Tim Beckham (Baseball America)

A reader sent me an email a while back about this and it just struck me while listening to a BP interview with his coach (yes, that's how slow my brain processes information): where are the stats for SS Tim Beckham in 2008?  He is widely believed to be drafted in the first three slots of the first round, yet we can't find other things than scouting reports.

MiLB has a great report (with video) on the 19-year-old sensation, but other than that, there's darkness.  Even Griffin High School has no data whatsoever on its pages dedicated to stats and game results.

Do you guys have a link or explanation to provide?

Help us out here…

The
Sports Network is reporting that Ian
Kennedy is being sent down to Triple A Scranton-Wilkes Barre after a
terrible start. I cannot imagine anyone is terribly surprised by this,
considering how poorly Kennedy has pitched.

Interestingly, less than 24 hours ago, MLB.com
writer Kit Stier was reporting that the Yankees are in ‘no rush’ to send
Kennedy down. Stier writes that manager Joe Girardi feels as if Kennedy should
stay with the big league Yankees “so that the 23-year-old can have the
immediate attention of pitching coach Dave Eiland.”

This afternoon, Darrell
Rasner will take the hill in place of Kennedy, keeping the seat warm for Kei
Igawa.

Rasner is off to one of the best starts of his professional
career, sitting at 4-0 with an ERA under 1.00 also owning a K/9 of 7.84. While
we are dealing with a small sample size, this would go down as a full strikeout
better then Rasner’s minor league average.

Igawa has been similarly successful after a dreadful major
league debut in 2007. Apparently Igawa has gone back to his traditional
delivery and wind-up that he used prior to coming over to North America. It
will be interesting to see how (or if) this translates into major league
success during Igawa’s second go-around.

The 49-year-old superhuman Julio Franco decided it was time to call it quits and announced his retirement to his teammates Wednesday night to his Mexican league team, the Quintana Roo Tigers.

After 23 seasons in professional baseball, he will leave the game with the following stats attached to his name:

.298/.365/.417, 2586 hits, 407 doubles, 54 triples, 173 home runs, 1194 runs batted in, 281 bases stolen.  He also ranked second in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1983 (behind Ron Kittle) and made three trips to the All-Stars game.

He won a batting title in 1991 (.341 batting average) and was the oldest player in the major leagues from 2004 to 2007.

Here's a page from Baseball-Almanac that lists plenty of record, from most years with the same club to the oldest player to ever play the game at the highest level of competition.

Great read.

Just wanted to point you in the direction of an excellent article titled “Lying about age not uncommon for Dominican baseball players“, written by Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle.

On MLB setting up an investigation unit to look out for fraudulent identities:

On Wandy Rodriguez and his story:

This is a weird situation and I'm still on the fence as to how I should feel.  Not that anybody cares, but here are my thoughts.

As citizens of two rich countries (United States and Canada), we sometimes take things for granted.  For us to eat three meals a day or work in any field we choose is a given if we just put in the effort.  We have more food than we'll ever need and we can also access higher education without too much problem (especially in Canada, where University fees are kept artificially low with government grants).

In Latin America, playing baseball is a way of life and sometimes the only way a child can make his family proud or rich.  The motives behind the identity fraud could even be considered vital when you consider that the choice is between poor and rich when a family decides to give its offspring another age AND name.  They will have to live with it, but so will the 50% other kids doing the same illegal activity (according to the article…).

Where I ask myself some even deeper questions is what role organized baseball should play in this debate.  As mentioned in the piece, a 19-year-old pitcher throwing 86 mph was good, but the guy preferred a 17-year-old with the same stuff.  That's easy to see why: upside.

But the matter is, once they got to know the real age of Rodriguez, he already had a good season at the lower level of the minor leagues and they decided to keep him and look at where he is now; in the starting rotation of a big league club.

What responsibility do MLB teams have when it comes to getting younger players in their system?  Could we make a case that they have brought upon this situation with strict scouting guidelines? 

Absolutely.

Should players have lied about their age?

Absolutely not.  Baseball remains a business and when players ask for a multi-million contract, you at least expect them to give out their real age.  That's the least they could do for an organization that invests all this money into a human being to perform at the highest level.

Late bloomers have always been a part of the game and brought impressive results to teams that have given them a chance.  What will be interesting to see is if teams somehow feel they have a responsibility in getting more players a chance and not discriminate for a year or two.

These players need the game to feed their families or simply find a better life for themselves.  That doesn't mean teams should sign every player available, but in Rodriguez's case,  a scout doing his job could have seen the future whether he was 17 or 19. 

The expected end results should always prevail.

Brent Lillibridge did not walk or record a hit in 8 at-bats, but he
struck three times   (njbaseball/flickr)

Arizona    

Orlando Hudson - Hamstring, day-to-day.
    
Atlanta    

Jo Jo Reyes - Recalled from Richmond (AAA).
Brent Lillibridge - Optioned to Richmond (AAA).
    
Boston    

Brandon Moss - Appendectomy, day-to-day.
Coco Crisp - Sore left knee, day-to-day.
J.D. Drew - Missed 2 games (quadricep injury).
    
Chicago Cubs    

Aramis Ramirez - Left wrist injury, day-to-day.
Rich Hill - Optioned to Iowa (AAA).
Sean Gallagher - Recalled from Iowa (AAA).
    
Chicago White Sox    

Paul Konerko - Missed 2 games (right hand injury).
    
Colorado    

Troy Tulowitzki - Quadricep injury, 15-day DL (retroactive to April 30).
    
Detroit    

Freddy Dolsi - Contract purchased from Erie (AA).
Denny Bautista - Shoulder injury, 15-day DL.
    
Los Angeles Dodgers   

Jonathan Broxton - Missed 4 games (right shoulder inflammation).
Andy LaRoche - Missed 29 games (right thumb injury) and optioned to Las Vegas (AAA).
    
Texas    

Ian Kinsler - Hamstring, day-to-day.

• Cristian Guzman went 4-for-5 with a double, home run, and 6 RBI, and Felipe Lopez reached base 3 times and scored 3 runs as the Nationals outslugged the Pirates, 9-8. Xavier Nady and Jose Bautista each had 3 hits and 3 RBI for Pittsburgh.
• Vernon Wells collected 3 hits and 3 RBI, and Jesse Litsch continued Toronto's string of good starts as the Blue Jays beat the White Sox, 5-2.
• Mike Fontenot homered, walked twice, and drove in 4 runs, and Kosuke Fukudome went 3-for-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI to lead the Cubs to a 9-3 win over the Cardinals.
• Kelly Johnson doubled and scored twice, Brian McCann added 2 hits and 2 RBI, and Yunel Escobar went 3-for-5 with 2 runs scored as the Braves routed the Reds, 9-1. Jo-Jo Reyes went 5 1/3 innings, giving up one run on four hits while striking out five for Atlanta.
• Kaz Matsui reached base 4 times, stole a base, and scored 2 runs, and Brandon Backe homered on offense and fought through 5 2/3 innings on the mound as the Astros upset the Brewers once again, 6-2.
• David Ortiz went 3-for-5 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI, Dustin Pedroia hammered out 3 hits and scored 2 runs, and Jason Varitek knocked in 3 runs as the Red Sox cruised to a 12-4 victory over the Rays.
• James Loney doubled, homered, and drove in 6 runs, Juan Pierre went 3-for-4 with a walk, 2 stolen bases and 2 runs scored, and Rafael Furcal added 2 hits, a walk, a stolen base and 3 runs scored as the Dodgers won their 8th in a row by beating the Rockies, 12-7. Brad Hawpe went 3-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBI for Colorado.
• Adrian Gonzalez had 3 hits, homered, and scored twice, and Jake Peavy struck out 8 while allowing 2 runs over 5 2/3 innings to help the Padres make easy work of the Marlins, 7-2. Jeremy Hermida had 3 hits for Florida.
• David Murphy blasted a 3-run home run, and A.J. Murray tossed 5 solid innings to lead the Rangers to their 4th straight win, a 6-3 decision over the A's.
• Johnny Damon doubled twice, homered, drove in 2 runs, and scored 3, and Mike Mussina held Seattle to just one run over 6 innings as the Yankees defeated the Mariners, 6-1. Derek Jeter also had 3 hits for New York.
• Jon Garland pitched 3-hit ball while allowing just one run in 8 innings, and Chone Figgins reached base 3 times, stole a base, and scored 2 runs as the Angels downed the Orioles, 3-1.
• Augie Ojeda went 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and 6 RBI, and Justin Upton reached base 5 times and scored 3 runs to help Brandon Webb go to 7-0 as the Diamondbacks rebounded to beat the Mets, 10-4.
• Luke Hochevar yielded 2 runs on 3 hits over 6 innings, and Mark Teahen went 3-for-4 to lead a Royals offense that scored 4 runs in the 7th inning on their way to 4-2 win over the Indians.
• Matt Cain gave up just 2 runs on 3 hits while striking out 8 over 7 innings, and Benjie Molina went 3-for-5 and drove in the winning run in the top of the 10th inning as the Giants edged the Phillies, 3-2. Brett Myers struck out 10 while allowing just 2 runs in 7 innings, and Chase Utley hit his league leading 13th home run for Philadelphia.
• Joe Mauer had 3 hits, Craig Monroe added 2 hits, a home run, and 2 RBI, and Brian Bass picked up starter Scott Baker by pitching 4 scoreless innings of relief as the Twins beat the Tigers, 4-1. Curtis Granderson had 2 hits, including a home run, for Detroit.

Saturday's Scoreboard