Inside Pitch

Let's make a deal

Who got the best deal?

• Pirates (a bunch of prospects)
• Phillies (Cliff Lee)
• Cardinals (Matt Holliday)
• White Sox (Jake Peavy)
• Twins (Orlando Cabrera)
• Red Sox (Victor Martinez)
• Other (tell us with a comment)
• Dodgers (George Sherrill)
• Giants (Ryan Garko, Freddy Sanchez)
• Indians (a bunch of prospects)
• Tigers (Jarrod Washburn)

Created on Jul 31, 2009

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poll by twiigs.com

Herd finally watchable

 They don't hit much -- last in the International League with 47 homers, next to last in team batting average -- and they don't run much either -- last in the league in stolen bases. Strangely, though, the last place Buffalo Bisons have recently become a fun team to watch. Even at home where they are only 20-34.

 The Herd goes for a sweep of the four-game series with the Pawtucket Red Sox tonight at Coca-Cola Field with Tobi Stoner going against ex-Bisons lefty Billy Traber of the PawSox.

 No matter how tonight's game turns out the Bisons (16-14 in July) are guaranteed their first winning month since June of 2008 and their first winning month (6-4) at home since last August.

 Pitching on this home stand has stood up as usual. Nelson Figueroa and Lance Broadway turned in quality starts and the bullpen has not given up a run and only two hits in 7 2/3 innings. Buffalo also has played errorless ball, and shortstop Wilson Valdez and center fielder Jesue Feliciano, in particular, have made good plays.

 Manager Ken Oberkfell finally seems to have his team manufacturing runs with smart hitting. For example: Mike Lamb went the other way to drive in the lead run in the shutout over the PawSox Wednesday night; a sacrifice by Argenis Reyes and a ground ball to the right side by Feliciano produced the winning run on Tuesday night; Feliciano worked the count, laid off some pitches in the dirt with two strikes and kept the inning alive for Nick Evans' game-winning home in Thursday's matinee.

 Too bad, it all came to late to save a disastrous season.##

Drug web widens

The New York Times outed two more people on the list of 103 major league baseball players who tested
positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003: Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, both of the Red Sox. Ramirez recently served a 50-game suspension for use of a banned substance.

The two players were on the 2004 Boston team that ended a Red Sox World Series victory drought that had lasted 86 years.

Earlier this year, Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees was identified as being on that list, which was supposed to be confidential. He faced the wrath of the fans around North America.

The paper cited as sources lawyers involved in pending litigation over the testing results who spoke anonymously because the information is under seal by a court order.

Do you think all players should face the music, or should the names on the list remain confidential?

The Bowden Report

 Boston Red Sox pitching prospect Michael Bowden made his scheduled start Thursday for the Pawtucket Red Sox against the Buffalo Bisons. A last-minute change in the scheduled starter might have been an indication that Bowden is headed to Toronto or Cleveland in a deal before the midnight trade deadline.

 Bowden's only 3-5 but his ERA is 3.09. A closer look shows 10 starts where he went 5 innings or more before Thursday. In those games he allowed only nine earned runs in 64 innings. Bowden has had only four bad outings where he allowed 20 earned runs. In his other 14 starts he allowed only 12.

 The Bisons touched Bowden for a first inning run when veteran Mike Lamb doubled home Argenis Reyes. Bowden struck out three of the next four Buffalo batters he faced with a fastball in the low 90s, according to the Coca-Cola Field radar gun. He gave up a leadoff single to Wilson Valdez in the thrird but got a double-play ball to Reyes, then struck out Jesus Feliciano swinging  for his fourth K in three innings.

--- Milt Northrop

Poll: Should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame?

2005 draftees clash

Two early selections in the 2005 baseball draft will be the starting pitchers Thursday afternoon at Coca-Cola Field when the Bisons face the Pawtucket Red Sox.

 Lance Broadway (3-5. 5.51 ERA), the 15th player selected (by the Chicago White Sox) in 2005 is the scheduled starter for Buffalo.

 Although his 3-5 won-lost record with a 3.09 ERA isn't impressive, Pawtucket's Michael Bowden is highly regarded. Bowden was ranked as the No.2 overall prospect and No. 1 pitching prospect in the Boston Red Sox organization by Baseball America.

 Bowden, 22, is already in his fifth pro season. He was the 47th overall draft pick in 2005.

 Bowden beat the Chicago White Sox last season, 8-2, in his only big league start, going only five inniings. This season he pitched two scoreless innings for Boston against the Yankees at Fenway Park. He traveled from Allentown, Pa. to Boston that day, then went back to Allentown to rejoin the PawSox the next morning.

---Milt Northrop

The Thirty-ish Bisons

Believe me I’m no "ageist." Just take a look at my birth certificate. However,  the lineups fielded Tuesday night at Coca-Cola Field certainly reflects the difference these days in the state of  the Boston Red Sox organization and the current condition of the New York Mets’  system, particularly in the high minors.

Pawtucket is only nine games better in the standings than the Herd, but has more prospects with a brighter future than the  the "thirty-ish" Bisons. The PawSox lineup , including 23-year-old Japanese pitching phenom Junichi Tazawa, averaged 25.8 years. The Herd lineup with six players over 30 averaged 29.7, which included 35-year-old pitcher Nelson Figueroa, who was outstanding once again. He’s got to be the Bisons MVP no matter what happens the rest of the season.

Also, the Mets signing of former Detroit Tigers prospect Adam Pettyjohn also is reflective of how desperate New York is for talent. Pettyjohn, once considered a can’t-miss prospect by the Tigers, was released by the Cincinnati Reds last week from the Triple-A Louisville Bats. Nevertheless, the Mets hope to work Pettyjohn into the Bisons rotation. Pettyjohn has a 1-7 major league record with the Tigers and Reds. He made one start in three appearances for Cincinnati last season his first big league action since 2001. Health issues (ulcerative colitis) and other injuries ruined his big league career.

Pettyjohn, a left-hander, will follow Ken Takahashi to the mound in tonight’s game against Pawtucket. Takahashi, who is 40, is coming off  10 days of inactivity because of tightness in his pitching shoulder. He will be on a limited pitch count tonight before Pettyjohn takes over. Bisons manager Ken Oberkfell said Tuesday that the plan is to work Pettyjohn into the starting rotation where there is a hole since the Mets recalled Jonathon Niese last week.

--- Milt Northrop

Bernazard takes fall

Buffalo News baseball writer Mike Harrington wrote last week that team VP of Player Personnel Tony Bernazard was dragging down the New York Mets.

Apparently, the Mets agreed because they fired Bernazard on Monday. They announced the firing at a bizarre news conference in which Mets GM Omar Minaya called out a New York Daily News reporter, Adam Rubin, for inquiring about how to get a job in a baseball front office. It was Rubin who broke the story on a shirtless Bernazard challenging players on the AA Mets to a fight.

Minaya later apologized, saying his comments came in the wrong venue. The comments put Rubin on the defensive.

Does this give you any confidence that Minaya is the man who can stock the Buffalo Bisons, the Mets' top minor league affiliate, with enough good prospects and other players to make them competitive next season? 

New York, New York

The Yankees have been playing great for quite a while now and they have a 2 1/2-game lead in the AL East after Sunday's win over the Athletics but I don't think all you Yankees fans out there should be booking your October plans just yet. For one thing, it seems like all the Yankees have been doing lately is playing pizzerias and girls teams and doing it in the Bronx. The Yankees are 16-6 this month on a steady diet of the A's, Orioles and AL Central.

Hard to overlook the fact that three of those losses came in Anaheim. Hard to overlook the fact they still haven't won a single game against the Red Sox this year. That said, let's see if Boston makes stronger overtures to the Indians for Victor Martinez as they start slipping behind in the division.

After a 9-1 homestand, 19 of the Yankees' next 26 are on the road. They start Monday night with the first of three in Tampa and then play four in Chicago against the White Sox. Let's see where they are a week from now.

As for the Mets, the finally did something right with back-to-back wins over the Astros. Great job by Jonathon Niese Saturday night in picking up his second big-league win and pitching pretty much like he has for the Bisons for the last two months. The Mets waited too long to call him up. Here's Niese talking to reporters after the game, courtesy of the New York Post:

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Halladay thinks he may stay

TORONTO -- Quite a scene Friday night in the Rogers Centre in what might have been Roy Halladay's farewell to the Blue Jays. He pitched nine innings but didn't get much offensive support as the Blue Jays lost in the 10th to the Rays, 4-2.

There was thus no curtain call for Halladay, who simply walked off the mound to a standing ovation in the ninth and starting getting handshakes (above) from his teammates like catcher Rod Barajas. Halladay then  sat down next to Cito Gaston discussing his chances of working a 10th inning. There were none because he had already thrown 115 pitches.

The rumors are building that Halladay is getting dealt before the trade deadline, most likely to the Phillies. But Halladay doesn't seem so sure. He surprised reporters during a postgame press conference by insisting he thought he'd still be in Toronto come next week.

"It's obviously a complicated situation and I think for that reason I never felt like there's been a big press by me wanting to be moved," he said. "It's more the ideal situation type thing for the Blue Jays and, in certain cases, myself."

Halladay then disputed reports he told the Jays he's not interested in signing an extension and would definitely head to free agency after 2010, when his contract expires. He did admit, however, that it's unlikely he would sign an extension with Toronto this winter if he isn't traded.

"For me, I like being here," he said. "Whether we have a chance to win next year or the year after, I don't know. I would hope so. But for me, it was more that I would like to wait and see. It has nothing to do with what I might get elsewhere. It has to do that I don't have a crystal ball.

"I would rather assess the situation when the contract is up. I don't believe like I'm trying to go somewhere else. I would just like to wait, try to see what's going to happen. Where's the best place to win? It could be here. It might be here. I just don't have that crystal ball. It's an organization that's trying to move forward. There's a lot to look forward to here. For me, it's just more of a wait and see."

Most reporters in the room left more confused than when they walked in. Still seems like it's the Phillies or bust for a Halladay deal. You keep hearing about the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels and Rays kicking the can but those teams either don't have the prospects or would be unlikely to part with them. The Phillies have them and would part with them in the quest to repeat as World Series champions.

Stay tuned.

---Mike Harrington

(www.twitter.com/bnharrington)

Photo: Associated Press