MLB Trade Deadline Biggest Winners and Losers!
August 2, 2010
This past weekend marked Major League Baseball’s trade deadline which meant that any team hoping to get that extra oomph for the upcoming playoffs had to join in on the fire-sale that was this years trading block. I seriously doubt there has ever been a bigger stage for players on the trading block than this years July 31rst deadline. The past month all I have heard about on TV, Radio, and the Blogosphere is about either Lebron James and the Miami Heat or baseball’s crazy moves. I fear that baseball is headed towards the problems that Formula One is having right now and start having teams that can no longer afford to spend the kind of money that these other teams (Yankee’s and Red Sox) have been spending over the past few years. I personally believe that would be bad for baseball just because you get these super-teams that kind of rule the whole league. Some of the teams who made off like a true champion would are:
New York Yankees – I figured I would start out with the team that is always making huge moves. Because I put them first, does not mean that I actually think they made off the best, I just figured I throw the obvious stuff at you first. While they did not get the player they were after at first (Roy Oswalt) they were able to pick up Lance Berkman, Kerry Wood, and Austin Kearns. These moves are considered to be gap fillers at this point, but I think it might be just what they need to pull off another World Series run.
Texas Rangers - Wait a second??? I thought they were operating in Chapter 11?? Yes, they actually are, but they made out like rats still. They picked up the best player that was available in Cliff Lee, then managed to wrangle up Jorge Cantu, Bengie Molina, and Christian Guzman. I know, I know…This is the baseball team who has an 8 game lead in their division. It does not take a genius to realize the implications of all of these moves. While having to give up their top first base prospect Justin Smoak, you only need to look past Lee to see how good of a trade the Rangers got.
So we have had a great look at the two biggest winners. I would have to say Honorable Mention goes to the San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves for their decent moves over the past weekend. Both are looking forward to the rest of the season. Lets take a look at the biggest losers (aka teams that really busted over the past few weeks) shall we?
San Francisco Giants – There was word they were interested in several people but as usual the Giants end up with jack diddly just a game in a half back in the NL West. If tomorrow were the playoffs they would be in the last spot so you would think they would really be out there looking for someone to get. They apparently were just not serious about it. They need a big bat to increase some offense going into the playoffs because they have a clutch playoff pitching trio.
Tampa Bay Rays – So if you are in the same division as the New York Yankees, one would think you would want to be out there shopping for something. At first I thought they would end up with Adam Dunn but such is life…then when the Yanks picked up Berkman I freaked out because I think any chance of winning the division has now gone and passed for the Rays. I would have to say that the failure to go out and get some offense is really going to hurt them in the long run. I wouldn’t be looking for the Rays to go very far through the playoffs this season.
Boston Red Sox – Are They Dead in the Water?
May 2, 2010
It’s a big week coming up for the 11-13 Boston Red Sox. They have gotten off to a bad start but have won the past two series. They need to get business taken care of right now though because they have the LA Angels and the Yankees after these upcoming “easier” series with the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles. Still 3 games below .500 baseball, it not only looks bad because of their position in their division (4th out of 5), but they are also 11th place overall in the American League. Whoever thought that the Blue Jays series and Orioles series would be so important to the Red Sox nation. If they want to continue to fill seats in Fenway Park then they should start winning games because fans aren’t going to want to go to games if they soon become irrelevant because the Sox are 20 games out of playoff position.
They were able to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3 games in a row to take that series but they have lost both games to the Baltimore Orioles. Its not looking good considering they lost in a 10 inning game on Friday and then lost again last night despite a late 2 inning run in which 5 runners came in. The Red Sox had the lead for innings 2-4 leading 4-1, but in the 5th and 6th innings Baltimore score 10 runs. That pretty much sealed the deal if you ask me because its almost as if the Red Sox had been deflated after that and 35,000 fans were cheering the home team on. Daisuke Matsuzaka did not help things by making his season debut not only below average, but I would almost say lets send him back to the farm league. He starts his season with an 11.57 ERA…A far cry from anything anyone could consider “Big League” material. I guarantee you that the Boston Red Sox were wishing they were at Fenway park last night. Thank goodness Matsuzaka didn’t have to deal with his home crowd booing him…well at least not in person. I was certainly yelling at the TV. He seriously could not stay out of the middle of the plate. He was great for 3 innings and then just gave up or something. Boston baseball is not safe, lets just say that. I worry about the future for them being 4th in their division. Oh well, thank god I am a huge Atlanta Braves fan. Oh wait, they suck too…Great. And people wonder why no one watches baseball anymore.
Mark Mcgwire admits to using Steroids
January 12, 2010
Another one bites the dust. A report came out today that Mark McGwire, who broke Roger Maris’ single-season home run record with 70 home runs back in 1998, admitted today that he used steroids through the 90′s while playing baseball. This includes his record breaking season which hurts me because I really looked up to the guy back in the day. While he was not my favorite player, he was one of them. The day Greg Maddux comes out and says he has used steroids is the day that I stop watching baseball. This comes at no surprise to most baseball fans as he dodged a lot of the questions in his testimony in front of the Senate. Most of his fans are actually coming out in support and Bob Knight has even come out in support of the Mark McGwire legacy. ”I wish I had never used steroids. It was foolish and it was a mistake.” Those words make me think that maybe McGwire isn’t sleeping too well these days. The media claims that its probably because he is taking a new job. His family seems to be very understanding just giving him words of encouragement throughout this whole ordeal. He was a baseball icon back in the 90′s with his grandiose physique and a swing that only a 12 year old dreaming of hitting that home run in the 9th inning of the World Series could appreciate. With the swing came the fans barreling out of their cars three hours before the game even started just to see a glimpse of the home run machine that was Mark McGwire. With this I can only say that in my mind Roger Maris is now the single season home run leader (Sammy Sosa and McGwire being the only two players to have statistically more home runs in a season).
North Carolina leaves the College World Series
June 19, 2009
Yes thats right, my boys in blue have been taken out of the College World Series today losing to Arizona State 12-5. The Tarheels had the early 4-0 lead going into the bottom of the 5th inning. Then Kole Calhoun stepped up to the plate with one out in the bottom of the 5th inning. This Sun Devil reportedly couldnt explain what happened next. He homered to the right center of the stands hitting a grand slam homerun tying the game up at four all. He didnt stop there though. In his next at bat in the bottom of the 7th inning he drove home the next two runs not knowing he had sealed the deal with his double into deep right center field. One would think that the players would have caught onto the fact that he was hitting into right center field after his last at bat. The rest, as they say, is history. Arizona State moves on to play Texas tomorrow (Friday, June 19th) at 6:00 P.M. Central Standard Time on ESPN 2. I hope you will watch it because in order for Arizona State to move on, they will have to beat Texas twice in a row. Texas comes into the game 2-0 hoping to make it a short stay for the Sun Devils. This means if Arizona State wins tomorrow, then they will have to play Texas again on Saturday. Should be an interesting game with ASU playing their little hearts out…you should be watching this if you haven’t already planned to. I am predicting that Texas will win 7-2 tomorrow sending Arizona State home.
Who Cares about Steroids?
June 17, 2009
Seriously? On the eve of Sammy Sosa being labeled as one of the 104 names on the list of players who failed drug screenings back in 2003. First of all, are you really that suprised about it? Sammy Sosa lied in open court about the use of the substances, but who didnt lie? Did you expect him not to lie? I am not saying that since everyone lies, it makes it alright, but this was back in 2003 (6 years ago) and I think its crazy to think that we are still talking about this and I know over the next few weeks there will be more and more names let out of the bag. To be honest with you, if I were Sammy Sosa, I would be trying to figure out which law firm decided to leak this information out into the public because they were supposed to get rid of the document, destroy it, and never look at it again. Obviously thats not whats going on here, someone has the list and is leaking it to the New York Times. I think what makes me angry about the whole situation is that 10 years from now, this isnt going to be a big deal. In fact I am almost certain that Sammy Sosa, Mark McGuire, Roger Clemens and others will still be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and if that happens what was the point in even talking about it in the first place. I understand that this baseball era (1980′s-Present) will be known as the “Steroid Era” and it looks like America’s Past Time has now reverted to Football, but that doesnt mean we have to freak out about everything considering I would be willing to bet that at least half of NFL players have taken some sort of performance enhancing drug. I understand they test for illegal drugs which has gotten several players in trouble, but what about performance enhancing drugs? I guess what I am trying to ask is does anyone really care about this issue or would you rather get mad at the football players who are getting wasted and killing people with their cars. Dante Stallworth got sentenced to just 30 days in jail, his career is not ruined, and he will more than likely end up getting the same punishment from the commissioner of the NFL as Michael Vick. What do you think about it?
Last Place in Salary is First Place in MLB
April 13, 2009
Thats right, the Florida Marlins are tied with the Atlanta Braves for first place not only in the Eastern Division of the National League, but all of Major League Baseball through the first two weeks. They have scored 37 runs in their first 6 games which to me considering last year they were only 3-3 through the first 6 games only scoring 21 runs. November 11th, 2008 is a day that the Florida Marlins will not forget for a while. Its the day the Washington Nationals traded Emilio Jose Bonifacio (a pitcher from the minor leagues) to the Florida Marlins. So far through the first 6 games he is batting .500 has a home run and 5 RBI’s. Believe it or not that Fantasy baseball league has adopted this guy because over 80 percent of them own him on their baseball team. So whats so great and amazing about Florida being on top of the world right now? The fact that they pay their players the least amongst all MLB teams. Their team salary right now is $22,650,000 whereas the New York Yankees pay their players the most with a team salary of $207,108,489. So where is this near quarter billion dollar team at in the standings? They started out 0-2 but have now jumped to 3-3 tied with the Rays for 3rd place in the American League East Division. This is not surprising for me as the Yankees spent the bank in the off season picking up players left and right and paying them whatever they asked for. If you have the money, great, but why don’t you go spend it on some of the local business that seem to be failing in New York? All in all I expect big things for the Marlins and look for them in the wild card position by the end of the season. I doubt the Yankees will even make the playoffs. You have heard it here on SidelineBlog.com, the Yankees will not make the playoffs.
Here is a list of all the team salaries as of right now. If you take a look at their records vs. how much they pay their players, I think that you will find it pretty funny how it ends up working out in the end. This table only represents how much the teams pay their players, not their staff or anyone else.
| Team | Payroll (US$) |
| 1. NY Yankees | 207,108,489 |
| 2. NY Mets | 137,391,376 |
| 3. Detroit | 137,290,196 |
| 4. Boston | 133,220,112 |
| 5. Chicago Sox | 121,189,332 |
| 6. LA Angels | 118,825,333 |
| 7. LA Dodgers | 118,188,536 |
| 8. Chicago Cubs | 117,954,333 |
| 9. Seattle | 116,876,482 |
| 10. Atlanta | 102,849,666 |
| 11. St. Louis | 99,624,449 |
| 12. Toronto | 97,001,500 |
| 13. Philadelphia | 95,479,880 |
| 14. Houston | 88,930,414 |
| 15. Cleveland | 78,970,066 |
| 16. San Francisco | 76,194,000 |
| 17. Milwaukee | 74,687,499 |
| 18. Cincinnati | 74,117,695 |
| 19. San Diego | 72,626,616 |
| 20. Colorado | 68,655,500 |
| 21. Baltimore | 66,806,249 |
| 22. Texas | 66,312,326 |
| 23. Arizona | 66,202,712 |
| 24. Kansas City | 57,855,500 |
| 25. Minnesota | 56,932,766 |
| 26. Washington | 54,166,000 |
| 27. Pittsburgh | 48,689,783 |
| 28. Oakland | 47,167,126 |
| 29. Tampa Bay | 43,422,997 |
| 30. Florida | 22,650,000 |
Just goes to show you a lot about money. Not only doesn’t it buy you happiness, but also a winning baseball team.
Major League 2009 Picks
April 7, 2009
I have not been blogging for a while with this blog, but I have decided that I want to start it up again in honor of my Mother Barbara Janette Sherrill. She died September 25th, 2008 and I kind of lost touch with everything after that. I realize now that sports has really gotten me through a lot of the hard times and I want to give back to the sports world by talking about it. Anyways, here are my picks for the 2009 MLB season:
American League
East – Boston Red Sox
Central – Cleveland Indians
West – LA Angels
National League
East – Atlanta Braves
Central – Chicago Cubs
West – LA Dodgers
I know that some of you are going to think I am crazy for making those pics, but I really do believe that these teams are playing the best RIGHT NOW. I cannot help if it players decide to hurt themselves…lets just hope CC Sabathia doesnt decide to shoot himself in the leg.
CC Sabathia…the Yankee
December 10, 2008
To this point I couldn’t tell you where the largest prize on the free agent market was going to be heading for next season. I was almost sure that it was not to the New York Yankees because CC himself has come out saying he did not want to live in the city. Several credible sources are saying that is the case now just like in the case of Mike Mussina before. This time they didn’t have Joe Torre on the phone telling him how he doesn’t have to actually live in the city, just in the suburbs and what not. Is this a good move for the Yankees to lock up this work horse of a pitcher? He carried the Brewers into the playoffs this year and them dropped them off at the ball park. He has not proven to me yet whether or not he can make it in the post season. For his career, CC Sabathia is 117-73 with a 3.66 ERA in 254 games. He has however completed 26 full games and he has 10 complete shutouts in his career with 1,393 strikeouts.
Tampa Bay favored in Game 2
October 24, 2008
Its going to be the Shields-Myers show tonight has the Philadelphia Phillies take on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 2008 World Series Game 2. After the first inning the Rays lead 2-0 getting a walk, a hit, and two runs in the first inning. This stands to be a pretty good game but I am hoping that the Rays can pull off a victory and make this series worth watching. Its already considered the least watched World Series in its televised history. Myers is going to need to step it up tonight in order to keep the Phillies in this because we all know that he has struggled throughout the season getting sent back to the farm this season and coming back to now find himself with a chance to go up 2-0 in the World Series. I think Ryan Howard will end up getting a hit tonight because he is most certainly due for one. I would keep an eye out for him tonight and he might even go out of the park if he gets hot. I think this game comes down to “Big Game James” Shields and how he can pitch against this loaded Phillies unit.
Tampa Bay leads series 2-1
October 14, 2008
Tied for the 3rd largest deficit for the Boston Red Sox at home in the post season, Tampa Bay dealt the Red Sox with a horrible hand crushing them 9-1. Joe Maddon replies with, “We won tonight, Ive talked about it a lot, its one day at a time, one game at a time. We happened to win tonight. We gotta come out ready for bear tomorrow.” Happened to win? You guys obliterated the Red Sox last night and I had no doubt the entire game that you guys would be the first ones to strike gold. Red Sox coaches and players were talking about how it was a pretty good game except for 1 inning…psh, you guys anihilated them hardcore. Congrats to you guys because I know your home fans arent appreciating you guys enough. I think its high time you guys come to Austin because we respect our minor leaguers, I think you guys would be golden here. I can promise you that I am going to be watching the game tonight, and I am sure that half the country will too. You guys are amazing, I am excited for you, and just ROLL RAYS ROLL!@!@
As for you Red Sox fans, I hope you guys are comfortable with where your boys are at right now because it doesnt get any easier tonight…I hope that you guys can make this a series, because I have been watching pretty closely. Hey, look at it this way, if Utah can get a vote for 1rst place on the Harris Poll then you guys shouldnt have a problem winning at home. Dont let the Rays treat you like that…You should try to make this a series, maybe a comeback or something. That doesn’t happen that often. If a kid at Mesa State can cut off his pinky finger to keep playing on the team, then you guys can do something to figure this series out. I am begging you to make this sport interesting. Because a Phillies vs. Rays series makes me want to yawn, puke, and soil myself at the same time. I am tired of fans not showing up in Tampa Bay so I am sure they will be alright when they actually do…its not looking too good for the Rays…
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