News and Notes: “Mannything Else in the News?”

Baker has developed into a true ace for the Twins (San Diego Shooter/Flickr).

We haven’t had too much in the way of updates around here lately as I’ve been working on some big projects as well as preparing for The Diamond Cutter‘s big move to their new home on the Bloguin network. More on this coming soon. But for now, on to the news!

• I’m not sure if you heard or not, but apparently Manny Ramirez signed with the Dodgers. Strange, I wasn’t aware he was a free agent. Go figure.

• The Twins closed the deal on a four year, $15.25 million deal with young stud pitcher Scott Baker. Not only is this great that they have locked him in for four years, but they did it relatively cheap. Baker was 11-4 with a 3.45 ERA last season with the Twins as he assumed the role of ace when the Twins needed one most. Look for more big things heading into 2009.

• Fragile shortstop Bobby Crosby has requested the A’s trade him since the signing of Orlando Cabrera. Apparently he wants to be traded to a club that needs a starting shortstop. My question is what team would want to invest in Crosby who a.) can’t stay healthy and b.) when he is healthy has put up horrible numbers? He has a career line of .239/.306/.380 and finally was able to play more than 100 games last season for the first time in four years. Can you imagine trying to sell that to your fan base? I just don’t know of a team that would sabotage themselves enough to trade for Crosby. Well except for the Pirates.

• I’m happy to see the Baltimore Orioles and Brian Roberts are working with Adam Jones on his base stealing abilities. I really see Jones as a huge breakout star this season as I think he’s right on the cusp of getting it. I see a .290/.360/.490 line with 20 homers, 80 RBI and 20 stolen bases. While those aren’t superstar numbers, I think it is a giant steps towards better things for Jones as well as the future of the Orioles.

Other than the WBC (which frankly bores me) and A-Rod’s injury (which bores me more and couldn’t happen to a better guy or team) that’s about all the news going on right now. This week we will begin the divisional previews as we grow closer and closer to the start of the 2009 season!

By Matthew Whipps
“The Diamond Cutter“
Major & Minor League Baseball Columnist
diamondcutter@columnist.com

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News and Notes: “Lyons and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!”

Here’s a short and sweet edition of News and Notes covering a slow past few days:

• The Tigers’ recent signing of former Diamondbacks closer Brandon Lyon has brought about a lot of discussion on whether or not Lyon will be handed the Tigers’ closer role in 2009. My answer to that: it depends on whether they want to win the division or not. If they do, Lyon will not be their closer.

I however seem to be in the minority with this decision. As former Tigers’ closer Todd Jones thinks he will do great (and for some reason Lyon is flattered by the comparison between the two) as does Tom Gage from The Detroit News. Perhaps they haven’t seen these stats Lyon posted last season:

+------+-----+----------+----+-------+------+------+----+----+------+
| YEAR | AGE | TEAM     | G  |  W-L  | ERA  | ERA+ | SO | SV | WHIP |
+------+-----+----------+----+-------+------+------+----+----+------+
| 2008 |  28 | Arizona  | 61 |  3-5  | 4.70 |   98 | 44 | 26 | 1.48 |
+------+-----+----------+----+-------+------+------+----+----+------+

Lyons and Tigers don't mix (MPR529/Flickr).

Those aren’t exactly glowing stats for anyone, let alone your closer. Granted his season was a tale of two halves posting a 2.43 ERA in the first half of the season and an unsettling 8.46 in the second consequently losing his closer job. Plus this isn’t a fluke season as Lyon’s career ERA is 4.46. Again, doesn’t really put you at ease when you have lacked a real closer for years and intend on competing in your division.

Bottom line, if the Tigers are going to rest their ninth inning hopes on Lyon I have a feeling it’s going to be another rough season for them.

• It looks as if Jon Garland and the Arizona Diamondbacks are about to come to terms on a one-year deal. According to reports Garland, who won 14 games with the Angels last season, is set to make $6.25 million with the option year paying him $10 million. I’m not a huge fan of Garland and his 4.90 ERA, 237 hits allowed and 1.51 WHIP from 2008 (he has always given a lot of hits) but at a $6.25 million, one-year contract I can live with if he’s your fourth or fifth starter. I’m not thrilled with it, but I can live with it.

• Along the same lines as my first bulletin, a very interesting article was posted over at Baseball Analysts by Patrick Sullivan where he discusses yet another example of a supposed respected member of the media not taking time to research facts or statistics before making a statement. We see an increased number of these things around Hall of Fame time as every baseball writer likes to give reasons why a player does or does not deserve to get in. I, like Sullivan, like to keep these writers in check and accountable for pouring misinformation out for readers to digest. It’s a sensitive spot for me as I don’t like irresponsible journalism.

• Now moving on to a brighter subject as things are going to be changing around here in the coming weeks. Not only will I be bringing forth more features and series of articles (deeper prospect coverage, historical articles, live game casts, forums, etc) but the look of The Diamond Cutter will be making drastic changes. The site you have grown to know and love will be becoming sharper, sleeker, more user friendly and a lot more colorful. I hope you like what’s coming up as I couldn’t be more excited.

By Matthew Whipps
“The Diamond Cutter“
Major & Minor League Baseball Columnist
mlbdiamondcutter@gmail.com | Facebook

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News and Notes: “Mop-Up Duty”

Ace Cole Hamels is the latest to sign long-term with the team he loves (BernMarsh/Flickr).

Today’s “News and Notes” is going to be a delightful hodgepodge of baseball stuff all thrown together. Sort of like a long reliever in some mop-up duty, I have a large array of items to get through and clean house with. Ok, that’s a bit of a stretch, but whatever. Hopefully it sticks to the wall and we can call it a big win. Now on to the news and/or notes…

Boston has inked the heart of their team for years (keithallisonphoto.com)

MLB NEWS
• Two of baseball’s biggest contenders were able to avoid arbitration with one their best players and signed each of them to deals this past week. First Boston signed their first baseman Kevin Youkilis to a four-year, $41 million deal, then Philadelphia followed suit and inked up their ace Cole Hamels to a three-year, $20.5 million contract. Both of these were fantastic signings by these clubs as not only did they prevent having to deal with arbitration, but now they each have one of their stars locked up for the next few seasons. Not only that, but both teams received “hometown discounts” with their players as each made it clear they wanted to stay with their organizations. While this helps out the Red Sox (who also received a great deal locking 2008 MVP Dustin Pedroia up long term earlier this winter) and Phillies tremendously, it hurts free agents still looking for teams as well as other players who are coming up on arbitration situations. Clubs now have an opportunity to say to their players, “if a reigning MVP (Pedroia), a man many believe should have won the MVP (Youkilis) and a playoff hero and rising star (Hamels) all took discounts, why can’t you?” I believe this will play a large part in many team’s negotiating tactics very, very soon.

• It appears as if Frank Wren has finally woken up in Atlanta after landing Derek Lowe this week to head up his staff in 2009. I discussed this about a week ago in a “GM for a Day” article stating how the Braves could not afford to let Lowe get away from them like AJ Burnett and John Smoltz did. In fact, it now looks as if the Braves are taking a little more of my advice and looking to bring both Tom Glavine and Andruw Jones back to Atlanta. I’m not sure if Wren returned from an extended vacation or started reading this site, but either way, it’s nice to have you back.

BASEBALL BLOGGER NEWS
• Patrick Sullivan wrote a fantastic article for Baseball Analysts depicting how unjust (and uneducated) some baseball writers are in their selection process for the Hall of Fame. He breaks it down and shows how individual awards (MVP, Cy Young) are weighed too heavily by many writers and the player’s statistics in his era should mean more. Check it out.

• My old Minnesota Twins discussion buddy Nick Nelson has posted his Minnesota Twins top 10 prospect list over at his site Nick & Nick Twins Blog. My Twins Top 5 prospects list should be up very soon and I look forward to getting Nick’s thoughts on this as well.

• I finally picked up my edition of “The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2009” the other day at Barnes and Noble. I had been looking for it for a while now in bookstores as I was too lazy to order it online (even though I’m on a computer a lot). I’ve been trying to find some uninterrupted time to dig into it and I think I finally have some today. So far it has been a great read and I highly recommend it. I’ve spoken before about how much I enjoy The Hardball Times site and thus far the book hasn’t disappointed. I’ll give you more updates as I go.

DIAMOND CUTTER NEWS & NOTES
I just wanted to take a look ahead at what is coming up here on “The Diamond Cutter” over the next week or two as I have been receiving some emails as of late wondering.

Click above for Top 25 Prospects!

• The Top 25 Prospects list will continue to take shape as I gradually unveil them one at a time. We will also see the return of the Top 5 Prospects by organization return in the next day or so after a brief hiatus. I wanted to try to space these out a bit so they don’t get too mundane and repetitive. I want to keep these fresh!

• I am currently in the process of working on a couple of larger articles that are taking quite a bit of time. One is a detailed biography of a future Hall of Famer (I assume they will be in the Hall based on their historic statistics, but of course I could be wrong based on if the Baseball Writers Association has a predetermined bias against him already) who I will name at a later date and the other article is a continuation of the “Deconstructing Series” (click here for the first one about Andruw Jones’ collapse) where I will be discussing the rise and fall of Dwight Gooden. Stay tuned for both of those…

• The next couple of weeks will also be another interview (click here for my last one with Red Sox prospect Jeff Natale) that I am in the process of setting up with Toronto Blue Jay catching prospect, JP Arencibia. He has already graciously agreed to speak with me and now it’s just a matter of finding a time for us to meet.

• As spring training draws closer and closer, I will continue the “GM for a Day” series as well as start reviewing each division which will ultimately lead to one of my favorite parts, the predictions for the 2009 season. This is always a fun time as I compile everything that has happened over the winter and smash it into each team to see if we can make some sense out of the upcoming season. I also ask for a large amount of participation from you the reader during this time as I feel it makes it a whole lot more interesting.

Stay tuned for all this and don’t hesitate letting me know if there are more things you want to see more (or less) of.

By Matthew Whipps
“The Diamond Cutter“
Major & Minor League Baseball Columnist
mlbdiamondcutter@gmail.com | Facebook

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News and Notes: “Damn Yankees”

Teixeira was the cherry on top of the expensive winter for the Yankees (Rod/Flickr).

• After a spending spree this winter by the New York Yankees, more and more owners are coming out stating that they believe baseball should institute a salary cap. While this is a good idea in theory, it is too little too late for baseball ever establishing a cap. With a strong players union that will never agree to such a thing, the pie in the sky dreams of a cap will never become a reality in our lifetime. I do think that a salary floor needs to be set so teams are forced to spend at least a certain amount of money rather than pocketing any revenue sharing they may receive. This will help keep things more competitive and help prevent teams from tanking a season before it even starts. We have seen signs of that recently and is not fair to fans of that team who pay good money and spend time following them. It is a mess that we all just have to deal with.

Millar is as good a leader in the clubhouse as they get (keithallisonphoto.com).

• Not only are the Cincinnati Reds in the market for an outfielder, they are also on the lookout for a pinch-hitter who can provide some power for them in late innings. Players mentioned were Richie Sexson, Daryle Ward, Kevin Millar, Nomar Garciaparra, Mike Sweeney and Rich Aurilia. While none of those names jump off the page at you, some are obviously better fits than others. While Sexson’s name bring with it a lot of past power and success, it also brings a big question mark due to his inconsistencies the past couple of seasons. Of that group I would have to go with Kevin Millar (I’m a big Millar guy). Not only does Millar still have some good pop in his bat (20 homers last season with Baltimore) but he is also a fantastic clubhouse guy and leader. If the Reds are serious about putting together a contender, this is the type of guy they are going to need.

• As the Dodgers welcome in new reliever Guillermo Mota today, they prepare to part ways with Andruw Jones one way or another. While adding more depth to their bullpen with Mota it appears as if Jones’ time with the Dodgers is officially over. As Thursday draws near he will either be out the door via trade or via a cut. I discussed Jones and his fall from grace in my article “Deconstructing Andruw Jones” and tried to get to the bottom of his sudden collapse from super stardom.

I still think Jones has something left in the tank and after seeing him recently, is in fantastic shape. I also still believe that his best bet is returning to the Braves. Not only would the fans welcome him back with open arms, he has a history there and won’t feel the “big city” pressure he did in L.A. Hopefully he can regain some of that magic from his career prior to 2007 when it all started to crumble.

Byrd will most likely join a contender this summer (DDanzig/Flickr).

• Apparently Paul Byrd thinks that he can come and go as he pleases after it was announced Byrd would sit out the first half of the 2009 season. Claiming he wants to spend more time with his family (what players don’t?) he said he will bypass some nice offers on the table to come back this summer. From a front office standpoint, GMs have to love this with the option of getting a solid, fresh number five starter down the stretch. On the other hand I think Byrd’s potential teammates might not like him just rolling into town and joining the party so late in the season. We will have to wait and see how this all comes together this summer, but rest assured there will be many teams lining up for him.

• The “News and Notes” articles will now end with a link to a story elsewhere on the net that I find interesting and want to share with you. This is a good way to broaden everyone’s horizons, show some love to my fellow writers and maybe even help you find another site you’d like to work into your rotation. Of course without cutting me out of it.

Today’s is from one of my favorite sites “The Hardball Times” where columnist Chris Jaffe discusses just how incredible Rickey Henderson truly was in his article “The Wonder of Rickey.” I was a huge fan of Rickey growing up as he revolutionized the lead off spot and set the bar incredibly high for those following him.

Congrats Rickey.

By Matthew Whipps
“The Diamond Cutter“
Major & Minor League Baseball Columnist
mlbdiamondcutter@gmail.com | Facebook

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News and Notes: “Is Wren Home?”

Apparently GM Frank Wren hasn't tuned into a Braves game over the past 20 years (Mori Claudia/Flickr).

After quite an array of articles over the past week here on “The Diamond Cutter” which have generated a lot of great discussion, I figured we had better address some of the items that have happened since our last “News and Notes” segment. Today’s will be a very signings intensive News and Notes as that is where all the MLB action has been taking place…

• In an unfortunate turn of events, the Atlanta Braves let the face of their franchise and future Hall of Famer John Smoltz leave town for the Boston Red Sox who now have a 17 man rotation. At this rate each starter will have a solid two week break in between starts in order to better rest them for the post season.

But in all seriousness, someone in Atlanta had better nudge Braves’ GM Frank Wren to see if he’s awake or even has a pulse at this rate. He has had two goals this winter: get an outfielder with a big bat and an ace/front line starter. Thus far he has acquired Javier Vasquez who is at best a number three starter. Not only has Wren already lost out on AJ Burnett (who the Yankees out bid him for), Rafael Furcal (who along with his agents screwed the Braves over even though as we go I’m thinking more and more that Wren was just as much to blame as he shows his lack of effort) and Jake Peavy (who San Diego was asking a lot for). Plus he’s pretty much out of options for impact pitchers and is losing the big outfield bats by the day.

Braves fans everywhere are in an uproar over this and calling for Wren’s head saying he is “singlehandedly destroying the organization.” While I’m not ready to go that far, I am ready to say that he needs to move with a little more sense of urgency. Now to compound the situation he has lost Smoltz, a front line starter and your franchise player, over only $3 million.

I just don’t get it and it makes me mad that they essentially disrespected Smoltz and his legacy (I’m ready for them to do the same thing with Tom Glavine and Chipper Jones next).

Are Chipper Jones and Tom Glavine next on the diss list in Atlanta? (since1968/Flickr)

• Speaking of disrespecting a future Hall of Famer and the face of an organization, Trevor Hoffman has officially signed a one-year contract with the Milwaukee Brewers for a reported $6 million. He will now close out games for the Brewers after the self-destructing Padres basically told him to get out. Free agency is good for the sport, but many of these teams have to understand what they are telling their fan base when they kick their favorite players to the curb over small amounts of money (small in terms of baseball salaries).

Giambi comes home (keithallisonphoto.com).

• The Mets are on the verge of signing free agent pitcher Tim Redding to a one-year contract for a reported $2 million. This would be a fantastic signing by the Mets as Redding is about as solid of a number five starter as you’ll find in baseball. He is durable as a starter and will give them around 10 wins with an ERA around 4.50-5.00. I’m actually very surprised more teams weren’t in the running for him.

• The other signings that have happened recently: Rocco Baldelli joins Smoltz in Boston (great signing for Boston), Milton Bradley is introduced in Chicago which we discussed in comments this week (stupid signing by the Cubs as Bradley’s fragile body needs protection in the AL with the DH) and of course Jason Giambi comes home where he belongs back to Oakland (fantastic signing as he’s still got pop and the fans love him there).

• The ESPN Prediction Questions article I put up the other day received a lot of great discussions in the comments section and via email. It was good seeing what everyone else thought was going to happen with players this upcoming season. I’m planning on doing more interactive posts like this in the future and will definitely see more before the season starts. Thanks again to everyone who participated and if you haven’t yet, go write yours in or email me at mlbdiamondcutter@gmail.com.

By Matthew Whipps
“The Diamond Cutter“
Major & Minor League Baseball Columnist
mlbdiamondcutter@gmail.com | Facebook

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News and Notes: “Stocking Signings”

The Big Unit moves home to San Fran (SD Dirk/flickr).

After a short break to celebrate the holiday with my family, I figured we’d jump back into things covering some recent signings and other miscellaneous happenings around Major and Minor League Baseball. Look for the top 25 list to continue tomorrow.

• Future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson will attempt to gain his elusive 300th victory back near his home with the San Francisco Giants as he signs a one-year deal for $8 million the day after Christmas. This is a great signing for the Giants who I have been very critical about in the past for horrible signings. This adds a third former Cy Young winner to be added along with Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito (even though he hasn’t looked anything like one since winning it). Not only will Johnson bring the attention to his 300th victory, the Giants also get a mentor for Lincecum and growing star Matt Cain. While this will help solidify their rotation, it still doesn’t help their flimsy offense which still needs a lot of help if they hope to contend in the NL West.

• The Cincinnati Reds pulled a head scratcher today in signing Willy Taveras to a two-year deal. While Taveras did have a decent 2007 hitting .320 and stealing 68 bases in 2008, he isn’t the great lead off hitter GM Walt Jockety makes him out to be. Sure he has blazing speed and stole 68 bases, but his OBP was only .308 last season and that’s the last issue you want your lead off hitter to have. The financial info on this deal hasn’t been released yet but hopefully the Reds received some sort of discount to warrant signing him for two-years.

• Minnesota Twins beat writer La Velle E. Neal III discussed the Twins signing of knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Just like La Velle, I too am a little confused as to the Twins thoughts behind this. The Twins have a slew of youngsters that they could use as a spot starter or middle reliever and need to address a set-up man before anything else in their bullpen. Also Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune mentions the DeRosa to the Twins talks saying it would take “outfielder Ben Rivere [sic] and pitchers Jose Mijares, Jeff Manship and Andy Swarzak” to get the deal done. I don’t know if Rogers over values DeRosa, has no idea how good those prospects really are or is just delusional, but there is no way that a deal would involve a combination of those players. I want DeRosa on the Twins as much as anyone, but not at that ridiculous price.

By Matthew Whipps
“The Diamond Cutter“
Major & Minor League Baseball Columnist
mlbdiamondcutter@gmail.com | Facebook

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News and Notes: “Rafael Fur-real?”

Furcal continues to spin his agent's wrong doings (Malingering/Flickr).

• The Pittsburgh Pirates have reached a three-year deal with catcher Ryan Doumit that will lock him up through his arbitration years. Last year Doumit had a fantastic year out of nowhere hitting .318/.356/.501 with 15 homers and 69 RBI. While my former MVN co-worker Cory Humes at Pirate Revolution believes the Pirates should trade Doumit (or hear his podcast about it), I personally believe that Doumit is an example of the type of player they need to begin to build around. With players like Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez coming up through the system as well other bright youngsters the Bucs need to start now rather than continuing to hit the “reset” button. I do however agree 100% with Humes that the Pirates should sign slugger Adam Dunn as part of the solution.

You know what you will get with Dunn (SD Dirk/Flickr).

• Speaking of the giant slugger Adam Dunn, why aren’t more teams interested in bringing him aboard this winter? Yes I know he had a strikeout rate of 25.9% last season and yes I know he won’t be winning any Gold Gloves in the outfield any time soon, but who couldn’t use his presence in the lineup? While his career average is .247, more importantly his career on-base is .381 and career slugging at .518. Plus you know he will be healthy and you will get 40 homers and 100+ RBI. So why do I keep hearing about teams not too interested in him or preferring a player who is a head case and will most likely miss 20-40 games a year? I would personally rather have Dunn or Pat Burrell over both Bobby Abreu and Milton Bradley. Call me crazy.

• I’ve already covered the Mark Teixeira saga enough on here by discussing where his options are as well as my annoyance about all the back and forth about who’s in and who’s out. I really hope Jon Heyman’s report on Teixeira’s decision coming by Christmas day is true as I can’t take much more. I think the scorecard has the Orioles, Nationals, Red Sox, Bears, Knicks and three teams from the WNBA as the top contenders.

• The New York Yankees and pitcher Chien-Ming Wang have avoided salary arbitration and agreed to a one-year, $5 million contract thus insuring the Yankees the first ever 11-man starting rotation heading into the 2009 season. Awesome.

• And finally more on the Furcal vs. Braves situation as Furcal continues to lie about his agent’s dirty tricks. Even our poll on this site last week showed 100% of people believe Furcal and his agents screwed the Braves. Just stop talking about it Furcal, we know its not true.

By Matthew Whipps
“The Diamond Cutter“
Major & Minor League Baseball Columnist
mlbdiamondcutter@gmail.com | thefranch15e

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News and Notes – “Jack the Ripper”

Wilson voiced his frustrations for thousands of Bucs fans everywhere (urbansaddle/flickr).

As a new feature here on “The Diamond Cutter” we will be reviewing some of the things that are happening in baseball and around the blogosphere. You’ll see this pop up from time to time as I come across items in the news. It’s also a quick way to voice my opinions and ideas on topics without writing an entire column. So without further ado…

· As eager as I am to see where Mark Teixeira ends up, I’m getting a little tired of the whole hoopla around it. Now I know this is a big decision for him as its planning out where he will play for the next 7 or 8 years, but I really wish he’d hurry up and decide. I talked about his options earlier this week along with reasons why he should or shouldn’t sign with these teams. And of course ESPN chimed in yesterday saying Boston is out and today saying Boston may still be in. Please pick soon, Mark.

Furcal better watch himself in Hot-lanta (dizzy-eyed/flickr).

· The Atlanta Braves are furious with Rafael Furcal’s agents calling them “despicable” for the way they handled things. Brave’s Blog also chimes in on the status of the Braves and their need to reassess their team. Personally I have to agree with the Braves. It does sound as if Furcal’s agent pulled a screw job on Atlanta and threw a HUGE wrench in their off season plans. It was lining up to look as if the Braves had the ability to trade Yunel Escobar to the Padres now for Jake Peavy. This was especially important after losing AJ Burnett to the Yankees. Even if they didn’t trade the shortstop they still would have had another good bat in their lineup and burner on the base paths. I feel for Braves fans, I really do as they have had a giant disappointment this winter after having such high expectations.

· Jack Wilson let his frustrations be heard regarding the Pirates’ lack of competition for the past 17 seasons. His actions voiced frustrations of Pirates fans everywhere as well as indirectly asked the question of “why the hell haven’t you people traded me yet?!?!” The Bucs Dugout chimes in on Wilson’s rambling with a funny twist.

As a life long Twins fan, I'd love to see DeRosa in Minnesota (chicagoenergy/flickr).

· In the yearly quest to fill in a huge hole at third base, the Twins appear to be still showing interest in bringing in free agent Ty Wigginton to plug it until some prospects are ready. Both La Velle E. Neal III and Nick Nelson discuss this option and Nick brings up Mark DeRosa’s name as a potential trade target (which I would love). All I know is the Twins need to figure something out as this has been a problem for years ever since Corey Koskie left after the 2004 season.

That was a quick recap of some of the happenings around baseball and the internet. Let me know your thoughts on these stories and this new feature too. Also make sure to chime in on our poll below on the Braves/Furcal situation.

By Matthew Whipps
“The Diamond Cutter“
Major & Minor League Baseball Columnist
mlbdiamondcutter@gmail.com | thefranch15e

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Is 2010 Clay Buchholz’s Year?

Buchholz can handle the pressure of the big stage.

So is 2010 finally the year that Clay Buchholz takes that big step towards super stardom?

I feel funny asking that question of a guy who threw a no hitter in his second big league start. But then again, the way hyped-up prospects have a way of occasionally fizzling out, it may never happen.

To me I don’t think this will be the case. I don’t see Clay Buchholz being another big name, sure-fire, can’t miss prospect that dwindles away into obscurity. Not this kid. I just see too much potential in him and too much talent in the that right arm for him to not make some sort of impact in baseball.

I have scouted many players up close and from a distance during my time as a fan and a writer and Buchholz is one of those guys I have watched extra close. This is because I have been impressed with him and what he can do on the mound. Here are some of the detailed notes on Buchholz as a pitcher that I have taken over the past few years of watching him throughout the minors as well as in a Red Sox uniform…

Pitch Repertoire

The Fastball
• Buchholz has a nice combination of a two and four-seam fastball that sit anywhere in the low to mid-90’s. His two-seamer has the better movement and can bust in on lefties while the four-seamer could use a little more movement on it to make it more effective. He also works his large arsenal of pitches off of his fastball very well thanks to the great movement on his secondary pitches.

The Change-up
• Right off the bat Buchholz has a major weapon with this pitch due to the fact that he has one of the best change-ups in baseball. The pitch settles in right around 80 mph which he uses as one of his two out pitches and is almost unhittable when he is on with it. What makes it so hard to hit is that he disguises it so well with his normal delivery that it becomes very deceptive and keeps hitters off balance when expecting a fastball.

The Curveball
• Almost as good as his change-up, Buchholz’s knee buckling curve freezes hitters in their tracks. It’s a hard breaking 12-to-6 overhand curveball that just drops right off the table. Like his change-up, he uses it as his out pitch (depending on which pitch is on that night) and will usually sit in the 76-81 mph range. With a solid fastball and one other out plus pitch, being a batter and worrying about a second out pitch can’t be easy.

The Slider
• As Buchholz’s fourth pitch, his slider comes in somewhere in the low to mid-80’s. Right now it is an above average pitch but shows the potential to be yet another plus pitch. As scary as that sounds, his slider has continued to improve over the past few years and isn’t far off from being yet another plus pitch to add to his bag of tricks.

Pitcher’s Makeup

Buchholz has a wonderful delivery (hubertk/Flickr).

The Delivery
• Buchholz’s delivery looks like you are watching an instant replay on a loop. He has a very repeatable motion after some great strides towards improving it over the course of the last couple of seasons. His delivery melds perfectly with his pitches as he’s able to throw his fastball and change from the same arm slot with the same motion to help make it that much more difficult to pick up. The only concern I have with his delivery is the high arm angle that he pitches with. It could be an issue down the road with injuries so it is something they will need to keep an eye on.

The Mechanics
• Just like his delivery, Buchholz is very much under control with his pitches. He has solid mechanics from the moment he starts his movement all the way until he releases the pitch.

The Big Game Factor
• Buchholz is built to be a big game pitcher for the blood thirsty Red Sox Nation. This kid does not rattle easily and has the presence on the mound to pitch in a very intense city like Boston.

FINAL GRADE

From what I’ve seen over the years is a young pitcher who is confident on the mound with some fantastic pitches at his disposal. Buchholz has a lot of pressure on him with big expectations from a very impatient fan base along with not a lot of room for learning on the job. The Red Sox need every win they can get in the ultra competitive AL East as well as a slew of veteran pitchers they bring in each year making it difficult for Buchholz to really feel comfortable.

Coming into 2010 I expected Buchholz to be a big piece to the Red Sox rotation. But with the signing of John Lackey this may make it difficult for him to get a spot once again. I do believe that before the end of the year, we will have seen Buchholz get an extended period of time on the mound and he will have seen that young kid from 2007 show us why he is a big part of Boston’s future.

And if you ask me that’s a pretty nice place to be.

Roy-al Pain

After spending the entire season near the top of the very strong American League East despite numerous pitching injuries, the Toronto Blue Jays now find themselves with their worst injury possible.

Halladay has been one of baseball's best for years (keithallisonphotos.com)

The news came out today that their ace and definite Cy Young contender Roy Halladay will be placed on the 15-day DL (retroactive to June 13). Halladay left his last start against the Marlins after only three innings with a right groin strain. He tried to throw in a bullpen session this afternoon but still felt tightness and it was decided to shut him down until the end of the month.

This is the worst possible injury the Jays could get tagged with. After a strong 27-14 start, they have faded quickly going 8-17 since. Halladay has been their constant through it all going 10-1 this season with 103 innings pitched (both AL leads) and is ranked fifth with both 88 strikeouts and a 2.53 ERA.

If this news wasn’t bad enough, the Blue Jays also announced today they would be putting their closer, Scott Downs, on the 15-day DL with a sprained big toe. Downs has done a fantastic job since taking over the closer role from the injury-plagued and struggling BJ Ryan earlier this season. Downs is 1-0 with a 1.98 ERA and eight saves.

In a division that has been dominated for years by Boston and New York, it has been refreshing to see the emergence of teams like the Rays and Blue Jays as well as seeing the Orioles begin to get stronger. Hopefully the Jays can keep themselves in the race until Halladay comes back and give the other top teams a run for their money.

News & Notes:

· Ivan Rodriguez passed Carlton Fisk on the all-time list for games caught with number 2,227 today in Texas. A huge congratulations to Pudge for this great accomplishment.

· Veteran righty John Smoltz will finally make his highly anticipated debut with the Red Sox on June 25 against the Washington Nationals. What a huge addition to any rotation this is. I bet the Braves are kicking themselves with how good he’s looked in his rehab starts.

· Jose Canseco is suing Major League Baseball and the players’ association for essentially being banished for using steroids. Now he wants to get Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa to join his cause, or as this new alliance will be better know as, “The Cheater’s Club.”

Matthew Whipps is a writer for Baseball Daily Digest and co-writes the new blog The Minnesota Sports Guys. If you would like to contact him via email you can reach him at whipps15[at]gmail.com