Opposing teams are not the only ones that need to look out for Guardado, but also new members of the club. Guardado is well-known for his clubhouse pranks and jokes.

“Those guys out there ought to be afraid,” Gardenhire said, pointing into the visiting clubhouse containing Guardado’s new teammates. “Because he takes it to another level to entertain in the clubhouse. We’ve tried to tell them.

“That’s one of the reasons we’re able to do this with Eddie. We know him. Look out rookies — I guarantee it.”

Well – good advice Coach! Let’s hope we hear some stories very soon about some rookie being introduced to Guardado.

Post from: EveryJoe

Everyday Eddie back with Twins

The Arizona Diamondbacks are grasping for straws in an attempt to hang on to their slim one-and-a-half-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West. After the Dodgers hauled in Manny Ramirez, the D-Backs answered with … Adam Dunn?

I’m sure you’ve heard all the details already about the acquisition of Dunn and what Arizona sent to the Cincinnati Reds. Sure, Dunn is one of the top home run hitters in the game this season. However, look at this from another angle.

The Diamondbacks are struggling with offensive production in the outfield. Outside of Connor Jackson, who has split time between the outfield and first base this season, no other Diamondbacks outfielder is batting over .242. Now – add Dunn into the mix, who is hitting a sultry .233. Doesn’t make much sense, does it?

It’s only a matter of time before the Dodgers catch and pass Arizona, who is almost guaranteed to look foolish for making this move. Good thing for the Diamondbacks they didn’t give up much in the deal.

Photo: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

This won’t get it ‘Dunn’

The Boston Red Sox aren’t done just yet. After sending off Manny Ramirez and acquiring Jason Bay, the Red Sox have now put in a claim on San Diego Padres outfielder Brian Giles.

It seems that the Sox are still looking for some help to either fill the void left by Ramirez or maybe just an insurance policy in case David Ortiz’s wrist doesn’t hold up. Either way, the Red Sox and Padres could be in the process of working out a deal for Giles.

Several scenarios have surfaced, including Giles going to the Red Sox for the remaining of the 2008 season and possibly returning to San Diego for 2009. There’s a possibility that Boston just put in a claim on Giles in order to block other teams from picking him up (like Tampa Bay or the New York Yankees).

Photo: Newscom

Post from: EveryJoe

Brian Giles claimed by Red Sox

“The Red Sox don’t deserve a player like me,” Ramirez told ESPNdeportes.com. “During my years here, I’ve seen how they [the Red Sox] have mistreated other great players when they didn’t want them to try to turn the fans against them.

“The Red Sox did the same with guys like Nomar Garciaparra and Pedro Martinez, and now they do the same with me. Their goal is to paint me as the bad guy. I love Boston fans, but the Red Sox don’t deserve me. I’m not talking about money. Mental peace has no price, and I don’t have peace here.”

It’s safe to say after seeing Torre in those State Farm commercials that Ramirez may find his ‘mental peace’ on the west coast. Now it will be interesting to see how Dodger fans react to having Ramirez in the lineup and, most importantly, in left field.

Red Sox fans haven’t forgotten about Ramirez, yet. There’s already a tribute video – and here it is.

LINK TO SOURCE FOR QUOTE

Post from: EveryJoe

Video Tribute to Manny Ramirez

Jayson Stark at ESPN.com has a great read about “Winners and losers at the time that were short-lived.” I still remember #9. I thought Randy Johnson would lift the Houston Astros all the way to a World Series championship. Man, would I like to go back and make that trade not happen. If only the ‘Stros had Carlos Guillen and Freddy Garcia when they were in their prime!

The Kansas City Star has an article in today’s newspaper titled “Baseball history shows that trade-deadline deals offer limited help at a high cost,” written by Sam Mellinger. The article has a BIG picture of Pudge. Hmm….

Even TheStreet.com is getting in on the trading deadline action. They put out a good read called “MainStreet: Baseball Trades Mean Big Bucks.”

Dan at Connolly’s Corner Sports Bar (a Baltimore Sun blog) is asking what would you do with George Sherrill at the deadline?

This Philadelphia Phillies fan says the Phils “whiffed” by not trading for Ivan Rodriguez…. Really? Talk to the Detroit Tigers about that.

Post from: EveryJoe

Deadline day links

It’s a wonderful time of the year…for the teams still in the race. For other teams, it’s just another time to watch their young superstar or aging superstar of their favorite team get shipped out to a contender. This has the makings of being one of the biggest trading deadlines that I can remember with so many big names being talked about.

The Boston Red Sox are deciding whether or not to trade Manny Ramirez. The Cincinnati Reds are awaiting approval from Ken Griffey, Jr., before they send him to the Chicago White Sox. The New York Yankees are always looking to deal (picked up Ivan Rodriguez yesterday). And teams that you never thought would have a chance are becoming big players in today’s trading deadline (Tampa Bay Rays and Florida Marlins).

Today is one of those days when you just want to be able to tap into Peter Gammons or Jayson Stark or Buster Olney’s cell phone and just hear their “sources” talk about deals that are going or could go down.

Maybe it’s the fact that Major League Baseball doesn’t have a salary cap that makes their trading deadline so interesting. It seems that just about any player can be traded to any other team, no matter what their contract looks like. In the case of Griffey, he has the chance to turn down the offer and stay in Cincinnati. But would you want to do that? This team just traded you, and they need you to agree to go. I would go. Chicago is in first place of the American League Central, while Cincinnati will never make it to World Series while Griffey is still an active MLB player.

Just tune into ESPN and watch it all unfold. Let’s hope your team is one of the teams that benefits from the deadline and not one that sells off their superstars.

Post from: EveryJoe

Trading deadline looms

The latest rumors are that the Astros are still on the market for pitching. There’s no doubt in my mind that Houston should have been in that market before the season, instead of trading away several quality players for shortstop Miguel Tejada.

With an already depleted farm system, I’m not sure what else the Astros can afford to trade this season, unless Wade decides to start giving up some salary (i.e. Carlos Lee) and looking for high quality prospects in return to begin building for the future. Hopefully, Wade sees the light at the end of the tunnel and decides to do the right thing – not trade for any more veteran players that have expensive contracts. I guess we’ll just have to wait until August 1st to see what he decides to do.

Post from: EveryJoe

Houston Astros – buyers now?

Image details: Event Eulogizes Ted Williams served by picapp.com

Wouldn’t you like to know what names ESPN analyst Peter Gammons has inside his cell phone? I mean, think about it… Gammons is always posting leads and breaks on Baseball Tonight, among the other ESPN shows after “just talking to a source.” Most of the time, the source is the actual person either making the deal or involved in the deal.

Gammons is probably a little busy at this time of the year, considering the trade deadline is just under three weeks away. I would guess that Gammons makes about 100 or more calls a day, trying to get tips on any possible trades. I wouldn’t be surprised if he talks to each front office in MLB every day.

But the answer I really want to know. Who’s the most unlikely person in Gammons’ loaded cell phone? Let me know what you think.

Post from: EveryJoe

Peter Gammons and his cell phone