Some things to read while making golf more interesting.
The big news of the day today is yesterday's trade sending Tony Gwynn Jr. to San Diego for Jody Gerut. Here's a sampling of response from all over the web:
- Doug Melvin said the Brewers were trying to upgrade their left-handed bench options.
- Adam McCalvy says Melvin had interest in trading for Gerut for a while, and finally found the opportunity.
- The BBTF Transaction Oracle predicts Gerut will hit .278/.335/.472 as a Brewer, which would be pretty good for a fourth outfielder.
- Matthew Pouliot of Circling the Bases says Gerut is "a big upgrade in a reserve role for the Brewers," and calls the Brewers a big winner in this trade.
- FanGraphs calls the move a salary dump for the Padres. Gerut is still owed about $1.3 million this season.
- Meanwhile, Tony Gwynn found out about the trade from his dad, who's pretty excited to have him as a Padre.
- Elias says Gwynn will become just the third player ever to play for the same team his father played in over 2000 games for, joining Pete Rose Jr. and Dale Berra. (Thanks to TheJay)
- Gwynn made it to San Diego in time to draw a walk in the ninth inning as the Padres scored two in the ninth to beat the Giants last night.
- Adam McCalvy has Trevor Hoffman, Mat Gamel and Prince Fielder's reactions to the trade.
- At The Old Ball Game has been covering Gwynn in Nashville and called him "the most consistent player on the Sound’s team in 2009."
- Brewers Bar compared the trade to Doug Melvin trading candy for water.
- MLB Notebook criticized the Brewers for unloading young talent.
- Big League Stew says the Padres must have made this move for PR reasons.
- Tyler Maas of Bugs and Cranks says Tony Gwynn will get many more opportunities to ruin the Padres' playoff chances.
- Quevedo at the Buffet is patting themselves on the back for helping get Gwynn on his way.
- Chuckie Hacks says none of us would care if Gwynn's name was Jim Smith.
Gerut is expected to join the Brewers today. While no official announcement has been made, it's expected he'll take the place of Chris Duffy, who will be designated for assignment. He'll join the team along with R.J. Swindle, who was called up yesterday when Hernan Iribarren was sent back down. Having the DH for this weekend's series in Minnesota eliminated some of the need for bench flexibility, but the Twins' lefty-heavy lineup created the need for another situational lefty.
Interleague play will mean an increase in playing time for Mat Gamel, who is expected to DH all three games in Minnesota. Gamel doesn't doesn't seem to know what the team has in store for him once interleague play is over, but is keeping a good attitude about it.
It's possible Gamel will be seeing more time at third base. Bill Hall went 0-for-3 with 2 strikeouts and grounded into a double play against Roy Oswalt last night in what might have been his last chance to prove he can hit right-handed pitching.
There appears to be a good sized community (or at least a loud community) of people in baseball who think Ryan Braun should be hit by pitches, but what about Corey Hart? Plunk Everyone lists Hart among the most likely targets with 0 HBP in 2009.
We have good news on the farm today as Taylor Green, ranked #8 in our Community Prospect Rankings, has finished his rehab assignment in Wisconsin and is headed to Huntsville. Green hit .400/.538/.600 in 20 ABs for the Rattlers.
Speaking of rehab assignments, David Riske is expected to head to Arizona to start his, according to Gord Ash's Twitter. Ash also reports Rickie Weeks is returning to Milwaukee to work with Brewer trainers. (Thanks to Aaron for the heads up.)
The Brewers continue to gain ground in power rankings: Yahoo has them at #6, up from 10 last week.
Around the league:
Astros: Designated infielder Jason Smith for assignment.
Rangers: Placed Vicente Padilla on the DL with a strained deltoid muscle. (h/t Baseball Musings)
The Brewers may not be interested in trading MLB ready pitching for Mark DeRosa, but it appears someone will be: MLB Trade rumors suggests both the Mets and A's as potential fits.
Someone could write a book about Brooks Kieschnick entitled "Anatomy of a Fan Favorite." Brooks sat down for an interview with Brewerfan.net, where topics discussed included his love for Milwaukee and dislike of the Cubs.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have Randall Simon. If you're passing through Fargo today, you might see Simon playing for the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks, and you might hear him talk about getting blackballed for clubbing a sausage.
Do baseballs really fly out of Minute Maid Park, or can we blame Jeff Suppan? Balking Traditionalism has the answer.
The blackout issue isn't getting resolved after all. A vote on the matter was tabled at the owners' meetings again this week, meaning the issue likely won't be resolved this season.
Oh, and apparently San Diego is the place to go if you want to get devirginized to fresh squeezed tangerine juice.
Drink up.