Manny Ramirez decided to take the money. Ramirez picked up his $20 million option to stay with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He could have tested free agency but the slugger will take the sure thing.
If the Dodgers had a choice, they probably would have liked Ramirez to opt out. The 37-year-old wasn’t too dominant last season. He hit .290 with 19 homers and 63 RBIs. The most noise he made was when he was suspended for testing positive for PEDs.
Ramirez also angered a lot of people with his antics — as is usually the case. As the saying goes, it’s …read more

Brad Mills has been the bench coach for the Boston Red Sox for the last half dozen years. Now, the 52-year-old has a team to call his own. The Houston Astros named Mills as their new manager on Tuesday.
The Astros first offered their manager spot to Manny Acta, however Acta decided to instead become the new manager of the Cleveland Indians. With Acta unavailable, Houston turned to Mills.
Although Mills hasn’t been a manager on the big league level, you has plenty of experience on the minor league level. He was a manager in the minor leagues with the Los Angeles …read more

The Los Angeles Angels have had no recent success against the Boston Red Sox in the postseason. This year, things were different. With a 7-6 victory, the Angels completed a three-game sweep of the Red Sox.
When the Red Sox entered the eighth inning with a 5-2 lead, the Angels’ chances didn’t appear to be too great. But, with the Angels trailing by a run in the ninth, Vladimir Guerrero hit a two-run single to give Los Angeles the lead. Brian Fuentes pitched a perfect ninth to put the Red Sox to bed.
Guerrero finished the contest 2-for-4 with one run and …read more

With their 100th win of the 2009 baseball season, the New York Yankees have clinched the American League East. To make it even sweeter, the clinching win also swept the arch rival Boston Red Sox.
Although the Red Sox went up 2-0, the Yankees scored four straight times to win 4-2. The big hits were solo home runs by Melky Cabrera and Mark Teixeira in addition to a two-run single by Hideki Matsui.
On the mound, starting pitcher Andy Pettitte performed well for New York. He went six innings and gave up two earned runs to improve his record to 14-7. Mariano …read more

The New York Yankees spent a ton of money in the offseason. One of their main splurges was the signing of starting pitcher CC Sabathia. In the first year of the deal, the Yankees have to be happy with their return on investment.
On Saturday, Sabathia was fantastic as the Yankees beat the hated Boston Red Sox by a final count of 2-0. In seven innings, Sabathia gave up only one hit while striking out eight batters to improve his record on the season to 19-7 and lower his ERA to 3.21.
The runs for the Yankees were accumulated thanks to a …read more

Things went from bad to worse in the third inning of the game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees for Red Sox starting pitcher Jon Lester. Lester, who had given up eight hits, three walks and five earned runs already, was hit with a liner near his right knee. After laying on the ground in obvious pain, he was removed from the contest.
X-rays were taken and they were negative. Right now, Boston is calling Lester’s injury a bruised quad. It’s uncertain whether or not Lester will be forced to miss any action.
The Red Sox went on …read more

After another stellar outing for Zack Greinke of the Kansas City Royals, it’s starting to look more and more like he’s the favorite for the AL Cy Young Award. He was great to start the season, then had a relatively average stretch but Greinke has been masterful down the stretch of the season.
Against the Boston Red Sox on Monday, Greinke went six scoreless innings to pick up his 15th win of the year. He struck out five batters and lowered his ERA on the season to 2.08.
In his last five starts, Greinke has been awesome. During that stretch, he has …read more

Michael Young, the All-Star third baseman for the Texas Rangers, is struggling to come back from a hamstring injury. He recently batted in a simulated game and reported that he simply wasn’t ready to play.
Young was injured on September 1st and since then has only one at-bat. In that lone at-bat, which took place on September 15th against the Oakland Athletics, Young once again felt pain after getting off balance.
A couple of weeks ago, the Rangers appeared to be in a good position in the AL Wild Card race. But after injuries to Young and Josh Hamilton, Texas is now …read more

Josh Hamilton has missed 12 straight games due to a back injury. The Texas Rangers outfielder is also now battling an injury to his right glute. With the pair of injuries, team insiders believe that it’s very likely Hamilton’s 2009 baseball season is over.
The Rangers as a whole seem to be headed toward a disappointing finish. At 80-65, Texas is 6.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox in the AL Wild Card race. On Wednesday, the Rangers got shut out by the Oakland Athletics and lost their fourth straight contest.
Even if the Rangers surprisingly get help from Hamilton before the …read more

After pitching very well last season, the 2009 baseball season has been a struggle for Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka. On Tuesday, the native of Japan took a big step toward salvaging his campaign.
In his first start since June 19th, Matsuzaka pitched six scoreless innings against the Los Angeles Angels. He gave up three hits, three walks and struck out five. He was able pick up his second win of the season and lowered his ERA from 8.23 to 7.02.
Thanks to Matsuzaka’s effort on the mound, the Red Sox topped the Angels by a final count of 4-1. …read more