March 2010 - Baseball Wiretap

Ross: Latos' Shot At Giants 'Asinine'

Nov 1, 2014 5:06 PM

Mat Latos was sharply critical of the Giants and their flood of acquisitions late in the season. "Baseball works in funny ways," Latos told CBSSports.com. "The only way I could honestly put it is, we could be like the Giants and go and change our whole lineup, put guys with 'San Francisco Giants' across their jerseys. We didn't. "We added two guys (Miguel Tejada and Ryan Ludwick). We've been the same team all year. We haven't just gone and grabbed guys from other teams." Among the Giants' midseason acquisitions are outfielders Pat Burrell, Jose Guillen and Cody Ross along with infielder Mike Fontenot, all of whom were acquired either via post-July 31 trades (Guillen and Fontentot), straight waiver claims (Ross) or in free agency (Burrell). Ross wasn't too pleased with Latos' shot at the Giants. "It's asinine to say, 'We're a close-knit group and this is our team,'" Ross told the San Francisco Chronicle. "Every team goes out at the trading deadline and tries to make a deal. It's very rare for an organization to say, 'We don't need any improvements. We're as good as we're going to be.' Every team looks to improve, whether it's one, three or five guys."

FanHouse

Tags: San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants

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Reagins Denies Personal Rift With Bane

May 15, 2014 4:30 AM

Angels GM Tony Reagins denied Wednesday's dismissal of scouting director Eddie Bane was the result of a rift among the Angels' decision-makers or the sign of a philosophical shift in the way the Angels will approach scouting and drafting players in the future. "That's not accurate," Reagins said. "There was definitely no personality conflict. I have great respect for Eddie and what he's done in this organization. But you have to make difficult decisions in this business sometimes." Reagins did indicate there is dissatisfaction within the organization over what recent drafts had produced. "We have good players. It's more about the process," Reagins said, denying that Bane's firing was a direct referendum on his draft strategy. "In order to be successful, you have to have talented players in your system and we feel we do. But some of the players that we have that are very talented have not materialized with that talent within the system."

Orange County Register

Tags: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

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Lilly Could Re-Sign With Dodgers

Sep 18, 2014 8:43 AM

The Dodgers and Ted Lilly have mutual interest in the lefty pitcher signing a new deal this winter. ?I think the Dodgers are interested in signing Ted back. Ted has interest in signing back,? said Lilly?s agent, Larry O?Brien of Full Circle Sports Management. ?I?m just not sure the Dodgers at this point are going to get to a range that will be very easy for us to achieve come December. I?m pretty confident that there?s a minimum three-year deal out there for Ted.?

FoxSports

Tags: Los Angeles Dodgers

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Rafael Soriano Hires Scott Boras

Sep 14, 2014 6:39 AM

Rafael Soriano has hired Scott Boras just a few weeks before becoming a free agent. "The closer market has not had anybody as a free agent with those kind of seasons and is 30 years old in the market,?? Boras said. Boras called Soriano's performance "a historic season" - citing the limited number of other closers to have 44 or more saves with an ERA under 2.00 and a 92-percent sucess rate. Soriano is playing under a one-year, $7.25-million contract after being acquired, unexpectedly, from the Braves in December. He has been represented by Peter Greenberg.

St. Petersburg Times

Tags: Tampa Bay Rays

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Baker, Reds On Verge Of Two-Year Extension

Nov 7, 2014 1:51 PM

Dusty Baker and the Reds are on the verge of agreeing to a two-year contract extension for the manager to remain with the club. ?We?re close,? Baker said. ?Very close. We?ve been close for a while.? The Reds have already clinched the NL Central title.

Cincinnati Enquirer

Tags: Cincinnati Reds

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Giants Clinch NL West Tie

Jun 6, 2014 4:50 PM

With San Francisco's 4-1 win over Arizona, coupled with San Diego's 1-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs later Thursday, left the Giants' magic number to win the division at one. Even if the Padres sweep this weekend's series, the teams would be tied for the title. "We've got to go out there and go hard," Bruce Bochy said. "Yeah, we put ourselves in good position but we've got games ahead of us. They know it. They're very much aware of where we're at."

ESPN

Tags: San Francisco Giants

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Mets Fans Call For Oliver Perez

Jun 25, 2014 5:59 AM

During one pitching change in Game 2, several fans yelled, ?We want Ollie!? a reference to Oliver Perez, who has not pitched since Sept. 6.

New York Times

Tags: New York Mets

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Gonzalez Denies Wrong-Doing Talking About Interest In Cubs

Sep 18, 2014 4:56 AM

Adrian Gonzalez claims to have been speaking hypothetically when he spoke about the Cubs. ?If (the Cubs) made me an offer, I would be interested in it,? said Gonzalez to the Chicago Sun-Times. Gonzalez is eligible for free agency after the 2011 season. ?He was being hypothetical about 2012, and so was I,? Gonzalez said. ?I said if I become a free agent, I?m going to listen to the offer.? Asked if the timing were poor given that the team is in a pennant race, Gonzalez said, ?What did I do wrong? I just said if I become a free agent.?

San Diego Union-Tribune

Tags: Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres

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Nationals No. 1 Priority Is A Legitimate No. 1 Starter

Aug 28, 2014 9:07 AM

The Nationals intend to pursue a legitimate No. 1 starter this offseason, General Manager Mike Rizzo said Wednesday afternoon. Last offseason, Rizzo sought a veteran who could stabilize the rotation and signed Jason Marquis to a two-year, $15 million contract. "I think as we've been saying for a while now, starting pitching is our biggest need," Rizzo said. "We need a guy to head the rotation, a front-of-the-rotation guy to put everybody in what we feel is their proper place in the rotation. That's the No. 1 priority going into the offseason." Cliff Lee is the only free agent that matches Rizzo's description, but James Shields, Matt Garza and Zack Greinke could become available in a trade.

Washington Post

Tags: Washington Nationals

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Helton Will Be Back In 2011

Oct 31, 2014 11:44 AM

Todd Helton will absolutely not retire this offseason. "I am not retiring," Helton told The Denver Post. "The plan is to come back and play better next year." "It's been my understanding all along that he will be back," manager Jim Tracy said.

Denver Post

Tags: Colorado Rockies

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Extension For Uggla With Marlins Now More Promising
After a few years of being on the trade block, Dan Uggla may now get an extension from the Marlins.

Miami Herald

A's Could Be An Option For Matsui
Hideki Matsui is almost certain not to return to the Angels in 2011, but he could remain in the AL West.

San Francisco Chronicle

Eddie Bane Out As Angels' Scouting Director
The Angels parted way with eighth-year director of scouting Eddie Bane.

MLB.com

Rodriguez Has Hit 30 HRs In 14 Seasons
Alex Rodriguez homered in New York's loss at Toronto on Wednesday.

ESPN

Josh Hamilton May Return This Friday
Rangers OF Josh Hamilton plans to return to the lineup on Friday as the DH.

ESPN.com

Quade Receives First Endorsement To Keep Cubs' Job
Mike Quade is 21-11 as interim manager of the Cubs and received his first public endorsement from one of his players on Tuesday.

Chicago Tribune

Hoping For Fans, Rays Give Away 20,000 Free Tickets
The Tampa Bay Rays will give away 20,000 free tickets to Wednesday's game against the Baltimore Orioles.

St. Petersburg Times

Hart Preparing To Be GM Candidate For Mets
John Hart is preparing himself to be a candidate for the general manager job of the Mets.

Buster Olney/ESPN (via Twitter)

Pirates Clinch First Pick In 2011 MLB Draft
Anthony Rendon, a third baseman from Rice, is considered the top prospect of the 2011 MLB Draft.

Post-Gazette

Giants Beat D-Backs To Pad NL-West Lead
The Giants increased their NL-West lead to 2 games with a 4-2 win over the D-Backs on Tuesday night.

AP

Price Delivers In Rays Win Over Orioles
The Rays beat the Orioles 5-0 on Tuesday night to clinch their second postseason spot in three years.

AP

CC Gets 21st Win, Yanks Clinch Playoff Spot
The Yankees beat the Blue Jays 6-1 on Tuesday night to clinch their 15th postseason berth in the last 16 years.

AP

Giants Move Up Lincecum Start
Giants ace Tim Lincecum will start on Wednesday night against the D-Backs.

ESPN.com

Reds Clinch 1st Playoff Spot In 15 Years
Jay Bruce homered on the first pitch in the bottom of the ninth for a 3-2 win over the Astros.

AP

Braves' Prado Out For Season
An MRI has shown that Martin Prado has a torn oblique muscle, and will miss the rest of the season.

AP

Strasburg Close To Starting Rehab
Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg looks forward to returning to the majors in about a year.

AP

Randolph Keeps Eye On Mets, Eye On Manager Vacancies
Willie Randolph hopes to get another shot as an MLB manager.

New York Daily News

Longoria Confused, Embarrassed By Low Attendance
The Rays drew under 13,000 fans for their game on Monday against Baltimore, leading Evan Longoria to call the empty seats 'embarrassing.'

ESPN

Cubs Knock Padres Out Of NL Wild-Card Lead
The Cubs beat the Padres 1-0 on Monday night as Carlos Zambrano won his seventh straight decision.

AP

Infante's Hit Gives Braves 11th Inning Win
The Braves kept up their push for a wild-card spot, beating the Marlins 2-1 on Monday night.

AP