Fan News

A Major League source has told Nick Cafardo (Boston Globe) that the Red Sox will place righthander Manny Delcarmen on the disabled list with a right forearm strain.

Cafardo did not know who would be called up to replace him on the roster for tomorrow night’s game against Baltimore, but the Globe is reporting the two most likely candidates are right-handers Robert Manuel and RHP Fernando Cabrera.

Delcarmen has faced 14 batters in his last three appearances, retiring only three and surrendering nine hits.

I had probably the same reaction as most when the Orioles announced Trent Mummey as the team's fourth-round pick a few weeks ago.

Nice name, but....who?

And like some of you, I dug a little deeper to see what kind of havoc Mummey brought on SEC pitchers this year.

What I found was very, VERY impressive.

Mummey tore the cover off the ball to the tune of a .366 average, 20 points less than Hunter Morris, his teammate at Auburn and fellow fourth-round pick, but still impressive.

This is the third installment of what I hope is going to be a bi-monthly article updating fans on the Toronto Blue Jays ' minor league teams and prospects. A new one should be available every second Thursday.

Las Vegas 51's (AAA) —(37-43, Third in PCL Pacific South Division)

The 51's remain in the same place they were as of last update. Pitching is still a huge problem, while the offense has been firing on all cylinders since day one of the 2010 season.

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Mets manager Jerry Manuel made some curious decisions concerning the lineup for this game and it came back to hurt the offense. With Jose Reyes still out of the lineup due to back problems, Manuel decided to give Jason Bay a night off, and he also sat Angel Pagan out, although it turned out he was available to start.

Don't be fooled by what some of the Cubs players and management will tell you, the truth is that the majority of the players do not like Carlos Zambrano and wish he was elsewhere.

This is nothing new—Cubs players have long disliked Big Z.

Now, this latest incident where Zambrano stormed into the dugout and seemingly yelled at everybody and anybody hasn't helped the relationship.

But according to sources within the organization, this is not the first time that the majority of Cubs players have privately wished that he would move on.

Middle infielders have been taking a beating this season with many of the top names having injury issues at some point in time.  Let’s get an update on some of the players currently nursing injuries:

In 2009, Trevor Hoffman fooled the Milwaukee Brewers front office, coaches, players, and fans by being nothing short of awesome. In 55 games, he put together a 0.907 WHIP, a 3.43 K:BB ratio, a 3-2 record, 37 saves, and a 1.83 ERA. It was the best season he'd had in a decade.

Hell, I'll bet he even fooled himself.

Truth is, Hoffman hadn't been a truly effective Hoffman-esque reliever in a couple of seasons, and his 2009 performance was likely a mirage. Nevertheless, there were reasons for optimism in Milwaukee going into this season.

Well, it has been a disaster.

Sources within the Chicago White Sox organization, on the condition of anonymity, have indicated that GM Kenny Williams is talking to the Milwaukee Brewers about a blockbuster trade that would send powerful first baseman Prince Fielder to the Sox.

Is there possibly a better way to celebrate Josh Bell's graduation to Baltimore than with a "Who's Hot and Who's Not" feature?

I think not.

But it wasn't just Bell having a great two-week period. Nathan Moreau tossed a nine-inning no-hitter in his first High-A start for Frederick and Bowie's Zach Britton was named Eastern League pitcher of the week AND promoted to the Triple-A.

The O's also saw several of their wounded return to duty, including L.J.

A series of toppled dominoes have rearranged the catching depth chart in the Boston Red Sox organization. As a result, Juan Apodaca and Daniel Butler are now making their new home for the Pawtucket Red Sox, the Red Sox’ triple-A affiliate.

Neither 23-year old figured in the equation as one of the top five catchers in the Sox’ system when the year started, yet both are now getting an opportunity to carve out a more permanent role in Pawtucket.