HBT Weekend Wrapup - MLB

Like I said in the recaps, I had a good Father’s Day yesterday. Dinner was a nice steak on the back patio. Talking to a friend about it he said “man, that stinks that you have to cook your own dinner on Father’s Day.” Silly man. My wife does all the grilling in my house. Do I lose man points for that? I dunno, the way I see it, having a beautiful woman bring you grilled meats should count for bonus man points.

Anyway, here’s what you missed as you battled the charcoal:

Well, whaddaya know? The Astros and Rangers have talked about Roy Oswalt. Don’t tell Buster Olney!

Troy Tulowitzki is going to miss 6-8 weeks. Bummer, dude.

Mat Latos: overlooked stud.

Strasburg strikes out 10 but the Nats lose. Some day some idiot writer will tell everyone that he doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame because he just didn’t know how to win.

Apparently Chase Utley was only mostly dead.

There’s an error in the headline of this post. It should read “Cliff Lee is reDONKulous.”

John Maine has likely thrown his last pitch as a New York Met.

If you had asked me which pitcher led the majors in strikeouts before I read this article I would have made ten or twelve incorrect guesses before getting it right. And I’m someone who reads every single box score each morning.

I’ve got a great idea for a promotion: ten cent vuvuzela demolition night!

Ryan Franklin is probably going to retire after the 2011 season. Good thing this is baseball and not some cop movie, or else Franklin would probably get shot which, while paving the way for his young, loose-cannon partner to exact satisfying revenge, would be rather sad for the Franklin family.

Rick Porcello takes I-75 south to Toledo. Well, I suppose he could have chartered a boat to take him there via Lake Erie and the Maumee River, but the freeway is probably the best bet.

Edwin
Encarnacion was sent down too. Not as easy a trip for him since the
Jays’ AAA team is in Vegas. I mean, he could fly, but why not take a
week and go
the scenic route?

Miguel Montero and Jose Valverde are feuding. If this was wrestling, the equivalent would be, I dunno, Randy Mulkey talking smack to Iron Mike Sharpe.

And while we’re talking 1980s WWF, why not include Lady Gaga as the Cyndi Lauper character?

We now return you to your regularly-scheduled work week. And, uhh, yeah, it’s just we’re putting new coversheets on all the TPS reports
before they go out now. So if you could go ahead and try to remember to
do that from now on, that’d be great. All right?

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Reliever Colin Poche went to salary arbitration with the Tampa Bay Rays on Tuesday with the sides just $125,000 apart.

The gap between the $1.3 million the pitcher asked for and the $1,175,000 the team offered was the smallest among the 33 players who exchanged proposed arbitration figures last month. The case was heard by John Woods, Jeanne Vonhof and Walt De Treux, who will hold their decision until later this month.

A 29-year-old left-hander, Poche had Tommy John surgery on July 29, 2020, and returned to the major leagues last April 22 after six appearances at Triple-A Durham. Poche was 4-2 with a 3.99 ERA and seven saves in 65 relief appearances for the Rays. He struck out 64 and walked 22 in 58 2/3 innings.

Poche had a $707,800 salary last year.

Tampa Bay went to arbitration on Monday with reliever Ryan Thompson, whose decision also is being held until later this month. He asked for $1.2 million and the Rays argued for $1 million.

Rays right-hander Jason Adam and outfielder Harold Ramirez remain scheduled for hearings.

Players and teams have split four decisions thus far. All-Star pitcher Max Fried ($13.5 million) lost to Atlanta and reliever Diego Castillo ($2.95 million) was defeated by Seattle, while pitcher Jesus Luzardo ($2.45 million) and AL batting champion Luis Arraez ($6.1 million) both beat the Marlins.

A decision also is pending for Los Angeles Angels outfielder Hunter Renfroe.

Eighteen additional players are eligible for arbitration and hearings are scheduled through Feb. 17. Among the eligible players is Seattle utilityman Dylan Moore, who has a pending three-year contract worth $8,875,000.