Category: MLB

The Baltimore Orioles have settled on ESPN analyst Buck Showalter to be their new manager, FOX Sports.com’s Ken Rosenthal reports.

Rosenthal, via his Twitter account, reports the sides are close on terms and Showalter will be in uniform sometime after the All-Star break. The move won’t be made official until later this week, Rosenthal reports, because Major League Baseball discourages teams from making major announcements during the sport’s showcase events.

The Baltimore Sun’s Dan Connolly, citing a source with knowledge of the situation, reports the Orioles have yet to make an offer to Showalter and that interim manager Juan Samuel will manage the team Friday in its first game after the break.

Showalter was one of the favorites to become the O’s next full-time skipper. His chances improved greatly when Bobby Valentine pulled out of the running to pursue the Florida Marlins’ managerial post.

Other candidates included former Indians manager Eric Wedge and former Orioles catcher Rick Dempsey, now a televison analyst for the club.

The Orioles own the worst record in baseball (29-59). Team president Andy MacPhail fired Dave Trembley on June 4 and replaced him on an interim basis with Samuel. Baltimore is 14-20 under Samuel after completing a four-game road sweep of the Texas Rangers. 

Showalter has an 882-833 record in 11 seasons as a major league manager with the New York Yankees, Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers. He is a two-time AL Manager of the Year and has reached the postseason twice (1995 Yankees, 1999 Diamondbacks).

St. Louis Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. says Albert Pujols is untouchable, even though the club and its slugging first baseman have yet to agree on a contract extension.

During a lengthy Q&A with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, DeWitt was asked if the slow-moving talks, as well as Pujols’ acquiring veto rights after the season, would prompt the club to explore a trade before the July 31 nonwaiver deadline.

"That’s one of the easiest decisions we’ve ever had to make. Would we ever contemplate trading Albert: absolutely not," DeWitt told the Post’s Joe Strauss. "It’s not even a consideration. The consideration is that he’s got one more year left on his contract beyond the current season (the Cardinals hold a $16 million club option for 2011). There were some brief conversations (about a contract) during spring training, and it was eventually agreed upon that it wasn’t appropriate to carry talks into this season."

DeWitt sees the next few months as a prime time for resuming talks.

"I think the word that applies to the upcoming offseason is ‘optimal.’ That’s the best time for us to negotiate something to keep Albert in town for a long time," DeWitt said. "Those negotiations aren’t easy for a player of Albert’s stature. It remains to be seen what we can do. But we’ll make every effort to see where it goes. I don’t have a crystal ball to say if it can get done in 24 hours or if we would go the entire winter without getting something done. It’s tough. The market can change in either direction."

Pujols was at the center of a well-traveled trade rumor last March. Reports surfaced that the Phillies talked internally about exploring a swap of first baseman Ryan Howard for Pujols. That was about a month before Howard agreed to a five-year, $125 million contract extension. Pujols’ representative, Dan Lozano, indicated after Howard’s signing that  the contract would not be used as a baseline for future talks about Pujols.

What to expect in the major leagues today:

Out, in, out

First, he wasn’t an All-Star. Then, he was (as the replacement for the Yankees’ CC Sabathia). But when he steps on the mound this afternoon in Oakland, Angels right-hander Jered Weaver will forfeit his chance to pitch in Tuesday’s midsummer classic in his home park. Because he won’t be rested to pitch again so quickly, Weaver will be replaced on the roster.

Jered Weaver has All-Star numbers, but lousy timing will keep him from playing in the game.

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Regardless, Weaver has put together an All-Star-caliber first half. He should go into the break with the major league lead in strikeouts, and he also ranks among the AL leaders with a 2.97 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. The last time Weaver started in Oakland, however, he allowed six earned runs and a season-high 12 hits in a loss.

Royal revival

This past week, Royals manager Ned Yost told the Kansas City Star that his team isn’t out of the AL Central race. Given the White Sox’s amazing turnaround earlier this season and the Royals’ improved play recently, perhaps Yost’s comments shouldn’t be dismissed.

This afternoon, Kansas City will wrap up a three-game series at U.S. Cellular Field against Chicago. Zack Greinke, who beat the White Sox on June 30 despite allowing six earned runs in eight innings, will be on the mound for the Royals. Rookie Daniel Hudson, replacing the injured Jake Peavy in Chicago’s rotation, is expected to make his first start of the season this afternoon.

So long, legends?

In the final game—it’s the Sunday night matchup—of the first half of the major league season, the Dodgers will host the Cubs. With Cubs manager Lou Piniella and Dodgers manager Joe Torre both in the last year of their contracts, this also could be the final time they manage against each other (Chicago and Los Angeles won’t play again this season, barring a playoff matchup).

Chris Bahr is Sporting News’ baseball editor. E-mail him at cbahr@sportingnews.com.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has joined a group that will bid on the bankrupt Texas Rangers, the New York Post reports.

The Post, citing an unnamed source close to the situation, reports Cuban has joined with former player agent Dennis Gilbert and Texas businessman Jeff Beck. A bankruptcy judge has scheduled a July 22 auction for the franchise.

Cuban did not return an e-mail for comment, the Post reports. Gilbert was among the first people to make a play for the Rangers when Tom Hicks put them up for sale.

A group led by former Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg and Rangers president Nolan Ryan is favored to land the club. Greenberg’s group offered $575 million to buy the Rangers and the club’s parking facilities after the Rangers declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May. Lenders, though, have helped stall the deal, expressing concerns over $525 million in loan defaults by Hicks’ ownership group. Creditors also argued that the Greenberg-Ryan bid of $575 million wasn’t the highest and urged the bankruptcy judge to reopen the bidding process.

Cuban tried to buy the bankrupt Chicago Cubs in 2008 and reportedly made the highest bid, but MLB instead chose Tom Ricketts. As in the Cubs’ case, MLB has the right to set sale terms and approve the Rangers’ buyer.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia told the Los Angeles Times that he doesn’t believe general manager Tony Reagins has to make a trade in response to the division-rival Rangers’ pickup of Cliff Lee. Although the team is interested in adding a first baseman, Scioscia said L.A. is unlikely to rent a free-agent-to-be.

"Our philosophy is not to bring someone in here for two or three months and empty your cupboard in the minor leagues to do it," Scioscia told the newspaper. "So therefore the pool gets smaller and smaller as to players you can acquire."

Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak is interested in adding a player who can loosen up an occasionally tense clubhouse.

"When you think about our clubhouse personality, you think ‘businesslike.’ I would use the word ‘professional.’ I think we could use a true ice-breaker at times," Mozeliak told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Friday. "I think sometimes a level of tension develops. You play 162 games with the same group of guys from February to hopefully late October, sometimes you have to be able to take a step back."

Mozeliak indicated a position player, rather than a pitcher, would have a greater effect. He noted the positive role infielder/outfielder Mark DeRosa played last year after coming to St. Louis in a July trade.

Mozeliak told the P-D he has spoken with manager Tony La Russa and the players about the need for such an addition.

La Russa, who is known for running a tight ship, didn’t reject Mozeliak’s claim, but he warned that whoever comes in also needs to play well. La Russa used Will Clark as an example — Clark batted .345 with 12 home runs for the first-place Redbirds the final two months of the 2000 season.

"I think Mo’s point is this clubhouse is quiet," La Russa told the Post-Dispatch. "I guarantee you that if you walk into those Yankees clubhouses (under former manager Joe Torre), it’s not like those Oakland A’s clubhouse when they had (Jason) Giambi and were playing games. The key is to have a good atmosphere in the clubhouse where guys care about each other and trust each other and go about their business. I think we have that."

St. Louis began Saturday’s action second in the NL Central, two games behind Cincinnati. The Cardinals also were two games back in the wild card race.

With the All-Star break approaching, baseball’s races for individual glory are as tight as the pennant races. About all that is certain is that 2009’s big winners — Albert Pujols, Joe Mauer, Tim Lincecum and Zack Greinke — will need stronger showings in the second half to have a chance of repeating.

First-half award winners:

Adrian Gonzalez can do more than hit; he can also flash the leather at first.

NL MVP

Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, Padres. Though his numbers aren’t the most impressive, Gonzalez rates an edge over a contingent that includes Pujols, David Wright and Joey Votto because of:

1. The success of his team. The NL West-leading Padres have been the majors’ most surprising team because of their pitching, but their offense has done enough. Gonzalez has done plenty: He is hitting .301/.396/.538 with 18 homers and 56 RBIs and has an MLB-best .528 OBP with runners in scoring position.
2. He shoulders a much larger offensive burden than anyone in the league. No other Padre has hit more than eight homers.
3. His defense. Gonzalez is in line to win his third consecutive Gold Glove, a valuable trait on a team that relies so much on holding down the opposition.

NL Cy Young

Ubaldo Jimenez, SP, Rockies. He is 15-1 with a 2.20 ERA and .198 batting average allowed, and he has wowed the league since no-hitting the Braves in April. "He pitches 96-98 (mph) and can throw it 100 when he wants to," Diamondbacks third basemen Mark Reynolds says. "He has that the whole time he’s in there."

Jimenez, however, doesn’t have the stranglehold on this award that he did three weeks ago, thanks to the Marlins’ Josh Johnson and the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright. Johnson is working on an 11-start run during which he has allowed a total of seven runs and dropped his ERA to a major league-best 1.70. Wainwright, a 13-game winner, has a 2.11 ERA.

AL MVP

Miguel Cabrera, 1B, Tigers. The way he finished 2009, Cabrera also could be in line for comeback honors. He had to be hauled out of a police station by his general manager on the morning of one of the Tigers’ biggest games of the 2009 season. This season, the 27-year-old is contending for a Triple Crown. His 74 RBIs are one behind Vladimir Guerrero for the AL lead, his .346 average puts him three points behind Josh Hamilton, and his 20 homers trail Jose Bautista’s AL-leading total by two.

Cabrera might need to end baseball’s 43-year Triple Crown drought to hold off Hamilton for the MVP. Cabrera has an edge in consistency, as he has hit at least .323 with 20 RBIs in each of the season’s first three months. Hamilton, meanwhile, has heated up like the Texas summer after a slow start. For the season, he has one more homer than Cabrera but 10 fewer RBIs.

Last year’s winner, Mauer, hasn’t even been the MVP on his own team. Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, who beat out Cabrera in fan voting for the All-Star start, is mounting his own Triple Crown threat (.345, 18 homers but only 56 RBIs).

AL Cy Young

Cliff Lee, SP, Rangers. There’s a reason Lee was coveted by so many teams before the Mariners moved him: He is the best pitcher in the league. The only reason a case can be made for Rays lefthander David Price (12-4, 2.42 ERA) is because Lee didn’t make his first start until April 30. Once he went to work, though, he dominated.

"What a tremendous competitor," Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik said at the news conference announcing Lee’s trade. "How he carried himself in a professional manner, the tone that he set and how he went about his business is phenomenal."

Lee went 8-3 for the last-place Mariners and leads the league with a 2.34 ERA and five complete games. The stat that most impresses: six walks. Total. Lee’s 89 strikeouts to six walks is good for a 14.83 strikeout-to-walk ratio that is far and away the majors’ best.

Stan McNeal is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at smcneal@sportingnews.com.

The Yankees weren’t pleased with the Mariners’ last-minute decision to back away from what was believed to be an agreement to deal Lee to New York on Friday, according to the New York Post.

"The Yankees do not do business that way," a Yankees official told the newspaper. "When we say something is a deal, it is a deal. Yes, this is frustrating and disappointing."

The New York Post reported the Yankees believed they had a deal in place to acquire Lee on Thursday night. All that remained were the physical reports on Yankees prospects Jesus Montero, David Adams and Zach McAllister, all of whom would have been shipped to Seattle for Lee. When the Mariners expressed concern about Adams’ injured ankle, however, the problems began. Seattle began to ask for different prospects, New York balked, and Seattle went back to Texas, which agreed to include Justin Smoak in a deal for Lee.

"I don’t think 30 general managers would agree that what the Mariners did was real ethical," another Yankees official told the New York Post.

And a rival general manager echoed those sentiments. "It’s disappointing to hear that Jack (Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik) shopped that around, that’s not right," an executive from a team not directly involved in the Lee trade told the New York Post. "You don’t do that with any team, and you don’t do it with the Yankees, because (GM Brian) Cashman will drop you in a heartbeat. You don’t use the Yankees because they never forget."

Even more quickly than the Yankees went from the observation deck to the probable landing spot for Cliff Lee, the Rangers swooped in and claimed the ace as their own Friday afternoon.

To get Lee, a pending free agent, and reliever Mark Lowe, the Rangers had to part with a talented quartet of future talent. Seattle acquired first baseman Justin Smoak, pitcher Blake Beavan, reliever Josh Lueke and second baseman/outfielder Matt Lawson.

Cliff Lee will bolster a Texas rotation that is ranked toward the bottom of the league.

The addition of Lee improves the Rangers, but, ultimately, it doesn’t knock the Yankees off their perch atop the American League. The new balance of power in the AL:

1. Yankees. As disappointed as New York might be about being this close to acquiring Lee, the solace is that it didn’t need him. A reunited Lee-CC Sabathia duo would have been the best 1-2 rotation punch in the majors, but even without Lee, the Yankees have the majors’ sixth-best rotation ERA at 3.79. If they had traded for Lee, the Yankees would have had to deal Javier Vazquez or move Phil Hughes back to the bullpen in order to create a rotation opening for their latest ex-Indian Cy Young award winner. If New York has a pressing need, it is at DH. With the news that Nick Johnson suffered a setback in his rehab from wrist surgery, another bat would be nice. But, again, that would be more of a luxury than a necessity.

2. Rays. Their June swoon is behind them, but 14 of the Rays’ first 20 games after the break are against the Yankees, Tigers and Twins. Although Tampa Bay was rumored to be in the Lee sweepstakes and have a couple of struggling starting pitchers, it needs another bat to avoid another cold spell. The Rays’ DH spot has been a revolving door alls season (see: Pat Burrell and Hank Blalock, both of whom have been released), and center field also is ripe for an upgrade with B.J. Upton struggling. Although he would add another lefthanded bat to a lefty-heavy heart of the order, the Nationals’ Adam Dunn would fit nicely at DH.

3. Rangers. If it wasn’t already, Texas is now the clear favorite to win the AL West. The Rangers enter Friday night’s play with a 5 1/2-game lead over the Angels, and the pickup of Lee helps the Rangers as much as it hurts the Angels. Texas already had one of the majors’ best offenses, but despite improvement from its rotation, pitching remained a huge question mark. Team president Nolan Ryan made no secret of his desire to acquire a veteran workhorse with No. 1 starter ability. And Ryan’s Rangers just got that in Lee, who is a complete-game machine and is battle-tested in September and October. But one pitcher isn’t guaranteed to improve the Rangers’ rotation –- 19th in the majors with a 4.27 ERA — enough to pass the powerhouse Yankees and Rays. And the trade of Smoak creates a void at first base.

4. Red Sox. Though they were able to withstand them for a time, the injuries finally are catching up to Boston. The good news is that some of the banged-up players -– Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz, Victor Martinez –- should be ready to return shortly after the All-Star break. The bad news is that the Red Sox can’t afford to fall further behind in the AL East and wild card races. With Jacoby Ellsbury still out and Mike Cameron unable to play every day, Boston’s biggest void is in the outfield. And with the Phillies possibly dangling Jayson Werth, the Red Sox should get involved.

Chris Bahr is a senior editor for Sporting News. E-mail him at cbahr@sportingnews.com.

ARLINGTON, Texas — Cliff Lee is suddenly in the starting rotation for the AL West-leading Texas Rangers, who pulled off a big deal despite bankruptcy proceedings and unsettled ownership.

The Seattle Mariners sent the ace left-hander and reliever Mark Lowe to the Rangers on Friday for rookie first baseman Justin Smoak and three minor leaguers. Texas also receives cash as part of the deal.

It was the third trade in less than a year for Lee, who went 8-3 with a 2.34 ERA in 13 starts for Seattle. He can become a free agent after this season.

For now, he will be starting for the Rangers (as early as Saturday against Baltimore), who landed one of the most coveted players on the trade market despite financial constraints that made it uncertain if they could make such a move before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.

General manager Jon Daniels has repeatedly said the Rangers had some financial flexibility to make a deal, but he had never been specific on how that could work.

"Everybody knows our situation. When we take on salary, we have to look at that and see if we can justify it within our budget," team president Nolan Ryan said. "As long as we stay within our budget, we don’t really have restrictions on us to where we can’t do things."

Considering that a bankruptcy judge in May approved a multimillion-dollar loan from Major League Baseball to keep the Rangers afloat during bankruptcy proceedings, there are sure to be those who question the team’s ability to make such a deal.

"I’d guess they’ll be some unnamed sources, but I don’t expect a lot of phone calls," Daniels said when asked if he anticipated any backlash from other teams.

The 31-year-old Lee has a $9 million salary this season and is expected to command a lucrative, multiyear deal in the offseason – unless Texas signs him to an extension before that.

Lee was 4-0 with a 1.56 ERA in five postseason outings last year, including 2-0 in the World Series against the New York Yankees.

He said he spoke with Yankees ace and former Cleveland teammate CC Sabathia on Thursday night and both thought Lee might be traded to New York. Instead, he joins a different first-place team – and the Yankees avoid facing him.

Lee had been scheduled to pitch for Seattle against the Yankees on Friday night. Once the deal was completed, David Pauley was given the assignment for the Mariners.

The 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner for the Indians, Lee was acquired by Seattle from the Philadelphia Phillies last December after the NL champions scored fellow ace Roy Halladay in a deal with Toronto.

Smoak is considered one of the top prospects in the majors, though the switch-hitter batted only .209 with eight homers and 34 RBIs in 70 games for the Rangers this season. Seattle also obtained right-handers Blake Beavan and Josh Lueke, and infielder Matt Lawson.

The Mariners were expected to contend for the AL West title this season but quickly fell off the pace. They had lost four straight going into Friday night and were 16 games out.

Seattle’s problems made Lee one of the biggest commodities available, and about a dozen teams were believed to have inquired about the pitcher.

Now, Texas gets a big boost in its quest for its first playoff berth since 1999.

"We’ve always said if we had a chance to improve, we would," Daniels said. "We’re excited about it."

Lee missed the first month of the season with an abdominal injury but quickly made up for the lost time. He is 5-1 with a 1.76 ERA in his last six starts, throwing four of his major league-best five complete games.

Lee, who has 89 strikeouts and six walks in 103 2-3 innings this year, now will wear a Rangers uniform in Tuesday night’s All-Star game in Anaheim, Calif.

Also leaving Seattle is Lowe, one of the Mariners’ most consistent relievers in recent seasons. But he likely is out for the year following back surgery last month.

Smoak and Beavan are the big pieces headed to Seattle. Smoak was the Rangers’ No. 1 draft pick in 2008 and Beavan was their top selection a year earlier. Beavan was 10-5 with a 2.78 ERA in 110 innings for Double-A Frisco this season.

"(Lee) is a great pitcher. They want to take it to the next level here. This can always happen in baseball," Smoak said. "It’s tough, being new to this business. You think you’re going to be on a team for a while and then things change overnight."

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