Posts belonging to Category Major League Baseball

There is nothing an organization loves more than a middle to low round draft pick that ultimately emerges as a top prospect, and forces a team to incorporate him into their immediate plans.

For the Los Angeles Dodgers, that player is Jerry Sands.  Drafted in the 25^th round of the 2008 MLB Amateur Draft, Sands, 22, has continued to punish the baseball at each Minor League stop, displaying tremendous power, as well as the ability to play multiple positions.

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When Dad and I woke up for the final day of the Four Ballparks, Four Cities, Four Days trip, we realized immediately that we had some serious ground to cover.  Although we could walk to Ballpark #3 from our Los Angeles Hilton, it was located a full 375 miles from Ballpark #4—Chase Field in beautiful downtown Phoenix, Arizona.

So off we went into the desert, our trusty Toyota Corolla pointed directly toward The City that Sleeps at 7PM.  I wasn’t sure what to expect in the six-hour drive, save for a colleague’s admonition from before I left the office—make sure your air conditioning works.  At first I wasn’t sure how seriously I needed to take this on a beautiful 80-degree day in Los Angeles.  However, as we drove deeper into the desert, the temperature steadily climbed into the 90’s before finally cracking the triple digits.  Before we crossed the Arizona state line, the Corolla’s thermometer read 105, which (not coincidentally I am certain) represented a higher number than the populations of several towns we passed along the way.

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Adam Dunn, who was signed by Chicago White Sox last Thursday, was officially introduced to the media this past weekend. [MLB]

This afternoon, news surfaced that the Chicago White Sox had offered a “runner-up” package, centered around Gordon Beckham, to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for slugger Adrian Gonzalez.  Um, wow.  [HardballTalk]

Chad Ochocinco and National League MVP, Joey Votto pose for photo…at Starbucks. [Diamond Hoggers]

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The Texas Rangers have made it clear that they will do everything in their power to re-sign starting pitcher Cliff Lee this off-season.  While signing Lee would obviously be the ideal outcome for the reigning American League Champions, there is no reason to believe that the Rangers should live-or-die by him, especially with a prospect like Martin Perez surging through the Minor Leagues.  And while there is an inherent risk in signing the 32-year old Lee – as there is with signing any 32-year old pitcher – the left-handed Perez is just 20-years old and already has a full Double-A season under his belt.

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On Saturday morning Clint and I were back at it on The Baseball Show, offering our thoughts on all of this past week’s signings, as well as other notable headlines.

Some of the many things that we discussed:

• Adam Dunn: Clint’s favorite player and my the White Sox new 1B/DH

• A.J. Pierzynski, Paul Konerko, and the Chicago White Sox

• The great career of Andruw Jones and what could have been…

• Adrian Gonzalez; the newest member of the Boston Red Sox

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