Pickoff Moves, Lunchtime Edition

Roster Notes

• It's official -- Padres starting catcher Ramon Hernandez will have surgery on his wrist, knocking him out for three to six weeks.
• The Diamondbacks DFA'd Jose Cruz, Jr. to AAA Tucson and called up Conor Jackson from that same club. Jackson was ranked by Baseball America as the Diamondbacks' second-best prospect this year, and hit .354/.457/.553 with the Sidewinders this year.

  Update: corrected the "optioned" to "DFAed".

• The Orioles are still trying to deal Sidney Ponson despite the collapse of an earlier trade with San Diego, and now Texas is seen as the target.
• Update 2: The Padres have acquired David Ross, the former Dodger. He was hitting .211/.304/.263 with AAA Indianapolis.
• Update 3: The Yankees have acquired Shawn Chacon from the Rockies for a pair of minor leaguers. It would be consistent with desperation moves, including the signing of Nomo.

If It Is Broke, Fix It

Via BTF, the Dallas-Fort Worth Star has a good article on the troubles the Rangers are encountering in their pitching hell. It seems the problem is now being blamed on the Crown Royal Club being installed high up in the park, closing off other avenues for winds to chase through, and forcing all of it down and towards the stands, thus manufacturing a wind tunnel effect that carries balls -- lots of them -- out of the park. There's only one little problem with that: Baseball-Reference says their park went hard to the hitters starting in 2002, not 2000. If the Crown Royal Club is causing these troubles, it sure took a long time for that to make any changes felt...

Thiel On Fixing The M's

Again via BTF, Art Thiel in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer openly wonders what's wrong with the Mariners. In some ways I think he's too harsh on ownership; after all, they got Richie Sexson and Adrian Beltre, neither of whom were expected to be busts. Both have significant risks attached, Sexson due to injury and Beltre due to his one-year surge that now looks like a single-season spike rather than a jump to a new level of performance. The real problem is more likely Bavasi and their scouting and player development. The Mariners farm isn't well regarded; outside of white-hot Felix Hernandez, the system doesn't have much of what you'd call impact talent, and that which is there isn't really near the top. It's unclear whether Bavasi will be any better in Seattle than he was in Anaheim. That they were able to sign USC catcher Jeff Clement is a good use of money for the club, and perhaps a sign of resurgence.