

Gonzalez Arrives

worldseries — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 14:25:37 +0000

New Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez arrived at Boston’s training camp more than a week before he had to report, a good sign going forward for his relationship with the organization. Gonzalez was acquired in the offseason via trade from the San Diego Padres, from whom Gonzalez has produced gaudy numbers over the past few seasons. Gonzalez will likely be the biggest power punch in the Boston lineup in 2011 and he should enjoy making the transition from San Diego’s Petco Park to Boston’s Fenway Park.

Gonzalez is set to become a free agent at season’s end, but will work with the team on putting together an extension. “We don’t have any deadlines, anything like that,” Gonzalez told the media. ”When I’m healthy and they see I’m healthy and we all decide it’s time to sit down and talk about something like that, we’ll do that. There’s no rush for anything. I think the main thing for me is to get healthy.” Gonzalez is recovering from shoulder surgery and seems to be getting back to full health. Gonzalez said he’s looking forward to hitting in Fenway this season. “I’m looking forward to it,” he told reporters, “but I don’t like to jump ahead of schedule, I don’t like to get ahead of myself. I look forward to getting ready for spring hitting.”

Get MLB tickets at StubHub.