Although the Dodgers and Angels are searching for veteran late-inning relievers, neither club has expressed an interest in Matt Herges, according to his agent.
Herges, 39, posted a 3.55 earned-run average in 21 games for the Cleveland Indians, with six walks and 18 strikeouts in 25-1/3 innings. The Indians, owners of the worst record in the American League and already looking toward next season, released Herges on Monday.
--Bill Shaikin
Photo: Pitcher Matt Herges. Photo credit: David Richard / Associated Press.
Aside from the fact that they're on the All-Star rosters for the game Tuesday in St. Louis, what do Chad Billingsley and Jonathan Broxton of the Dodgers and Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira of the New York Yankees have in common?
All four are among the 14 players who don't have All-Star bonus clauses in their contracts, according to the figures released today by the Associated Press. Here's the bonus list, topped by the pitcher being coveted throughout baseball these days:
$125,000 -- Roy Halladay, Toronto.
$100,000 -- Carlos Beltran, N.Y. Mets; Torii Hunter, Angels; Francisco Rodriguez, N.Y. Mets; Johan Santana, N.Y. Mets.
$75,000 -- Ted Lilly, Chicago Cubs; Jason Marquis, Colorado.
Dodgers center fielder Matt Kemp is trailing in the voting for the final NL spot on the All-Star roster. It appears Phillies fans like their Shane Victorino more than Dodgers fans like Matt. Voting ends at 1 p.m. Pacific. So only a few more minutes. You can vote up to 25 times. Chone Figgins is trailing too in the AL voting. Click here to vote.
According to mlb.com, the voting for this last spot already has surpassed all-time records for total ballots cast and total votes, with 33.1 million for the NL spot and 53.4 million for the AL spot.
We'll post the final results later today.
-- Debbie Goffa
Photo: Matt Kemp steals a base. Credit: Kirby Lee / US Presswire
Rickey Henderson ended his glorious major league career with the Dodgers in 2003, with an undistinguished 30 games at age 44. Yet in his final plate appearance, as a pinch-hitter in a game in which the Dodgers started Jeromy Burnitz in left field, Henderson went out in the most appropriate way possible: He scored a run.
He retired as baseball's all-time leader in runs scored. He'll be inducted into the Hall of Fame this month. And his hometown Oakland Athletics announced this morning that they would retire his No. 24 next month.
Henderson played 14 of his 25 seasons with the A's, playing for their 1989 World Series champions and winning the American League MVP in Oakland in 1990.
Oakland's roster of players with retired numbers is pretty impressive, and all Hall of Famers: Henderson, Dennis Eckersley, Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson.
That last link, to a report from Fox Sports, seems a bit overblown. To say that "Halladay is a goner" and "Once this process starts, it's almost impossible to stop" -- well, to that we say: Where is Jake Peavy pitching this season?
Nonetheless, with the Jays willing to listen to offers for their ace and the Dodgers and Angels looking for pitching, what would you offer?
Halladay makes $14.25 million this season and $15.75 million next season, after which he would be eligible for free agency. If the Jays decide to trade him, the bidding probably would be so spirited that they would not need to pick up any of Halladay's salary.
The Jays have a talented young corps of pitchers already at the major league level, even without Halladay, so they would not necessarily be looking for a bunch of prospects for a three-year rebuilding project. They would, of course, want young players several years removed from free agency.
You can check out the Jays' stats here.Second baseman Aaron Hill is an All-Star. Left fielder/designated hitter Adam Lind is having a great season too, and Toronto is locked into long-term deals with center fielder Vernon Wells and right fielder Alex Rios. The other key offensive performers -- third baseman Scott Rolen, shortstop Marco Scutaro, first basemen Kevin Millar and Lyle Overbay and catcher Rod Barajas -- are 32 or older. This trade is going to be painful, and it won't be made for three surplus parts. What's your offer?
-- Bill Shaikin
Photo: Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay. Photo credit: Tom Szczerbowski / US Presswire.
The latest fan voting for the American League All-Star team was announced today, and the only Angel in contention for a starting spot is outfielder Torii Hunter.
Hunter is fourth in the balloting, and is closer to falling to fifth than he is of cracking the starting lineup by moving into third. Hunter has 1,490,800 votes, less than 50,000 in front of Carl Crawford of the Tampa Bay Rays.
If voting ended today, the starters would be Jason Bay of the Boston Red Sox (2,609,913), Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners (1,802,826) and Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers (1,635,781).
The leaders by position are: catcher, Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins; first base, Kevin Youkilis of the Red Sox; second base, Ian Kinsler of the Rangers; shortstop, Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees; third base, Evan Longoria of the Rays.
The closest voting is at second base between Kinsler (2,170,100) and Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox (2,163,270).
-- Mike Hiserman
1. Jason Bay, Red Sox, 2,609,913.
2. Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners, 1,802,826.
3. Josh Hamilton, Rangers, 1,635,781.
4. Torii Hunter, Angels, 1,490,800.
5. Carl Crawford, Rays, 1,442,175.
Photo: Torii Hunter. Photo credit: Gary A. Vasquez / US Presswire
Russell Martin. Martin went three for four with a home run, his first of the season. Manager Joe Torre was also pleased with his two singles. "I think that was important, not only the home run but after that he was still hitting line drives . . . " Torre said.
Ronald Belisario. Belisario pitched 1 2/3innings and allowed one hit, walked one and struck out five batters. He held Chone Figgins on third after he tripled off of starter Jeff Weaver to lead off the sixth inning.
Matt Kemp. Kemp was two for three, scored a run and had a nice catch against the center field wall.
The Angels bullpen. Kevin Jepsen, Rich Thompson and Rafael Rodriguez allowed no runs and two hits, with one walk and three strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings of work.
Here's what Angels Manager Mike Scioscia had to say after his team's 5-4 victory over the Dodgers on Friday night.
On the win:
"We beat some good pitchers this week, and [Chad] Billingsley has thrown the ball very well, and we just kept battling. I think we showed great plate discipline. We got some pitches to hit, we had some good swings on them, and Joe [Saunders] kept pitching and we kept playing defense. The only way you’re going to beat good teams is to just go out by out and grind it out. And that’s what we did today. What an at-bat by Juan Rivera."
On the bullpen:
"I think we’re getting a little more continuity down there [in the bullpen]. I don’t know if we’re ever going to get hardcore roles like we’re used to with Scot Shields and guys that were pitching before him last year. Maybe when Kelvim [Escobar] gets settled in the bullpen ... maybe he could give us some more options and maybe we’ll establish some harder roles."
On Rivera:
"We expect some powerful production at a little higher rate than we’ve seen so far this year for some guys from our lineup. And Juan is one of those guys that’s picking it up. He has the capability of going on streaks, and that’s what we’re seeing right now and it’s a great time for it. With Juan’s emergence in probably the last 50-75 at-bats, he’s been terrific."
As the Dodgers head to Anaheim Stadium for a three-game series beginning Friday night, all eyes will be turning to game No. 2, because it will feature Weaver against Weaver, the brothers Southern California baseball fans have come to love.
Dodgers Manager Joe Torre confirmed to LAT baseball writer Kevin Baxter that Jeff Weaver will take the mound Saturday afternoon, presuming he isn't needed out of the bullpen Friday night -- a game Chad Billingsley is scheduled to start for the boys in Blue. The Angels had already scheduled Jeff's younger brother, Jered, to take be on the mound Saturday.
Jeff, now used primarily as a middle reliever by the Dodgers, is 3-1 with a 3.72 earned run average in 29 innings.
Jered, of course, is one of the hottest pitchers in either league. He is 7-2 in more than 90 innings of work with a 2.08 ERA. Stay tuned to latimes.com/sports for Kevin's full Dodgers notebook, and Mike DiGiovanna's Angels notebook.
And from stat guru Dave Smith of retrosheet.org: The Weavers have never started against each other. The last time any brothers did was 2002 and it was Andy and Alan Benes. In all of Major League history (going back to 1871), it has happened only 20 times, which I thought a surprisingly small total. The Dodgers have been involved in two of the previous cases. Here is the full list:
performance-enhancing drugs in 2003 triggered plenty of reaction in the clubhouses of the Dodgers and Angels, as well as the A's, who play the Dodgers tonight.
While a full story will be on latimes.com/sports later tonight, the A's Jason Giambithis afternoon talked with Los Angeles Times columnist Kurt Streeter. Asked whether releasing the entire list of 104 players who tested positive could help baseball move forward, he acknowledged, “It could. I don’t know. It could. I haven’t spent a lot of time thinking about it.... I've moved on."
Former Yankees great Don Mattingly, now the Dodgers hitting coach, told Times baseball columnist Bill Shaikin:
"I don't think it surprises anybody any more. I think it's good that we've got a policy in
place. It protects everybody. It protects the fans. It protects the teams. It protects the
players from each other. The more that fans can trust that what they're seeing is what
they're getting, the better.
"Obviously, there's a lot of guys. I'd just go ahead -- if there's 103 guys, let's get 'em
all out. We'll know who's who and go from there. We'll get it over with."
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