Around the Horn - 5/5

Time to look at the standings once again as we are on Cinco de Mayo.

















The Red Sox swept the Rays over the weekend to take a 3-game lead in the AL East. Four of the five teams in the division over .500 and the last place Blue Jays are just 2 games under the even mark.

The Twins are red hot, having won 5 in a row. They took a 3-game sweep of the Tigers, who were coming off a 3-game sweep of the Yankees. The Twins are the only team in the AL Central as both the Indians and Tigers continue to dwell at the bottom of the division, albeit just 2.5 and 3 games out respectively. The White Sox have hit the skids, having lost 5 in a row and 8 of 11.

The Angels have been without John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar all season, but are still 7 games over .500 and have a 1 game lead in the AL West over the surprising Oakland A's. The Mariners, despite one of the best starting staffs in baseball, continue to get a lack of run support and sit at 6 games under .500 along with the Texas Rangers.





















The NL East has 4 teams over .500 with last year's title winner, Philadelphia sitting atop the lead. The Phillies have won 7 of 10 and took 6 of 8 from the NL West, but cheese steak lovers beware. The Phils have lost 6 of 9 games in the division. The Mets are keeping their heads above water as they try to get healthy and more consistent. They took 2 of 3 from a hot Arizona team (no pun intended) to move 3 over .500 and get within a half-game of the Phillies.

No one is more surprised about the Cardinals than us. They have to collapse some time, don't they? The Redbirds have won 7 of 10 and have the second best record in baseball at 20-12. The Cubs have dropped 7 of 10 to move back to 5 games over .500 and trail the Cards by 1.5 games. The remainder of the division has done poorly of late, though the Astros swept 3 games from the Brewers to reach .500.

Despite losing 2 of 3 to the Mets, the Diamondbacks still hold a 4 game lead over the surging Dodgers. LA had their 8 game winning streak snapped by the Rockies on Sunday, who ended their own 4 game slump. After last year's playoff performance, the Rockies are one of the biggest disappointments, going 12-19 out of the gate. The Giants and Padres continue to range from mediocre to poor play.

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Rich or Poor, It's Good to Have Money

The official MLB salaries have been released. Alex Rodriguez is officially making $28 million. The Florida Marlins combined salary is $21.8 million. That's 31 active and/or disabled players.

No wonder he's smiling.

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And Hold the MSG

Major League Baseball has already branched out to Japan with a series of regular season games - this year's games pit the Red Sox against the A's. And now Bud Selig is ready to bring the game to China.

The San Diego Padres and LA Dodgers will be playing a 2 game exhibition series at Wukesong Field, the site of this year's summer Olympics. Joe Torre and Dave Winfield made the trip to Beijing to join U.N. ambassador to China, Clark Randt, and Chinese baseball official Meng Wei in making the announcement.

Both teams promised to field top notch players for the series, and players' union COO Gene Orza said his membership was excited about the series.

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Wednesday Hot Stove

The Hot Stove continues to crawl along at a snail's pace, but there were a few happenings today.

The Cubs are bringing back Jon Lieber, who pitched for the north siders from 1999-2002 and was their last 20 game winner.

The Tigers have signed left-hander Nate Robertson to a 3-year, $21.25 million extension. It's amazing how much you can make at mediocrity.

Marlins pitcher Anibel Sanchez, who tossed a no-no in 2006, won't be ready for the start of Spring Training after undergoing labrum surgery.

The A's are bringing back Kirk Saarloos, who spent the last year plus with the Reds. Saarloos, who was with the A's from 2004-6, signed a minor league deal.

Jose Valentin is going to continue playing and is going to do it as a Met. The 16-year vet signed a minor league deal and accepted an invite to Spring Training.

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We've Got Spirit, How 'bout You?!

Hmm, we're thinking that NOW maybe we've seen it all. Now you really can be taken out to the ball game. You could have your ashes tossed in an urn like the one pictured or be buried in an authentic MLB coffin.

Right now there are only 12 of the 30 teams available in the ol' pine box, but if you can hold out some more years, your team will be available too!

The caskets have the team logo, and all trim and fabric are in team colors. And get this, sports fans, the casket is made of the same wood as baseball bats. Lets just hope you don't split if they drop you on the logo. Source

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The Fantastic Four Fight Steroids

Major League Baseball will be teaming with the NFL, the US Olympic Committee (USOC), and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to form the "Partnership for Clean Competition(PCC)". The new partnership's initial goal will be to "raise funds to underwrite scientific research into the detection and consequences of doping".

The PCC's priorities will be as follows:

More cost-effective detection and deterrance of the use of banned and illegal substances at every level of sport.

Aiding the race against designer substances with reliable means of identification and detection.

Detailing the consequences of doping, from the medical as well as the ethical perspective.

Development of a widely-available, cost-effective test to detect Human Growth Hormone (HGH).

Hopefully this is the first step in the right direction to wipe out performance enhancing drugs from all sports.

Source

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MLB's Big Payoff

Bud Selig announced today that major league baseball earned $6.075 million in profits.

"As I told the clubs today, we're on a great high here," Selig said Thursday following the conclusion of a two-day meeting in which owners discussed, among other things, ways to speed up games.

"When you look at the final numbers and you see what's happened, it's remarkable. There are times, honestly, when I have to pinch myself to make sure all of this is happening. ... Growth and revenue, growth and profitability; it's just been really, really good."

"I'm putting myself on the spot here, but I'm very hopeful to draw 80 million-plus, and I think our revenues will continue to go up," Selig said of 2008, later adding that he's "very proud" of the growth.

"We started at $1.2 billion, and I can remember waking up in '93 and '94 and '95 and thinking how are we ever going to get to $2 billion? So here we are at $6 billion, 75 million. And if we just keep doing our work, stay out of controversies, keep the focus on the field, we'll get to numbers someday that will be stunning. And these are stunning."

Hopefully this does not lead to talks of further expansion. If anything, some teams such as Florida, should be eliminated.

Source

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MLB Hand Slaps Boras; Agent Repents

It didn't take Major League Baseball long to respond to the ill time announcement of A-Rod's pending free agency.

"We were very disappointed that Scott Boras would try to upstage our premier baseball event of the season with his announcement," Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said Monday in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

"There was no reason to make an announcement last night other than to try to put his selfish interests and that of one individual player above the overall good of the game," DuPuy said. "Last night and today belong to the Boston Red Sox, who should be celebrated for their achievement, and to the Colorado Rockies, who made such an unbelievable run to the World Series."

Knowing that he has to do business with the Red Sox and Rockies, Boras was quick to apologize.

"I apologize to the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies and their players, Major League Baseball and its players, and baseball fans everywhere for that interference," he said in a statement. "The teams and players involved deserved to be the focus of the evening and honored with the utmost respect. The unfortunate result was not my intent, but is solely my fault. I could have handled this situation better, and for that I am truly sorry."

We're sure if you asked Boras if he had it all to do over again, he would respond yes to repeating his actions.

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The Ump Gets Struck Back

Trouble has followed Milton Bradley everywhere he's been, but Major League Baseball has partially agreed that this time he got pushed into it. As you may recall, Bradley blew out his ACL after a confrontation with 1st Base ump, Mike Winters.

An anonymous official from MLB stated that Winters used a profanity towards Bradley, and would be suspended for the remainder of the regular season.

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A-Rod up for Meangingless Award

Hank Aaron, still the all-time home run champ - but that's a story for another day, has an award named after him by MLB. Only it has no meaning. That being said, Alex Rodriguez is one of the 5 finalist in the AL.

Here's the deal. Fans will vote online from today, September 18, thru September 30th. And that's it. In addition to A-Rod, Manny Ramirez, Ichiro, Vlad Guerrero, and Magglio Ordonez are the AL finalists. Just how did Manny get in there?

The NL 5 are Chipper Jones, Ken Griffey Jr., Jose Reyes, Prince Fielder, and Albert Pujols. No David Wright, you say. No Ryan Howard. No Jimmy Rollins. Just how are these finalists picked?

MLB and the damn fans have struck again. 1 player was selected from each team and the fans voted on it. The top vote-getters are your finalists.

Now back to the buffoonery. The award was created in 1999 to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Hammerin' Hank breaking Babe Ruth's all-time HR mark. The inaugural awards were given to Manny Ramirez and Sammy Sosa, based on combined HRs, hits, and RBI. All good.

From 2000-2002 the award was selected by a panel of MLB broadcasters. In '03 it became a split vote (70/30) between broadcasters and fans. And from 2004 to the present it has strictly been fan voting.

So good job MLB. You took an award commemorating one of the greatest feats in baseball history and made it a completely meaningless popularity contest.

Official MLB Press Release

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Joba Gets 2 Game Suspension

The question remains whether or not Joba Chamberlain really threw at Kevin Youkillis. But apparently, Major League Baseball has made up its mind. Joba was hit with a 2 game suspension. He'll sit out Tonight and tomorrow's games with the Devil Rays...which he would have done anyway due to the "Joba Rules".

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Giambi Ready to Talk

According to the NY Daily News, Jason Giambi is set to meet with MLB investigator George Mitchell in attempt to put the whole thing behind him. Bud Selig has given Giambi until Thursday to pass or play on speaking with Mitchell. Giambi's agent Arn Tellem has been waiting for assurances from MLB that Giambi won't have to name names.

Click for the complete story.

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