The Weekly Rundown 07.11.08: All-Star Weekend!

Posted by A.J. Stevens on 07.11.2008

The All-Star game is fast approaching, and we've got the voting results right here! Also, in-depth analysis of the Sabathia and Harden deals! All this and more only in this week's Rundown!



LEADING OFF

Next week at this time we'll be talking about the majesty of the towering drives hit at the Home Run Derby, the highlight reel plays that came from the All-Star Game, and the effectiveness of some very important trades made over the past few weeks. But first, let's talk about the majesty of towering drives at the Home Run Derby, the All-Star game rosters, and the effectiveness of some very important trades made over the past week!

THIS WEEK IN TRANSACTIONALITY

CC Sabathia goes to the Brewers
In last week's column, I said this when talking about what the Phillies needed to do to increase their chances of making the playoffs: "pitching. Myers just got sent down to AAA, and the rotation can't rest on Hamels and Moyer alone. This would be a good team to make a run at CC Sabathia."

As we now know, Sabathia has found a home in Milwaukee, having been traded from the Indians for four minor leaguers. The Brewers get a strong lefty who can pitch and hit, and plug holes in their rotation left by the injury to Yovani Gallardo, who had a strong start, Chris Capuano, who had a less-than-stellar season last year and has yet to pitch an inning this year, and Jeff Suppan, who was spotty so far but effective enough to be missed. Sabathia joins Ben Sheets, Seth McClung, and Manny Parra in the Brewers rotation.

As of the writing of this segment, the Brew Crew are 5 games out of first place in the NL Central and a half-game out of the NL Wild Card. Here's a wonderful analysis of how Sabathia's acquisition affects the Brewers' playoff chances, as written by dixieflatline over at Brew Crew Ball.

ESPN's Buster Olney reports that this trade definitely makes the Brewers an interesting team. I agree with him - this definitely gives them a better shot at the Wild Card, as there aren't many other teams that will sniff that. The Cubs will have to fail spectacularly in order to not win the division, so the Brewers just need to worry about staving off the Cardinals and the Mets, which should be relatively easy since both teams need some fixing to get into playoff shape.

Rich Harden/Chad Gaudin to the Cubs
As a perceived response to the Sabathia trade -- Cubs GM Jim Hendry says he's been trying to get this done for weeks -- the Cubs acquired pitchers Rich Harden and Chad Gaudin from Oakland for 4 players. A national radio host was lamenting that GMs should just stop answering the telephone when Beane calls, because he has a reputation of always "winning" trades; this trade appears to benefit both teams. The players the Cubbies sent over to the A's will get some much-needed playing time, and the Cubs get a good starting arm (when healthy) and another option out of the bullpen.

The attitude in Chicago is THE CUBS MUST WIN THIS YEAR -- we really haven't seen that since 2003, when the Cubs made the NLCS and then collapsed. This year, the excitement/desperation is coming early. There is confidence that this Cubs team is the best one assembled in a long time, and with a current 4.5-game lead in the NL Central, the Cubs are looking good this year. Gaudin and manager Lou Piniella get along well, having worked together previously in Tampa Bay. If Harden can stay healthy and avoid the comparisons with former Cubs co-savior Mark Prior, the Cubs have set themselves up to go deep into the post-season. Remember, kids, pitching wins short series.

Mariners release Richie Sexson
ABOUT. FREAKING. TIME.

RUN DOWN THE VOTE

The polls have closed, and the final two All-Stars will be the deserving rookie Evan Longoria of the Tampa Bay Rays, and Corey Hart of the Milwaukee Brewers. This gives the Rays three All-Stars on the roster for the first time in their 11-year history. This, more than anything, is a sign that the Rays are FOR REAL, yo. Heck, the only time they had two players on the roster, one was Jose Canceco, and he was injured. Really, this can be the first time they can be considered to have multiple players on the roster, period.

Unfortunately, Jason Giambi's mustache will not be participating. Sorry, Remy.

ALL-STAR GAME ROSTERS
American League
C Joe Mauer, MIN
1B Kevin Youkilis, BOS
2B Dustin Pedroia, BOS
SS Derek Jeter, NYY
3B Alex Rodriguez, NYY
OF Josh Hamilton, TEX
OF Manny Ramirez, BOS
OF Ichiro Suzuki, SEA
DH David Ortiz, BOS (Injured, will be replaced by Milton Bradley, TEX)

P Justin Duchscherer, OAK
P Roy Halladay, TOR
P Scott Kazmir, TB
P Cliff Lee, CLE P
Joe Nathan, MIN
P Jonathan Papelbon, BOS
P Mariano Rivera, NYY
P Francisco Rodriguez, LAA
P Ervin Santana, LAA
P Joe Saunders, LAA
P George Sherrill, BAL
P Joakim Soria, KC

C Dioner Navarro, TB
C Jason Varitek, BOS
1B Justin Morneau, MIN
2B Ian Kinsler, TEX
SS Michael Young, TEX
3B Joe Crede, CWS
3B Carlos Guillen, DET
OF J.D. Drew, BOS
OF Carlos Quentin, CWS
OF Grady Sizemore, CLE
DH Milton Bradley, TEX

3B Evan Longoria, TB

National League

C Geovany Soto, CHC
1B Lance Berkman, HOU
2B Chase Utley, PHI
SS Hanley Ramirez, FLA
3B Chipper Jones, ATL
OF Ryan Braun, MIL
OF Kosuke Fukudome, CHC
OF Alfonso Soriano, CHC (injured, will be replaced by Matt Holliday, COL)

P Aaron Cook, COL
P Ryan Dempster, CHC
P Dan Haren, ARI
P Brad Lidge, PHI
P Tim Lincecum, SF
P Ben Sheets, MIL
P Edinson Volquez, CIN
P Billy Wagner, NYM
P Brandon Webb, ARI
P Brian Wilson, SF
P Kerry Wood, CHC
P Carlos Zambrano, CHC

C Russell Martin, LA
C Brian McCann, ATL
1B Adrian Gonzalez, SD
1B Albert Pujols, STL
2B Dan Uggla, FLA
3B Aramis Ramirez, CHC
SS Cristian Guzman, WAS
SS Miguel Tejada, HOU
OF Matt Holliday, COL
OF Ryan Ludwick, STL
OF Nate McLouth, PIT

RF Corey Hart, MIL

HOME RUN DERBY PARTICIPANTS
(home run totals as of 7:15 PM EDT 7/10/08)

• Josh Hamilton (20)


• Dan Uggla (23)


• Chase Utley (25)


• Lance Berkman (22)


• Grady Sizemore (22)


• Ryan Braun (22)


• ???


• ???

The last two players, who should be from the AL just to balance things out, should be Carlos Quentin and J.D. Drew. Quentin is hitting monster bombs this year and deserves the extra recognition (he should have been elected as a starter, honestly). I know that Drew hasn't been feeling the greatest lately, but they need to have one more lefty at the plate for the Derby to take advantage of Yankee Stadium's short porch in right field. Plus, they need to have at least one player from Boston on there, right? Especially since Rodriguez and Giambi won't be participating. It would be fun to watch Drew get booed out of the stadium -- and you know he will be. It will be even sweeter if he wins.

(My prediction, for what it's worth, is that Utley brings home the trophy this year.)

EXTRA-INNINGOSITY
26 extra innings this week - that's like 3 free baseball games, or something!

* Col-Fla 11 innings
* Det-Sea 15 innings
* NYY-Bos 10 innings
* Hou-Atl 17 innings
* NYM-Phi 12 innings
* KC-TB 10 innings
* CHW-KC 13 innings
* TB-NYY 10 innings

WALKOFFS OF THE WEEK

* Ryan Spilborghs, Colorado, vs. Florida
* Conor Jackson, Arizona, vs. Milwaukee (6-5 win after scoring 6 runs in bottom of 9th)
* Chris Ianetta, Colorado, vs. Florida (final hit in 18-17 win)
* Shane Victorino, Philadelphia, vs. Mets
* Brandon Phillips, Reds, vs. Nationals
* Prince Fielder, Brewers, vs. Pittsburgh (Eric Gagne gets a win!)
* Rick Ankiel, Cards, vs. Cubs
* Brett Gardner, Yankees, vs. Red Sox
* Mark Teixeira, Braves, vs. Astros
* Scott Rolen, Blue Jays, vs. Orioles
* Bobby Abreu, Yankees, vs. Rays
* Miguel Cabrera, Tigers, vs. Indians
* Josh Hamilton, Rangers, vs. Angels

DRUBBING OF THE WEEK

Honorable Mention: Colorado 18-17 Florida 7/4
This was technically not a drubbing, unless you count the poor baseball that got hit all over and out of the park. There's an obvious joke about this being the score of a Broncos-Dolphins game, but seriously... when was the last time the Dolphins scored 17 points?

Boston 18-5 Minnesota 7/9
Once again, we have a trend: 12 unanswered runs. Minnesota was up 3-0 after two innings, but after that Boston got on the board and never looked back. The most interesting aspect of this game happened in the seventh inning: before the Red Sox scored 7 runs, they had a triple play call overturned in their favor. Talk about taking advantage of an opportunity!

EDWAR RAMIREZ WATCH

ERA and WHIP are down recently, which is a very good sign for Mr. Ramirez. He's been effective in short relief, which is where he belongs right now. The Yankees still need some more mileage out of their starting pitching, though, to make sure their bullpen stays effective through August and September.

STUFF I LIKED

Two-run sacrifice fly. (Royals-ChiSox 7/8/8) Not sure if anyone else saw this play - it was top Web Gem on the midnight ET edition of Baseball Tonight - it was just flat-out awesome. Top of the 11th inning, 1 out, Sox have the bases loaded. A.J. Pierzynski is at the plate, and hits a deep drive to right field. I should probably mention at this point that the warning track area of Kauffman Stadium was flooded before the game and is still a muddy mess, despite the best efforts of the KC grounds crew. Royals CF Joey Gathright -- all 5'10", 185 lbs. of him -- races toward the gap and flags down Pierzynski's fly ball. Unfortunately he had to face the double threat of a slippery outfield and 6'3", 210 lb. RF Mark Teahen. Gathright collided with Teahen, then slipped and fell on the track. While he still got the ball back to the infield relatively quickly, it was too late to prevent two runs from scoring on the play. It was fascinating to watch, as I've never seen a two-run sacrifice fly before. (The Sox would go on to win the game in 13 innings.)

POSITION PLAYER PITCHING! W00T! Easily one of my favorite occurrences in baseball. Jamie Burke, the Mariners' 3rd string catcher, was called upon in the 15th inning of a 1-1 game against the Tigers. Burke has pitching experience, having pitched a bit in the minors. Apparently, he has 4 pitches that he can throw for strikes -- unfortunately, one of them proved to be the downfall. The M's lost the game on an errant slider that sailed above the head of the catcher, the batter, and the umpire. Burke was the best option for the M's at this point, despite Ichiro and Adrian Beltre volunteering to take the bump. The Mariners had four "real" pitchers in the bullpen that weren't used, but they were unavailable for the following reasons: Carlos Silva was the next day's starter. Brandon Morrow pitched 4 of the previous 5 games. Arthur Rhodes had a sore arm. And knuckleballer R.A. Dickey threw over 100 pitches as Saturday's starter.

CLOSING IT OUT
We've got a little break ahead of us next week before we hit the home stretch. We've got some exciting stuff coming up: the All-Star Game, the trade deadline, roster callups, and eight pennant races that could go down to the wire. Won't you join us next week? -AJ