Devil Rays expected to go Young in draft
The Devil Rays are leaning toward selecting high school phenom Delmon Young first overall in Tuesday's draft.
Draft Rumblings
The eve-of-the-draft line on the top 10 picks in Tuesday's draft:
1. Devil Rays: Delmon Young, OF, Camarillo (Calif.) HS.
2. Brewers: Rickie Weeks, 2B, Southern.
3. Tigers: Tim Stauffer, RHP, Richmond.
4. Padres: Kyle Sleeth, RHP, Wake Forest.
5. Royals: Chris Lubanski, OF, Kennedy-Kenrick HS, Schwenksville, Pa.
6. Cubs: Ryan Harvey, OF, Dunedin HS, Palm Harbor, Fla.
7. Orioles: Nick Markakis, LHP, Young Harris (Ga.) JC.
8. Pirates: Paul Maholm, LHP, Mississippi State.
9. Rangers: John Danks, LHP, Round Rock (Texas) HS.
10. Rockies: Ian Stewart, 3B, La Quinta HS, Garden Grove, Calif.
| White Sox Rumblings | |
In Chicago, the papers and the talk shows have fired Jerry Manuel so many times, it may shock some people to see him still sitting there in the White Sox dugout. But GM Kenny Williams continues to act and sound like a man who would rather climb all 2,000 steps of the Sears Tower than axe his manager."It's always going to be a topic," Williams says, " because that's our quick-fix mentality as a society. And not just in baseball. It's the sporting world, period. ... But I personally would prefer to have more stability than that. "I understand that we're all subjected to the bottom line in this business. But it's easy to stand behind somebody when things are going well. When you're really put to the test is when the plan isn't going as you laid it out. "The way I look at it, you can do a couple of things. You can stand behind all your people, or bail out on them. Obviously, I've chosen, at this point in time, to stand behind everybody. But things do change. So you'll just have to stay tuned." Remember that this is a team built to win this year. So clearly, the White Sox can't wait until Labor Day to address their problems. But Williams says his role models for how to handle his club's disconcerting start is last year's Angels and A's, now matter how rare it was for those two teams to have climbed out of the early canyons they dug themselves. "Those teams both stayed the course, believed in their talent and didn't look to make moves because it was the fashionable thing to do," Williams says. "So I'm going to believe in our talent, stay the course and only do something if it makes sense, if it improves our chances of winning right now." The time may come, of course, when Williams has to "do something," even if it's something he doesn't want to do. But he has made it obvious to all of us that he won't do anything just because he read it in his morning paper or heard one of us media geniuses suggest it on the radio on his way to work. |
Loewen loomed as by far the best college pitcher in this draft and would have been a top-three pick. So his signing (for five years, $4 million) shakes up the rest of the first round. "A lot of teams," says one AL scouting director, "are in scramble mode right now because of this."
But an NL scouting director forecasts: "This guy can be a No. 1 or 2 starter, without question. He can be another Mark Mulder. In some ways, he might be more like a Jeremy Affeldt because his command can come and go. But he's a big, strong power pitcher with a delivery that makes you say, 'I can see this guy going 230-240 innings a year.' He can be real special."
On the other hand, the question many baseball people always ask, after any draft pick gets a major-league contract, is whether this guy can develop into all he's supposed to be before he runs out of options in three years.
"It sure puts some pressure on the kid," says one scouting director. "This guy has a lot of upside, but I'd have been leery of that. With his age (19) and where he is in his development, you're really putting pressure on this guy."
For one thing, no Scott Boras clients are expected to go in the top 10 picks, unless Texas takes Rice first baseman Vince Sinisi. For another, rumors that Weeks was looking for $7 million apparently are unfounded. So only Baltimore, which just had to cough up $4 million for Loewen, is expected to base a top-of-the-round pick on signability. Hence the choice of Markakis.
Interleague Grumblings
And you can expect the grumbling to start with the two teams atop the AL West -- the Mariners and A's. They play two common opponents -- the Marlins and Phillies. But just compare their nine other interleague games:
Oakland's designated "rival" -- the Giants, for six games.
Seattle's designated "rival" -- the Padres, for six games.
Oakland's other NL East opponents -- the Braves.
Seattle's other NL East opponents -- the Mets.
Bear in mind that the difference in the AL West race last year was interleague play. The A's went 16-2 against the NL. The Angels went 11-7. So even though Anaheim actually had a better record against AL teams, it finished four games out of first. And that's why many players hate interleague play.
In the last three seasons, Martinez has started one game in an NL park (at first base, on July 18, 2000, at Los Angeles). So in the 25 games he hasn't started, all the Mariners have been able to get out of him is four pinch-hits (in three years), with one home run, one sacrifice fly and two RBI.
Amazingly, they were still able to go 15-10 in those games. But this year, Seattle's offense seems to orbit around Martinez more than ever.
| Yankees Rumblings | |
George Steinbrenner told the New York media this week that payroll concerns won't stop the Yankees from making "improvements." But an official of a club that has stayed in contact with the Yankees says his understanding is that they're still "not interested in adding payroll" -- at least for now.So the Yankees are actually doing what other clubs commonly do these days -- scanning the waiver wire and the designated-for-assignment populace for cheap upgrades. But again, rest assured that could change at any time. True, Boss Steinbrenner has pointed more fingers at his manager than usual this year. And if this team doesn't win, anything is possible. But not in May. "Nobody is untouchable," says one baseball man who considers himself a friend of Steinbrenner. "But Joe's been around long enough. He understands what's going on when George goes at him, just like George understands when Joe goes at him. That's just part of doing business. It's all part of Yankee Land. "This is just George's way of prodding Joe, and motivating Joe. But that's all it is. George just wants to win. Period. His team is going to be all about winning. There's no tolerance for not winning. That's the Yankees." And when there are 110 games still to play, a forthcoming series with the Tigers on the menu and a bunch of key figures on the disabled list, even Steinbrenner understands it's no time to panic. What looks like panic to people on the outside just looks like the Boss being the Boss to longtime Yankee watchers. Of course, it's also much more entertaining from the outside than it is when you're a Yankees employee getting an earache. |
"He's the crutch all the rest of the guys in that lineup lean on," says one AL scout. "He puts everyone else in their comfort level. They all rely on Edgar to be in the middle of every big rally. I swear, he gets 80 percent of their big hits. And every inning that he's coming up, he changes the other team's approach, because in the late innings, it doesn't matter what reliever you bring in. He hits good pitching. And this year, he's showing the power he didn't show last year."
Miscellaneous Rumblings
"The names are good," says one NL executive. "But you also have to look at how they all fit together. There's a meshing that has to take place. There's nothing wrong with (Jim) Thome, (Pat) Burrell and (Bobby) Abreu, but put those guys in a row, and you've got a lot of non-contact."
You could look it up. Last year, those three totaled an incredible 735 trips to the plate in which the ball never left the batter's box (409 strikeouts, 315 walks, 11 HBP). So there is a ton of pressure on the hitters in front of and behind that threesome to generate on-base percentage at the top of the order and clutch hits in the 6-7-8 holes. But so far, at least, that hasn't happened.
And those problems have been magnified by Burrell's almost inexplicable struggles (.207 batting average, 61 strikeouts but only 38 hits, and a lower slugging percentage -- .440 -- than Todd Pratt).
Even tough the Phillies scored 11 runs Wednesday on a night when Burrell was benched, one scout says: "They can't win without him hitting, because if he doesn't, nobody will pitch to Thome. If Burrell's not hitting behind him, we treat Thome just like Bonds. We wave four fingers at every opportunity."
"It's a dilemma," Pirates GM Dave Littlefield admits. "As a general manager, what you want to do is win a championship. And obviously, we have a long ways to go to do that. But you also realize that you want to make progress, by putting a better product out there every year.
"We're in a situation where we don't have a lot of close-to-the-big-leagues Double-A and Triple-A talent that can help us next year, and no real major-league excess. So we've got to keep an eye on the long term at the same time we're looking at the short term. If things don't go as we hope, then trading (players like Lofton and Reggie Sanders) can be one way to obtain more talent at a relatively cheap rate. But we're still at a point where we're not that far away from .500. So we'll see. We just want to do things that make sense."
"We get a lot of calls on him, believe me," Littlefield says. "And as I've always said, we'll listen. But realistically, I don't expect to be trading him."
| Mets Rumblings | |
Officials of three clubs that have been in contact with the Mets say they'd be surprised if they haven't changed general managers by this time next week. Which, at this point, would be the humane thing to do for GM Steve Phillips, who has felt like an endangered species for weeks. Phillips' assistant, Jim Duquette, is still expected to be named interim GM, with the opportunity to make the job permanent.Duquette's prospects for hanging onto the job long-term could hinge on what kind of deadline deals the Mets can make. So we asked one NL executive to rank the Mets' trade candidates in order of their attractiveness. 1. Armando Benitez: "Whatever you think of him, his numbers are pretty damn good. He can be a warrior at times. He can be a choker at times. He can drive you nuts, but most of those closers do, anyway." 2. Roberto Alomar: "I know the thinking is that he'll flip the switch back on once he's out of New York, but I don't believe that. He'll be better when he gets out of there, but I don't think he'll be the guy I once thought was the best second baseman I've ever seen. He's not as quick. He's older. He doesn't do anything as well as he used to. But he can be better than he's been there. And somebody will buy into that." 3. Jeromy Burnitz: "Put him in the right lineup, and his bat will be more productive than it is on that team. You've got to protect him. He's got to get fastballs. But in the right setting, he has some appeal. Left-handed power guys always do." 4. Pedro Astacio: "You worry about his track record since the (shoulder) injury. You have to learn to deal with that -- pitch through soreness, pitch through some pain -- and I'm not sure he has. There will be some appeal. But you just have to know what he is -- an end-of-the-rotation guy. He can still get people out, but he's a high-maintenance guy." |
"He's one of those dependable, productive guys who protects our young pitching and our young starters," says GM Allard Baird. "And he's given us veteran leadership on our staff, which is really important."
But if K.C. is out of the race and gets the right offer, it's possible Grimsley could re-enact Mike Williams' saga two years ago with Pittsburgh -- when the Pirates traded him at the deadline, then re-signed him that winter as a free agent.
Come July, Oakland will be hunting for a top-of-the-order bat and a power set-up arm. And Toronto has made no secret it will be willing to deal Shannon Stewart and Kelvim Escobar. So it's not hard to see that blockbuster falling into place seven weeks from now.
Escobar is in the rotation at the moment. But Ricciardi has been telling fellow GMs he thinks Escobar's best role is as a strikeout set-up force between the sixth and eighth innings, who could go as long as three innings if needed.
"I haven't heard much mention of Tampa Bay's defense," says one scout. "But (Carl) Crawford and (Rocco) Baldelli cover as much ground as any two outfielders I've seen."
"They all know that exactly what happened last year (when they traded Cliff Floyd and Ryan Dempster during the break) will happen this year," says one source. "So that makes it a little tough to get motivated to play as a unit."
Promotion of the Week
Whoopi Goldberg, renowned agent Bean Stringfellow and the brilliant band, Tag Team, which sang the everlasting hit, "Whoop, there it is," will be happy to know the hot new minor-league promotion of the year is, believe it or not, Whoopee Cushion Night.
Many readers have been e-mailing us to inform us of this monumental development. So for your whooping pleasure, you can pick up a free whoopee cushion in all these ballparks:
July 3 in Bowie, Md. (Baysox vs. Akron)
July 14 in Lakewood, N.J. (Blue Claws vs. Delmarva)
July 21 in Trenton, N.J. (Thunder vs. Reading)
And it's all sponsored by (who else?) B&M Baked Beans.
Triviality answer
Question: David Cone heads for The Rest Of His Life with six 200-strikeout seasons on his page of the baseball encyclopedia. In the division-play era, only six pitchers had more 200-strikeout seasons than that. Can you name them?
Answer: Nolan Ryan (15), Randy Johnson (11), Roger Clemens (11), Tom Seaver (9), Steve Carlton (8) and Bert Blyleven (8).
Jayson Stark is a senior writer for ESPN.com.
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