June 2012 - Baseball Wiretap

Rangers To Spend $10M On Ballpark Upgrades
The Rangers plan to spend $10M in renovations for the Ballpark in Arlington.

Yahoo.com

Cashman Calls Teixeira's Recovery 'Slow'
The Yankees hope Mark Teixeira returns for the team's final road series in Toronto.

ESPN.com

MLB Investigating Escobar's Slur On Eye Black
MLB is investigating reports concerning Yunel Escobar wearing eye black depicting a gay slur during last Saturday's game.

ESPN.com

Showalter No Longer Fights Workaholic Image
Buck Showalter admits that there is an air mattress tucked in his Camden Yards office and that he has slept on it this season.

Les Carpenter/Yahoo! Sports

Kershaw May Miss Beginning Of 2013
If Clayton Kershaw must undergo surgery to repair his ailing right hip, he could be out until May.

Dylan Hernandez/Los Angeles Times

Executive: 'Zero' Chance Red Sox Sign Ellsbury To Extension
The Red Sox may explore trading Jacoby Ellsbury for pitching this winter.

Sean McAdam/CSN New England

Pettitte Will Consider Pitching Next Season
Andy Pettitte will start for the first time since June 27 on Tuesday night when the Yankees take on the Blue Jays.

Brian Heyman/LoHud

Rangers Replace Feldman In Rotation With Perez
Martin Perez will pitch for the Rangers against the Mariners, replacing Scott Feldman in the team's starting rotation.

Richard Durrett/ESPN.com

Rangers Agree To Extension With Colby Lewis
The contract has a base salary of $2 million and could be worth an additional $4 million in incentives.

Richard Durrett/ESPN.com

Top-10 In Payroll Entering Season Could Yield Just Four Playoffs Teams
There has been almost no correlation between Opening Day payroll and likely playoff clubs this season.

Jeff Passan/Yahoo! Sports

Rays' 32 Most-Attended Games Have Come On Road
The Rays haven't had a sellout all season despite visits by the Yankees, Red Sox and Rangers.

Jeff Passan/Yahoo! Sports

Rockies Have No Plans To Trade Tulowizki, But Could Move To 3B
Troy Tulowitzki has missed the majority of two seasons because of injury, leading some to suggest a trade or position change.

Troy Renck/Denver Post

Hurdle's Job Safe Despite Pirates' Latest Collapse
Clint Hurdle will not be fired after Pittsburgh's latest late season collapse.

Rob Biertempfel/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

Selig Could Rule On A's Move To San Jose By End Of Year
The Athletics badly want to move to San Jose, but the Giants don't want their American League neighbor stealing their fan base and revenue stream.

Bill Shaikin/Los Angeles Times

Rockies Will Switch Back To Five-Man Rotation In 2013
Colorado has been using a four-man starting rotation, with starters throwing less pitches and a"piggy-back" reliever involved.

Troy Renck/Denver Post

Teams Averaging Three Losses For 2012 When Entering Ninth With Lead
In Major League Baseball this season, teams entered Sunday's action with a collective record of 1886-95 when entering the ninth inning with a lead.

David Schoenfield/ESPN

Carpenter To Make 2012 Debut Against Cubs
Chris Carpenter will make his first start of the season on Friday against the Cubs.

ESPN

Orioles Clinch First Winning Season Since 1997
Baltimore hasn't made the postseason since their last winning season in 1997.

ESPN.\

Three AL East Teams Could Have More Wins Than Central Winner
The Rays, sitting third place in the AL East, had the same number of wins (78) as the first-place White Sox entering Sunday's action.

Ken Rosenthal/FOX Sports

Ventura's Approach Working For First-Place White Sox
The White Sox have been in first place since July 24 under first-year manager Robin Ventura.

Scott Merkin/MLB.com

Girardi's Job Safe Despite Second Half Struggles
The Yankees have coughed up a 10-game lead in the American League East, but Joe Girardi's job is not in jeopardy.

Kevin Davidoff/New York Post

Offense, Pitching Have Plagued Pirates
Pittsburgh's ERA is 4.37 since Aug. 1 after standing at 3.55 at the end of July.

John Perrotto/Pittsburgh Times

Cardinals Likely To Look Similar In 2013
The Cardinals have managed to remain in the postseason race despite the departure of Albert Pujols and injuries to Chris Carpenter and Lance Berkman.

Joe Strauss/St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Royals Call Up Top Prospect To Make September Starts
The Royals have called up top pitching prospect Jake Odorizzi from Triple-A Omaha.

Associated Press

Pirates Move McDonald To Bullpen
James McDonald has allowed 14 runs in his last three starts -- a total of 12 innings pitched.

Associated Press

Valentine Didn't Mean To Offend With 'Weakest Roster' Remark
Bobby Valentine did some damage control on Sunday, two days after saying he was working with "the weakest roster we've ever had in September in the history of baseball."

Ian Harrison/ESPN.com

Kemp Batting .104 Since Hitting Wall At Coors Field
The Dodgers need Matt Kemp more than ever, but he has struggled since running into the outfield wall at Coors Field a few weeks ago.

Tim Brown/Yahoo! Sports

Carpenter Could Return To Make Pivotal Starts For Cardinals
Chris Carpenter threw a 90-pitch simulated game before about 20 teammates and staff on Saturday and the Cardinals could add him to the active roster this week.

Joe Strauss/St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Hanley Fires Back At Marlins After 'Couldn't Win With Him' Comment
Hanley Ramirez has fired back at the Marlins after president David Samson explained that the team traded him because they "just realized we couldn't win with him."

Bill Shaikin/Los Angeles Times

Should Mets Pick Up Wright's Option Instead Of Extending Him?
David Wright was hot in the first half of the season, but he has struggled as of late.

Dave Cameron/FanGraphs