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According to ESPN reporter Buster Olney, San Diego Padres outfielder Brian Giles has used his veto rights to block a waivers claim from the Boston Red Sox on Friday.
Giles, who was claimed on waivers by the Red Sox on Wednesday, and Boston and San Diego had 48 hours to make the deal official , However the Red Sox were one of eight teams listed in the limited no-trade provision in his contract, so Giles had the right to veto the deal.
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The Boston Red Sox placed a wavier claim on San Diego’s right fielder Brian Giles, and are in the process of acquiring the 14-year veteran for the Padres. Giles who is 37, is hitting.296 with a .391 on-base percentage this season.
The Red Sox’s interest in Giles might be caused by concern about the health of Mike Lowell and David Ortiz who have been battling injuries all season. Giles will be used as a just in case player, in case anyone of their starters get hurt.
Giles is earning $9 million this year and his contract also has a club option for $9 million in 2009 that would be upped to $11 million if he is traded. The reason why Giles has a limited no-trade clause, and Boston is one of the teams to which he cannot be traded to without his permission, but I hardly doubt that Giles will have any problem with joining the defending world series champions.
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The NBA 2008-2009 schedule was finally released yesterday, August 6th 2008. The release of the schedule was delayed because of the relocation of the team formally known as the Sonics. The Portland Trail Blazers start the season on October 28th, against Kobe, and the Western Conference champions Los Angeles Lakers. The home opener is on Halloween night against the mighty San Antonio Spurs. The Blazers schedule doesn’t get much easier for a while. Seven out of their first nine games are against teams that made the playoffs last year, including the Jazz, the Suns, and the Rockets. To make matters worse, 10 out of their first 14 games are on the road, where the Blazers only won 13 games last year. However after this initial month full of challenges, their schedule does get easier. From November 24th, through January 2nd 12 out of the Blazers 19 games are at home. The Blazers are on national television 13 times, 8 times on TNT, and 5 on ESPN, including a Christmas Day showdown against Jason Kidd and the Mavericks in Portland.
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The Manny Ramirez era in Boston officially ended Thursday, July 31st, less than an hour before the trade deadline. Manny was part of a three team deal, which sent the 2004 World Series MVP to the Dodgers. The Red Sox also traded prospects Chris Hansen, and Brandon Moss to Pittsburgh for the Pirates outfield Jason Bay. The question is does this trade make the Red Sox a better team? No one doubts that Jason Bay is a talented player. He was the 2004 National League Rookie Of The Year, and is a guy that can hit as well as play the field. However he has basically played his whole career in Pittsburgh, that hasn’t made the playoffs since Bay was a freshman in high School. Can bay deal with the everyday pressures of playing baseball for the Boston Red Sox, and come through in the clutch we will see. What we do know is no matter how well Bay plays, he will never be as clutch and effective as Manny Ramirez was in that cleanup spot for Boston. In his seven years in Boston he had 35 Homeruns and 100 RBI’s in six of the seven years. Manny was at his best when it mattered the most, against the dreaded New York Yankees. In fact in the 200 games against the Yankees Manny hit 55 home runs, the most against any team. Against the Yankees two aces, Andy Pettitte and Chien-Ming Wang, Manny had a , .416 and .536 batting average respectively. No team is going to be happier about Manny leaving the AL than those Yankees. Manny was even more clutch in the postseason, a key member of the 2004 and 2007 World Series champion teams. In the 2007 postseason many hit .348 with 4 home runs, 16 RBI’s and a killer 1.160 on base percentage.
Continue reading "In the End it was Too Much Manny being Manny"
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The Boston Red Sox suffered another tough loss at home against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Tuesday night. The final score, which was 6-2 is sounds closer then the game really was. Angels starting pitcher John Lackey flirted with a no hitter, which was broken up in the bottom in the ninth when Dustin Pedroia hit a sharp single through the left side of the field. Kevin Youkilis followed up Pedroia’s hit with a homerun to make the score 6-2. The Angels also got even better today, trading for the Braves first baseman Mark Teixeira. This makes the team with the best record in baseball even better adding much needed offence into the heart of their lineup. Now with the Yankees and Angels making big deals the Red Sox must respond and makes some big trades of their own. The Red Sox are looking for much needed help, for their bullpen. The bullpen, which was a strong point in their two championship runs, has at times looked weak and ineffective, even the “Unhittable” Jonathan Papelbon has blown his share of leads. One of the possibilities is Kansas City Royals reliever Ron Mahay, according to Sean McAdam of the Providence Journal. Mahay has pitched in 54.2 innings, has a 1.81 ERA, and has struck out 42 batters this season. Another candidate for the Red Sox is Pittsburgh Pirates reliever John Grabow. Grabow is a hard throwing left- hander that has pitched 53.2 innings, with a 3.19 ERA and 45 strike outs so far for the pirates. Either one will definitely give a much needed boost to the bullpen. The Redsox also also in talks with the Houston Astros about All-Star shortstop Miguel Tejada. Tejada would definitely sure up the middle of the infield that has been a weak point for the Sox all year. Not to mention Tejada’s 11 homeruns and 50 RBIs. Whatever the Red Sox do, they need to make a change to stay competitive in the ultra competitive AL East.
Continue reading "Red Sox in Need of Change to Defend Title"
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