Ryan Freel DFA. Miles on the DL still, I'm assuming they don't want to eat his contract yet (and he swings lefty sometimes).

Hendry told Baker about the trade?
Wouldn't someone from the Rockies organization let him know first?

relief pitcher Alberto Alburquerque... will be assigned to Double-A Tulsa

He shoulda made a left turn at...

Ryan Freel DFA.

One would certainly think someone could use him.

The Phillies coveted Baker throughout last offseason, and they sure as hell could use a bench upgrade over carrying both Coste and Bako. They couldn't do better than a Class A relief pitcher?

Speaking of which, the Phils ought to claim Freel if someone else doesn't do it first.

Hendry told Baker about the trade?

Baker didn't say Hendry told him about the trade, only that he'd talked to Hendry, which usually happens as part of the normal progression - first the current team's GM contacts him to tell him about the trade, then the acquiring team's GM contacts him to find out when he can report.

-- MWE

The Phillies coveted Baker throughout last offseason, and they sure as hell could use a bench upgrade over carrying both Coste and Bako.
Don't forget mini-Brunt. Don't know if Baker can actually play SS though. Agreed with the Phils looking at Freel, assuming they still want Mayberry to work every day in AAA.

Baltimore is paying Freel's contract this season (somewhere around $2.1mil) and the Cubs are paying Joey Gathright's ($800K). If a team claimed Freel on waivers, do they pay his contract or Gathright's?

Wow, Baker has some really dramatic career splits:

vs. LHP .279/.343/.559
vs. RHP .244/.295/.401

Home .295/.348/.550
Road .205/.266/.335

1st Half: .238/.296/.405
2nd Half: .284/.339/.538

So I hope the Cubs plan on only using him in August games at Coors against Jorge de la Rosa.

Nice acquisition by Hendry, this is exactly what the bench needs - a decent bat that can play 3B and 2B. It's especially helpful that he's basically Fontenot from the right side.

I had hopes for Freel, but he looked pretty much done in the little bit he played before getting hurt. His versatility and utility player suited skills certainly mean someone will give him another shot, but I wouldn't count on anything out of him.

While I applaud this acquisition, I hope Hendry realizes that his very solid work in upgrading the bench midseason is due DIRECTLY to his mucking it up in the offseason with the dumb contracts to Miles and Gathright. If the Cubs had gone into this year with Cedeno, Baker, and Freel - the other remaining mistake Baker needs to fix (DeRosa) would have been more palitable.

Don't forget mini-Brunt. Don't know if Baker can actually play SS though.

Baker's a natural 3B who's stretched at 2B, so probably not. Bruntlett's not useless on the bench - he's a decent defensive player all over the diamond, and he hits lefties surprisingly well. If he's your defensive "25th man" and Coste is your backup catcher, that's fine. Without a right-handed threat off the bench, though, you effectively neutralize Dobbs and Stairs in any situation where the opposing team might bring in a LOOGY to face them, as they're both horrible vs. LHP. They need to keep Mayberry on the squad right now for that reason, until a better alternative (Freel, perhaps) presents itself.

Hopefully this keeps Blanco out of the lineup too.

And poor Bobby Scales.

If the Cubs had gone into this year with Cedeno, Baker, and Freel - the other remaining mistake Baker needs to fix (DeRosa) would have been more palitable.

Ronny Cedeno? The guy hitting .136/.212/.252 in Seattle? That's even worse than what Miles is doing. Freel probably would have cost more in the offseason (not to mention the money the Cubs would have likely had to pay). And the Baker needing to fix, I assume you mean Hendry, right?

Couple of other ex-Cubs we've yet to complain about this season-
Rich Hill: 40.2 IP, 46H, 37/27 K/BB, 7.08 ERA.
Felix Pie: .234/.299/.355. 2hr, 8rbi, 14run, 1sb, 3cs.

relief pitcher Alberto Alburquerque...

In case anyone cares (I cared enough to look this sh## up), the family name Alburquerque comes from a city in Spain near the border with Portugal called Alburquerque. (Notice that unlike the city in New Mexico which was misspelled by its Spanish founders, Alburquerque has two r's.) The name, like the name of many places in Spain, comes from Arabic. The Moors called the region, 'Abu al-Qurq,' meaning "father of the cork oak." Abu means father and al-qurq is the cork oak tree.

I guess the Arab word 'qurq' came from Latin, 'quercus,' which is the genus for all species of oaks*, not just corks. (Of course, the English word cork comes from quercus, too.) Long before the Moors conquered Spain, it was a large part of the Roman province of Hispania. I suspect that when the Arabs (aka Moors) arrived in Spain in the 700s, they arabized the Latin quercus to al-qurq.

* Quercus lobata, for example, is the Valley Oak, which is very common in California.

Blanco can't hit, but he's one of the better defenders the Cubs have had in a long time. I'd rather see them keep Fox when Aramis comes back next week, but I forsee them sending Fox down now that they have Baker.

Notice that unlike the city in New Mexico which was misspelled by its Spanish founders

Hey, Cleveland is named after a man named Cleaveland. Or Clevealand. Or something like that. There's a letter in his name they left out of the town's name.

Rich is channeling Alice Cooper in Wayne's World.

Rifkin: that was very interesting, thank you!

Hey, Cleveland is named after a man named Cleaveland.

Yep, Moses.

The place called "Cleaveland" eventually became known as "Cleveland". In 1830, when the first newspaper, the "Cleveland Advertiser," was established, the editor discovered that the head-line was too long for the form, and accordingly left out the letter "a" in the first syllable of "Cleaveland," which spelling was at once adopted by the public.

I have no idea if that's actually true, but if so, it's almost as embarrassing as the burning river.

Ronny Cedeno? The guy hitting .136/.212/.252 in Seattle? That's even worse than what Miles is doing. Freel probably would have cost more in the offseason (not to mention the money the Cubs would have likely had to pay). And the Baker needing to fix, I assume you mean Hendry, right?

Yeah - but Cedeno still has a bit of upside and the Cubs would need a true SS. I was also more or less thinking back to February/March -- before we knew Freel was cooked and Cedeno was flailing worse than usual.

Oh yeah, I meant Hendry... Given the name's recent history here, what are the chances Jeff will change his name?

If he's your defensive "25th man"
Your point is a good one but Bruntlett has gotten so bad offensively that carrying him on a varying 4 to 5 man bench is a problem. I wouldn't look to outright release him but I'd be looking to steal an upgrade all the time.

Bruntlett has gotten so bad offensively that carrying him on a varying 4 to 5 man bench is a problem

Agreed because of the short bench. Alas, with the Phils' starting pitching woes, they pretty much have to carry 12 if not 13 pitchers. I'd gladly discard Bruntlett for Freel or Baker and take my chances on defense, especially since Feliz can slide to SS in a pinch (as he did once last week).

Names in general are set a lot more in stone now than they used to be (which makes sense -- that's pretty much what "setting in stone" means, right?) Pittsburgh used to be "Pittsburg"... as Bill James points out in a very amusing "how exactly did this happen?" aside in the <u>Historical Abstract</u>, "baseball" used to be "base ball"... and franchise names used to change depending simply on what the local sportswriters felt like calling that particular collection of players.

Sorry, the shine was completely off ronny before this season, this year has only confirmed what should have been already obvious. He sucks pretty hard.

Long before the Moors conquered Spain, it was a large part of the Roman province of Hispania. I suspect that when the Arabs (aka Moors) arrived in Spain in the 700s, they arabized the Latin quercus to al-qurq.

And 70% of all cork still comes from Portugal.

Bonus fact: Cutting down a cork tree in Portugal is illegal.