Huh?

Yep. I was a little late on this one, as it did indeed happen before the July 31st trade deadline, but I wanted to break the news to the readers of this blog. I can't imagine a worse deal!

Well, I guess it is not that bad. Gaby has been getting rocked, both at AAA Albuquerque, where he started the season, and at AA Carolina, where he improved his ERA to 4.30 (!) and went 3-0 in 4 starts. Guess Maybin and the offense helped him there... Meanwhile, the Marlins MLB team is apparently built to win this year, and can always use more help in the bullpen, provided they aren't terrible. Unfortunately for us Mets fans, the Marlins are still in the NL East race, and they are actually ahead of the Mets, who are in third place. They both are trying to catch the Phillies in a tight race to the finish. Luckily for Mets fans, the Marlins and the Phillies play three games tonight through Thursday, so somebody has got to lose. If the Mets can only beat up on the hapless Padres at the same time, they can gain some ground on one or both of them.

I'm sorry! Was this a blog post about MLB transactions or the Mets?

Gaby got rocked in his first start with the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx on Sunday.

Someone else that slipped under the radar was Eric Cyr, who pitched last night for the Jacksonville Suns after being demoted from AAA Las Vegas. He pitched a great game (a 2-hitter in 6 innings with no runs allowed, 5 K's, and 2 walks), and as usual, the Suns provided little offense to help him out.

Update: 07/28/08:

Check out the FJM take on this trade at:

http://www.firejoemorgan.com/2008/07/dodger-fans-rest-easy.html

As always, good stuff.

Cubs Notes: Samardzija could replace Wood

Current Chicago closer Kerry Wood is on the DL again (not surprisingly!), so Samardzija might get his chance. That should help increase the value of those bobbleheads we just got as a giveaway to a Daytona Cubs game. Also helping increase that value are his stats at AAA-Iowa, which are better than he's had at any level of the minor leagues! In 6 starts there (a large enough sample size for me), Jeff is 4-1 with an ERA of 3.13 and a WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) of 1.29. His Strikeouts are also up, as he's recorded over a K an inning (40 K's over 37-1/3 innings pitched). He's recorded 9 strikeouts in each of his last two starts!

7/11/08: Update: I thought this was interesting: a word collage called "wordle." So I tried it on this entire blog entry.

http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/63289/Kershaw_Starts

http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/?p=644

It lists the minor league free agents from each major league franchise. Apparently, after they are in the system for so long, they too become free agents. So yeah, we got a lot of these guys’ autographs before they left the Florida leagues, but to be in the minors so long that you become a free agent? That may not necessarily be a good thing.

The following players were declared minor league free agents after the 2007 season and are now with new teams (new MLB parent teams listed in parentheses):

From the Dodgers’ organization:

LHP Eric Cyr (Texas Rangers) – currently with AAA Omaha Redhawks

LHP Luis Gonzalez (Colorado Rockies) – currently with AA Tulsa Drillers

C Alberto Concepcion (Florida Marlins) – currently with AA Caroina Mudcats

3B Marshall McDougall (San Diego Padres) – currently with AAA Portland Beavers

Folks, Thomas John (T.J.) Nall is now in the Boston Red Sox organization and pitching for Class A+ Lancaster Jethawks! Someone give this guy a chance as a middle reliever!

The following players resigned and are still in the Dodgers organization:

RHP Alvis Ojeda, 2B Luis Maza, OF Wilkin Ruan.

From the Marlins’ organization:

RHP Scott Tyler (Oakland A’s) – currently with AA Midland Rockhounds

2B John Raburn (Tampa Bay Rays) – currently with Montgomery Biscuits

I can’t seem remember if he is in the 2007 Carolina Mudcats team set; if so, we could have a second chance with him when the Biscuits come to town.

SS Rex Rundgren (Los Angeles Dodgers) – currently with Las Vegas 51’s

I know he is in the Mudcats team set! Interesting if he gets sent down to AA Jacksonville.

It could be quite a chore to go through and look at all of these. How many more can you find? Here are two more:

SS Ronnie Merrill, from the Baybears to the Biscuits

LHP Ryan Wing, poached from the Barons to Oakland

In other Suns news, Blake Dewitt also made his MLB debut yesterday for the RIGHT team, the Dodgers. He played third base for the Dodgers’ opening day game against the Giants, because Nomar Garciaparra is old, and Tony Abreu was placed on the DL at the last possible moment (hernia surgery). It was rumored that Los Angeles brass were going to go shopping for a third baseman to stabilize the position, but I’m glad they didn’t. Although Blake didn’t make the Spring Training roster for the Dodgers, they felt like going with him to start the season rather than anyone else. In his debut, the young Dewitt got on base three times! In his first at-bat, he singled and later scored a run on a Rafael Furcal single.

Chin-Lung Hu also played in this game albeit in a reserve position—he subbed in for Jeff Kent at 2B in the top of the 7^th inning and then proceeded to hit a single in the bottom of the inning! But wait! Andruw Jones then hit into a double-play! I hope the Dodgers are learning from where they should be drawing their talent. At least new manager Joe Torre has the huevos to bench Juan Pierre, their other high-priced free-agent. If you are unsure of why he costs too much, then you must not keep up with on-base-percentage and also should be reading firejoemorgan.com—for regular laughs, if nothing else.