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By Anthony De Franco  July 29, 2009, at 11:45 pm  A couple of weeks ago, I said that it was reported that Randy Couture was going to cover EA’s MMA game. However, EA confirmed via press release today that the World’s #1 Heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko will be the marketing key to the game.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS), announced today that Fedor Emelianenko, the world’s top ranked* MMA heavyweight, will headline the EA SPORTS MMA fighter roster. Emelianenko will be joined by Gegard Mousasi and Renato Sobral, both of whom will be featured in a title bout at the STRIKEFORCE fight on August 15, as the first of a long list of fighters who will appear in EA SPORTS MMA, the all-new mixed martial arts title coming in 2010.
This is interesting because Dana White wants to get Fedor into the fold. He’s also said that there is no way that he will sign any fighter that signs with EA. However, White has shown in the past that he isn’t stubborn enough to cost himself huge sums of money.
By Zach Schiff July 29, 2009, at 9:05 pm Yes, we are still alive. However, with temperatures in the mid 80s and rain escaping us (save for the lightning storms we are currently having), nothing has been going on in the hockey world, and we’ve been on mini-hiatus.
Two things of note though. With the money saved on Nik Zherdev, who is probably 90% not returning after the Rangers low-balled him (the arbitration process is simply going through the motions, I would think, to sever ties with him), the Rangers got Ales Kotalik. Wouldn’t it also be nice to sign Alex Tanguay to a 1- or 2-year deal in the $3M range? Don’t you think he’d rather play with Marian Gaborik in Manhattan than with Kyle Turris in the desert?
And about Phoenix: Why is the NHL so intent on making this mistake work? I wrote about it two months ago, and it still stands. This team has lost $60M over the past season. It won’t get better, no matter who is running the show. It’s hockey. It’s a desert. The only desert city I can see with hockey is Las Vegas. Not Phoenix (or Glendale, or Scottsdale, or Sedona). Time to move.
Yet the NHL doesn’t accept Jim Balsillie’s bid again, even though he offered over $200M, $40M more than the guy whose bid was accepted (Jerry Reinsdorf, who owns the Bulls and White Sox).
Something’s going on behind the scenes that we don’t know about. Think about it: Let’s say you have a broken car 2,000 miles away, and 2 people wanted to buy it. One person was going to keep it in the same crappy lot and pay you $1,600 for it; one person was going to move it to an area where he could fix the car AND he’d pay you $2,100 for it. No-brainer, no?
No.
Odd.
By Jason Comack July 29, 2009, at 7:52 pm Freddy Sanchez has been traded for Tim Alderson. Alderson was ranked the #4 prospect in the Giants’ system by Baseball America. Keith Law recently ranked the 20-year-old Alderson the 26th-best prospect in all of baseball. Reports also say the Pirates are contributing no money in the deal.
I can’t get over what a horrible, horrible trade this was for the Giants. Apparently common sense day is over. The Giants desperately needed offense but Freddy Sanchez isn’t putting them over the top.
Sanchez is hitting .296/.334/.442 on the year. His line is likely inflated by his .343 BABIP. Sanchez is however having a very good year defensively. He saves 6.3 Runs/150 games according to Ultimate Zone Rating. All in all statistically Sanchez is a 2.2 Win player using win shares. And really how much does that help the Giants considering Juan Urbie was playing somewhat respectably. The value of Sanchez over Uribe is only 1 win.
Considering the Pirates would have gladly traded Sanchez as a salary dump the fact that they could get a top prospect and not pay his salary is amazing. For the Giants it’s totally incomprehensible. If the Giants offered Alderson for Adam Dunn I think the Nationals happily do it. Dunn is the type of bat that could make an impact, Sanchez is not.
Terrible Brian Sabean just terrible.
By Jason Comack July 29, 2009, at 4:05 pm Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi report that the sides have agreed to a deal that sends Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco to Philly for Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald and Lou Marson. The teams still have to examine medical records for the deal to go through.
Another trade that’s very easy to like for both sides. What is it common sense day?
The Phillies get a front line pitcher with a reasonable contract, 8 million in 2009, for less than it would have cost (both in terms of prospects and cash) to get Roy Halladay. The upside for the Phillies is obvious, Hamels and Lee form a great one-two punch at the top of the rotation. The Phils already had a tea that was one of the favorite to make a deep playoff run and now they just might have become the team to beat.
The appeal for the Indians is obvious. They save money, the Phillies were assuming all of Lee’s contract, and get a lot of prospects as well. The Indians say that Knapp is the centerpiece of the trade. Knapp, an 18 year old right, is a pitcher that one scout called “a Roy Halladay clone.” At 6′5 he’s got the size and raw stuff to be a front of the line pitcher. Needless to say, at 18 years of age there’s an awful lot of projection that goes with a statement like that. At A ball he’s 2-7 but don’t let the record fool you, Kanpp has a stuck out 111 batters in only 85 innings.
Along with Knapp the Indians get two potentially MLB ready prospects in Carrasco and Marson. Going into the season Carrasco was considered by many to be the prospect in the Phillies organization. However, Carrasco has struggled mightly at AAA. He has a 5.18 ERA but has struck out 112 in 114 innings. He also has an impressive 3-1 K/BB rate. Ideally Carrasco projects as a number three starter.
Marson is a catcher who could be called up right away if Victor Martinez is dealt. While many will peg Marson as the catcher of the future I’m not so sure. He’s struggled somewhat at AAA and has no pop in his bat. He’s a guy whose going to take a lot of pitches and get a lot of walks but he projects as more of a number two hitter. On the other hand the Indians have Carlos Santana already in their system. Santana has crushed every level of pitching in the minors. He currently has a .275/.397/.536 line at AA.
Jason Donald is a player who is struggling at AAA and turning 25 in a couple of months. I’m not sure if he projects as anything more than a utility player at this point in his career.
Again it’s easy to like the trade for both sides but you have to really like what the Phillies did here. They got Lee while holding onto Drabek, Brown, Taylor and J.A. Happ. For the Indians they get a ton of young talent back but you have to wonder if they could have gotten more back. I like Carrasco and Knapp but I’m lukewarm and Marson and Donald. I wonder if they could have substituted Taylor or Brown for Marson and Donald. Wouldn’t that have been a better trade?
By Jason Comack July 29, 2009, at 3:37 pm Ed Price of AOL Fanhouse reports that the Reds have acquired outfielder Wladimir Balentien from the Mariners in exchange for RHP Robert Manuel.
Balentien is a talented player who could never seem to translate his tools to success in the MLB. Much like Jeff Clement, also traded today, Balentien had no future with the M’s. The M’s get back Manuel, a 26 year old reliever, who was the AA relief pitcher of the year last year. Manuel has been solid in AAA this year and could immediately find a spot in Seattles bullpen.
By Jason Comack July 29, 2009, at 3:32 pm Mariners acquired SS Jack Wilson and RHP Ian Snell from the Pirates for SS Ronny Cedeno, C Jeff Clement and RHPs Aaron Pribanic, Brett Lorin and Nathan Adcock.
Interesting trade here for both sides. For the Mariners I can’t imagine this is an indication that they are shoving all the chips into the middle. At 7.5 games out of the division and 6.5 out of the wild card I can’t imagine the Mariners suddenly becoming buyers. The benefit of this trade for the M’s comes as much next year as this year.
Jack Wilson is one of the best defensive shortstops in the bigs and since the M’s are building the team around pitching and defense it’s a logical acquisition. However his contract isn’t very pretty. Wilson makes 7.25 million this year and 8.4 million next year. Snell, 27, is a pitcher who scouts still think has upside. He’s had a very average MLB career but has been lights out since the Pirates demoted him to triple A. Like Wilson, Snell is under contract for next year (4.25 millilon) the M’s also have two player options on him for 2011 and 2012. If Snell rebound that contract could look like a bargain.
It’s also being reported that the Pirates are giving the Mariners significant financial relief. Kovacevic reports that the Pirates will pay nearly all of the money owed to Wilson and Snell this year. The Mariners will pay each player $400k. The Pirates will send a total of $3,308,702.19 to Seattle along with Snell and Wilson. So all in all the M’s get two players who will help them this year for only 800k. They also get Snell for next year and possibly Wilson.
In exchange the Pirates receive a pretty decent haul. The key player is Clement. Clement was once considered a top prospect but fell out of favor in Seattle. Clement doesn’t project to catcher long term but Pirates do have a need at first base. Ronny Cedeno is probably nothing more than a utility player but he comes cheap. Pribanic, Lorin and Adcock are all young right handers. Lorin might be the most intriugining of the bunch. He’s big, 6′7, young, 22, and has 2.44 ERA while striking out 87 batter in 88 innings at A ball.
Seems to be a solid deal for both teams. The Mariners get players who can help them both short and long term without taking on extra salary and not trading their top prospects. The Pirates continue to clean house and add solid prospects to an already deep farm system. They also clear money for 2010 in the process.
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