Monty Hall: “I’m looking for someone with… a shortstop that steals bases!”
 
Trade season is starting to warm up. The Roy Oswalt soap opera has lit the fuse on the powder keg of Rumor Central, and the suspense will only increase between now and the end of July.
With 30% of the baseball season already in the books, [...]

In essence, the Angels have swapped gimpy designated hitters, downgraded from Lackey to Piniero, lost Figgins and gained Rodney. Meanwhile, Roy Halladay went to Philadelphia, Cliff Lee went to Seattle, and Aroldis Chapman went to Cincinnati. The Angels wanted an ace pitcher and they ended up with Joel Piniero. It’s the kind of dream/reality contrast one would expect to find with the New York Mets, not the L.A. Angels.

Of the 184 brother pairings, the “best” brother contributed negatively (-0.1 or lower) in 17 of them (92.4%). The “worst” brother contributed negatively in 91 of them (49.5%). Overall, there were 23 pairings (12.5%) that ended up hurting their teams.

On Friday the official Padres rebuilding project began.  The Padres traded third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff and infield prospect Eric Sogard to the A’s for outfielders Scott Hairston and Aaron Cunningham.
Kouzmanoff had been a fan favorite in San Diego since his arrival.  While his defense was never questioned, Kouzmanoff’s inability to deliver in clutch situations continually [...]

The Philadelphia Phillies traded for Roy Halladay on December 16, with the holiday season on the horizon*. The New York Mets have signed free agents Kelvim Escobar (one year, up to $3 million), Jason Bay (four years, $66 million with a vesting option), and are on the verge of signing Bengie Molina to a two-year [...]

Very few general managers in the history of baseball can lay claim to such a fundamental transformation of a franchise in such a short amount of time. Count Zduriencik among that small group.

The Twitterers are a-clackin’ away at the ol’ typewriter — this one’s a doozy, folks. Yes, the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, and Arizona Diamondbacks engaged in a three-way trade.
NYY gets: Curtis Granderson from DET
DET gets: Austin Jackson and Phil Coke from NYY; Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth from ARI
ARI gets: Edwin Jackson from DET; [...]

UPDATE: This deal has fallen through, according to MLB.com.
UPDATE #2: It’s official. A player to be named later has been added to the original deal.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have traded two prospects to the Tampa Bay Rays for left-handed starter Scott Kazmir. The deal is not final yet. The Angels will send Alexander [...]

The Washington Nationals put shortstop Cristian Guzman on waivers. The Boston Red Sox have put in a claim. Guzman is owed $8 million prorated this season, and $8 million next season. He has a slash line of .315/.333/.437 and has stolen two bases in seven attempts.
The Tampa Bay Rays claimed right-handed relief pitcher Russ Springer [...]

As noted here numerous times, preventing runs wins more games than scoring runs… IF you have the advantage already.  This is a natural derivative of the time-tested Pythagorean Formula.  Nowhere is this more apparent than in late innings with a lead, which is why closers are often worth their large paychecks, and defensive replacements are [...]