Max Povse Optioned to Tacoma

The Mariners optioned Max Povse to Triple-A Tacoma Friday. (Source: MarinersPR on Twitter)
Fantasy Impact: Povse was sent down to Tacoma to make room for recently acquired right-hander David Phelps. Povse pitched one inning of relief last night allowing two unearned runs against the Yankees after being recalled from Tacoma earlier in the day.

Tyler O'Neill is Traded to Cards

Outfielder Tyler O'Neill was traded to St. Louis on Friday in exchange for left-handed pitcher Marco Gonzales. (Source: Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times)
Fantasy Impact: O'Neill was a third-round pick (85th overall) of the Mariners in the 2013 draft. He was batting .244 with 19 home runs, 56 RBIs, 21 doubles, two triples and nine stolen bases through 93 games for Triple-A Tacoma in the Pacific Coast League. Gonzales, 25, was a first round pick (19th overall) in the 2013 draft. He missed the entire 2016 season because of Tommy John surgery. In parts of three major-league seasons, he posted a 4-2 record with a 5.53 ERA in seven starts and five relief appearances. Gonzales will be under club control through the 2023 season. He will report to Class AAA Tacoma.

MLB Musings

MUSINGS:

Shortly after posting my article on Tim Lincecum this afternoon (A Good(?) Experiment Gone Wrong), the Angels designated him for assignment. May the halcyon days of this great pitcher be long remembered.

The Phillies officially called up Jake Thompson today to make his major league debut against the Padres. The 22 year-old right-hander has fared very well at Triple-A Lehigh Valley going 11-5 with a 2.50 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 139.2 innings. The 69th overall prospect in baseball, however, was rudely welcomed by the Padres. The rookie gave up six earned runs on seven hits and two walks before being chased after 4.1 innings. He only struck out one batter. 

Jake Arrieta is glad the month of July is behind him. After going winless in five starts (0-3) last month with a 4.88 ERA, he righted the ship today pitching eight shutout innings for the Cubs while allowing only three As hits, striking out four and walking one.

Starling Marte continued his impressive season going 2-4 including a double and one RBI against the Reds.  He also stole his 39th base, second in the Major Leagues to Milwaukee's Jonathan Villar with 41.  Marte's slash line now is at .321/.378/.474. His power numbers have waned however. He has only one homer in his last forty games and only seven for the year.

Tony Watson was able to nail down the save today after failing to do so last night. He is the projected Pirates closer now that Mark Melancon has moved on to Washington.

Chris Archer seems to be coming out of his season long slump after pitching his fourth straight quality start. The Rays 27 year-old right hander picked up his sixth win (6-15) against the Twins giving up one earned run on three hits and striking out seven.

Kansas City southpaw Danny Duffy continues to perform very well pitching his seventh quality start in his last eight outings.  Against the Blue Jays today he pitched 6.2 innings allowing two earned runs on five hits while striking out seven.  Duffy now holds a 2.97 ERA and a stellar 10.3/1.95 K/BB ratio. He has punched 132 K's in 115.1 innings pitched while only walking 25.  The 27 year-older is worthy of his 8-1 record.

It's baffling that the Blue Jays recently gave Justin Smoak a two-year 8.5 million dollar extension.  The first baseman who has difficulty making contact went 0-4 today against the Royals.  His slash line now is at an ugly .225/.316/.410.

Rangers Jonathan Lucroy and Jeremy Jeffress are adjusting well with their new team.  The duo was traded from the Brewers this past week.  Today Lucroy blasted two solo home runs while Jeffress pitched an inning of middle relief giving up no runs and no hits with 2 K's.

Manny Machado has cooled down considerably this past month.  In the last 30 days he has a slash line of .237/.318/.392. Tonight the Orioles 24 year-old third baseman singled and scored once against the White Sox.

 The Nationals Stephen Strasburg had a rare off day against the San Francisco Giants and was tagged for only his second loss of the season.  His record now stands at 15-2. It was only the first time this season that he was unable to make it to the fifth inning.

NEWS AND NOTES:

Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees have called a press conference for tomorrow afternoon. It is not known whether he will be released, or that he will have a reduced role with the team.

Marlins Ichiro Suzuki legged out a single against the Rockies tonight to leave him one short of 3,000 total Major League hits.

Ryan Braun had a monster night. The Milwaukee left fielder was 3-4 smashing two HR's, scoring three times, knocking in seven RBI's, and stealing his 13th base of the season.

 INJURIES:

Jordan Zimmerman who just returned from the disabled list with a strained neck lasted only one start. Today the Detroit right hand starter complained of tightness in his back and was placed on the 15-day DL. Daniel Norris is expected to replace him for Tuesday night's game against the Mariners in Seattle.

 Pittsburgh's David Freese was forced to leave tonight's game against the Reds with a sore elbow.  The extent of the injury is yet to be determined.

Detroit third baseman Nick Castellanos will be out for at least a month with a fractured fifth metacarpal bone in his left hand after being struck by a pitch thrown by the Mets' Logan Verrett. He was placed on the disabled list and will be replaced by Casey McGehee.   

A Good(?) Experiment Gone Wrong

Does he have any gas left in the tank?  Will he rehab successfully following surgery to repair a degenerative hip? Will he be at least a small piece of the puzzle to help a woeful pitching staff? How effective will he be with whatever little stuff of his remains?

These are the questions that Angels' GM Billy Eppler and manager Mike Scioscia apparently answered in the affirmative when willing to take a chance on signing the former back-to-back Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum to a one-year prorated portion of a $2.5 million salary on May 20th. Unfortunately, their gamble has not paid off.

Lincecum's decline since 2012 has been duly documented and widely known. And rest assured the Giants' top brass was also well aware of the steady drop of the 32-year-old right hander's fastball velocity, his declining strikeout rate and his ailing hip when it did not consider re-signing him after the 2015 season. After all, the Bellevue, Washington native was relegated to the bullpen in his last year of his illustrious San Francisco career. 

Other than his debut start with Los Angeles in Oakland on June 12th (his only quality start), the results of the Lincecum experiment with the Angels have not been pretty. Since then Lincecum is 1-6 with an unsightly 10.58 ERA and 2.63 WHIP.  In 32.1 innings he has allowed 64 hits, walked 21 men and given up 11 homers (3.1 HR/9). He has performed well below a replacement level player (-0.8).

To see a once quality star and peak performer as Tim Lincecum struggle as he is currently is painful to accept. Please, Los Angeles Angels: please end this experiment gone awry now!  O' to only remember Tim Lincecum in a San Francisco Giants uniform. 

The Mets Run (and Field) Ragged in the Ravine

Last night The Mets were hoping to build upon their latest four-game winning streak.  After pounding the Cubs 17-1 in Wrigley Field and winning their first three games against the Dodgers in Los Angeles things looked bright. There was no Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier to worry about. The anemic Dodger bats had been all but silent the past few weeks.  Could this be the first time in history where the Mets would sweep the Dodgers in a four-game series played in Chavez Ravine?    

No. Unfortunately because of sloppy base running and fielding, the Mets will now have to wait for the MLB schedulers to give them another chance.

The first inning would prove to be a harbinger of things to come. The first two outs of the inning were squandered because of base running blunders. Andres Torres led off the game and was hit by a pitch from Cy Young award winner Clayton Kershaw.  For the second straight game, Torres was caught leaning too far off first base and was officially ruled out stealing.  Ruben Tejada then walked.  David Wright followed with an infield hit.  With runners on first and second-base, Scott Hairston laced a single to left field scoring Tejada and Wright moving to third.  However, Hairston was called out when he tried to advance to second base on the play.   Lucas Duda then flied out to retire the side.  The Mets missed a golden opportunity to pounce on Kershaw early. 

In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Mets began to show why they are last in the National League in fielding percentage. Trailing 3-1, Juan Uribe led off for the Dodgers with a walk by Mets pitcher Dillon Gee.  Next Tony Gwynn hit a routine double play ball to David Wright but his throw to second base was dropped by Ronny Cedeno.  Instead of two outs with nobody on base, Kershaw was able to sacrifice Uribe to third and Gwynn to second.  Dee Gordon then hit a ground ball to Justin Turner at first base which he bobbled.  The error allowed Uribe to score and move Gwynn to third.  Catcher A.J. Ellis then hit a sacrifice fly scoring Gwynn.  The two errors cost the Mets two runs and tied the score at 3-3. 

The coup de grace was delivered in the bottom of the seventh when the defensive wheels completely came off for the Mets.  With the Dodgers now leading 4-3, Ramon Ramirez relieved Gee.  Pinch-hitter Elian Herrera flied out to left field.  Gee singled to center and then stole second base.  Next Ellis walked.  With runners on first and second and one out, Justin Hampson relieved Ramirez. Gordon proceeded to steal third and Hampson walked Bobby Abreu.  Manager Terry Collins then called on Miguel Batista to hopefully clean up the mess.  Batista got Uribe to ground a ball right back to the box setting up a perfect double play opportunity that apparently would enable the Mets to get out of the inning unscathed.  However, inexplicably catcher Mike Nickeas completely misjudged Batista’s throw to the plate.  The ball caromed off Nickeas’s glove to the back stop allowing both Gordon and Ellis to score and advancing Abreu to third.  Adam Kennedy then hit a sacrifice fly scoring Abreu and Uribe would score on James Loney’s double to deep right.  Instead of being down 4-3 heading into the eighth, the Mets were trailing 8-3.  Dodger relievers Ronald Belisario and Kenley Jansen were then able to shut the door on the Mets. 

The Mets come back home to face the Phillies in Citi Field for a three game series starting on Tuesday. There were positives the Mets can look to during this road trip. Ike Davis and Daniel Murphy appear to be coming out their season long slumps.  However, will Collins keep Davis, Murphy, and Josh Thole on the bench when Cliff Lee pitches for the Phillies?  What can the Mets do to improve their defense? It appeared Collins rolled the dice with a super platoon line up against the southpaw Kershaw but the Mets gloves and legs crashed and burned in the Ravine.

Islanders Preview

Heading into the 2011-12 season, the Islanders will be without the services of several players who made key contributions over the past couple of years:

· Defenseman Radek Martinek signed a one-year, 2.2 million dollar contract to play with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

· Center Zenon Konopka inked a one-way, one-year deal with the Ottawa Senators. The pugilist led the NHL with 307 penalty minutes. His new teammate Chris Neil was second with 210. Konopka also ranked fourth in the league as the Islanders best face-off man last year with a 57.7 face-off percentage (620 FOW/455 FOL).

· Bruno Gervais signed a one-year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He will probably be the team’s sixth or seventh defenseman.

· Rob Schremp will play overseas as a center for MODO of the Swedish Elite League. He will look to rejoin the NHL again in 2012-13.

· Doug Weight officially announced his retirement in May. The 19-year veteran will stay with the Islanders as an assistant coach and special advisor to GM Garth Snow.

· Trent Hunter was traded to the New Jersey Devils for Brian Rolston. Hunter, who missed most of last season with a torn MCL, then had his contract bought out by the Devils. The veteran right-winger is currently an unrestricted free agent, and is attending the Los Angeles Kings training camp on a tryout basis.

The Islanders acquired three key additions during the off-season:

· Marty Reasoner was signed a two-year, 2.7 million-deal. He will add a veteran presence to the Islanders crop of young talent. Last year he tallied 14 goals and 32 points for the Florida Panthers. The Islanders plan to use him as a fourth line center and a face-off specialist, two roles of need caused by the departure of Konopka.

· Brian Rolston was acquired in the deal that sent Hunter to the Devils. He too was brought over to provide a veteran presence to the club. In addition, his 3 million dollar contract which brought the Islanders closer to the salary cap floor played no small part in his acquisition. It will be interesting to see what exactly will be Rolston’s role. He believes he can be a top-six forward, but it is hard to believe the Islanders not giving these positions to the youngsters. Most likely he will man the point on the power play and may end up opposite Mark Streit on the first unit.

· Tim Wallace signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Isles. He played the past five years with the Pittsburgh Penguins’ organization, spending most of last year in the minors with their AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton team. There he registered 20 goals and 37 points in 62 games. He was held scoreless in the seven games he played with the big club. Wallace, who plays right-wing, will likely be used as organizational depth for the Isles.

The Islanders have put together a group of outstanding young prospects that many consider second to none. The youngsters most likely to have impact in the next couple of years are:

· Ryan Strome was the fifth overall pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. He is a plus puck handler and has great passing skills. The center is considered an average skater but is expected to get better as he grows. Strome has a good wrist-shot and is not afraid to go to the goal-mouth area. Scouts are pleased with his work ethic. The 18-year old projects to be a first line center who will probably make a number of All-Star appearances. Strome still needs to fill out his lanky six foot, 175 pound body and prepare physically for the next level. He most likely will spend the 2011-12 season in major junior hockey.

· Nino Niederreiter was the fifth overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. The power forward works hard on both ends of the ice and has an above-average physical game. His 6’2’’, 205 pound frame has filled out well and he is considered strong for his young age (18). Some scouts questioned his work ethic after being sent down to the Portland Winterhawks last season, claiming he looked disinterested. However, he is safely projected to be a good second line forward. Niederreiter is almost certain to start the season with the Islanders. However, he may initially have a tough time cracking a top-six role. He should at least garner third line minutes so that his development and progress will not be stunted.

· Calvin de Haan was selected in the first round as the 12^th overall pick by the Isles in 2009. The 20-year old is considered a smooth-skating defenseman although he is does not exhibit above-average speed. He is especially known as a plus passer who has great distribution skills. He rarely gets rattled when under pressure and has good hockey sense. His weakness is his lack of physical play and physical growth. He still has yet to fill out his 6’1’’, 189 pound frame despite his age. Thus de Haan will most likely spend most of this season in Bridgeport (AHL) where he can get used to the rigors of the pro game. There is no reason for the Isles to rush him at this time.

The Islanders showed noticeable improvement in their specialty teams last year as compared to their dismal 2009-10 season. They ranked 17^th in the league recording a 17.2 power play percentage in 2010-11 after ranking 27^th with a 16.0 percentage the year prior. Their penalty kill percentage also improved to 83.2 percent (12^th in the league) from 77.1 percent (29^th in the league) in 2009-10.

Frans Nielsen led the NHL in 2010-11 with seven shorthanded goals. Michael Grabner was second with six.

The Islanders were involved in 24 overtime contests last season resulting in an 11-13 record. In those that involved the shootout, they were 4-6.

The Islanders will depend on Marty Reasoner to be their face-off specialist. Last year he led the Panthers with a 54.5 percent face-off percentage (700 FOW/784 FOL). The Isles will also lean on John Tavares who ended last season with a 52.5 percent face-off percentage (693 FOW/626 FOL).

Until roles are defined in training camp, it will be difficult to speculate the exact make-up of this season’s power play units. Most likely, Streit and Rolston will get first crack at the points since the Isles have shown they are not afraid to use a forward back there. I personally would like to see Travis Hamonik man the point, but it is probably Rolston’s position to lose. The first unit will probably be a mix of Tavares- Matt Moulson- PA Parenteau-Streit-Rolston, and maybe Kyle Okposo-Nielsen-Hamonic-Andrew MacDonald with Blake Comeau or Josh Bailey on the second unit. The team added and enjoyed Parenteau’s right-handed shot for the power play last year, so don’t expect him to be demoted without a fight.

I leave the prognostications to my friends Gary and John. However, I do see a team that is on the rise and can no longer be ignored. The Achilles’ heel for the Islanders remains the potential revolving door at goal. Will Rick DiPietro be able to extricate himself from the disabled list? Will Al Montoya also recover from injury, and if so, will he be able to match his success from last year? Will Evgeny Nabokov be able to shake off the rust after being two years removed from the NHL, and if so, will he then soon be traded?

The Islanders look potent up front and if Streit can keep healthy, I like the mixture at the blue line. I see the team earning 85 points in a difficult division. They will battle for the eighth and final playoff spot until the last game of the season. Unfortunately, I see them losing a heartbreaking, overtime shootout decision on a dreary April 7, 2012 night in Columbus. However, 2012-13 will then be the season that the hockey world will attribute to the origins of the next New York Islander dynasty

Off-Season Addition - Marty Reasoner

Fans like to dream of the glory, the excitement, the wins that "can't-miss" prospects or potential superstars might bring to the team they ardently root for. When John Tavares was selected first overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Islander fans were hoping that he could help propel the club from Atlantic Division bottom-feeders to perennial Stanley Cup contenders.
Similarly, optimism now runs high because of the steady stream of young talent the Islanders have recently conglomerated through high draft picks and astute late-round selections. Many consider this talent as "elite," and the system having great upside and incredible depth. Thus, current players such as Ty Wishart and Travis Hamonic, skating prospects Ryan Strome, Kirill Kabanov, Nino Niederreiter, and Calvin de Haan, and goalie prospects Kevin Poulin and Mikko Koskinen have many Islander fans agog.
Yet through the fog of this excitement, it is oftentimes difficult to see the importance of a steady, unheralded veteran who helps tap a young team's potential. A veteran player who quietly battles in the trenches on the third or fourth line, and leaves the accolades to others. A veteran whose best attribute may be as a calming influence to a young, inexperienced team.
Fortunately, Islanders general manager Garth Snow saw through the fog. And contrary to what many would consider a dull off-season move, he secured the services of unrestricted free-agent Marty Reasoner for two years at a total of 2.7 million dollars.
The 34 year-old center joined the Islanders on July 1 after registering 14 goals (a career high) and 18 assists in 82 games last season with the Florida Panthers. Prior to his time with Florida, he spent the previous two seasons (2008-10) with the Atlanta Thrashers posting 18 goals and 47 points in 159 games.
Reasoner began his NHL career with the St. Louis Blues in 1998. He was then traded to the Edmonton Oilers in 2001, the club with whom he has had his most tenure. As a free-agent in 2004-05, he opted to play overseas for EC Red Bull Salzburg-Austria. Reasoner then rejoined the Oilers in 2005-06, but was traded to the Boston Bruins at the end of the season. Again, he rejoined the Oilers for the 2006-07 season.
Reasoner has been quite durable during his long NHL career. He has played in at least 72 games per year since 2005. In 2003-04, he was limited to 17 games after suffering separate ankle and knee injuries, his only extended stints on injured reserve. Since then he has remained relatively healthy.
Reasoner is an intelligent player who is effective checking opposing centers. He has good hockey sense and above average passing ability. Drafted by the Blues for his offensive skills, Reasoner has unfortunately been unable to produce them at the NHL level.
He has, however, turned into a fine defensive center and a good penalty killer. Reasoner is especially adept in the face-off circle, consistently ranking in the league's top 25 for face-off percentage. Last year, he ranked 21st (54.5 percent). It is for these reasons that the Islander brass allowed fan-favorite Zenon Konopka to leave via free-agency, although he too is among the best face-off men in the game and is notorious for his time spent in the penalty box (a league-leading 307 PIM's last season). At the time of Reasoner's signing, Snow said, " The addition of Marty solidifies our center position."
Reasoner sees the Islanders as a tough, upcoming team. " We played them in Florida twice during the second half and they had their way with us. They were a tough team to match up against. They are building in the right direction. Hopefully that can translate into a really good start this October so that we'll have a great year," he said.
Reasoner will do whatever it takes to help the club. "I'm going to come in and work hard on face-offs, be there on the penalty kill, and be solid two-ways, trying to chip in offensively, but really be good defensively. Really for me, it's just trying to help out in any way that I can," he stated.
The New York native finally takes his trade back home to Long Island and should provide that steady, veteran presence that will finally help unleash this young Islander team's immense talent.