Greetings from the Bally’s Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV. Since I am on a business trip and my time is limited, I thought I would group a couple of posts into one.
By the way, if you want to feel better about yourself, just walk around in the Bally’s casino at around 8 o'clock in the morning. It’s not a pretty place.
Let’s see what is going on around the majors.
Jacoby Ellsbury has broken ribs
This injury is right out of the New York Mets’ playbook for diagnosing injuries. Ellsbury, who has been out since April 11 because of a rib cage injury, was diagnosed with four broken ribs yesterday.
The odd thing is that Ellsbury has two x-rays previously that revealed no broken ribs. It is not known when Ellsbury will return, but his loss is a big one for the Red Sox. He is the one guy in their lineup who can turn walks and singles into doubles and triples.
The Tampa Bay Rays lock up Ben Zobrist
The Rays signed Zobrist to a five-year, $30 million contract yesterday. The last two years of the contract are club options.
This is a really good signing by the Rays because not only is Zobrist a very good offensive player, but his versatility alone is worth the money. Zobrist can play second, short, and right.
Zobrist enjoyed his breakout season last year. He was an All-Star for the first time in 2009, batting .297 with 27 home runs, 91 RBI, 17 steals, and a .405 on-base percentage.
There is Smoak in Texas
It was only a matter of time before the Texas Rangers called up first base prospect Justin Smoak. That time was yesterday.
The Rangers called up Smoak and demoted last year’s fantasy mancrush Chris Davis to Triple-A. This is the second time in the last year that Davis has been sent down to the minors. Davis is still young, but it looks like he will never be the player everyone expected him to be.
He might be falling into the Quadruple-A player category.
As for Smoak, this kid is the real deal. He was hitting .326 with two homers and 15 RBI in Triple-A and will make his major league debut against the Detroit Tigers on Friday night.
He should be picked up in all Keeper League formats.
Manny Ramirez goes on the 15-day DL
It’s kind of amazing how Ramirez has gone relatively unnoticed recently. Unless you are a Los Angeles Dodgers fan, you haven’t heard much about Ramirez’ .415/2/12 start.
The Dodgers will now be without Ramirez for 15 days because of a right-calf strain. He hurt the calf running to first base in Thursday night’s game against the Cincinnati Reds.
The Dodgers called up Xavier Paul to replace Ramirez on the roster.
The Royals shake up their bullpen
The Royals released Juan Cruz and Luis Mendoza and purchased the contracts of Bruce Chen and Brad Thompson from Triple-A. I could understand Mendoza because he is terrible (10 hits and 10 runs in four innings), but Cruz for Chen?? Really?
That absolutely makes no sense. Cruz was struggling with his command (2.44 WHIP), but he is still probably better than anything the Royals have not named Joakim Soria.
Chen shouldn’t be pitching for any major league team. I don’t understand what the infatuation with him is. He hasn’t been good in five years.
It’s moves like these that tell you why the Royals haven’t been relevant in 20 years.
You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
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