Here is some bad news for White Sox fans, baseball fans, and fantasy fans. White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu has been placed on the disabled list with left ankle tendinitis, something that has been bothering him since Spring Training. It has lingered on throughout the beginning of the season. The injury especially hampered Abreu in the White Sox' loss on Saturday to the Houston Astros. He was limping during an at bat in the fifth, and was ultimately replaced by Paul Konerko in the seventh. In a corresponding roster move, the White Sox have called up speedy outfielder Adam Eaton, who has been battling a strained right hamstring. The 27-year-old Abreu has had a rookie season to remember. He is leading the Major Leagues with 15 home runs and is tops in the American League with 42 RBI. (Abreu is only one RBI behind Giancarlo Stanton for the Major League lead.) He has a .260/.312/.595 triple-slash line. He signed a six-year, $68 million deal with the White Sox last year, which has definitely paid off. However, now he will have to be sidelined for at least 15 days. As for Adam Eaton, he is hitting a triple-slash line of .276/.363/.378 with one home run and 14 RBI in 25 games. He was acquired by the White Sox from the Arizona Diamondbacks during the offseason in a three-team trade that included the Los Angeles Angels. Baseball hopes that Jose Abreu comes back healthy and mashing homers like he has been to start this season. He has kept many people's, including non-baseball fans' interest, but now he will be off the field. Hopefully this is not a long and grueling injury, and we will see Jose Abreu back on the field in just a short amount of time.
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The Houston Astros and Kyle Farnsworth have agreed to a Major League contract, according to reports today. The contract could be worth up to $1.2 million with performance bonuses, but the guaranteed compensation is not yet known. Farnsworth elected his release from the the New York Mets after they had outrighted him. He drew interest from the Reds, Phillies, and one AL club before deciding upon the Astros. The 38-year-old has gone 0-3 with a 3.18 ERA in 17 innings pitched so far this season. He has a 5.29 strikeout-per-nine ratio, a 3.18 walk-per-nine rate, and a 35.2 percent ground ball rate this season. He has served as the closer for a short time and tallied three saves. Over his career, Farnsworth is 43-66 with a 4.24 ERA in 977 innings pitched. However, he only has saved 57 career games. Farnsworth has a career 101 ERA+. The Astros have the highest bullpen ERA and worst batting average against in the Major Leagues, which makes Farnsworth's signing even more understandable. However, these numbers have come in 131 innings, which is the 11th highest in the MLB. Farnsworth's signing with the Astros could really help the Astros horrid bullpen. The Baltimore Orioles and relief pitcher Heath Bell have agreed to a minor league contract, the Orioles announced yesterday. If he reaches the Major Leagues, he will receive the minimum MLB salary of $500,000. The Tampa Bay Rays just released Bell five days prior to him reaching an agreement with the Orioles. They still owe him the remainder of his three-year, $27 million deal he signed back in 2012, regardless of whether he reaches the Major Leagues again this season or not. The 36-year-old received interest from a few teams, according to reports, before choosing the Orioles. From 2009 through 2011, Bell was the primer closer in the Majors. During that stretch, he ranked first in the MLB in saves with 132, a good 10 saves above the player in second, Brian Wilson. Only seven closers reached 100 saves during that stretch. Bell posted a 2.36 ERA, 2.54 FIP, and a 157 ERA+ during those dominant seasons. Since those three All Star years, Bell has been trying to return to form. He's 10-8 with a 4.91 ERA, 3.99 FIP, and an 80 ERA+ since 2011, just saving 34 games. One of Heath Bell's top issues is his strikeout rate. Bell struck out 9.6 batters per nine innings from 2009 to 2011, the best three year stretch of his career. He also was able to keep runners off of the bases, posting a very low 1.157 WHIP during that time. Since, both of those statistics have fallen off of the table, causing Bell to give up a lot of runs. His 1.507 WHIP is 0.350 higher, and his 8.8 strikeout per nine innings rate is 0.8 higher, allowing opposing teams to tee off of Bell. The Orioles could use all the bullpen help they can get. Their bullpen has posted the 16th-worst ERA in the Majors. Their bullpen ranks 26th in OPS against. If the Orioles can reinvent Bell into a decent reliever, this signing can prove to be very important down the stretch. But that is a big "if." Keep your tabs on Heath Bell as he hopes to rejuvenate his Major League career once again, this time with the Baltimore Orioles. The Oakland Athletics have acquired outfielder Kyle Blanks from the San Diego Padres in exchange for outfielder Jake Goebbert and a player to be named later or cash, ESPN's Jerry Crasnick first reported. The Athletics have been interested in acquiring Blanks for awhile, but this week those talks intensified before getting a deal done today. The 27-year-old Blanks might just need a change of scenery to get his career going. After being drafted by the Padres in the 42nd round of the 2004 Draft, Blanks crushed his way through the minor-leagues, totaling over 200 bases in both 2007 and 2008. Baseball America rated him as the 50th best prospect in the Majors prior to the 2009 season, as Blanks seemed to be on the fast track to the Padres. He was called up that season and posted a 137 OPS+ in 54 games (172 plate appearances), homering 10 times and driving in 22. Since that time, injuries have haunted Blanks. He has posted a 90 OPS+ in 185 games (634 plate appearances), homering 18 times and driving in 76. Over his Major League career, Blanks has a .228/.310/.401 triple-slash line. Athletics' GM Billy Beane liked Blanks because he's a right-handed bat that can play both the corner outfield and fist base. “He is exactly what we were looking for,” said Beane, “and there’s not many out there.” Beane also liked Blanks’ good minor league career, noting that “it looked like he was going to be that guy in the majors until injuries derailed him.” In return, the Padres will be receiving outfielder Jake Goebbert. He was picked in the 13th round of the 2009 MLB Draft by the Houston Astros, and has yet to break into the Major Leagues. He was flipped to the Athletics on April 4 of last year for left-hander Travis Blackley. Goebbert had some solid seasons in 2010 and 2011, totaling 231 and 211 bases and hitting .291 and .290, respectively. He had another good year in 2013, hitting a triple-slash line of .262/.354/.474 with 22 home runs and 84 RBI at Triple-A. Goebbert has spent most of his minor league career at right and left field. THURSDAY: Fernandez will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow, according to CBS Sports' Jon Heyman. The procedure will be done by Dr. Neil ElAttrache in Los Angeles.
TUESDAY: The Tommy John epidemic has struck yet another budding pitching star. Marlins ace Jose Fernandez is the victim, according to the Sun Sentinel's Juan Rodriguez. He will likely become the 18th pitcher since the start of Spring Training to undergo the procedure. Fernandez was placed on the 15-day disabled list for an undisclosed reason yesterday. The Marlins later announced that it was due to a right elbow strain from results of an MRI, something that has not been good to pitchers so far this season. Fernandez has already undergone a second MRI. It later broke that Fernandez will likely need the surgery and will miss the rest of the 2014 season. Since the Marlins drafted Fernandez with the 14th overall pick in the 2011 draft, he has been their go-to guy in their rotation. The National League Rookie of the Year award winner went 12-6 with a 2.19 ERA, 0.979 WHIP, and a 187/58 strikeout-to-walk ratio. His fiery personality and dominance on the mound made him a favorite in all of the Major Leagues, not just for the Miami Marlins. To begin this season, Fernandez is 4-2 with a 2.44 ERA, 0.948 WHIP, and a 70/13 strikeout-to-walk ratio in eight games so far (51.2 innings pitched). Fernandez is coming off of a rough outing in San Diego in which he tossed five innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on six hits, striking out five and walking one. He threw only 80 pitches and recorded the third-worst game score of his career. The Tommy John bug has been practically unavoidable for any young star pitcher. Fernandez's average fastball velocity of 94.7 mph since the start of the 2013 season ranks third in the Major Leagues (fangraphs.com). The two pitchers above him, Stephen Strasburg and Matt Harvey, have already undergone the surgery. "You see how much he means, so much to our team and our rotation and really all of baseball," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said. "He's been a dynamic player. He's been a huge lift and a huge spark for our team. We just hope everything goes well and he just has to take a little bit of a break." The Marlins will surely miss Fernandez, as they've won five of their 20 games while he is on the mound. At 20-18, they have been a surprise to start the season, but without Fernandez the rest of the way, it does not look like they can keep it up. |
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