Posts tagged MattGarza at FanHouse

There's no doubt that the Tampa Bay Rays would like to be the Boston Red Sox one day. A perennial contender with a huge fan base and tons of history should be every team's goal, after all. They may be following the wrong example set down by the team that passed them in the standings this week. The Rays watched Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis get into a tiff in the dugout on Thursday and Matt Garza and Dioner Navarro decided to do an imitation on Sunday.

I wonder if Garza will be hearing from Troy Percival this week. From SI's recent cover story on the Rays.

The chatty Percival keeps players loose and humble. For instance, he promised to fine pitcher Matt Garza, who was obtained in a trade with the Twins, $500 every time he acted like a jerk on the mound, though Percival used a more colorful term.

Quite a week for the Rays. They started it in first place, had the first overall pick in the draft, got into a fight with the Red Sox en route to being swept and then closed it out by fighting with each other.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

New York Yankees (28-29) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (31-28) - 7:05PM Est.

Today is the day that Yankees fans have been waiting for all season. After deciding against making a trade for Johan Santana this off-season, and instead choosing to go with youngsters Phillip Hughes and Ian Kennedy, the Yankees find themselves just trying to get back to .500.

You see, even though the merits of the decision to not go after Santana are still up for debate, there's no question that Hughes and Kennedy have sucked (the duo has combined to go 0-7 with a 7.99 ERA in 14 starts). The magnitude of their suck has been so great that it would take a very large man with a blazing fastball to counteract it.

That's where Joba Chamberlain comes in, as the starter turned set-up man turned starter again makes his first start as a member of the New York Yankees tonight at Yankee Stadium.

Baseball is America's pastime, but had our forefathers enjoyed the modern conveniences of clocks, ball pumps, or haste, this pastime may well have been basketball or football. Instead, they had wood, leather, and a rudderless disposition. Baseball is Boring is a series of live blogs for folks who need irony and self-awareness to get through a game.

Josh Hamilton has been through a lot, and by now we're all familiar with the story. Guy hits baseball, guy gets $4 million signing bonus, guy kills own grandmother to score horse, guy goes to church a few times, guy hits baseball. I love the guy, honestly. Him, Dmitri Young, Elijah Dukes, Chorizo the racing hot dog; these are all athletes who have had to overcome adversity to continue their careers. It just makes them more interesting to me. They're human, you know? And when they do well it makes the game almost surreal. You're actually able to witness somebody turn their life around live on TV. It gives you motivation to improve your own life. And to suck H out of your OD'd buddy's veins just for the taste.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Cincinnati Reds (15-23) vs. Florida Marlins (23-14) 7:10PM Est.

Quick, without looking it up, who has the best record in baseball right now? Did you say the Diamondbacks? Close, you were right up until yesterday, but getting swept by the Cubs knocked them off the top of the mountain. The Red Sox? Good choice, they are the defending champs after all, but even though they have the best record in the American League, they aren't the best in baseball.

No, that honor somehow belongs to the Florida Marlins, who have managed to win their last 7 games and are currently an MLB-best 23-14.

Just what the hell is going on here?

It's pretty much become a fact of life when it comes to baseball. Every spring as the country prepares for the new baseball season to start, there's word that this will finally be the year that the Minnesota Twins crash back to earth, and finish towards the bottom of the AL Central. I know I've been guilty of it a few times, as I think I've predicted the Twins downfall the last three or four seasons.

Then they usually end up finishing on top of the AL Central, or near it, and are generally always in contention for a playoff spot come September. After finishing last season with a 79-83 record, their first sub-.500 mark in eight years, they lost their ace pitcher and their gold glove centerfielder. Surely 2008 would see the Twins plummet even further below .500, and have them competing with the Royals for fourth place, right?

Nope. After finishing a sweep of the Tigers on Sunday, the Twins completed a five-game homestand against division rivals Detroit and the White Sox with a 5-0 record. As a result, they now find themselves alone on top of the Central, 1.5 games ahead of the White Sox, and are currently the only team in the division who have won more games than they've lost. All this despite the fact they've allowed more runs than they've scored.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

Milwaukee Brewers (15-12) at Chicago Cubs (17-10) - 2:20 PM ET

So I'm flipping around my MLB extra innings package late last night and I see that they're still playing baseball in Chicago ... and I have to squint because the number on the screen can't be right: 19 runs? Really? The Cubs put up 19 against the Brewers? Alas, it was true. It shouldn't be that surprising. The Cubs were 13th in baseball in batting average last season and 18th in runs. This season, thanks in part to the acquisition of Kosuke Fukudome, and in part to the Cubs dedication to taking more pitches, they were second in both categories before last night's 19 run shenanigans.

The Brewers haven't been hitting as well this season, but they did win the first game of this series in Wrigley 10-7. So who better to calm down all this offense than Yovani Gallardo, who was injured to start the season but has a 0.64 ERA in his first two starts this season, and Carlos Zambrano, who's 4-1 so far with a 2.21 ERA? Maybe the wind will blow in too.

At first glance, Matt Garza of the Rays leaving Tuesday night's start with nerve issues in his right arm seemed like little more than the latest reminder that few things are as tenuous as the arm of a young pitcher. From Mark Fidrych to Francisco Liriano with many stops in the middle, it's a story we know all too well. After the game, though, Garza said something interesting about when the injury first surfaced.

Garza said it surfaced late last season, with him typically "pitching through it. This time it was just real bad. I knew something was up."

Late last season Garza pitched for the Twins before being dealt to the Rays for Delmon Young this winter. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire denied knowing anything at all about the problem.

"If he said he was hurt, I'm not going to call him a liar or anything like that. But he should have let us know that he might have had an injury. Normally, it's good when the team you are pitching for knows that. But I doubt that he had any injuries here."

The Twins and Garza had a somewhat stormy relationship, the remnants of which you can sense from Gardenhire's denial of any wrongdoing.

I've been pretty critical of the Twins this offseason with some of the moves they made. I didn't mind that they let Torii Hunter go, but I was a little wary of sending Matt Garza to Tampa for Delmon Young. Granted, Young is a very talented young hitter and will help pick up some of the slack for Hunter's departure, but I'm not convinced giving away young pitching talent when you're about to lose Johan Santana is the smartest way to go about things.

Then there is the whole Santana trade, which I felt the Twins didn't get nearly enough in return for. Especially when you see the package Seattle gave Baltimore for Erik Bedard. I've also been highly critical of the team re-signing Joe Nathan for so much money when they could have traded him for good young players, and could have even used some of that money to keep Johan around.

So when they do something right, like I believe they're doing by sending Francisco Liriano to the minors for a while, it's only fair that I give them credit for it.

I love Liriano, but I also fear he's not really ready to come back yet. I was worried that the Twins, who are now without Santana, Garza, and Carlos Silva, would rush Liriano back out of fear they'd fall out of the division race early, and Liriano would only end up getting hurt again.

So sending him to the minors is the safest path. He finished the spring very strong, but that doesn't mean his arm is completely ready for the big leagues yet. Letting him continue to build his arm strength in the minors for a few games will only help the Twins in the long run.

Earlier today, Matt Watson wrote about a blockbuster deal that's reportedly very close between the Twins and Rays. The Twins would acquire the bat-tossing megatalent Delmon Young in exchange for starting pitcher Matt Garza. What would this trade, if consummated, mean for the ongoing trade talks involving Johan Santana?

On the one hand, Young puts the Twins in position to contend next year. Slot him in the middle of a lineup with Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer and Michael Cuddyer and you've got a lineup that's as good or better than this year's 79-win edition. If Francisco Liriano can come back and make an impact, they've got an outstanding top of the rotation and, assuming he isn't dealt, Joe Nathan to close out games. That's a solid core that, with a little tweaking, would contend for the playoffs.

On the other hand, the Twins could view Young, Mauer and Liriano as the base for a cheaper rebuilding effort. If this deal comes to fruition, the Twins would also be getting centerfield prospect Jason Pridie, who tore up AAA this season. Pridie's never played in the majors before but the Twins did pick him in the 2006 Rule V draft, and sent him back to Tampa, so they clearly see something they like in him.

Wow, I did not see this coming. According to La Velle Neal of the Star-Tribune, the Twins and Rays are close to making a pretty big trade that may not technically be a blockbuster but is damn close:

The main pieces changning teams would be outfielder Delmon Young and righthander Matt Garza. But indications were strong on Wednesday that as many as six players could be involved.

In addition to Garza, the Twins would send Tampa Bay shortstop Jason Bartlett and reliever Juan Rincon for Young, shortstop Brendan Harris and outfielder Jason Pridie. Pridie was with the Twins during spring training of 2006 as a Rule 5 pick.

Young finished in a distant second place to Dustin Pedroia for AL Rookie of the Year honors this year after hitting .288/.316/.408 with 13 home runs and 93 RBI. Scouts believe that he's only tapped the surface of his potential, though -- he hit .316 over parts of three minor league seasons and should eventually hit 30 homers a year in the majors. He's had a few run-ins with authority in his short career, but he's still only 22 years old and there's no doubting his talent.

As for Garza, he's been touted as a potential ace but has put up good-not-great numbers in the majors compared to excellent numbers in the minors -- basically making him the pitching equivalent of Young, I guess. The change of scenery should do him good, though -- not because I think there's something inherently good about pitching for the Rays, but simply because the Rays are more likely to stick him in the rotation and leave him there, whereas he was always working on a relatively short leash in Minnesota.