Dezzi’s first ever blog!

Hey there peeps
Dezzi here, soooo this is my first ever blog! I really dont know what to say ummm
i guess i should start by telling you all a lil about me :p
Well im an Aussie chic so i have a super hot Aussie accent hehehe

I live with my sister and our amazing baby Jackson! he is an american bulldog x boxer.
He is probably the love of my life haha he may look scary but when ya see him just chillin out with us you see what a big harmless baby he is
Well thats all ill say for now cos im sure you dont want to read to much blabber!
here is a pic of my lil man..

Baseball Mid-Season Trade Report

The Rangers have already made three big deals to aquire both pitchers and position players to help keep them on top of their division, and make a push to the World Series. They started on July 1st by aquiring Bengie Molina and cash from the Giants for relief pitcher Chris Ray and Class A pitcher Michael Main.  Just 8 days later they make a huge splash by trading the Mariners for Cliff Lee. 

July 9th, Cliff Lee was supposed to pitch for the Mariners, against the New York Yankees.  The Yankees, along with many other teams, were interested in trading for Cliff Lee since he has been solid this year since returning from the DL.  But the Yankees did not want to risk injuring a player they wished to acquire by the hands of their own offense, and also did not want to ease up to the point that they lost the game, so they were frantically trying to work out a deal before the game started.  Everyone thought Lee would be in pinstripes before the game started, but the Rangers made a bold move, and landed Lee on their starting rotation.  So the Mariners sent Cliff Lee and injured reliever Mark Lowe and cash to Texas in return for a young powerful first baseman Justin Smoak and three prospects: right-handed pitchers Blake Beavan and Josh Lueke, and second baseman Matt Lawson.  Lee headlined a starting rotation in Seattle that boasted one of the best ERA’s in all of baseball, and Felix Hernandez made the best top two starters of any rotation with them having pitched back to back complete games on several occasions.  But Seattle’s lack of offensive production seen them fall too many games to make a serious push for the playoffs this season.  So they decided to make a move for the future for more offense in Justin Smoak, who could become the next Texiera or Howard.   

The Rangers have recently made one other move to get Jorge Cantu from the Marlins for two pitchers.  They will send Double-A reliever Evan Reed and injured pitcher Omar Poveda to the Marlins who will also pick up a portion of Cantu’s remaining $2.2 million salary.  With an 8.5 game lead in the AL West division, the Rangers are obviously not fighting so hard for a playoff berth, but showing everyone that they are going for it all, and doing everything they can to win the World Series.  So far the Lee deal could be the determining factor for their future.  They were very smart to make that move work, if not only to benefit their team, to keep him away from the Yankees who they will most certainly have to get through to make it to the WS.  All I can say is good luck.

Here is a glimpse of what else has happened on the trade market this July:

Besides Cliff Lee, many other top notch pitchers have been moved to playoff contenders.  The Phillies traded for Houston ace pitcher Roy Oswalt, sending left handed pitcher J.A. Happ, and minor league prospects Jonathan Villar and Anthony Gose who was then flipped to the Blue Jays for first-base prospect Brett Wallace.  The Twins traded for Nationals closer Matt Capps, sending catcher Wilson Ramos and left-hander Joe Testa to Washington.  Capps was the Nationals representative at the All-Star game.  The Angels also traded for an ace pitcher in landing Dan Haren from the Arizona D-backs.  The Angels send three pitchers; veteran Joe Saunders, and prospects Rafael Rodriguez and Patrick Corbin and a player to be named later, in his place. 

Several position players have found new homes as well.  As mentioned earlier Cantu and Molina were moved off to Texas from NL clubs, but Miguel Tejada and Scott Podsednik have moved from the AL to the NL.  Tejada goes from Baltimore to San Diego, and Pods from the Royals to the Dodgers.  The Tigers traded a Class-A pitcher, Giovanni Sota, for the Indians shortstop Jhonny Peralta. 

With one more day before the trade deadline, there should be plenty of more action on the trade market.  But, OH YEA!  football season is just around the corner!

Baseball Update

Baseball is back!
This week marks the official start of the baseball season.  The pitchers and catchers for each ball club report for spring work outs this week.  To the die-hard baseball fan, like myself, this is almost as big as Christmas.  On Wednesday, the Yankees, Orioles, Royals, Pirates, Cardinals, Angels, and Giants open camp, followed by the Red Sox, Phillies, Mets, Nationals, Tigers, Cubs, Mets, Mariners, Reds, Rangers, Rockies, and Padres on Thursday.  The remaining clubs follow in the coming days, withthe Indians being the final club to open camp on Feb. 23.  Full squad workouts will generally follow in the next week, bringing in all of the position players.  This is also the first sign that the regular season is just over a month away, opening with one of the biggest rivalries in modern sports, Yankees vs Red Sox on the night of April 4th. 

 So with the workouts starting soon, clubs have been putting the final touches on their rosters, with one of the most notable contract signings occuring this week when the Giants resigned pitching ace, two time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum to a two year, $23 million deal.  This signing buys the Giants two more years of time to sign Lincecum to a long term deal.   

image from MLB.com

Z

Offseason Baseball – 2: Pitching Feast

Hello all!  This past week was a huge week for many teams as they continue to fill their rosters for the up coming new season, which is just over 100 days away.  The MLB announced this week that the season will start off where it left off, with the New York Yankees on the field.  They will face off against the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park, Sunday night April 4th.  This will make for a can’t miss game, as these two clubs have produced the biggest rivalry the game has ever known.  This event marks the fifth time in six years that the defending World Series champions have played in the season opening game.  This is the second time that the Yankees and Red Sox have matched up in the season opening game.  They matched up in 2005, after the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, yet the Yankees won that game, at home, 9-2.  This is the 30th time that these two clubs have started off the season against each other, and the Yankees hold a 18-10-1 record.  The Red Sox may have the last laugh those as they will also host the Yankees final series of the season as well, in Fenway October 1-3.

Back to the off-season acquisitions, this week was one for the pitchers.  Many have said that games are won and lost by pitching, and every club seems to need more pitching.  This week four of the games top pitchers: Harden, Lee, Halladay, and Lackey all found new homes.

The big deal involved two former Cy Young pitchers and 7 prospects.  The deal included 4 teams and nine players.  Roy Halladay is going to Philadelphia and Cliff Lee is headed to Seattle and just about every top prospect from the Mariners and Phillies were involved.

There is not much that needs to be said about the top two names that most people do not know, being two of the top pitchers over the last few years.  Cliff Lee will join Seattle’s near Cy Young Award winner of 2009, Felix Hernandez at the top of the pitching staff.  Lee won the 2008 AL Cy Young with a 22-3 record, 2.54 ERA in 31 starts.  Last season he split time between the Indians and Phillies.  He was 7-9, with a 3.14 ERA in 22 starts with the struggling Indians until being traded to Philly where he amassed a 7-4 record in only 12 starts and a 3.39 ERA.  Not to mention that he had a phenomenal 4-0 postseason and won two games against the Yankees in a losing effort in the World Series.  Along with King Felix, who was 19-5, with a 2.49 ERA and 217 strikeouts, the Mariners will have arguably the best 1-2 punch in all of baseball.  Roy Halladay is no slouch either, having won 16+ games each of the last 5 seasons with the Blue Jays.  The last two years have looked like this: 17-10 record 2.79 ERA and 208 K for 2009 and 20-11 record and 2.78 ERA and 206 K for 2008.  With numbers like these, it is easy to see why these two clubs gave up so much.

Here is how the deal went down:  The Mariners sent Phillippe Aumont, RHP; Tyson Gillies, OF; and J.C. Ramirez, RHP to the Phillies.  The Phillies then sent Kyle Drabek, RHP; Michael Taylor, OF; and Travis D’Arnaud, C to the Blue Jays.  Michael Taylor then was moved to the Oakland A’s for infielder Brett Wallace.

Rich Harden also found a new home as he was signed by the Texas Rangers.  Harden will receive a base salary of $6.5 million in 2010 with another $3.5 million in incentives that are maximized if he pitches at least 195 innings.  Harden was 9-9 with a 4.09 ERA in 26 starts for the Cubs last season.  In 141 innings, he struck out 171 batters and allowed 67 walks, and a 10.91 strikeout per nine innings which led all National League pitchers.  The Rangers are hoping for numbers closer to his 2008 stats, when he split time between the Athletics and Cubs and went 10-2 with a 2.07 ERA in 25 starts.

And finally the Boston Red Sox added a big name pitcher of their own in John Lackey.  Lackey was considered the best Free-agent pitcher on the market.  The Red Sox took him off the market with a 5 – year $82.5 million contract.  Last season his record was 11-8 in 27 starts with a 3.83 ERA.  He had pitched his entire career for the Angels, for a career 102-71 record and life long 3.81 ERA.  This signing came as a great surprise to all of Red Sox Nation, as there was little mention at all of negotiations by either side.

With all this action, these pitchers with new homes, there is still plenty of excitement left this offseason.  The Lee/Halladay deal has been the largest yet this year, but there are plenty of top notch free-agent players available.  I will help keep you informed on the latest and greatest action in MLB, so until next time….

Z-man