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A-Rod Rumors and Taking the D out of D-Rays
First of all, Ryan Zimmerman is fine. According to the Nationals, Zimmerman who had surgery on his wrist Wednesday, is expected to make a full recovery and will be ready in 4-6 weeks. He will wear a splint for about a week and then “almost immediately begin light rehab.”
While we’re on the subject of local baseball, the Orioles were mentioned in one Hot Stove report as a potential relocation spot for Alex Rodriguez. If this rumor is more than just that—a rumor—then A-Rod’s arrival in the Charm City could certainly alter the Baltimore sports landscape indefinitely.
Aside from the ramifications of the move on the field, one also has to notice that the Orioles Front Office, which has not historically had a strong relationship with Scott Boras (Rodriguez’s agent), would be making a 180-degree reversal in dealing with the Uber-agent. The O’s did work out a deal this past season with Boras on 1st-round pick Matt Wieters, but time will certainly be the judge here.
Now, a few SOLIDS to pass out:
(Note for the "Hip Impaired": Not solids as in the opposite of fluids. These solids are just praise for happenings around baseball).
New Threads: The D’Rays released their new uniforms for next season. I don’t think they are that bad…you be the judge. Why does Carlos Pena get stuck wearing the road jersey? [link]
Men at Work: Major League Baseball has mandated that all base coaches must wear some sort of head protection while on the field [link]. This comes after former major leaguer and Rockies coach Mike Coolbaugh died this summer when he was hit with a ball during a minor league game.
The type of protection is still to be determined according to Joe Garagiola, Jr, MLB’s senior vice president for baseball operations, “We're going to come back in Nashville with some options: liners, hard caps, helmets without flaps, helmets with flaps."
Honestly, I think they should get those sweet beer helmets or maybe even Rasta hats. [link]
Thumbs Up: You should see Coming to America again…it’s a great movie.
Package Deal: What would happen if Miguel Cabrera left Florida and stopped terrorizing the Nationals (.362 BA, 21 HR, 75 RBI in 82 games)??? Well, he might go to the Yankees and do the same vs. the Orioles (.333 BA vs the Birds all-time). According to the Los Angeles Times, who must deal with the Cabrera sweepstakes for both the Dodgers and Angels, the Marlins demanded that Angels 2B Howie Kendrick must be in any trade for the third baseman.
Honestly, when was the last time someone with the name Howie was part of any trade demand? I’m gonna spend all week thinking of the best ‘Howie’ in sports history—and I’ll post them next week. I might be struggling on that task by the way. [link]
New Evil Empire? If the Red Sox get Athletics ace Danny Haren or Twins ace Johan Santana, everyone should just pack their bags. They might be just rumors, but there is some chatter about the Sox packaging one of their young pitchers (Clay Buchholz or Jon Lester) in some sort of deal. Again, just pack your bags. [link]
Monumental View: If you haven’t already, you should check out Clark Construction’s camera that tracks the progress of the Nationals field being built. Looks awesome. I’ll be down at the park this week and I’ll take some pictures and post them. [link]
Home Games: Another key story to watch in the off-season is some of the ill-will being generated between the District of Columbia lawmakers and the Nationals. After a number of public feuds surfaced over the past few years about the public funding for the stadium and the surrounding infrastructure, now the District is upset that the Nationals are taking one of their celebratory parties outside the District. Great article summarizing the viewpoints in Tuesday’s Washington Post. [link]
Matt Perl is an Associate Producer/Producer with MASN. Prior to his time with MASN, Matt spent 4 years with ESPN in Bristol, CT. He is a graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University.
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