Kuzul

What an unbelievable day it was in sports yesterday! How about that soccer game!

When Landon Donovan scored that goal, I screamed, “YES!” in my office. I felt bad because one of the girls on my team was giving a demo of our product and I completely threw her off.

I am pretty sure that is not in the being a good manager manual.

We also saw a 10-hour tennis match yesterday. A 10-hour tennis match! I can’t even sleep for 10 hours, let alone play a highly competitive tennis match.

Unfortunately, there was one guy who didn’t think yesterday was a great day in sports. His name is Fredi Gonzalez.

The Florida Marlins fired Gonzalez and two coaches yesterday. The Marlins replaced Gonzalez with minor-league manager Edwin Rodriguez on an interim basis.

Can’t say I’m really shocked by this.

The Marlins wanted to fire Gonzalez at the end of last year, but decided to bring him back for another season. Gonzalez’s fate was sealed, however, due to the Marlins slow start, coupled with his incident with star player Hanley Ramirez earlier this season.

Despite the Marlins being two games under .500 (34-36) entering last night’s action, they have been playing better as of late, so the timing of the move is a bit curious.

I guess Marlins’ owner Jeffrey Loria is hoping for the same results in 2010 as he got in 2003 when he fired Jeff Torborg 38 games into the season.

The Marlins replaced Torborg with Jack McKeon and the team went on to win the World Series. I believe Loria will seek another high-profile manager to replace Gonzalez/Rodriguez.

That manager is Bobby Valentine.

Valentine managed the Texas Rangers when Loria owned the organization’s Triple-A team in Oklahoma from 1989 to 1992. So there is a connection.

Even if they do hire Valentine, I am not sure how much a difference he is going to make. It’s hard to win when your team has a mediocre bullpen and a lousy defense.

Here is how I think the managing carousel will break down:

Florida Marlins: Bobby Valentine

Baltimore Orioles: Buck Showalter

Atlanta Braves: Fredi Gonzalez (when Bobby Cox retires, of course)

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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One of the better ideas that Major League Baseball has had recently is introducing a “Futures Game” as part of its All-Star festivities. It really gives fans some insight into their favorite team’s best prospects as well as the game’s best prospects.

Here is the roster breakdown by major league team:

ARI: Pedro Ciriaco
ATL: Mike Minor, Julio Teheran
BAL: Zach Britton
BOS: Stolmy Pimentel
CHC: Brett Jackson, Hak-Ju Lee
CWS: Dan Hudson
CIN: Yonder Alonso, Phillippe Valiquette
CLE: Lonnie Chisenhall, Chun Chen
COL: Christian Friedrich, Wilin Rosario
DET: Andy Oliver, Wilkin Ramirez
FLA: Logan Morrison, Ozzie Martinez
HOU: Jordan Lyles
KC: Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas
LAA: Mike Trout, Luis Jimenez
LAD: Dee Gordon, Pedro Baez
MIL: Brett Lawrie
MIN: Ben Revere
NYM: Jeurys Familia
NYY: Austin Romine, Hector Noesi
OAK: Grant Green
PHI: Domonic Brown, Jarred Cosart
PIT: Tony Sanchez, Gorkys Hernandez
SD: Drew Cumberland, Simon Castro
SF: Francisco Peguero
STL: Shelby Miller, Eduardo Sanchez
SEA: Alex Liddi, Carlos Peguero
TB: Jeremy Hellickson, Desmond Jennings
TEX Tanner Scheppers
TOR Henderson Alvarez, Trystan Magnuson
WAS Danny Espinosa, Euery Perez

There are a lot of young players who I am looking forward to seeing in this game. More specifically, I am excited to watch the two Tampa Bay Rays’ prospects in this game: RHP Jeremy Hellickson and OF Desmond Jennings. Jennings, the heir-apparent to Carl Crawford, is hitting .273 with 16 SBs in Triple-A this season.

I am also looking forward to watching OF Mike Trout. If you remember, Trout was the only player who showed up to last year’s June Draft. Now Trout his hitting .370 with six home runs and 34 SBs in 66 games for the Single-A Cedar Rapids. He has become one of the best outfield prospects in the game.

Lastly, I can’t wait to see Royals’ 3B prospect Mike Moustakas rake in this game. Moustakas, who the second overall pick in the 2007 Draft, is killing Double-A pitching this year to the tune of .355/.421/.704 with 17 home runs.

The 12th Annual XM Futures Game will take place on July 11, 2010 in Anaheim.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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I am starting to notice a trend in Colorado Rockies SS Troy Tulowitzki’s career.

In his rookie year of 2007, Tulowitzki went through the season healthy and the Rockies made the playoffs. In 2008, Tulowitzki went through an injury-plagued season (played in only 101 games) and the Rockies missed the playoffs. Last year, Tulowitzki stayed healthy, had an MVP season, and the Rockies made the playoffs.

Now in 2010, it looks like Tulowitzki is suffering through another injury-plagued season. Will the Rockies make the playoffs? We will just have to wait and see, but not having Tulowitzki in the lineup certainly won’t help the situation.

It was revealed over the weekend that “Tulo” will miss six to eight weeks because of a broken left wrist. Tulo broke his wrist when it was hit by a fastball from Minnesota Twins’ pitcher Alex Burnett in the eighth inning of Thursday’s game.

Obviously, this is a huge blow to the Rockies.

Not only is Tulowitzki having a great season, but he is also the heart and soul of the Rockies’ team. Tulowitzki was hitting .306/.375/.502 with nine home runs, 17 doubles, and two SB’s in 62 games.

The Rockies went into Sunday’s game just three games behind the first place San Diego Padres in the NL West, so it will be up to guys like Brad Hawpe, Carlos Gonzalez and Ian Stewart to keep the Rockies’ offense afloat until their leader comes back. So the question now is, what do the Rockies do at SS until Tulowitzki comes back?

For starters, they have a couple of internal options. Clint Barmes will move over to SS for a majority of the starts, I assume, until Tulowitzki comes back. In this case, Melvin Mora or Jonathan Herrera will play second. Another second base option is Eric Young Jr., who is still some weeks away from returning.

The second internal option they have is SS Chris Nelson. Nelson was hitting .311/.384/.508 with five home runs in Triple-A. Nelson was the Rockies’ first round pick (ninth overall) in the 2004 Draft.

In the days that Nelson is playing short, the Rockies can move Barmes back to second. The Rockies certainly have their options internally, but what about outside the organization? The Rockies have some options there as well.

Colorado could look into a free agent like Adam Everett, or they could look to make a trade. Shortstops or second basemen that could be available are Ryan Theriot, Cesar Izturis, Adam Kennedy and Ty Wigginton.

I think Wigginton would be a good fit in Colorado. While he is not the best defensive second baseman in the planet (-3.6 UZR), his bat should make up for any defensive deficiencies he might have.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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It’s never a good sign when a manager says his ace pitcher “has some things going on” in his shoulder, but that’s exactly what Chicago White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said about Jake Peavy the other day.

Due to Peavy’s achy shoulder, the White Sox skipped his Thursday night start against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he’ll attempt to start on Saturday.

It’s kind of odd timing for Peavy’s injury because he’s coming off two of his better starts of the season. In his last two starts, Peavy has given up just four runs, two walks, and has eight K’s in 14 IP. Now if I was told that Peavy had a bum shoulder after his start against the Tampa Bay Rays in which he gave up 10 hits and five runs in 5.1 IP, then I’d believe it.

Overall, Peavy has had a pretty disappointing first full year in the American League, but I don’t think anyone is surprised about that. Going from the hitting challenged NL West and pitcher-friendly Petco Park to the American League and US Cellular Field, I think everyone knew his stats would take a hit.

So far in 2010, Peavy has given up the most hits/9 (9.1) and HR/9 (1.3) of his career and has his lowest K/9 (7.6) since 2003. Not to mention that Peavy also sports a 5.62 ERA and 1.33 WHIP.

Hopefully for White Sox fans the extra days rest will do Peavy some good.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates officially called up 3B prospect Pedro Alvarez from Triple-A. He was called up before Wednesday night’s game against the Chicago White Sox and batted sixth for the Pirates.

Alvarez, the second overall pick in the 2008 June Draft, was hitting .277/.363/.533 with 13 HRs and 15 doubles in 242 ABs in Triple-A. He will be the everyday third baseman moving forward and Andy LaRoche will move into a utility role for the Pirates.

From a fantasy perspective, if you are in a Keeper League, then Alvarez should be picked up immediately. While he does strike out a lot (68 in 242 AB’s), he does have 35 HR potential.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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With the July 31st trade deadline quickly approaching, it’s time to kick off our “what’s his trade market” series. From now until the July 31st trading deadline, we will look at players who could potentially be traded and what their trade value—or lack there of— really is.

Let’s start this series off with a player who has been a mainstay in the Kansas City Royals’ outfield since 2003, David DeJesus.

DeJesus could be traded this summer

Pros

DeJesus has been a consistent player on a team that has been consistently bad in his eight years in the majors. You can pretty much pencil in DeJesus for a .285 average with 10 home runs, nine triples, and a .360 OBP every year. This year through 63 games, DeJesus is enjoying career highs in avg (.314), OBP (.392), and SLG (.871).

Defensively, while DeJesus is no longer a center fielder, he has become one of the better defensive corner OF’s in the game. Last year playing LF, DeJesus posted in 15.3 UZR, which ranked second in all of baseball.

This year, DeJesus has spent the majority of his time in right field where he has posted a 2.5 UZR. His 2.5 UZR ranks 11th among all right fielders in baseball.

For a team that needs a really good defensive corner OF, who hits .290 with mediocre power, DeJesus is your guy. The New Jersey native also has a pretty friendly contract as well.

DeJesus will earn $4.7 million in 2010, and has a club option for $6 million in 2010. Considering DeJesus’ value to the Royals has been around $10 million a year, I would say the team that acquires him would be getting a pretty good deal.

Cons

DeJesus always struck me as a guy who could bat second or third for the Royals, but would bat seventh or eighth for a really good NL or AL team. He is sort of the jack of all trades, but master of none.

DeJesus could be a nice complimentary piece to a championship team, but the team acquiring him shouldn’t think they are getting a centerpiece player.

Injuries are a concern when acquiring DeJesus as well. In his seven full seasons in the major leagues, he has played in 140 plus games only once (he played in 144 games last year). However, despite being consistently hurt, he has only made one trip to the 15-day DL in his career.

Now that we have looked at the pros and cons of DeJesus, lets take a look at what teams might be interested in the former Rutgers Scarlet Knight.

Boston Red Sox: The Red Sox could certainly use an extra OF with Jeremy Hermida and Jacoby Ellsbury being hurt. Mike Cameron also spent time on the DL as well this year, so DeJesus could be a nice safety net for the Sox.

Atlanta Braves: While FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal mentioned the Braves could be interested in right-handed OF bat, DeJesus could be a nice alternative. And let’s face it, DeJesus would be a huge upgrade over the useless Melky Cabrera in left.

Cincinnati Reds: While Jonny Gomes is having a career year in Cincinnati, he is also one of the worst defensive left fielders in the game. DeJesus hits righties very well (.333 this year), so the Reds could go with a platoon in left.

In the games that Gomes does start, DeJesus could come in the game as a defensive replacement.

San Diego Padres: The Kyle Blanks, Scott Hairston, Chris Denorfia combination really hasn’t worked in San Diego this year. The Padres will be buyers at the trade deadline and DeJesus would be a perfect fit in San Diego.

With that spacious ballpark, DeJesus would hit 10 triples easy.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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The first somewhat significant trade of the 2010 season took place yesterday between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Oakland A’s.

I say somewhat because no major names were involved, but I think it was a trade that could help both teams.

Yesterday, the Diamondbacks traded OF/1B Conor Jackson to the A’s for minor league RHP Sam Demel. Here is what both teams got.

As you probably have heard me say throughout the years here, Conor Jackson sounds and looks like a guy who should hit .300 with 30 HRs and 110 RBI every year. Unfortunately, he was never that guy and more so now after suffering from valley fever last year.

In his first three full years in the majors, Jackson averaged .292/.371/.451 with 14 home runs, which is pretty respectable. However, last year Jackson suffered from a rare case of valley fever and saw his hitting line dip to .182/.264/.253 with one HR in 30 games.

Things haven’t been that much better for Jackson in 2010, as he has gotten off to a .238/.326/.331 with one HR start. Jackson has done well against lefties, however, as he has hit .300 with an .833 OPS against southpaws this year.

Jackson does represent an upgrade for the A’s over Eric Patterson in left. Patterson was hitting only .210 with a .262 OBP in 42 games. The A’s could use any upgrade they can find on offense, as they rank 12th in the American League in runs scored and 11th in OPS.

As for the Diamondbacks, I believe this is the first of many moves to come. It wouldn’t shock me to see them unload Kelly Johnson or Adam LaRoche in the near future.

What they get in this trade is a 24-year-old right-handed reliever who posted a 1.26 ERA and 28 K’s in 28.2 IP for Triple-A Sacramento this year. The Diamondbacks’ bullpen is the worst in baseball this year, so any sort of fresh arm is greatly welcomed. If Demel proves himself at the major league level, he could find himself as the Diamondbacks’ closer of the future.

Good trade for both teams.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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A very thin starting LA rotation is about to get thinner. The Los Angeles Dodgers placed RHP Chad Billingsley on the 15-day DL because of a groin strain—the move is retroactive to June 12th.

Billingsley has had a real up and down season in 2010. In his first six starts the Dodger righty was 2-2 with a 5.06 ERA. Then, in his next 5 starts, Billingsley went 4-0 with a 2.45 ERA. Over his last two starts, Billingsley is 0-2 with a 7.71 ERA.

So as you can see, not everything has been roses for Billingsley in 2010.

With Billingsley hurt, the Dodgers will now have a rotation that features Clayton Kershaw, Hiroki Kuroda, John Ely, Ronald Belisario, and Vincente Padilla (back on Saturday). That is mediocre at best.

Of course, the Dodgers will survive this because that is the way things go for ball clubs led by Joe Torre. Even if the Dodgers lose their entire pitching staff to injury, Torre will find someone to plug in who will go 10-0 with a 2.55 ERA down the stretch.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @theghostofmlg

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Once again the Minnesota Twins are in first place, and once again the Twins are in the top five in one particular category. As a matter of fact, the Twins have been in the top five in this category for the past five years.

No, it’s not home runs, runs scored, fielding percentage, or ERA. The category in which the Twins are perennial leaders is first pitch strike percentage.

Here is where the Twins have ranked in first pitch strike percentage over the last five years:

2010—61.8 percent (first)

2009—60.5 percent (fourth)

2008—60.1 percent (fifth)

2007—61.1 percent (third)

2006—63 percent (first)

It’s no coincidence that the Twins have finished first or second three times over this time frame and are currently in first place this year. I am not saying that first pitch strikes are the sole reason for the Twins’ success (Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau help as well), but I think it is a very big reason.

For as long as I can remember, the Twins have developed pitchers who don’t throw particularly hard, but have great command, and are taught to pound the strike zone from day one. Pitching from ahead in the count allows the Twins pitchers to always be on the offensive rather than the defensive.

Brad Radke, Kevin Tapani, Kevin Slowey, Scott Baker, and Nick Blackburn are all the same pitcher to me. None of them threw or throw hard, but they consistently pound the strike zone and throw first pitch strikes.

A pitcher’s best pitch isn’t a fastball or a slider or even a split finger fastball. It’s strike one.

It just so happens that the Twins pitchers throw strike one better than any team in baseball. Perhaps that’s why they have been one of the most successful teams in baseball over the past five years.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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After Washington Nationals’ rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg dazzled in his major league debut, people couldn’t wait to see what he would do as an encore yesterday against the Cleveland Indians. While Strasburg didn’t mow through the Indians like he did the Pittsburgh Pirates, he was still pretty effective.

The Nationals beat the Indians 9-4 behind 5.1 innings of two-hit baseball from Strasburg. If you are asking why Strasburg only pitched 5.1 despite giving up two hits, the answer is simple—walks. Strasburg didn’t walk a batter in his debut, but walked five against the Indians.

Two of those walks came in the sixth when Strasburg was having issues with the Cleveland mound. The dirt on the mound was so bad that Strasburg was slipping as he delivered the ball to home plate. I have pitched on Little League mounds that looked like they were in better condition than what Strasburg and everyone else for that matter was pitching on yesterday.

Once that mound got into Strasburg’s head, he was done. He was worried more about where he was going to land rather than where the pitch is going to go and when that happens, forget about it. After Strasburg’s second walk he was removed from the game.

Overall, I thought Strasburg was very good, but not great. His secondary pitches weren’t as sharp as they were against the Pirates. However, I thought his fastball might have been better on Sunday than it was on his first start. He was pretty electric throughout the game.

Through two games, Strasburg is 2-0 with 22 K’s in 12.1 innings of work. His next start will be against the Chicago White Sox on Friday night.

One last thing. The Indians drew 32,876 for this game. Their last Sunday game was against in-state rivals the Cincinnati Reds. That game drew 21,044.

Strasburg was a difference of about 14,000 fans for the Indians. Yes folks, the kid is a phenomenon.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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