I hope we're smarter than that this year

I wonder if we can get anyone else for the stretch run before 8/31. What we really could use is a big bopper, though, and those aren't easy to come by.

If he was available, Jose Abreu would be our man. He can carry a team for prolonged periods of time.

Alfonso Soriano is a guy I would have considered.

Too bad the farm system is so poorly stocked.

I think we're stuck with what we got.

Yeah, Soriano is off to an amazing start with NY!

Soriano got to choose where he went. Called a no trade clause. He said over and over, no to Cleveland every time the Indians tried to acquire him.

We dumped Dice-K and guess what? He was picked up by the Mets and will start tomorrow night's game against, guess who? The Tigers! Go Dice-K!!!! Goooooo Mets!!!!

Dice-K v. the Tigers? I have a bad feeling about that...

MONIKER MADNESS

Who Has The Best Name In The Minor Leagues ?!?!

Click the player whose name you like best. After you vote, the page will load a new pair of players at random to choose from. View the leaderboard any time to see the full list of names and current rankings. Vote as many times as you like!

The 2013 Moniker Madness Champion will be announced here on Thursday, Aug. 29.

Leaderboard

Results delayed up to 15 minutes.

1.
Stryker Trahan

2.
Sicnarf Loopstok

3.
Giuseppe Papaccio

4.
Storm Throne

5.
Forrest Snow

6.
Jose Jose

7.
Damien Magnifico

8.
Stone Speer

9.
Will Piwnica-Worms

10.
Zelous Wheeler

11.
Anthony Bemboom

12.
Kevin Quackenbush

13.
Dimitri Papantonopoulos

14.
Rougned Odor

15.
Forrestt Allday

16.
Mookie Betts

17.
Torsten Boss

18.
Socrates Brito

19.
Michael Goodnight

20.
Dovydas Neverauskas

21.
Zach Granite

22.
Rocky Gale

23.
Bubba Starling

24.
Mikie Mahtook

25.
Raywilly Gomez

26.
Boss Moanaroa

27.
Jabari Blash

28.
Gift Ngoepe

29.
Bob Stumpo

30.
Skyler Stromsmoe

31.
Derek Toadvine

32.
Chance Ruffin

33.
Zech Zinicola

34.
Cutter Dykstra

35.
Duke von Schamann

36.
Xander Bogaerts

37.
Sammie Starr

38.
Bijan Rademacher

39.
David Goforth

40.
Jamodrick McGruder

41.
Stolmy Pimentel

42.
Jiandido Tromp

43.
Felix Pie

44.
Exicardo Cayones

45.
Taiwan Easterling

46.
Wirfin Obispo

47.
Janelfry Zorrilla

48.
Chadwin Stang

49.
Chantz Mack

50.
Maxx Tissenbaum

51.
Yogey Perez-Ramos

52.
Kenneth Peoples-Walls

53.
Crayton Bare

54.
Kawika Emsley-Pai

55.
Leonardo Reginatto

56.
Montreal Robertson

57.
Delta Cleary Jr.

58.
Jett Bandy

59.
Reegie Corona

60.
Loek Van Mil

61.
Cheslor Cuthbert

62.
Casio Grider

63.
Jason Leblebijian

64.
Jeyckol De Leon

65.
Matt Szczur

66.
Heiker Meneses

67.
O'Koyea Dickson

68.
Samuel Tuivailala

69.
Yem Prades

70.
Ronnier Mustelier

71.
Luis Domoromo

72.
Granden Goetzman

73.
Khayyan Norfork

74.
Dionis Hinojosa

75.
Kyle Von Tungeln


http://www.milb.com/milb/fans/moniker_m ... kermadness

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Hope the team is the Indians !


FOX Sports' Jon Morosi reports that Kendrys Morales has been claimed on waivers by an unknown team.
If a trade is going to happen, it will have to be this week. Morales has posted a promising .284/.340/.449 batting line with 17 home runs and 67 RBI in 124 games this season for Seattle. The Mariners could have moved him at the July 31 non-waiver deadline and decided against it but perhaps they feel differently about the situation now. Morales, 30, can become a free agent this winter.
Source: Jon Morosi on Twitter Aug 26 - 2:58 PM

The Pirates got the guy we should have got from the Twins:



Pirates acquire Justin Morneau from Twins


The Pirates are officially going all-in. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com confirms they have acquired first baseman Justin Morneau from the Twins for outfielder Alex Presley and either a player to be named later or cash. Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports first reported the trade.

Pittsburgh comes into Saturday tied atop the NL Central with the Cardinals at 78-56. The two teams are playing this weekend and still have another series to play at Busch Stadium in September. The Pirates acquired outfielder Marlon Byrd and catcher John Buck from the Mets for two minor leaguers less than a week ago.

Morneau, 32, hit .259/.315/.426 (102 OPS+) with 17 home runs in 127 games for Minnesota before the trade. He's been a homer machine in August, posting a 129 OPS+ with nine of those 17 long balls this month. Morneau is owed roughly $2.5 million for the remainder of the year and will become a free agent this winter.

The Pirates have gotten a .260/.336/.432 (99 OPS+) batting line and 16 homers out of their first baseman this year, with Gaby Sanchez and Garrett Jones sharing a platoon. The righty hitting Sanchez can still platoon with the lefty hitting Morneau while Jones sees time in the outfield. With rosters set to expand on September 1, there is plenty of room for all three guys.

Presley, 28, has hit .264/.274/.389 (86 OPS+) in 29 games for the Pirates this year and .298/.376/.427 in 89 games at Triple-A Indianapolis. He's a career .261/.299/.419 (98 OPS+) hitter in parts of four big league seasons, all with Pittsburgh. Presley figures to step right in and help the outfield-needy Twins.

Morneau will be eligible for the Pirates playoff roster since he was acquired August 31. Today is the last day teams can acquire a player and have him be postseason eligible.

Both teams have since announced the trade.

Gotta love it:

Club-record seven Red Sox homer in romp over Tigers

AP 12:20 a.m. EDT September 5, 2013

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
The Red Sox beat the Tigers, 20-4
Boston burst out with a franchise record-tying eight homers and a season-high 20 runs
David Ortiz doubled for his 2,000th career hit


BOSTON (AP) — One after another, the baseballs cleared the fences at Fenway Park — a franchise record-tying eight home runs in all for the Boston Red Sox.

And David Ortiz led the way.

The Red Sox homered twice and he also doubled for his 2,000th career hit on Wednesday night to lead the Red Sox to a 20-4 romp over the Detroit Tigers.


"I've never really seen that many happy faces in the dugout at the same time," said Ortiz, who was one of a franchise-record seven different Red Sox batters to homer in the game. "It was like lighting a firework. ... I see everybody happy. It's like the fireworks just keep on coming."

Boston pulled away in an eight-run sixth inning when Will Middlebrooks hit a grand slam, Ortiz had an RBI double to reach 2,000 and Daniel Nava added a two-run homer. Ortiz homered again in the five-run seventh — the 427th of his career to move past Billy Williams and into 47th on baseball's all-time home run list.

"Congratulations to David. That's a heck of a milestone," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I'm sure the Red Sox fans are proud of him and he's proud of himself. He's had a wonderful career and he's popular here. A very kind man, really. I'm very happy for him. It came against the wrong team, but that's OK."


AL East-leading Boston has won nine of 11, taking two out of three from the Central-leading Tigers to hold onto the best record in the league. After scores of 3-0 and 2-1 in the first two games of the series, the Red Sox burst out with a franchise record-tying eight homers and a season-high 20 runs.

Jacoby Ellsbury, Stephen Drew, Mike Napoli and Ryan Lavarnway also homered as the Red Sox turned a game that was tied 4-4 after four innings into a blowout.

"Just a rare and outstanding offensive night tonight," said Red Sox manager John Farrell, who had Shane Victorino steal second in the fifth inning to try to get the go-ahead run in scoring position. "You think at that point you're looking to somewhat manufacture a run any way you can. Little did we know it would turn out like it did. ... We had no idea of what was about to take place shortly after that."

Ryan Dempster (8-9) allowed four runs on six hits and two walks in six innings, striking out seven to win his second straight start since he was suspended for five games for intentionally hitting New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez.

The Red Sox open a four-game series with the Yankees in New York on Thursday night.

Rick Porcello (11-8) gave up nine runs — eight of them earned — on seven hits and four walks in five-plus innings. He allowed three homers, Al Alburquerque gave up two, Jeremy Bonderman allowed two and Evan Reed gave up one.

"That was pretty ugly," Leyland said. "Obviously we just didn't a good job of keeping the ball in the ballpark. The Green Monster's one thing, but you normally don't see them going out to right field like that. They were hitting them out like ping pong balls."

Ortiz homered in the fourth to tie the game 4-all, then added an RBI double in the sixth for hit No. 2,000. He waved his batting helmet as he stood on second base while the crowd cheered and home plate umpire Jeff Kellogg helped the Red Sox dugout retrieve the ball.

Ortiz homered the next time up, prompting another standing ovation from the crowd at Fenway Park. The fans remained on their feet until he popped out of the dugout for a curtain call.

Prince Fielder homered for the Tigers, who were without Miguel Cabrera for the third time in four games with a strained abdominal muscle. A reigning triple crown winner, Cabrera leads the majors again with a .355 average with 130 RBIs and is four behind Baltimore's Chris Davis with 43 homers.

Detroit shortstop Jose Iglesias, who was acquired from Boston at the trading deadline, left in the fifth inning with pain in his shins.

Shane Victorino singled with one out in the fifth, stole second and took third when catcher Alex Avila threw the ball into center field. On the 11th pitch of his at-bat, Dustin Pedroia hit a sinking line drive that left fielder Andy Dirks caught just off the grass but he could not keep Victorino from tagging up and scoring to make it 5-4.

The Red Sox blew it open with eight in the sixth thanks to a bases-loaded walk, two homers and Ortiz's double. They added two more in the eighth to make it 20-4.

NOTES: The only other time the Red Sox have hit eight homers in a game was July 4, 1977, against Toronto at Fenway Park. ... Nava has reached base safely in 39 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the majors. ... The Chicago Cubs, run by former Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein, claimed former Red Sox reliever Daniel Bard off waivers. ... Boston manager John Farrell said Clay Buchholz's wife gave birth to a daughter. The right-hander will resume his rehab stint with Triple-A Pawtucket in Rochester on Thursday night before joining the Red Sox in New York. ... Porcello had allowed three or fewer runs in 10 of his last 11 starts. But in his career he is 1-3 with a 10.42 ERA against the Red Sox. ... Victorino went over the short wall along the first-base line to retire Austin Jackson and end the fourth inning. Victorino then returned what appeared to be a cellphone to a woman in the front row

Phillips drives in 100th run, continues chasing rare RBI feat

Sep 5th, 2013 at 7:36 am by Zach Haile

Brandon Phillips is known for his flashy leather and radiant smile, but don’t overlook what he’s been doing at the plate this season. Phillips isn’t just having a career year; he’s on the brink of re-writing the record book.

Phillips has already set a new career-high in RBI this season with 100 in the Reds first 140 games. Prior to this year, Phillips averaged 80 RBI a year for the Reds. Phillips passed his previous career-high of 98 RBI, which he posted in 2009, in the Reds 8-3 win over the Rockies on Aug. 31st with his 17th home run of the year. Last night, Phillips became the first Reds second baseman to record 100 RBI in a season since Joe Morgan in 1976. Morgan finished that season with 111 RBI and was second in the league to teammate George Foster.
Phillips sits in the top five in Major League Baseball in RBI with just 22 games remaining. He leads all second basemen in RBI, with Yankees Robinson Cano being the next closest at 91 RBI. Phillips has already surpassed Cano’s last season total of 94 RBI, which led all second basemen in 2012.

The only National League player leading Phillips in RBI currently is Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. Phillips trails Goldschmidt by just four RBI. If Phillips were to pass Goldschmidt, fans would be witnessing a feat that hasn’t been accomplished in nearly 90 years.

Second basemen are rarely their team’s leader in RBI, much less the entire league. In fact, the last time a second baseman led his league in RBI was former Reds second baseman Brett Boone in 2001 with the Mariners.

The achievement is even more rare in the Senior Circuit.

If Phillips passes Goldschmidt he would become the first second baseman to lead the National League in RBI since Roger Hornsby in 1925.

Phillips could hold an advantage with the Reds lineup, which has scored 610 runs this season as opposed to Arizona’s 589. The Reds also have the seventh-best on-base percentage in the MLB, which could potentially translate to more opportunities for Phillips down the stretch.

So, admire what Brandon is doing in the field but also what he’s doing at the plate!

Hamilton's speed boosts brilliant Bailey, Reds

In Tuesday night's 1-0 win over the Cardinals, speedy Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton made his Major League debut, stole second and scored the game's lone run. Homer Bailey, who retired the last 14 he faced in a stellar seven-inning start, picked up the win as Cincinnati moved within 1 1/2 games of second-place St. Louis.

To think we took Jeremy Sowers with the 6th pick in the 2004 June baseball draft while the Red chose Homer Bailey just one pick later at #7.

Same group that traded for Gomes.