Tuesday trade roundup

Two deals went through yesterday as Las Vegas and Vancouver both tried to upgrade their lineups for a playoff push.

After faltering and losing 6 straight and losing control of the Morris Division, Vancouver has actually turned things around and won 4 straight. Their anemic offense - ranked 13th in OPS (.723) - needed a punch. The Fist grabbed Jason Kubel from Amityville to help provide that punch. Kubel was only hitting .249/.312/.444 this season for the Ant Slayers, but Vancouver thinks he can help the team score some more runs. The Fist gave up pitcher Chad Billingsley, who has been lingering all year in the minors. Billingsley was 11-11 with a 5.12 ERA and 171 strikeouts last season for Vancouver. Billingsley is still young, however, and Amityville thinks that he will rebound. In addition to the players, the two teams exchanged draft picks - Amityville gets a second rounder, and Vancouver gets a 4th.

The bigger trade involved Las Vegas sending a boatload of draft picks to Hoboken in exchange for outfielder Brad Hawpe, reliever Nick Massett, and starter Edwin Jackson. Jackson may be best remembered for being dumped unceremoniously by Blue Ridge a few months back despite having solid numbers. But the Bombers were vindicated by Jackson's putrid record in Hoboken (2-5, 9.14 ERA in 8 starts). Massett was another player that was struggling (2-0, 5.27 in 40 appearances), but Vegas thinks both players could be assets. Outfielder Hawpe is a solid player who was hitting .274/.351/.510 for Hoboken with 12 homers and 32 RBIs. The Cutters received three picks in the 2011 draft (3rd,6th, and 10th) and 2 in 2012 (5th and 12th).

Not content to just make a trade, Las Vegas decided to clean house and parted with some interesting players. Rich Harden, a player that Vegas paid a lot to acquire several years ago from Vancouver, was jettisoned as owner Eric Wickstrom had grown increasingly frustrated by his lack of production. "It's the end of an error" said Wickstrom. Harden was joined on the way out by veterans Jose Contreras, Jeremy Guthrie, and Gary Sheffield. Another interesting castoff is young first baseman Chris Davis. Davis was a high draft selection in the 2009 draft (#2 overall), but his knack for striking out had put him in the Rat Pack's doghouse (or rathouse?). Also joining Davis on the curb is outfielder Scott Hairston. The purge left room for the Rat Pack to sign retreads Randy Wolf, Juan Pierre, and Gabe Kapler. "They may not sound spectacular" said Wickstrom, "but each one has a key role to play on this squad."

Part timer takes hitter prize

Well...we don't usually do this, but... Most of the time we don't give the top player honors to part-timers, but Marietta's Taylor Teagarden had an excellent week (and a half). In only 18 at bats, Teagarden hit .500 with a .526 OBP, 1.444 slugging, 5 homers, 7 RBIs, and 7 runs. But since he's a part-timer, we're only awarding him a 5-pack as this week's JR Cigars Smokin' Batter of the Week.

Other top batters: Philadelphia's Matt Holliday (.444/.512/.861, 5 HR, 10 R, 8 RBI), and Adam Lind (.400/.438/.867, 4 HR, 16 RBI), Las Vegas' Joe Mauer (.404/.473/.787, 4 HR, 10 R, 10 RBI), Carolina's Troy Tulowitzki (.370/.420/.652, 4 HR, 9 R, 16 RBI), Newark's Will Venable (.361/.368/.778, 4 HR, 12 RBI), and Bridgewater's Ryan Zimmerman (.372/.383/.698, 4 HR, 11 RBI).

Meanwhile, selecting the Worst Video Games of All Time Pitcher of the Week was a bit tougher. But we decided to go with Jake Peavy, who was 1-1 with a 1.08 ERA and 0.60 WHIP. Peavy struck out 21 in 16.2 innings and pitched a complete game, 1-hit shutout against Amityville. In his second start, he lost despite giving up only 3 hits and striking out 11.

Other top starters: Blue Ridge's Gavin Floyd (2-0, 1.17, 0.91, 16 K), Sardine City's Josh Johnson (2-0, 1.10, 0.80), Carolina's Yovani Gallardo (2-0, 1.20, 0.87, 15 K), and Newark's Koji Uehara (1-1, 2.45, 0.55) and Brad Bergesen (2-0, 1.69, 1.00).

Morris Division happenings

Bridgewater held their position atop the Morris Division with a 4-0, 4-hit shutout. Starter Erik Bedard was removed after 2 innings after a 3 hour rain delay (Amityville's starter Hiroki Kuroda also was removed) and the Maller bullpen took over. Juan Aceves pitched 4 of the innings, giving up only 1 hit and striking out 4. The Ant Slayers held the Mallers to only 5 hits, but still gave up 4 runs, including 3 in the 9th.

Blue Ridge won their 4th straight to remain tied with the Mallers - a 4-3 edging of New Jersey. The Bombers only got 4 hits in the game and scored all their runs in the first 2 innings. The Buddahs tried to claw their way back, but ended up one run short. For New Jersey it was their 6th straight loss.

Josh Johnson outduelled Jake Peavy in a 2-1 Sardine City win over Vancouver. Johnson pitched 8 innings and gave up only 3 hits and struck out 7. Peavy pitched 7.2 innings, giving up 3 hits as well and struck out 11. Vancouver dropped their 4th straight and fell 2 games out of the division lead.

Yovani Gallardo held the Sugar Bears to just 2 hits in Carolina's 5-1 win yesterday. Gallardo pitched 8 innings and struck out 9.

Greinke streak over, Vancouver bounced from first

Vancouver was knocked out of their first place tie with Bridgewater and Blue Ridge, but the bigger story was Zack Greinke's streak ending. Greinke, of course, started the season off 13-0, but couldn't hold back the Sardines yesterday. The Iron Fist had a 2-1 lead after their half of the 7th inning, but Marco Scutaro's bases-loaded double scored 3 runs for the Straphangers. Greinke's ERA ballooned to 1.87 on the season after giving up 4 runs in 7 innings.

Vancouver's loss was costly as Bridgewater defeated Amityville 8-6. Raul Ibanez was 3-4 with 2 RBIs and a double and homer as the Mallers collected 15 hits. Blue Ridge also took advantage with a 6-2 win over Team Buddah. Gavin Floyd improved to 7-3 with a strong effort, giving up 1 run in 7.2 innings and striking out 7. The Mallers hold a percentage point advantage for first place.

Las Vegas scored 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th to tie up their game against Hillsborough and send it to extra innings. Chris Davis hit a two-run single that tied up the game in the 9th. Unfortunately for the Rats, it wasn't meant to be. Ben Zobrist hit a solo homer in the top of the 11th and Ryan Madson held the fort down in the bottom half of the inning to preserve the 4-3 win.

All-Star results posted.

The All-Star voting results are now posted: http://dmbl.us/allstar.html

Some oddities there and a few surprises.

Sardine City evens record, closes in on playoff berth

The results were mixed for Blue Ridge on their first game after the trade. Grady Sizemore went 1-5 with an RBI and Aramis Ramirez was 0-2 before leaving with an injury. The injury is not expected to keep Ramirez from today's lineup. And the worst result is that the Bombers lost their game to Hoboken 4-3. The clubs were tied 2-2 and entered extra innings. Hoboken scored 2 runs in the top of the 11th to take a 4-2 lead. Aaron Hill hit a solo homer in the bottom half, but it was all that the Bombers could get.

The Bombers lost a game in the standings to Vancouver, as the Iron Fist eked by the Sugar Bears 6-5. The Iron Fist held a 5-run lead entering the 8th, but Newark rallied to tie the score on a 3-run Jorge Posada home run. Finally in the 9th, Garrett Jones hit a solo walk off home run to give the Fist the win.

Sardine City won their 4th straight and evened their record at 41-41 and tying Las Vegas for 3rd in the Hanover Division. Ubaldo Jimenez earned the victory, improving to 9-5 with a strong 8 inning effort. Hillsborough, who was on the losing end of the 6-4 final, dropped their 4th straight.

Blue Ridge gets ready to take on Morris Division

Blue Ridge made a big trade with Carolina, acquiring two bats that they hope will propel them to the top of the playoff contenders. Blue Ridge acquired third baseman Aramis Ramirez and outfielder Grady Sizemore from the Mudcats for Carl Crawford and a 2nd round pick. Ramirez is batting .302/.387/.527 with 16 homers and 51 RBIs for Carolina. Sizemore has 15 homers and 38 RBIs though he has struggled with a .228 batting average. Blue Ridge is only 1 game behind Vancouver in the Morris Division standings and they are currently the #1 wild card seed.

Vancouver took back the Morris Division lead with a 3-0 blanking of Amityville. Jake Peavy pitched a complete game, 1-hit shutout, walking 4 and striking out 10. Vancouver, in response to Blue Ridge's deal perhaps, picked up their former first baseman Lyle Overbay off the scrap heap. Overbay is expected to take over first base duties against righties, while Michael Cuddyer will slide back into the outfield.

It was a busy transactions day as Newark became frustrated with trying to spell Marc Rzepczynski's name correctly and cut him in favor of recent Amityville castoff Scott Feldman. Feldman will make a spot start for injured Javy Vazquez and the club will reassess their needs over the All-Star Break.

Bridgewater made the other move - a minor one. The Mallers cut utility player Jose Lopez and picked up journeyman Brett Myers. Myers was assigned to the team's minor league club.