HBT Weekend Wrap

So hey, you catch the game last night? This giant dude in spandex pants totally threw a ball made of dead pork skin at another dude in shiny pants and then he ran super fast across a bunch of painted lines while more shiny-pant-wearing dudes chased him and leapt for his glistening spandex buttocks until he eventually crossed this other line which is apparently magical and makes the crowd stand up, bump chests, and clink bud-lights with each other. PIGGERS ARE NUMBER ONE! PIGGERS ARE GONNA GO ALL THE WAY THIS YEAR!*

At least that’s what I took from yesterday. Maybe I’m just not getting it. Oh well.

I continue to not believe that someone not only took Vernon Wells and his contract, but that someone actually sent valuable players back to Toronto for him. It’s always possible that Wells wins the Triple Crown this year and carries the Angels to a world title, but really: is there any trade that, at the time it happened, looked worse than this one?
Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon are now Rays. Pfun Pfact: Jeff Francoeur will make more money in 2011 than Manny will. Chew on that one for a while.
There is on and off talk about Vlad Guerrero going to Baltimore. I’m not sure where else he would go, really.
The Blue Jays have close to zero in salary obligations for 2012. Pujols! Pujols! Pujols! (sorry, just trying to rile up Cardinals fans).
Sparky Anderson’s number is going to be retired by the Tigers. Better late than never.
This says it all about the Jays-Angels trade.
Nolan Ryan predicts 90 wins for the Rangers. 50 of them will come against the Angels, I gather.
Pro Tip: when a casino tells you to leave, you had better leave.
Some great personal musings by our own Drew Silva.
Papelbon is apparently on the block. Before Friday I would have said that his contract made him untradeable, but we now know that no contract is untradeable.

Kind of a short list, but the rest of the weekend news involved some tepid Armando Galarraga trade rumors and some random arbitration-avoiding signings. Not the kind of stuff that excites a man. Oh well. Pitchers and catchers report in three weeks. We can tough it out until then, right?

*This, of course, comes from the greatest cartoon ever written about working at home.

Red Sox southpaw David Price was lifted in the first inning of Saturday’s game against the Astros. While there was some initial concern that he might have trigged the elbow tendinitis that has been affecting him lately, manager Alex Cora was quick to clarify the situation as the result of “flu-like symptoms.”

…there with no energy and he gets hurt and the way he was throwing the ball. We were proactive. We took him out of the game, he'll get some treatment and we'll see what happens

— Jen McCaffrey (@jcmccaffrey) May 26, 2019

Price pitched just 2/3 of an inning, inducing a first-pitch fly out from Aledmys Díaz, striking out Alex Bregman, and allowing a single to Michael Brantley before making his departure from the mound. He was replaced by rookie right-hander Colten Brewer.

Barring further complications, Price will likely stay on track to make his next scheduled start during the Red Sox’ upcoming road trip. Entering Saturday’s match-up, the 33-year-old lefty carried a 2-2 record in seven starts with a 3.29 ERA, 2.2 BB/9, and 10.1 SO/9 across 41 innings in 2019.

Following Price’s removal, the Red Sox are still tied 0-0 with the Astros in the fifth.