6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

Jon reports that Guillermo Mota has hit the DL, making room for Ronnie Belliard on the 25-man; no word on who was sent to the Dodgers.

In other news, the Angels broadcast reports the Dodgers have acquired Jim Thome from the White Sox, and Jon Garland from the Diamondbacks. Links as I find 'em.

Commenters in today's DT gameday thread are saying MLB Network is confirming the Thome trade as well.

Update: Ken Rosenthal confirms the Garland deal.

Update 2: And welcome back to AAA, or maybe, kiss the postseason roster goodbye, James Loney. Ouch.

Update 3: South Side Sox:

Jim Thome agreed to waive his no-trade clause and was traded to the Dodgers. Obviously, for a player who has never won a World Series, this presents him with the opportunity to essentially complete his Hall of Fame resume. However, it's a surprise move considering Thome has not played in the field since that ill-fated game in 2007. It would behoove the Dodgers to not test his back like that with a guy two years older. He will, however, reunite with friend Manny Ramirez, who had previously stated a desire to play with Thome again. The White Sox send cash with Thome and receive Justin Fuller, a 25 year old A ball middle infielder of no repute whatsoever.

The Sox send Contreras and cash to Colorado, and get finesse righty Brandon Hynick.

Update 4: Ned Colletti in the postgame interview says Thome won't be playing first base, and is in "the twilight of his career". He'll be a bat off the bench, a late-innings pinch-hitter.

Labels: diamondbacks, dodgers, injuries, trades, transactions, white sox

No. Not Rodriguez.

Labels: angels, rays, rumors, trades, transactions

... they would still look an awful lot like the Angels, according to an NBC Sports piece running this exercise through all 30 teams. Troy Glaus would be at DH. Jimmy Edmonds would still be manning center (why, when the author gives Troy Percival a bye for his retirement? When was the last game that Edmonds played?). Casey Kotchman would still be at first base, though you do have to wonder about that one, given Kendry Morales is such an obviously superior player (and who would have ever imagined me saying such a thing a year ago?). Fascinating stuff.

Labels: analysis, angels

Per Ken Rosenthal; for a pro-rated portion of major league minimum, with the Red Sox picking up the rest. Well, if Jason Schmidt can be a Dodger and not pitch, Brad Penny can suck in the Giants rotation for a while. It seems fair to me...

McCovey Chronicles:

It's going to be really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really hard to root for Penny. Dude's kind of a putz. But he's almost certainly the best option for the Giants down the stretch.

Think of him like a Sidney Ponson who wouldn't need to start a playoff game or cost prospects.

Update: And thanks for the link, David Pinto.

Update 2: Tripon at BTF points out that the Giants won't be in a position to skip a fifth starter down the stretch, and Joe Martinez and his 7.61 ERA as a starter won't cut it. I'm not sure how true this is, though, because looking at the Giants' September schedule (they have today off), San Francisco has a positively luxurious three days off the rest of the way.

Labels: ex-dodgers, giants, red sox, transactions

Labels: minors

About That Pythagorean Series Win: Angels 9, A's 1

Shave two runs off today's game and move them to yesterday's loss, and the Angels are walking away with a 3-1 series win. Sadly, that didn't happen, but when it's on, the Halos' offense is an unstoppable force of nature. Today's forces were Torii Hunter (three-run shot in the fifth) and Kendry Morales (another three-run jack, this time in the eighth). Amusing factoid: as of this morning, K-Mo is dead even with mercenary Scott Boras client (that's a pleonasm, by the way) as measured by Baseball Prospectus at 35.3 VORP. Just so you know.

A series split at home with the last-place A's definitely doesn't feel good. But it's better than losing.

Lackey got his 100th career victory, Kendry yanked his season's 30th home run, which also gave him a franchise record 33 RBIs in August. It was a good game for the Angels.

Yahoo box • Angels recap

Dodgers Squeak Past Reds In Extras: Dodgers 3, Reds 2 (12 Innings)

The Dodgers barely managed to tie this one up in regulation, with Clayton Kershaw himself driving in the tying run; but it fell to Matt Kemp's sacrifice fly to untie the game. Even then, Jonathan Broxton barely held on for the win, though he did whiff the last two batters he faced.

Yahoo box • Dodgers recap

Dodgers Acquire Ronnie Belliard

In the name of God, what for? Um, for Luis Garcia and a PTBNL.

Labels: angels, athletics, dodgers, nationals, recaps, red sox, transactions

Labels: minors

An Embarrassing Loss: A's 4, Angels 3

Jered Weaver went six, almost looking like he'd recovered from his CG shutout two starts ago; it then fell on the bullpen, and in particular, Jose Arredondo, to blow up and tie the game in the seventh. Arredondo loaded the bases with nobody out, and then gave up a wild pitch and an RBI single to tie the game at 3-3. He struck out Adam Kennedy, but that was the last batter he faced.

In the eighth, Rafael Rodriguez gave up the go-ahead run to Daric Barton on an RBI groundout, and really, that was the game; the Angels offense consisted of Bobby Abreu's third inning sac fly and a rare Maicer Izturis home run, a two-run shot in the fourth. The Angels snuffed out their own ninth inning rally when Chone Figgins was doubled off first on Abreu's flyball out; it was just one of those games.

Yahoo box • Angels recap

Haeger Exits Early, Dodgers Maul Reds Anyway: Dodgers 11, Reds 4

Charlie Haeger cruised through the first couple of innings and then got pounded in the third, giving up four runs, three of them coming on homers. That opened the door for Jeff Weaver, who pitched a fine 3.1 innings and lasted long enough to get the win; it also provided entry to the rest of the Reds' afternoon, which didn't involve scoring at all.

Carlos Fisher came in to relieve Matt Maloney in the seventh, and facing pinch-hitter Andre Ethier, immediately surrendered a leadoff double. That was the first strike in a huge inning that saw six Dodgers cross the plate and the team bat around, and two home runs, one by Matt Kemp and another by Orlando Hudson. A great day for the offense.

Yahoo box • Dodgers recap

Labels: angels, athletics, dodgers, recaps, reds

David Pinto passes on a Rays Index post indicating that the player to be named later may already be on the Angels 40-man roster, and speculates that it's Brandon Wood. If it's B-Wood, color me mighty upset.

Labels: angels, rays, suck, trades

News

Lefty Aaron Miller headlines this week's Prospect Hot Sheet:

No. 4 AARON MILLER, LHP DODGERS
Team: low Class A Great Lakes (Midwest)
Age: 21
Why He's Here: 0-0, 0.00, 11 1/3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 10 SO
The Scoop: When the Dodgers selected Aaron Miller with a supplemental first-round pick, scouting director Logan White said he believed that Miller would take off now that he could focus entirely on pitching. After all, he spent nearly all of of his freshman and sophomore seasons at Baylor as the Bears' right fielder. White's looking pretty smart right now. Miller has shown improved command and solid stuff since arriving in Great Lakes in early August. Considering how impressive Miller has been in six MWL starts, he's positioned himself to start the 2010 season in high Class A.

And Angels fans, say goodbye to this one:

No. 12 ALEX TORRES, LHP ANGELS
Team: Double-A Arkansas (Texas)
Age: 21
Why He's Here: 1-0, 0.00, 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 8 SO, 3 BB, 1 HBP
The Scoop: A native of Venezuela, Torres spent nearly four full years playing in short-season ball. He entered the season with just 10 starts in the California League, but after 19 more this year he earned a promotion to Double-A, where he's teamed with Trevor Reckling to give the Travelers two top-flight lefties. Torres checks in at 5-foot-10 and his control needs refinement (he's walked nearly five batters per nine innings this season), but he still stands as the high Class A Cal League's ERA champion at 2.74. The only minor league lefties to strike out more than Torres' 149 are Matt Moore (Rays), Anthony Capra (A's), Christian Friedrich (Rockies) and Ben Hornbeck (A's).

Scores

Labels: minors

What Lourdes is to hunchbacks and the afflicted, the Oakland Athletics are to under-performing baseball teams. We'll cure what ails ya.

— Philip Michaels, via Facebook

Well of course the big story will be Kendry Morales and his franchise-record-breaking 13 total bases (at least, that's what I remember the radio broadcasters telling me, I'm too lazy to run upstairs and verify it just yet), but really, this was a couple of games; the first one was the second consecutive mauling of Trevor Bell by a major league club whose bats he is not suitably trained to oppose. The news of the Scott Kazmir trade also overshadowed, to some extent, the exceptional night that Morales had, and in fact needed to have as a consequence.

Bell, the once and future AAA pitcher, got through the A's lineup exactly once without giving up a run. That fact was greatly assisted by Rajai Davis erasing himself on a 2-6 caught stealing in the first; but the A's wouldn't repeat that mistake, and after a relatively quiet second, pounced in the next frame, with Bell unable to get the third out of the inning but giving up instead a home run to Scott Hairston, who has been known to hit them (this was his sixth, a two-run jack plating Kurt Suzuki).

The rest of the frame was fuzzy, and I briefly considered suicide by listening to Miley Cyrus, or leaving the game early; but as Philip, the former author of the estimable (and apparently now defunct) Idiots Write About Sports observed, this is, after all, the 2009 Oakland A's we're talking about here, so all kinds of catastrophes may ensue. However, the least likely one that I could think of is a massive fail by sidewinder Brad Ziegler, who has pretty much pwned the Angels in his career to the tune of a 1.84 ERA prior to Friday night. (We shall not speak of Brett Freaking Tomko, who turned in a shockingly effective 5.2 IP with two runs, both earned, and was in line to get the win.) Between the starter and Ziegler, Craig Breslow, who actually didn't pitch too badly, but then the A's defense made a couple critical errors:

• Leadoff man Howie Kendrick reached on a fairly routine grounder to third baseman — no, that is not a misprint — Adam Kennedy, when he threw the ball into the A's dugout, with the result that Kendrick was able to take second on the two-base error.
• Three batters later, Bobby Abreu, with one out, got aboard on a shattered-bat grounder to the pitcher that should have been a routine (if scary) 1-3 bouncer. Instead, first baseman Daric Barton realized Abreu was far closer to first than he had anticipated, and being down the first base line himself, attempted to make the tag. He utterly missed, and so the second error of the inning fell on his shoulders.

That set up Breslow's exit and Ziegler's entrance; shockingly, none of Breslow's three allowed runs were earned! That wasn't the case for Ziegler, whose operatic pratfall had to be some sort of personal record against the Angels; not only did they bat around, but the Angels sent eleven men to the plate in one of those Hallelujah Chorus offensive moments that they desperately needed this week.

Kevin Jepsen almost managed to close out the game and get his first major league save. Following a clean 1-2-3 eighth, he couldn't quite pull it together in the ninth, leaving the game with a pair on first and third, a run in and one out. Brian Fuentes came in like Winston Wolfe and knocked out the remaining two outs on four pitches.

We'll fix what ails you, all righty.

Yahoo box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, athletics, recaps

The Angels supposedly were on the verge of a deal for Scott Kazmir earlier in the day, but it apparently fell through. The supposed return was minor leaguers, RHP Alexander Torres and 3B Matthew Sweeney. (Also via the Times, which hasn't bothered to correct the story yet.)

You can tell how pathetic the Angels' pitching situation has gotten when Lyle Spencer is penning pieces declaiming Brad Penny's usefulness to the Angels. He'll be more useful to the Rangers.

Update: Or is it on again? A tweet from the St. Petersburg Times claims the deal's been greenlit again. The full story's at tampabay.com.

While we're waiting for confirmation one way or another, From The Dugout forwards us to a July 29 Fangraphs piece by Dave Cameron about Kazmir's probable worth. The thinking is that with $20M owed him in 2010/2011 and his strikeout rate plummeting this year (though rebounding a bit at the tail end of this season), his deal will be an albatross sooner rather than later. It looks like a bit of a desperation move, especially considering this is a guy who has thrown 200 innings or more exactly once in his career.

Update 2: Joel Sherman at the New York Post claims the deal's done.

Update 3: Mark Saxon of the Register says Joe Maddon has issued a "no comment" response to the trade, which he reads as "something is still going on".

Update 4: Mike Scioscia refuses to confirm a deal also.

"There's a lot of speculation out there," he said. "There is nothing imminent. I'm not going to comment on any particular players." He declined to define "imminent."

Update 5: It finally went through, with the addition of a PTBNL. Whew.

Labels: angels, rumors

Labels: minors

... the offense fails. Ervin Santana provided a quality start, but got no run support, the Angels being three-hit, and instant fail.

There was one highlight reel play that made the Quick Pitch leather list or whatever they call it, and that was Maicer Izturis fielding Kurt Suzuki's ground out; unable to make the throw himself because he was running away from the play, he glove-tossed the ball to Erick Aybar, and just nipped Suzuki at first. (The video's on the Angels recap page.)

Yahoo box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, athletics, recaps

News

• Jason Schmidt was transferred to the 60-man DL to make room for Vicente Padilla (pitching as I write this), effectively ending his Dodgers career. Nice try, Jason.
• Hiroki Kuroda has thrown a full bullpen session with good results.
• A little late: Shane Loux has a place in AAA Salt Lake, if he'll accept it. The team DFA'd him to make room for Joe Saunders, who started yesterday.
• Arizona Fall League rosters: the Angels will send RHP Bobby Cassevah, RHP Jeremy Haynes, RHP Tim Kiely, and RHP Tommy Mendoza, C Hank Conger, INF Ryan Mount, and OF Peter Bourjos. For the Dodgers: RHP Javy Guerra, RHP Eric Krebs, RHP Travis Schlichting, C Lucas May, INF Russell Mitchell, INF Justin Sellers, OF Andrew Lambo, and OF Trayvon Robinson.

Scores

Labels: minors

The Dodgers right now are looking like they're going to continue the momentum from this game, in which they pretty much battered Josh Fogg early, with Fogg completing three frames but failing to make an out in the four-run fourth. Andre Ethier led off the frame with a solo blast, his second shot of the game, and James Loney hit a two run blast after Fogg hit Manny Ramirez and Casey Blake walked.

That is, with a big lead, there were no bullpen issues for Joe Torre to worry about, and as a consequence, things went swimmingly. A sore side kept George Sherrill out of Tuesday's game? (The MRI came out negative.) Um, okay, then why not Broxton? <crickets>

Yahoo box • Dodgers recap

Labels: dodgers, recaps, rockies

My prayers answered, sort of. Joe Saunders — whom I quite frankly expected to turn up with a far more serious shoulder injury that the team had a very strong interest in hiding — in fact pitched his best game in approximately forever, or June 24 against the Rockies, whichever is nearer. No, not quite a quality start, but much better than I expected against a tough offensive team.

Torii Hunter's first-inning two-run homer off Edwin Jackson gave the Angels an early lead, while a couple RBI singles provided by Kendry Morales (in the third) and Chone Figgins (in the fourth) ultimately made the difference in the game. Every Angel except Mike Napoli reached base safely at least once, and even Gary Matthews, Jr. was productive, going 1-for-3 with a run scored and a walk. That, friends, is a good day.

Yahoo box • Angels recap

Labels: angels, recaps, tigers

I was going through my archives trying to remember whether I had found some mention of this, but apparently not; Blue Heaven has some excellent pictures of Angels Stadium on Walt Disney Day, Saturday, April 23, 1966, though it took a little sleuthing to come up with that intelligence. They were originally posted last year, but Jon's comment pointing us at their photos of the 1959 All Star game at the Coliseum got me thinking.

Labels: angels stadium, dodgers, history

At Baseball Prospectus:

You can’t get too caught up in the narrative. The Dodgers still have a two-game lead and the better team, although the gap between them and the Rockies has narrowed throughout the season. My real takeaway is that the gap between the Rockies and the other wild-card contenders has been understated. This is much, much better team than the Giants or Braves or Marlins, and having taken a closer look at them, I’m sold on the fact that it’s the NL West, not the East or Central, that will provide half the league’s playoff teams this season. The Braves simply won’t score enough to back their staff, nor will the Giants. The Rockies have a complete team, their sole weakness being a bullpen that is deep but not terribly effective—as we saw last night—and while not 52-22 good, deserve to be considered the favorites in the wild-card chase.

Sheehan actually notes that the Dodgers' real lead isn't two games, but six for a playoff slot (the Giants are six back in the division race). It's a good point.

Labels: analysis, dodgers, giants, rockies

News

John Sickels has a scouting report up for some of the Angels' top players in the minors. It's a diffident list, with nobody making it to A status (the best is Jorden Walden in AA Arkansas, with a B+ rating). Not a surprise, though, considering promotions and the like.

Scores

Labels: minors