baseballimo.com

Hamilton is clean

Newly clean and sober center fielder Josh Hamilton arrived at the batting cages Friday morning with a smile on his face. He is 6-4, 240 pounds and is wearing a royal blue Rangers shirt which he claims brings out the blue in his eyes. Hamilton spends the following 45 minutes in the cage swinging one-handed with an smooth but powerful grace.  He hits a few line drives off tees and soft-tosses before spending 25-30 more minutes in full-scale batting practice. This training is nothing compared to last year when he spent hours hitting hundreds of balls a day while trying to catch up on the over 3 seasons that he missed to drug addiction. Later on in the day Hamilton spends 2 ½ hours with a relentless personal trainer before heading off to his similarly rigorous pilates instructor.  After all this, when he arrives home Hamilton’s future is tested when he urinates into a cup and waits for confirmation that says that Hamilton is clean, sober and drug-free.

Add comment January 28th, 2008

Curtis Granderson and his contract

The Detroit Tigers are talking with Curtis Granderson about a long-term contract extension. Curtis Granderson is not set to became a free agent until  the end of the 2011 season, however. Last year Granderson made $410,000 and was thinking that maybe the team could sign him a likeminded contract for the 2008 season. The club now has more of a reason to sign Curtis to a long-term contract over the next few months after he was almost selected for his first All-Star game. The Detroit Tigers would prefer the contract to stretch a minimum of one season.  At this point contract length or salary have not been discussed.

Add comment January 28th, 2008

San Diego Padres sign Gary Schneidmiller

The San Diego Padres have purchased the contract of third baseman Gary Schneidmiller from the Amarillo Dillas. Schneidmiller will report to Spring Training in Peoria, AZ with a chance to make the Double-A San Antonio Missions. Schneidmiller had 33 extra base hits this past season and with the departure of David Freese to St. Louis in a deal that netted Jim Edmonds there is little competition at the hot corner in Double-A.

Add comment January 10th, 2008

Mariners Pursuing Erik Bedard

The Seattle Mariners are continuing to pursue a trade for Baltimore Orioles ace Erik Bedard. the Cincinnati Reds also remain in the hunt, but the Mariners have the edge because they are willing to part with top outfield prospect Adam Jones. Jones has been slated to start in right field for the Mariners in 2008.

Add comment January 8th, 2008

Dwight Howard and Stephen Jackson

The Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard and the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Jackson were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week on Dec,3 2008 for games played Monday, Nov. 26 through Sunday, Dec. 2.  Howard led the Magic to a 3-1 week, Jackson led the Warriors to a 4-0 week averaging 23.0 points.

Add comment January 5th, 2008

Top 10 of Best Baseball Players in 2007 season

1) George Mitchell

2) Bud Selig

3) Jimmy Rollins

4) Theo Epstein

5) Frank Thomas

6) Josh Beckett

7) C.C. Sabathia

Josh Hamilton

9) Hank Steinbrenner

10) Jon Lester

Add comment January 3rd, 2008

Dave Littlefield to Join the Cubs

Former general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Dave Littlefield has joined the Chicago Cubs as an advanced scout. Littlefield aged 47, was fired by Pittsburgh after the Pirates went 442-581 for a .432 winning percentage in his six-plus seasons as general manager. During his long career, Dave with the Pirates, Florida Marlins and Detroit Tigers. Hopefully, he will manage to do much for the Cubs this season.

Add comment December 24th, 2007

The Milwaukee Brewers Traded Mota from the Mets

The Brewers and the Mets have recently exchanged their players. Milwaukee sent catcher Johnny Estrada to the Mets and got reliever Guillermo Mota in exchange. Mota is a 34 year-old reliever who is coming off his ninth Major League season. His experience with the Mets ended up with 2-2 with a 5.76 ERA in 52 appearances after returning from a 50-game suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs. The Mets, in their turn, contracted Johnny Estrada to a two-year, $5 million contract that will pay $3.2 million in 2008.

Add comment December 20th, 2007

No Suspension of Jose Guillen

Controversy surfaced yesterday regarding Guillen even before the Kansas City Royals were able to confirm that the player had been added to the roster. It was reported that union officials were negotiating with MLB officials on terms of a suspension for Jose Guillen that resulted from his alleged purchase of human growth hormone and steroids from May 2002 through June 2005. The report caught the Kansas City Royals off-guard and drew a quick denial from the league’s executive vice president for labor relations Rob Manfred.

Add comment December 7th, 2007

New Baseball Hall of Famers

Commissioner Bud Selig commended the Hall Of Fame voters for selecting Kuhn throwing his support behind Marvin Miller, who was left out by the Veterans Committee for the 2nd time this year. Selig said he was surprised that Miller didn’t receive the required support given his important impact on baseball. However, Miller himself was not surprised. It was enough for him to look at the panel to understand that his chances of induction were slim.

Add comment December 5th, 2007