Baseball Digest Daily

The Chicago Cubs today acquired catcher Jason Kendall and a cash consideration from the Oakland Athletics for catcher Rob Bowen and minor league lefthander Jerry Blevins.

Kendall is expected to be in uniform for the Cubs for tomorrow night’s contest against the San Francisco Giants at 7:05 p.m. CT at Wrigley Field.

Kendall is batting .226 (66-for-292) with 10 doubles, two homers and 22 RBI in 2007, having seen action in 80 of Oakland’s 92 games into today. The durable Kendall has appeared in at least 143 games in each of the last seven seasons into 2007.

Bowen opened the year with San Diego and was batting .268 with two home runs and 11 RBI in 30 games when he traded on June 20 with minor league outfielder Kyler Burke to the Chicago Cubs for catcher Michael Barrett. Bowen hit .065 in 10 games with the Cubs and is batting .212 with two home runs and 13 RBI in 40 games overall. He has also played in the Majors with Minnesota in 2003 and 2004 and San Diego in 2006 and is a .209 career hitter with six home runs and 29 RBI in 158 games.

Blevins began the 2007 season at Single-A Daytona but was promoted to Double-A Tennessee on May 15 after going 1-0 with six saves and a 0.38 ERA in 15 relief appearances. He was 2-2 with three saves and a 1.53 ERA in 23 relief appearances with Tennessee and was a combined 3-2 with nine saves and a 1.02 ERA in 38 relief appearances overall. The 23-year old left-hander walked just 13 while striking out 69 in 53.0 innings and allowed just one home run. He allowed a .190 opponents batting average, including .133 with runners in scoring position. Blevins was originally a 17th round draft pick of the Cubs in the 2004 draft.

Thanks to the Cubs and A's for the press release information.

Leave Comment | Permanent Link

10,000 Losses... Who Cares?

by Craig Brown on Mon 16 Jul 2007 09:05 PM EDT

On Sunday, the Phillies recorded their - get this - 10,000 loss in franchise history. Amazing.

AP PHOTO

Yes, there's kind of been a big deal about this milestone, but I'm unimpressed. All 10,000 losses tells us is the Phillies are one of the original franchises in the National League and they have been around for a long time. Although I'm surprised ESPN was able to alert us to this dubious achievement considering they're currently trying to decide important issues of the day, such as "Who's Now." Lose 10,000 games and you are so very clearly, not now.

The Phillies hit the ground running in their quest for baseball immortality. In their first season of existence in 1883, the Philadelphia Quakers lost 81 of their 98 games they played, a .173 winning percentage. Managers Bob Ferguson and Blondie Purcell (the Quakers 2B and 3B, respectively) insisted on starting John Coleman practically every game. The problem was, Coleman wasn't that good - he started 65 games that year, completing 59, yet his record was 12-48 and he had a 4.87 ERA. No wonder neither Ferguson or Purcell were back at the helm the following year.

To their credit, it was good to see the fans in Philadelphia wrap their arms around this milestone. Not much has gone right for this franchise (their lone championship in 1980, notwithstanding) but this time, finally, they are first in something. The fact that it's losses shouldn't matter, right?

So here's to you Phillies and Phillie fans. The countdown to 20,000 losses begins tomorrow. Congratulations for being in existence since 1883.

Leave Comment | Permanent Link

Indians Reward Wedge

by Joe Hamrahi on Mon 16 Jul 2007 11:44 AM EDT

The Cleveland Indians and Executive Vice President & General Manager Mark Shapiro today announced a 3-year contract extension for Manager Eric Wedge thru the 2010 season.

Wedge has led the club to a record of 54-37 (.593) in his 5th season as Manager of the Cleveland Indians. Under Eric’s guidance and leadership, the Indians have spent 63 days in first place in the American League Central and currently occupy 2nd place, just 0.5 game in back of the Detroit Tigers. The Indians and Tigers currently share the 3rd most wins in Major League Baseball with 54, trailing only the Boston Red Sox (55) and Los Angeles Angels (55). The 54-37 record is the club’s best mark after 91 games since the 1999 season (57-34).

“Eric has clearly defined his leadership and vision during his tenure as Manager of the Cleveland Indians,” said Indians Executive Vice President & General Manager Mark Shapiro. “Through his relentless work ethic and strong belief in our players, Eric has led our major league team to one of the best records in baseball two of the past three seasons. I am confident that Eric is the right man to guide our team as we collectively pursue our ultimate goal of sustainable championship success."

Personally, I'm not a big fan of Wedge, but I'm going to assume this contract is on the reasonable side in terms of dollars and cents. More importantly, I trust Mark Shapiro.

Information courtesy of Bart Swain and the Cleveland Indians

Leave Comment | Permanent Link