Sujet : Major League Baseball [ Wolrd Series Champions 2011 Cardinals]

Can you tell me what was called when Randy Johnson hit the dove with the ball (i.e. ball, dead ball, no pitch, or foul)?
-- L. Crowder

That bizarre play is not covered in the Official Rules. When a situation is not covered, Rule 9.01(c) comes into play. That rule gives the umpire authority to rule on any point not specifically covered in the Rules. In such instances the umpire is instructed to use "common sense and fair play." In this game, the umpires called it no pitch, as this was the fairest thing to do.

Rule 8.01(d) Comment: A ball which slips out of a pitcher’s hand and crosses the foul line shall
be called a ball; otherwise it will be called no pitch. This would be a balk with men on base.

A trade of two such talented players so early in their careers is a rare thing. The most recent example that comes to mind is the November 2007 swap in which the newly re-christened Rays sent outfielder Delmon Young and others to the Twins for a package built around righty Matt Garza. Young was the overall No. 1 pick in the 2003 draft and the runner-up for the AL Rookie of the Year award in '07. Like Montero, he was 22 and rated the third-best prospect in all of baseball the previous winter. Garza was a later first-round pick in 2005 who had posted a 3.69 ERA in 15 starts and one relief outing as a 23-year-old in 2007. The similarities to Montero and Pineda are significant, but Montero is a better hitting prospect than Young (another player with no defensive value), and while Garza had a deeper repertoire, Pineda's stuff is better than Garza's, giving him a better projection.
 
Then there's the matter of the other half of the trade. The Mariners also received righty Hector Noesi, a soon-to-be-25-year-old flyball pitcher who spent most of his rookie season of 2011 in the Yankees bullpen but could be a back-of-the-rotation starter for the Mariners in 2012 and beyond, while the Yankees picked up Venezuelan righty Jose Campos, who dominated the Low-A Northwest League as an 18-year-old in 2011, his first season in the U.S. The 6-4 Campos, who throws in the low-to-mid 90s with outstanding command, was generally considered the Mariners' fifth-best prospect, a kid with enormous potential but much to do before harnessing it and bringing it to the majors. A lot can go wrong for a kid like Campos between posting a 6.54 K/BB ratio in 14 Low-A starts and the major leagues, but the potential is there for the Yankees to have received two impact arms in this trade, and Campos will still be just 24 when Pineda reaches free agency.
For now, Campos appears to give the edge in this deal to the Yankees, but both teams got the best return possible for their young studs. The Mariners' willingness to part with Pineda illustrates just how desperate they were for a bat, and they got the best value possible in six team controlled years of Montero, the best young hitter available to be had. The Yankees needed to shore up their rotation and maximize Montero's trade value, and they did just that, landing five team-controlled years of a young stud who has already had significant success at the major league level.
 
In the short term, the Yankees, who seem to be perpetually one pitcher short of a pennant save for the years in which they actually win one, just added arguably the two best pitchers available. You won't see a better pitcher than Pineda traded between now and April, and Kuroda (last three years: 3.35 ERA, 115 ERA+, 1.18 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, 2.1 BB/9, 3.36 K/BB) was not only the best free agent available, but signed a club-friendly one-year deal that made no effort to wring an extended commitment out of baseball's richest team. Yankee fans can and will nitpick their teams' new pitchers to death and grouse about the loss of arguably the best pure hitting prospect to come their way in decades, but few teams have ever gotten this much better this quickly.
 

According to MLB.com's Jason Beck, Victor Martinez suffered a torn ACL during winter conditioning and could miss the 2012 season if the injury requires surgery.
 
Absolutely brutal news for the Tigers. Martinez had a .330/.380/.470 batting line with 12 home runs and 103 RBI in 145 games last season as Detroit's primary designated hitter. He also started 26 games at catcher. The Tigers will struggle mightily to replace his offense but might try to get a little more active on the free agent market if the 33-year-old is indeed out for the year. Carlos Pena seems like a decent fit.

According to Rangers executive John Blake, Yu Darvish's contract with the Rangers is for six years.
 
Anthony Andro of FOX Sports Southwest adds that the base value of the deal is $60 million. It also carries around $10 million worth of performance-based incentives, according to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports. Combined with the record $51,703,411 posting fee that was put up last month in order to secure exclusive negotiating rights, the Rangers have committed over $111 million to the 25-year-old Japanese right-hander. It's a risky play, but one that could pay off in a major way. Darvish, who stands 6-foot-5, registered a dominant 1.44 ERA and 276/36 K/BB ratio across 232 innings last year in Nippon Professional Baseball. He has ace potential.

Jamie Moyer, 49 ans, signe aux Rockies.
www.majorbaseball.fr
Peut-on encore jouer en MLB à 49 ans ? C'est une question à laquelle Jamie Moyer va répondre cette année puisqu'il a signé un contrat de ligues mineures avec Colorado. Annoncé sur le site officiel du club, on ne sait toutefois pas si cet accord comporte une invitation pour la présaison. Cet engagement doit encore être approuvé par des tests médicaux, ce qui ne devrait pas poser trop de problèmes d'après Troy Renck du Denver Post. Membre des Phillies en 2010, Moyer avait alors totalisé plus de 110 manches pour un ERA de 4.84, 9 victoires contre 9 défaites et un taux de retraits sur prises de 5.1 contre seulement 1.6 but-sur-balles concédés toutes les neuf manches. Un maitrise dans ses lancers qui est d'ailleurs la marque de fabrique de Moyer puisqu'il affiche une moyenne de 2.5 BB concédés en carrière. Toujours selon le Denver Post, Jamie Moyer pourrait être appelé en cours de saison par les Rockies, alors que la rotation actuelle de Colorado est encore très jeune. Il est vrai que du haut de ses 49 ans, ce dernier a de quoi apporter de l'expérience à Coors Field, surtout que 14 des 40 membres de la franchise de Denver n'étaient pas nés au moment des débuts de Moyer en MLB, en juin 1986 pour les Cubs.

CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports that the Tigers have signed Prince Fielder to a nine-year, $214 million deal.
 
Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports first mentioned the possibility less than 10 minutes ago, and now it has become official: Fielder is going to Detroit, the same place his father Cecil spent seven years of his career. The 27-year-old slugger should shine bright for the Tigers, more than making up for the production lost by Victor Martinez's knee injury in 2012 and helping the team remain in the top rung of American League contenders for years to come. Fielder owns a .929 career OPS. He batted .299/.415/.566 with 38 home runs and 120 RBI in 162 games last season for the Brewers.