It was a little surprising yesterday that two rather significant trades happened in Major League Baseball.
Why? Well, it is supposed to be a relaxing and fun day on baseball’s calendar. But, when you get all the general managers together under one roof, as what happened yesterday in Phoenix, I guess it’s not all that surprising.
Earlier in the day, the Toronto Blue Jays traded Juan Rivera (.243, 6 HR, 27 RBIs) to the Los Angeles Dodgers for future considerations. Rivera had seemed to be lost in the Jays’ outfield mix, as Travis Snider, Eric Thames and Corey Patterson were higher on the depth chart. Rivera came to the Blue Jays in the Vernon Wells trade with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the offseason.
Then last night, the New York Mets traded Francisco Rodriguez (2-2, 23 SV, 3.16 ERA) to the Milwaukee Brewers for two players to be named and cash. The trade isn’t all that surprising. KRod fell out of favour a little bit in the Big Apple last year when he got into a fight outside the Mets’ dressing room with the father of his girlfriend. He will probably be the setup man to Canadian closer John Axford of Simcoe, Ontario in Milwaukee.
As for the game, Rodriguez’s new teammate Prince Fielder stole the show with a three run home run in the fourth inning as the National League defeated the American League 5-1. Blue Jays’ right fielder Jose Bautista went one for two and made a diving catch down the right field line early in the ball game.
The Texas Rangers were the talk of the American League last year as they surprised many by not only getting by the Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners to win the American League West to win the division, but getting by the New York Yankees to win the American League Championship Series in six games as well.
In comes third baseman Adrian Beltre from Boston and catcher Mike Napoli from the Los Angeles Angels (via Toronto) and out goes ace Cliff Lee to Philadelphia, designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero to Baltimore and closer Frank Francisco to Toronto. Beltre became expendable in Boston when they acquired first baseman Adrian Gonzalez and moved Kevin Youkilis to third. On paper Lee would obviously be the most significant loss, but don’t forget, he only joined the Rangers at the trade deadline last year, when Texas had a huge lead in the division.
It’s time for another 15 Minutes of Fame video for your enjoyment.
This week, the boys talk about the rash of concussions NHL players seem to be playing with. Is it an issue with the players? With management? With NHL team’s medical staff?
They then talk about all of the players begging out of the NHL All-Star game next week. Then they talk about the NHL scandal of the week – LA Kings GM Dean Lombardi coming out against NHL VP Mike Murphy and getting fined for it. They finish the first stage of the video with more rumours about Lance Armstrong’s doping.
In this week’s GABBYs, first the good: The NHL Sabre’s Nathan Gerbe scores two goals in five seconds. Vernon Wells is dealt to the LA Angels and Saku Koivu makes his return to Montreal.
On the bad side, the woes of the Ottawa Senators, The National Lacrosse League’s Boston Blazers’s lap dance half-time show and yet another scandal involving Brett Favre.
In Quick Hits: Peter Forsberg practices with the Colorado Avalanche, Evgeni Nabakov won’t report to the New York Islanders and Jim and I are hosting a sports hot stove.
Check it out:
Lot’s more after the jump. Click “continue reading.” ———————>
The Karma Police are working overtime this week trying to keep up with the goings on of the National Basketball Association…
On Tuesday, after the Cleveland Cavaliers lost by more than anyone should to the LA Lakers, former Cavs star LeBron James pointed out on Twitter that “Karma is a b****.” He has since come out to say that the tweet wasn’t about the game and wasn’t even a comment from him.
Either way, King James and his Heat lost to the lowly LA Clippers on Wednesday, capping a run of 21 wins in 22 games. To make matters worse, he sprained his ankle and missed his first game of the season on Thursday in Denver. To make matters even worse than that, without LeBron the Nuggets beat the Heat by almost 30 points! (more…)
Karma Police II: Karma Harder
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