ANAHEIM ANGELS
Placed C Bengie Molina on the 15-day DL; recalled C Jose Molina from Triple-A Salt Lake. (07.17)

It must be nice to have Jose around whenever Bengie gets an owie. You wouldn't even have to get a new uniform if you really didn't feel like it.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Placed SS Mike Bordick on the 15-day DL. (07.16)

Recalled OF Luis Matos from Double-A Bowie. (07.17)

Bordick is growing increasingly brittle as he grows increasingly old, and the Orioles have overvalued him ever since his fluke offensive output in 2000 that led to his stretch-drive trade to the Mets and then his offseason re-signing. He hit 20 homers between the teams that year, and has all of 11 since then, and played just 58 games last year. He's really not worth keeping around on a team like this, but whatever. They're too thrilled with Rodrigo Lopez, Travis Driskill and Jay Gibbons to notice that everyone else besides their few players with talent (Batista, Jason Johnson, Ponson) has sucked rocks all season long.

Another thing that makes me wonder about is why the Mets continue to employ Rey Ordonez as their starting shortstop. I get that he's a good (if overrated) defensive shortstop, but they were smart enough to acquire someone that could hit for the 2000 run, and they got to the World Series. Not because of it, really, but still. Wouldn't you think they'd REMEMBER that Ordonez stinks?

Matos will be up for a bit and then he'll go back down, until eventually he is waived and someone like the Rangers or Mariners gives him a go.

CLEVELAND INDIANS
Activated RHP David Riske from the 15-day DL; optioned RHP Dave Elder to Triple-A Buffalo. (07.17)

Riske is a pitcher I like. I'm not sure that he'll be a future closer, because it's hard to ever tell, but he's got good stuff and a tough mentality. He could be the successor to Bob Wickman that the Tribe will need in this bunk rebuilding phase.

DETROIT TIGERS
Outrighted RHP Jose Paniagua to Triple-A Toledo; recalled LHP Jamie Walker from Toledo. (07.19)

Paniagua was overrated last season, but he did allow just seven homers in 66 innings of relief for the Mariners. In a similar and possibly even better pitchers park in Detroit, he's allowed nine in 36 innings. You'd think you could stick a flyball reliever in Comerica and the results would be at least acceptable, but that's not been the case. Maybe he just misses winning all the time and coming in with 8-1 leads. Walker held his own in 27 appearances already this year, so he could be up for good now.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS
Outrighted RHP Cory Bailey to Triple-A Omaha. (07.18)

I don't know what the Royals are doing with their 17 pitchers that are all the same to me. Cory Bailey reminds me of Jeff Suppan, Blake Stein, Dan Reichert, Shawn Sedlacek, Kris Wilson, etc.

TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS
Placed RHP Ryan Rupe on the 15-day DL; recalled RHP Brandon Backe from Triple-A Orlando. (07.16)

Placed LHP Wilson Alvarez on the 15-day DL. (07.17)

Purchased the contract of RHP Luis de los Santos from Triple-A Orlando. (07.18)

Wilson Alvarez! Fat guy, gets hurt a lot.

Ryan Rupe! Talented pitcher, could break out any year now.

Luis de los Santos! How come so many players have that last name? And they're always pitchers.

TEXAS RANGERS
Activated OF Gabe Kapler from the 15-day DL; activated RHP Danny Kolb from the 60-day DL; optioned RHP Joaquin Benoit to Triple-A Oklahoma; designated LHP Randy Flores for assignment. (07.16)

Krapler will probably get some time in center field because hey, he should be better than Ruben Rivera. I mean you'd have to hope. And Carl Everett is not a center fielder anymore. Benoit was all over the place in his one spot start, going five innings with two hits allowed but seven walks, throwing 105 pitches and allowing five earned runs against the Royals. That'll probably be it for him...for a month or so. Kolb is another just plain bad pitcher that the Rangers see something in that nobody else does.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS
Optioned SS? Felipe Lopez to Triple-A Syracuse; purchased the contract of OF Dewayne Wise from Syracuse. (07.18)

Lopez could be moving to second base, but JP Ricciardi is insistent that he'll be back in Toronto, one way or another. That's good, because Joe Lawrence and Chris Woodward as the All-Uberhonky middle infield isn't going to get it done.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

ATLANTA BRAVES
Activated IF Mark DeRosa from the 15-day DL; activated 2B Marcus Giles from the 15-day DL and optioned him to Triple-A Richmond; designated 2B Jesse Garcia for assignment. (07.17)

DeRosa will get some time at second and maybe third and short to spot everyone, doing his thing. He can hit a bit and passably field. He's going to be a good utility man.

Garcia being designated for assignment is good, especially if they can get anyone to take him off of waivers. Garcia sucks, sucks, sucks. He went 11-for-52 with no walks and five RBI, with one extra-base hit and eleven strikeouts for the Braves. That adds to a total of four walks in 103 at-bats over pieces of four seasons with Atlanta and Baltimore. Garcia sucks.

Giles' demotion off the DL is butt ass stupid. He wasn't exactly tearing it up before getting hurt, but why bother to send him to Richmond just because Keith Lockhart has had a couple of good games lately? Keith Lockhart is still Keith Lockhart hitting .215/.273/.356. I know he's had some clutch pinch-hits, but fellas, if you don't let him be a pinch-hitter he can't get those. You've taken away all of his ability. Please, for the good of your possible ninth-inning comebacks, recall Marcus Giles and put the leathery Lockhart back on the bench.

CHICAGO CUBS
Placed C Joe Girardi on the 15-day DL; purchased the contract of C Mike Mahoney from Triple-A Iowa. (07.17)

See? Now isn't this a better solution than having Robert Machado right there and carrying three crappy catchers at once?

CINCINNATI REDS
Placed RHP Joey Hamilton on the 15-day DL, retroactive to July 8. (07.17)

Recalled OF Brady Clark from Triple-A Louisville. (07.19)

Brady Clark can hit and would be a hell of a fourth outfielder, so his call-up should stick if the Reds have any brains. With Juan Encaranacion out of the picture, no one is blocking him this time around. If he hits again and gets demoted again, then that's a sign that the Reds just don't pay much mind to ol' Brady Clark.

COLORADO ROCKIES
Activated 3B Greg Norton from the 15-day DL; optioned OF Ross Gload to Triple-A Colorado Springs; claimed LHP Randy Flores off waivers from the Texas Rangers. (07.18)

Hahaha. "Operation: Build Team Around Lack of Ross Gload."

FLORIDA MARLINS
Activated RHP Josh Beckett from the 15-day DL. (07.16)

Outrighted RHP Nate Treut to Triple-A Calgary. (07.17)

A dominating phenom he has not been. But, to the naysayers about him, keep in mind that he's still been really effective and has shown that potential while not hurt. 58 whiffs in 58.2 innings, 1.18 WHIP, and a passable 4.45 ERA in 11 starts. Has this been the year they wanted? Certainly not, but he's still going to be an awesome pitcher.

HOUSTON ASTROS
Activated RHP T.J. Mathews from the 15-day DL; optioned RHP Scott Linebrink to Triple-A New Orleans. (07.17)

NEW YORK METS
Claimed P Ryan Jamison off waivers from the Houston Astros and optioned him to Double-A Binghamton. (07.18)

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
Optioned LHP Aaron Fultz to Triple-A Fresno; recalled LHP Troy Brohawn from Fresno. (07.17)

You may remember Troy Brohawn from such teams as Last Year's Arizona Diamondbacks. He was even on the World Series roster, despite total suckiness urging the team to do otherwise.
posted by Scott Christ at 5:54 PM

ANAHEIM ANGELS
Placed LHP Dennis Cook on the 15-day DL, retroactive to July 5; recalled RHP Brendan Donnelly from Triple-A Salt Lake. (07.13)

Placed RHP Troy Percival on the 15-day DL, retroactive to July 11; recalled RHP Matt Wise from Salt Lake. (07.15)

It's strictly by-committee this time around for Percival's absence, since Al Levine is on the DL, too. Levine could get activated this weekend, but until then, ex-starter Scott Schoeneweis and righty Ben Weber could get the save chances. This sounds like a bad idea, especially Schoeneweis.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES
Purchased the contract of IF Luis Lopez from Triple-A Rochester; optioned IF Brian Roberts to Rochester. (07.12)

Purchased the contract of OF Howie Clark from Rochester; designated 1B Ryan McGuire for assignment. (07.15)

The Orioles make a couple of useless moves as they continue to move along in a useless season where all the buzz about them is they're "surprisingly good." That's BS, it's just that the Blue Jays are surprisingly bad. All they did was switch places. Lopez's advantage over Roberts is that he can play third base, where the team's only All-Star resides. Otherwise, Roberts is a better shortstop than Lopez and a more valuable pinch-runner. It's not like Lopez can hit either.

BOSTON RED SOX
Placed LHP Alan Embree on the 15-day DL; activated RHP Rolando Arrojo from the 15-day DL. (07.15)

Embree has not disappointed like Jay Witasick last year since he came over to the AL East, but this injury could sting a bit. The Sox are low on lefty relievers, but loaded with perfectly passable fifth starters. Arrojo can at times look like a #2 pitcher. If he gives a stretch of that, then they can deal with losing Embree for two weeks.

CLEVELAND INDIANS
Recalled RHP Dave Elder from Triple-A Buffalo; optioned RHP Chad Paronto to Buffalo. (07.15)

MINNESOTA TWINS
Recalled OF/1B/3B Michael Cuddyer from Triple-A Edmonton. (07.12)

Placed RHP Jose Rodriguez on the 15-day DL; recalled RHP Kevin Fredrick from Edmonton. (07.14)

Cuddyer is a badass. That's about all that needs to be said about him. He can outplay the so far-fantastic Bobby Kielty with his shoes tied together, and Dustan Mohr may have just lost more PT.

NEW YORK YANKEES
Placed RHP Roger Clemens on the 15-day DL; recalled RHP Mike Thurman from Triple-A Columbus. (07.13)

Rocket should be perfectly fine, and to be honest it's better now than in September. For the Yankees, anyway. Frankly, if he ripped his groin out on the last day of the regular season while horsing around with Chris Widger, I'd be perfectly fine with that. El Puque takes his spot.

SEATTLE MARINERS
Activated RHP Ryan Franklin from the 15-day DL; optioned RHP Julio Mateo to Triple-A Tacoma. (07.15)

TEXAS RANGERS
Placed RHP Hideki Irabu on the 15-day DL, retroactive to July 13; placed OF Rusty Greer on the 15-day DL, retroactive to July 12; recalled RHP Joaquin Benoit from Single-A Charlotte; recalled RHP Rob Bell from Double-A Tulsa; announced that UT Donnie Sadler has cleared waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Oklahoma. (07.15)

Irabu and Jesse Ventura have the same ailment, blood clots in the lungs. That's too bad.

Rusty Greer's season, and possibly his career, may be over, if he has to have the back surgery that the team fears. Let's face it, he's 33 years old and brittle as hell from his years of playing like a madman hepped up on Mountain Dew and speed. If he were to have to retire, I'd always remember him as a near clone of Bobby Higginson, one of my favorite players.

The fact that the Rangers don't just release Donnie Sadler is troubling. The fact that anyone ever employs Donnie Sadler is troubling. But I guess it could always be worse, like last year when the Royals were excited that he could play left field. I read somewhere that it's insulting for Sadler to play left field. I agreed with that.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Purchased the contract of C Chad Moeller from Triple-A Tucson; designated OF Jose Guillen for assignment. (07.15)

I never really had any clue why the defending World Champions felt they needed to screw around with a washed out ex-Devil Rays Future Star, but I guess it's over with.

CINCINNATI REDS
Activated RHP Jose Rijo from the 15-day DL; placed LHP Gabe White on the 15-day DL. (07.13)

If Rijo can last over a month, I'll be pleasantly surprised.

COLORADO ROCKIES
Placed C Bobby Estallela on the 15-day DL; purchased the contract of C Walt McKeel from Triple-A Colorado Springs. (07.14)

Estallela went into the pot pretty quickly. There's got to be something to the widespread idea that he's a jackass, because it's not that he can't hit. But something is wrong with his game.

HOUSTON ASTROS
Placed OF Brian Hunter on the 15-day DL; purchased the contract of OF Barry Wesson from Triple-A New Orleans; designated LHP Wilfredo Rodriguez for assignment. (07.14)

Wilfredo Rodriguez's claim to fame will always be as the guy the Astros sent out to pitch to Bonds when the Houston fans were booing the continuous walks, then balled up and threw Bonds fastballs. And then Bonds, of course, crushed one.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS
Activated C Chad Kreuter from the 15-day DL; optioned C David Ross to Triple-A Las Vegas. (07.12)

You know, Chan Ho Park isn't in LA anymore. Why is Kreuter? Never, ever, ever underestimate the power of nice when it comes to big-league catching jobs.

NEW YORK METS
Placed RHP Grant Roberts on the 15-day DL; recalled RHP Mark Corey from Triple-A Norfolk. (07.13)

PITTSBURGH PIRATES
Activated RHP Josias Manzanillo from the 15-day DL; optioned RHP Bronson Arroyo to Triple-A Nashville. (07.13)

SAN DIEGO PADRES
Signed OF Mark Kotsay to a three-year contract extension; released OF Mark Sweeney. (07.13)

Kotsay is one of my favorite players. He's a dirt-dogger that understands the value of getting on base, and he can hit and field and run a little. Every year I think he's going to break out, but the Padres are apparently quite content with what he is, which is an excellent #2 hitter or a solid leadoff guy.
posted by Scott Christ at 6:10 AM